http://media.blubrry.com/techtaukreloaded/dbelldc.com/techtaukreloaded/TTR-029.mp3

Happy Tax Day! How’s that for an oxymoronic greeting? Still, in the spirit of giving a lot of your hard-earned cash to the government, this week we bring you an assortment of government-themed tech news headlines. Plus, we delve in to explain and debunk the “Heartbleed” security threat, and explain what you can and can’t do about it.

Our tech headlines this week:

• 
  
• Microsoft Ends Support for Windows XP, but IRS Will Pay Microsoft Millions for Extended Windows XP Support
  
• New bill tells federal bureaucracy: “Let Me Google That For You”
  
• Google Now Among Top Five Lobbyists in Washington
  
• “Drop Dropbox” Protests Flare as Condoleezza Rice Joins Dropbox Board
  

The “Heartbleed” vulnerability is exposed across the Web and may also affect some gadgets. Douglas explains the technical side of what Heartbleed is doing, what you are and are not able to do to protect yourself, and shares his opinion on how the threat is being overblown by the media.

We then take the NSA for task among reports that the NSA was aware of Heartbleed for years and exploited it, rather than responsibly reporting it before it got exploited by hackers. President Obama offers more noncommittal language about the NSA and its role in (not) reporting internet security risks.

Douglas offers a Tech tAUk Reloaded Quick Tip, explaining how you can use any basic audio editing software to create your own custom iPhone ringtones for free, without having to pay for the tone separately from the song you already bought.

And Josh’s latest Game Zone segment offers a Console Wars Update, namely the surprising news that there aren’t many “must-have” video games for the Xbox One or Sony PS4 yet.

Episode Duration: 1:01:54

On This Episode: Douglas Bell and Josh Feldman

Download: Tech tAUk Reloaded #29 (29.7 MB MP3)