Episode 441

What this episode covers

Description This week, Facebook goes to court, Yahoo goes to Verizon and Stranger Things goes on. Participants Scott Ertz Host Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab. Avram Piltch Segment Host Avram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW. Opening Powered by TeknoAXE Nifty Gifties Powered by Microsoft Store HPE Eying Final Shift: A Sale to a Private Equity Firm The landscape of the computer industry has changed a lot over the decade or so. IBM, the company responsible for personal computers, no longer makes or sells them, selling that division to Lenovo. Compaq, the company that created the IBM-compatible marketplace, was absorbed into HP. Dell, once the leader in computer sales, dropped and went private. Sony got out of the business entirely, spinning Vaio off to its own company. Hewlett Packard, formerly the first name in consumer sales, is now 2 companies, and one of them is not doing well. read full article Piltch Point with Avram Piltch Powered by Monster Products Extra Life Powered by Origin by Electronic Arts Court Rules Facebook Must Refund Purchases by Minors The concept of Facebook Credits was doomed from the beginning. In 2011, the company forced developers to use their currency within Facebook-enabled games. Later that year, they saw potential in mobile payments. But, just a month later, the wheels started to come off of the bus. Zynga was pulling away from Facebook, and focusing their attention on mobile. read full article News From the Tubes Powered by RiffTrax Yahoo's Fate is Final: Joining Verizon's Nostalgia Unit As soon as Yahoo appointed Marissa Mayer CEO, we all knew it would end one of two ways: she would repair the deficits of the company and turn it around, or she would be the last CEO of the company. There was no chance that the company would survive losses long enough to replace her, as the troubles were greater than could overcome the search for another leader. Unfortunately the latter turned out to be correct, as the core business auction has finally come to a close, with a new owner at the wheel. read full article * DRM Not Included Powered by Groove Stranger Things Already Renewed for Second Season If you have not yet watched, or at least started watching Netflix's original series Stranger Things, you are definitely in the minority. The program has been one of the most talked about series on social media, and there doesn't seem to be anyone saying anything other than "Wow." read full article Closing Powered by Tech Podcast Network