On this week’s The Drill Down podcast, Microsoft gains JEDI powers, Google may get Fitbit, the facts on HBO Max, Facebook makes news…literally, rats who drive, and much, much more.

Podcast

What We’re Playing With

Dwayne: Owlet Smart Sock Baby Monitor
Tosin: Winix C535 Air Cleaner with PlasmaWave Technology

Headlines

• Microsoft beats Amazon for Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud computing contract
• Exclusive: Google owner Alphabet in bid to buy Fitbit
• Details on HBO Max streaming service

Audible Book of the Week

• The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
• Sign up at AudibleTrial.com/TheDrillDown

Music Break: Dirty Laundry by Don Henley

Hot Topics

• Facebook Launches News Section to Compensate Publishers
• Over 250 Facebook employees have signed a letter visible on an internal forum that says letting politicians lie in ads is “a threat” to the company 
• Twitter to stop accepting all political ads on the platform globally

Music Break: Rat Race by The Specials

Final Word

• Racial bias in a medical algorithm favors white patients over sicker black patients
• Scientists taught rats to drive little rat-sized cars. It could advance human mental health treatment

The Drill Down Video of the Week

• Facebook alters video to make people invisible to facial recognition

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Geeks Of Doom’s The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all.

Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Vudu product manager Tosin Onafowokan.