Substack Launches Twitter-Like Notes; Carbon Robotics Laser Weed Zapper; 15 Inch MacBook Air May Drop Soon; Google Beefing Up Pixel Call Screen with AI

Twitter has been doing what it can to block people promoting Substack on their platform, but has eased a bit after a big outcry. Now, Substack strikes back with its Twitter-like Notes just days after Twitter first throttled Substack links. Theverge.com reports that Notes may become a worthy Twitter alternative for some…particularly for Substack writers who have already built an audience on that platform and are angling for a new place to post after Twitter marked Substack links as unsafe. Notes will appear in their own separate tab, so will be separate from the full newsletters you can read in the Inbox tab or the threads you can read in the Chat tab. There is no character limit on Notes, and each post can have up to 6 images, but so far no video. Some writers are already moving from regular Substack publication to the Notes feature, but now that Twitter has backed off the throttling, expect most to still cross-promote on Twitter.

It’s something everyone with land lusts for…an AI powered, industrial laser to zap weeds…eliminating poisons and weed-pulling. According to geekwire.com, Carbon Robotics just raised $30 million dollars to expand their production of weed-zapping machines powered by artificial intelligence and computer vision tech. If this sounds too pricy for your yard, you’re right…but farmers love them. The device is pulled behind a tractor, and so far has been used to kill some 500 million weeds that have poked up amongst some 40 different crops. Carbon plans deliveries of the weed zapper to 17 US states, and 3 Canadian provinces…and with the fresh cash, plans to expand to Europe. The LaserWeeder uses 30 industrial lasers with tracking cameras to kill up to 200,000 weeds an hour. Being able to grow clean crops without plastering on expensive and unhealthy herbicide (which is often heard as HERBicide in some rural areas) should be a boon to agriculture. Also…think of when they shrink it down to fit in a lawnmower or weed whacker!

The MacBook Air may be about to get a bigger, 15 inch screen model…and soon. Appleinsider.com says that display analyst Ross Young claims we may see the bigger MacBook Air by the end of this month or in early May. He says that production for the screens began in February. The screen size is specifically 15.5 inches…right in-between the 14 inch MacBook Pro and the 15 inch MacBook Pro. It is expected to have the same design as the M2 MacBook Air, but its unclear what chip will power it. Probably an M2, since the M3 chip isn’t expected to be in production until later this year. It is entirely possible that the bigger Air announcement could slip into June and get announced at WWDC.

One of the biggest irritants of the modern, always-on world…unwanted calls. Texts, too, but this is about calls. 9to5google.com reports that Google is working on adding AI to its Pixel Call Screen. In a podcast with group product manager Jonathan Eccles, he said Google wants to “solve bigger and more important problems” around “unwanted calls,” from spam to robocalling. The goal is a “future where you should never ever, ever be annoyed at the thought of your phone ringing. The search giant may even be ready to add such a feature with the launch of the Pixel 8 this fall. If so, let’s hope it is something that can be quickly added or cloned by every Android maker and Apple for the iPhone too. If enough junk calls can be screened out, maybe ring tones will become a thing again….or not!

I’m Clark Reid, and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.