This week, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into the world of AI art with Senior Editor Dan Cooper and Creative Futurist John LePore. We know Dall-E and Midjourney can create some truly compelling images from a bit of text, but do they owe a debt to all of the images that they were trained on? Also, we explore the sorry state of Meta and Cherlynn gushes about the new Pixel Buds Pro. Stay tuned to the end of the show for our chat with Joshua Stiksma, Design Director of Moss 2, who discusses the current state of VR game development. Is AI-generated art borrowed or stolen? – 1:30 Meta’s many problems and a reversal on Instagram plans – 27:35 Pixel Buds Pro review – 42:16 Bloomberg report reveals a few details about Grand Theft Auto 6 – 51:37 Playstation VR 2 will have live-streaming support and cinematic mode – 53:25 RIP Car Thing by Spotify – 54:35 Filipino politician wants to make ghosting illegal – 58:08 Listener Mailbag – 1:00:55 Working on – 1:08:05 Pop culture picks – 1:12:34 Interview with Polyarc design director Joshua Stiksma on Moss: Book II – 1:17:56

Is the Pixel 6a the best Android phone under $500? Tune in for Cherlynn’s review! This week, Devindra and Cherlynn also discuss why losing almost a million subscribers was actually a good thing fo Netflix. And they dive into Qualcomm’s latest hardware for smartwatches, as well as the latest updates from Twitter’s ongoing fight with Elon Musk. The Pixel 6a is the best midrange Android phone on the market now – 1:53 Netflix lost a million subscribers, and that’s a good thing? – 17:11 Delaware judge allows faster trial for Twitter v. Elon Musk – 29:56 Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked is happening on August 10 – 32:42 Leaked files show that Uber was shady from early in its life – 37:41 Qualcomm unveils wearable-focused Snapdragon W5 chips – 42:21 Alienware’s m17 R5 gaming laptop is a beast that few people need – 46:25 The new Instagram Map is like Google Maps, but with more selfies – 48:16 OnePlus 10T launch set for August 3 – 52:19 Working on – 53:06 Pop culture picks – 58:01

This week on the show, Cherlynn and Devindra dive into Apple’s new MacBook Air M2 and its recent batch of OS betas. It turns out a redesign and a whole new chip makes the MacBook Air even more compelling than before (at least more than the 13-inch MacBook Pro). Also, we chat with Lisa Grossman, Astronomy Writer at Science News, about the astounding new photos and data from the James Webb Space Telescope. It’s a clear upgrade from Hubble, and NASA is just getting started! Apple’s M2 MacBook Air is extremely good – 1:21 There’s lots of fun stuff to explore in the iOS 16 beta – 7:39 Stage Manager in MacOS Ventura is a step forward for window organization – 18:11 What’s new in WatchOS 9 beta – 24:11 New pictures confirm the James Webb Space Telescope will revolutionize astronomy – 30:44 Elon Musk is trying to back out of his Twitter deal after three whole months – 53:14 Mat Smith’s Nothing Phone 1 hands-on – 54:49 Listener Mail: a phishing test for employees at Lowe’s – 1:02:45 Working on – 1:05:58 Pop culture picks – 1:06:50

This week, Devindra and Senior Writer Sam Rutherford dive into the Supreme Court’s latest EPA ruling, which severely limits the agency’s ability to curtail power plant emissions. Devindra also chats with ProPublica reporter Lisa Song about what this means for the EPA and other federal agencies. (Basically, it makes fighting climate change much harder.) Also, we discuss Apple’s new lockdown mode, which adds an extreme layer of security to your devices, and why Gen Z is so Minion crazy. How bad is the Supreme Court’s EPA ruling? – 1:49 Apple is building a lockdown mode for an “extreme” level of security – 27:43 Axie Infinity hack was traced back to a fake LinkedIn job offer – 32:39.359 Toyota has run out of EV tax credits in the US – 37:51 God of War Ragnarok will be released on November 9, 2022 – 46:14 WTF is going on with all the Minions memes? – 48:02 Working on – 51:32 Picks – 1:03:49

This week, Cherlynn is joined by senior editors Jessica Conditt and Karissa Bell to discuss the United States ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, and how, in our digital age, it affects the most vulnerable in our communities. Then, our hosts look at the Supreme Court ruling that guts the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to enforce the Clean Air Act. In consumer tech news, we also look at Sony’s new PlayStation-inspired peripherals and Snapchat’s new subscription service. What digital privacy looks like post-Roe v. Wade – 1:41 SCOTUS nerfs the EPA’s ability to enforce carbon emission limits – 42:10 Layoffs at Unity, Niantic, and Tesla – 45:26 Apple is starting to allow third party payments in Korea – 49:55 Sony's new hardware brand brings headsets and monitors with PlayStation style – 52:17 Snapchat+ is membership model for power users – 56:25 Picks – 59:59

What’s so “Pro” about the new 13-inch MacBook Pro? Devindra and Cherlynn chat with Laptop Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Sherri L. Smith, about Apple’s confusing new ultraportable. Sure, the M2 chip makes it faster, but why does it have a worse screen and fewer features than the new MacBook Air? Are real professionals better off with the faster (but more expensive) 14-inch MacBook Pro? Also, they dive into the wild new VR headset prototypes from Meta, as well as Twitter’s reinvention of blogging. Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro with M2 is a strange disappointment – 1:18 Meta’s VR prototypes seek to pass the “visual Turing test” – 22:59 Facebook Pay becomes Meta pay in hopes of becoming the metaverse’s digital wallet – 28:06 Microsoft phases out AI that can detect human emotions – 32:45 Amazon is working on a way to digitize the voice of your dead loved ones – 33:59 Twitter introduces b̶l̶o̶g̶g̶i̶n̶g̶ longform writing feature, Notes – 36:09 Carl Pei’s Nothing phone won’t be coming to the US – 42:22 Working on – 43:28 Pop culture picks – 46:03

This week, Devindra and Cherlynn dig into the story around Google engineer Blake Lemoine’s interview with the Washington Post and his belief that the company’s LaMDA language model is alive. What does it mean for AI (or anything else) to have consciousness? How should we think of AI, and what other areas of concern should we as a society consider as machines become more sophisticated and human-like? Then, we recap some of the biggest gaming news this week, as well as some wacky gadget announcements. No, Google’s LaMDA AI isn’t sentient – 1:40 First look at gameplay from Bethesda’s Starfield RPG at Summer Games Fest – 25:39 Capcom announces Street Fighter 6 with a gorgeous trailer – 29:22 Hideo Kojima’s next game will be for Xbox – 32:55 Overwatch 2 early access coming on October 4th – 33:43 U.S. proposes legislation banning sale of location data – 34:14 Sony released a $3,700 Walkman for rich, nostalgic audiophiles – 38:42 Working on – 43:13 Pop culture picks – 44:34

This week, Cherlynn and guest co-host Sam dive into all the announcements from WWDC 2022, as well as what it was like to cover the event both remotely and in-person. How did we (and our audience) feel about things that we did and didn’t see at the show? Plus, Sam tells us more about Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go 2, plus news on regulations around USB-C and our right to repair our devices. WWDC 2022 – 1:39 M2 MacBook Air and 13 inch MacBook Pro – 4:18 New features in macOS Ventura – 15:27 What’s coming to iOS and iPadOS 16 – 20:13 Big changes to the iOS lock screen – 21:04 WatchOS 9 – 44:46 Surface Laptop Go 2 hands-on – 58:21 The EU reaches deal to use USB-C to charge all devices – 1:06:07 New York state passed a Right to Repair bill – 1:12:31 Working on –1:20:07 Pop culture picks – 1:21:12

We’re gearing up for Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference! This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat about the announcements they’re expecting at WWDC, including new computers with M2 chips (and potentially a revamped MacBook Air!). What’s next for iOS and MacOS – will lockscreen widgets really be useful? And they hold out hope to hear something about the company’s AR/VR glasses. Also, they discuss the surprising news about Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta, as well as Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go 2. What to expect at WWDC 2022 – 1:29 Could Apple AR Glasses make an appearance? Some rumors – 2:30 Possible news on iPhone 14, iOS 16, iPadOS, and WatchOS – 14:10 Youtube’s TV app now lets you use your phone as a second screen – 30:15 Surface Laptop Go 2 announcement – 33:19 Sheryl Sandberg leaves Facebook after 14 years – 36:23 France bans English e-sports terminology – 42:33 Working on – 44:22 Pop culture picks – 52:38

This week, Devindra and Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham dive into the latest news around Clearview AI, the controversial facial recognition company that’s now seeing pushback from governments and regulators around the world. Will a few fines put a stop to the company’s facial recognition search platform? Also, they discuss how Clearview’s troubles relate to countries being more restrictive about data in general. Finally, they pour one out for Seth Green’s lost Bored Ape – RIP NFT! Facial Recognition company Clearview AI is on the ropes after several big settlements – 1:22 The era of borderless data may be ending – 15:04 Privacy focused search company DuckDuckGo quietly allowed Microsoft browsing trackers – 23:08 New details about AMD’s Ryzen 7000 chips – 28:34 Oh no, somebody stole Seth Green’s Bored Ape – 33:16 Working on –36:29 Pop culture picks – 41:36