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Welcome aboard TechLink Flight 330 with nonstop service from the chip shortage to whatever insane new robot is doing martial arts. Fasten your seatbelts, stow your hot takes, and prepare for a rapid descent into tech news. Love you. Microsoft has confirmed major improvements are coming to Windows 11 search after years of complaints and anguish gnashing of teeth, search wasn't explicitly part of Microsoft's recent Windows 11 overhaul announcement, but after users took to Twitter to point out how broken and cluttered it still is. Referencing the meme of how searching Terminal is a crapshoot between finding the actual terminal and the critically reviled 2018 neo noir thriller Terminal, which you have on your PC for some reason. Or you don't, and Edge thinks that's what you want. Windows shell product head Tali Roth confirmed that search fixes are also in the works. She said a lot of improvements are coming with the goal of making search simpler and less distracting, including making installed apps appear instantly, can keeping core system tools always discoverable, and ranking local files higher than web suggestions truly revolutionary. Microsoft also says that they're going to plague their own OS with progressive web apps less and move more towards building more 100% native Windows 11 apps. Rudy Hoin, a partner architect at Microsoft, announced he's hiring for the team that's going to do this and confirmed the apps will be 100% native, since even flagship tools like Clipchamp are currently web apps. Don't even get me started on teams. This all sounds great, but Microsoft might want to figure out how to ship a working update first, because their last update yet again had to be pulled after it somehow shipped without all of its files. Real dog ate my homework energy happening over there at Windows. It was right here. The White House launched an app last Friday, sparking a massive viral panic over the weekend. The controversy was triggered when a researcher decompiled the code and put out a blog post reporting that there was a third party GPS tracking pipeline baked into the app, configured to pull your location every four and a half minutes, which wouldn't seem that weird for an app that asks location permission. But why does the Lighthouse app need that? Initial reports took the findings at face value, with headlines claiming the app was actively tracking users exactly locations and syncing them to a third party server. But follow up analysis by multiple independent developers confirmed the GPS code is dormant and was never actually invoked. Summoned if you will, the app was positioned in a White House blog post as a direct line to the administration, delivering unparalleled access to Trump administration live streams, press releases, his private discord. I don't know, it's mostly just kind of an unnecessary portal that opens external websites. Android Authority described the Social tab as buggy with constant stuttering, and it includes a button to text President Trump that auto populates the chat with Greatest president Ever before trying to sign you up for a marketing blast. In case you weren't sure what was going on here, White House Communications director Steven Chung encouraged users to download it, saying users would find some little Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the app. If you find them all, you'll get to pre order a framed picture of the Trump phone. Cause that's all it's gonna be is a picture. Swift, Apple's coding language, can now officially be used to build Android apps, which is actually kind of a bigger deal than you might think. The Swift 6.3 update includes the first stable version of a toolkit that lets developers write Android apps using the same language they've been using to make iPhone apps for over a decade. This update was actually part of a community effort. A dedicated Android work group spent about a year getting it from an early preview to an official release. Now this doesn't mean Android is suddenly running on Apple code or anything. Android apps are still mostly built in Google's preferred languages, Kotlin and Java, but Swift now includes built in translator tools that let devs drop chunks of their existing iPhone app code into an Android project without rewriting everything from scratch. Gandalf Voice welcome iPhone developers. Let me tell you of a language that was in use before you even learned to touch type. The toolkit is mostly useful for sharing the backend logic between platforms. So if you're a developer who already built something for iPhone and wants it on Android too, this update just saved you a lot of busy work. And if all of that cross platform coding has your wrists crying for help, maybe check out our sponsor Delta Hub. If you use a mouse for hours a day, your wrist is taking a beating. Well, the Carpio Wrist Rest is designed with input from medical experts to shift pressure off your wrist and onto the tougher parts of your forearm, the parts that can actually handle it. And it doesn't just sit there. Patented PTFE Teflon feet. Let it glide with your hands so it never gets in the way no matter how you use them. Right hand, left hand mouse only. Mouse and keyboard combo, eh? They've got you covered. Grab a Delta hub Carpio Using our link in the description below, I'm pretty sure the quick bits have climbed out onto the wing and are ripping pieces off the plane. Can someone please tell the pilot we're gonna go down? GitHub Copilot got caught sneaking ads into developers code submissions because apparently they thought that was helpful writing code. Hmm. Do you need a vacuum? Microsoft's favorite slop child was quietly inserting promotional tips including plugs for a third party app called Raycast into pull request descriptions and over 11,000 were found with the exact same copy. GitHub's VP of Dev Relations confirmed the behavior and said they've disabled it, calling it quote icky. You know things are bad when your own platform gives you the ick. Sony, the company that literally invented the memory stick, just stopped accepting orders for the majority of its lineup of SDN CF Express memory cards in Japan, making them the global memory shortage's most ironic victim. They get a trophy. I think the suspension covers everything from high end tough branded cards down to basic models with no timeline for when they'll come back. Data centers are eating up so much memory that even the little cards photographers stick in their cameras are getting squeezed out. Sony's only comment was we'll monitor the situation, which is corpo speak for we have no idea what's going on. Please help. What are we supposed to do? Break into their office and be like, hey, it's okay, it'll be fine. Anime Play One of the biggest less than legal anime streaming apps in the Asia Pacific region just got completely dismantled by the Anti Piracy Coalition, otherwise known as Ace. The App had over 5 million users and was being run by a single guy out of Indonesia since 2020. When ACE tracked him down, he surrendered everything source code, servers, databases, basically his entire operation. Ace also seized 15 associated domains. So this was really more of a full scorched earth, take no prisoners take down against the service. And in one fell swoop, the Pirate Weebs quest for the one piece has suffered a major setback. I've never seen the show. Tell me if that's a valid reference. And researchers in South Korea have developed a wireless communication system that works 100 meters underground using magnetic fields instead of radio waves to punch through solid rock. Okay. They tested it in a limestone mine environment that's known for completely blocking traditional wireless signals, and it worked well enough for voice communication. The goal of the project is to improve the technology for rescue operations and mine safety, but they're already reportedly looking at shrinking it down for smartphones. Finally, we'll have better Internet for the mole people. They've been asking us. Hey, WI Fi sucks. Sorry. And those same mole people will use their better Internet to track you. Uh oh. If you don't come back on Wednesday for more tech news. Somehow that's related. Well. Oh. We've reached our destination. Please collect your opinions from the overhead bin and exit in an orderly fashion. What? We don't want them to comment the opinions.
This episode of TechLinked delves into recent news in tech and gaming culture — from much-needed improvements to Windows 11 search and a controversial new White House app, to Apple’s Swift language coming to Android, along with stories about supply chain woes, code-writing AIs misbehaving, major anime piracy take-downs, and underground communications tech.
[00:30–02:24]
"Real dog ate my homework energy happening over there at Windows. It was right here."
— Host [01:49]
[02:25–04:16]
"...you'll get to pre-order a framed picture of the Trump phone. Cause that's all it's gonna be is a picture."
— Host [04:09]
[04:17–05:48]
"Gandalf Voice: Welcome, iPhone developers. Let me tell you of a language that was in use before you even learned to touch type."
— Host [05:08]
[06:20–10:54]
[06:40]
"You know things are bad when your own platform gives you the ick."
— Host [07:07]
[07:19]
"...Sony's only comment was, 'We'll monitor the situation,' which is corpo speak for 'we have no idea what's going on. Please help.'"
— Host [07:56]
[08:16]
"...the Pirate Weebs quest for the one piece has suffered a major setback. I've never seen the show. Tell me if that's a valid reference."
— Host [08:54]
[09:18]
South Korean researchers create wireless comms tech using magnetic fields, working 100 meters underground (successful test in limestone mine). Goal: disaster rescue, but eyed for smartphone integration.
Memorable Quote:
"Finally, we'll have better Internet for the mole people. They've been asking us. 'Hey, Wi-Fi sucks. Sorry.'"
— Host [09:48]
On Windows Updates:
"Real dog ate my homework energy happening over there at Windows. It was right here." — Host [01:49]
White House App Easter Egg:
"...you'll get to pre-order a framed picture of the Trump phone. Cause that's all it's gonna be is a picture." — Host [04:09]
Swift on Android (Nerd Out):
"Gandalf Voice: Welcome, iPhone developers. Let me tell you of a language that was in use before you even learned to touch type." — Host [05:08]
GitHub Copilot Ads:
"You know things are bad when your own platform gives you the ick." — Host [07:07]
On Sony’s Supply Woes:
"...we'll monitor the situation, which is corpo speak for 'we have no idea what's going on. Please help.'" — Host [07:56]
Anime Piracy Takedown:
"...the Pirate Weebs quest for the one piece has suffered a major setback. I've never seen the show." — Host [08:54]
Underground Communications:
"Finally, we'll have better Internet for the mole people. They've been asking us: 'Hey, Wi-Fi sucks.' Sorry." — Host [09:48]
Fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek, filled with memes and playful skepticism. Host delivers quick-fire commentary with characteristic Linus Media Group wit, adding levity even to platform blunders and privacy scandals. Frequent riffs on corporate foibles and nerd culture references keep things light and engaging.
This summary covers all major discussion points, including memorable quips, giving both a clear chronology and context for listeners who missed the live episode.