Nerd News Tracker

In an ongoing story, on Thursday, while the President stated most everyone needs to be vaccinated, Microsoft pushed back their return to office from October 4th, to indefinite. This continuing pushback indicates that this major player (with 181,000 FTEs), is joining...

See someone sporting some Wayfarers from Ray-ban? Look closer, as they may also have two little circles that include dual 5 megapixel cameras. These also include 20 different styles, 4GB of storage, and yep, can even be loaded with standard prescription lenses....

Starlink (through this rich guy you might have heard of, called Elon Musk) will be offering speed at 40% faster than fiber in the future. This is a promise that will have to be proven, but I'm excited for it. The additional plus is that they are now interlinking the...

One of the scammiest things that Keith and I have seen, is where landlords, from apartment complexes to rest homes, just gouge their residents. The FCC is finally taking action because their weak rules keep a monopoly and a high price in place. Now if we can get them...

I like using tech. I love the idea of touchless pay, and the speed is a little better than the "insert the chip" version of pay. The problem that I've found the most with using Apple Pay is that I'm not going to hand my smartphone to some wait staff to take to their...

Apple's next event is coming in just a few days. Keith M. Sedor will be joining us on next weeks show to give his thoughts and opinions regarding the announcements.Watch the latest Apple keynote stream, and check out the archive of special event announcements for our...

Taking a cue from the last United States elections, Russia is threatening Apple and Google over allowing an app by the leader of the opposition to the political party of choice... United Russia. Scant different between Facebook and Tiwtter banning voices they don't...

Taking a cue from the last United States elections, Russia is threatening Apple and Google over allowing an app by the leader of the opposition to the political party of choice... United Russia. Scant different between Facebook and Tiwtter banning voices they don't...

Richard Branson, the first commercial billionaire in space (as opposed to Jeff Bezos), is now grounded again, or at least SpaceShip Two is. It comes from an issue where as he returned, his toy got a little off course. That will delay the first fully commercial flight...

Richard Branson, the first commercial billionaire in space (as opposed to Jeff Bezos), is now grounded again, or at least SpaceShip Two is. It comes from an issue where as he returned, his toy got a little off course. That will delay the first fully commercial flight...

Here it comes. Windows 11 is just a month away; October 5th. October 5th brings the most boring version of Windows yet. Minor coats of paint, it contains little changes here and there which look like Chrome OS or Mac OS. I've been working in Windows since before most...

Here it comes. Windows 11 is just a month away; October 5th. October 5th brings the most boring version of Windows yet. Minor coats of paint, it contains little changes here and there which look like Chrome OS or Mac OS. I've been working in Windows since before most...

So what is going on with Windows 11 and older computers. My personal theory is that it's here to render old hardware obsolete, and make us have to make the next move towards upgrading. Some older hardware has been allowed in the Insider's Preview program, but they are...

The FTC is adjusting a little, but they are pursuing Facebook as maintaining a monopoly since 2011. This includes where Facebook bought out competitors, or so heavily attacked them that they couldn't survive. The expressed FTC goal is to force Facebook to restructure...

The FTC is adjusting a little, but they are pursuing Facebook as maintaining a monopoly since 2011. This includes where Facebook bought out competitors, or so heavily attacked them that they couldn't survive. The expressed FTC goal is to force Facebook to restructure...

Hackers search for ingenious ways to get into systems. A recent vulnerability amounts to plugging in a Razer gaming mouse or keyboard, letting the software automatically load, and performing a simple trick. I won't go into deeper details, but one of the friends of the...

The headline is both revealing, and hiding more. Limiting accounts from making money, demonetization, hurts the creators, but still benefits YouTube who profits off of the content. One of the comments was about how to "make sure those who play by the rules are...

I like this headline, and think it says a lot of what we already know. I commuted an hour each way on Los Angeles area roads for many years, and it takes a toll. Today, a 14 stair step walk, in barefeet, and making my own lunch each day is a lot better on my stress...

Just shy of half of American's want censorship, in the form of the government restricting "misinformation" on social media. The 1st Amendment doesn't talk about good speech, knowledgeable information, facts or fiction, but all speech. Especially when we get into...

Facebook brought forth a new idea to bring VR to our homes, in the form of us using it to work from home. Current Oculus Quest 2 users will be able to join in conference rooms and the hardware will track movements and try to bring together a realistic world. I'm not...

Another hack of millions of current and past customers. The name could have been anyone. T-Mobile is just the latest in what is going to be an ongoing story where the characters are changed, but the plotline doesn't. Hackers recently came out claiming to have stolen...

Who says there's honor amongst thieves? One team used the tracking power of an Apple Watch, one of the cellular versions, to track down a drug runner's location where they robbed him of half a million dollars. Now, as with all tech, the digital fingerprints lead...

Changes coming to the Google platforms are coming to keep youth under 18 from trouble. Issues include preventing access to bad stuff, allowing them to delete their images from results, changing advertising to a much tamer level, and location history will be turned...

Time crystals. Quantum computing. The folks at Google have said they have managed to defeat entropy, change the laws of physics, and more... but oh yeah, it's not peer reviewed, and hasn't been seen out in the real world. It's interesting, but it could be just an...

It's not hard to deny that Apple is raking in the cash. When you consider that last years numbers for the tech company were $57 Billion, it explains a lot, like the valuation at 2 Trillion, it's 6th place marker on the Fortune 500, and oh yeah, why governments are...

I'm closing this weeks show with this item, and my own thoughts and comments about our lives. How glued are we to our devices exactly? On average, researchers report adults spend about six hours daily in front of screens. See full story on Digital daze: 73% of adults...

I'm going to just read this aloud. I'll request that you think this over carefully, and understand that social media influencers are thought of as independent thinkers. Colorado is paying more than 120 influencers on Instagram, TikTok and other social media platforms...

I'm not quoting any news articles this week on Pegasus. What I found as I search further behind the scenes is a large series of borderline anti-Semitic articles about an Israeli company that makes law enforcement software that was used by someone else in corporate and...

Intel's announcement that they will not raise prices, even though there will be chip shortages seems strange. If they can't get materials, and can't make chips, the industry will self-adjust and raise the price without Intel's involvement. This is how economics work,...

The bigger story is that this is a non-story, as it was 12 people who participated, and they may have already had permission from people to do this. The bigger lesson, is that the method of asking for this access, by a third party, to your payroll provider, is a nasty...

The simple reboot has been with us for ages. If you're having a problem, restart, and the system will reset to it's normal conditions. This is now being pushed as a tool against various phone attacks, simply because most of the attacks do not contain methods to...

The voice interaction with our various assistants just got a little better. I'd love to be able to name my Siri to whatever wake name that I prefer. I'd love a wider range of voices too. Amazon just expanded both, and while the new name, Ziggy is quirky, the chance of...

On Thursday, Akamai found itself the cause of a major internet outage. They performed a software update, and crashed or slowed websites that represented some of the top names in the world. This outage involved DNS (Domain Name Services), which is the whole system that...

The industry is starting to struggle with the levels of saturation, so it's not surprising that Netflix is looking for other revenue options. Now the numbers aren't as bad, as the naysayers are saying Netflix lost 430,000 US and Canadian subscribers, and most...

With the latest climb in COVID-19 numbers around the world, but especially in California, Apple is backpedaling on the plans for return to the office. This is one of the first to push the schedule back, but it's not likely going to be the last. Many companies are...

With everything that Richard Branson did right with his space launch, Jeff Bezos appears to have turned around and made into a depressing jaunt into space. The various jokes, the blunders with his thanking his employees and customers, and even the lackluster review...

In a boost to the Right To Repair world, the Federal Trade Commission unanimously setup new guidelines to push all sectors to allow customers to repair their own hardware, cars, tractors, and more. Special screws, strange adhesives, or non-standard tools have been...

There was some concern about the Windows 11 performance, but the latest benchmark comparisons indicate there is little to fear. PC World has released some numbers that indicate that the differences in power will be minimal. This will be exciting for people who wish to...

The original winner of a $28 million auction will not be the first paying space traveller on Blue Origins New Shepard rocket. Instead, it'll be an 18 year old physics student. Before you go down the road that it's some amazing genius, the ticket was the 2nd place...

In an amazing bit of audacity, Apple is threatening to leave the UK if they have to pay up $7 Billion in a patent lawsuit. Their claim is that this is patent trolls at work. The other side is that the threat to leave may result in the courts extending leniency to...

Google is about to hit up more people for a 30% take of their business. Movies, TV shows, streaming, and the rest of the digital goods are under threat. Many states are pushing back with antitrust lawsuits, similar to the actions that have been going against Apple....

Gaze into the eyes, and you might even see through that window to the soul. There's a certain creep factor, however when you note the tech companies that are forging a pathway towards retina recognition for everyday things. Your drivers license? Your insurance cards?...

A couple years ago, I talked about JEDI, a contract between Microsoft and the Pentagon. It's now unravelling two years later as they are sending it out for bid to Amazon and Microsoft... the only two companies that likely to be viable to carry the weight of the $10...

Kaseya is a network management tool that's been around for a while. Solarwinds is a similar tool, and it was attacked back in December. They took data. Kaseya was hacked last weekend, and an estimate of 1500 of their clients were hit with ransomware. This new type of...

UC Berkeley performed a number of comprehensive studies on cell phone usage, and came out with details that your cell phone may not be as safe as you'd like. 97% of American's have a cell phone of some kind, and are becoming dependent upon it. My cellphone has been my...

Do you like offices? Cubicles OK? What about open floorplans? What about no floorplan at all? Dropbox is in the middle of implementing a work concept called a Studio. Everything is movable, wide open, and revolves around fancy library concepts where everyone sees...

It may be Branson over Bezos in the Billionaire Blast Off Race to space. We've known that both of them have this quest to show off, so it's not as surprising. I'm hopeful that it's successful, as this dangerous trip is needed to challenge more people towards the dream...

In recent weeks, I've been hearing of people who are planning to change jobs soon. It's been called the "Great Resignation", as return-to-the-office is announced. The lure of working from home is just too much for most people, and they are seeking options. Family,...

Claims of a LinkedIn breach came out this week. It's a little different this time, as LinkedIn is noting that it appears to be all information that was "scraped" or actually available publicly. This is an indication that we are moving into a different type of world...

While they haven't been selling in a while, the idea of these devices is to hold data in a safe location for a long time. People don't update external hard drives until they really run out of space. WD MyBook sees massive deleted data among most of its users, and...

In case you want to know the specs needed for Windows 11. Sit down. They are a bit more than you might expect. See full story on What your PC will need to run Windows 11 | PCWorldFound at www.pcworld.com

Someone in Texas, during a recent power crunch, thought it would be great to adjust up the thermostats... from the power company side. This is not what you want in your house... 78 degrees (what they used) at the thermostat in my own home is 88 degrees in my office...

Windows 11 announcements today. They contained all of the excitement of reading an end user license agreement. Lots of caffeine is needed. You've been warned. Windows is getting a minor upgrade. See full story on Windows 11 is here: Everything you need to know -...

Imagine itemizing your company deductions... "Fred... can we write off the amount we paid to the ransomeware hackers?" The answer now apparently from the IRS is that, yes, while we don't deal with terrorists, if you do, you can write it off. Now, there's issues, such...

This hit the headlines in the last week, but it was all for not... this guy didn't really hit it rich. It was just a bad set of calculations in small numbers that flipped into big numbers. Williamson knew that Coinbase didn't really owe him this much. Still, finding...

I've been concerned over this latest program, Voila AI Artist, because it's yet another 'forced viral' approach into our phones, our wallets, and our information. Defining "forced viral". The various guilt-trip encouragements, the cute approach, the not-really...

While this is a novelty, owning the NFT of the original source code of the World Wide Web seems exciting, but also extremely out of reach for most of us. Tim Berners-Lee's creation is likely to outlast all of us at this rate, and because of that, I think this auction...

In King County, Washington, facial recognition software is now banned. Home to Seattle, Bellevue, and this quaint little town called Redmond, AKA Microsoft City. I like the idea that governments are starting to take a chance on restricting the overreach, but I also...

Decades ago, one of the early attractions of simulated artificial intelligence was Eliza. Eliza was a pretend therapist. Now, Woebot comes along, and it's much the same concept. It tries to determine your issues, and serve as therapy, based on far more responses than...

Quick note on the electric car front... Rimac has a new hypercar... 0 to 60 in 1.85 seconds. That's about a second faster than your zero to 60 time jumping out of an airplane. 1,914hp. 258mph top speed. $2.4 million USD. The production version of Rimac's Concept _Two...

Walmart is retiring their robots from stores, but Instacart is now pushing the same idea. In this case, they want to try out creating automated fulfillment centers around the country. 100's of robots would gather standard boxed and canned products, while live people...

New York Subways were also hit by Chinese hackers using a zero-day vulnerability. This is where nobody knew a door was even there until after it was opened. This was actually a better story than we usually hear. Only 3 of 18 systems were hit. No impact to customers or...

Don't have a cow, but the meat industry is reeling after another cyberattack. Remember, I've said that the targets out there that are paying, are only serving to drive more attacks. We don't know how much JBS, the nations second largest meat producer, located in...

We've talked about Amazon's overreach, and on this weeks show, Keith will talk about a related Apple feature. For now, I'm going to come down hard on Amazon, and say to opt out of Amazon Sidewalk. Google the following "OPT OUT OF SIDEWALK" and there are 100 different...