In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah Sargent addresses a question from listener Faye about the setup they should go with to start with voice acting, covering how one should approach getting into voice acting and providing some resources for Faye to look into.

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer at hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

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It's an AI-filled episode of Tech News Weekly! Is AI making us think less critically than before? Are AI chatbots accurately summarizing news? A BBC study finds that they are not. Google plans to use machine learning to estimate a user's age. Thomson Reuters wins the first major AI copyright case within the US.

• Amanda Silberling of TechCrunch joins Mikah Sargent this week! Amanda talks about a study on how over-reliance on AI tools can lead to diminished critical thinking skills.
• Mikah shares a BBC study that looked into AI chatbots and how they performed poorly at summarizing news, with over half of the summarizations containing glaring errors.
• Emma Roth of The Verge joins the show to discuss Google utilizing machine learning to estimate users' ages based off their browsing history and YouTube activity.
• And Mikah talks about Thomson Reuters winning the first big US AI copyright case.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Amanda Silberling

Guest: Emma Roth

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Mikah Sargent shares essential tips for troubleshooting Bluetooth issues on your Mac in this episode of Hands-On Mac. Learn how to resolve connectivity problems and get your devices working smoothly again with these step-by-step instructions.

In this episode, Mikah covers:

- Restarting your Mac: The simplest and often most effective first step in resolving Bluetooth issues
- Toggling Bluetooth on and off: Quickly turning Bluetooth off and back on in the System Settings can help re-establish connections
- Unpairing and repairing devices: "Forgetting" a previously connected device and setting it up again as new can fix persistent problems
- Accessing advanced Bluetooth information: Holding the Option key while clicking the Bluetooth icon in the menu bar reveals device addresses and firmware versions for connected peripherals
- Force quitting Bluetooth processes: Using Activity Monitor to quit the "bluetoothuserd" background process can help reset the Bluetooth system when other methods fail
- Checking for device-specific issues: Ensuring your Bluetooth devices are fully charged and running the latest firmware can eliminate connectivity troubles
- Minimizing interference: Keeping potential sources of interference, like microwaves, away from your Bluetooth devices can improve stability

By following these troubleshooting steps, you'll be well-equipped to tackle most Bluetooth problems on your Mac and keep your wireless peripherals connected and working reliably.

Bluetooth settings on Mac - Apple Support - https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/bluetooth-settings-on-mac-blth8111/mac

Host: Mikah Sargent

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In this Valentine's Day-themed episode of iOS Today, hosts Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard explore a few iOS apps and features perfect for sharing love and appreciation with others. From physical card-sending services to digital solutions and customizable widgets, they cover multiple ways to make Valentine's Day special using Apple devices.

• Felt: Physical card-sending app with various card styles, custom designs, and the ability to add special items like confetti, chocolates, and stickers to your mailings
• Ink: Another physical card service that offers photo cards, calendars, and customizable gifts like mugs and socks
• Widgetsmith: App for creating custom widgets, including countdown timers and photo displays perfect for showcasing loved ones on your home screen
• Givingli: Digital card and gift service that lets you send virtual cards with attached gift cards from popular retailers like Starbucks, Amazon, and Taco Bell
• Valentine's Gifts and Stickers: App offering themed stickers and GIFs for Messages, with both free and paid options
• Messages "Send Later" feature: Built-in iOS capability to schedule messages in advance for special occasions

Shortcuts Corner

• Question about creating a shortcut to dynamically adjust sleep schedules based on bedtime routine. Plus, adorable dogs!

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard

Contact iOS Today at iOSToday@twit.tv.

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• Elon Musk's Business Empire Scores Benefits Under Trump Shake-Up
• Trump plans to nominate Brian Quintenz, a16z Crypto's head of policy to lead the CFTC
• Annual letter: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says TV has overtaken mobile as the "primary device for YouTube viewing in the US", indicating YouTube is "the new TV"
• Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US
• FYI related: Court Unplugs AI Fair Use Defense, But Context Is Key
• "Torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn't feel right": Meta emails unsealed
• How Sam Altman outflanked Elon Musk to win over Donald Trump, including by telling Trump in a phone call that the tech industry will achieve AGI during his term
• Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition "Atrophied and Unprepared"
• The Strategy Behind Musk's $97 Billion Bid for OpenAI
• 'Doomers' Review: Hunkered Down, Debating the Peril and Promise of A.I.
• 25 Years of The Sims Turning Players Into Gods - The New York Times
• WikiTok
• BuzzFeed wants to fight AI-driven social media with a platform of its own
• Tesla sales dropped 60% in Germany
  

Hosts: Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Mikah Sargent

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Patch Tuesday has arrived and Windows 11 23H2/24H2 gets those preview updates we talked about two weeks ago: Taskbar preview improvements, Windows Studio Effects on taskbar, File Explorer improvements, Mouse improvements, Time Zone changes without admin privileges, OneDrive continuity (23H2 only), Windows Share improvements (23H2 only), new keyboard shortcut for Magnifier. While Windows 10 gets the new Outlook, you lucky dogs!

Windows

• Beta (yesterday) - Beta/Dev window is open, Beta will move to 24H2 soon, this new build was for 23H2, new Paint app
• MIDI IS BACK BABY! MIDI Services 2.0 now in public preview
• Photos app OCR capabilities are back - feature was in testing but disabled in November, supports 160 languages
• HoloLens is finally dead: Microsoft partners with tech bro to offload US Army contract

AI/Dev

• Microsoft schedules Build 2025 for May 19-22. And then Google schedules I/O 2025 for May 20-21
• Elon Musk and investors supposedly make bid for OpenAI - hilarity ensues
• OpenAI is working on its own AI chip because everyone else is
• OpenAI is working on its own AI chip because everyone else is
• You don't have to sign in to OpenAI to use ChatGPT Search now
• Google Gemini 2.0 family is now (mostly) generally available
• GitHub Copilot is getting agentic features this year
• Remember the so-called Windows Copilot Runtime? It's finally happening. Paul noticed that the Windows App SDK 1.7 Experimental 3 release finally had WCR bits, was quietly released last week
• Coding hands-on: Building text rewrite and summarize requires just a few lines of code

More Earnings/Corporate

• Qualcomm - $11.7 billion in revenues, up 17 percent
• It's over! Arm Holdings drops Qualcomm complaint, will not terminate license
• Amazon: $188 billion in revenues, up 9.5 percent - AWS was $29 billion in revenues, up 16 percent. Amazon to spend $75 billion this fiscal year on AI infrastructure build-out, similar to MSFT, that figure was $28 billion in the previous quarter
• Here comes Conversational Alexa - Amazon devices and services event February 26
• Sonos continues its downward spiral - Before earnings, restructuring and layoffs

Xbox

• Good news/bad news on Xbox console sales - Better than expected, honestly
• Candy Crush Solitaire is first new King game under Xbox - Perfect King/Microsoft mashup

Tips and Picks

• Tip of the week: A few steps forward (and back) for the 2025 online accounts push
• Tip of the week #2: Get the Bill Gates book Source Code
• App pick of the week: Notion is nearly perfect
• RunAs Radio this week: Upgrading to Windows Server 2025 with Robert Smit
• Brown liquor pick of the week: Mackmyra Brukswhisky

Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent

Download or subscribe to Windows Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly

Check out Paul's blog at thurrott.com

The Windows Weekly theme music is courtesy of Carl Franklin.

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On Hands-On Tech, host Mikah Sargent addresses a listener's concern about their Apple devices seemingly listening to conversations in their office and offers a few way to disable this functionality.

Don't forget to send in your questions for Mikah to answer during the show! hot@twit.tv

Host: Mikah Sargent

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In this episode of Tech News Weekly, Mikah Sargent and CNET's Abrar Al-Heeti talk the latest developments in self-driving tech, Sonos' work on a new streaming box, an AI-assisted Beatles song winning a Grammy, and the current state of Meta's Quest platform according to developers.

- Uber is expanding its partnership with Waymo, allowing people in Austin to summon a Waymo robo-taxi through the Uber app. Abrar shares her experiences with self-driving cars and discusses the evolving relationship between Uber and Waymo.

- Sonos is reportedly working on a new streaming box codenamed "Pinewood," which includes an HDMI switch to address inconsistencies in smart TV firmware and software. The device is expected to cost between $200 and $400, and it aims to provide a full-featured streaming sound setup.

- An AI-assisted Beatles track, "Now and Then," won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance, sparking conversations about the role of AI in music and art. The US Copyright Office has stated that AI tools used to assist in the creative process don't undermine the copyright of the work.

- Developers are struggling with declining sales and visibility on the Meta Quest app store, despite record revenue for Meta Reality Labs. Meta's focus on its own Horizon Worlds app seems to be at the expense of traditional VR games. Some developers find it more profitable to sell on other platforms like Steam and PlayStation VR.

Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti

Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly.

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