Facebook Plans ‘Community Notes’; Samsung’s Z Fold 8 is Sold Out Temporarily; Amazon Data Center Might Be Worst US Polluter; Europe-Free Sat Service Eases Tracking Wildfires

Posted: August 10, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s been a feature…albeit a dubious one…on X for a while, and now Facebook appears poised to roll out Community Notes. I got a notice for this over the weekend and clicked on their waitlist. Facebook positions it as a way to ‘allow people across a diverse range of perspectives to decide when posts are potentially misleading or need more context.’ That’s all well and good, but if things work out like on X, a lot of the notes may contest actual facts, and present what a former Trump administration Press Secretary called ‘alternative facts.’ As long as we have them, check with Associated Press, Reuters, and other legitimate news sources if you are in doubt about the factuality of a topic. Snopes is always pretty good as well. 

After just putting along for years…no doubt a lot of that is due to the high price tags…folding phones are picking up steam. According to androidpolice.com, Samsung’s new Z Fold 8 is sold out for now. You can still order one through Amazon, although you get no estimated delivery date now for the $1900 buck handset.. You will get a $350 gift card though, useable at any Amazon retailer. It is expected that Apple will roll out their first folder in September, so expect the market to heat up on these high dollar phones with the nice big screen inside when unfolded. 

Amazon is installing 35 natural gas turbines to power a giant West Texas data center. Theverge.com notes that this gas-burning monster plant could become the largest single producer of greenhouse gas in the US. The GW Ranch secured a permit from Texas allowing emissions of up to 33 million tons of CO2…more than even the largest coal burning plant in the country! A number of huge data centers, after being rebuffed due to strain on the grid and the associated jacking up of electrical rates for rate payers…that’s us…are now looking to natural gas, coal, and other non-renewables. Alternatively, China is using more wind and solar power for their data centers. So much for the US being a leader in clean energy and protecting the climate. 

Having had a number of wildfires nearby, this sounds pretty interesting. Arstechnica.com is reporting that you can use the Copernicus Browser and get the latest satellite imagery from the European Space Agency’s Sentinel satellites to monitor wildfires. The resolution is as tight as 10 meters…or 32 feet. The images are only updated every few days, but the resolution is amazing…another tool to keep track of and fight wildfires. With climate change, this is becoming more and more of an issue.

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

Facebook Launches New Monetization Program; Darksword iOS Exploit; Judge Orders 1,000 Voice of America Staff Back; Trump Administration Sued over Shutdown of Climate Center

Posted: March 18, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

I have a friend (in real life, not just a Facebook friend) who has really worked things, and has 3 Facebook pages making her a lot of money lately. Now, Facebook has launched a new monetization program to try to woo popular creators from TikTok and YouTube. Techcrunch.com reports that it is called ‘Creator Fast Track.’ The new program is designed to help creators grow on Facebook with guaranteed pay and increased content reach. The social network also shared that it paid creators nearly $3 billion through its monetization programs in 2025, a 35% increase from the previous year and its highest annual total to date. Creators in the program can earn $1,000 per month if they have at least 100,000 followers on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, and $3,000 per month if they have over one million followers on any one of those platforms. No cigar for those with a few hundred followers or even a few thousand….actually, not even coffee money. Oh, well….

Here we go again. At least weekly, bad guys have a new way to hack and steal our info. This time, it’s a new exploit kit for iOS devices and a delivery framework called ‘Darksword.’ According to bleepingcomputer.com, it has been used to steal a wide range of personal information, including data from cryptocurrency wallet apps. Darksword targets iPhones running iOS 18.4 through 18.7, and it appears to be the work of multiple actors…which are suspected to be Russian. Apple has addressed the exploit in their latest release, so if you haven’t already, update your phone to the latest system. 

A federal judge has order the parent agency of Voice of America to reinstate the networks 1042 full time employees by Monday. Npr.org says the court ruled that the Trump administration official…Kari Lake….was ‘arbitrary and capricious’ in the effort to dismantle the news outlet. The Federal judge, Royce Lamberth, ruled that Lake had unlawfully taken on almost all powers of the chief executive of the network’s federal parent, called the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and therefore that her actions since joining as senior adviser to the agency were invalid. He ruled that she failed to take into account Congress’ intentions in setting aside money for the agency and the network or to consider what the implications would be of effectively shutting it down.

A group that overseas star atmospheric research center in the US has sued the Trump administration over plans to shut it down. Arstechnica.com notes that The National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, provides a home for interdisciplinary and collaborative research focused on anything atmospheric. Many of the country’s leading academic researchers in the field have spent time working there or have been involved in collaborations that involve NCAR. The suit names all the agencies that contribute to their budget….including the Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation. This administration has been dangerously anti-science and anti-medical research. Let’s hope this consortium prevails in court. 

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