DeepSeek-Much Higher Failure Rate; Another Reason to Avoid DeepSeek; Sen Cruz Tries to Block Hot Spots for School Kids; iOS 18.3 Gets Starlink Support for T-Mobile

Posted: January 29, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

DeepSeek, the buzzy AI from China is now getting some not-so-good buzz. NewsGuard reports that the chatbot failed to provide accurate results about news and information topics 83% of the time. It scored 10th out of 11 compared to leading Western competitors. A NewsGuard audit found that DeepSeek debunked false claims only 17% of the time. 

If that poor a return doesn’t bother you, here is more food for thought about DeepSeek. According to bgr.com…and frankly pretty widely reported elsewhere too…there is built-in censorship about anything sensitive to China. It’s not only built in…the app censors itself in real time. An example from reporters at The Guardian…DeepSeek AI worked well until they asked it about Tiananmen Square and Taiwan. The report also details cases of censorship that other DeepSeek users experienced, including the remarkable discovery that censorship doesn’t happen before DeepSeek starts formulating its chain-of-thought approach to handle a sensitive topic. Instead, DeepSeek tries to answer the question just like ChatGPT and other similar AI models would. A user from Mexico shared their experience with DeepSeek when asking whether free speech was a legitimate right in China. Now, today, the app has apparently been removed from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in Italy. Caveat Emptor. 

Poor kids have enough of a time trying to keep up with learning in our connected world. The FCC voted last July to adapt a rule allowing a plan to distribute Wi-Fi hotspots to school kids, so that kids without reliable internet access could complete their homework. Now, arstechnica.com notes that Senator Ted Cruz at a hearing this week came out in favor of blocking the plan…claiming it will lead to unsupervised Internet usage, endanger kids, and possibly restrict kids’ exposure to conservative viewpoints. “The government shouldn’t be complicit in harming students or impeding parents’ ability to decide what their kids see by subsidizing unsupervised access to inappropriate content,” Cruz said. A press release from Cruz’ office said the FCC action “violates federal law, creates major risks for kids’ online safety, [and] harms parental rights.” He has introduced a resolution to nullify the FCC rule. 

With Apple’s update to iOS, version 18.3, T-Mobile subscribers with a compatible iPhone and Starlink beta access are able to connect to Starlink satellites, reports Bloomberg. Apple quietly worked with SpaceX and T-Mobile to add support for Starlink to its ‌iPhone‌ lineup, and T-Mobile’s website confirms the new integration. Macrumors.com says that T-Moblie partnered with Starlink in 2022, and as of December 2024, opened up a beta program allowing subscribers to use Starlink satellites for texting in areas without cell towers. At the time, the T-Mobile Starlink beta program was limited to Samsung smartphones, and iPhones weren’t supported. The iPhone 14 and later already support satellite connectivity for text messages through Apple’s partnership with Globalstar, so ‌iPhone‌ users who are able to use Starlink can also opt to text with Apple’s built-in satellite service. Both Apple’s service and Starlink are only available when there is no nearby cellular network.

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

Google Maps to Rename Gulf of Mexico for Trump; Apple’s Big Release of Year; Waymo Starts Testing Robotaxis on LA Freeways; Google Store Adding ‘Verified’ Badge to VPN Apps

Posted: January 28, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a stunning and embarrassing move, Google Maps will rename the Gulf of Mexico the ‘Gulf of America,’ in order to appease new president Donald Trump. 9to5google.com reports that the rest of the world besides the US will see both Gulf of Mexico and ‘Gulf of America.’ The name of Mount Denali in Alaska will also revert to Mount McKinley. Again, non-US users will see both names. Google says it has had a ‘longstanding practice to use official government sources.’ Expect to see these ridiculous changes soon. I can sense the laughter from the rest of the world right now. 

Apple’s big release of the year may not be an iPhone Air or whatever they decide to call the skinny phone. Some Apple watchers think the big push will be the new home unit, being dubbed the ‘HomePad’ instead. According to bgr.com, the gadget will have a 7 inch screen and can be attached to a wall or a base with built in speakers. Such a device will be a major expansion into the home hub market for Apple. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman thinks it will be smaller and cheaper than an iPad and will run its own operating system. With an A18 chip in it, it will be significantly more powerful than the HomePods, which run on an Apple Watch chip. 

Little by little, they keep expanding the territory. Now, Waymo’s robotaxis in Los Angeles are moving from city streets to the metro’s famous…or infamous…freeway system. Techcrunch.com says to expect to see the Alphabet-owned robot vehicles on I-10, 110, 405, and 90 for the time being. The cars will NOT have a safety driver behind the wheel! At first, they will only be transporting company employees, but plan to expand to the general public. Waymo has already been running on highways in the Bay Area on Peninsula and San Francisco freeways.

The Google Play store is adding ‘Verified’ badges of consumer facing VPN apps. 9to5google.com notes that the store already introduced a ‘Government’ badge last year, so this is something of an expansion of that. Google says the VPNs have an ‘independent security review’ in the Data safety section. A banner will also appear in search results. The new ‘Verified’ badge with shield and checkmark will show up next to the app rating and above the install button. Google has a list of requirements the VPN must meet to get verified. 

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

China’s DeepSeek Freaks Out AI Makers; Apple Still Experimenting with Infrared Cams on AirPods; US Military Trying to ‘Biohack’ Blood-Captain America Complex; Costco, Amazon, & Microsoft Continue DEI Programs

Posted: January 27, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Chinese AI firm DeepSeek has rattled US AI companies, enough that the stock market dropped today. What’s the buzz? Well, TechCrunch.com reports that they have demoed breakthrough models that claim to offer performance of the top US AI models at a fraction of the cost. The company’s mobile app, released in early January, has lately topped the App Store charts across major markets including the U.S., UK, and China, but it hasn’t escaped doubts about whether its claims are true. DeepSeek’s models are open source and incorporate a reasoning feature that articulates its ‘thinking’ before providing responses. If DeepSeek can really deliver performance equal to Chat GPT-4o for a fraction of the computing power, the whole game could change. For example, AI has only gotten a lukewarm reception on smartphones, but if you could do lots more with their small processors and it cost less, that would be quite a turnabout. It’s too soon to see how this plays out, but for one thing, big money people who have dumped billions into AI development and infrastructure may throttle back a bit on the cash infusions. 

Apple is still experimenting with tiny cams on AirPods. No, they aren’t to duplicate what Google Glass had, and famously got wearers dubbed ‘glassholes.’ According to macrumors.com, these would be infrared cams. One thought is while wearing the Vision Pro headset, if a wearer turned their head, the sound source from that direction could be emphasized, for example. Another use would be to enable ‘in-air gesture control.’ allowing interaction with a headset with hand movements. If the tests are successful enough, we could see the AirPods with infrared cams by 2026 or ’27. 

In what seems like it might be a program right out of the comics and movies, DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency…the folks that basically came up with the internet, are now working on modifying red blood cells in interesting ways. Bgr.com says they hope by biohacking human cells, they can find a way to create enhanced military troops. Ok, not quite Captain America, but what they are showing for is developing cells that will help the body fight off diseases. For example, the biohacker cells could theoretically deliver meds to the body after being exposed to parasites…or allow meds to last longer without soldiers having to take them daily. DARPA hopes to be able to extend protection for weeks or months. Another goal is to modify cells to stop hemorrhaging from traumatic wounds. It all sounds like pie in the sky…’till it happens. Hey, we have the internet!

Even as Donald Trump has issued executive orders trying to stop every federal initiative that boosts diversity, equity, and inclusion, several West Coast tech giants are continuing their commitments to DEI. Geekwire.com reports that Costco and Microsoft have been  recognized nationally for retaining a public commitment to workforce diversity, with Costco shareholders on Thursday defeating an anti-DEI proposal by a 98% vote. Meanwhile, Amazon said in December that it was ‘winding down’ some efforts at DEI, but saw other work as ‘important.’ Boeing is reportedly dismantling its DEI team. Meta has also joined the likes of Target and Walmart in cutting back their DEI program. The Trump administration even plans to investigate 9 major companies with regard to their diversity programs. Considering that 80% of the people in power positions in big companies and government are white, it seems misplaced to say the least to call DEI ‘reverse discrimination.’

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

ChatGPT Can Use Web for You; Android 16 Beta-iOS Type Live Notifications; Subaru Patched Security Flaw-Millions Could be Unlocked & Started Remotely; Apple Music-Artists Get Twice the Pay of Spotify

Posted: January 23, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

OpenAI is letting some users use a new ChatGPT feature that uses the AI to browse the web for the users…letting it book trips, buy groceries, bargain hunt, and do some other online chores. Wired.com reports that the new tool is dubbed ‘Operator,’ and it is one of the ubiquitous AI ‘agents’ that everyone in AI is pumping out. Operator comes on the heels of similar AI agents from Google and Anthropic. Salesforce has also lately been touting its agents to help salespeople, advertising on multiple billboards in San Francisco. Agents are considered a step beyond chatbots. Still, they are quite limited in what they can do…and basically only automate tasks that can normally be done with regular software. That considered, it makes me quite skeptical that AI will surpass humans by 2027, or even 2030. The hype seems to be far outstripping reality. 

The first public beta of Android 16 is out, and with it come iOS style live notifications on the lock screen…very much like Live Activities on Apple’s iOS. According to techcrunch.com, another new feature is Advanced Professional Video…a codec for high quality video recording. They claim that the new APV will give users what they call a ‘perceptually’ lossless quality, closer to raw footage. Besides these changes, Android 16 has improvements for accessibility. Apple has been a leader in this area for years, it will be nice to see better accessibility features on Android phones. 

Subaru has patched a security hole that had allowed millions of vehicles to be unlocked and started via an easily-hacked employee web portal. Engadget.com says after gaining access, crooks could remotely control a test vehicle and see a year’s worth of location data. The hack worked over Subaru’s Starlink suite of connectivity features….by the way, no relation to the SpaceX satellite internet service with exactly the same name. The vehicle tested with the hack was a 2023 Subaru Impreza. Security researchers found they could access ‘pretty much any Subaru in the United States, Canada, or Japan.’ This according to researcher Sam Curry. He could also query and retrieve personal info on any customer…emergency contacts, authorized users, home address, last 4 digits of their credit card, and vehicle PIN. Let’s hope that after this, it moves not only Subaru, but other vehicle makers to tighten the security on their back ends that allow employees to access car and owner info. 

Spotify remains the cheapskate streaming service, paying artists less than the others…in fact paying half what Apple pays artists. Bgr.com notes that of the big streaming platforms, actually Amazon pays the best…followed by Apple Music and YouTube. The largest platform, Spotify, pays less than half what Apple Music does! According to Duetti, Amazon pays royalties at the rate of $8.80 per 1,000 streams (as of 2024), while Apple Music pays $6.20 per 1,000, YouTube forks over $4.80, and Spotify pays a scrooge-like $3.00 per 1,000 streams. It should be noted that Amazon Music is bundled with Prime memberships. One reason for Spotify’s lower payments is its Discovery Mode program, which is supposed to let indie artiest see more discoverable through the Spotify algorithm. the rub is, they have to accept a 30% reduction in payouts. Currently, over 26% of artists opt into that program. Although Spotify has called Duetti’s report ‘ridiculous and unfounded.’ The numbers do square with those I have seen from a copyright attorney and musician who practices in this area, so I’m saying they are accurate and that Spotify ought to step up.

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

Samsung Galaxy S25’s at Unpacked; Netflix Announces Price Hikes for All 3 Levels; Microsoft No Longer Open AI Exclusive Cloud Provider; Meta-First True AR Headsets by 2027

Posted: January 22, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung held their Unpacked event this morning. With all the leaks, we weren’t really surprised by a lot. We do have pricing though…Mashable.com reports that the Galaxy S25 will be $799, the S25 Plus is $999, and the S25 Ultra runs $1299. The base model has a 6.2 inch AMOLED screen, 12 gigs of ram, either 128 or 256 gigs of storage, and 3 rear cams…50 MP wide, 12 MP ultra-wide, and 10 MP telephoto. It has a 4,000 mAh battery. The extra 4 gigs of RAM will help it run Samsung’s AI. The S25 plus has a 6.7 inch screen, with the same RAM and processor, and same cameras…but a 4,900 mAh battery…and you can opt for 512 gigs of storage. For the S25 Ultra, you will get the biggest 6.9 inch display, 12 gigs of RAM, either 256, 512, or 1 TB or storage, and better cameras…200 MP wide, 50 MP ultra-wide, and 10MP/50MP telephoto. The Ultra also has a fat 5,000 mAh battery. Look for AI in the photos and videos, improved generative editing, and Audio Eraser like on the Pixel phones. As we had heard, no price hike..that’s maybe the best thing of all.

Netflix is hiking prices again…this time on all three of its plans. According to 9to5mac.com, the cheapie plan will go to $7.99 a month, while the top-line, gold-plated Premium plan with 4K streaming will whack your pocketbook for a princely $24.99 a month. The Standard plan without Ads is now going to be $17.99 a month. These price boosts will be for the US, Canada, Portugal, and Argentina. 

Microsoft has inked a new deal with OpenAI giving Redmond the ‘right of first refusal’ on any new OpenAI cloud computing capacity. That means that if Microsoft can’t meet OpenAI’s needs, it is free to use a rival cloud provider. Techcrunch.com notes that OpenAI has made a larger new Azure commitment with Microsoft, so it’s not like they are completely splitting the sheets. OpenAI has griped about a lack of available compute space that delayed its products, and that has been a source of tension with the company and Microsoft. Last June, in fact, Microsoft let them sign a deal with Oracle for additional capacity. The new Microsoft OpenAI agreement runs through 2030.

A report out by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that Meta is working on at least 3 new smart glasses models and is on the road to making their first true augmented reality glasses. Of course, Meta presently has the Ray-Ban smart glasses, and it is expected that there will be a newer model of those with a display. One new model may have a cam in the middle of the frames, with the target users being cyclists and other athletes. Those will be produced in partnership with Oakley. Another model called Hypernova internally will run simple software apps, let the user view notifications, and display photos taken. The price target is $1000. The true AR glasses may hit the market as soon as 2027.

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

TikTok Exec Order-Online Stores Still At Risk; Diabetic-Weight Loss Drugs Top List for Price Negotiations; Samsung Unpacked is Tomorrow; Apple Drops to 3rd Place in China

Posted: January 21, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

As expected, Donald Trump signed an executive order granting an extension to TikTok so it can stay in the US until it finds a US buyer. Theverge.com notes that the law passed and signed gave President Biden an option to extend the time by 90 days, but he didn’t do so. The Trump executive order really doesn’t do anything…the law passed doesn’t actually ban TikTok and never did. It does ban the app stores from offering it or updates to it, so it will work when the operating systems are updated. So far, The app stores haven’t started allowing downloads again, as the executive order is very likely illegal, and the fines for the Apple and Google stores could run up to $850 billion. Trump might be able to certify to Congress that TikTok has agreed to sell…which it has not, and then the 90 day extension might be triggered. It would be lying to Congress, but until a court found the certification invalid, Apple and Google would probably be safe. Stay tuned, this is going to get crazy!

After the first round of negotiations reducing prices on 10 high cost drugs took place last August, and those went down in price anywhere from 38 to 79 percent. we are ready for round two. This group of 15 drugs could see prices dropped, but not until 2027. According to arstechnica.com, topping the list are diabetes and weight loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic. Right now, Wegovy runs about $1350 a month, and Ozempic is about $1000. Even chopping those prices by half would save the government a ton on Medicare drug expense. Note that the drug companies have sued over negotiation process required in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Samsung Unpacked is tomorrow at 10am  Pacific. We should see a preview of the three big models…the S25, the S25+, and the S25 Ultra. As always with Samsung, techcrunch.com says there has been a flood of leaks. One that just hit indicates that there will be either a slight price increase or none at all. That’s some pretty good news. Galaxy AI will be a big star of the show. One possible announcement is a successor to the Galaxy Ring, but that is a bit sketchy. We will have a recap of all the major announcements tomorrow after the Unpacked event.

Apple has dropped to third place in the Chinese smartphone market 4th quarter, after being the top line up to then. Macrumors.com reports that iPhone shipments in China dropped by 18.2% year to year in 4th quarter…giving Apple a 17.1% market share. Chinese makers Huawei and Xiaomi were #1 and#2 with 18.1% and 17.2% market share respectively. Apple watchers think one major reason for the falloff by Cupertino’s phones is the lack of Apple Intelligence in China. Apple hasn’t put their AI on the phone due to Chinese regulatory constraints. Overall, the China smartphone market had a 3.2% decline year over year. 

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

MLK-Hate Scars the Soul

Posted: January 20, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Hi, this is Clark Reid. On this Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Holiday, I don’t have a tech report for you. Instead, something a little thought-provoking. I first ran across this in the 70’s. It is excerpted from a sermon delivered at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, at Christmas, 1957.  Dr. King wrote it while in jail for committing nonviolent civil disobedience during the Montgomery bus boycott. Note that this is NOT verbatim it is condensed a bit. Click here for more from the book ‘A Gift of Love,’ by Dr. King. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/212014/a-gift-of-love-by-martin-luther-king-jr/9780807000632/excerpt

Hate scars the soul and distorts the personality. Like an unchecked cancer it corrodes personality and eats at its vital unity. Hate destroys man’s sense of values and objectivity. It causes him to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

I have found this to be very meaningful in my life for decades, and it has helped me through troubled times, such as we are facing. I hope it is meaningful for you.

I’m Clark Reid, and I approve this message.

Nintendo Switch 2-Official; FTC Sues John Deere; Bluesky Getting Own Photo-Sharing App; YouTube, Google; Meta, & Snap Pitch In-LA Fire Help

Posted: January 16, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The rumors are true…there is a Nintendo Switch 2 on the way. In a YouTube video, Nintendo officially teased the long-awaited Switch 2. Engadget.com reports that we will learn a lot more about the new portable console on April 2nd, during the Nintendo Direct presentation. Nintendo didn’t disclose a release date with the video. There IS backwards compatibility for existing Switch games. The Switch has been out since 2017, and has and some minor upgrades, but this is the first real successor to the popular handheld console. 

The FTC is suing John Deere over its repair monopoly. According to gizmodo.com, this comes as for years, Deere has made it hard for farmers to fix their equipment. Today the Federal Trade Commission announced it’s going to sue to try to stop them. The FTC and the Attorneys General of the states of Illinois and Minnesota are suing John Deere over unfair business practices related to repair. According to the complaint, Deere has unlawfully restricted farmers from fixing their own farm equipment. Under the scheme, farmers had to return tractors to John Deere-authorized dealerships to make official repairs. Sometimes those can take weeks or more, just when farmers need their equipment to harvest, for example. Letting independent shops do the work would free the backlog, so farmers and stockmen could have their Deere gear back in the fields when they need them most. Deere is saying that letting outsiders do the work interferes with their protection of the rights of proprietary software. The FTC wants Deere to make the tools to fix the software available to farmers and indy repair shops. 

If you are a refugee from Meta’s apps like Instagram, and are jonesing for a photo sharing app now, you are in luck. Techcrunch.com says an independent developer is building a photo-sharing app for Bluesky called Flashes. It is powered by the same tech that runs Bluesky, the AT Protocol. As Meta drops real moderation like X did, a lot of people are wanting to used decentralized apps like Bluesky and Mastodon. A lot of the younger users are joining Chinese App RedNote as a possible shutdown of TikTok looms. RedNote is more heavily controlled by the Chinese government, but some younger users feel that US apps have spied on us and stolen data since day one, so no big deal. Back to Flashes, though…at launch it will support photo posts of up to 4 images and videos of up to a minute, just like Bluesky. The posts will appear on Bluesky, too. 

Google and YouTube are kicking in $15 million to LA area relief organizations for fire relief. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are sending a $4 million contribution, and Snap CEO and co-founder Evan Spiegel said that he and co-founder Bobby Murphy have already distributed $5 million in ‘immediate aid’ to LA relief organizations. According to variety.com, they said they plan to donate more.  Disney, Paramount, CAA, Comcast and NBCUniversal, Netflix, Amazon and Warner Bros. Discovery have also ponied up to help LA fire victims. 

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

Congress May Give TikTok 270 Day Extension; FBI Forces Chinese Malware to Self-Delete; LinkedIn-Apply for Less Jobs, AI Will Match You; UnitedHealth Hid Change Healthcare Data Breach for Months

Posted: January 15, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

TikTok is supposed to completely shut down in the US on Sunday, unless Bytedance sells the US portion to a US company. Now, it appears that Congress may backpedal, and throw the platform a bone. 9to5mac.com reports that Congress may quickly pass a new law giving TikTok another 270 days before the ban goes into effect. In related news, Chinese officials have joined ByteDance in denying a Bloomberg report that ByteDance was thinking of selling its US operations to X owner Elon Musk. Although the law actually only requires new downloads of the app to be blocked by app stores, TikTok has said it will shut down US operations completely by Sunday if it can’t sell or isn’t granted the extension by Congress. 

With some info shared by France law enforcement, the FBI has removed Chinese malware from some 4258 Us based computers and networks. According to arstechnica.com, they actually didn’t remove the malware…the commands they got from the French caused the malware to activate its ‘self-delete’ function. The Chinese government apparently paid the Mustang Panda group to develop a version of PlugX malware that was used to infect and steal info from PCs. It has been around since 2014. A French security company called Sekoia.io found and reported the delete commands.

LinkedIn says in today’s job market, too many people are applying for jobs they aren’t actually qualified for…and that this makes it more difficult for good candidates to stand out. Now, engadget.com says they are rolling out a new, AI powered ‘Job Match’ feature that uses the artificial intelligence to provide detailed summaries next to job listings that let users know how qualified they are for a particular role. According to LinkedIn, this goes well beyond just keyword matching that job hunters have been using. Although the feature is open to all users, Premium members will get more granular info about their job match level. LinkedIn claims that the AI will also help steer unqualified applicants away from jobs and towards other ones that it determines you are a better fit for. 

As of yesterday, Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth, said it has ‘substantially’ completed notifying affected victims of a huge data breach. TechCrunch.com reports that the breach included over 100 million users’ sensitive health data. The breach happened in a ransomware attack in February of 2024, and Change paid a ransom to the hackers. The thing is, if you do a search for the breach notice, you probably won’t find it. Change dropped in a ‘noindex’ code on its data breach notice at least as far back as November 20, 2024. The firm was unable to give a specific number of people it had actually notified. They were sued by the state of Nebraska this past December for security failings that left Nebraskans “more vulnerable to exploitation of the sensitive personal financial, health, and identifying information.”

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

Celebs & Techies Team Up-Open Social Media Ecosystem; China Considers Selling TikTok to Musk; Disney Bows Food Order Track on Lock Screens; Texas Sues Allstate-Collecting Driver Data to Jack Up Premiums

Posted: January 14, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

As more and more people have ditched X, formerly Twitter (and I mention Twitter primarily to irritate a particular former radio journalist who takes great umbrage with language and usage these days) as well as Facebook, for their new lack of moderation changes and head to Bluesky, some celebrities and techies are looking beyond Bluesky. Engadget.com reports that the group wants to try to build out something to “save social media from billionaire capture.” They want to create a new social media ecosystem that is focused on the public good instead of profit-driven incentives. Big names in the deal include actor Mark Ruffalo, actor/director Alex Winter, and writer/journalist Cory Doctorow. Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia is involved, The plan involves building new social media apps on top of the pre-existing AT Protocol, which is a decentralized framework that Bluesky runs on. This would ostensibly give users significant control over their data, algorithms and the entire online experience. Bluesky is funded by venture capital, and this group wants to raise money in a way to keep it independent. They are shooting to raise $30 million in the next 3 years, 

China is considering a number of options for TikTok as the deadline approaches for ByteDance to divest of the app in the US or be blocked from the US. According to cnbc.com, one option is to try to sell the app to Elon Musk, who would then oversee both it in the US and X. TikTok has called the story involving Musk ‘pure fiction.’ As usual, X has not commented. Even if such a sale happened, it isn’t clear that even the incoming administration would approve Musk controlling both platforms. Although the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled against TikTok as of this report, the oral arguments seemed to be going in favor of the government and against TikTok, which the US government has claimed was a national security risk under present owner ByteDance. 

Starting now, you can track your food order at Disneyland and Disney World right from the lock screen of your iPhone. Macrumors.com says that Disney has rolled out support for the Live Activities feature on the phones. You can track status of mobile food orders on the lock screen or Dynamic Island, without having to open the My Disney Experience or Disneyland apps. Just tap the ‘I’m Here, Prepare My Order’ button, to have your food freshly prepared. You can view your order number, status, and pickup location right from the Lock Screen. If you are going to use the feature, you need iOS 16.1 or later, and an iPhone 14 Pro or any iPhone 15 or 16. Be sure to update the Disney app first.

Texas is suing Allstate and an Allstate subsidiary called Arity over data privacy. Gizomdo.com reports that the state says the insurer is violating Texas  privacy laws by surreptitiously collecting detailed location data on millions of drivers and using that information to justify raising insurance premiums. I had read that this was going on, and now Texas is the first state to file suit. The Texas Attorney General said “Our investigation revealed that Allstate and Arity paid mobile apps millions of dollars to install Allstate’s tracking software. The personal data of millions of Americans was sold to insurance companies without their knowledge or consent in violation of the law. Texans deserve better and we will hold all these companies accountable.” Allstate developed the Arity Driving Engine software back in 2015, and allegedly had mobile app developers install the products to collect a variety of sensitive data from consumers’ phones…like geolocation data, accelerometer, details about stops and starts, and whether the phone owners were speeding or driving distracted. The apps that had the data stealing function included Gas Buddy and Fuel Rewards, among others. 

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

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