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. 

Feds Throw Cash at AI Companies; Apple-$500 Million to Buy US Rare Earth Magnets; Meta Building a 5 GW AI Data Center; New Find-My Compatible Wallet Card 

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

Uncle Sam is handing out the cash to the top AI firms, having them develop military applications. The $200 million grants went to Anthropic, Google, OpenAI, and xAI. Engadget.com says the money will be used to “develop agentic AI workflows across a variety of mission areas.” In other words, this is primarily for military applications. A press release says the move will “broaden” the Department of Defense’s use of AI to “address critical national security needs.” The release continued, noting that this will “accelerate the use of advanced AI” in the “warfighting domain.” As part of this effort, CDAO will be providing access to the latest generative AI models to “Combatant Commands, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Joint Staff.” What is CDAO? Oh, how the government loves these appreciations. It stands for Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. 

Apple has announced a $500 million multi-year commitment to buy US made rare earth magnets. According to macrumors.com, they have been developed  and are being built in a state of the art plant by MP Materials at a factory in Fort Worth, TX. Already, close to all the magnets in Apple devices are made from 100% recycled rare earth elements. The companies are partnering to build a rare earth recycling line in Mountain Pass, CA, too. Apple says the new ventures will support dozens of new US jobs in manufacturing and R&D, and will be part of its overall pledge to spend more than $500 billion in the US over the next 4 years.

Meta is building a data center dubbed Hyperion which will supply their new AI lab with 5 gigawatt of computational power. Techcrunch.com notes that this is Meta’s latest move to get a leg up on OpenAI and Google in the AI race. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says Hyperion’s footprint will be large enough to cover most of Manhattan. The actual center will be located in Louisiana, however. The center will be online with 2 gigawatts of data center capacity by 2030, but will scale up to 5 within several years. I note that I say, gigawatts, which is the accepted pronunciation…despite Doc Brown in Back to The Future saying Jigawatts. A lot of fans of the movie still pronounce it that way.

If you use Apple’s Find My system with the Air Tags, you know they are handy for most things, but not so much for a wallet. There are third party vendors who make wallet sized cards though. I have used one from Chipolo for several years. It is about double the thickness of a credit card. the only down side is, when the battery goes, you have to buy a new one…it isn’t replaceable. Macrumors.com reports that Native Union has come out with the Find It Card and Find It tag, which work with Apple’s Find My system. They go the Chipolo one a bit better…as the wallet card lasts about 6 months on the battery charge….then can be recharged with a MagSafe Qi based charger! At $40, a much better deal than a no-deposit, no return one like I have used. Native Union also makes a little round device with a hole drilled in it called the Find It Tag. That one is designed to go on your luggage or a key chain with a little wire ring. It’s $20, and has a replaceable CR2032 battery that lasts a year..same battery as the Air Tags use. 

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