🎮 THIS WEEK WAS ABSOLUTE CHAOS! 🎮

Holy moly, friends - if you blinked this week, you missed about 47 major gaming announcements! 😅

Josh breaks down ALL the madness including:

💰 Switch 2 Drama - $500 price tag AND GameStop is literally STAPLING receipts to the boxes?! (RIP those screens 💀)

🎯 Summer Game Fest Overload - Why cramming 6 major showcases into one week nearly broke everyone's brains

💪 Creator Wins - Twitch made it easier to get affiliate status (then promptly broke their own system lol)

🔧 Behind the Scenes - We're switching up forums AGAIN (sorry not sorry) and moving to some sweet new domains

Best Quote: "Nintendo is really not a very nice company" - Josh keeping it 💯

Perfect Sunday night listen while you're recovering from the gaming announcement hangover!

Listen wherever you get your pods 🎧 Next episode: Same time, same chaos energy ⚡

00:00 Introduction and Weekly Recap
01:22 Transition to Owncast and Forum Changes
03:55 Game Announcements and Industry Trends
08:32 Indie Game Highlights and Summer Game Fest
10:49 Hardware Announcements and Gaming Devices
14:46 GOG's New Initiatives and Game Preservation
17:51 TwitchCon EU and Affiliate Changes
22:27 StreamElements Layoffs and Industry Challenges
26:33 Kick vs. Twitch: The Streaming Landscape
30:25 PeerTube Updates and Community Engagement
41:11 Closing Thoughts and Future Plans

What's up, creators!

This week we're diving into the absolute chaos that is the current tech landscape - and spoiler alert: it's getting weird out there!

We're talking about: 🎯 Community Glow-Up - How we completely redesigned the 2TonWaffle universe (and why brand consistency actually matters) 🤖 AI Gone Wild - CEOs using AI avatars for earnings calls, fake actors in commercials, and why I'm both impressed and terrified 📱 Blue Sky's Smart Moves - Finally, a platform doing something cool without just slapping "AI" on everything 💰 Corporate Takeover Vibes - Microsoft officially owns Activision, and what this means for indie creators

The big question: If everyone's using AI to create content, why should anyone care about consuming it?

Hot takes, real talk, and probably too much coffee - that's what you're getting this week!

Links & Stuff:

• Join our Discord community (new premium tier is only $2!)
• Check out 2TonWaffle.store for merch
• Follow us on Blue Sky @2TonWaffle

Got thoughts? Hit us up - we actually read every message!

00:00 Introduction and New Beginnings
03:45 Updates on Two Tone Waffle Universe
18:22 Revamping the Discord Community
25:10 AI Explosion in Technology
30:18 The Impact of AI on Employment
32:44 The Evolution of AI in Media
36:40 Authenticity in Music and Content Creation
42:04 The Future of AI in Business
46:53 AI in Communication and Summarization
51:39 Innovations in Social Media Platforms
55:01 Regulatory Changes in Tech Mergers

🎙️ EPISODE RECAP: Josh is Back! (And He's Got Opinions)

Hey beautiful people! Our favorite rambling host is finally back after getting absolutely wrecked by the plague that swept through his household. Here's what went down in this chaotic but loveable stream:

The Sick House Chronicles 🤒

• Josh, his wife, AND his daughter all got hit by what was probably norovirus
• Three days of basically living on one pancake and some cuties (those little oranges, not actual cuties… though those would've been nice too)
• Hospital visit for mom, but everyone's on the mend now
• Pro tip: Don't help sick relatives unless you want to join the vomit party

Tech Stuff That Actually Matters 💻

• Finally finished moving his PeerTube from that mouthful of a URL to the much cleaner tootomwaffle.tv
• GUYS, NodeBB is apparently amazing and has ActivityPub built right in??
• You can literally follow forum categories from Mastodon now (Josh is way too excited about this)
• Still fighting with search functions because the fediverse isn't perfect, but we love it anyway

The YouTube Rant Section 📺 (Buckle up, this is where Josh gets spicy)

• YouTube ads are absolutely INSANE now
• They'll literally interrupt songs mid-verse to show you ads
• Spending billions on AI to fight ad blockers while the FBI tells you TO USE ad blockers
• The irony of YouTube allowing ads FOR AD BLOCKERS while banning the use of them
• Josh is shifting focus to PeerTube first, YouTube second

Community Vibes 👥 Shoutouts to Eddie, Flux, Heron, and the whole gang hanging out in chat. Y'all are the real MVPs for sticking around during Josh's technical difficulties and existential YouTube crisis.

What's Next?

• Weekly "Open Rant Sundays" might be a thing??
• Tomorrow: Recording the long-awaited podcast episode about content creation
• More focus on federated platforms (sorry YouTube, you did this to yourself)

00:00 Return to Streaming: A Personal Update
00:36 Family Health Challenges: Navigating Illness
04:19 Tech Troubles: PeerTube Migration and Server Issues
08:13 Content Creation: Plans and Projects Ahead
13:33 Self-Hosting Insights: Choosing the Right Platform
15:42 Building a Home Lab: Infrastructure and Upgrades
17:18 Streaming Setup: Multi-Platform Broadcasting
18:58 Health Updates: Personal and Pet Well-Being
20:50 Promoting PeerTube and Owncast: Expanding Reach
25:18 Integrating ActivityPub: Enhancing Forum Interactions
28:05 Weekend Wishes: A Lighthearted Conclusion
28:38 Navigating Work and Personal Life
29:40 The Decline of YouTube and Rise of Alternatives
31:25 Ad Overload and Viewer Experience
33:58 Social Media Dynamics and User Engagement
41:24 The Future of YouTube and Its Competitors
44:53 The Challenges of Content Creation
48:52 Closing Thoughts and Future Streams