While the tussles between politicians and Big Tech heat up as August sizzles to a close, El Kaiser and J.D. sip fizzy water in the shade and explore the accusations and rebuttals coming from both sides of America’s political divide. Apple’s latest acquisition, Twitter’s recent experiment and a blockchain that few people realized was hiding in plain sight are also in the news mix this week, and J.D. has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint about hopefully helping friends and family with their computer problems, even when you’re miles away. Crank up the air conditioner and PTJ 285!

Links to Stories Discussed on This  Week’s Show

• Trump slams Google search as ‘rigged’ — but it’s not (CNN Tech)
• Trump’s new fake news: fake social media (Axios)
• Trump Claims Google Didn’t Promote His State Of The Union. Google And This Screenshot Say Otherwise. (BuzzFeed)
• Google Denies Donald Trump’s Claims Of Left-Wing Bias: “Search Is Not Used To Set A Political Agenda” – Update (Deadline)
• Why Google Doesn’t Rank Right-Wing Outlets Highly (The Atlantic)
• Trolls propel Trump to top Google ratings for ‘idiot’ (Search Engine Land)
• Googlebombing ‘failure’ (Google keyword blog)
• Opinion | Trump’s Ludicrous Attack on Big Tech (The New York Times)
• Inside Facebook, a Conservative Backlash Against the Liberal “Mobs” (Vanity Fair)
• Google, Facebook, Twitter chiefs called back to Senate Intelligence Committee (TechCrunch)
• Trump unblocks more Twitter users after U.S. court ruling (Reuters)
• Trump Gets Googlebombed In Google Images As Idiot (Search Engine Roundtable)
• Facebook Watch Is Going Global (Facebook Newsroom)
• Twitter is testing suggestions of accounts to unfollow (Axios)
• Apple buys startup focused on lenses for AR glasses (Reuters)
• Wear OS by Google: Health and help are just a swipe away (Google blog)
• The World’s Oldest Blockchain Has Been Hiding in the New York Times Since 1995 (Vice)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

• Help a Fellow Mac User With Remote Tech Support (The New York Times)
• Give Long-Distance Windows Help From the Comfort of Your Own Home (The New York Times)