Hands-On Tech 291: Internet Cookies

Jacob Ward shows the show this week! Jensen Huang was first reported as a target in a Chinese spy plot and has since resigned from Nvidia following numerous reported extramarital affairs! Hands-on with Apple's new touchscreen MacBook Pro. And are wearable devices using your data to train AI models? Jacob talks about Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang admitting to an affair with Alice Huang, a Megaspeed executive whose company bought nearly $5 billion in Nvidia chips and who was reportedly flagged in a US intelligence memo as a suspected Chinese asset. Nvidia also announced that Huang is stepping down, with CFO Colette Kress taking over as interim CEO, amid a missing succession plan, a Bernstein downgrade, and reports of a second affair. Jacob and Mikah discuss the board's reported concern over Huang's alleged dishonesty and the regulatory scrutiny awaiting his successor. ZDNet's Kyle Kucharski joins the show to share his review of Apple's touchscreen MacBook Pro, calling it still very much a MacBook, with a stunning OLED display, great battery life, and excellent speakers. And Mikah looks at a year-long Science investigation of 57 consumer EEG companies that found several are training AI "brain foundation models" on customers' brainwave data, often without clear disclosure. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Jacob Ward Guest: Kyle Kucharski Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: tanium.com/mythos-twit joindeleteme.com/twit-biz bitwarden.com/twit

Which AI model should you use, and how much effort should it put in? Using Claude as the example, Mikah Sargent explains its four model families, Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, and Fable, and its five effort levels, and shows that ChatGPT and Gemini have the same two dials. He explains what an AI model's "thinking" actually is and what changes when you switch models or turn up the effort. He compares an easy job on a light setup and a heavy one, tests a logic puzzle with one right answer at two effort levels, and explains why the top setting isn't automatically the best one. Then he shares a way to choose that works in any chatbot. Send your AI questions to [email protected] Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On AI at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-ai Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: joindeleteme.com/twit-biz

As iOS Today wraps its remarkable 828-episode run, the hosts reveal the essential apps and smart home tweaks that have powered their digital lives and productivity. Discover the personal tech picks that shaped the show's legacy. Celebrating iOS Today's legacy and its final palindrome episode Drafts and OmniFocus: deep dive into top productivity winners Fantastical and Due: calendar and reminder essentials for daily organization CARROT and Crouton: the ultimate weather and recipe app picks Fastmail and Home Assistant: privacy-focused email, next-level smart home automation PCalc, Dice, and Dark Noise: utility favorites for calculation and focus News: iOS 27.3 beta highlights redesigned Health app and new features Feedback: Focus modes and app management tips using iOS and iMazing Shortcuts Corner: automating masked Fastmail emails and health data charting App Caps: Elgato Stream Deck XL and Pedal supercharge Mac productivity Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at [email protected]. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

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In this episode of Hands-On Tech, Mikah answers a question from Bruce, who has just moved into a new home with an ASUS AX6600 XT8 AiMesh system on wired Ethernet backhaul plus two pre-installed Araknis access points, and wants to know how to combine them under a single Wi-Fi network name and manage device handoff between the two brands, or whether switching the ASUS nodes to access point mode would be the better approach. Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On Tech at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-tech Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: NetSuite.AI/HOT

Google's new policy for the use of its AI products with K-12 accounts. A SpaceX phone service? The aftermath of the largest crypto theft at Binance. And how the "agentic web" is being welcomed by some websites. Google is switching off its AI tools for K-12 accounts unless schools opt in, but schools that opt out will lose access to Google Search. A report from The Washington Post shows that Elon Musk is seeking a way for network access to start a phone service with SpaceX and is reportedly pursuing EchoStar, Boost Mobile's parent company, after being rejected by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Taking a look at how Binance survived the biggest crypto theft on record, about $6.3 billion, which its incident report traces to a month-long North Korean campaign that included a tampered Homebrew installer and a fake job interview. And MIT Technology Review took a look at the "agentic web," showing AI agents from Meta, OpenAI, and Anthropic being welcomed by some sites and blocked by others, such as Amazon shutting out Meta's Muse. Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Abrar Al-Heeti Download or subscribe to Tech News Weekly at https://twit.tv/shows/tech-news-weekly. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: trustedtech.team/twit framer.com/tnw tanium.com/mythos-twit

The iPhone Duo is changing how apps, productivity, and even daily habits fit in your hand. Get a firsthand look at which apps are ready to transform with Apple's newest foldable, and what features might make you rethink your tech routine. Join the conversation on cutting-edge folding devices and where form meets function. iPhone Duo shipping delays and ordering frustrations shared Apple support guides highlight iPhone Duo poses and folding features Discussion of Duo productivity boosts: Split View, multitasking, app pairing Early third-party Duo-optimized apps showcased, major developers lag behind Fantastical, Things 3, OmniFocus, and other productivity apps get Duo upgrades Concerns about durability, foldables in daily life, and preciousness of new Duo Standout Duo apps: NYT Cooking, Sky Guide, Wakeout!, TypeDraw, Fineliner Skeuomorphic design returns: vinyl, cassette, and Polaroid-style apps for Duo News: iOS 27.2 update with Siri AI improvements and new TV/Music app changes. Plus, unoptimized apps on Duo display awkwardly Feedback: Private podcast RSS feeds and tvOS 27 compatibility issues addressed Shortcuts Corner: iPhone Duo adds automation triggers for open/close actions App Caps: Tiny Computers museum app and 3D printing slicer tools Hosts: Mikah Sargent and Rosemary Orchard Contact iOS Today at [email protected]. Download or subscribe to iOS Today at https://twit.tv/shows/ios-today Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord.

Chatbots have a reputation for telling you what you want to hear. Mikah Sargent tests that by telling ChatGPT it's wrong when it's right. Then he tells one made-up argument twice, with the same facts and only the teller changed, and pushes back on the verdict. He explains what researchers call sycophancy, one way training can encourage the habit, and why it can be easy to miss. Then he shares four habits for questioning the answer. Send your AI questions to [email protected] Host: Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Hands-On AI at https://twit.tv/shows/hands-on-ai Want access to the ad-free audio and video and exclusive features? Become a member of Club TWiT today! https://twit.tv/clubtwit Club TWiT members can discuss this episode and leave feedback in the Club TWiT Discord. Sponsor: ZipRecruiter.com/twit

Microsoft's business unit shuffle and shrouded AI spending spark a sharp conversation on whether shareholders and users can trust what's hidden behind new financial reports. Also, Start11 v3 adds Start widgets and menu sharing, plus Taskbar Islands, app groups, and more. Finally, LM Studio is the obvious place to start with local AI, and it works on any PC (not just an RTX Spark). Just be sure to get the right app.Microsoft Earnings Microsoft earned a net income of 36.6 billion on revenues of $92.3 billion in the quarter ending September 30, 2026 Those are both double-digit gains over the year-ago quarter, or 32 percent and 19 percent growth, respectively, year-over-year (YOY) We were promised more transparency, but what we got is a mixed bag Microsoft is too complicated a business for only two top-level business segments Windows revenues from PC makers down 27 percent (!) XBOX gets a hard revenue number, and it's not bad Microsoft spent $45.2 billion on capex (AI) expenses, up 30 percent - this is not the real number - and it will get bigger No paid Copilot numbers, weird Microsoft "earned" $10 billion in revenue from OpenAI - OpenAI still owes Microsoft money - MS stake in OpenAI is down; no one said why Windows We talked about this last week, but I now have two sources at Microsoft confirming that Microsoft's AI strategy is the reason it's fixing Windows 11 Microsoft discusses its work to make Windows 11 fit in 8 GB of RAM Microsoft Edge is the first Windows browser to support accelerated app launches Experimental and Experimental 26H1 get new inline actions for the new Windows Search Hardware It's been weird watching other reviewers try to figure out RTX Spark, but this much is clear: This platform is not ready Baby steps: A few minor victories after weeks of defeats More earnings AMD up 45 percent to $13.4 billion Intel up 21 percent to $16.5 billion Google/Alphabet up 25 percent to $127.6 billion Apple up 12 percent to $114.5 billion Amazon up 12 percent to $202 billion AI/dev Three and a half years after it should have happened, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI agree to let sites opt out of scraping OpenAI to unify chat and Work but not Codex Google says schools that disable AI will lose access to Google Search - They're integrated. It's nice to see Google channeling Microsoft again .NET Conf is next week, and Microsoft just posted the schedule XBOX and gaming There was a bit of drama when XBOX COO left after only a few months on the job, and now there's more New titles coming to Game Pass in early November The next Elder Scrolls game is ES VI Sentinel GTA VI to rival Call of Duty - in the amount of disk space it requires Tips and picks App pick of the week: Start11 v3 App pick of the week #2: LM Studio RunAs Radio this week: PowerShell 7.7 and DSC 3.3 with Jason Helmick Brown liquor pick of the week: Caol Ila 12 *Thumbnail courtesy of Joe Esposito in Club TWiT These show notes have been truncated due to length. For the full show notes, visit https://twit.tv/shows/windows-weekly/episodes/1008 Hosts: Paul Thurrott, Richard Campbell, and Mikah Sargent Sponsors: helixsleep.com/windows originhq.com/windowsweekly trustedtech.team/twit canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT

What happens when a 27-year-old gets handed the keys to completely refactor nearly all of Cisco's code? This week's episode dives into tech's strangest management bets and the friction brewing inside one of the industry's giants. Cisco gives a 27-year old the task of recoding 98% of their software with AI. A serious but not earth shaking vulnerability found in PXE booting. The largest ($6.3 BILLION) financial heist in history (with crypto). 710 Polymarket gambling wallets emptied of $2.7 million. A new robots.txt control for AI bots, and agreement to obey it. Google generates haiku from the first orbital AI. From our listeners: Does stealth updating make sense, how to move web servers off the Internet, books don't contain knowledge, a small company attacked by powerful AI, how would an "AI kill switch" be implemented. Another new and worrisome application of reverse-engineering AI Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1103-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Mikah Sargent Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: hoxhunt.com/securitynow threatlocker.com/twit trustedtech.team/twit bitwarden.com/twit