AMD Partners with OpenAI; ICE Wants to Build 24-7 Social Media Surveillance Team; Discord User IDs & Data Compromised; Tesla Insurance Division Accused of ‘Egregious Delays’

Posted: October 6, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

AMD is partnering up with OpenAI, and will provide the AI firm with 6 gigawatts worth of processors for its AI data centers…something that poses a direct challenge to Nvidia’s AI chip market dominance. Theverge.com reports that the deal is a 5 year agreement which will aim to help OpenAI bulk up its infrastructure to meet the growing computational demands for its AI apps like ChatGPT. The first wave will be a gigawatt worth of AMD GPUs coming in the 2nd half of 2026. No dollar amount has been announced, but it is safe to say it will be in the tens of billions of dollars. 

ICE is moving to connect with private vendors to run a multi-year surveillance program out of its two little—known targeting centers. According to wired.com, ICE plans to hire almost 30 contractors to sift through posts, photos, and messages—raw material to be transformed into intelligence for deportation arrests and raids. The contractors would be located at ICE facilities in Williston, Vermont and Santa Ana in Southern California. They would pore over Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms converting posts and profiles into fresh leads for enforcement raids. 

A third party customer service provider for Discord has been infiltrated, and the hackers were able to gain access to user information. Engadget.com says the breach occurred on September 20th. Discord claims that the compromised data includes a “small number” of government IDs like driver’s licenses and passports, which some users may have submitted to verify their ages. To be clear, Discord itself wasn’t hacked, and you would only be affected by the data breach if you’ve ever communicated with the messaging service’s Customer Support or Trust & Safety teams. That also means the bad actors didn’t get access to your messages within the service, just whatever you may have communicated with customer support. Affected users are getting emails notifying them. They have cut ties with the provider. 

The California Department of Insurance has slapped Tesla with an enforcement action for routinely denying or delaying customer claims despite years of warnings from that state regulator. Techcrunch.com notes that Tesla’s insurance arm along with partner State National Insurance Company, engaged in “willful unfair claims settlement practices” including “egregious delays in responding to policyholder claims in all steps” of the process and “unreasonable denials,” CDI wrote. This has allegedly caused “financial harm” and “distress to policyholders.” The state insurance department first warned about the issues in 2022, and now says things have only gotten worse. Tesla launched the in-house insurance back in 2019. 

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

Jury-Meta Violated CA Privacy Over Flo Data; VPN Use Up Dramatically in the UK; Former Taiwan Semi Staff Arrested-Stealing Chip Trade Secrets; Google New AI Model-Creates Video Game Worlds in Real Time

Posted: August 5, 2025 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A California jury has found that Meta violated California privacy laws, by surreptitiously collecting FLO users’ menstrual health data. TechCrunch.com reports that the info was collected without user consent and it was used for ad-tracking purposes. The plaintiffs, claiming to represent millions of Flo users, had accused Flo and Meta of collecting private health data, like their period dates and fertility goals, via Flo’s app without permission, therefore violating California Invasion of Privacy Act. Besides Flo and Meta, the 2021 suit also named ad analytics companies AppFlyers and Flurry as defendants. Attorneys for the lead plaintiffs said in a statement “Companies like Meta that covertly profit from users’ most intimate information must be held accountable. Today’s outcome reinforces the fundamental right to privacy—especially when it comes to sensitive health data.”  Meta understandably disagreed with the verdict, and is exploring legal options. 

The United Kingdom is pressing ahead with their Online Safety Act, which is intended to bring ‘age assurance,’ so that kids can’t view pornography or health-threatening sites like ones that lionize dangerous thinness. Now, according to techdirt.com, the use of VPNs, virtual private networks, has spiked dramatically. One, Proton VPN, reported an 1800% increase in UK sign-ups. Five of the top 10 free apps on Apple’s UK app store in the United Kingdom are VPNs. A heck of a lot of people don’t want to upload a government ID or selfie to get past the invasive age verification systems. Ah, the law of unintended consequences. A law supposedly designed to protect children now requires victims of sexual assault to submit government IDs to access support communities. People struggling with addiction must undergo facial recognition scans to find help quitting drinking or smoking. The UK government has somehow concluded that access to basic health information and peer support networks poses such a grave threat to minors that it justifies creating a comprehensive surveillance infrastructure around it. Even Wikipedia is threatening to limit access in the UK, saying the law is unworkable. 

Industrial espionage never rests. Three people, including a couple former employees of Taiwan Semiconductor, have been arrested from allegedly stealing proprietary tech from Apple’s chip partner. This all according to appleinsider.com, citing Taiwanese prosecutors. The theft dealt with TSMC’s 2-nanometer production process. Tokyo Electron may be involved, but prosecutors declined to say if a search of that firm was carried out. Apple, a major…or THE major client of TSMC, is expected to be among the first to get chips using the 2-nanometer process…and that could happen as soon as later this year. Just to refresh how small things are getting in chips…a human hair is 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide!

Google DeepMind has revealed a new iteration of its AI ‘world’ model, Genie 3, and it can generate 3D environments that users and agents can interact with in real time. Theverge.com reports that users are going to be able to interact with the worlds for a lot longer and the model will remember where things are when you look away from them. so far, the model is only launched as ‘a limited research preview’ which is open to ‘a small cohort of academics and creators’. Google hasn’t announced when it might be out to the general public.

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

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Will Regulate Apple Pay, Venmo, and Others; Amazon Shows Huge Echo Show; Over 200 Companies Now Support Passkeys; A Mother Lode of Rare Earth Elements in Spent Coal

Posted: November 21, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has had the task of regulating banks, is now expanding. Engadget.com reports that the CFPB will now supervise Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and other payment apps and digital wallets. The Bureau proposed regulating the apps in 2023, but now the supervision will actually go into effect…with refined policies…in 30 days. 

Amazon is supersizing Echo Show, introducing a new 21 inch model for smart home control, organization, and entertainment. According to geekwire.com, the Echo Show 21 smart display features built in Fire TV and Alexa. The screen comes with wall mounting hardware, for $399. If you prefer a counter stand, Amazon will sell you one of those for another $99. The 15 inch Echo Show has also gotten an upgrade with better audio quality. The 15-incher is $299.

We are finally…finally moving to a passwordless future. Now, 9to5mac.com says over 200 major companies are supporting passkeys. For those unfamiliar, passkeys were introduced two years ago, and they replace traditional passwords with more secure authentication using a security key or biometrics. The technology was developed by FIDO Alliance in partnership with companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Passkeys can use biometrics…like Apple’s FaceID and TouchID, freeing you from having to manage a massive list of passwords…or even using an app like 1 Password. It can’t happen soon enough!

It’s a kind of one person’s trash is another person’s treasure story. Dailykos.com picked up a report from the International Journal of Coal Science and Technology, and apparently there are rare earth elements in coal ash. The amounts are tiny…ordinarily not worth much, but there is a huge supply of the chalky coal ash in the US…maybe 11 million tons of accessible rare earth elements are in that coal ash. That is 8 times what the US has in domestic reserves. Most of our rare earths right now…about 75%…come from China. Ukraine also has a good supply, but this could make the US self-sufficient on these elements that go into batteries, solar panels, magnets, and other energy technologies. It’s likely that some entrepreneurs are active as we write this, looking at ways to efficiently extract those 17 rare elements.

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

New Macs & iPad Mini November 1st; Android Rolling Out New Anti-Theft Features; Supremes Turn Away Suit Over Special Counsel Demanding Trump X Info; GM Working on Hands AND Eyes-Off Driving System

Posted: October 7, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Last month, we got the new iPhones, Watches, and Apple ear buds upgrades. Now, macrumors.com reports that Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is saying we will probably see updated bigger Apple Hardware as early as November 1st. This will include new M4 low-end 14 inch MacBook Pros, and the higher end 14 and 16 inch models…and also a refreshed Mac Mini with M4 and M4 Pro chips. The iMac will get the upgrade as well. One iPad seems to be in the mix for sure…the Mini. It is due for it, as the Mini hasn’t seen an upgrade in 3 years. Don’t expect Mac Studio or Mac Pro models with more powerful M4 chips quite yet. Those won’t be out until mid 2025 for the Studio and the Pro at the tail end of that year. 

Google is now releasing anti-theft protection features in the US. They had previously only been available in Brazil. According to androidpolice.com, not all US users are seeing all of them even after the rollout. The 3 features are Theft Detection Lock, Offline Device Lock, and Remote Lock. So far, some Pixel users are getting Remote Lock, but not the other two. Other Pixel users are seeing all three protective features. You can check your phone to see what you have…go to the Settings app, and search for ‘theft protection’ to see if the 3 features are available for your phone. Theft Detection Lock determines if the phone is forcefully taken from your hand, and automatically locks it. Offline Device lock automatically locks your phone’s screen when “a thief tries to disconnect your phone for prolonged periods of time.” Remote Lock is for when you know when you phone is gone for good…you can remotely lock the screen with just your phone number and a security challenge. You use the website android.com/lock.

The Supreme Court is back in session, and promptly refused to take a case disputing special counsel Jack Smith’s efforts to get the records of former President Trump from Twitter (which, of course, is now X) and keep that platform from letting him know about the demand for production. In refusing to take the case, the lower court ruling stands that upheld a nondisclosure order, which Elon Musk claimed violated his platform’s First Amendment right to communicate with Trump. Bloomberg says a judge decided the order was valid, and fined X $350,000 for civil contempt. Twitter eventually turned over 32 direct messages, which the special counsel’s office said was a ‘minuscule proportion’ of the information they requested. 

It won’t be a first, but it will certainly be the most widely used when it hits the road. General Motors is working on a hands AND eyes-off driving system. Techcrunch.com reports that this will be a step up from their 7 year old Super Cruise hands-off system that is currently available. This would be what is known as a Level 3 or L3 system…not quite self-driving cars like Waymo is running in several cities or even like GM’s Cruise division has…which are just getting back on the streets of San Francisco after an accident earlier this year where a woman was dragged. Right now, the only L3 system is Mercedes-Benz’ Drive Pilot. Even Tesla’s Autopilot and so-called ‘Full Self-Driving’ system are only Level 2. No word on how soon the Level 3 setup would be available from GM, but since they are teasing it, it should be sooner, not later. GM says Super Cruise will have about 750,000 miles of roads it can use by the end of 2025. 

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

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days-October 8-9; Chrome-Easier to Use Passkeys Across Devices; EU Looks to Demand Apple Open up iOS; VW Halts ID.4 Production-Door Handle Problem

Posted: September 19, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Yes, another big Amazon sale is on the way. Amazon Prime Big Deal Days is scheduled for October 8th and 9th. Engadget.com notes that Amazon has changed the name of this event a few times, but it remains what they call Amazon’s marquee sale event for Prime members. As always, expect big discounts on Amazon’s own devices…the Echos, Kindles, Blink cams, and so forth. We can also expect, if the past is an indication, cheap prices on small items like ear buds…and of course, the ever popular ‘lightening deals.’ There’s nothing like a big sale to goose revenues in the 4th quarter for companies…and get a head start on the holiday rush. Stan Freeborn is smiling somewhere…as he tugged Santa’s beard…as well as ad agencies and merchants…with his ‘Green Christmas’ back in 1958!

As some of the major players move to a password-less future with passkeys…using the biometrics or screen locks on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to log into websites and apps, Google has dropped another obstacle to making this happen by making it effortless to use passkeys on different devices. Zdnet.com reports that previously, you had to scan QR codes to grant accesses to different devices. Google has introduced a feature that will allow passkeys to be saved right in Google Password Manager on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android. it all works the same…you create a passkey when they prompt you and it is now automatically saved and synced automatically across all devices when logged into the same Google account. Google has also introduced Google Password Manager PIN, an extra layer of protection. Apple has already had the ability to use passkeys across devices using their biometrics like Face ID and Touch ID, but it will be a big plus to have Google letting this work across devices and operating systems. 

The EU is stepping things up to make Apple open up all of iOS and iPadOS to third parties. According to appleinsider.com, they have now started two ‘specification proceedings’ which will set the rules and timetable for Apple to allow the third party access to all its iPhone hardware and software features. The first proceedings concerns connectivity with third party devices. The second one will put in deadlines for compliance. So far there hasn’t been any comment from Apple. Apple CEO Tim Cook, however, had earlier described some EU moves as based on anti-US sentiment. I can see Apple complying and allowing interoperability with third party devices…like other watches, earbuds, etc…but opening their operating systems…that may be a bridge too far for Cupertino.

There are auto recalls virtually constantly. Here’s one I haven’t seen happen. Volkswagen has stopped production on the ID.4 crossover because the cool flush door handles apparently don’t meet their waterproofing specs. Arstechnica.com says the moisture can get into the door controller’s circuit board, and might allow the door to open while the EV is moving! VW has a recall for almost 100,000 ID.4 models, and put out a stop sale to dealers. This is actually the 2nd fix for ID.4 doors. Earlier, some would open intermittently while driving or refuse to open. So far, thankfully, there have been no crashes or injuries reported.

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

Grok Chatbot Trains on X User Data; Apple Intelligence Delayed Until October in iOS 18.1; DOJ says TikTok Collected User Data on Controversial Issues; Microsoft Will Make Windows Security more Mac-Like

Posted: July 29, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Grok chatbot Elon Musk has is apparently training on data from any and all X users. According to thenextweb.com, this could get Musk into trouble with the European Union. The data use may be in violation of EU rules. You can make sure you are not included in this. Go to settings in X, and look for a box that is checked by default…it says  “Allow your posts as well as your interactions, inputs, and results with Grok to be used for training and fine-tuning.” This may violate the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation. That law restricts companies from expanding data collection without telling users, and providing users a clear opt-out. 

Apparently Apple Intelligence won’t graduate in time to make it for the rollout of iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia. If you were all pumped about that shiny new iPhone 16 using Apple Intelligence, macrumors.com reports that you will have to wait until the operating systems’ first updates in October. Apple Intelligence should be released in the upcoming beta versions of the software, probably next week, but Apple must feel it isn’t quite ready for prime time yet. The upgraded Siri with AI was already scheduled to bow next spring. 

The Department of Justice went to court late Friday to ask the bench to reject the TikTok bid to have the law to ban it overturned. Engadget.com says the feds name national security concerns that include its alleged use of internal search tools to collect information on users’ views around sensitive topics. The government wrote in its filing that ByteDance has been using a search tool within their Lark suite of tools that “allowed ByteDance and TikTok employees in the United States and China to collect bulk user information based on the user’s content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in the filings that TikTok could be using the data to subject US users to content manipulation, and that their sensitive information could end up stored on servers in China. TikTok has denied the allegations.

After the CrowdStrike mess, Microsoft has indicated it will make Windows security more Mac-like. What does that mean? 9t5mac.com reports that Redmond will limit kernel access. Microsoft wrote about it on their IT blog. The company won’t be stripping away kernel privileges in a forthcoming Windows update. A shift like this will take significant time. But Microsoft’s direction for the future appears clear. Apple’s strict Mac security protocols don’t allow the same kind of kernel access to third parties as Windows does. This is why Macs weren’t impacted by the CrowdStrike outage. Let’s hope that another CloudStrike-type event doesn’t occur before Microsoft gets restricting kernel access in place. 

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

Google & AT&T Invest in Starlink Rival; US EA Aims to Stop Citizen Data Exploitation; iOS 17.3 Drops-With Stolen Device Protection; FTC Tells Intuit to Stop Pushing Free Software That Isn’t

Posted: January 23, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Google, AT&T, and Vodafone are pumping $206 million into AST SpaceMobile, a Starlink competitor that intends to offer smartphone service from low-earth orbit satellites. AST said it has “over 40 agreements and understandings with mobile network operators globally, who collectively service over 2 billion subscribers.” While Starlink already has over 5,000 satellites delivering home Internet service and plans to launch tens of thousands more, it isn’t too far ahead of AST SpaceMobile in terms of cellular-enabled satellites. SpaceX launched the first six Starlink satellites that can provide cellular transmissions to standard LTE phones a few weeks ago and demonstrated the technology with text messages sent between T-Mobile phones.

The US is planning to issue a new executive order that will be aimed at prevent foreign adversaries from accessing troves of highly sensitive personal data about Americans and people connected to the U.S. government, according to Bloomberg News. The draft order focuses on ways that foreign adversaries are gaining access to Americans’ “highly sensitive” personal data through legal means and through intermediaries like data brokers, third-party vendor agreements, employment agreements or investment agreements. The administration is concerned about the collection of data on political figures, journalists, academics, activists and members of marginalized communities, as well as patient data obtained through health-care providers and researchers. This order will NOT be voluntary like the commitments AI companies made this year. 

Apple has released iOS 17.3, which is a minor upgrade except for one feature…Stolen Device Protection. Theverge.com notes that of late, a number of accounts have been taken over after a person meets another in a bar, and gets them to enter their passcode to the phone…allegedly to put in the new person’s number and info. The scammer has memorized the passcode, and has your name, etc…so they can take over your iCloud account and get into all your saved passwords…like banking info to drain accounts. Stolen Device Protection requires either Face ID or Touch ID for certain actions…like viewing saved passwords or applying for a new Apple Card. If you are away from your home or work, any time you try to change a password or the like, you will have to input the passcode AND use the biometric ID…and then wait an hour. To use the feature go to Settings, then select Face ID and Passcode. Scroll WAY down, and you can see Stolen Device Protection. Turn it on. It is off by default. 

The FTC ordered Intuit to stop promoting its software products and services as “free” unless they’re actually free for all consumers. Bleepingcomputer.com reports that the order comes after the consumer protection watchdog’s investigation into how Intuit promoted its tax preparation software TurboTax as being a “free” product as part of a years-long deceptive advertising campaign. Around two-thirds of all tax filers in the U.S. could not use TurboTax for free as advertised by the accounting and tax software provider, instead being hit with charges when it was time to file. In other words, plug in all your info, and go through the whole stressful procedure and then…oh, yeah…you can’t actually file without paying these fees. By the way, if your taxes are pretty simple and you have an adjusted gross income of $79,000 or less, you can use products available through the IRS’ Free File Program to file federal and state tax returns for free.

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

Android Apps Track Kids; Making Facebook Friends Portable; Amazon’s Choice Secrets; Mini Sega Genesis Coming

Posted: April 16, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In the wake of the Facebook Cambridge Analytica flap, more people are becoming re-sensitized to their privacy…or lack of it. Bgr.com is pointing out that Google does a much better job of protecting privacy, but…and there’s always a but…with their third party apps, not so much. Researchers at the International Computer Science Institute have discovered thousands of Android apps that track young kids. In fact, the majority of 5855 of the most popular children’s apps were guilty of tracking in some manner. 19% of them collect personally identifiable information, while 66% transmit non-resettable persistent identifiers that negate the privacy preserving properties of the advertising ID. So…those thousands of apps are free, except for the data they steal to serve targeted ads to your kids. What a deal! ‘OK, Google! Fix this!’

Some people are leaving Facebook after the Cambridge Analytica mess…I count 31 that have bailed or deactivated on my friends list. For me, the horse got out of the barn a long time ago, so it seems a bit late to leave when you’re privacy has been violated continuously for 8 or 10 years. TechCrunch.com notes that you can download your facebook info, including your friends list…but it’s just a text list…you can’t easily take it to a competing platform. It’s just not going to work having to type them all in, or letting another platform use your email list and keep sending out pestering email to your friends. If people want the government to regulate Facebook as a utility, being able to export your friends list in a useable form to port them to another platform would be a great start. Meanwhile, we’ve speculated that somewhere, some brilliant geeks are working on programming to do it whether Facebook likes it or not. Whatever platform gets that kind of feature first will have a hell of a leg up in giving Facebook some real competition.

What kind of magic formula does Amazon use to give a product the Amazon’s Choice designation? No one has had a clue…until now. Geekwire.com reports that the online giant has started placing a ‘why we like this product’ link next to the Amazon’s Choice logo. If you click it, it will give you 3 specific reasons Amazon has awarded the Choice designator to that particular product. Some of the criteria seem heavily skewed towards highly rated, but also seen have been low return rate and popularity in Amazon search results. At least it’s a peek behind the curtain. So far, all the factors seem to be ones that lend themselves to a high degree of automation..hey, it IS Amazon!

Having purchased probably every system Sega ever made for a certain family member (which paid off in a way…he now works for a game company), I was interested to see that Sega is probably going to bring out a Sega MegaDrive Mini later this year. Cnet.com says the little box has just rolled out in Japan to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the system (MegaDrive was the original name for the system.) Now, a number of reports are surfacing saying the diminutive Genesis will e hitting the US later this year. It appears that Sega is presently asking users to let them know what classic games they want pre-loaded onto the system. Apparently the system will feature both Japanese and English voiceovers, and choice of classic or modern controls.

Echo Show Will Connect to Security Cams; Vivo-1st Smartphone To Screen-Embed Fingerprint Sensor; Facebook Tests Securing Profile Pics

Posted: June 22, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon says the new Echo Show will connect to Nest, Ring, and other security cams via Alexa. According to geekwire.com, the $230 smart speaker with screen, which ships next week, will also talk to cams from August, Amcrest, EZViz, IC Realtime, Vivint, and Arlo….with just a simple command to Alexa like ‘show me the front door .’

Vivo may beat both Apple and Samsung to the punch, showing the 1st smartphone with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen at Mobile World Congress next week in Shanghai. Macrumors.com reports that a video leaked shows the Chinese maker’s phone being unlocked with a fingerprint. Samsung had to put a sensor on the back of the Galaxy S8, but the new Note may have an embedded sensor when it launches in August, and the iPhone 8 reportedly has the feature.

Facebook is testing out a feature aimed at protecting profile pictures from scammers. Techcrunch.com says it is being piloted in India right now. The so-called ‘photo guard’ will prevent other users fro downloading a profile pic or sharing it with others, prevent others from tagging using a profile pic, and prevent others from taking screenshots of another person’s profile pic…although that appears to be an Android only feature. If activated by the user, the optional guard will show a blue border and shield around your profile pic. If it tests out, look for Facebook to roll it out to other countries soon.

Apple Working on More Secure Future iPhones; Samsung Building 256 Gig Memory Smartphone Chips

Posted: February 25, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In the middle of the dust up with the FBI over writing a software backdoor to hack it’s own iPhones, which Tim Cook has called ‘the software equivalent to cancer,’ Apple is working on making their phones even more impenetrable. Theverge.com reports that they are working to plug a troubleshooting feature that allows Apple to install new firmware on an iPhone to upgrade the operating system without inputting the user’s passcode. If they remove the feature, which security experts deem highly likely, they won’t be able to open up a backdoor no matter who wants one or tries to force them to.

Samsung has started mass producing 256 gig embedded chips, double what it had last year. According to engadget.com, they will run the Universal Flash Storage 2.0 standard, which will make them red twice as fast as current ones. These chips will not only give future phones the storage capacity of a lot of laptops, but will make it easy to store memory hogs like 4K movies…and transfer them faster using USB 3.0. It will also make it much more practical for phones to carry virtual reality content.

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