NVIDIA CEO Tells Trump-Not Gonna Slow Down AI; Agility-New Robot Can Work 20 Hours a Day-Kind of; European Offshore Wind Farms-Unexpected Weather Issues; GM-New UI For Top Trucks Includes Apple CarPlay
Posted: September 15, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, General Motors, Robots, technology, wind-farms Leave a commentWhile the CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, and Elon Musk have called for a slowdown on AI development, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Donald Trump in a phone call taken live on stage that as far as putting the brakes on AI development that (Nvidia) was “not going to let that happen, sir.” TechCrunch.com reports that the CEO was on stage for the All-In Summit when the call came through from the White House. Trump has gone all in on pushing for the fastest development of AI, claiming that if we don’t, the Chinese will leap ahead of the US in the tech. It’s a bit scary having a president who doesn’t even use a computer…let alone understand how computers, AI, or the internet works…is acting like he does know more than the CEOs of the actual companies developing AI models.
Agility Robotics has rolled out its newest robot, the Digit 5. According to geekwire.com, the Oregon-based company claims the robot can lift over 50 pounds and can work 20+ hours a day…while working alongside humans. There is a certain degree of hype in this, since the robot can only run on its battery for 90 minutes…before having to head to a charger for a 9 minute recharge. That means it will be needing more break time than a human! The device can reach objects as high as 7.2 feet off the ground, which will be handy. An early investor in Agility has been Amazon, which would love to replace workers in its warehouses with robots…who require a heavy initial cost..but then need no benefits. It may take a while to see their way to positive cash flow on these things, though, because the mechanical marvels cost over $200,000 each!
European researchers have discovered a new wrinkle when it comes to wind power. Bgr.com says a German study has found that giant offshore wind farms have an unintended consequence….the study determined that they caused a 10% to 15% decrease in coastal precipitation. Ah, but there is a potential solution…the newer bladeless wind turbines. More research is planned, but it will be a non-starter to have Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands to get as much as 15% reduced coastal rainfall.
The CEO of General Motors a couple of years ago famously announced that the General was going to ditch Apple CarPlay completely, but would continue to offer Android Auto in its infotainment systems. Now, arstechnica.com notes that the best-selling GM trucks…the Chevrolet Silverado and GMS Sierra pickups will have CarPlay in addition to Android available through the in-dash infotainment system. A GM spokesperson wouldn’t say if the General was going to backtrack on EVs…which right now don’t allow either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to cast your phones through the in-dash infotainment system. A press release did say that the new system was built “as a single scalable foundation across electric, gas and diesel-powered vehicles, it transforms time spent behind the wheel into an effortless, personalized journey.” That kind of sounds like they may indeed have listened to customer complaints and that they are restoring using your Android or Apple phone to cast phone calls and music through the in-dash infotainment system.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Why 3 AI Competitors Suddenly Agree and Warn Us; China Says AI Execs ‘Fear Mongering’; Apple Designing Game Controllers for Folding iPhone; Automattic CEO Mullenweg Remains as CEO after Board Attempts Ouster
Posted: September 14, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, corporate-governance, Tech, technology Leave a commentMy opinion on why all of a sudden OpenAI, Anthropic, and Musk are all saying there is an issue: I think a) they want to write legislation to exclude other competitors and have the government shield them so they can make more money, or b) and most likely…the financial house of cards is getting close to collapse and the rich dudes and big companies that invested in them want a return on their billions…and the AI companies can’t possibly produce those returns. Is the AI bubble starting to burst similarly to the dot com bust? Some folks are saying so…stay tuned, and batten down the hatches. We seem to be on the downward slope now in the Gartner Hype Cycle.
Not missing an opportunity to meddle in US affairs, China is calling the AI CEOs’ talk of a slowdown ‘fear mongering.’ This has also been echoed by Donald Trump…who can’t even use a computer! Cnbc.com reports that a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry said that the field of AI has become “the main battleground for global technological competition and a new arena for strategic rivalry among major powers.” He then added that there was a need for “healthy and orderly” development of the technology. Adoption of Chinese AI models has been gaining traction with Western companies as the capability of those models has improved.
Hot off the introduction of the new folding iPhone Duo with the bigger inner screen, Apple is apparently designing its own game controllers that can be attached to the Duo. According to 9to5mac.com, Apple already sells some game controllers via the Apple store..but the new ones are specifically for the iPhone Duo. They may release the controllers under the Beats brand. No release schedule has been seen for these new controllers yet.
After a board revolt last week that ousted Automattic’s CEO Matt Mullenweg, the momentarily former CEO has returned to his position. TechCrunch.com notes that the board voted to retain him. Automattic is the parent company of WordPress, and is one of the two largest website hosting firms in the world. Disclosure: my two websites where these reports are posted and available are hosted by WordPress. The original ouster put Mullenweg on a leave of absence and no reason was given. Automattic has not responded to requests for comment, and Mullenweg has just posted that he is a ‘pirate,’ and that this is the 5th time he has faced a coup.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Extravaganza-Folding iPhone, iPhone Pros, Watches, Air Pods
Posted: September 9, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, iPhone, News, Tech, technology Leave a commentWelcome, one and all to the Apple reality distortion field…or at least my recap of it! Apple rolled out their latest, greatest iPhone Pros, Watches, and Air Pods today, and the inevitable ‘one more thing’ we all knew was coming…the folding iPhone. We all called it the Ultra, but Apple has dubbed it the iPhone Duo. Not being Apple, I will start with the one more thing, the Duo. Honestly, there is a lot to be impressed with about the folder Apple waited several years to drop. They have done a great job minimizing the crease in the screen, the hinge itself has a lot of tech in it, and it has better battery life than expected. It is, as Apple noted, about the size of your passport in your hand folded, and open has an inner screen of some 7.6 inches…much like an iPad Mini.
Later this year, you will be able to use an Apple Pencil with either screen, too. When you are using the outer screen, and open the phone, the larger screen picks up right where you left off. There is a selfie cam on the inner screen that is hidden under the display…no hole punch or pill-shaped cutout to take away from the full screen experience. It is worth mentioning that the outer screen is no slouch…it is 5.4 inches. You can shoot a pic while using the inner screen, and your subject can see themselves in the outer display. Pretty cool. The phone has the 2 nanometer A20 processor like the iPhone 18 Pros, and has 2 neural engines. Dual batteries give you up to 31 hours of video viewing on the big display and 24 hours on a charge. Here’s the crazy part…it starts at $1999 with 256 gigs of storage! I expected it to be more like $2400. Preorders start October 16th, and the launch is October 23rd.
For the rest of us mere mortals that may not be getting a folding phone right now, the Pro and Pro Max also have the A20 Pro chip, and Apple strongly emphasized AI and especially on-device AI. The AI and new version of Siri may be exciting to use as you get into your daily use of the phone, but for now, we’ll talk about a couple other features that everyone will notice…improvements to the cams and battery life. The banner cam hardware feature is sort of amazing…a variable aperture to let in light. They have tiny leaves about the thickness of a human hair that open and close. Lots of manual control is available if you are up for it. Apple noted that the entire presentation today was shot on iPhones. If you aren’t a cinematographer or pro photographer, the software is there to take advantage of all that for you. By the way, it is only the 48 MP main cam that has the variable aperture.
Another really great photo feature is Apple Reference Image…the phone will authenticate photos shot on it right down to the pixel level, so people can detect if something is AI. The Reference shot lives on your phone and in your library right along with a finished shot you have edited using software. Battery life grows to 36 hour for video playback on the Pro and 48 on the Pro Max. Both should bet 24-30 hours on a full charge. Speaking of charging, the Pro gets up to 50% in 15 minutes with a wire charger, or the same in 30 minutes charged wirelessly. With the chip shortage due to AI both phones got a price bump this year. The iPhone 18 Pro starts at $1199, and the Pro Max at $1299. Preorders open this Saturday, with availability September 18th.
The Apple Watch Series 12 has a new chip and upgrade health sensors. The Watch Ultra now has 2 day battery life and upgraded health tracking. Both will track your heart rate better, among other things. A cool feature that plays on Apple’s Visual Intelligence is an Audio Intelligence feature. The Watch will record the last 15 seconds or so of voice with what Apple calls Live Rewind. This can be handy if a wait person rattles off the daily specials, and you didn’t get it. You can check your phone, and the Watch will have sent the text to it so you can see what’s on the menu. It can also be set to record and transcribe meetings. For hard of hearing, the watch can also pick up sounds like alarms, doorbells, or a baby crying.The Watches didn’t get a price hike. The Ultra starts at $799 and the Series 12 at $399. Preorders are open now, and they are available September 18th.
AirPods 5 bowed today, and get improved noise cancellation and audio quality…always appreciated. The base models start at $129. The $149 models have a Wireless Charging case, plus a swipe to change volume feature. You move the finger up or down the stems to change the volume. The new AirPods are available for preorder today, and out Friday, September 18th.
I’m Clark Reid, showing you the exit to the Apple reality distortion field for today!
Europe EV Share Hits 25%; Apple Bows New Mac Studios; AI Hits Entry Level Jobs Hit Hardest by AI; OLED Xbox Ally X20-$1300
Posted: August 25, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Asus, Education, EVs, handheld-gaming, science, technology Leave a commentWe all whine about the crazy bump in gas prices, mainly caused by Trump’s war of choice against Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Well, with the $7500 EV federal EV credit gone in the US, electric vehicle sales are down…but not in Europe. Thenextweb.com reports that in July, EVs hit 25% of total European car registrations! That is a 51% increase, year over year. The entire European car market grew 4.1% in July, while EV sales were up 37% in that period. The two biggest markets for EVs are France with a 35% electric share and Germany with 29.3%. Plug in hybrids were also up 15%. The Iran war and Hormuz blockade may be the best thing that has happened to the EV industry.
Ahead of the big iPhone and Watch rollout…expected in mid-September, Apple has unveiled new Mac Studio models, with M5 Max and Ultra chips. According to macrumors.com, Apple is saying that the new machines are up to twice as fast as before. The M5 Ultra chip includes an up to 36-core CPU that contains 12 super cores and 24 performance cores. It delivers up to 1.25x higher single-threaded performance and up to 1.3x higher multithreaded performance than the M3 Ultra from the previous generation Mac Studio. The Mac Studio is also now available with the M5 Max chip, offering an 18-core CPU with 6 super cores and 12 performance cores, up to 40 GPU cores, up to 128GB of unified memory with up to 614GB/s of memory bandwidth, and up to 8TB of storage. Pricing is all over the place, depending on configuration, but considering these are the top line Pro Apple computers, even the entry level price won’t be remotely cheap. Another thing…with all the devices branded as Ultra or super….what lingo will we be hearing 5 years from now when the latest, greatest devices come out?
AI has supposedly been tried by about half of us at this point. It isn’t materially affecting half of all of us in a big way yet, but it sure is putting the hurt on entry level job seekers. Arstechnica.com notes that a Stanford report shows that young employment in AI-impacted fields is down 19%, compared with more AI-resistant occupations. Older, more experienced workers seem pretty unaffected so far. The age group taking the biggest hit are those 22-25 years old. AI company Anthropic devised an economic index. According to it, jobs like “accountants and auditors” and “receptionists and information clerks” were among those judged most susceptible to AI automation, while jobs like “chief executive” and “registered nurse” were among those using AI augmentation most often. You can bet that plumber and electrician are barely affected at all!
The Asus Xbox Ally X20 handheld, with a good-sized 7.4 inch screen will officially be shipping on October 15th. The base price is $1300, according to theverge.com. The price is a $300 bump from the original Xbox Ally X…which is still available. The $600 Xbox Ally is also still going to be in the lineup. Originally, the 20 was only going to be available with high dollar AR glasses, so while $1300 isn’t cheap by any standard…it’s a lot less than the bundle with AR glasses. If you do have a fat wallet or credit line, and want the whole deal, the bundled version at $2500 has the X20, the matching pair of 240Hz ROG XREAL X1 glasses (normally $849), and it’ll also come with a matching Dbrand Killswitch protective case for the handheld (with the hardshell screen cover, stick toppers and built-in kickstand), plus a branded Pelican case to schlep your gear around with you.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Nvidia-Server Chip Prices Going Up 15%; More Apple Fold Leaks; Zillow Settles Antitrust Suit with FTC; Open AI-California Needs Stronger AI Safety Bill
Posted: August 24, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, finance, investing, technology Leave a commentNvidia is saying that AI chips prices for servers will go up by 15% next year. I know, you’re thinking ‘Why do I care? I’m not buying server chips…I don’t have a giant AI server farm. Well guess what? Those higher prices will find there way down to your smartphones and all the other electronics that have systems-on-chips you own. Thenextweb.com reports that the specific chips that will see the bump first are Nvidia’s Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell chips. It is wither pointing out that Nvidia has a gross margin of a whopping 75% on chips and is STILL passing on increased raw material prices to buyers. Those kind of rapacious margins are a lot of what makes it the most valuable listed company in the world. Coming out of the auto business, where 2-5% is a decent margin, and radio…where a lot of stations at least used to make 30%…a few even 40%…a gross margin of 75% just seems obscene.
As is the case a lot of times, from Apple to other tech makers, some folks have gotten their hands on early models of product to use and report back about. According to Appleinsider.com, some of those folks are now leaking a few tidbits about the imminent Apple folding iPhone. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman spoke to several beta users, and here are a few nuggets. The phone is thick when folded, but still fits in a pocket. When opened to the larger inside screen, you get iPad like app layouts which will be cool. Often, iPad apps are larger window layouts and are easier to use. On the down side, the folding iPhone lacks a telephoto cam…which by itself is enough for me to not want one at any price. I have used the tele lens repeatedly to shoot video and pics of grandkids doing gymnastics and sports, so a phone without telephoto is not going to work for me. Also, the folding iPhone doesn’t have Face ID, but like my iPad Mini uses Touch ID. That is a step backwards, too. For a phone costing north of $2000, I expect more. Maybe some future year, Apple. **Caveat…Apple often puts out multiple beta models for testing by its employees and others…so the final final might have FaceID and a telephoto…but I am doubtful.
Zillow has settled an antirust suit with the Federal Trade Commission. Engadget notes that this flowed from Zillow buying off rival Redfin for $100 million. The FTC in a press release said the two sides resolved the lawsuit and reversed an agreement from Zillow that shut down Redfin’s internet listing service (ILS) for apartment rentals. As part of the settlement, Redfin has to reenter the ILS market and make commitments that would ensure its competitiveness, including a relaunch with “significantly more listings,” according to the FTC. The settlement also requires Zillow to provide Redfin with employee information to allow for employee recruitment. On the consumer side, Zillow has to offer its customers the ability to renegotiate their contracts without any extra cost or penalty as part of the settlement
OpenAI is calling for California to tighten up its AI safety bill. TechCrunch.com reports that the maker of ChatGPT is wanting expanded safeguards including “requiring monitoring of frontier models under training or evaluation for potential serious incidents,” and by “strengthening cybersecurity protections throughout the model-development lifecycle.” It is notable that OpenAI had opposed SB 53. Our take is that this has less to do with one of OpenAI’s models escaping its test environment and hacking Hugging Face, and more to do with a previously unknown group releasing a powerful new model into the wild. It is called Ox Alpha, and has appeared on the OpenRouter platform without any company claiming ownership. It features a massive 1 million token context window and multimodel support for text, images and video…and has top tier performance on coding and agentic tasks. Hmm. Count on big companies to ask for regulation when an unknown competitor comes up and might clean your clock.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
September Google Book Event; iPhone 18-What’s Coming When; Ice Agents Can’t Wear Meta Glasses at Work; TicTok Looks to Peer Payments Via DM’s
Posted: August 19, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Google, Tech, technology, tiktok Leave a commentGoogle will have a Googlebook event on September 15th. Androidpolice.com reports that it will be held in New York City. A number of things are rumored for the Googlebooks. One is something Google showed in May, but didn’t really flesh out…the ‘glowbar,’ a multi-colored LED display on the lid. Google only said it is ‘functional and beautiful,’ but didn’t give details on the functions part. It’s possible we will see Aluminum OS moving further in merging Android and Chrome OS…for better integration between laptops and phones…which Apple has made pretty seamless…so Google would, of course, like to emulate that. Expect more Gemini integration. Androidpolice.com snarked that the intrusive AI could become something like the pestering Microsoft ‘Clippy,’ that everyone hid to avoid it interrupting your work all the time. A fresh survey out has young people more wary or fearful about AI than excited about it, so Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic…as well as others…have a ways to go to get the majority of the public on board.
Apple’s big September event will be here before you know it. We don’t have a date yet, but it is usually the 2nd or 3rd week of September. According to mac rumors.com, Apple will do more of the broken up iPhone launch scheme. In September, they will unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, Pro Max, and Fold. It is expected that the iPhones will all get a $100 price bump due to the increased cost of chips. We will also see freshened Apple Watches, and likely the AirPod Pros with cameras. For folks wanting the budget iPhones, they will all be out next spring. We should see the iPhone 18, 18e, and Air 2 then.
ICE has told employees that they are not allowed to wear Meta glasses at work…or other cam equipped specs. Engadget.com says that a memo sent to ICE employees stated “the use of Meta Glasses or similar devices could unintentionally capture, record, or transmit sensitive information, potentially compromising privacy and legal protections.” ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents have frequently been seen wearing the Meta glasses the last few months. One CPB agent was noted recording with his, despite the policy. Here’s a wrinkle…while they are banning the Meta Ray-Bans and other smart glasses, Department of Homeland Security is allegedly wanting to get an official version of the tech. ICE is hoping to equip its officers with their own version of smart glasses that have “biometric identification capabilities” by next year. And you thought FLOCK cameras were bad…just wait!
TikTok is working on a feature that will let users send each other money via direct messages. TechCrunch.com notes that if they launch the feature, it will use the TikTok Pay that is already available in Southeast Asia for TikTok Shop purchases. The feature is apparently in the early development stage, so don’t expect to see anything too soon. Besides TikTok, Elon Musk’s X has already launched X Money which does the same thing. All the social medial platforms want to get into the financial business…like legendary bank robber Willie Horton noted, ‘that’s where the money is.’
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Apple Will Drop Down to 15% Cut on Outside App Store Purchases; YouTube Starts Counting Views Earlier; First Test Flight of Large Electric Plane-$5 Electricity Cost; Anthropic Watermark System-Some Users Really Angry
Posted: August 17, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, anthropic, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, electric-plane, gemini, technology, YouTube Leave a commentUnder the gun from the US District Court of Northern California to reduce their cut of purchases, Apple has now proposed commissions of 15% from standard apps, and larger discounts for developers enrolled in special Apple Programs. TechCrunch.com reports that small business developers would pay a 5% commission on payments. Developers in the Video Partner Program, News Partner Program, and Mini Apps Partner Program would pay 10%. Subscription renewals would also be reduced to 10%. All this is in Apple’s court filing. Cupertino had delayed and appealed, but last week the Supreme Court rejected Apple’s plea to pause the lower court action. This all flows from the lawsuit that has been ongoing for years brought by Epic Games. Apple had been taking a 30% cut originally….a pretty hefty commission.
YouTube is getting set to start counting views as soon as a video starts to play, aligning them with what Instagram, TikTok, and their own Shorts do. According to theverge.com, X still doesn’t count a view until a couple seconds have passed. YouTube will keep their original view counting method, but it will be under an ‘engaged views’ metric.
This is some pretty exciting news. The first test flight of a large-sized electric airplane has been completed, and it only used $5 worth of electricity! Arstechnica.com notes that the plane was the Heart Aerospace X1. How long did it fly on that $5 bucks? A half hour. That would work out to a 4 hour flight costing about $40 in electricity…a hell of a lot cheaper than Jet A fuel. The X1 plane is the size of a regional plane like fly between a couple of close cities frequently. It is noticeably quieter than a jet…the plane is a propeller craft though, not a jet. It has a range of 500 miles…plenty for those commuter hops between cities. When I fly from Denver to Colorado Springs, it is always on one of the small Canadair regional jets flown by a subsidiary of the likes of United or Delta. That’s 15 minute flight, so figure the fuel cost would be $2.50. Will airlines buy these and charge less for those flights? I won’t hold my breath…but if it keeps them from raising ticket prices, that would be cool.
Anthropic has stirred up a hornet’s nest with some users, as it has announced a controversial watermarking system. On Friday, the company put out a blog post trying to justify it. Gizmodo.com says that the watermarking is intended to comply with the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act. The watermarking will make it harder for users to get away with pretending they wrote AI-generated text. Apparently…according to posts on X…a number of users have cancelled their accounts over the watermarking. Anthropic claims the watermarking will not be distinguishable by users. They are basically using the same tech as Google uses in its SynthID watermarking system. Some Claude users admit that they don’t want their AI-generated work to be detected by clients and school faculty who expect work to be done by a human. I say good for Anthropic and Google. In a college situation, professors used to be able to spot something copied from Cliff’s Notes in a New York second. It’s harder with AI generated text, so the watermarking is a good thing in my opinion.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
Google Shows Pixel 11, More; Foxconn Reports Big Profit Increase; Grok Bot is Out; Bluesky Active User Base Shrinks
Posted: August 12, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence, chatgpt, Tech, technology Leave a commentNew gadget season is well underway. Last month it was Samsung, now Google, and in September Apple. Engadget.com reports that Google has dropped 4 hew phones…Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, and 11 Pro Fold. All the Pro models feature a new camera bar. All the new Pixels are powered by the Tensor G6, which Google says has 20% more power efficiency, 25 percent faster browsing and 15 faster app loading compared to the Tensor G5. The cams have an improved Image Signal Processor. Google is claiming all the Pixel 11 phones will run for 30 hours before you have to charge back up. With the data centers gobbling up chips, Google has had to boost prices on the short supplied chips. Expect to pay $100 more than for the Pixel 10’s. Preorders are open now, with phones shipping August 20th.
The Pixel Watch 5 is also out, starting at $399, a $50 buck boost. You can get a Steph Curry branded version for $579. Google also shows off something new…the Pixel Tag…its first bluetooth tracker. It runs $30. It is about half again as large as an Apple Air Tag, and runs about a year on a battery, just like Apple’s.
They have become less dependent on Apple, and profits are up at Foxconn. According to macdiailynews.com, for the quarter ending in June, the giant contract electronics manufacturer saw profits jump 35%. Interestingly, as Apple remains their biggest account, most iPhones for the US market are now built in India, rather than Taiwan or China. Meanwhile, Foxconn is expanding, building plants that make chips for AI servers. New facilities are going into Mexico and also Texas for Nvidia.
SpaceX AI has announced Grok Bot…which they say is a new kind of AI agent they describe as “AI teammates you can give real work to.” Each Bot gets its own computer, then signs into the apps and services you already use to take on work across inboxes and other tools. SpaceXAI says Bots can complete jobs end to end, only returning when approval is needed. It’s out in beta today on Mac and iOS as well as Windows and Linux for the desktop. SpaceX AI says an Android version is coming soon. Right now, it is restricted to SuperGrok Heavy, Cursor Ultra, and Cursor Teams Premium subscribers.
Bluesky’s active user base has taken a hit…dropping from almost 500 million active users down to about 300. Techcrunch.com notes that X is down too, but not as much as Bluesky. Threads, the app joined at the hip with Meta’s Instagram, has grown over 20%. The good news for Bluesky in light of this drop is that the folks that stay seem to be highly engaged. The jury is still out on whether Threads is picking up users that have basically abandoned Bluesky or if that app is getting all new users.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
New Tech Links Your License Tag to Your Phone; Zuckerberg’s AI Manifesto Inadvertently Highlights Why People Hate AI; YouTube Makes it Harder to Make Money; Apple-Photo Authentication Tools in iOS27
Posted: August 11, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Artificial Intelligence, iPhone, News, surveillance-cams, Tech, technology, YouTube Leave a commentPeople, cities, police, and others are already pretty bent about license plate reading cameras. It was just revealed that one reason LA is not renewing a contract with Flock is that they identify cars as stolen incorrectly 32% of the time! Now, theconversation.com reports that we have a new wrinkle to be mad about with license plate reading cams. When the cam scans your tag, it sends to a database that records the car’s registered owner. Now, it turns out, some license readers also have a sensor that detects signals of devices traveling nearby…meaning your smartphone, smart watch, and those of any passengers! This new tech is from a firm called SignalTrace. As you pass a number of cams, it keeps recording your phone’s signals and links to you via your license plate in the database. Let’s add a bit which actually could help law enforcement. Your phone…associated with your identity via the tag database…shows up in a car the cops suspect in a crime. Ok, that could be helpful. However, the data lives on…and basically keeps a record of every place you go. That is getting a bit Orwellian…especially if SignalTrace sells the info to the big data brokers.
Mark Zuckerberg released a hefty 6500 word manifesto on Monday, essentially touting the virtues of personal AI, and the possibilities of ‘personal superintellegence’ that Meta’s AI division is working on. TechCrunch.com notes that this is essentially an expansion of something Zuckerberg wrote a few months ago. He extolls the virtues of personalized AI agents, and all the great stuff that is coming…reminding me of a boss I once had we called ‘Blue Sky Bob,’ who painted the most beautiful blue pie-in-the-sky pictures of stuff that was coming…but never quite arrived. Kind of like Elon Musk’s Full Self Driving we were getting within a year back in 2016…and by the way, that’s coming…next year…again. Back to Mark Zuckerberg though. We’ll all have agents that seem to have a PhD in every topic, that can do all this great work for us. The problem is, he glosses over the things most people hate…first, that AI is fairly often wrong but is very smug in believing it is correct. Second, and most important, it’s the serious concern most normal people have about AI…taking jobs and leaving them without income. It won’t matter if AI can do lots of free research and writing if you can’t buy groceries and fuel, or afford a place to live.
Early next year, YouTube is going to make it a lot harder to make money on a channel via their Partner Program. According to theverge.com, they are going from 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to 1,000 subscribers and either 8,000 qualified watch hours over the past year or 20 million qualified shorts views in the last 90 days. Creators will have to maintain 10 million Shorts views over 90 days in order to make money. This channel only has about a quarter of the required subscribers, and as for a million views in 90 days…yeah, in my dreams. OTOH, I’m not doing it as an income stream…it’s to keep you in the know. If it does, then it has done its job!
Apple is rumored to have a cool feature coming on iOS27. Engadget.com reports that it is a photo authentication feature. It will apparently be dubbed Apple Reference Image. It will verify that a photo was taken with an iPhone camera. To confirm that a photo is an iPhone capture, select sensor information and metadata for an image can be sent to Private Cloud Compute for verification. A new Reference mode will need to be enabled on an iPhone’s camera in order for this authentication option to be available. With all the AI slop floating around this will be a welcome feature. Over at Google, they are expanding further the SynthID AI watermarking program. With more and more realistic AI images, these features are badly needed.
I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.
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