While counting down the minutes to the new season of “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” this week, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss recent developments in the tech world and reflect upon the opening-weekend box office for the latest Superman movie. Spin up PTJ 382 to listen in!

• Google confirms it's 'combining' Chrome OS and Android into a single platform (Android Authority)
• Is A.I. the Future of Web Browsing? (The New York Times)
• xAI and Grok apologize for ‘horrific behavior’ (TechCrunch)
• After Linda Yaccarino’s Departure As X CEO, Will Elon Musk Once Again Flip Off Advertisers In Favor Of AI? (Deadline)
• It’s YouTube vs. Netflix as the Streaming Wars Come Down to 2 (The New York Times)
• “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” (Paramount+)
• “Superman” opens to sky-high $217 million at global box office, becoming DC's biggest premiere since “The Batman” (Entertainment Weekly)
• ACASIS Mac Mini M4 Workstation 8-in-1 Dual SSD 40Gbps Dock
• Dell UltraSharp 32 4K Thunderbolt Hub Monitor - U3225QE
• Astropad Luna Display

On this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and JD discuss Microsoft’s recent announcement regarding changes to “the unexpected restart experience, the stack of Substacks piling up and A.I.’s effect on plant life. Apple’s new “F1” movie with Brad Pitt, the upcoming “Superman” film and El Kaiser’s belated journey with “Andor” are also part of the discussion, so listen in here on PTJ 381!

PTJ 381 LINKS

Microsoft says goodbye to the Windows blue screen of death (CNBC)

There is no mystery over who wrote the Blue Screen of Death, despite what some may want you to believe(Microsoft Dev Blogs)

The Windows Resiliency Initiative: Building resilience for a future-ready enterprise (Windows Blogs)

Substack Is Having a Moment—Again. But Time Is Running Out (Wired)

AI is ruining houseplant communities online (The Verge)

Kuo: Apple to release cheaper MacBook powered by iPhone processor (9to5Mac)

‘F1’ Revs To $144M Opening Weekend Around The World, Brad Pitt & Apple Original Films Records; ‘M3GAN 2.0’ Powers Down At $10M+ (Deadline)

Early Reactions to “Superman” Claim It’s Complete Opposite of “Man of Steel” (Yahoo)

“Andor” (Disney+)

Apple’s annual World Wide Developers Conference brought its usual load of software announcements last week and El Kaiser and J.D. share some thoughts about it all — including the new Liquid Gas, er, Liquid Glass interface design. But it’s not ALL about Apple this episode, as Google and Nintendo had some announcements of their own. Spin up PTJ 380 for the commentary!

LINKS

· Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference 2025 announcements (Apple)

· Introducing Liquid Glass (Apple on YouTube)

· Apple introduces a delightful and elegant new software design (Apple)

· Liquid Glass isn’t a design failure; it is Apple’s most tactile digital future yet (UX Collective)

· Why Apple’s ‘Liquid Glass’ Design Is a Step Backward for UX (Prototypr)

· Apple's Liquid Glass is a grim portent for UX (The Product Picnic)

· Android 16 is here (Google Keyword blog)

· Separating Material 3 Expressive from Android 16 was Google's smartest move all year (Android Police)

· 7 Things We Love And 4 Things We Hate About The Switch 2 (Kotaku)

· Agatha All Along (Disney+)

· Andor (Disney+)