The episode starts locally with Dave highlighting Stormfreak, a Pittsburgh-area weather enthusiast who has built a following on Reddit by offering practical, level-headed forecasts without the sensationalism that often accompanies severe weather coverage. That leads into a bigger conversation about how Reddit, YouTube, and independent creators increasingly fill information gaps once occupied by traditional specialty television.

Sorg then takes a trip back to the video-store era with Binge Buster, a web experience that lets users browse movies available on their existing streaming subscriptions in an interface inspired by wandering through the shelves of a physical rental store.

Gaming takes over a large part of the conversation, including EA going private in a massive Saudi-backed deal, Netflix getting an extended GTA 6 preview, Atari showing signs of financial improvement, the possibility of accessing Xbox and PC Game Pass titles on Linux and Mac through the XODUS project, new content for the original Quake, and Sorg's experience comparing Xbox cloud gaming with NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

Then things get weird in the best possible way: Diablo is heading to amusement-park Halloween events, while a permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience complete with animatronics is planned for American Dream.

Dave also shares his latest experience with Adobe Project Indigo, including computational photography, AI photo critiques, and the increasingly blurry line between traditional editing and generative AI. The episode wraps with two ideas that bring physical experiences back into a digital world: Pittsburgh's Lost Lizard renting VHS, DVD, and even Betamax tapes, and Nature Calls Run, an upcoming crowdsourced app designed to help runners, cyclists, travelers, and people with medical needs locate bathrooms, water, and other resources.

Stories, Gadgets & Topics Discussed

• 300–600mm iPhone zoom lens — Dave points listeners toward iPhonography Podcast co-host Greg McMillan's detailed look at an enormous telephoto solution for iPhone photography.
• Stormfreak and Pittsburgh weather on Reddit — Dave highlights the local forecaster's calm, practical approach to Pittsburgh weather and the community that has formed around his posts. They discuss how independent online weather coverage can sometimes be more useful than national television coverage when people need highly local information.
• The changing role of specialty media — Sorg and Dave compare today's creator-driven information sources with the original promise of channels like The Weather Channel, Discovery, TLC, and Food Network.

• Binge Buster — Sorg tries a streaming discovery site that recreates some of the experience of browsing a video store. Users select the streaming services they already subscribe to and browse movies through virtual box art, descriptions, genres, trailers, staff picks, and more.

  https://bingebuster.net/

• Awesome Person of the Week: Lewis Latimer — Dave profiles the inventor, draftsman, engineer, and patent expert whose work intersected with both Alexander Graham Bell's telephone patent and the development of more durable electric-light filaments.

• Slice on Broadway pizza sauce — Dave discovers jars of Slice on Broadway's original pizza sauce while shopping at Labriola's Italian Market.

• EA goes private — Chachi's Video Game Minute covers EA completing its reported $55 billion sale to a Saudi-backed buyer and what private ownership might mean for the future of EA's games and monetization.

• Netflix and GTA 6 — Netflix is set to feature an extended look at Grand Theft Auto VI on August 27, prompting discussion about whether GTA really needs any additional publicity.

• Atari's financial comeback — Atari reports its strongest annual revenue in roughly a decade, giving Sorg and Dave an opportunity to talk about the strange history of the Atari name, its changing ownership, and the collection of gaming properties associated with it over the years.

• Xbox games potentially coming to Linux and Mac through XODUS — Sorg discusses an open-source reverse-engineering project designed to make compatible Xbox and PC titles accessible beyond Windows, including the possibility of accessing portions of a user's existing Microsoft gaming library.

• Xbox backward compatibility — The conversation touches on original Xbox and Xbox 360 games potentially becoming increasingly accessible through Microsoft's PC ecosystem.

• New Quake content decades later — Quake continues receiving new content around its 30th anniversary, giving players another reason to revisit the classic first-person shooter.

• NVIDIA GeForce NOW vs. Xbox cloud gaming — Sorg compares his experience streaming games like Doom: The Dark Ages and Forza Horizon, finding GeForce NOW's higher-end hardware particularly impressive for demanding, fast-moving games.

• Do you still need a gaming PC? — Cloud gaming raises a bigger question: if a service already supports hundreds of games in your library and provides continuously upgraded hardware, does spending thousands on a dedicated gaming PC still make sense?

• Diablo invades Cedar Point and Six Flags — Blizzard's Diablo becomes part of the Halloween amusement-park experience, leading to a conversation about licensed haunted attractions and the changing amusement-park industry.

• Cedar Fair/Six Flags consolidation and disappearing amusement parks — Dave looks back at the history of older amusement parks, including Pittsburgh-area memories of White Swan Park and the larger trend of parks disappearing as land was redeveloped.

• Freddy Fazbear's Pizza becomes real — A permanent Freddy Fazbear's Pizza experience featuring animatronic stage shows is planned for American Dream in 2027. Naturally, Sorg and Dave wonder whether anybody involved has actually learned the lesson of Five Nights at Freddy's.

• American Dream as the modern destination mall — The conversation expands into how malls are evolving from shopping centers into entertainment destinations with theme parks, water parks, skiing, restaurants, attractions, wrestling events, and other experiences.

• Adobe Project Indigo — Dave continues experimenting with Adobe's computational photography app, particularly challenging lighting situations and shooting directly toward a sunset.

• AI-powered photography reviews — Project Indigo can analyze a photo and provide feedback, giving photographers another way to evaluate composition and possible improvements.

• When an AI edit becomes a different photograph — Dave demonstrates an AI edit that substantially changes clouds and the sky, prompting an important conversation about the difference between enhancing a photograph and generating new visual information.

• AI quietly becoming another editing tool — Sorg shares his experience using AI to quickly create client graphics and discusses how generative tools increasingly feel less like a separate novelty and more like another part of a production workflow.

• Lost Lizard brings video rentals back to Pittsburgh — A Lawrenceville business is renting VHS tapes, DVDs, Betamax tapes, and even retro video games. The concept triggers plenty of nostalgia for independent video stores and their wonderfully strange horror collections.

• Physical media versus digital ownership — Reports of purchased digital movies disappearing from user libraries lead to a larger discussion about what consumers actually own when they "buy" a digital movie.

• Movies Anywhere and fragmented digital libraries — Sorg discusses the usefulness of synchronizing eligible purchases across services while acknowledging that licensing can still make digital ownership complicated.

• Maybe it's time to buy DVDs again — The uncertainty of digital licenses gives physical media another unexpected advantage: nobody can remotely remove a disc from your shelf.

• Nature Calls Run — An upcoming Pittsburgh-created app will crowdsource public restrooms, water sources, and other useful resources for runners, cyclists, travelers, parents, and anyone suddenly asking the most important question of the day: "Where can I go?"

  https://naturecallsapp.com/

• Restroom access as an accessibility and medical issue — The app also plans to educate users about restroom-access laws affecting people with conditions including Crohn's disease and IBS.

• GCXC running events — Dave also discusses upcoming Pittsburgh-area races and the community surrounding GCXC events.

  https://gcxc.com/events-pa

Support AwesomeCast:
https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast

Topics Covered:

Apple iOS 18.1 and Apple Intelligence:

• Discover the new Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.1, including call recording, transcription, and advanced Siri capabilities.
• Learn how to upgrade to iOS 18.1 beta and find out which devices are compatible.

Call of Duty Returns:

• Explore the return of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Game Pass and its new downloadable content, including WWE character skins.
• Find out about similar gaming experiences on Apple Arcade.

California’s Blockchain Vehicle Titles:

• Understand California’s initiative to digitize vehicle titles using blockchain technology for enhanced security and convenience.

SearchGPT Prototype:

• Get introduced to SearchGPT, a prototype search engine powered by ChatGPT, offering concise answers with citations.
• Compare SearchGPT with traditional search engines like Google.

Gaming Throwback - Rock Band:

• Check out the new Rift Master Wireless Guitar controller for Xbox and PC, perfect for reliving Rock Band nostalgia.
• Learn how the guitar controller integrates with Fortnite’s festival mode.

Show Notes and Links:

• Apple Beta Program: https://beta.apple.com/
• Call of Duty on Game Pass: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass
• California DMV Blockchain Initiative: https://www.dmv.ca.gov/
• SearchGPT Waitlist: https://searchgpt.com/
• Rift Master Wireless Guitar: https://www.pdp.com/

Support the Show:

• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/awesomecast
• Slice on Broadway: https://www.sliceonbroadway.com/
• Sidekick Media Services: https://www.sidekickmediaservices.com/

Stay tuned for more exciting episodes and don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell for the latest updates!

Katie, Krause, Chilla, and Sorg continue to practice social distancing with some tech upgrades hitting this week's episode as they're talking about:

• Katie is checking in with her Awesome Thing of the Week - - her new Ryobi lawnmower.
• Aaaaand, we have a bonus Animal Crossing New Horizons update from Katie as she's showing off her Godzilla on screen behind her!
• Krause is sharing Some Good News as his Awesome Thing of the Week.
• Chilla has been making some updates to his home office to accommodate working from home. He's sharing his new gamechanger device!
• Sorg's Awesome Thing of the Week is Xbox Game Pass, which he's been checking out a little bit with some of his free time.
• We're checking out some Today at Apple options to learn things while in quarantine.
• We're talking some Xbox All Access options.
• Finding yourself on Zoom calls these days? Check out some backgrounds, like those from our friends at Sheetz!
• Minecraft ray tracing is a thing. But, does it make it better or ruin it?
• Google Nest is lowering camera quality to conserve internet resources.
• Smart devices help us out in so many ways. We're talking about how a smart toilet can help detect diseases.
• Since we're stuck at home, Sorg is checking out Movies Anywhere as an option to share movies with friends.
• We're sharing some tips and secrets on iPhone messaging to wow your friends!
• Sorg has been spending a little too much time with Instagram ads.

After the show remember to:

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