Notnerd Podcast: Tech Better

Ep. 538: Apple's 50th Birthday, World Backup Day, and More!

Apple has been around for 50 years now. They have been celebrating and reminiscing about the last 50 years of Thinking Different. But don't let that overshadow World Backup Day, because you know, One Backup in None Backup. We get you caught up on what's going on in tech, while having a good time doing it. Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) Happy World Backup Day! (06:20) MAIN TOPIC: Apple Turns 50 (15:30) Apple hosts 50th anniversary celebrations around the world Apple: The First 50 Years book now available How Apple became Apple: The definitive oral history of the company's earliest days Rank Apple's top 50 Products Apple's $700 Mac Pro Wheels kit discontinued along with Mac Pro DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Folders in Bookmark Bar (29:15) JUST THE HEADLINES: (35:10) Jupiter's lightning may have the force of nuclear weapons Melania Trump welcomes humanoid robot at White House summit Stephen Colbert to write next 'Lord of the Rings' movie after leaving late night Rogue AI triggers serious security incident at Meta Ziff Davis to sell Ookla and Downdetector to Accenture as part of $1.2 billion deal CBS news shutters radio service after nearly a century Hermès now sells $1,250 Magsafe chargers wrapped in calfskin leather WITHIN REACH! Dave 3-2, this is round 6 Dave Goes First (37:50) TAKES: OpenAI shutting down Sora video app, Disney drops plans for $1 Billion investment (45:40) Netflix raises subscription costs again (47:15) BONUS ODD TAKE: Toast Spinner (50:20) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave:  PKCELL 20 Pack CR2450 Battery CR 2450 3V Lithium Battery, 5-Year Shelf Life,High Capacity, Long Lasting Power, Mercury-Free (54:15) Nate: STAEDTLER Triplus Micro Mechanical Pencils (#2) 0.5mm lead, Retractable with Twist Eraser, Ergonomic Triangular Grip for Writing, Drawing & Drafting, 3-Pack - June Gold 640 Pieces, 0.5 mm HB #2 Lead Refills, 160 Pieces Per Dispenser, Fine Thickness, Break Resistant Lead/Graphite (Pack of 4 Dispensers) (58:25) Guest Pick: Hey Grandma - EZVALO 5-Pack Under Cabinet Lighting, 2400mAh Motion Sensor Light, LED Closet Lights Wireless, 6500K Dimmable, Timer, Magnetic, with Remote Control for Kitchen, Closet, Stair (01:00:45)

Ep. 537: Meta Horizon Worlds - Does VR still have legs? + tech news, tips, and more

Mark Zuckerberg was all in on VR. He renamed his whole company to Meta because of it. This week, they were going to shut it down; now, maybe it will stay around, kind of. Plus, of course, Apple had some news this week, and so much more to cover, so you can get out there and tech better. Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) Apple announces WWDC 2026 will take place June 8 to 12 (03:10) Mac OS X launched 25 years ago today: 'The Future of the Mac' (05:15) MAIN TOPIC: Does the future of VR have legs? (10:25) Meta backtracks. Will keep Horizon Worlds VR support "for existing games" DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Live Captions (17:30) JUST THE HEADLINES: (24:25) Amazon plans to test four-legged robots on wheels for deliveries Cyberattack on a car breathalyzer firm leaves drivers stuck The asteroid Ryugu has all of the main ingredients for life Nvidia expects to sell 'at least' $1 Trillion in AI chips by 2028 Samsung ends $2,899 Galaxy Z Trifold sales after just 3 months New Windows 11 bug breaks Samsung PCs, blocking access to C: drive Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop WITHIN REACH! Dave 2-1, this is round 5 Nate Goes First (28:55) TAKES: 50 percent of consumers prefer brands that avoid GenAI content (39:35) PC Gamer recommends RSS readers in a 37MB article that just keeps downloading (44:05) Spigen's new AirPods Pro 3 case is modeled after the original Macintosh mouse (46:55) BONUS ODD TAKE: VHS Slipcover Maker (48:20) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave:  Lamicall Tablet Floor Stand Holder - [55" Height Adjustable][ Flexible Arm] 5lb Base Tablet Holder, Multi Angle Bed Mount Gifts for 4.7-13" Devices, iPad Pro Air, Tabs, E-Readers, Kindle Accessories (52:40) Nate: KNORK Eco Astrik Lunch Utensil Carry Case, Gray (55:45)

Ep. 536: More Apple Stuff + tech news, tips, and more

Apple is still dominating the news this week. They announced the new AirPods Max 2, acquired a video company, won an Oscar, and more. We've also got some sad news, one of our beloved segments might be forced to end. Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) MAIN TOPIC: More Apple Stuff (05:25) Apple introduces AirPods Max 2 Compare AirPods Models Apple acquires MotionVFX, maker of popular Final Cut Pro plugins and more Apple Vision Pro is getting the 'World's Most Advanced Flight Simulator' Apple original film F1 wins Oscar for best sound Apple toys with the competition - MacBook Neo offers more single-core performance than any mobile processor from AMD, Intel or Qualcomm DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Find iPhone with Apple Watch WITH BLINKING FLASH (20:05) JUST THE HEADLINES: (23:10) 'Pokémon Go' players unknowingly trained delivery robots with 30 billion images 11M Facebook and Instagram scam accounts zapped, new alerts launched Perplexity inks deal to use CoreWeave's data centers Tennessee grandmother jailed after AI facial recognition error links her to fraud Grammarly says it will stop using AI to clone experts without permission Meta just bought Moltbook, the social network for AI bots Backblaze hosts 314 trillion digits of Pi online and the dataset is massive WITHIN REACH! Dave 2-1, this is round 4 Dave Goes First (26:10) TAKES: Digg's open beta shuts down after just two months, blaming AI bot spam (30:45) Setapp now lets users buy or subscribe to selected apps individually (34:30) Microsoft Patch Tuesday, March 2026 Edition (37:20) BONUS ODD TAKE: The Little Wanderer - A Collective Journey (39:30) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave: Temdan Portable Wireless Charger for Apple Watch Magnetic iwatch Charger 1200mah Power Bank Camping Travel Essentials Camping Watch Charger for Series 10/9/8/7/6/Se/5/4/3/2/1/Ultra/Ultra 2-Black (42:10) Nate: AppleCare+ for AirPods (46:15) RAMAZON PURCHASE OF THE WEEK  - RIP (53:55)

Ep. 535: The Magical MacBook Neo + tech news, tips, and more

The morning after last week's show, Apple confirmed our thoughts, and the rumors, announcing the all-new MacBook Neo. Starting at $599, this laptop packs a punch. We discuss who it's for (spoiler, a lot of people) and what it means for Windows Laptops. Plus, we have plenty of other tech news to get caught up on and all our usual segments, to help you get out there and tech better! Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) Asteroid 2024 YR4 will not impact the Moon (03:45) MAIN TOPIC: MacBook Neo (06:05) Say hello to MacBook Neo I can't believe it: Apple's $599 MacBook Neo just lit a monstrous fire under the Windows laptop market — Microsoft better be panicking Apple's strange TikTok videos capturing Gen Z's attention DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Set a timer to finish at… (19:20) JUST THE HEADLINES: (24:45) United Airlines can now boot passengers who refuse to use headphones with their devices Seagate just unleashed 44TB hard drives Walgreens testing body-worn cameras for employees Robotic surgery performed remotely on patient 1,500 miles away Hacked Tehran traffic cameras fed Israeli intelligence before strike on Khamenei Florida woman given major jail sentence for illegally selling Microsoft product keys IBM scientists unveil first-ever 'half-mobius' molecule WITHIN REACH! Tied 1-1, this is round 3 (28:10) TAKES: Meta's AI display glasses reportedly share intimate videos with human moderators - A new app alerts you if someone nearby is wearing smart glasses (35:10) Grammarly is using generative AI to provide 'expert' reviews from famous authors and academics (40:20) Anthropic finds 22 Firefox vulnerabilities using Claude Opus 4.6 AI model (42:40) BONUS ODD TAKE: Walkmanland (44:35) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave: Small Cream Cheese Spreader Knives Set,Wooden 5in,Stainless Steel Butter Knife Spreader for Cocktail, Condimets, Dips, Appetizers, Jam, Pastry, Sandwich, Toast, Bagel, Charcuterie Board Serving Party Supplies (49:55) Nate: Veken Coffee Canister, Airtight Stainless Steel Kitchen Food Storage Container with Date Tracker and Scoop for Beans, Grounds, Tea, Flour, Cereal, Sugar, 16OZ, Gray (54:05) RAMAZON PURCHASE OF THE WEEK (56:35)

Ep. 534: Shiny New Apples + tech news, tips, and more

The rumors were right, Apple is releasing a bunch of new products this week. So far, we have a new iPhone 17e, iPad Air, Studio Display, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pros, and it's only Tuesday. We discuss these products and what Apple might have for the rest of the week. Plus all the regular tech goodness to help you get out there and tech better! Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra hands-on: I need the Privacy Display feature on my iPhone ASAP (04:10) MAIN TOPIC: New Apple Stuff (06:15) Apple introduces iPhone 17e Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4 Apple unveils new Studio Display and all-new Studio Display XDR Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all‑new M5 Pro and M5 Max Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5 DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Change your login picture on Mac, iCloud (25:30) JUST THE HEADLINES: (32:35) Scientists crack the case of "screeching" Scotch tape Startup plans April launch for a satellite to reflect sunlight to Earth at night Burger King will use AI to check if employees say 'please' and 'thank you' Uber previews its Dubai air taxi service Anthropic's Claude hits No. 1 on Apple's top free apps list after Pentagon rejection South Korean police lose seized crypto by posting password online Sam Altman would like to remind you that humans use a lot of energy, too WITHIN REACH (35:05) TAKES: Kalshi reveals insider trading case against editor for MrBeast - OpenAI fires an employee for prediction market insider trading (41:05) Nano Banana 2: Combining Pro capabilities with lightning-fast speed (44:40) Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half - EBay is laying off about 800 workers, 6% of global workforce (49:10) BONUS ODD TAKE: https://iambored.fun/ (53:55) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave: 24 PCS Magnetic Zip Tie Mounts, Magnetic Cables Clips Organize and Secure Cable Wires with Powerful Multipurpose Cable Ties Mount Base for Electrical Wire (56:10) Nate: Tennedriv Green Soil Moisture Meter for House Plants, Plant Water Meter,Plant Moisture Meter for House Plants and Outdoor Plants, No Batteries Required (01:00:00) RAMAZON PURCHASE OF THE WEEK (01:02:30)