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No one goes to Hank's for his spreadsheets. They go for a darn good pizza. Lately, though, the shop's been quiet, so Hank decides to bring back the $1 slice. He asks copilot in Microsoft Excel to look at his sales and costs and help him see if he can afford it. Copilot shows Hank where the money's going and which little extras make the dollar slice work. Now Hanks has a line out the door. Hank makes the pizza, Copilot handles the spreadsheets. Learn more@m365copilot.com Work Valve's steam machine has
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finally made its way into the hands of the press, and alongside the first wave of reviews, we now know the PC console hybrid's price. We also know that it can't de wrinkle your clothes, which is a feature I look for in my Steam Machine. I'm James Strive, this is TechLinked, and unfortunately the Steam Machine costs more than we had hoped. It starts at $1,049 for the 512 gigabyte model, while the 2 terabyte version comes in at 1349, with both configurations costing $79 more. And if you want a damn Steam controller to come with it, damn it. The machine releases June 30th with pre orders beginning June 25th. However, Valve is using a pre order raffle system where users sign up before orders open and are chosen at random to actually complete their purchase. Valve itself admits the Gabe Cube costs significantly more than originally envisioned. Ya duh. And that launch supply is lower than expected. That stings even more when performance comparisons suggest a system delivering roughly PS5 class gaming at nearly twice the price and also years in the future from when that came out.
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James, deep breaths, deep breaths.
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This is just, you know, you were the chosen one kind of moment.
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Yeah.
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Ultimately, the critical consensus seems to be that this is a pricey cubi. Still, with SteamOS central to the console, like PC's identity, it looks good for PC gamers trying to quit using Windows. Steam might be offering the nicotine patch of operating systems here for over $1,000. But maybe not. Valve has confirmed that Starting with the SteamOS 3.8 release, it will let users their own Steam Machine style desktops with more supported PC parts than ever before. SteamOS can already be installed on your hardware today, but it continues to get updates that improve its compatibility. And apparently Support for Nvidia GPUs is in the works. Some of you may have heard of them. Meanwhile, on the performance side of things, while we knew AMD's FSR4 upscaling was coming to a wider range of RDNA GPUs. Apparently, it's already being tested for the Steam Machine ahead of the queue. Of course, FSR support would likely mean a significant boost to the machine's image quality and frame rates. If you need more silver linings in the disappointing Steam Machine pricing news Playbook, a developer has demoed the Steam controllers Rumble motors being used to scoot the controller across the desk like a little RC car. So if you get the Steam Machine bundled with a controller, huh, Double the fun. Great value.
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Now spend $400 extra on Nintendo or
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this Vibrate this the Pew Research center just published a study showing that AI adoption has hit an all time high, while sentiment around the technology has hit an all time low. The study found that half of US adults now use AI chatbots, which is up from just 1/3 in 2024. And who can blame them when AI is increasingly evading people's feeds, as shown in another study by kapwing. Evidently almost 60% of the TikTok videos shown to new users are AI slop, with certain categories like kids cartoons being way worse offenders at 97%. But who cares about kids? Kapwing also noted that feed slopification gets worse the further you scroll. They lull you into a sense of safety with makeup tutorials and looks maxing content, and once your brain is fully cooked, they drown you in Fruit Love Island.
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And you love it.
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Even Microsoft saty Nadella, much like a bag of trash demonstrating how much beauty there is in the world, has detected that the winds have shifted on public perception of this tech, voicing his concerns on the dangers of AI monopolies. Luckily, you don't need to be concerned about our sponsor Micro Center.
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June is Micro Center's laptop savings event, so you better go check out the amazing laptop pricing they got going on. You can save 900 buckaronis on this HP Slim 16 incher that comes with a 5070 and 32 gigs of DDR5 RAM. That's a lot of savings. But that's not all the cool news I've got Austin, Texas. Not only are all the Californians moving into your city, but so is Micro Center. Sign up for a free 128 gig flash drive at the link below and redeem it when the store opens later this year. Meanwhile, Columbus, Ohio, birthplace of Guy Fieri. Your Micro center is getting a big old remodel and you can also sign up for a free 128 gig flash drive there. Everybody's getting flash drives, even your mom. Tell her to sign up and tell her to also stay up to date on all things Micro center and tech related using Micro Center News. Check out all of that stuff I talked about at the links in the description.
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The Quick bits don't care about wrinkled shirts. As soon as they get going, their clothes fly right off anyway. That's right, we're retconning things. The Canon is updated. Quick bits are nudists. Microsoft's most recent Patch Tuesday update has evidently caused a ton of problems, and in equally unsurprising news, we Water is wet. One thing that's unique about this Patch Tuesday is that the bugs have impacted all supported Windows versions, not just the masochists who upgraded to Windows 11. Users have reported BitLocker lockouts, Microsoft Office apps crashing, and files in the Recycle bin displaying incorrect names. Much like my college RA said after our dorm was fumigated, then condemned, it seems that some of those bugs were load bearing what the is happening? Going to a bad university okay, Chrome is testing an Ask Gemini button that pops up whenever you highlight any text in the browser. The feature, which is currently only in Chrome's experimental Canary build, is meant to make asking Gemini about whatever you're reading easier by automatically opening the Gemini side panel and starting an AI chat, finally eliminating the cumbersome task of copying and pasting text. Unsurprisingly, people hate it as much as every other helpful widget that gets between them and their work, a lesson the tech industry seems to have consistently refused to learn, all the way back to Clippy. Shiny Hunters, the prolific hacking group just leaked from 45 gigabytes of surveillance data collected by James Dolan, prolific creep and owner of Madison Square Garden. The database of surveillance data includes facial recognition data tied to personal records for 26 million MSG visitors, including their names, addresses, credit scores, and Social Security numbers. The dump came after Dolan refused to pay Shiny Hunter's ransom, and unfortunately for him, that's triggered a $5 million class action lawsuit accusing MSG of negligence. But fortunately for him, he pisses $5 million. Who cares? Google is investing 75 million clams into Film Studio A24 to build AI filmmaking tools through Google's AI research division, DeepMind. Apparently, they're aiming to plug generative AI into production workflows rather than replace filmmakers. The company stressed that the deal is about collaboration and tools, not giving Google access to A24's content for training its own AI models. You're gonna have to find your own backroom slop somewhere else, though. Backroom slop seems kinda like something you don't wanna Google. You better not ruin A24 Google and China's Ministry of State Security has accused foreign intelligence agencies of using spy turtles and spy fish to steal sensitive marine data, claiming in a post on WeChat that an unseen covert war of espionage is quietly unfolding beneath the surface.
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I love spy turtles.
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While this sounds like the plot of a straight to DVD National Treasure sequel that I bought at a gas station in Minneapolis in in 2007, it might not be as crazy as it sounds. Evidently there's a pattern of espionage agencies using similar tactics. Like in 2023 when Russia used spy dolphins to counter enemy divers in Crimea. Or in 2019 when a beluga was caught collecting intel off the coast of Norway. Or in 2003 when a young, adventurous clownfish stole the hearts of children all over the world.
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Oh, come on.
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A beluga like I'll steal your heart if you don't come back here on Wednesday for more techniques. Now I have to steam some of my shirts and I am also tired of standing here looking at that naked quick bits prancing around. Cover your ass quick bits. No one wants to see your backroom slope.
Episode: Steam Machine, SteamOS, Love-Hate Relationship With AI + more!
Date: June 23, 2026
Host: Linus Media Group (Main Host: James Strive)
In this lively episode, the TechLinked crew covers Valve’s long-awaited (and controversial) Steam Machine release, dives into the evolving role of SteamOS for PC gaming, unpacks a major shift in public sentiment around AI, and explores a range of quirky tech headlines—including the bizarre reveal of “spy turtles” in China. The tone is humorous, irreverent, and highly engaging, providing sharp insights while keeping the banter fast-paced.
Pricing Shock
Critical Reception
SteamOS and Futureproofing
Fun Hardware Moment
Pew Study Findings
AI Flood in Social Feeds
Cultural Implications & Industry Response
On Steam Machine’s Pricing:
“Valve itself admits the Gabe Cube costs significantly more than originally envisioned. Ya duh.” — James Strive [01:09]
On AI Feed Saturation:
“They lull you into a sense of safety with makeup tutorials and looks maxing content, and once your brain is fully cooked, they drown you in Fruit Love Island.” — James Strive [03:17]
On Chrome’s “Helpful” Features:
“People hate it as much as every other helpful widget that gets between them and their work, a lesson the tech industry seems to have consistently refused to learn, all the way back to Clippy.” — James Strive [05:16]
On Spy Turtles:
“...an unseen covert war of espionage is quietly unfolding beneath the surface.” — James Strive (quoting China's Ministry of State Security) [07:26]
Pop Culture Callback:
“Or in 2003 when a young, adventurous clownfish stole the hearts of children all over the world.” — James Strive (a “Finding Nemo” joke) [07:55]
The episode captures TechLinked’s signature mix of sarcasm and insightful commentary—showcasing skepticism and excitement alike for the latest tech news. Listeners get both the hard facts and the flavor of the hosts’ pop-culture edge and wry humor. If you’re curious about the new Steam Machine, changing tides in AI, or just want to hear about spy turtles and backroom slop, this episode is a must-listen.