#TBOT 11: AI Companions Worse Than Porn, Why Your Word Doc Never Looks Right, Deep Sea Desalination, Find the Perfect XMPP Provider

#TBOT 11: AI Companions Worse Than Porn, Why Your Word Doc Never Looks Right, Deep Sea Desalination, Find the Perfect XMPP Provider

Author: The most important weekly tech news + solutions. August 25, 2025 Duration: 29:40

Here are our stories for the week:

AI Companions Worse Than Porn: People are turning to artificial intelligence for companionship, seeking emotional connection. AI companies are more than happy to supply this new drug, realizing personalized AI brings the most user engagement. A new Meta leak shows companies adopting a more personal strategy that enables subtle romances with users—including children.

Why Your Word Doc Never Looks Right: Shots fired as LibreOffice, a popular open-source office suite, calls out Microsoft for their proprietary document format. We look at the history of OOXML versus ODF and see how MS strong-armed standardization. But in 2025, does LibreOffice smell blood in the water as governments in Finland and Germany shift to Linux and open source?

Deep Sea Desalination: Water shortages are leading companies to start pumping water from the deep sea. But is this safe? What’s the environmental impact? We take a look as the largest subsea desalination plant prepares to go live off the coast of Norway in 2026.

Solutions: Find your perfect XMPP server! I love XMPP—but finding a server isn’t the easiest task. That’s changing with providers.xmpp.net, a project by XMPP community members that lets you sort and find high-quality servers.

Share this post with your crew. 🚢

🪄 We aim for our show to be well-researched, well-informed, and focused on the most impactful stories—all in 20 minutes (ain’t nobody got more time than that)!

PLUS - Each story comes with recommendations, and there’s one cool tech trick or open-source solution every week.

We’ll be publishing full posts and clips of each of these stories soon.

✅ XMPP + Above Phone is an excellent communication solution!

Are you ready for a phone that respects you? Enjoy private app stores, secure web browsing and communication, download videos to your phone, navigate with open-source maps, and so much more.

🔥 And best of all, there are zero connections to big tech!

This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tbot.substack.com/subscribe

Hakeem Anwar hosts The #TBOT Show, a weekly podcast dedicated to cutting through the noise of the tech world. Instead of just reporting headlines, this show focuses on the technology news that actually shapes your daily routine, privacy, and digital freedom, explaining why it matters in clear terms. Each episode is designed to be concise and actionable, wrapping up in under twenty minutes. You’ll hear informed analysis and straightforward recommendations on how to navigate the week’s developments. True to its mission, every installment also provides a practical takeaway: this might be a powerful open-source tool you can use, a privacy-enhancing skill to learn, or a sustainable tech solution to implement. It’s a blend of necessary context and usable insight, making it a resource for anyone who wants to understand and take back control of their tech life. Tune in for a focused, efficient update that prioritizes depth over duration, ensuring you stay informed without being overwhelmed. This podcast delivers exactly what its author promises: the most important weekly tech news paired with tangible solutions.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 80

The #TBOT Show with Hakeem Anwar
Podcast Episodes
The New Counter Disinformation Unit Powered By AI [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:30
Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the pastLast week, Trilateral Commission member Anthony Blinken revealed the US State Department plans to leverage artificial intelligence in c…
VIDEO: Microsoft Disconnects Online Communications for Palestinians [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:20
Palestinians living abroad are reporting that Microsoft has abruptly closed their email accounts—like Microsoft owned email service Hotmail—without warning or verifiable reasons, leaving them cut off from other essential…
VIDEO: With Companies Like CrowdStrike, Who Needs Viruses? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 4:18
Major IT outages took place this past Friday affecting airlines, logistics, communications, and retail industries.Who’s behind the crash? CrowdStrike, a security company valued at 83B dollars with corporate customers all…
VIDEO: Weaponizing Drones, from War To Your Insurance Policy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:27
It’s not enough that your phone and computer are constantly spying on you, now your home is being spied on by drones too.Please share this post with your friends, help us reach our goal of 5,000 members:https://t.me/take…
VIDEO: Photojacked - US Government Sues Adobe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:20
Watch our latest video to learn how Adobe's new terms of service allow it to scan, use, share, and sell user content, sparking outrage among creatives. Despite backlash, Adobe insists users own their content, while retai…
VIDEO: Google & Apple Steal Wifi Access Points [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:51
Please share this post with your friends, help us reach our goal of 5,000 members!https://t.me/takebackourtech Watch our latest video to uncover how using Google or Apple Maps contributes to one of the biggest surveillan…
VIDEO: How to Cloak Your Photos from AI Facial Recognition Databases [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:17
Clearview AI is a facial recognition company that has built a comprehensive database of 50 billion facial images by scraping photos from the internet, primarily used by law enforcement and government agencies.Learn how t…