It's the holidays! This week, we are joined by producer Anthony and our old pal Ant Pruitt to celebrate and discuss a wide variety of topics, from first space memories to our favorite space toys to what spaceflight means to each of us. It's a warm "family reunion" you won't want to miss! Join us for some holiday cheer, and Tariq's "Tiny Tim" moment...
Headlines:
• NASA's Parker Solar Probe to make its closest approach to the sun on Christmas Eve 2024, flying within 3.8 million miles and withstanding temperatures up to 2,500°F to study the sun's behavior and dynamics
• Christmas and Hanukkah to be celebrated on the same day in 2024, with astronauts on the ISS enjoying the holidays and connecting with their families on Earth, continuing a 50-plus year tradition
• A potential partial shutdown is looming for the U.S. government, which could impact NASA and limit public outreach during the Parker Solar Probe's close approach to the sun
Main Topic - Space Memories and Space Toys:
First Space Memories:
• Tariq recalls building paper rockets with his mother and launching them on a friend's farm
• Ant shares his first space memories from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and the Challenger disaster
• Anthony mentions playing with Lego space sets sent by his aunt from Denmark
• Rod remembers listening to a Gemini mission on the radio at the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra lounge where his father worked and being captivated by Apollo 8's mission to orbit the moon and reading of Genesis on December 24, 1968
Favorite Space Toys:
• Rod shares memories of his ca. 1965 Big Loo Moon Robot and Major Matt Mason action figures, discussing the evolution of space toys in the 1960s
• Tariq reminisces about his Transformers Omega Supreme toy and a paper tab and slot space shuttle and carrier aircraft model
• Ant recalls his Transformers Skywarp toy and the appeal of its counterpart, Thundercracker
• Anthony talks about playing the video game Escape Velocity on his family's iMac computer
• The group discusses the joys and challenges of building model rockets, with Rod and Tariq sharing stories of their experiences
• Tariq shows off his new pre-built Estes space shuttle model rocket, comparing it to the more challenging build-it-yourself kits
The Importance of Space Exploration:
• Ant questions the allocation of resources for space exploration while critical issues on Earth remain unaddressed
• Rod counters by highlighting the technological, educational, and inspirational benefits of space programs, as well as the economic returns on investment, and the cultural importance of exploration
• The group discusses the potential impact of SpaceX's Starlink satellite constellation on global connectivity and the debate surrounding its sustainability and alternatives
• Rod emphasizes the distinction between Elon Musk's ambitious Mars colonization plans and NASA's more measured approach to exploration
• The TWiS crew wishes everyone a happy holiday and Merry Christmas
Hosts: Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik
Guests: Ant Pruitt and Anthony Nielsen
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1:31:05
This Week in Google 779: White Friend in a Box
Amazon Paid Almost $1 Billion for Twitch in 2014. It's Still Losing Money.
Craig Newmark stops by
Galaxy fold unboxing
We know almost everything about the Google Pixel 9 series already
A Few Blockbuster Podcasts Are Making All the Money
Friend in a box
US border agents must get warrant before cell phone searches, federal court rules
The gymnastics world braces for an AI future
NASA will shut down NASA TV on cable to focus on NASA+
W3C Slams Google U-turn on Third-Party Cookie Removal
Senate passes the Kids Online Safety Act
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L
Follow Ant's ZDNET stuff
Scots brat
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, and Ant Pruitt
Guest: Craig Newmark
Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.
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Sponsors:
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2:29:45
This Week in Google 744: Giant Red Ties
Federal government reaches deal with Google on Online News Act
Google DeepMind researchers use AI tool to find 2mn new materials
Some Pixel 8 Pro displays have bumps under the glass
Reflecting on 18 years at Google
Google's new geothermal energy project is up and running
AWS Unveils Next Generation AWS-Designed Chips
Amazon Introduces Q, an A.I. Chatbot for Companies
Does Black Friday and Cyber Monday Matter?
Adobe's $20 Billion Purchase of Figma Would Harm Innovation, U.K. Regulator Provisionally Finds
Elon goes full Pizzagate. How does this end?
A new low in manels
Sports Illustrated Published Articles by Fake, AI-Generated Writers
OpenAI Made an AI Breakthrough Before Altman Firing, Stoking Excitement and Concern
Hugging Face CEO on What Comes After Transformers
Hinton vs LeCun vs Ng vs Tegmark vs O
Anthony Levandowski Reboots Church of Artificial Intelligence
Unauthorized "David Attenborough" AI clone narrates developer's life, goes viral
Google Slides getting built-in presentation recording tool
Google Will Start Deleting Old Accounts This Week. Here's How to Save Your Google Account
Google's .meme domain is here to serve your wackiest websites
Some Google Drive for Desktop users are missing months of files
Picks of the week
(Paris) The 2000 cinematic masterpiece Chicken Run
(Paris) Pentiment
(Jeff) Jezebel to Be Resurrected by Paste Magazine
(Jeff) After 151 years, Popular Science will no longer offer a magazine
(Ant) City Nerd on YouTube
(Jason) No Ads in Albania, Ethiopia and Myanmar
Hosts: Jason Howell, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt
Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.
Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit
Sponsors:
INFO.ACILEARNING.COM/TWIT code SN100
mylio.com/twit
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2:21:10
Security Now 950: Leo Turns 67
Adobe Flash Player Updater is (still) desperately trying to update
Veracrypt password security
Firefox moves to 120 with a bunch of very nice new features
Do-Not-Track is back on track
"ownCloud" -or- "PwnCloud" ?
CrushFTP Critical Vulnerability
Bypassing fingerprint authentication
ApacheMQ
TransUnion & Experian both hacked
Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-950-Notes.pdf
Hosts: Steve Gibson and Ant Pruitt
Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.
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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.
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2:12:07
This Week in Google 743: Competitive Pantomime
From King to Exile to King Again: The Inside Story of Sam Altman's Whiplash Week
OpenAI's Misalignment and Microsoft's Gain – Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Ilya Sutskever on X: "I deeply regret my participation in the board's actions. I never intended to harm OpenAI. I love everything we've built together and I will do everything I can to reunite the company."
Altman Argued With OpenAI Board Member Toner Before Ouster
Microsoft exits OpenAI drama with 'one of best possible outcomes'
Dear Elon Musk, here are five things you might want to consider about AGI
DeepMind releases new music model
Google is embedding inaudible watermarks right into its AI generated music
Introducing Stable Video Diffusion — Stability AI
Google Meet can now detect when you physically raise your hand
Google Chrome will limit ad blockers starting June 2024
Google Maps' new look may frustrate Calif. drivers as Thanksgiving travel begins
Google will work with Apple on implementing RCS on iPhone
Anthropic Introduces Claude 2.1 With 200K Context Window
Sarah Silverman Hits Stumbling Block in AI Lawsuit Against Meta
Congrats To Elon Musk: I Didn't Think You Had It In You To File A Lawsuit This Stupid. But, You Crazy Bastard, You Did It!
What Spotify's New Royalty Model Really Means
MC HAMMER on X: "Salute and congratulations to the 710 plus @OpenAI team members who gave an unparalleled demonstration of loyalty, love and commitment to @sama and @gdb in these perilous times it was a thing of beauty to witness. Salute
Parents Sue Gaming Companies Over 'Video Game Addiction', Because That's Easier Than Parenting
Picks:
Paris - a beautiful 2 minutes in live caller history. Stephen A. Smith vs a guy who tries to ask about Cars
Paris - And.... from the mind that brought you basement eel guy: TikTok tunnel girl
Jeff - No evidence screen time is negative for children's cognitive development and well-being: Oxford Study
Ant - Great Review From Mr Sargent and Mr Nielsen - Shot on iPhone 15
Ant - LumaFusion Update Includes Editing on SSD
Ant - Bittersweet and Grateful
Hosts: Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Paris Martineau, and Ant Pruitt
Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.
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Photoshop, Lightroom, Android, Google, and more. Check out the feed of Ant Pruitt as he discusses all things photography, Android, tech giants, and the latest in tech news.