Nerd News Tracker

Windows 11 Is Trying to Unify RGB Device Settings
Rather than making Windows 12, Microsoft made a small change to Windows 11 to control custom lighting of your keyboard or other system lights, if so enabled.RGB controls on PCs are a mess, with each accessory or component manufacturer usually having their own tool for...

Mercedes first to sell vehicles in California with hands-free, eyes-off automated driving | TechCrunch
5 Levels of automated driving (not counting Level 0). Tesla's operate at Level 2, but Mercedes is now the first to offer Level 3 in limited areas in California. I'll explain the levels more in the coming weeks.California regulators have given Mercedes-Benz the OK to...
Huawei may face EU-wide 5G network ban • The Register
Huawei was banned in the US late last year by the Biden administration, and now they are facing a ban from 5G networks by the EU. Sanctions-hit Huawei is facing another potential blow amid reports the EU is mulling a mandatory ban on member states using kit from...
‘Night Fury’: Documents Detail DHS Project to Give ‘Risk Scores’ to Social Media Users
A Black Mirror episode details out a social media scotre for all people. China has announced a similar score. Apparently for 5 years now, our own Department of Homeland Security has been using the University of Alabama to develop a "risk score" for identifying...
Google Drive Is Ending Support for Older Windows PCs
Google has jumped on the bandwagon to partially support Microsoft with Windows 11 in a strange way. Some users of Windows 10, specifically those with a 32-bit version, will find that Google Drive will no longer be supported in just a couple of months. Fortunately,...
Is it real or made by AI? Europe wants a label for that as it fights disinformation | AP News
This week, an image went out with Trump admonishing Biden for whatever. We've now seen the advent of being able to deepfake everything. Clearly it isn't good, as some of these are going to be believable, and the technology is only going to get better. The EU is...
Opinion | Apple’s Vision Pro ‘mixed-reality’ headset goggles are clunky. Good. – The Washington Post
On this week's Computer Talk Radio, we'll be spending an expanded amount of time on Apple's WWDC event. I've had some problems with the idea of the Vision Pro, even as I watched the entire presentation of the new googles. The lack of telling us the value or desired...
I love electric vehicles – and was an early adopter. But increasingly I feel duped | Rowan Atkinson | The Guardian
Rowan Atkinson is better known as Mr Bean. He's also got a degree in electronic engineering, and a masters in control systems. As a user, he has been in the electric car space for nearly 20 years. This week, he penned an OpEd that blasts the industry. It highlights...
Windows 11 lost users this month – should Microsoft be worried? | TechRadar
Last weeks push by Microsoft about Windows 11 being all that and a bag of chips, was probably due to early awareness on something alarming. Windows 11 userbase dropped while Windows 10 sent up, as determined by StatCounter, our favorite for showing the numbers by OS...
Your next job may depend on how well you understand AI tools like ChatGPT
Not really news, but... Your next job may depend on how well you can work with AI tools. It also may depend on how well you can work with Microsoft Windows, Word, and Excel. AI is posing a threat to job security, but workers may need to get acquainted with tools like...
Who owns this camera, Nikon? Me or you? – YouTube
Nikon is stopping at least one eBay seller from international sales of a camera lens that's discontinued...See full story on Who owns this camera, Nikon? Me or you? - YouTubeFound at www.youtube.com
Gigabyte shipped hundreds of motherboard models with firmware backdoor | PCWorld
Gigabyte is a major motherboard manufacturer if you're going DIY. Apparently, it also has a backdoor that will install updates to the firmware. Where this goes south, is that the servers that serve up the firmware updates, are not secure. This could lead to a major...
The first Chromecast is obsolete. Here’s what you should get next | Digital Trends
The first generation of Google's Chromecast is now end of life...Google has ended support of its first-gen Chromecast dongle. These alternatives are your best bet for a replacement. See full story on The first Chromecast is obsolete. Here's what you should get next |...
Mark Zuckerberg unveils $500 Meta Quest 3 launching this fall | VentureBeat
With Mark Zuckerberg's push for virtual reality, which has struggled, with his Metaverse project, for whatever reason, this week he announced Meta Quest 3. This set of goggles is $500, instead of the predecessors $300 pricetag. Perhaps Zuckerberg has become emboldened...
Meta threatens to pull news from California apps over journalism payment bill
Facebook and other social media sites are coming under attack, with new legal demands to pay for news content. This happened in Australia, and now California has the Journalism Preservation Act that would require payment of revenues against news content. It's all...
Amazon Is Removing Those Alexa Celebrity Voices You Paid For – Review Geek
Various celebrity voices have been available in the past for your Waze, Google Assistance, and Alexa. Each of these has slowly went out of favor, and Alexa has been one of the last holdouts. This feature, however, is moving towards the Recycle Bin, as Amazon announced...
OpenAI isn’t doing enough to make ChatGPT’s limitations clear – The Verge
One of the ongoing issues pertaining to AI is that it's not as reliable as you think it might be. Multiple news accounts are now coming out, each showing how unreliable the AI can be. A lawyer used some references in court, but then found that the references were all...
Delivering Delightful Performance for More Than One Billion Users Worldwide – Windows Developer Blog
Microsoft is pushing hard on the advertising for Windows 11. They decided to come out with a long article on their Windows Blogs about how great things are. I didn't have to pass the headline to find their first mistake. "Delivering Delightful Performance for More...
Ron DeSantis’ campaign launch on Twitter crashed by glitches, echoes and ‘melting servers’ | CNN Business
Florida Gov, Ron DeSantis, announced his bid for next years Presidential election. He did this on Twitter, which is an odd location, as it's not really known as a video platform. When a half million or more viewers tried to take it in, Twitter wasn't prepared, and...
Adobe Photoshop Will Use Generative AI to Fill Images
Adobe Photoshop, already known for making amazing pictures, including a bit of fakery, has a new feature. They introduced their Firefly product, an AI image generation into Photoshop, so you can add in content on the fly while you're editing pictures. The...
Netflix to charge $8 extra per month for out-of-household viewers – masslive.com
Netflix finally made the official announcement on the account sharing issue. The amount was predicted to be an additional $8 a month, and was accurate. Netflix is rolling this out, and a portion of users are announcing their exit from the service. Netflix has already...
An HP firmware update is bricking printers and there’s no fix yet | PCWorld
HP printers received an update around the second week of May, and it turned some printers into big huge expensive bricks. It leaves an error code up, and HP is asking folks to reach out for support. This is a double whammy for HP who we talked about last week, in...
Is your Microsoft Surface Pro X camera not working? Here’s the fix | ZDNET
Microsoft Surface Pro X users ran into a major problem on Tuesday. A recent update happens to kill both of the cameras on this system. The fix reported by some knowing users was to backdate your system to May 22nd. Others suggested purchasing a new camera. This may be...
How NASA Plans to Melt the Moon—and Build on Mars | WIRED
How does one plan to create a habitat on the moon or Mars? In just a few weeks, a four-person crew will enter into a 3D printed building developed for NASA. It's part of the plans for how we might move to space. It's intent is to print using the regolith, essentially...
Rimac Nevera Sets 23 Performance Records in a Single Day – Rimac Newsroom
The initial headlines of the Rimac Nevera breaking a number of performance records is misleading. It's an electric supercar, and they are impressive already due to instant torque. So with that in mind, a 0-60 in 1.74 seconds, zero to 250 miles per hour to zero...
Almost 5 million people are watching Netflix ads – maybe I should too
We knew this was coming...Netflix says that almost 5 million people are now subscribed to the company's ad tier and its making me thinking of switching. See full story on Almost 5 million people are watching Netflix ads - maybe I should tooFound at bgr.com
OpenAI ChatGPT on the App Store
Expected. Didn't take long. Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about OpenAI ChatGPT. Download OpenAI ChatGPT and enjoy it on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. See full story on OpenAI ChatGPT on the App StoreFound at...
Montana becomes first state to ban TikTok after governor signs bill into law
Headline says it all...Montana officially became the first state to ban TikTok on Wednesday after Gov. Greg Gainforte signs bill into law. See full story on Montana becomes first state to ban TikTok after governor signs bill into lawFound at www.nbcnews.com
Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser Closing at Florida’s Disney World
Disney built an extravagant experience called the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. It's a massive, immersive journey across to a galaxy far far away, bah blah blah... $6,000 for a couple to spend two days doing a Live Action Role Play of Star Wars in Florida, just...
Meet Spacetop, a radical new laptop with no screen | PCWorld
Many companies are still bursting into the AR/VR space, and Steve will talk some of that on this week's show. One company, called Sightful, has a coming product called Spacetop. Think of a laptop, but without the traditional fold up screen. Instead, you put on a set...
HP’s New Printer Update Is Making Everyone Mad. It’s the 1 Thing No Company Should Ever Do | Inc.com
HP is at it again. The released a firmware update across large amounts of their printers, locking them down if the toner or ink cartridges aren't official HP product. Their claim now is that it's to protect against malware and hackers. Before, they wanted to protect...
Google will delete inactive accounts this year | Mashable
Google is cleaning house, wiping hard drives, and shutting down... your accounts. It isn't as bad as it sounds, however. The goal here is anything that hasn't been used for more than 2 years. This shouldn't be a big surprise, as Google is just like any other company....
Telly, the ‘free’ smart TV with ads, has privacy policy red flags | TechCrunch
A service popped up this week called Telly. It's promise to the 1/2 million people who get one of these 55-inch smart TVs is that it's free. The tradeoff is what we've seen for years... if the service you get is free, then you are the product. This will serve up ads,...
The end of support for Windows 10 21H2 comes next month • The Register
I generally use the latest and greatest of the operating systems. I do, however, take the approach that users should have the power they wish, to select the versions they want. Microsoft has announced that those using Windows 10 21H2 will be auto-updated soon to 22H2,...
Pakistan imposes widespread internet and social media bans • The Register
On Thursday, reports came forward from Pakistan that internet access had been blocked. This was after protests came forward after their former Prime Minister was arrested. Pakistan is also the 5th most populous country in the world, with over 200 million people who...
Facebook Messenger to lose support on Apple Watch on May 31
Apple haters got excited this earlier this week when Facebook announced they were pulling Messenger from the Apple Watch. In my mind, this isn't about Apple, as people have realized that some apps are natural on phones and others are not. This is, however, about...
Apple check signed by Steve Jobs fetches diamond prices
On July 8, 1976, Steve Jobs paid $175 to some business process consultants, and signed the check himself. Now, many years after his death, someone took that paper check, and sold it for just shy of $107,000. Makes me think about all of those checks that I've processed...
Google I/O 2023: Everything announced at the event
Google had their announcements this week at I/O, about 4 weeks ahead of Apple. The latest iteration of the Pixel, branded the 7a, was expected. The Pixel tablet finally has specs and a shipdate of June 20. The Pixel Fold was a star for some, but a folding phone at...
Elon Musk teases free Tesla FSD trial in North America | TechCrunch
Tesla is planning on expanding access to Full Self Driving across all of it's North American cars. The headline is big and huge, and then it does roll down into the details. It'll be a one-month trial, and it still isn't the big deal of fully autonomous driving, the...
Amazon will stop hogging all its original series and movies | Ars Technica
About a year ago, Amazon closed on it's deal to purchase MGM Studios. 4000 films, 17000 TV shows. This was a large acquisition for a company that loves to tout their streaming service. This week, however, Amazon has decided that it'll not only move parts of the MGM...
Wendy’s, Google Train Next-Generation Order Taker: an AI Chatbot – WSJ
News has been all about the end of the drive-thru window order taker this week as Wendy's announced using an AI chatbot for taking orders. In one store in Columbus, Ohio. The chatbot will take orders, upsell to the large size, and will also know the many shortcuts...
Why Rand Paul formed an unexpected alliance to stop the march to ban TikTok | Political News | ArcaMax Publishing
This was one of the articles that I used this week for what I'll call a "reconsideration" of my thoughts on the TikTok ban. Why Rand Paul formed an unexpected alliance to stop the march to ban TikTok See full story on Why Rand Paul formed an unexpected alliance to...
Apple Increases Trade-In Values for Select iPhones, iPads, and More – MacRumors
Apple has upped the trade-in value on their own hardware. Now, before you get all giddy, it's generally about an extra $10 or $20 from before. It's also only on more recent items, and affects nothing older than a couple of years. I've said this before, and will...
Moody’s: The future of money is still digital, and crypto will grow
Moody's, the famous investor resource, came out with unsurprising news this week. No secrety, but they have noted that the future of money is in the digital realm. They point to the fact that 80% of transactions in 2021 were made without cash. China has a similar...
White House announces executive actions on AI before CEOs visit
AI had a lot of different news this week, from various malware sites trying to lure people looking for ChatGPT, to various members of the AI world being summoned to the White House. Even the President got involved with three executive actions, including $140 million...
Apple releases first ‘rapid’ security fixes for iPhones, iPads and Macs | TechCrunch
The first of Apple's Rapid Security Response patches went out on Monday. These patches went to recent versions of the operating system, with an intent to resolve issues pertaining to exploits from the bad guys. The first set out of the gate was not smooth, but it was...
Hard times are here for news sites and social media. Is this the end of Web 2.0? : NPR
Keith and I will talk about this on this weeks show. Multiple news media organizations are disappearing, names that you might be familiar with. Vice, Buzzfeed, VOX, Gawker, and more. This is going to change how we learn of the world in coming years.A steep decline in...
LinkedIn’s AI Will Kick Off Message to the Hiring Manager for You – CNET
AI has taken a predictable, yet interesting direction this week. It can be best described as saying that your next position may come from AI. LinkedIn has a new feature that will draft a cover letter to a hiring manager for you. It was rolled out to the services...
Apple and Google Set Joint Standards to Stop AirTag Stalking
Apple and Google working together, for a change is great. The latest effort is with Bluetooth trackers like the Apple AirTags, enabling their usage on Android devices, as well as creating an open standard for the other manufacturers, like Tile, Samsung, and more to...
Windows 10 won’t receive any more feature updates | PCWorld
The death knell sounded this week for Windows 10. Microsoft announced that Version 22H2 is the last feature update. From here out, it'll be security patches only until October 2025, or at least then. Why do I say that? Because Microsoft has a very long history of...
Windows 10 won’t receive any more feature updates | PCWorld
The death knell sounded this week for Windows 10. Microsoft announced that Version 22H2 is the last feature update. From here out, it'll be security patches only until October 2025, or at least then. Why do I say that? Because Microsoft has a very long history of...
Amazon Discontinuing ‘Halo’ Health and Fitness Wristband – MacRumors
A device that I struggled with since announcement has been shown the trashbin at Amazon. The "Halo" fitness band was not a watch, and while it had the rest of the health related items, it also had 2 always-on microphones that listened for your voice to turn stressful....
GM to stop making Chevrolet Bolt, its best-selling electric vehicle – CBS News
The Chevy Bolt has been around since 2016, and is Chevrolet's top selling electric vehicle. This week, Chevy announced the last Bolt would roll off the line later this year. Sales where 20,000 last quarter, and that's important for the next bit of info. The plans are...
FAA grounds SpaceX Starship after explosion • The Register
A quick follow-on from last week's news of Starship exploding. That incident resulted in the FAA placing a hold on launches until the investigation is over. Some media paint a dire and negative picture, but this has been an ongoing practice for a very long time. See...
Netflix investing $2.5 billion in South Korean content
One of the stranger things (no pun intended) that Netflix has been doing, is putting up South Korean shows and films. They perhaps see value, as popular series like The Good Doctor, and The Masked Singer both have originations in... South Korea. Squid Game,...
The UK Blocked The Microsoft-Activision Merger, So What Happens Next? – GameSpot
It wasn't a great week on other Microsoft fronts. Microsoft recently made a bid to buy Activision Blizzard, a major gaming company. After some countries gave it the go-ahead, on Wednesday, the UK stepped in. This could be a matter of bargaining with the Competition...
Microsoft Edge Browser Leaking Every Website You Visit To Bing API Servers
We want to trust Microsoft. This week killed a large amount of trust, when a reported bug was discovered, that sent data on nearly every URL you visited to Bing. Let me say that again... they know almost every website you hit. This is a betrayal of so much that we...
Apple’s iPhone drops to second place in declining smartphone market | AppleInsider
In a bit of non-news items, the iPhone is in second place for shipments worldwide. The claim is that it's always a shocker, so why do I say non-news? Because it happens every year. Q4 is first place, and Q1 to Q3 is in second place. I see some promise because usually...
What’s Up With Tesla? Latest Price Drop Puts Base Model 3 Under $40K | PCMag
Tesla has been moving prices down for a while. Part of this has to do with a waning demand, and an increased ability to supply. It also has to do with keeping those tax credits in their range, as well as attempting to recoup some of their loss of market (from 74% to...
So what was that? Was Starship’s launch a failure or a success? | Ars Technica
Starship launched on Thursday morning from the SpaceX facility at the Southern tip of Texas. The rocket arrived to about 40km and struggled to work into the recovery phase, and then went BOOM. To those who saw the video, it looks like a massive failure. To SpaceX, and...
You Might Not Need Subtitles With Prime Video’s New Feature
Would you rather avoid subtitles? Amazon's response this week, was to setup a new feature to boost the dialogue on movies at your option. This is something that is currently on select movies and TV shows, but presumably will be rolled out across their entire...
Southwest Airlines resumes flights, with delays, after tech glitch | Daily Mail Online
This week, Southwest Airlines had yet another hiccup in their computers, grounding 2000 flights on Tuesday, and messing with their systems. This time was a firewall issue, preventing them from putting planes in the skies. This is after their problems around Christmas...
Netflix Gains 1.75 Million Subscribers, Axes DVD-Rental Business – WSJ
Recently, we talked about Netflix's DVD service. Netflix just announced this week that as of this September, it will be closing that portion of their business down. Interesting, as DVD is what put Netflix on the map some 25 years ago. I was one of the first to use...
Relax! Those Reports of Dangerous Public Phone Charging Stations Are Bogus.
The FBI is noting that public power access points for charging your tech are stealing information, adding malware, and more. Now, on the other hand, this may be rather old news, as no reports have come in about something like this. This isn’t that new of a concern as...
Report: Discord admin who leaked military docs ID’d as National Guard airman [Updated] | Ars Technica
A military data leak was tracked down this week to a 21 year old member of the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard. Some of the leaked information is being announced as true, while other pieces are false. This data dump was on a series of public...
Why This Is the Best Time in Years to Buy a New Computer
Looking to buy a new computer anytime soon? This may be the best time since the start of COVID, and the best for some time to come. Worldwide PC shipments have been dropping for a year by double digits each quarter. Further, inventory is still huge in an industry that...
40% of IT security pros told not to report data loss • The Register
This shocker... 70% of United States based IT Security pros polled were told not to report a data leak. In this day and age, where our lives are increasingly reliant on security, this is unconscionable. Yes, there are high pressures today to beat these threats, but...
NPR quits Twitter after being falsely labeled as ‘state-affiliated media’ : NPR
I'm on some public broadcast stations, so this news item has me split. From NPR's website: Federal funding is essential to public radio's service to the American public and its continuation is critical for both stations and program producers, including NPR. So I was...
Lock-outs, mass emails, closed offices: Virtual layoffs are normal now
The idea of being given the axe via Zoom, email, or even a remote call, has been given a different approach this past week. The Washington Post pointed out that these virtual layoffs allowed for privacy after the fact, a cool-down period, emotion releasing, and...
Everybody hates GM’s decision to kill Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for its EVs – The Verge
General Motors announced this week that they were going to leave behind Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, in favor of their own infotainment system. This isn't a good road, of course, as most people are clamoring for the official version of their preference. Clearly,...
AI bot ChatGPT faces growing scrutiny in Europe
Governments are starting to look at ChatGPT, but not in the way that you might think. Europe is chasing after the idea of locking portions of AI down, and more. This isn't all that different than what governments do. Italy has banned it, France and Canada are...
Watch how ChatGPT is tricked into generating Windows 95 keys | PCWorld
Arthur C. Clarke sait that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ChatGPT will be leveraged to do a number of things in the coming months that may seem magical, but are not. For instance, this past week, ChatGPT was leveraged for...
Watch how ChatGPT is tricked into generating Windows 95 keys | PCWorld
Arthur C. Clarke sait that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. ChatGPT will be leveraged to do a number of things in the coming months that may seem magical, but are not. For instance, this past week, ChatGPT was leveraged for...
It’s been 50 years since the first cell phone call was made | Digital Trends
Another item happened 50 years ago this past week. Motorola's Marty Cooper punched in a phone number, and hit send on the first cell phone call. He reached out to his counterpart at Bell Labs to taunt him a little. For fun, let's talk about the tech of the day. No...
New Google Flights feature guarantees the lowest price, pays you back if it’s wrong | Mashable
This new feature from Google will guarantee you the lowest price on your airline flights. This comes from Google Flights, and leverages a number of features coming from one of the biggest number crunchers on the plant. The problem right up front is that you have to...
Apple’s crucial new iPhone warning about potential health risk | Fox News
Keith and Benjamin will spend some time this week talking about the latest news that iPhones can provide a major health risk. (We admit this is clickbait!)Apple is putting a warning for users who may have implanted medical devices. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains...
NASA just picked astronauts to go to the moon on Artemis mission | Mashable
Space, the Final Frontier, and you know the rest. Some 50 years since we've had a man on the moon, the Artemis project is moving forward to take us back again. Apollo 8 was the first manned craft to leave Earth and orbit the moon. Artemis II is next up, and will bring...
There’s a Lot of Fake Parmesan Cheese Out There. Here’s How to Tell – CNET
Parmigiano Reggiano is getting into high tech. Nope, no cheesy jokes here. They are putting QR codes and microchips onto the big wheels of cheese for authentication. You think it kinda silly, right? Putting aside the Kraft, and the stuff that says parmesean, or a few...
Game over: Steam won’t run on Windows 7 or 8 after January 1, 2024 | Ars Technica
The popular gaming platform, Steam, has given Windows 7 and 8 users just about 9 more months to upgrade before being turned off. Fortunately, this isn't a large impact, as they represent about 2% of Steam users, but it does show that we are moving away from Windows 7....
Microsoft’s mission to make Windows 11 worse continues with ads in the Start menu | TechRadar
A warning came this past week about Microsoft pushing subtle ads into the Start Menu of Windows 11. That's right, we've already seen pushes for you to purchase their games, but now, their services as well. Microsoft also tossed adds into their ChatGPT variation on...
Could the RESTRICT Act criminalize the use of VPNs?
In recent months, I've expressed concerns over TikTok, siding with our nations security, and going with the awareness of how much data that China is capable of skimming from us. Two bills have been pushed forward in Congress, and these don't look good. Instead of...
Elon Musk and top AI researchers call for pause on ‘giant AI experiments’ – The Verge
Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, and a number of other big names have signed on a letter encouraging a short pause to the development of large-scale AI. The concerns raised are about how we don't really understand some of the problems that may be ahead, that creators are...
AI could replace equivalent of 300 million jobs – report – BBC News
A scare tactic has been setup to draw your eyes. News reports abound about how AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs. What they leave off is that it's an equivalence of certain jobs that will change. Nobody talks today about jobs that were...
Bogus ChatGPT extension steals Facebook cookies • The Register
One thing that is always true on the Internet; If someone creates something highly popular, there will be bad guys to exploit that. ChatGPT is very popular these days, and someone created a ChatGPT extension (with a space between Chat and GPT) that steals your data...
“Click-to-cancel” rule would penalize companies that make you cancel by phone | Ars Technica
Think of that cable bill, the tech subscription, that gym membership. We are all stuck in one of those contracts which is nigh impossible to kill. We've been there, and it's bad. The Federal Trade Commission has said that slavery was outlawed over a century back, so...
How to use Bing Image Creator to generate AI images for free | Digital Trends
Microsoft released their AI image creator, based on GPT-4 technology this week. I mention it as the first mainstream group that people would recognize. I decided to give it a shot, but frankly, it was lacking. I could ask for a cat in space and get it. I asked for a...
Amazon kills DPReview, the best camera review site on the web | TechCrunch
Amazon opened the week with another announcement of layoffs, including 9,000 across Amazon Web Services, which is what many corporate servers run on. They also laid off folks in Twitch, as well as shutting down Digital Photography Review, a leading set of experts on...
CDC bought access to Americans’ phone location data to monitor compliance with lockdowns, social distancing, and more, contracts show | Not the Bee
Our government, during COVID closures and lockdowns, decided, through the CDC to buy access to your phone location to monitor your location, interactions, and more. Let me put this in slightly different wording. Big Brother was tracking your compliance to all manner...
Forget Bing. Microsoft 365 Copilot could be AI’s killer app | PCWorld
The world of AI, of GPT, will be gaining much attention over the coming months. This will be due to various companies leveraging the various models to be on the bandwagon early. Microsoft has placed tons of cash into AI development in recent days, and the new updates...
T-Mobile to acquire Ryan Reynolds’ Mint Mobile for up to $1.35 billion
Ryan Reynolds, famous for playing Green Lantern, amongst a few other roles... OK, that's a joke on one of his worst roles... but he owns about 25% of Mint Mobile. Or he did... as T-Mobile has stepped up and offered to pay $1.35 Billion to pick up the band. The fun...
OpenAI releases GPT-4, a multimodal AI that it claims is state-of-the-art | TechCrunch
GPT-4 is on the way. If you've tinkered with ChatGPT or some of the other variant's, you've been using GPT-3 or 3.5, unless you've been using Bing. Before you start thinking GPT-4 is an amazing evolution, it's not... it's subtle, nuanced, and still moving forward at a...
Vinyl records outsell CDs for first time in 35 years | Digital Trends
Vinyl records. The medium that was thought to be lost to the ages, has made an amazing and strange comeback. For the first time since 1987, the licorice pizza has outsold that newcomer upstart called the CD. This is actually part of a 16 year growth path that records...
Meta layoffs: 10,000 more workers to be cut in restructuring
Meta, aka Facebook, Instagram, etc, has announced another series of layoffs, of another 10,000 employees. Now, this is something that more likely reflects the issues that they have been having with reduced growth, struggles in some of their ventures like the VR world...
Man Accidentally Drove Away in Someone Else’s Tesla Using the Car’s App
The news this week, of a man in Vancouver, Canada getting into someone elses Tesla and driving off, sent shivers down the spines of many Tesla owners. Apparently the car was parked next to his, was the same model and color, and it simply unlocked and let him drive...
A former TikTok employee tells Congress the app is lying about Chinese spying
As we inch forward towards Congress and others shutting down US access to the app TikTok, there have been claims of Chinese spying. Now, a former TikTok employee has turned whistleblower, claiming that 100 million US users of the app have had their personal data...
Microsoft Makes Outlook Free for Mac | PCMag
Keith and I will discuss this later in the show this week. Microsoft has opened Outlook to the Mac, at no charge. If it's free, however... how do they make money? The email app no longer requires a Microsoft 365 subscription on macOS. See full story on Microsoft Makes...
DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist
DuckDuckGo apparently has decided they will join the AI revolution, or as some may say, revulsion. DuckAssist is their new online update within their browsers and extensions. It allows for new instant answers to your questions. It's capable of answering questions much...
Netflix improves its TV subtitles amid growing demand – The Verge
Netflix announced new subtitle appearance upgrades with the latest version of their software updates going out to televisions and streaming devices. You used to have to go to the website to update your preferences, but now it's localized. Part of me wonders why this...
NASA fixes spacecraft by turning it off and on again • The Register
I always love hearing when folks you think of as high-tech, resolve problems with a simple reboot. NASA just rebooted the Interstellar Boundary Explorer spacecraft this past week with exactly that, and of course, it worked. Use this as a perfect excuse to spin your...
Chuck E. Cheese Still Uses Floppy Disks to Control Its Nightmare Machines
I chuckled as I read about how Chuck E. Cheese, yeah, the kid favorite pizza parlor with tons of video games, and audio-animatronic shows, are still relying upon floppy disks to drive the robots. For the younger crowd, this is technology that was state-of-the-art 30...
EPA issues new water cyber requirements requiring states to audit systems
Not wanting to be caught off-guard, the EPA has told local water systems across the country to prepare and protect against cyber-terrorism. With many residents no longer near safe water, the threats to our water are significant if not addressed head-on. The EPA has...
Taiwan suspects Chinese ships cut islands’ internet cables | AP News
In a shocking turn of events, Taiwan has fallen victim to what may be the most brazen act of cyber warfare to date. Taiwan has some of their citizens without internet after several undersea internet cables in the waters around Taiwan have been intentionally cut. The...
RadioGPT, World’s First AI-Driven Radio Station, Launches: Here’s How it Works | Tech Times
With all of the various pushes towards AI, the latest announcement is that a company has built the world's first AI-driven radio station. Now, just like other things, it's got promises of one, two, or even three DJs speaking, all computer driven, and a selection of...
Future Fords Could Repossess Themselves and Drive Away if You Miss Payments
Ford has a new patent that would allow for various options of repossession of the car you purchased from them. OK, Joe didn't pay his monthly payment... first we'll turn off his A/C... in Arizona. Or let's remove some of the farous features like GPS, radio, cruise...
US Spy Agency Girds for Fight Over Warrantless Surveillance
Section 702 for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is this part of the code that allows our government spies to check on foreign persons. The problem is that these searches (3.4 million in 2020) also loop in American communications along with it. Section 702...