Nerd News Tracker

In an unfolding tale of privacy lost, our own images are being stolen as people make us look older, another gender, or more. Another proof of "if you don't know what is up for sale, then it's you." Sure, there's more about how it's Russians, and that it's even more...

I am highly concerned that an organization that is openly of a political persuasion, with an ex-boss who is admittedly of that same political persuation, making and GIVING AWAY free software to "guard" our elections. This is a company that has made paid software that...

New car. Fast car. Nearly 2000bhp. 0 to 186 miles per hour in under 9 seconds. 9 seconds. I've already spent 9 seconds telling you about it... 186 miles per hour. This is amazingly brilliant, and also outside of my price range at $2 million. But one can dream, can't...

I had a feeling something like this was going on. We see pictures of idyllic lives, of photoshopped realities, and they get wrapped up in a cocoon where you can't see the behind the scenes... and you look at your own reality which can't hope to compare... and where...

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Uber and Lyft wish to protect themselves from legal turmoil. The reality is that something like this bill will hurt the gig economy if done wrong. Who benefits from a bill like this? The companies that compete against Uber and...

One of the topics this week will be about how Apple is reducing specs for our money. In a world where Moore's law is still holding solid, this is a way to just make more money off of the brand. Are we surprised?The Retina MacBook Air was refreshed last week with a new...

Germany has taken aim at Microsoft, and as one of the leading privacy advocates (Germany), I think it bears taking notice. This is a recurring theme with the two of them, with Office, Windows, Internet Explorer, and more. But lest you think Germany is only picking on...

I believe this is a mis-identification of the issue. The real issue is that all systems are vulnerable. Further, the more important the systems are, the more targeted they will become. Few hackers care about Linux or Macs (sorry Keith!) due to their low usage...

In an amazing move, the FTC levied what we might thing is a humongous fine against Facebook for the Cambidge Analytica scandal, where Facebook users personal data was used for politcal advertising purposes without the consent of the owners of that data. $5 Billion...

The good news is that Apple isn't even announcing how it works, and it may be not all that important in the grand scheme of things, as it may have all been just a proof of concept hack, with no actual usage in the real world. Still, Apple is taking the right...

OK, I'm sitting here, and I'm marveling over the idea of hair straightners, not because I'm bald, but because they have Bluetooth. They can also be hacked. Who would bother hacking a hair straightener? Just seems like a waste of time, but again, so does straightening...

Was it intentional? Was this the start of a robot uprising that went bad? We may never know. On a more serious note, while we get scared by these things, sometimes issues happen. The Great Chicago Fire (of 1871) cost much more than that, killed some 300 people, and...

Explanation about why ShakeAlert didn't alert is... well, shaky at best. Still, it'll take time before they iron out all of the issues, especially since it was about 20 years since the last quake of this size. Mrs. Nerd, my wife, was out of town, actually with me, so...

I'm not a proponent of any rule like this, censorship by any other name is still censorship. First is the issue that this might be delivered unbalanced... either the Christians or Islamics or Jews will be under or over represented by the censors, and that leads to...

I'm happy to hear this hitting the news. Frankly, the more impressive thing is that "Woz" has been touting this for ages, but is now getting media attention as it's the in thing to do. The various newspapers and other media (other than social) have realized that...

The headline is a little mislead. An industry group out of England is attacking Mozilla (Firefox) over a new plan to increase our privacy and internet speeds. This approach of streamlining how we get our webpages can be used to bypass certain locking mechanisms...

A thing to consider... which will in effect be meaningless, for all of the people who can't stay away will still keep things rolling, but I like the idea for personal growth. Can you do it??? Can you stay off of social media for 48 hours? “Humanity has been...

CITY NUMBER 3!!! My show hasn't even gone to air this week, where I talk about CITY NUMBER 2!!! If you are in any part of a small town or city, right now, you need to batten down the hatches, as the hackers are going to come after you as other cities start paying up....

Another reason why "what you bought" isn't really yours, and how your hard earned money can be lost. This is not a story of theft, as we discussed with Amazon, but a story of a server that will no longer be maintained. This article unfolds some of the deeper details,...

Yep. So, the cries to censor our President can get louder, Twitter is now officially allowing political tampering by themselves. In a quest to make things "fair", they'll probably track your every choice, track you as well, and all of your political decisions... and...

Forget the headline, as he's not going all that far. He's starting a company that will still work directly with Apple. OK, so it's more of an outside consultancy which allows him to do whatever else he wants to do. Apple said on Thursday that its chief design officer,...

Another layer in this story. Guest speaker, Matt Nye, will be joining me this week to discuss this in more detail.BIG UPDATE: YouTube has REMOVED the video from their platform. The video is still available on this website page.UPDATE 1: Congressman Louie Gohmert...

Deleted social media accounts after Project Veritas expose of political meddling. Guest speaker, Matt Nye, will be joining me this week to discuss this in more detail. James O’Keefe and Project Veritas released alarming new undercover video, leaked documents, and...

Apple had their big huge 5k monitor reveal, so now the others are announcing their answers to it. I am really enjoying the idea of the size of this one continuous spread. It still matches up to two 27" class monitors, but as one very wide spread... but at about $1000...

I like the different headlines... Apple fanboys are claiming that Bill Gates said that fighting Apple was his biggest mistake. It's a lot of interpretation, clearly. Still, no matter if you take the anti-Apple or anti-Android, it's a matter of his not taking a better...

Man has long wished to fully conquer time. It's the measure that is most elusive to us, and even with this new space clock, it still will have some level of inaccuracy that is not predictable. This quest will continue, and we will see more accurate time keeping over...

Something to be aware of. This is a problem, of course, that strikes many different companies, due to the nature of battery fires. We've seen this all over, but the idea that Apple is addressing something this old is amazing. Kudos! Overheating batteries are no...

Fans will know that I am an avid Apple iPad user, and love the Apple Pencil. Still, I'm disheartened to see that Google is backing off of their tablets, in a time where we should all be moving forward. We still have tablets from Samsung and elsewhere, but a leader...

Having delivered a number of presentations, and also stuttering at times, this is an amazing practice feature from Microsoft! Kudos to the folks in Redmond!Microsoft is adding a new Presenter Coach option to PowerPoint to improve people’s presentations. It works in a...

I've talked about this before on the show, perhaps just the news, but it bears repeating again. We are going to find that we are changing ourselves distinctly as we move through these very early parts of what will be a long Information Age.A new review looking into...

Tech can be very fickle, especially in a large environment. I wonder not only what hte problem was, but if there was a way to prevent something like this from happening. One thing that we keep forgetting about, as we move more towards cloud services, is that localized...

Just another big problem in the works as not only AT&T, but some of the overseas carriers are backing away from the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Recent problems with demo units given to the press appear to be more than just minor issues as the date is shoved back for...

Another giant leveling off against people of a different stripe, you know... those rabid... christians? What? Yeah, another example of shadow banning has been unveiled, and what will change? Not much.Project Veritas has received and published documents from an insider...

Do you really own your car any more? That's a conversation that we've had on the show before. Now, with the advent of rolling out software packages to the car that can limit your range, your autopilot features, and more, this is becoming more and more true. Granted,...

Some consider this a cautionary tale. Others consider it a plan for our country. I'm really hoping that the next generation will start to eschew their taste for things that voluntarily give up their privacy, that empower a government to rule their lives, and that will...

Leak of the week... it's almost unheard of to not have a data leak these days. This was a massive data leak from a tech company that you might not have heard of. Tech Data is one of larger suppliers of hardware and software to companies, a middle man, that has also...

Sending landers to the moon is a great idea. The Astrobotic of Pittsburgh deal is amazing, considering they are talking up to 14 landings. WOW! I believe that things like this improve our entire approach to science, and make this a better place to live. NASA plans to...

If the NSA wants you to patch a hole that they can use to spy on you, you know it's bad! Patch this!!! NOW!!! Microsoft has even released patches going back to Windows XP, so you know that this is bad!The National Security Agency has joined Microsoft in warning that a...

When you allow the removal of content that you don't like, or the punishment of people that you don't agree with... you then open up the floodgates for the removal of your content, and your own punishment. I don't care if this is the far right or the far left......

A certain creep factor here... Still, if we save the life of just one Apple device, isn't it worth it? (SARCASM ALERT!)The tracking works even if a device isn’t connected to Wi-Fi or a network, the company says. Macs will send a secure Bluetooth signal occasionally,...

Bribery is everywhere, and we shouldn't be surprised. This can't bode well for anyone.In chasing the JEDI contract with the U.S. government, Amazon allegedly negotiated signing bonuses and stock options with a DOD official. See full story on Amazon Offered Job to...

This is starting to get a little more disturbing than the current searches for information harmful to the US, and will start to go deeper into our backgrounds and personal information. Analysis The US government will now require "most" visa applicants to provide...

I've been increasingly concerned that Facebook is getting out of hand. The idea that Crossfit, a non-political entity (so far as I know), is dropping Facebook over censorship of a diet approach, indicates to me that Facebook is a problem. I'm not sure about the...

Ahh, to dream of owning a piece of history like this. I have two Osbourne portables, one fully working, and I don't even have a prayer that they would sell for enough to bother to dust them off. A rare Apple I has fetched roughly $471,000 after selling at auction...

The word usage of unicorn for rare has become so common in usage, that it's rendered as meaningless as the idea that unicorns don't even exist. There are so many unicorns in the market today — they stampede by the hundred in 2019 — that they are impossible to keep...

As much as a few times a day, I receive a call that is in a foreign language. This robocall breaks all of the rules, and continues to plague me, due to the free usage of VoIP, the lack of tracability, the lack of caring for our already existing laws in California and...

Given that Apple has agreed to warning of slowdowns to avoid a lawsuit in the United Kingdom, it will be interesting to see if theese warnings will come to those of us in the United States, or only arrive to folks in the United Kingdom.The tech giant must tell...

We will be discussing Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge next week, with a special interview, but this week, I'm taken aback at some of the expensive prices to be had here. $200 lightsabers, $30 and $40 mugs, and more.Better start saving now for that trip to Black Spire Outpost...

I am not a fan of these many mergers. I know that it's business, but it stifles competition in an already stifled field. Other than Verizon, AT&T, and whatever the T-Mobile and Sprint group would be called, the rest are all borrowing space on the above. Consumer...

Ooops! Yet another vulnerability on a router. Change your password, patch frequently, and watch the news for problems!If you were looking for more proof that all of your connected devices were out to get you, look no further than a new report from Bad Packets chief...

How we do things, throughout life, can be tracked. Our face, as well as our gait as we walk, our different actions on certain websites, and our shopping habits. This is another way we can be identified as individuals in a sea of billions.Your iPhone can be uniquely...

My headline would read "Facebook makes tweaks to increase addiction". It's a never ending quest to ensure that you are getting a good experience, rather than one that leaves you feeling empty, frustrated, angry, or ready to quit. Wow... sure sounds like addiction to...

Chip flaws have been around for a while. No, I'm not referring to these chips... I'm saying all of them. It's patchable, and the current threat is only theoretical, so don't panic, don't run... simply walk towards the patches and get them done.Big tech is stepping in...

This TV Spot lays up a nice history of NASAs amazing past, and while this was done by fans of NASA (and modern music), it brings me a feeling that perfectly inspires after todays announcements of NASA going back to the moon... to stay!...

A few weeks ago, I lamented the idea that the IRS was going to put the free filing in the hands of Intuit... and it's getting worse as we speak. Intuit, the biz behind America's most popular tax-filing software, was sued this week for seemingly hiding a free version...

I will probably talk about this as a topic sometime soon, rather than a news item, but it was an interesting read. This crosses between addictions, but also overbearing parent Luddite behavior in a world where tech familiarity is going to be the difference between the...

Problems in the world of Apple in regards to anti-trust and their App Store. This is only a bit piece of how our future landscape may evolve with getting new apps for our smartphones. The Supreme Court, ruling 5-4, allows iPhone users to pursue their antitrust lawsuit...

While it isn't clear in this article, and a number of other sites, apparently these pages number in the millions. Further, a majority of the pages supported the populist parties La Lega (The League) and the 5-Star Movement (M5S) — who currently govern Italy in a...