Nerd News Tracker

Gas stations in Washington reprogram pumps to prepare for $10-a-gallon fuel | Daily Mail Online
As prices are climbing for gas, Union / Unocal 76 gas stations have started to rework their computers to allow for over $10 a gallon. It's scary, and shocking, but it's also a part of a tech and computer programming reality. They may not expect it to go that high in...

New bipartisan bill would force Google to break up its ad business
Our government is taking aim at Google again. The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act was brought forth this week by some unlikely senators on both sides of the aisle. It would ban companies that process more than $20 Billion annually in digital ad...
A Crypto First? What Happens When a Blockchain Like Terra Dies
Once worth $60 Billion. Let's wrap our brains around this... at it's high, it's value was more than all of Amazon's annual revenue for last year. The Terra blockchain, which was the tech behind the Luna cryptocurrency and TerraUSD stablecoin which was tied in value to...

Even Microsoft thinks you should uninstall the latest Windows 11 update | TechRadar
Microsoft has released another advisory about uninstalling a patch. This time, it's the struggling Windows 11. This patch is interfering with reliability of multiple programs, including Microsoft's own Visual Studio. The longest that I have gone without installing the...

Crypto is crashing, and that may make GPUs more affordable | Digital Trends
Another impact of crypto crashing... your higher end video cards used for gaming and professional graphics work, known as a GPU, may become affordable again. It may take some time to balance, but it should be good news for many of us. It's been a tough week on the...
Want to support the people of Ukraine? These apps and websites can help you send money
Be very careful of the scams that are out there. There is likely someone around that will take your cash, promising to help, but then disappear. The list provided at the Computer Talk Radio is vetted by Yahoo, so it should be a start towards responsible help of the...
Elon Musk’s wealth dipped below $200 billion for the first time in 4 months
Zuckerberg has had a rough financial year, but so as Elon Musk. $71.7 Billion has been erased from his fortune, but he's still sitting at just under $200 Billion, so don't feel too bad for him. Musk has seen $71.7 billion erased from his fortune this year alone as...
Hundreds of Ukraine computers hit with wiper malware – ESET • The Register
Additionally, we will see things like malware attacks, and these can be dialed in to specifically attack computers in various ways. Imagine checking the timezone, the language, or even checking the Internet Service Provider for location information. In this case, the...
Ukraine internet outages spark concerns of broader blackout – The Verge
Many scary things coming out of the Ukraine as we prepare this weeks show. Internet outages, cyberattacks on Ukrainian government sites, and more. This reflects a direction into a new side battle in a war with a countries that are living in the Information Age. The...
Bionic eye recipients left in the dark with obsolete tech – Axios
It's a chilling reminder of the burgeoning medical tech industry. Second Sight Medical Products has ditched their already successful efforts to restoring sight, leaving some blind implant recipients unable to see where they will get tech support. That's a concern that...
The DMC DeLorean is Coming Back as an Electric Vehicle – Review Geek
The DeLorean has it's long history. John DeLorean had his problems. The car company died. Great Scott! The 1985 movie, Back To The Future, brought the dream back and put DeLorean back on the map. Some years later, someone purchased everything to make new ones, as well...
Windows 11’s first big update arrives: 6 new features to try | PCWorld
Just as I prepared to talk about Windows 11 again this week, and give more of a rundown on why you can wait, Microsoft came up with an update. Is it perfect? No, apparently multiple reports of new bugs, features with bugs, and other concerns plague us. Sure, on this...
Google’s Chrome OS Flex can turn your old laptop into a Chromebook
Backstory: Neverware used to provide a nice friendly version of Chrome OS. Purchased by Google, makers of Chrome. Now, Chrome OS Flex has been put out, and it's all in the same spot... You can run Chrome OS to try it out and see if you like it. Sure, there may be some...
Missouri ends effort to prosecute ‘view source’ journalist • The Register
Here's a fun trick. Go to any website and right click in a blank space. You'll see an option called "View Source". In Missouri, a reporter was threatened with hacking charges for doing exactly that, and revealing some information that the Missouri Department of...
Mark Zuckerberg Wants Facebook and Meta Employees to Be ‘Metamates’
Imagine if your boss came to you, and said that you need to put the company and your coworkers ahead of yourself. Just as Meta, etc, are running into problems in the stock market, it seems that Zuckerberg has asked for employees to give exactly that. The new...
Meta Renews Warning to E.U. It Will Be Forced to Pull Facebook | Time
Meta is playing chicken with the EU over where it stores data, and the UK over verifying users are over 18 with a credit card. I don't want Facebook anywhere near my credit card, and I don't care where they store data. They have threatened both the EU and UK of...
Peloton Giving 2,800 Fired Employees a Free 1-Year Subscription
Peloton's CEO left on Tuesday, as 2800 other employees were laid off. 20% of the corporate staff. The oddity, however, is that this tech company is giving those going out the door... a 1 year subscription? And what if they don't have one of the Peloton devices? Is...
Humans feel more comfortable talking to ‘female’ robots, study reveals
Why do we like Siri and Alexa? Apparently, we humans like female robots more than male robots. A test by Washington State University with 170 participants, had people engaging with robots of either simulated gender. It's intriguing, as most of us have the ability to...
Microsoft will block Office VBA macros by default to halt malware | PCWorld
I program in VBA. It's just one of the tools that I used to automate a number of different projects where I work. I've been doing this for ages. Microsoft is making moves to lock this down more, as this is also a way for bad actors (no, not talking television or...
IRS kills plan to verify taxpayers with facial recognition • The Register
A very short time after the IRS mentioned they would use facial recognition to track taxpayers, they backed down quickly. Apparently it was, in part, a private contractor's idea to make money off of their connections with the IRS; a requirement that was to be...
Amazon finally reveals the size of its massive ad business – Axios
I'm both amazed and yet not surprised that Amazon has built up an amazing advertising business. $31 billion is what they made, and that's mixed amongst so many areas of traditional online advertising. Banner ads, videos, sponsored ads on search engine results, and...
Amazon raises base salary cap to $350,000 for corporate, tech workers – Axios
I find it interesting that the maximum base pay for corporate workers or tech workers would even exist. I'm sure Amazon used it as a way to resist giving increases to some workers, but this was crazy. The other tech companies out there, big names we all know, drove...
Chrome gets its first new logo in 8 years — spot the differences
Google changed their logo this week, and WOW! The new levels of vibrance, the increase in size, the.. yeah, OK, it's almost the same as it was a few weeks ago. It's going to be almost undetectable to anyone who doesn't place the before and after side by side. Yes,...
Google’s parent company Alphabet announces 20-for-1 stock split | AppleInsider
Lots of other stock and news announcements this week. Just one more... Alphabet (aka Google) announced a 20-for-1 stock split.In its quarterly earnings report, Alphabet, the owner of Google, has announced a 20-for-1 stock split, designed to make buying shares more...
Elon Musk’s teen tormentor now exposing private jet movements of other billionaires after refusing his offer of $5k to quit
I talked about the teenager who was tracking Elon Musk's jet on it's worldwide travels. It turns out that he's been tracking other billionaires, and gathering followers quickly. It's public information that he's parsing, so he's in the right, at least until some...
FCC proposal would prevent spam callers from leaving ringless voicemails on your cellphone
The FCC is trying to set new rules for spam callers, the telemarketers, where they can't leave ringless voicemails on your cellphone. There's a whole world of laws about robocalls, that people tend to ignore, even in the world of legitimate business. I recently had an...
Amazon Sets $20-A-Year Price Hike For Prime As Its Q4 Results Cheer Investors – Deadline
While Meta suffered a hit, Amazon announced good news, and a $20 a year increase for Prime subscriptions, which brought shares up 18%. The battle between Mark Zuckerberg's and Jeff Bezo's empires is clearly going to heat up. Driving some of the success in Amazon...
Digital warfare tech at sea helping US foes evade sanctions | AP News
Ships are tracked via GPS. Imagine if they could hack that, and go to places they aren't supposed to. For instance, instead of going to Iraq, they go Iran (who has sanctions against them). Instead of South Korea, they go to North Korea. This is a current problem with...
Meta’s share price wipe-out shakes world tech stocks | Reuters
Is Zuckerberg's empire ready to fall apart? On Thursday, after they released their forecast, shares of Meta dropped 26%, eliminating $200 Billion from the market cap, and hitting Mark's pocketbook for $29 Billion. Yes, in the span of hours, he lost enough to buy any...
FCC approves internet “nutrition label” proposal – Axios
New simple labels about your broadband internet plan are coming. The only problem that I have, is that many people have zero competition to their current Internet Service Provider. The FCC action is meant to address consumer complaints about surprise prices and fees....
YouTube permanently bans Fox News host Dan Bongino – Axios
Right wing Fox News Channel host Dan Bongino was permanently banned by YouTube for questioning the effectiveness of face masks. If they can ban someone this big, they can ban anyone. Bongino tried to circumvent a one-week suspension by posting on a secondary channel....
iOS 15.4 Beta Lets You Use Face ID With a Mask On – MacRumors
We don't talk rumors, but we will talk about confirmed items in beta... and Apple's latest 15.4 beta releases using Face ID with a Mask. It also includes glasses, and that's a great approach towards ensuring you are you. I'm excited for this. No Apple watch, just an...
Apple reports a parade of sales records as earnings top $30 billion for the first time, stock gains – MarketWatch
Apple is on top of things, financially, yet again. $34.6 BILLION in quarterly earnings. This places them now as 7 out of the 10 largest quarters of all companies. This is a record 7 for them, with an estimated install base of 1.8 billion devices around the world. One...
How a 5G rollout almost caused a travel disaster
Forget the many conspiracy theories about 5G, from cancer to spying on us. The FAA and major carriers have been arguing about if the new communication frequencies for 5G can interfere with the altimeter in aircraft. That's the part that says how high the plane is at...
Tim Cook wins restraining order against alleged armed stalker : NPR
Tim Cook, CEO at Apple, has his own concerns, with a Virginia woman who has been stalking him. Her various threats, trespassing attempts, and more have allowed Tim Cook to obtain a restraining order. She's apparently a real threat, but hasn't figured out to track this...
Elon Musk offered $5k to remove a bot tracking his flights – Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech
Jack Sweeney put together the programming and details to track Elon Musks private jet wherever it may go. Elon wasn't thrilled, asking for him to take it down, due to a security risk, but the 19 year old college student wasn't exactly onboard. Musk asked how much he...
COVIDTests.gov is live now, letting you order four free rapid tests – The Verge
Handled through the post office, you might as well pick up your share of free COVID tests at COVIDtests.gov while supplies last, etc. US residents can order four free COVID-19 rapid test kits from COVIDTests.gov. The site was scheduled to launch tomorrow but is...
Microsoft to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion | TechCrunch
The video gaming world had an amazing bit of news. Microsoft is purchasing Activision Blizzard for $68 Billion. This is rumored to have Sony and Nintendo concerned as it both helps Activision Blizzard recover from recent scandals, but also adds to the juggernaut that...
Mandatory Chinese Olympics app has ‘devastating’ encryption flaw: analyst
Going a step further in the creep factor, however, is that there is a mandatory app for all competitors. Yes, it's supposed to help protect against the spread of COVID, but the app also contains a file called "illegalwords.txt" which contains a variety of phrases that...
Olympic Athletes Advised to Leave Phones at Home to Dodge Spying
Next month at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, athlete's and journalists are already looking at burner cellphones, leaving tech at home, and simply doing without. China has long been known as being oppressive, controlling, spying... well, you get the idea....
The Federal Reserve has issued its CBDC report – Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech
China created a digital yaun, or basically, their version of a digital dollar. Now our Federal Reserve is looking to do the same thing. I'm really concerned on a number of fronts here. First is that something like this could be used as a surveillance tool. Second, I...
Netflix raised its prices again | TechCrunch
Netflix just levied just over a 10% increase on all of their plans. Their statement was that they wish to "continue to offer a wide variety of quality entertainment options." We could get upset over the third year in a row of drastic price shifts, but the reality is...
Microsoft Word introduces new “woke” feature to monitor your language | Not the Bee
Microsoft will now monitor your every word to see if you are participating in groupthink. Yes, your grammar checker will now evaluate if you are using the proper language to not express negative or problematic phrases that include gender, age, sexual orientation,...
Metaverse Hype Is Like Communist Propaganda: Soviet-Born Tech Founder
Keith and I are going to talk more about the metaverse, but Phil Libin, creator of Evernote, has his own insight. He grew up in the Soviet Union, and says that all of what we see now is just the same propaganda he saw as a youth. His insight of "no one wants to spend...
Kim Kardashian sued for alleged crypto pump and dump scheme – Axios
Short and simple: Many celebrities are getting involved in crypto, and these is all going to be a big loss for each of us. Who wins? The celebrities who bounce in for a few minutes, and then drop out before we lose our shirts. Don't play in that crazy world. The...
Baby Shark is the first YouTube video to surpass 10 billion views – The Verge
I was at a wedding recently, and for whatever strange reason, a song played... and we all enjoyed it. Baby Shark! I never thought I'd speak to it on my tech show, but it just became the first YouTube video to surpass 10 Billion views. Amazingly simple, actually an old...
Philip Rosedale returns to Second Life as adviser – Axios
Ages ago, there was a virtual world called Second Life, and it was comical because people were wasting money and their First Life there. It was a topic on CSI, and a few other shows of the day. The creator of the virtual world just went back to it... and my surprise...
China Created an AI ‘Prosecutor’ That Can Charge People with Crimes
Lawyers, judges, and juries may all be headed away, at least in China. Apparently, a new AI set of programming has been developed and tested that will gather information and file charges based on the information it gathers. The accuracy is claimed at 97%, and that...
Google is manipulating browser extensions to stifle competitors, DuckDuckGo CEO says
I've talked about Dark Patterns before, and DuckDuckGo is facing some problems recently. Google apparently has been doing some manipulations to get you to stop using DuckDuckGo extensions. Various pop-ups come up to "change back to Google search" and then giving an...
Sci-fi types of medical implants will be here soon
The past days have been filled with odd news items out of CES, trying to tell us the future again. One such spin was how sci-fi medical implants are coming. It's all based on a product which I reviewed back at CES five or so years ago... a glucose monitor in a watch....
Finnish Guy Blows Up His Tesla
Imagine that you buy a Tesla Model S. They run about $30,000. You have a good time with it for the first 1000 miles, but then take it in for some quirks. The dealer says it needs a new battery pack around $20,000, but that may or may not resolve the problems. How...
Everybody Into the Metaverse! Virtual Reality Beckons Big Tech. – DNyuz
Everyone's talking about VR again, and it's interesting that our own Keith M. Sedor will be covering it this week. His Christmas gifts included an Oculus, and while it's only first hand impressions, we'll get an idea of his feelings on it. The interesting thing is...
Alexa Challenged a 10-Year-Old Girl to Electrocute Herself
A 10 year old asked for a challenge from the famous home assistant Alexa. The result was to plug in a phone charger about halfway into a wall outlet, then touch a penny to the exposed prongs. The 10 year old fortunately knew better, but this resulted in a lot of shock...
CES 2022: GfK drop out alongside Microsoft, Google, Panasonic, Intel over COVID concerns – CNET
CES is looking more sparse again. The announcements of outright cancellations are continuing, even at this late hour. Press events start on Mondaym, and by mid-week, traditional names like IBM, PAnasonic, AMD, and more have dropped. Mercedes and BMW, two leaders in...
End of the line finally coming for BlackBerry devices | Ars Technica
Blackberry devices are finally being unsupported. This is an area where if you have one, much like one of the old 10-15 year old flip phones, it will stop working bit by bit. It might work in some areas, but not in others, and so forth. I recently helped Ernie with...
Scientist invents a lickable TV to taste on-screen flavors and we’re wondering why | TechRadar
Someone invented a lickable TV to taste on-screen flavors. I'm... speechless. A Japanese professor built a system that offers up tastable flavors for on-screen content. See full story on Scientist invents a lickable TV to taste on-screen flavors and we're wondering...
RadioShack is building a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange
I never thought that we'd see Radio Shack mentioned as a news item again on Computer Talk Radio. Apparently, however, after a bunch of sales, shell games and shell companies, someone is using the brand to hawk cryptocurrency. Right up there with the modern names of...
US probes potential of drivers playing video games in Teslas | AP News
Just when you thought that texting and driving was bad, apparently people are surfing the internet on the laptop sized touchscreen in their tesla. Or playing games. Or doing things other than paying attention to where the car is going. There's a feature called...
GM is also dropping its in-person CES plans | TechCrunch
CES is known for the biggest names. In past years, we've seen all kinds of names, including all 20 of the top car manufacturers. GM just dropped. Other names dropping include Google, Lenovo, T-Mobile, AT&T, Meta, Twitter, Amazon, TikTok, Pinterest, and Casio. Also...
Elon Musk says he’ll pay over $11 billion in taxes this year – The Verge
I don't believe in attacking people for success, but others do. A politician announced that Elon Musk needed to be taken down for not paying taxes. I love that his response was quick and simple... "For those wondering, I will pay over $11 Billion in taxes this year"....
Log4j vulnerability: ‘It’s all-out warfare right now’ to combat cyberattacks, TrustedSec CEO says
Know that this is a battlezone fought out over the computers that we use worldwide. While this may not hit your personal computer, it is impacting servers that we all access, from government to financial, from business to gaming. We will all suffer over the long haul....
New Log4j Attack Vector Discovered
The Log4J / Log4Shell issue is something that will stick with us a while. When bad guys find one flaw, they all pile on to see if they can find more, both in the original location, and replacement patches. Also, when the flaws are found in major locations accessible...
Elon Musk: Person of the Year 2021 | Time
Plain and simple, a nerd won Time Magazine's Person of the Year, based upon much of his impact on the world in the past 12 months. From SpaceX to Tesla, from Solar City to his various other ventures, I suppose we have talked about him a lot as well. It doesn't mean he...
Here’s How Employees Could Be Affected by the Kronos Ransomware Attack
Mister Grinch, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Hans Gruber have met their match in a cybercriminal who hacked Kronos. Kronos is a payroll services company that handles tech for time cards, logging your hours, converting them over to payroll usable information, and giving you...
Toyota owners have to pay $8/mo to keep using their key fob for remote start | Ars Technica
In a new level of audacity, Toyota is now charging for car owners to use a basic functionality of their cars... the remote start keyfob. This isn't because it's a remote service, but simply because Toyota can use that remote service to disconnect features, much as...
Amazon Warehouse Collapse Puts Spotlight on Phone Ban | Time
One of Amazon's warehouses in Illinois was struck by a tornado. Six workers lost their lives. There will be a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking, finger pointing, and investigations by OSHA and more. The tech giant will face critiques from many for not allowing...
There it is: Facebook is defending its shoddy fact-checking operation by claiming that its “fact checks” are actually just “opinion” 🤣 | Not the Bee
Meta-Facebook, while attempting to defend their actions of censorship, have stated that fact-checking is opinion. When fact-checking is subjective and opinion based, it's no longer facts. Truth is not subjective, and to allow for Meta-Facebook to take this approach is...
Log4j could help asset management and SBOM companies – Protocol — The people, power and politics of tech
The Log4J/Log4Shell issue is big news. It would have been big without the pre-Christmas doldrums in the tech news world, but this is promising to squash a lot of Christmas plans for techs around the world. This one article gives a few of the things to be following....
Google Calendar, Meet, and other services are down
The day after Amazon had their problems, Google experienced a similar issue with some of their services. We will see this on a regular basis, as we become more internet connected. This is the price we pay for new generation connectivity. Some Google services,...
Apple Giving Customers a Second Chance to Buy AppleCare+ After Their iPhone or Mac is Repaired – MacRumors
Apple's new approach with Applecare+ is to offer it to people during the repair phase. The previous approach was to just say "oh well" each time you broke your device. This neat little add-on is great for those who realize that they are far more accident prone than...
Windows pirates are losing their Bitcoin booty | PCWorld
In this weeks breaking news that is akin to the known item that "water is wet", software pirates are being attacked by software that is searching for crypto currency on local drives. Yep, download a copy of some famous software, and find out that your Bitcoin is gone....
World’s largest lab-grown steak unveiled by Israeli firm | Meat industry | The Guardian
Keith contacted me right away when he heard about 3D printed steak. In an article, I saw a picture of what I knew was likely to be concerning. A 3.7 oz steak that was printed, but then incubated from living bovine stem cells. I suppose for a journey in space it might...
How Amazon Outage Left Smart Homes Not So Smart After All
This past week had an outage that lasted about 9 hours, and it's one that hit a lot of people... almost everyone who has more than one or two Amazon smart home devices. Yes, my lights went back to dumb lights, my doorbell didn't work, and other quirky setbacks. Was it...
Japanese billionaire launches into space, plans cash giveaways and a zero-gravity haircut
Another space tourist, but at least this one has a legitimate altitude. He took off for the ISS and has a plan to spend a bit of time doing some odd challenges that came from Internet submitters. These include getting a haircut in zero-gravity conditions, playing air...
UN: 63% of world uses internet – Axios
63% of the world has joined the Information Age, at least through access to the Internet. The rest of the statistics are unsurprising, with obvious numbers that Africa is the least connected, and so are rural areas in most countries. Youth are leaders, and mobile...
Slashed Build Back Better funding for 911 will keep U.S. in an analog era – Axios
Sadly, the idea of reaching out to 911 via a text message, a picture, or video, is going to continue being unavailable. Congress apparently is under the impression that we no longer need state-of-the-art 911 centers, and cut the budget to 2/3rds of the agencies that...
FCC approves text to Suicide National Prevention Lifeline rules – Axios
Forget 911, there's a new kid out there. 988 is the coming National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. We've mentioned this earlier, but it's now final as of this week. 988 will be expressed out by July, and will include calls and text messages. This is big towards stopping...
Bezos’ Blue Origin hires lobbyist with ties to Obama
The article is about a lobbyist, but the real news is a space tax. Kinda. It's a tax on any space travelers where it's not really business. OK, I get it... rich billionaires flying into space can afford the few percentage points extra for taxes. I worry, however, as...
Starbucks, Amazon team up to open cashier-less store, cafe in NYC
With problems finding enough workers, the cashier-less Starbucks is coming. Already partway there with apps, you can grab your frappe with extra whipped cream in many stores. Now they have a store in Manhattan that will join Amazon in the grab and go practice. There's...
Beginning next year, Apple will send you parts and tools to fix your iPhone and Mac at home | TechCrunch
Apple's announcement this week sounds good, great, awesome, and more. Repair your own Apple products with official parts. Overpriced parts, if experience proves out. But there are some serious concerns from Louis Rossmann, and others, and rightfully so. Apple has...
Subaru reveals the Solterra SUV, its first electric vehicle – The Verge
Subaru announced their first electric vehicle. Yawn. This is now becoming the race to the bottom to see who is the last to announce electric options for their cars. Subaru introduced its first electric vehicle, the Solterra SUV. The vehicle will feature a 71.4kWh...
Apple-1 computer built by Jobs, Wozniak sells for $500,000 at auction – CNET
Someone did some early Christmas shopping and landed an interesting deal... an Apple 1, with wood grain box and all. This particular rarity is headed out of country, to someone who put down a half million for one of the last 60 Apple-1's still in existence. Amazing...
Microsoft Will Break OneDrive for Millions of Windows Users Early Next Year – Review Geek
Running an older version of Windows? You've got about 4 months to update to Windows 10 or 11, or OneDrive will stop working for you. Not thrilled with this, not because I'm running Windows 7... cause I'm not... but because this is such simple basic communications,...
Crypto Is Forbidden for Muslims, Indonesia’s National Religious Council Rules
While governments have been moving to ban cryptocurrency, a Muslim council of what is considered appropriate (or Sharaiah), has declared the crypto is not allowed. Now, this is different than Bahrain, and the UAE, who have been allowing crypto for a while. It doesn't...
Elon Musk Loses $50 Billion in Two Days in Record Wealth Plunge
Imagine the reaction when people heard that you wanted to sell 10% of your company for cash. Imagine that you asked people on twitter if you should do it... getting their opinion. Not stating it, but asking... Now imagine that your name is Elon Musk whose value has...
DOJ sues Uber for allegedly overcharging people with disabilities – Axios
Taking an Uber, but you're disabled? Apparently there has been an extra fee added for taking too long to get in or out of the car. The USDOJ is working to fix this and bring Uber into compliance with the American's with Disabilities Act. Frankly, I'm not surprised,...
Upcoming iOS update to allow third-party iPhone 13 screen repairs after all | Macworld
Just recently, it was uncovered that Apple installed a chip into the screen with a serial number. Swap out the screen, and the phone would know, and then break your FaceID. This unconscionable act had nothing to do with anything but Apple trying to lock you into their...
Hertz says Tesla’s already started delivering cars despite Musk tweet
Last weeks news about Hertz and Tesla inking a 100,000 car deal has some interesting battles. Hertz says Tesla is already delivering cars... but Elon Musk says there's no contract that's been signed. Very strange... Hertz declined to discuss details of the agreement...
Facebook plans to shut down its facial recognition program
Strangely, Facebook announced they will end their face recognition plans, and delete more than 1 Billion individual identification parameter templates. Amazingly, they announced concerns over how regulators are adjusting rules governing usage, and also "how people can...
Zillow Shares Plunge as Investors Digest Home-Flipping Halt
Zillow hopped into real estate a while back. They started buying homes for a steal, then flipping them. The losses racked up, and Wednesday they announced the end of that venture. The ripples in their business will be interesting. Along the way they dealt with some...
Steve Wozniak ‘can’t tell the difference’ between iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 | AppleInsider
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, and genuine nerd, has joined with our own Keith in dismissing the newer versions of the iPhone. Keith is still using an older version, and I'm less inclined to make the jump these day's. Woz revealed this past week to Business...
Not So Fast Facebook – An Arizona Company Already Filed A Trademark For ‘Meta’
A week ago, Facebook announced their corporate name to be Meta. Amongst the bad press, comes some really bad news... a one year old PC manufacturer based out of Arizona already grew large enough to trademark Meta. MetaPCs formally files the trademark "Meta" for...
Amazon drivers receive $60m for ‘illegally withheld’ tips • The Register
Yet another tale of rip-offs has been resolved. Amazon does some amazing things, but then there's the darker side. In 2016, Amazon changes how drivers were getting paid... instead of hours plus tips, they introduced a variable base pay. That variable rate pay meant...
Ubisoft is shaming Far Cry 6 players who have given up on the game | TechRadar
In a new twist to keep you addicted to computing, or more specifically, gaming, the latest version of Far Cry is now sending you emails. The email contains a taunt from the villain, who guilt trips you into playing more. In a day and age where we are bombarded to...
Microsoft is already getting pushy about Windows 11 | TechRadar
I've already had a few contacts reach out about how Windows was offering to upgrade to Win11. Yes, it's an option, but it's barely been out a few weeks and they are already getting pushy. I've never resisted an upgrade like this before, and it concerns me how fast...
Hertz orders 100,000 Teslas, the single-largest EV purchase ever, with Tom Brady campaign
A shakeup in the car industry is coming, as Tesla just received a 100,000 car order from Hertz. This deal, estimated at $4.2 Billion is coming from Hertz who just left bankruptcy about 18 months ago. It blew up Tesla stock, and pushed Elon Musks value even higher than...
Intel, AMD, and Nvidia agree: The chip shortage isn’t ending anytime soon | PCWorld
The latest news is that the big chip manufacturers are going to continue soaking us for more money. Yes, they are predicting at least a year before the prices on chips will come down. That means that pricing on computers will be going back up, and that will even...
Five points for anger, one for a ‘like’: How Facebook’s formula fostered rage and misinformation
When Facebook introduced the multiple options for reacting to a post, instead of the like, they moved to things like laughter, sadness, and anger, we had no idea what was next. Apparently Facebook did, as they used the reactions like anger, to push a post more often....
In the middle of a crisis, Facebook Inc. renames itself Meta
Yes, Facebooks renaming is already in progress. Or at least their corporate name. Now going by a new name of "Meta", it's already bringing derision from everywhere. It seems that Mark Zuckerberg has an idea of where he thinks we will all go, and he will be at the...
Trump’s Truth Social Hacked Within Hours of Announcement
Donald Trump announced a new social media platform, slated to open next year, and reporters started to create fake accounts named after the previous President and Vice President. I find it shameful that they participated in the news story, instead of reporting on it...
Micron considering new U.S. memory chip factory as it gears up spending
Micron, the 6 leading chip manufacturer in the world by volume, is looking to expand United States production with the building of a new memory factory here. They do have their hand out at the ideal time for government funds as people are starting to grow concerned...
Amazon is now a bigger shipper in the U.S. than FedEx – Axios
Process this number as best you can. FedEx shipped less packages last year than... Amazon. Amazon controls 21% of the shipping market, with FedEx in 2020 at 16%. While Amazon is still working on some components in various areas, like the last mile, that is amazing for...
Supply chain, shortages, and our first-ever price increase – Raspberry Pi
Chip shortages are hitting a lot of companies as the industry shifts around and supplies are fought over. Even the amazingly low priced Raspberry Pi is being affected as the company announced some temporary shifts in their pricing. Granted, it takes a while to spin up...
Facebook plans to change its name as part of company rebrand – report | Facebook | The Guardian
Facebook may likely be rebranding, much as Google is technically Alphabet. It's coming next week, but it won't affect us and how we think of it. It will likely serve to merely hide some of the shadier dealings, and resist the PR of breakup actions by the government....
Canon printers refuse to scan when out of ink – lawsuit • The Register
Imagine finding out that your car radio wouldn't work if you didn't use Phillips 66 gas in your car. Imagine if your fridge wouldn't dispense ice out of the icemaker, if you didn't have Blue Bonnet margarine on the shelf. Canon is facing a lawsuit over it's...