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'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.

Apple has been forced to make significant changes to its App Store policies following legal battles and regulatory pressure. These adjustments have sparked new opportunities for developers while also leading to ongoing disputes, most notably, Epic Games' unsuccessful attempt to bring Fortnite back to iOS. With Apple continuing to resist broader reforms, the future of app distribution on iOS remains uncertain.

In recent days, reports surfaced claiming that Valve's Steam platform had suffered a major data breach, allegedly compromising over 89 million user accounts. The accusations quickly spread across gaming communities, raising concerns about the security of Steam users' personal information. However, Valve has since denied these claims, stating that no meaningful breach of Steam systems occurred. So, what really happened? Let's break down the allegations, Valve's response, and what this means for users moving forward.

The ongoing antitrust case against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has become one of the most significant legal battles in the tech industry. The United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accused Meta of maintaining an unlawful monopoly in the social media market, particularly through its acquisitions of Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014. The case, which began in April 2025, has drawn widespread attention as regulators seek to determine whether Meta's dominance stifles competition and harms consumers.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the digital advertising landscape, with streaming giants YouTube and Netflix embracing AI-driven ad placements to enhance engagement and optimize revenue. AI-powered advertising allows these platforms to strategically deliver highly personalized, interactive ads that blend into user experiences without feeling disruptive.

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'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.

After nearly a year of anticipation, Microsoft has reintroduced the Recall feature to Windows 11, a tool designed to enhance productivity by allowing users to retrace their digital steps. However, its journey back to the operating system has been anything but smooth. Here's a closer look at the delays, the reasons behind them, and the concerns that have surrounded this controversial feature.

Videogames have been a cornerstone of entertainment for decades, delivering immersive experiences, stunning visuals, and memorable stories. Despite these advancements, one aspect of gaming that has remained surprisingly consistent is its pricing. Standard game prices have hovered around $60 for years - an anomaly considering inflation and rising costs across other industries. However, recent speculation suggests a pending price shift in the gaming landscape.

In the digital age, undersea internet cables form the backbone of global connectivity, transmitting nearly 95% of international data. These cables, stretching over 870,000 miles across the ocean floor, are indispensable for Internet communication, financial transactions, and real-time diplomatic exchanges. However, recent incidents have highlighted their vulnerabilities, raising concerns about the security and resilience of this critical infrastructure.

The video streaming industry has revolutionized how we consume entertainment, offering unparalleled convenience and a vast array of content. However, a recent report from the United Kingdom's Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee has sparked discussions about the future of this industry. The report recommends a 5% levy on the UK subscriber revenue of streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and Apple TV+. This levy aims to support British television production and ensure the sustainability of culturally significant content. But what does this mean for the pricing of video streaming services?

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'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.

In a move that has sparked both curiosity and criticism, DoorDash has partnered with Klarna to offer customers the option to pay for their food orders in installments. While this "Buy Now, Pay Later" (BNPL) feature may seem like a convenient solution for cash-strapped consumers, it raises significant questions about financial responsibility, societal priorities, and the broader implications for the economy.

In a surprising turn of events, Microsoft published a blog post which inadvertently revealed a new Xbox user interface (UI) update that could completely change the gaming experience across platforms. The accidental publishing of this UI mockup, which was quickly removed, showcased a filter tab for Steam games, hinting at potential integration with this and possibly other game stores like Epic Games. This development has sparked widespread speculation and excitement among gamers, as it aligns with Microsoft's ongoing efforts to create a unified gaming ecosystem.

Google has launched a lawsuit against a group of scammers who manipulated Google Maps by creating or hijacking thousands of fake business listings. This bold move underscores the tech giant's commitment to protecting users from fraud and safeguarding its platform as a reliable tool for finding businesses. The lawsuit, which identifies a Maryland man as the main orchestrator, sheds light on the alarming scale and tactics of this elaborate scam.

In a groundbreaking decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that works generated solely by artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be copyrighted. This unanimous decision, penned by Judge Patricia Millett, has upheld the position of the Copyright Office. This position sent ripples through the creative and tech industries, redefining the boundaries of copyright law in the age of AI.

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'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.

Amazon is set to revolutionize the world of virtual assistants with the launch of Alexa+, the next-generation AI-powered assistant. Packed with cutting-edge features and designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life, Alexa+ promises to be smarter, more conversational, and more capable than ever before. Here's everything you need to know about this exciting new platform, including its features, availability, pricing, and release timeline.

In a significant shift within the realm of digital assistance, Google is set to retire its long-standing Google Assistant by the end of 2025, making way for a more advanced AI, Gemini. This transition marks the end of an era for Google Assistant, which has been a reliable companion for millions of users worldwide. As we bid farewell to this familiar voice, we welcome Gemini, a new AI powerhouse designed to revolutionize our interactions with technology. With enhanced capabilities and personalized features, Gemini promises to deliver a more intuitive and efficient user experience, setting the stage for the future of AI assistance. But, those new features come with some significant drawbacks.

Apple's Siri has been a staple in the world of digital assistants, but recent developments have sparked growing concerns among users and industry experts alike. The much-anticipated AI-powered upgrade for Siri, initially promised for early 2025, has been delayed, leaving many wondering about the future of Apple's virtual assistant.

The gaming world was recently shaken by the announcement of Niantic's $3.5 billion sale of its gaming division to Scopely. Known for its groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) games like Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, Niantic's decision to part with its gaming portfolio marks a significant shift in the mobile gaming landscape. While the acquisition promises exciting opportunities for the future of these beloved titles, it has also sparked concerns among players, particularly regarding the potential for expanded microtransactions. Here's a closer look at what this deal means for the future of Niantic's games, the fears it has ignited, and how the gaming community is responding.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the way we interact with technology, particularly in the realm of search engines. These tools promise to deliver faster, more personalized, and contextually relevant results. However, a recent study conducted by the Columbia Journalism Review's Tow Center for Digital Journalism has cast a shadow over these promises, revealing that AI-powered search engines cite incorrect sources a staggering 60% of the time. This alarming statistic raises questions about the reliability of these tools and the potential dangers they pose to users.

Sonos, the audio company renowned for its high-quality speakers, has reportedly canceled its plans for a streaming box, codenamed "Pinewood." This decision, while surprising to some, may have been inevitable given the product's questionable utility and the company's ongoing struggles with its software ecosystem. The cancellation highlights broader challenges for Sonos as it navigates a competitive market and attempts to rebuild trust with its user base.

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'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.

For decades, the name Three Mile Island has been a pejorative slur for disaster. The expression "going Three Mile Island" has meant either something that has gone so far off the rails that it's unsalvageable or someone who has gotten so mad they need to be abandoned. No one has wanted to be associated with the name for any reason. That all changed this week with Microsoft's announcement that they are going to brave the waters and reopen the nuclear power plant to keep its AI operations more energy independent.

Ever since its introduction, Palworld has been destined for a showdown with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. Out of the box, the game was described as "Pokémon with guns," essentially guaranteeing that they would be targeted eventually. This week, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo finally filed the inevitable lawsuit, however making a surprising claim. While everyone expected a copyright or IP infringement violation, the lawsuit alleges a violation of a patent.

If you have spent any time on social media in recent months, you might have noticed that a lot of the interaction appears to be nonsense. That's because the use of AI-powered bots has increased, both in positive and negative ways. This behavior has led to a theory, "Dead Internet Theory," that suggests that the internet is increasingly becoming sterile and lifeless because of the bots. Seemingly attempting to prove this theory correct is new solo social networking platform SocialAI, in which you are the only human.

The past 2 years has turned Hollywood against itself over the topic of AI in video production. Some people think that AI can help speed up production, from voiceovers to video and script creation. Others fear that their jobs will be in jeopardy due to the technology. While still others worry that taking the humanity out of the art form will remove the art aspect and turn the film industry into a factory. Lionsgate has made its position known with a new relationship with AI company Runway.

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'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.

Last year, Amazon announced that an upgrade was coming to the company's digital assistant, Alexa. The move came at a strange time for the company, as Alexa's future was up in the air. The new upgrade will focus on producing answers that the company hopes will be more relevant using generative AI. Unlike the standard Alexa service, however, this one will not be made available for free. But, if the rumors are correct, this upcharged service will be available soon.

The entire gaming segment of the internet is talking about Sony's recently released multiplayer hero shooter Concord. Normally, this would be a good thing for a newly released videogame, but for Sony this could spell disaster. That's because the conversation is around the potential failure that is Concord.

Yelp has filed suit against Google once again, this time claiming that the company has continually abused its market position to dominate the locals market. This is not the first time the companies have fought in court over local data and search results, but this one appears to be looking to harm Google's trust more than getting them to stop stealing data.

TikTok is known for a lot of things, but its bizarre trends and challenges have become its most controversial. From the more tame trends like the Cinnamon Challenge to incredibly dangerous trends like the Tide Pod Challenge, TikTok has promoted a number of odd things. One of the more dangerous trends was the Blackout Challenge in 2022, which led to several deaths. This week, a court ruled that Section 230 does not insulate the company from fault in relation to the deaths from the Blackout Challenge.

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'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.

In a rising trend among tech companies, connected cooking device company Anova has announced that new user accounts created starting August 21, 2024, will be charged a $2 per month fee. This is a change from the current policy, which includes the application as part of the device's purchase price. Users who already have an account before that date will not be required to pay the fee as a "thank you" for helping the company get started.

After years of battle between Epic Games and Apple, the popular battle royale title Fortnite has finally returned to the iPhone. Joining the game itself is the all-new Epic Games Store, which is now available to iPhone users, bringing access to games and services that may not be available through the native App Store. But, unfortunately, they are only available to iPhone users in the European Union, leaving out much of the overall customer base.

Cox Communications, one of the largest ISPs in the United States, has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a previous ruling requiring the disconnection of users accused of piracy. The original case, brought about by Sony, found that Cox had not adequately worked to prevent its users from breaking the law on their network, particularly by terminating the accounts of those who abuse the service.

After more than a decade, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom may finally be extradited to the United States. The New Zealand Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has officially signed an extradition order for the infamous site owner. However, the extradition is not guaranteed as Dotcom still has some options, and has vowed to continue fighting.

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'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.

If you have ever tried to sell a phone purchased directly from a carrier or tried to keep your phone while switching providers, you have likely experienced the process of unlocking that device. It can be an annoying process that can require going into a carrier store, as I recently had to do. However, the biggest challenge is that each carrier handles if and when you can unlock that device differently. That could all change, if a Federal Communication Commission proposal, which would require carriers to unlock devices at 60 days, goes through.

It's been a strange couple of weeks for videogame streaming. It started with Microsoft announcing a shuffling of the Xbox Game Pass system, including another price increase. Then, Nvidia announced a price decrease (at least temporarily) on GeForce Now, possibly as a tease aimed at Microsoft. But, then a strange announcement that Xbox could launch GeForce Now games from the website, thanks to a new partnership.

In a world increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, the recent global system failure attributed to CrowdStrike's software update has raised significant concerns about cybersecurity and the robustness of global IT systems. The incident, which primarily affected Windows PCs, has not only highlighted the vulnerabilities inherent in widespread technology but also the interconnected nature of modern software platforms.

In a move that reflects the evolving landscape of digital streaming services, Netflix announced the discontinuation of its ad-free Basic plan, a decision that marks the end of an era for the streaming giant's most economical, commercial-free offering. This change comes as part of a broader strategy to restructure its pricing tiers, compelling customers to embrace the ad-supported Standard Plan at $6.99 or opt for higher-priced, ad-free subscriptions. Now, customers who were on the Basic plan in the United States and France are being forced to choose another plan or lose their accounts.

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'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.

Amazon is known for some bonkers product ideas. One of the more inexplicable products was the Astro robot - a product announced in 2021 that had a huge $2350 price tag and seemingly absolutely no point, or at the best case, no focus. Now, Amazon has informed internal staff that those who made the very large purchase will be left with a bricked robot in just a few months.

The Wii U was certainly Nintendo's most controversial console in history. It divided people from the moment it was announced at E3 2011. Would the screen make the gaming experience better, or would it simply be a distraction? In the end, the console nearly sank the company, with record losses hitting their bottom line before recovering with the Switch. Now, the company has finally put the console out to pasture, as official repairs have ended at Nintendo.

In a staggering revelation, researchers at Cybernews have uncovered what they're calling the largest password compilation ever. The file, titled rockyou2024.txt and released on the Fourth of July, emerged on a popular hacking forum, posted by a user known as ObamaCare. Within this file lies a mind-boggling 9,948,575,739 unique plaintext passwords. This means that there is no encryption and anyone can read the database directly. This collection is the largest database of passwords ever released, making this an unprecedented attack on public safety and security.

Once again, the fate of Paramount is up in the air. The company has struggled in recent years to catch on to modern television trends, perfect its streaming offerings, and produce and maintain programming. Either the company is stretching itself too thin, or they are in over their heads. As such, the company has looked at various options, including selling the company. Now, reports suggest that the goal is not so much to sell the entire company, but to find a company to merge their streaming operations with.

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'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.

When AI technology first hit the mainstream a couple of years ago, the biggest concern came because of where the data came from. It appeared that the models were being trained on data that the companies behind them didn't have permission to train off of. They were scraping websites, blogs, newspapers, artist portfolios, music libraries, and more to train their data. While that was a violation of copyrights in many cases, the next generation of AI is going to find its data in new and even scarier places - your devices.

A couple of months ago, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced that they would be shuttering 16 of the titles under the Adult Swim Games brand. The announcement meant that those titles would no longer be available to play and the games themselves would be lost to time. Now, the company has announced that they have come to an agreement with the independent developers whose games were on the chopping block to return the IP to their creators.

This week, the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, initiated an investigation into Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The Commission believes that the company and its social networks have not done enough to prevent harm to minors and to verify that minors are not able to access aspects of the company's offerings that they are prohibited from according to the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Bad news everyone! There is yet another streaming service headed your way to steal your money and attention. This service, called Venu Sports, is a partnership between Disney (which owns ABC and ESPN), Fox (which owns Fox Sports), and Warner Bros. Discovery (which owns TBS and TNT). Together, Venu Sports hopes to be your one-stop shop for all things sports without a cable subscription, but there are some notable exceptions that might make that a difficult proposition.

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'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.

When Apple announced its ambitious Vision Pro headset, reactions were mixed, to say the least. Apple envisioned people using the product similarly to an iPhone, wearing these dystopian isolation headsets all day Potential users, on the other hand, saw them as an occasional toy. Because of that disparity, it appears that Apple had ordered too many devices for the demand, and that is being corrected.

Garry's Mod, the popular game design workshop available through Steam, has begun removing content containing anything Nintendo-related. This comes following a takedown notice from Nintendo, as confirmed by the Garry's Mod team. The Steam Workshop contains user-made content spanning 2 decades, making this a long and arduous process.

Over the past 2 decades, the topic of Net Neutrality has come up a number of times. In the early 2000s, the US had a time-limited set of rules, known publicly as Net Neutrality. When those expired, early in the existence of PLUGHITZ Live, a long-running debate was reignited: should the internet be regulated and, if so, by whom? The FTC has claimed power, but that was short-lived. The FCC has claimed power, but that has been struck down twice. Now, the FCC has tried once again to claim authority over the Internet, and the chaos that brings has already begun.

In the past two weeks, the US House of Representatives and the US Senate passed a bill with a timer for TikTok, and President Biden signed it into law. This law sets a timer of 9 months for ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell the social network to a Western company or face an outright ban in the US. If it feels like you're living in a time warp, it's because you sort of are. We've been here before, but this time it looks as if the result will be different.

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'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.

When Amazon first launched Alexa and the accompanying speakers, the company intended for the ecosystem to be the center of a user's digital home life - a similar goal to Steve Ballmer's pivot for the Xbox brand. However, despite the company's constant push into new hardware and new concepts, Alexa is still the system you use to turn on your lights and check the weather. As such, Amazon is scaling back its goals and dropping incentives for developers.

In the world of Pokémon, one of the most popular parts of the game is collecting the full Pokedex. However, anyone who has regularly played any of the games in the series knows that it can be a challenge. There are rare creatures that are hard to find. In some games, like Pokémon GO, some creatures are location-locked, meaning you have to go to another country or continent to find them. This creates a scenario for people to obtain these creatures through illicit means, and that could land you in prison, as it might for one Japanese man.

If you're anything like I am, you've had the same internet service provider (ISP) for years. Sure, I've upgraded plans in that time - 100 Mbps was the maximum you could get when I signed up - but the provider has always been the same. This has been, in large part, because it's a massive challenge to wade through the details of ISP plans when everyone uses marketing terms rather than industry terms to describe their services. At least with the same provider, you know what the words mean. Now Broadband Labels are here to make that comparison between services easier with consistent naming and descriptions - just like the panel on the side of your favorite cereal.

Over the past few years, Star Trek has seen a renaissance of sorts. This has been the first time since the late 1990s that there have been so many active projects within the Star Trek Universe. But, there has been a fear that, like any bubble, it would eventually pop. The past year has seen the end of several projects, and confusion over one, leading to fears that the burst might happen soon. This week, during Paramount's CinemaCon presentation, it was revealed that fan-favorite Star Trek: Lower Decks will end after its upcoming 5th season.

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'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.

Apple hates Epic Games - there is no doubt about that. The company has created policies and procedures to target the popular game studio and publisher specifically. In fact, Apple's heavy-handed approach to their platforms and to Epic Games in particular has led states, countries, and even the EU, to look into their practices and craft new laws around them. In the past few weeks, some of the original actions that spurred the whole battle between titans came back up when Apple banned Epic's developer account for a day, but quickly reversed course.

The reality of the modern gaming industry is one of constant change with ups and downs. Many of those downs come about when a game, which many people poured their hearts and souls into while designing, developing, and playing, is shut down. Everyone in that chain is affected in some way - some more than others. This week, developers and players alike were left disappointed to discover that Adult Swim Games, under the leadership of Warner Bros. Discovery, was planning to delist 16 games from marketplaces in the coming weeks.

After a few years of silence, the US government once again has its sights set on TikTok and its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance. Following a security briefing, the US House of Representatives quickly submitted and passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. This bill, if passed in the Senate and signed by the President, would start a 60-day timer for ByteDance to divest its ownership in TikTok or face an outright ban in the country.

The lawsuit between The New York Times and ChatGPT maker OpenAI has heated up in the past few weeks. After NYT cited examples of ChatGPT spitting out exact text from NYT articles. This prompted OpenAI to claim that the publication had "hacked" the system in order to get it to do things it shouldn't do. The publication has responded by claiming that it did nothing wrong, only used publicly available capabilities, and exposed ChatGPT as a system of plagiarism.

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'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.

This week, a piece from Food & Wine brought to the internet's attention Wendy's future pricing plans. The company stated that they are investing $20 million to install new digital menu boards across the company. These boards would give the company the ability to dynamically change prices throughout the day. The move was immediately compared to the much-maligned Surge pricing from Uber, but the company claims that it has been misrepresented.

Following the massive layoffs at Microsoft and Activision, the industry has not slowed down. In fact, layoffs have sped up, rampaging the entire industry. Studios and publishers around the world have followed suit, laying off employees, closing studios, and canceling games.

Generative AI has caused a lot of trouble over the past year. Articles have been published with completely false information, headlines that are distasteful at best, and images that blatantly violate intellectual property. And, all of this while likely infringing on the copyright of content producers whose content is being used to train these systems without their knowledge or approval. But one publication - CNET - seems to keep popping up as a perpetrator of these issues, and Wikipedia has taken notice.

The past few months have been filled with rumors and speculation about the potential merger of two of the major corporate streaming and media giants: Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount. The merger, if it had come to fruition, would have created a major rival for top streaming company: Netflix. But, talks appear to have ended before any action was taken.

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'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.

Following the completion of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft has laid off 1900 employees across its gaming division. This was mostly said to be a downsizing of duplicated positions following several acquisitions. However, one of the divisions that seems to have been completely wiped out is the former Activision Blizzard eSports team, which has caused various problems for the company's brands over the years.

For years, Google Search results have offered more than just a title, description, and link to the page. In addition, there has been a link under the result for the cached page. This link allowed you to view a website even if its server wasn't working correctly. Now, however, that option has been removed from Google Search results and the cache itself will soon be deprecated entirely.

When creating content, there are a couple of ways you can handle music. You can use no music, which many users do. You can create the music yourself, which is less common. You can license the music you use, which can be costly. Or, you can use the music licensed through the platform you're using. When it comes to the last, you give up all control and leave yourself open to future copyright violations if those terms change. That is what TikTok users discovered this week after Universal Music Group (UMG) ended its relationship with the video-sharing service.

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'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.

Coming three years after Epic Games sued both Apple and Google over antitrust issues with their App Stores, a federal jury has found that Epic was right in regards to Google. The jury found that Google had illegally tied its services together and used its market position to bully mobile app developers and publishers into using those services at inflated prices.

For many years, we have said that E3, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, was on its last leg. The ESA, the organization that managed the event, has had issues understanding what the event is, who it is for, and why it had been a success. The pandemic hit the event hard, showing the industry that, without E3, there was nothing lost. Since the world began spinning again, the ESA has not figured out how to run another show. Now, they have announced that E3 is dead once and for all.

We've all had the experience of talking about a strange product or service with a friend or family member, and the next thing we know, we're getting bombarded with ads for that same product or service. This experience has led many to claim that their devices are listening to them and using private conversations to create targeted marketing campaigns. While most companies claim that this is science fiction nonsense, CMG Local Solutions, a part of the Cox Media Group, claims that it is doing exactly this. But, are they?

The original version of Mickey Mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney. In the decades since then, the character has changed a lot, from adding color to significant modernizations. However, the copyright on the original version of the character expires in 2024, moving Mickey Mouse into the public domain. But, that doesn't mean that all of Mickey Mouse will be public domain, and it doesn't mean that we'll see the character being used to market new and unrelated brands.

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'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.

Since Apple's 2000s renaissance, the company has seemingly tried to get into every industry it can. In addition to computers, the company's initial intention, Apple had gotten into music, cars, and even financial services. Some of the endeavors, such as music, have been huge successes. The iPod and iTunes introduced a new group of consumers to a long-existing product category of portable digital music. But others, like financial services, have been a disaster for the company and its partners. The Apple Card and its issues have caused a breakup between Apple and Goldman Sachs and left the future of the service in question.

Since Netflix first launched Netflix Games, the company has relied heavily on small games and in-house IP. This has included games with the backing of the Stranger Things and Love is Blind brands. Now, Netflix is leveling up its game offerings by bringing in one of the biggest gaming franchises in history: Grand Theft Auto.

It is no secret that children use Meta properties, despite Terms of Service rules and Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) rules against it. The company has long stated that it responds quickly to reports of underaged users, but new data shows that is not true. And, to add insult to injury, the company has sued the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to allow them to monetize those underaged users.

Over the past year, studios and publishers have been canceling projects that are far along in their production. One of the most high-profile cancelations, however, was Batgirl because the movie was at the end of its filming and editing phase, with only VFX left. While there were suggestions that the movie was canceled for tax reasons, like many others this year, new details suggest that the film was never going to work and needed to be shelved.

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'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.

Since Amazon first launched its line of Fire hardware, they have used an altered version of Android, based on the Android Open Source Project, as their Fire OS. This decision allowed the company to get to market quickly and power a wide variety of devices. It also allowed for a robust ecosystem of apps, though not distributed through Google Play. Now, the company wants to move away from Android and into its own home-grown platform, which is codenamed Vega.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 just launched this week and Activision is already under fire for the game's performance. In particular, the company has had to pull several of the multiplayer maps because the functionality makes them completely useless.

This week, the controversial online chat service Omegle was shut down. The service has long been a location for inappropriate behavior, including exposing kids to adult content and grooming kids. The site's owners claim that the service is just not feasible, but the real reason may be an agreement as part of a lawsuit settlement.

After months of shutdown, Hollywood is about to get back to work. Following the settlement of the Writers' Strike several weeks ago, the SAG-AFTRA strike has also been resolved. This means that productions that have been halted by both Hollywood strikes are able to resume filming this week.

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'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.

This week, two things happened in the Apple universe: the company announced a refresh for its Mac lineup, and sales numbers for its current Mac lineup were released. The latter certainly indicates that Apple needs the former to increase sales for the company's computers because the latter showed a collapse in sales equaling a roughly 34% decrease year-over-year from 2022 to 2023.

This year's BlizzCon, Blizzard's annual announcement fiesta, comes at an interesting time for the company. It is the first BlizzCon since the approved merger of Activision Blizzard with Microsoft Gaming, and likely the last where Microsoft has no influence on the direction of the company. The company announced what they see as the direction of their products over the short and long term, seeing a plan for Microsoft to benefit from.

A year ago, the crypto-exchange FTX collapsed. It took with it a lot of money, value, cryptocurrency, and trust in the industry. Since then, governments around the world have been investigating and prosecuting the executive leadership of the company over various versions of fraud. This week, former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted on all 7 counts in the US and now faces over a century behind bars.

Since nearly the day Google purchased YouTube, the company has been fighting against users who have ad blockers installed. They have tried various tactics over the years, such as messages and delays. But now, Google is taking its battle against ad blockers to a new level, blocking users from watching any content on YouTube entirely.

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'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.

A couple of weeks ago, shortly before Microsoft's announcement event for the next generation of Surface devices, Panos Panay announced his departure from the company. The timing was curious, as Panay created the Surface line and has overseen its growth. But, his future was not clear - until this year. Now we know that he is headed to Amazon to oversee devices and services at the company.

Starting on July 14, 2023, SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) voted to strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The strike has been ongoing and, along with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, has brought Hollywood to a complete standstill. Now, the WGA strike has ended, but SAG-AFTRA has decided to add the videogame industry to its list of industries with which they have complaints.

For years, Amazon has been accused of anti-competitive behavior. From price fixing to product duplication, nearly every aspect of the company's business practices has been investigated and scrutinized. Now, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Attornies General from 17 states have filed suit against Amazon claiming that the company uses "anticompetitive and unfair strategies" to drive up prices for both buyers and sellers on the platform and off of it.

On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America began a strike against the big Hollywood studios. The strike essentially meant that most productions were shut down because, without writers, not much could be done. Some productions already had scripts written, which meant filming could continue until SAG-AFTRA also went on strike. This week, the WGA Strike came to an end, meaning that writers can get back to work. But, with the actors still on strike, does it matter at all?