DescriptionThis week, Apple is concealing its moves, Microsoft is enhancing its Game Pass and YouTube is serving up a little crypto mining.ParticipantsScott ErtzHostScott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLuGHiTz Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the DDR community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bar Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and judging engineering notebooks at competitions. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors.Avram PiltchHostAvram's been in love with PCs since he played original Castle Wolfenstein on an Apple II+. Before joining Tom's Hardware, for 10 years, he served as Online Editorial Director for sister sites Tom's Guide and Laptop Mag, where he programmed the CMS and many of the benchmarks. When he's not editing, writing or stumbling around trade show halls, you'll find him building Arduino robots with his son and watching every single superhero show on the CW.OpeningPowered by TeknoAXENifty GiftiesPowered by Microsoft StoreFor the First Time in Years, Apple Has Analysts GuessingThis week has been a whirlwind of analyst predictions for Apple's future, and for the first time in several years, there is no clear story. Normally analysts are able to piece together the company's plans based on just a few factors, such as current product sell-through rates, parts orders and manufacturer contracts. This years, the numbers are all over the place, and there is no picture coming to light.read full articlePiltch Point with Avram PiltchPowered by Monster ProductsExtra LifePowered by RazerMicrosoft Might be Responsible for GameStop's TroublesWhile the company has expanded its offerings in recent years, there is no doubt that GameStop's main business is in used games. A number of threats have caused the company's diversification, but analysts at The Motley Fool believe that a new move from Microsoft could be a nail in GameStop's coffin.read full articleNews From the TubesPowered by RiffTraxAnother Bad Week for the Security of CryptocurrenciesOver the past year, the value of cryptocurrencies has fluctuated up and down, with Bitcoin reaching unimaginable highs. While value has been variable, there has been one constant: insecurity. Despite the idea that these coins are based on encryption, somehow the way the coins are stored, in digital wallets, is far from it. In fact, it seems that stealing these coins might be the easiest way to make a quick buck. This week, two more exchanges suffered breaches, in one form or another.read full article* DRM Not IncludedPowered by Amazon PrimeYouTube Advertising Serves Unauthorized Drive-By Mining AttacksBrowser-based cryptocurrency mining has become a bit of a drain, both on the internet and on people's computers. Some sites have implemented the process as a supplement for lost ad revenue due to ad blockers. Others have taken it a step farther, introducing mining software into the ads that show on those websites themselves.read full articleClosingPowered by Tech Podcast Network