Podcasts about vizio tvs

Longtime readers of this newsletter know that I'm a timelapse video freak. I love using my phone to create videos that see the world fly by at top speeds, with flowing clouds, having day turn night, shadows forming and disappearing, and of course, seeing people running around the world like speedy ants. There's rarely been an episode of PhotowalksTV that didn't have a timelapse section to it, and most of the recent ones have been created with my go-to, favorite timelapse app, the free Blackmagic Camera app, which is available for both Apple and Android devices.

This week, Paramount had record ratings for the Super Bowl, then things went south, fast. Nielsen Ratings Show Notes Super Bowl 2024 Was the Most-Watched Telecast of All Time, Reaching 123.7 Million Viewers Paramount+ problems highlight how unserious the idea of a streaming-only Super Bowl is Paramount Global to lay off 800 employees after record Super Bowl ad revenue and ratings | CNN Business Paramount+ to Remove Some International Originals (Exclusive) Paramount+ Culls Raft Of International Drama Originals Including 'The Burning Girls', 'One Night', 'The Killing Kind' & 'The Serial Killer's Wife' Comcast, Paramount Global Held Early Talks About a Peacock-Paramount+ Combination Paramount Global Stock Slides After Warren Buffett Chops Stake Apollo Distancing Orbit From National Amusements Buyout As The Pursuit Of Paramount Global Continues – The Dish Jon Stewart's ‘The Daily Show' Return Ratings Big For Comedy Central Jon Stewart Says Apple TV+ Canceled His Show Because 'They Didn't Want Me to Say Things That Might Get Me in Trouble' Amazon Prime Video's New Ads-Based Subscription Has A Surprise Catch Amazon is Raising The Price of Its MGM+ Streaming Service | Cord Cutters News Amazon Prime Video Ad Tier Sparks Class Action Lawsuit From Subscribers Warner Bros. Discovery Beats Investor Suit Over Inflated Subscriber Figures 'American Rust' Season 2 Moves to Amazon Prime Video From Freevee, Sets Premiere Date Roku Hits Major Milestones, Surpassing 80 Million Active Accounts and More than 100 Billion Streaming Hours in 2023 Roku's stock sinks after earnings, but analyst sees ‘conservatism' in outlook - MarketWatch Roku's stock falls 23%, and one bear now sees challenges brewing ‘on all flanks' - MarketWatch Walmart reportedly acquiring Vizio TVs for $2 billion to fight Amazon Fire TV and Roku | Tom's Guide Peacock to Stream Adaptation of 'Three-Body Problem' Ahead of Rival Netflix Version ‘Silk: Spider Society' Writers Room Scrapped by Amazon ‘Invasion' Renewed for Season 3 at Apple TV+ – The Hollywood Reporter Goosebumps Renewed, Gets New Cast for Season 2 at Disney+ Chris Estrada Comedy ‘This Fool' Canceled at Hulu 'Survival of the Thickest' Renewed for Season 2 as Michelle Buteau Sets Second Netflix Comedy Special ‘The Traitors' Renewed For Season 3 At Peacock 'Evil' to End With Season 4 at Paramount+ Recommendations Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning  The Equalizer 3  Bottoms  The Three Body Problem  Octopath Traveler II  For All Mankind 

There's record low snow, but Vail Resorts is still enjoying record high revenue — And it's all thanks to a pricing strategy from Heidi Klum: “You're either in or you're out.”Lyft's just made the most expensive typo ever — The stock surged 67% on a $3B typo, so we jumped into the history of Wall Street typos.Walmart is reportedly trying to acquire Vizio TVs for $2B — Because Big Tech's next battle is for your living room.Plus, chocolate prices have doubled, so don't eat your Valentine's candy… invest it. And we've got one more publicly-traded poem from the Yetis.$MTN $LYFT $WMT $VZIOSubscribe to our newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletterWant merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.comFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week's show we discuss a video where Caleb Denison of Digital Trends, says the AppleTV is the best at streaming your video and we have a review of the Tablo TV Over the Air DVR. We also read your emails and take a look at the week's news. News: Disney Kicks Off Password-Sharing Crackdown in Canada Samsung SmartThings And Philips Hue Expand Synergies  FAST Is Making Streaming TV Look More Like Traditional TV  Netflix Reportedly Set to Raise Prices After Actors Strike Ends  Other: Dolby Atmos FlexConnect How You Stream Matters We received a couple of emails (one from Stan and one from John) this week pointing us to an article and video stating that how you stream your content affects what you see. The article is from Dark Horizons and the video is on Youtube (Apple TV Best for Netflix? Right Time To Buy a TV? | You Asked: Ep. 7).  The video host, Caleb Denison of Digital Trends, says the AppleTV is the best, although he prefers using Google TV. So how did he come to this conclusion? Some TVs or set top boxes limit color bit depth to 4:2:0, which means more color banding just because you are watching on that particular platform. Many platforms may have that setting as the default so check to make sure you have an option to change it. Without going into a ton of detail, 4:4:4 is 100% of the chroma information, 4:2:2 is 50% and 4:2:0 is 25%. If you have Dolby Vision enabled on an AppleTV you will not have an option to select a Chroma setting. It will be 4:2:2 by default. Some platforms do not allow buffering. As a result you will never achieve the full 4K you are paying for. Caleb does not say which platforms do this. But if you have 4K with a slower data rate it won't be difficult to determine if your system is buffering or not.  Another issue is with frame rate. Some will not give you 24 fps but will instead convert it to 30 fps.  So why the AppleTV? According to the host, “It's the one with the least amount of questions and just enough controls available. It also comes with the fewest number of headaches, and for that I'm willing to pay a little extra. It's not perfect, but it is the least flawed and sadly I think that's where we're at right now with streaming.” Tablo TV Over the Air DVR Over the years we have had a chance to review a lot of personal DVRs. Most of which have come and gone. Some had stand alone hardware and others required a PC. Some had built-in tuners and others required an external tuner. Today we take a quick look at a DVR that is a stand alone box no bigger than an AppleTV or Roku streaming box with two built in ATSC 2.0 tuners. That device is the Tablo 4th generation that goes for about $110.  Features: Watch, pause and record live broadcast TV from your antenna.  Record 50+ hours and never miss a moment with 128GB of onboard recording storage. Can expand up to 1000+ hours with an external hard drive Tablo lets you watch TV anywhere in your home on any smart device.  Record and watch live TV, subscription-free (Internet service is required).  Quick and easy setup. Setup Plug in power, Ethernet, and an antenna and you are ready to scan for channels. I initially had issues with  the Tablo giving me location errors and stopping the install process there. I contacted their Customer Support and they acknowledged the error and informed me of a server issue they were experiencing. Once those were resolved the process resumed without a hitch. The only complaint I had was that it took too long to download the channel guide. But I was being impatient.  Performance Once you complete the install and setup you can start watching TV and recording programs. I won't go into the details on how to do this because it's very intuitive and you've all done this before. In addition to the channels you receive over the air, Tablo has some FAST channels that include news, sports, old TV shows, and more.  You watch on your Tablet or phone and on Set Top boxes. Currently Roku, fireTV, android TV, GoogleTV, iOS and Android are supported. AppleTV, Samsung TVs, WebOS, and Vizio TVs are coming soon. Two devices can watch/record live TV simultaneously and up to six can watched recorded or streamed content simultaneously. Picture quality is good, but we are talking 1080i or 720p OTA, so don't expect the same as 4K HDR content you get from AppleTV or Netflix. The user interface is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Setting up recordings is simple. Recorded programs are grouped together based on series. Guide information is available and I haven't been prompted to pay for it which is a big plus over other DVRs.   There is no way to watch your content when you are away from home so consider that when making your buying decision. Also, a pleasant surprise is that you can record FAST channels and skip commercials. I'm not sure other devices let you do that.  In all, this is a great device if you are looking for a DVR like you used to have back in the day. You can watch anywhere in the house and, soon enough, on any device. If you want to stream your content outside your home, this product is not for you. Perhaps someday that capability will be added, but not today.  

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Listen to a short-form recap or roundup of all the top 9to5Google stories of the previous 24 hours. 9to5Google Daily is available on Spotify,Google Podcasts, Amazon, iTunes and Apple’s Podcasts app, Stitcher, or through our dedicated RSS feed for Pocket Casts and other podcast players. New episodes of 9to5Google Daily are recorded every weekday. Subscribe to our podcast in Google Podcasts or your favorite podcast player to guarantee new episodes are delivered as soon as they’re available. Why not add the 9to5Google Daily to your Google Assistant Routine for a quick morning update? Learn how to add us directly to your Assistant Routines right here. Follow Damien: Damien Wilde Stories discussed in this episode: Google will shut down Play Movies & TV app on Roku and LG, Samsung, Vizio TVs in June Android Auto prepares ‘Connectivity Troubleshooter,’ better day/night mode controls Deprecation of legacy Wear OS app install method impacting new watch owners, pairings TomTom AmiGo arrives on Android Auto as further third-party navigation option Drop us a line at gtips@9to5g.com. You can also rate us in Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or recommend us in Pocket Casts to help more people discover the show!

Host: Mike Co-Hosts: Matt and Eric Housekeeping (as by the end of show I forget) Our YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/c/BadFodderFigures // bit.ly/BFFS_YouTube Merch: http://bit.ly/BFFS_Merch Intro:  BFF Store update Xbox Wireless Headset impressions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzJxrUXnadU&t=1707s How much would you pay for GamePass if it included every game available on Xbox? NEWS: Outriders launches on day/date on GamePass https://www.fanbyte.com/news/square-enix-outriders-game-pass-day-one/ First details on PS VR2 controllers https://blog.playstation.com/2021/03/18/next-gen-vr-on-ps5-the-new-controller/ PlayStation: 10 free games during the Spring https://blog.playstation.com/2021/03/17/play-at-home-2021-update-10-free-games-to-download-this-spring/ Xbox testing Dolby Vision with select games *note high end Vizio TVs disable low latency mode when using Dolby Vision https://www.engadget.com/xbox-series-x-dolby-vision-hdr-testing-173125955.html Xbox testing Suspend feature to improve download speeds https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-adding-game-suspend-feature-to-offer-better-download-speeds Xbox Indie Showcase set for March 26th https://www.gameinformer.com/2021/03/19/xbox-indie-showcase-set-for-march-26   Gotham Knights delayed till 2022 https://www.ign.com/articles/gotham-knights-delayed-to-2022   Spider-Man not coming to Marvel Avengers before Summer https://www.ign.com/articles/marvels-avengers-spider-man-ps5-ps4-exclusive-not-before-summer Reminder to follow Bad Fodder Figures on Twitter and leave feedback for the podcast on iTunes. Mike - @Capnmikem Matt - @deviousmrmatt Eric - @glovebox Jeremy - @hoodynynja Bad Fodder Figures - @BadFodderFigure Itunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bad-fodder-figures/id1298572350 Bad Fodder Figures on Podbean Bad Fodder Figures on Stitcher Bad Fodder Figures on Player FM Bad Fodder Figures on Tune In Bad Fodder Figures RSS Feed

VOICEMAILS: Forensics class synchronicity. Scary seance. More feral people. Grandpa synchronicity. Post office trick. Could you defend yourself from a cannibal? Beware of Vizio TVs. Are we living in a world? Pisces season! A music teacher murder. Toyota Yaris sighting.—EMAIL US: Webcrawlerspod@gmail.comLEAVE US A VOICEMAIL: 626-604-6262__JOIN OUR DISCORD: https://discord.com/invite/VNGJnHr—FOLLOW US: Twitter / Instagram / Reddit / Facebook—JOIN OUR PATREON: HERE—MERCH: https://webcrawlerspod.com— Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/webcrawlers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nate's got a new Apple Watch and realized this week just how far technology has come since 2001 by watching old episodes of Survivor. We've also got updates on the ongoing Fortnite/Apple and TikTok/USA battles. If that wasn't enough there's plenty more tech news and some great tips in this episode. Enjoy! Followup: Nate's Apple Watch (02:20) Google iOS apps (07:00) Survivor season 2 (08:30) Apple files breach of contract suit with Epic Games (11:05) Fortnite launches concert series (11:55) There’s a TikTok deal and the shutdown has been delayed (13:05) Dave’s Pro Tip of the Week: Check iOS Tips app. New iOS 14 features - Widgets (14:20) Takes: Google’s Area 120 announces Orion to help cell connectivity (22:20) Google launches verified calls on Android - Android 11 rolls out (25:20) Apple TV app launches on Vizio TVs (27:50) Tile’s new service will offer up to $1000 if it can’t find your stuff (29:20) Feds announce the seizure of counterfeit AirPods that are actually OnePlus Buds (31:30) Facebook estimates it has helped 2.5 million people register to vote this year (33:45) Security/Privacy: Nihilistic password security questions (36:25) Bonus Odd Take: Pointerpointer.com (38:40) Picks of the Week: Dave: Windfinder (40:10) Nate: Zoom.earth (42:35) Ramazon™ purchase (45:25) Check out the Notnerd YouTube channel for great videos Support Notnerd on Patreon and get cool stuff Subscribe and Review Contact Info: www.Notnerd.com Twitter - @N0tnerd, Nate - @NetBack, Dave - @DavyB Notnerd Youtube Channel Notnerd Facebook Email - info@Notnerd.com Call or text 608.618.NERD(6373) If you would like to help support Notnerd financially, mentally, or physically, please contact us via any of the methods above. Consider any product/app links to be affiliate links.

Check out our site, What Are Travis and Elaine Watching for all the pix, videos, links and extras!We watched a lot of smart and sexy TV this week. Peacock launched with it's original series, BRAVE NEW WORLD and Perry Mason turned a corner. But first...Happy Anniversary To Us!This week we went outside!! We went to a Drive-in! In our car! Here are a few pix, as promised! (see our site)The Peacock has landed. BRAVE NEW WORLDThe Peacock Network launched wide on July 15th and the first Peacock Original we checked out was the series Brave New WorldFirst: What is Peacock and how do I get it?The Peacock Network is NBC's streaming app. Get it? Peacock?(see our site)Peacock was soft launched to Comcast customers April 15th and wide, this week. It's available on Xbox One devices, including the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, Apple devices, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV 4K, and Apple TV HD.Peacock is also web browser friendly if you are running recent versions of Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge, and Safari. You can app Peacock to Android tablets, newer models of Android TVs, LG Smart TVs, and Vizio TVs with SmartCast and Chromecast-enabled devices. On June 20th Peacock became available on Playstation 4. But Hey! What about FireTV and Roku?As of this date, Peacock is not available on the menu for Firestick/TV or Roku. NBC is blaming the streaming platforms, blah blah... who cares. Below you'll find the instructions on how to add Peacock to your device.FireTV/Firestick or RokuGet your Firestick (we highly recommend) or Roku clicking o the images below. (see our site)Is Peacock worth it?See our site for all the details. Brave New WorldWe binged the entire season/series(?) of the Peacock original, Brave New World. Brave New World, is based on Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel but is uncannily current. Made us wonder how the residents of "New London" would have reacted to our current situation!  We think the sound of Soma Pez dispensers would be deafening! Did we like it? Hell yeah!And not just because of the ubiquitous of sex and orgies.See out website What Are Travis and Elaine Watching? for more about BRAVE NEW WORLD, a Perry Mason update and a new song by Johnny Stromboli!

Your phone may power up, but if your service is dead, that could be SIM hacking. Crooks have penetrated operations of the big 4 cell provider to hijack service. Because of the Equifax data breach, criminals know who has money,  target individuals and steal their phone service via phone to usurp 2-factor authentication text codes so they can penetrate financial accounts. The go in a setup wire instructions to send money overseas where it can’t be reclaimed. While financial companies investigate, you’re broke. Get the anti-fraud guarantees and / or written fraud policy info from your financial institutions. Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T have been scrambling to come up with new preventive procedures. Two carriers have gone to no porting meaning you put in place a standing order not to port your number from that carrier. This is another layer to protect your identity, and existing accounts, whereas credit freeze helps prevent fraudulent new accounts.  There’s is a fake grass-roots organization called Free and Fair Market Initiative. The WSJ reports this outfit is principally backed by the Simon Property Group – the big owner of malls around the country, suffering from Amazon taking 6% of retail market share. In addition to Simon, they’re funded by Walmart and  Oracle (a web service competitor). There are plenty of reasons to talk about a company legitimately without sullying their reputation falsely because you’re afraid of the competition. Shame on Simon Malls, Walmart and others, funding an effort to slam Amazon. Two years ago there was a scandal involving Vizio TVs spying on viewers – collecting and selling data to aggregators for ad servers. Piercing people’s privacy, Vizio figured out how to monetize viewing. Update: That problem has gotten worse. The average Americans spends 3.5 hours a day in front of a TV. Since Vizio faced minimal consequences, now other TV makers are up to the same thing including Samsung, TCL and LG.  These makers account for most of the TVs sold in the US. Princeton came up with software to track how this is done. Data houses link up what you watch with your phone,  computer and even purchase activities. Laws designed to protect us are not being enforced. DC’s emersion in senseless partisan battles creates a vacuum that allows for enormous violations of our privacy. Europe’s Right to Be Forgotten gives citizens there the right to shut down data harvesting. When our Congress begins to actually serve the people, we need to have privacy laws in place and enforced that clearly provide protections to the American people. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode of HomeTech: We take a deep dive into Alphabet’s decision to bring Google Home, Nest, Chromecast, and Google WiFi all under a new unified brand, Google Nest. Additionally, we discuss the controversial decision made as part of this merger to kill off the Works with Nest program, bringing an end to many popular third-party integrations. What do these moves mean for the company, consumers, and for home tech pros alike? That, plus: Echo and Google Home Mother’s Day deals. Amazon and Blink team up to launch a new wireless outdoor security camera. A first look at the AirPlay 2 and HomeKit integrations on new Vizio TVs. A look at the new Nest Hub Max 10-inch smart display. And more…

To kick off our coverage of the Consumer Electronics Show, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel sits down with Vizio chief technology officer Bill Baxter to talk about the future of the SmartCast platform, what it’s like to put AirPlay 2 and Apple HomeKit on Vizio TVs, and, most importantly, privacy relating to data tracking on smart TVs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recorded on February 15, 2018  Hosts: Patrick Norton and Robert Heron  The rundown: - OTA antenna setup - Caavo next-gen remote - Thoughtful HomePod testing - Vizio TVs add Alexa - Smart TV security issue - Phase vs. Polarity - Your excellent feedback & questions AVexcel is 100% powered by our awesome crew of Patreon supporters - thank you!  Visit AVexcel.com for links, show notes, contact info, and more!

Is Your TV Spying on You? Much has been made about a recent complaint filed by the FTC and the New Jersey Attorney General alleging that while you've been watching TV on your Internet connected Vizio HDTV, unbeknownst to you, it has been watching you back. As Ara and Braden are both owners of Internet connected Vizio televisions, they are both victims of this snooping. But what did Vizio actually do? Is it a terrible invasion, or not really that big of a deal? Are other manufacturers doing the same thing? Let's dive in and find out. The Complaint According to ftc.gov (the below is a direct quote from their website): “VIZIO, Inc., one of the world's largest manufacturers and sellers of internet-connected “smart” televisions, has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission and the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General that it installed software on its TVs to collect viewing data on 11 million consumer TVs without consumers' knowledge or consent. The stipulated federal court order requires VIZIO to prominently disclose and obtain affirmative express consent for its data collection and sharing practices, and prohibits misrepresentations about the privacy, security, or confidentiality of consumer information they collect. It also requires the company to delete data collected before March 1, 2016, and to implement a comprehensive data privacy program and biennial assessments of that program. According to the agencies' complaint, starting in February 2014, VIZIO, Inc. and an affiliated company have manufactured VIZIO smart TVs that capture second-by-second information about video displayed on the smart TV, including video from consumer cable, broadband, set-top box, DVD, over-the-air broadcasts, and streaming devices. In addition, VIZIO facilitated appending specific demographic information to the viewing data, such as sex, age, income, marital status, household size, education level, home ownership, and household value, the agencies allege. VIZIO sold this information to third parties, who used it for various purposes, including targeting advertising to consumers across devices, according to the complaint. According to the complaint, VIZIO touted its “Smart Interactivity” feature that “enables program offers and suggestions” but failed to inform consumers that the settings also enabled the collection of consumers' viewing data. The complaint alleges that VIZIO's data tracking—which occurred without viewers' informed consent—was unfair and deceptive, in violation of the FTC Act and New Jersey consumer protection laws. The $2.2 million payment by VIZIO includes a payment of $1.5 million to the FTC and $1 million to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, with $300,000 of that amount suspended.” Our Take When we first heard the news, we thought it was dire. There are, or have been, Vizio TVs with built-in support for video chat apps like Skype, so they have cameras built into them as well.  We thought that perhaps Vizio was using the camera to actually spy on you in your home. That might even be what you thought as well if you read the title of this segment without listening to the show or reading the text. But that isn't the case. That's just a sensationalized headline to attract attention. Yes we're guilty of that. Sorry. Ok, not Sorry. It turns out that Vizio wanted to suggest content for you to watch based on other things that you have chosen to watch yourself.  Seems harmless enough right?  Well, your HDTV doesn't actually know about everything that could possibly be suggested, or the relationships between different shows so it could make the recommendations on its own. To know that, it had to tell Vizio servers in the cloud what you were watching, so the servers could make the relationships and let the TV know what it should suggest for you. On a pure technical level, it sounds quite reasonable and we totally understand why Vizio would do something like that. But from a privacy level, it is super, super creepy.  Watching the news? OK cool, no problem. Vizio knows. Who cares? Watching some adult oriented content? Vizio knows that too. They know what you're into. Staying home all day to watch Anime when you should be at work? Yup, Vizio knows that as well. They were tracking everything. But that's not the worst part. If the data was anonymized and scrubbed after it was used, that would be one thing. Creepy sure, but not terrible. But they went a step further. In addition to tracking your viewing habits, they also had data on your sex, age, income, marital status, household size, education level, home ownership, and household value. How did they get that data? Because they had your IP address. They knew who you were. Oh, but wait, it gets worse. Not only were they tracking all this info, viewing habits and demographic data, but they were then turning around and selling this information to other third parties. And of course they would. It's valuable data. What are the viewing habits of millennials? Older dudes like the HT guys?  Young kids in grade school?  Valuable information. But who were the giving all your info to? You don't know. And they certainly didn't ask you before selling it off. Vizio's contracts with third parties prohibited the re-identification of consumers and households by name, but that wouldn't be a difficult relationship for anyone to make. Warning, this is where we put on our black helicopter, conspiracy theory hats and go a little crazy. But think about who could be consuming this information? What if you work for a large corporation with deep enough pockets to buy the data just because they wanted it. And that corporation wanted to know what you're watching at home on the TV. Or what if someone was trying to sue you or otherwise put a legal action against you and they wanted to know what you were watching. Or someone wanted to blackmail you for some reason. Or social engineer you to steal secrets or information. They just pay Vizio enough and they can immediately find out what you're into. Had Vizio simply used the information in an anonymous way to make show recommendations, and scrubbed the data when they no longer needed it, that would be one thing. And probably a minor thing - a non-event to be honest. But you tack on the demographic data, and the fact they were selling it to unknown entities (unknown to you the viewer at least) and that gets super creepy. We aren't accusing Vizio of being malicious or doing anything nefarious, but what they did and how they did it was a clear violation of their customers' privacy and trust. It was wrong. The funny thing is that the premise behind taking the data in the first place, the promise of content offers and suggestions, never worked. The suggestions never materialized. So the question is, if the so-called “Smart Interactivity” feature that needed the data never even provided the promised program offers and suggestions, was it ever even planned to, or was Vizio simply using that as cover to mine all of this juicy data from your HDTV?  Were they trying to get the suggestions to work and just never got it right, or did they just want the data, so they made up a bogus feature to give them an excuse to take it? Unfortunately for Vizio, they got caught. But looking at what they were doing, we wouldn't be surprised if a lot of other smart TVs, smart set top boxes or streaming players, and DVRs were doing the exact same thing. Hopefully they'll see this case and clean things up voluntarily before they get caught too. But if not, hopefully the FTC will dig a little deeper to see what each of those devices is tracking about you, and what they're doing with that information.

On this episode of Don't Panic, we recap the tech of the Super Bowl including those soft drink sponsored drones and stranger commercials for things. Then we ask the question: what skills would we bring to a post-apocalyptic society? (Answer: not much) Then, actual tech news including Vizio TVs that watch you and why that Snapchat stock may not be worth as much as you think. Picks of the week: How I Built This (Dan Miller) BA's Best Recipes (Shaun Jennings) Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration (Colby Rabideau) http://dontpanic.io Call us at 508-644-TECH (8324) and leave us a voicemail to play on the show!

HDTV Buying Guide 2016 It's beginning to look a lot like whatever holiday you may be celebrating this holiday season. Or that you may not be celebrating - not that there's anything wrong with that. But we grew up celebrating Christmas, so we know what we're hoping to see under the tree with our names on it. If you happen to be lucky enough to have budget for a new HDTV this Christmas season, but still aren't sure which one to buy, we've got you covered. Like last year, we're dropping the budget categories, and the screen size categories and jumping right to our top picks. We each pick three TVs and one ultimate HDTV present for you to consider. If you don't have the HDTV buyer's guide from last year handy, here are couple of the sets we talked about along with their prices. Only two sets from last year are still available for sale direct thru Amazon. And for both their prices went down. If you'd like to make the argument to the finance committee that you don't know what will happen with prices so you should grab one now before the price goes up, we suggest referencing last year's buyer's guide where multiple sets did actually increase in price by one year later. Samsung UN65J6200 65-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV (2015 Model) (was $1198, now $948) Samsung UN75J6300 75-Inch 1080p Smart LED TV (was $1997, now $1498) Braden's Picks TCL 40FS3800 40-Inch 1080p Roku Smart LED TV ($243) Life is all about trade-offs. Anyone who tells you differently is selling something. Sometimes you want the best of the best, sometimes you just want the best for the least you can spend. As someone who uses a TCL TV with the built-in Roku smart TV interface on the daily, I can tell you first hand that built-in Roku is solid gold. The TV is mounted to the wall and plugged into power. That's it. We can get to Pandora, et. al. for when we want music or Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, ESPN, HBO for TV or video content. For anyone looking for a super flexible second TV, TCL is a great, inexpensive choice. If 40” isn't the right size, they have a 32” for $169, 48” for $329, 50” for $399, or a 55” for $448. LG 65" OLED65B6P OLED 4K HDR Ultra HD FLAT TV ($2599) On the other hand, if you want the best of the best, OLED is the only option. Better than plasma on color and black levels, excellent detail and motion clarity, with 4K and HDR support. You really can't pick a more high performing screen than this LG. At 65 inches, it isn't the biggest TV you can find, but for most family rooms or home entertainment “dens” a 65 inch TV is the perfect size.  This screen will blow you away, and anyone you have over to see it, with any content you put on it. Put some true 4K or HDR video sources up and you'll struggle to hold back the drool. With over a billion rich colors at its disposal, this LG OLED TV delivers a theater-quality experience from the comfort of your sofa. OLED HDR delivers a stunning high dynamic range picture, including support for Dolby Vision content. VIZIO M60-C3 60-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($889) Of course, there is a middle ground. You want 4K and some future-proof capabilities without totally crushing your budget and having to eat canned beans for a few months until you can recover from the expense of your TV. We get that. If that's you, check out this Vizio. It's a 4K LED, but lacks HDR. So kinda future proof, but not fully, excellent picture quality, but not the gold standard, and under $1000, not a couple months salary. This TV is an excellent blend of incredible performance and incredible value. Perhaps a bit dated, it was the highest rated TV at CNET for 2015. That was in 2015, but because of the age, you can get it for a steal. A 60” 4K TV for less than $900? Yeah, that should be on your list. Ara's Picks This year every TV on my list is 4K and supports HDR. If you want a budget TV they are easy to find. For 2016 I want the best TV out there for the money. LG Electronics OLED55B6P Flat 55-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV ($1997) OLED for under $2000! In not the curved model either. Deep plasma like blacks, HDR, and wide color gamut. Watching this TV will be like looking out a window! Other features include WebOS 3.0 and Harman Kardon sound. Just be sure to calibrate this TV to get the best picture possible! VIZIO SmartCast™ P-Series™ 65” Class Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display ($1999) Amazon sells a lot of Vizio TVs however, if you want this one you won't find it there. You can buy direct from Vizio or at  Bestbuy. This TV checks off all the boxes in what you need in a 4K TV. Dolby Vision, HDR, Clean Simple Design, and a Tablet remote!. This version of the P-Series has 128 active LED zones which gives some pretty impressive black levels for a LED based LCD TV.  This TV looks great even when it's off. Sony XBR65X850D 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart TV ($1398) This is my “budget” 4K TV and it's a pretty capable TV in it's own right. It's the one I will buy for remodel project I am working on. Like the other TVs it supports HDR and  Wide Color Gamut. Sony has developed a proprietary X1 chip that makes HDR, color, and upconversion look incredible. Sony is making great TVs again and at this price it costs less than the Vizio! Ultimate Christmas Present: Sony XBR75Z9D 75-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV ($8998) Rodney Williams (Blu-ray Reviews) and I drove up to Sony Pictures to see the unveiling of this TV a few months ago and I have been wanting one ever since. It's still a little pricey but if you can afford it it is one beautiful TV. It takes everything in the XBR line that I mentioned above and makes it better. They updated the X1 chip to the X1 Extreme which produce color with more detail and fewer artifacts than what a typical TV does. Upconverted content looks like it's native resolution. Motion is smoother and contrast is better. I saw this TV compared to the LG OLED side by side and I felt it had a better picture. You can decide if you buy this now or wait until it comes down in price. Either way you won't regret how good the picture looks! NEC X981UHD-2 98" 4K Ultra HD LED TV ($29,115) Okay, we'll admit, we don't expect many in our audience to rush out and buy this TV. Heaven knows we never would. But when you look at the total install cost to get a 100” front projection system in your home, it adds up. Make that a 100” 4K front projection system and you're spending quite a bit more. This set from NEC gets you almost that same size, in 4K, with a brightness level that nearly removes any ambient light considerations. If you were thinking about putting in a 4K front projection system, the X981 from NEC could actually save you a bit of coin. You can tell from the comments that a few Amazon users wanted to get a crazy thread going, unfortunately they just weren't witty enough. Feel free to take a crack at it tho.

This week Dave and Gunnar talk about: credit card vulnerabilities, Dell vulnerabilities, and whether programmers are engineers. “We Care” Lauren, now in book form:  See page 18 of The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book Speaking of Raspberry Pi… Turn your Raspberry Pi into FM Transmitter Raspberry Pi Zero Not everyone is impressed: Raspberry Pi Zero, or Minus One? Entropy drought hits Raspberry Pi harvests, weakens SSH security How to defeat Chip and Signature: A $10 Tool Can Guess (And Steal) Your Next Credit Card Number Hilton’s point of sale system is a POS: Hilton Worldwide Has Identified and Taken Action to Eradicate Malware Starwood too: Another Day, Another Hack: Credit Card Stealing Malware Hits Hotel Chain Slate Money Gabfest on, among other things, the economics of rewards programs. Those Gas Pump “Anti-Skimming” Stickers Are Really Just Pointless Decoration Lenovo no longer has a monopoly on pre-installed PC security vulnerabilities: Dell apologizes for HTTPS certificate fiasco, provides removal tool Security enhanced body cams: Police body cams found pre-installed with notorious Conficker worm Man-in-the-middle attack on Vizio TVs coughs up owners’ viewing habits Gmail Will Soon Warn Users When Emails Arrive Over Unencrypted Connections Let’s Encrypt now in public beta! Seeing through walls with Wi-Fi We guess it’s healthier than X-ray vans Estonia and e-Residency through blockchain (h/t emorisse) Signal is now available in Chrome Jim Whitehurst blogs about a question from his appearance on D&G 100 Programmers, Let’s Earn the Right to Be Called Engineers I Write Like: Dave writes like Cory Doctorow, Gunnar writes like H. P. Lovecraft D&G Joke Kit of the Week: CIA’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual: A Timeless, Kafkaesque Guide to Subverting Any Organization with “Purposeful Stupidity” (1944) Cutting Room Floor This can’t possibly go wrong: robots taught to disobey humans (h/t emorisse) Impress your TSA friends: Knife wielding tentacle tentacle Great News! Groupon Has a Sale on Clip-on Man Buns D&G This Week in Cognitive Surplus: Check Which McDonald’s Restaurants Are Serving All-Day Hash Browns Before You Go Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. It’s a time for sharing For Uzoma Click-o-Tron auto-generates clickbait with recurrent neural networks We Give Thanks The D&G Show Slack Clubhouse for the discussion topics!

AT&T Data Security Analysts discuss ransomware, attacks using web analytics, the cybersecurity talent gap, an attack on Vizio TVs, and the Internet Weather Report. Originally recorded November 17, 2015.