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Stolendroids Podcast

Ill Winds Blow

·1 hr·5 clips
A missed turn on a printed MapQuest sheet led to a six-hour search for a birthday party in the Utah canyons.
The episode opens with casual banter about 'ill winds' and sushi, then transitions into tech news. The hosts explore Google Maps' new plus code system, designed for areas without formal addresses, illustrated by a personal story about mapping a campsite in Goblin Valley, Utah. They discuss navigation evolution, comparing past reliance on printed MapQuest directions to modern convenience. Next, they review Fitbit's new Versa and Ace smartwatches, criticizing the Versa for lacking built-in GPS and looking cheap, and questioning the Ace's marketing to kids. A significant segment critiques Fitbit's 'female health tracking' feature as reductive and sexist, sparking a broader conversation on gendered marketing in tech. The episode shifts to cybersecurity, covering AMD's 13 newly discovered chip vulnerabilities similar to Spectre, and the Trump administration's blockage of Broadcom's acquisition of Qualcomm over national security concerns. The hosts then dive into the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal, detailing how the app 'This Is Your Digital Life' harvested data from 50 million users for psychological profiling used in political campaigns. They urge listeners to audit their Facebook app permissions, highlighting privacy risks. Other topics include a study debunking links between violent video games and aggression, Strava's heat map privacy issues revealing sensitive locations, and YouTube Kids promoting conspiracy theories. The episode touches on Phantom Secure selling encrypted phones to drug cartels, TSA searches of electronic devices, and an Equifax executive charged with insider trading. It concludes with 'favorites' segment recommendations, including a YouTube video analyzing Star Wars combat logic in 'The Last Jedi' and the new Avengers: Infinity War trailer.

As heard by us

A loose detour from cucumber sushi to CPU vulnerabilities and Thanos hype.

Ill Winds Blow opens with a cold-wind microphone gag, then drifts through cucumber sushi in Steamboat Springs, AMD vulnerabilities, and the political fight around Qualcomm and Broadcom.

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Why you'd press play

You can drift from an ill-wind mic joke into cucumber sushi, AMD vulnerabilities, and a Thanos-heavy trailer without leaving the hangout.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
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