Nerd News Tracker

A new mission will land an unmanned craft on the Moon, from the United States on January 25th. It's likely to be the first private company to touch down as well. Takeoff from Florida, will be on Christmas Eve. More to come...More than 50 years after the last Apollo...

Popular Science has been around since 1872. Over my life, I think I probably had a subscription to it for more years than just about any of the other magazines that I had. It was likely where I saw my first advertisements for the ZX-80 series of computers, and I'm...

The Tesla Cybertruck is now officially a road vehicle. Elon Musk rolled into a short 30 minute event to start off the deliveries to people who have been waiting years for this thing. The bad news for right now is that the truck is more expensive than what was ever...

Amazon lost a lawsuit for $46.7 million over patent infringement on a virtual voice assistant named... Alexus. "Alexus" voice assistant demoed 6 months before Alexa reveal, patent lawsuit said. See full story on Alexa just cost Amazon another $46.7 million | Ars...

Resell your Tesla Cybertruck within a year? You'll pay a massive fine... something that Ferrari has done for years. Cybertruck resellers could be barred from purchasing Elon Musk's cars ever again, and face penalties of $50,000. See full story on Tesla Cybertruck...

Resell your Tesla Cybertruck within a year? You'll pay a massive fine... something that Ferrari has done for years. Cybertruck resellers could be barred from purchasing Elon Musk's cars ever again, and face penalties of $50,000. See full story on Tesla Cybertruck...

An exciting twist this week from Apple was that RCS is coming to the iPhones, and probably very soon. The Rich Communication Services message standard has been around for a while, and the other manufacturers have been pushing hard for Apple to adopt this. The benefits...

The headline of China launching a 1.2 terabit internet speed along their backbone between Beijing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou is interesting, but has little impact on us, or even their local users. It's a new speed, and a bragging point... if it's true. Network can send the...

Amazon has been pushing their Fire Tvs for a while, and I'm an owner of one of these. What I wasn't expecting, was that Amazon is now planning to deliver prominent ads on these. Further, the ads are going to be built via your interaction with the various Alexa...

Disney and Hulu apps will be merging. Bob Iger, head of Disney, announced this week that it's coming sooner than expected, and wanted to warn parents. It's been a while now, but both services have been bundled, so this isn't anything more than merging the apps, but...

One of the more bizarre actions in cyber-attacks happened this week. The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently made a new rule that if you are a publicly traded company, that you have to report cyberattacks within 4 days. One ransomware operation filed a...

Increasing concerns keep coming out of the AI field, and this weeks includes ChatGPT's problems with accuracy in the one field that we don't want, math. The warning specific was not to use ChatGPT, or any AI in financials. Sure, computers are normally built as...

Netflix did something strange this week and announced a reduction in ads for the ad-tier subscribers. This means that an ad-free episode will be offered up after three with ads. This will be in additional to an enablement of downloadable content. Both of these changes...

Apple used an iPhone 15 to film their new Mac event. It also used professional lighting, hardware to hold the phone, special editing software, and so much more that you don't have. Ignore the hype, and catch up to our coverage on this weeks show. Apple's 'Scary Fast'...

Apple Airtag firmware is getting an update. It's not important, and is happening. Tons of media talked about it, and even they don't know why. Bug fixes... Apple has released new firmware for AirTag, an update that will gradually roll out to all of the tracking...

An effort is under way to stop ransomware by a group of 48 countries, led by the US. The goal is to stop governments from paying ransomware attackers, which is really an ideal approach anyway. Paying the ransom is not only dangerous, and an unreliable fix, it also...

We've talked about this on the show as Covid changed how we were looking at menu's in restaurants. QR codes were setup for malicious ways, from diversion from where you wanted to go, all the way to pointing you to malware. We finally received a word for it, called...

Meta, aka Facebook, had a massive lawsuit, encompassing 42 states who allege that Facebook and Instagram features are addictive and target kids. No surprise... but a little late in the game. The lawsuits demonstrate the broad bipartisan interest in protecting kids and...

The latest data on CarPlay and Android Auto, is rather unexpected. Edison Research looked at people 13 and older on how they spend time listening in their car. While people are using it a little more for streaming audio, podcasts, or other high-tech purposes, nearly...

Another round of misleading advertising is coming around, and Comcast has been talking up their 10G service. It's meaningless... The problem is that people think about 5G phone speeds, or 10 gigabit speeds, on ads like this, but it's not that. It's a branding thing....

If you had to take a guess, what country would you say has used internet blackouts the most against their populace? Apparently, India has shut it down more times than any other country over the course of the last five years. 84 times in 2022 alone, entire areas up to...

Big news about Apple being able to update phones while in the box, and Keith and I will discuss this not so crazy idea.Apple developing ‘pad-like device’ that can update iPhone firmware while still sealed in the box See full story on Apple developing ‘pad-like device’...

Someone finally decided to test one of the Mustang EV's to see if it would survive a huge traffic jam of 12 hours, mostly in idle, but with cold weather. It did pass, but there were a few little tricks along the way, given by the Ford rep. Yes, it survived, and it...

YouTube gained the ire of many folks this past week, demanding everyone to disable ad-blockers. This, after raking in massive bucks on pre-roll ads and other spying activity to rake in money off of us elsewhere. YouTube is cracking down on the use of ad blockers on...

X, formerly known as Twitter, is proposing a $1 a year price to eliminate bots and spam, to weed out fake accounts, and it seems everyone wanted to accuse them of driving profits, of killing the idea of social media, and lots more. I think this minimal fee is...

Netflix knows that they are the king of the streaming world, so they have upped their prices again. For the US, the prices are $2 more per month for the bottom tier, and $3 more for the top tier. The middle tier, Standard, is staying the same for now. This comes on...

X, formerly known as Twitter, is proposing a $1 a year price to eliminate bots and spam, to weed out fake accounts, and it seems everyone wanted to accuse them of driving profits, of killing the idea of social media, and lots more. I think this minimal fee is...

Netflix is capitalizing on a different concept, brick-and-mortar stores that focus on retail, dining, and immersive experiences that relate back to their shows. This is similar to many other concept pop-ups that have occured over the years, mimicking famous fictional...

I was excited a few weeks ago to hear someone had developed a 35mm film replacement to turn your old film camera into digital. The concept is cool, in that you can leverage old lenses, have a 20 megapixel pickup, and it works with all cameras. Downsides initially were...

The Sphere in Las Vegas has a big monster 18k movie that's about an hour long that will play when U2 is not in concert. Huge four football fields in size.Darren Aronofsky is the first director to make a film for Las Vegas' massive Sphere with 'Postcard From Earth,'...

Windows 11 has continued to lag behind everyone's expectations, except according to Microsoft's deepest friends. It's now 2 years old, and still has yet to break the 25% install base of all Windows machines, which is a problem. The latest numbers indicate about 400...

In a strange quirk, where Windows 10 is still far more popular, Windows 11's first version is now end of life. It just means you need to update Windows 11, or let it do the work itself. The original version of Windows 11 will no longer receive updates, including...

Part of the big FTC lawsuit against Amazon includes something called "Project Nessie". The docs in the lawsuit accuse Amazon of using algorithmic code that would inflate prices on Amazon, but through the agreements, off Amazon as well. This was said to keep others...

Microsoft is backing off an unpopular decision that would count single photos in multiple albums, as multiple photos... forcing OneDrive users to need to pay more. People freaked, Microsoft has said sorry. Microsoft previously announced that all copies of a photo in a...

Pomfret, Vermont is closing roads due to the influx of influencers who are inconsiderate. We may see more of these shutdowns of picturesque areas that are being abused for likes and follows. As hordes of photographers began descending on a small, rural community to...

It's no secret that I'm balanced on the usage of tech. I'm not fond of self-checkout in the form most companies do. Amazon Fresh is the only implementation that I like, and it's tolerable. Kroger is pushing a new item, based on the increased losses from pushing...

The first series of the Apple Watch is now obsolete. Yes, that includes the original $17,000 gold version that contains . For those keeping track, these watches were released in 2015, giving a lifespan of just 8 years from birth to death. I have multiple watches that...

Disney found itself in a strange mess in the last couple of weeks. Apparently, they developed a promotional poster for the next season of Loki, one of the Marvel TV series. A quick glance by many who have seen AI generated art, will recognize a few quirky artifacts...

Disney+ is following Netflix in the crackdown against password sharing. They have announced they will be launching their own analysis of accounts to see who may or may not be abusing the terms. They'll start with Canada around the end of this year, and if experience...

The new iPhone 15 is hot. As high as 116 degrees Farenheit. There is some level of reporting that this isn't heavily impacting now, but it's of concern. We'll be watching Keith's long term experience. Widespread reports are circulating about the iPhone 15 overheating,...

Apple's abandonment of leather cases has driven an interesting response from many journalists. Instead of heaping praise for going vegan, many are pointing out that there are plenty of options for those who embrace the true organic feel of leather. I'll admit that I'm...

The Federal Trade Commission lobbed a lawsuit at Amazon on Tuesday, attacking the pricing structure. Amazon plays hardball, and pushes sellers to allow them the lowest sale pricing available, eliminating sales elsewhere. But they then turn around and demand higher...

The moon lander at the South Pole of the moon arrived, and then during during a non-sun phase, they put it to sleep. Unfortunately, the sun arrived and it was time to wake up, and the mission remained incommunicado. This does not bode well, but there are hopes by...

The last time that we saw a new Raspberry Pi was before COVID. The new Pi 5 was announced and is specifically for those that enjoy single board computing. This will be available in just a few weeks, and is a distinct upgrade over the 4, with better CPU and video. It...

Microsoft also had a data leak that resulted in 38 terabytes of their data, including 30,000 internal Microsoft Teams messages, a number of passwords and private keys... and it's not surprising that it was one misconfigured security token. Wiz Research found a data...

The big Las Vegas casino empire, anchored by the MGM Grand, was hit with a cyberattack a bit over a week ago. Multiple groups are claiming responsibility. Another in the long list of attacks and claims. Becoming really boring news at this point...The dueling...

X, aka Twitter, may have a monthly fee coming. Who knows where that's going, as I'll admit that it's been a long road with many detours since Elon Musk took over. His comments come as the company struggles to regain trust with advertisers. See full story on Elon Musk:...

Cisco is acquiring a big pro package used by IT Pros called Splunk, which is a tool used for monitoring security threats and watching the network for potential problems. $28 Billion was a nice fair price for this powerful tool. Cisco entered the world of mega deals...

Microsoft also updated their Surface line, with a new version of some of their Surface hardware. Surface Pro 5, Surface Pro 9, and Surface Studio 2+ were all covered, They also spent time pushing the Windows Copilot and Bing Chat upgrades showing their commitment to...

Amazon unveiled updates across the boards for their hardware this week. The latest version of Eero has WiFi 7, there's new FireTV hardware, and more. The Echo Hub is a much sleeker version of Echo Show for those who want a nice interface for their home automation....

Volvo announced this last week that Volvo diesel cars days will be numbered... to early 2024. This is a company that 4 years ago considered diesel their strength in Europe. They are still selling gas cars, but have stopped spending any research and development money...

Volvo announced this last week that Volvo diesel cars days will be numbered... to early 2024. This is a company that 4 years ago considered diesel their strength in Europe. They are still selling gas cars, but have stopped spending any research and development money...

I don't know if it's that time yet, but Max is upping their fees, even after some subscribers left after they dropped the HBO name. Doesn't seem right. Warner Bros' chief financial officer suggests streaming subscription price hikes are here to stay. See full story on...

It's interesting to note that iPhone users spend seven times more on apps than Android users. Sure, this could be in part due to deeper pockets and affluence. Oddly enough Google has about 4 times the amount of users, but a monthly revenue of $1.40 for Android users....

More lawsuit trouble for Google, this time for monopolizing search space. 38 attorneys general are involved in this one. US justice department accuses Google of locking out rivals and positioning itself as a gatekeeper to the online search space See full story on...

Due to some issues with a return trip, NASA astronaut Frank Rubio will soon be logging the most time for a US astronaut in space. He's about to hit a year, and will be only one of six at that point. Part of this comes from the Soyuz capsule that brought him to the ISS...

An ongoing issue regarding copyrights is to sue the aggregators, like Google, who scan the books, and then share some information from them. The latest is a suit against OpenAI and Meta, based upon the scans of hundreds of thousands of novels. The attempt is to stop...

Polaroid has a new instant film camera. I can't believe there's much nostalgic interest in this throwback to the 80's, but they do. I'll stick with my smartphone, my Nikon, and whatever other digital options may come my way. Classic looks and full control See full...

Microsoft Wordpad is going away. It was cool for years ago, but today, it's just too much dead weight, and has been cancelled. People went crazy in news feed, but to me... it's a yawner of a news item.Microsoft plans to kill off WordPad in a future Windows release,...

An analogue to Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons, may be a little closer. A company out of Austin, Texas has been showing off their 5'8" 160 pound humanoid robot in the past couple of weeks. It runs for 4 hours, and looks far more mechanical and goofy than you'd...

The latest numbers are in regarding web browsers, and one interesting thing is that they are almost stagnant. With all of the push and shove that Microsoft has been giving Edge, it still rates at about 5% of all browser usage. Internet Explorer was near 2% when it was...

Apple has announced their next event. September 12 at 10:am Pacific. Keith will update us on the following show about his take on all of the announcements. Watch the latest Apple event stream, and check out the archive of special event announcements for our products...

The police department in El Cajon, California has turned up license plate cameras, and started sharing their data with other states, which is against California law. The Electronic Frontier Foundation is chasing after this invasion of privacy, noting that the data...

Deepfake scams are going around now. The latest video has Elon Musk purportedly creating an AI driven investment platform. Don't fall for it. See full story on Deepfake scams have arrived: Fake videos spread on Facebook, TikTok and YoutubeFound at www.nbcnews.com

Recent research is finding out that dark mode, or at least a number of variations of it, are worse for your eyes than simple fully lit. It has to do with some of the options to dim the screen, which then create a flicker that may give you headaches or other ill...

Disney is going something strange. In the past few months, they pulled their original movie Crater from streaming for no apparent reason. They also pulled The Spiderwick Chronicles and Nautilus, even though both had already wrapped all filming and most...