AwesomeCast 784: SteamOS, Shokz Headphones, Retro Phones, Sports Tech & a T-Pain Social Media Fail
This week on AwesomeCast, Sorg is joined by Dave Podnar for a packed conversation about practical gadgets, open-source gaming, sports technology, retro devices, and one of the funnier social media mistakes of the week.
Dave’s Running Tech Upgrade: Shokz OpenRun Pro 2
Dave kicks things off with his Awesome Thing of the Week: the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 headphones. After years of running with cheap headphones, he finally upgraded to a pair designed for exercise and awareness.
The big advantage is the open-ear design. Instead of sealing your ears off from the world, the headphones sit outside the ear so runners can still hear traffic, people, and everything happening around them. Dave also points out the lightweight fit, USB-C charging, solid battery life, and the comfort of not having earbuds collecting sweat during a run.
SteamOS Comes to More PCs
Sorg then dives into Valve’s move to support SteamOS installs on normal PCs with AMD GPUs. The conversation looks at the appeal of turning an existing computer into a living-room gaming box instead of buying a new Steam Machine.
The bigger story is platform access. Valve does not just want to sell hardware. It wants people playing and buying games through Steam wherever they are — on Steam Deck, a gaming PC, or a box connected to the TV.
Bazzite and the Open-Source Gaming Route
That leads into Bazzite, an open-source Linux gaming OS recommended by Brother Sorg. Bazzite offers a Steam gaming mode and support for several game launchers, including Xbox Game Pass, Battle.net, EA, Epic Games Store, GOG, Rockstar, and Ubisoft Connect.
For anyone with an older PC and some comfort installing Linux, it could be a way to revive hardware and create a console-like gaming setup without Windows.
Pride Month Tech History: Jon “maddog” Hall
For Pride Month, Dave highlights Jon “maddog” Hall, a major figure in Linux, Unix, and open-source history. The discussion touches on Hall’s early programming work, his support of Linus Torvalds, and how important it is to recognize LGBTQ contributors who have always been part of technology history, even when they were not always highlighted.
Chachi Says: GTA 6, Nex Playground, and Ubisoft News
In the Chachi Says Video Game Minute, Chachi covers:
GTA 6 cover art and pre-order news
Nex Playground, a motion-based console aimed at getting kids moving without controllers
The death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of Ubisoft and founder of Guillemot Corporation
Low-Fi Video is Back: Baja SAE on a “Gas Station Camera”
Sorg shares a fun Baja SAE reel filmed on what was described as a “gas station camera.” The intentionally rough, low-resolution look leads to a conversation about the return of lo-fi media, VHS-style aesthetics, and how old camera tech has become a creative social media tool.
World Cup Digital Twins and Sports Referee Tech
The episode also gets into the technology behind modern soccer officiating. Sorg talks about World Cup systems using cameras, sensors, player tracking, and digital twins to help officials make faster and more accurate calls.
This leads to a larger discussion about how live sports broadcasts and officiating systems are becoming more data-driven and visually advanced.
Ribbie Turns Baseball Into Pixel Art
Dave introduces Ribbie, a fan-built project that uses MLB play-by-play data to recreate live baseball games as a retro pixel-art broadcast. The crew connects this to vibe coding and how AI-assisted development is making it possible for fans to build creative projects that would have required much more technical knowledge in the past.
The Commodore Phone
Dave also brings up the new Commodore phone, a retro-branded flip phone running Sailfish OS. It is not quite a dumbphone, but it is designed to avoid social media and doomscrolling while still offering essentials like calls, texts, maps, music apps, Uber/Lyft, and classic Commodore games.
Sorg and Dave discuss who this kind of device is really for: people who want to disconnect, parents looking for a limited phone option, or retro tech fans who love the Commodore name.
DoorDash Tags T-Pain Instead of Tim Payne
Finally, Sorg and Dave close with a very funny social media fail: DoorDash repeatedly tagging T-Pain in soccer posts that appeared to be intended for soccer player Tim Payne.
The best part? T-Pain played along, turning the mistake into a much funnier moment. The crew uses the story to talk about automation, social scheduling, agency workflows, and why human oversight still matters.
Watch and Listen
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