Apple is 50; SpaceX Files for IPO; 100 Baidu Robotaxis Froze in Traffic; Claude Code Leak Was an Accident, Not a Hack

Posted: April 1, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not an April Fool’s Day joke. Apple Computer got its start 50 years ago. They have been able to come up with a couple of truly world-changing devices.,.the iPod and the iPhone. Will they eventually come out with a third device that can have that kind of impact like some smart glasses? Time will tell. Meanwhile, mashable.com notes that there is a really cool graphic sequence on Apple’s home page celebrating the company’s devices using colorful brush strokes. It’s a bit Google-like, frankly. Imitation as the fabled sincerest form of flattery. 

SpaceX has filed for an IPO…initial public offering of its stock. Engadget.com reports that while this was expected, most saw it happening in July. The Musk-owned company is looking for an IPO valuation of $1.75 trillion, which would make it the biggest IPO in history. SpaceX is the parent of X (formerly Twitter) and Grok, as well as xAI. The company is wanting to get its Starship rocket program on track, and has aspirations to build a base on the moon…and of course, Mars one day. They also plan for data centers for AI in space, orbiting the planet, as is in the works at several other tech companies. 

We have had a few instances of some robotaxis stalling out and jamming up traffic…notably in San Francisco. Now, according to thenextweb.com, the US robotaxi makers like Google’s Waymo have been one-upped big time…and not in a good way. Over 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis froze mid-traffic in Wuhan…blocking many hundreds of commuters. There were some crashes, although police say there were no injuries. This is really scary when you know that Wuhan has over 1,000 driverless vehicles rolling around the city. It’s an embarrassment for Baidu, which has vehicles in 26 cities globally, and claims to have orders for some 20 million vehicles. Welcome to the future…where you can have 100 instantaneous, random traffic jams to ruin your commute.

Claude’s source code got into the wild, and it turns out that it wasn’t due to hackers. 9to5google.com says the code was mistakenly published by Anthropic in the middle of the night. That’s a hell of a mistake! Ahthropic has been aggressively promoting Claude as superior to ChatGPT, and touting tools to migrate your ChatGPT work over to Claude. So how did this massive screw up happen? Well, apparently at about 4 am Tuesday morning, Anthropic pushed out what was supposed to be a routine update to Claude. Apparently, included in that update was a source map file that led right to Claude’s source code. The debugging file contained 512,000 lines of proprietary TypeScript code, which was initially spotted and posted by someone on Twitter/X. It wasn’t long before that entire code package was downloaded and circulated to thousands, though this leak doesn’t seem to include Claude’s model data. Still, this interface code is a costly loss for the company. In other words, a pretty gigantic ‘Oops.’

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

More on Meta Ray-Bans; Siri in iOS27-Multiple Requests in Query; Rivian Spinoff Building Autonomous DoorDash Vehicles; Google Will Let You Change Old Goofy Email

Posted: March 31, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Just yesterday, we reported on the new glasses models from Meta Ray-Ban specifically designed for corrective lenses. Now, Meta has actually bowed the new Ray-Ban products. Engadget.com reports that they are indeed more customizable. The two frames are dubbed Blayzer Optics and Scriber Optics. They will start at $499 a pair. These are the Gen 2 Ray-Ban smart glasses, and Meta is touting upgrades that make for a more personalized fit.They have swappable nose pads and adjustable temple tips. As we already reported, they are specifically designed for corrective lenses…including progressive lenses and transitions. They are available now, and go on sale April 14th. Besides corrective lenses, the latest, greatest Meta Ray-Bans have additional translation abilities. They now support Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic. They also support Meta AI-enabled food and nutrition tracking. 

When Apple releases iOS 27, you may be able to make multiple Siri commands in just one query. This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it will just make using Siri a little easier and more convenient. An example…right now, I have to tell Siri to turn my lights on, then command it again to turn the lights up or down. With the update, I can tell it turn the lights on and set at 20%. Ah, the little things! According to macrumors.com, The ability to handle multiple requests will be part of the Apple Intelligence update that Apple has been working on since June 2024. ‌Siri‌ will have more personal context than before, will understand what’s on the user’s screen, and will be able to do more in and between apps. ‌Siri‌ will be able to access the web to summarize information, a feature that Apple could call World Knowledge Answers, and it may gain image generation capabilities with Image Playground integration.

A spinoff from Rivian called Also is going to develop autonomous delivery vehicles for DoorDash. TechCrunch.com notes that DoorDash will plunk down $200 million into Also’s Series C funding round, and they get a seat on the Also Board. Amazon has a major interest in Rivian and is a partner with them…you have probably seen the electric Amazon delivery vehicles. Amazon has reportedly put in an order for some of the small delivery vehicles from Also. The vehicles can carry more than 400 pounds of packages, but are small enough to use a bike lane. Before long, we could see autonomous delivery vehicles bringing packages or food via bike lanes in cities. 

So you made a silly Gmail address years ago. It sounds totally unprofessional, so you either live with it or just make a new account. Now, arstechnica.com reports that Google is going to let US users dump an old username without creating a new account. You can check for the option on this account page to get started (you’ll have to log in). Keep in mind that it could take a while for it to appear for everyone….another one of those ‘rolling’ changes. The email and data in the account when you migrate to a new email name. Also…you will still get email that is sent to the old silly account name. The old name stays with the account, so you can login using either and use the old one if you wish. 

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

White House App-A Security Mess; Meta Launching Ray-Ban Smart Glasses With Corrective Lenses; Bluesky Bows Attie AI App to Build Custom Feeds; Amazon Tries Phone-Again

Posted: March 30, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The White House app from the Trump administration is apparently a privacy nightmare. Mashable.com reports that The White House app requests user permission to access precise locations, network connections, fingerprint and biometric data, the ability to prevent the device from sleeping, and even modify or delete contents of shared storage. In other words, it is pretty much spyware! It shares location data every 4.5 minutes, and sends that to a third party called OneSignal. OneSignal puts out push notifications to users for location based campaigns. That’s enough, but the app also is apparently loading YouTube video embeds via a random GitHub user’s personal page. According to the report, if this GitHub user’s account is ever compromised, an attacker could “serve arbitrary HTML and JavaScript to every user of this app.” Just do yourself a favor and never download this app!

Meta is releasing a new version of its Ray-Ban smart glasses that are specially designed for users who already wear prescription glasses. According to 9to5google.com, there will be two versions…one rectangular and another with rounded style rims, both specifically designed for people that need prescription lenses. Now, to be fair, you can already add prescription lenses to existing Meta Ray-Bans, but there’s new models are specifically designed for them They are reportedly to be sold through ‘traditional prescription eyewear channels.’

Bluesky has created an AI assistant to help you design your own algorithm, create custom feeds, and they say soon…vibe’ code your own app. TechCrunch.com says the AI app is named Attie. The app is now going to be beta tested by folks who attended the Atmosphere conference. They explained that it is a new product and not part of the actual Bluesky app. If you are excited about building your own custom feed by typing commands in natural language, this may be just the ticket. Stay tuned for it to be released to general users soon. 

Facebook tried, and failed. Amazon tried and failed. Now, Amazon is giving it another go. Mashable.com reports that after the Fire phone tanked a few years ago, Amazon is working on a new one code-named ‘Transformer.’ Amazon is calling this handset a ‘mobile personalization device’ that syncs with Alexa. The idea is for the phone to make interacting with various Amazon services easier. This includes buying from Amazon, watching Prime Video, or listening to Prime Music. Of course, AI would be in the middle of it all, though Alexa may not be the “primary operating system” of the phone. Amazon may rely on another company’s AI to run things on the device. It’s possible that this may not see the light of day, so no release dates, etc. If at first you don’t succeed…try, try again. 

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

Meta Loses Again in Court; SCOTUS Rules ISPs Aren’t Liable for Subscribers’ Copyright Infringement; Apple’s iOS 26.4 Adds Age Verification in the UK; OpenAI Shuttering Sora Video Generation; Ban on More AI Data Centers-Sanders & AOC

Posted: March 25, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

After losing in court yesterday in New Mexico over harm to children for using their platform…and being dinged for almost $400 million, a jury in Los Angeles has found that Meta and Google were negligent and failed to warn users bout the dangers associated with using their platforms. CNBC notes that this judgment was for a single person…a young girl at the time…who became addicted to apps like Instagram and YouTube as a child. The compensatory damages are $3 million, with Meta on the hook for 70% of the damages, and YouTube for 30%. While this seems like a small number, bear in mind there are numerous cases pending behind this one. Also, the punitive damages phase of the trial is yet to come…and that figure could be substantially more. The case will certainly be appealed, but this figure for just one plaintiff…multiplied by thousands of potential plaintiffs…well, you can see that it could amount to a staggering number owed by Meta and YouTube. Watch this space…social media platforms may finally be getting some serious guardrails just due to the specter of large money damages. 

The US Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that ISPs are not liable for music piracy by subscribers. Engadget.com reports that the case was between Sony Music Entertainment and other music labels and Cox Communications. The labels had gotten a billion dollar judgment at trial, but it was overturned on appeal. Writing for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas said a provider is not liable “for merely providing a service to the general public with knowledge that it will be used by some to infringe copyrights.” A provider is liable only if it intended or actively encouraged the infringement, Thomas wrote. The decision applies the same framework the court used in 2005 when it found file-sharing service Grokster liable for promoting piracy. Again, the decision was unanimous. 

Many people are leery of age verification, as it gives up pretty sensitive information to platforms that haven’t always been great at protecting that data. Well, governments are pushing it, and companies are starting to comply. According to theverge.com, Apple’s iOS 26.4 update has added age verification in the UK. Apple notes on a support page that  users must confirm that they’re over 18 to “use certain services or features, or take certain actions on their account.” UK users can confirm their age by scanning their ID or using a credit card. If a user already has an Apple account, the company may use a linked payment method to verify that they’re over 18. Otherwise, Apple will automatically enable child safety protections, including features that block adult content on the web and blur messages containing nudity. While most everyone thinks this protection of minors is a good thing, it’s the giving up of private info as an adult that still bothers people. Stay tuned as this expands. Reddit is wrangling with this issue right now. 

OpenAI is shuttering its AI driven video generation app Sora…suddenly and with no explanation, even to employees of the Sora project. 9to5google.com says that this just affects the Sora app, and that video generation may well be available elsewhere in OpenAI products. Sora was released in the 2nd half of 2024, but because widely available in November 2025 when the Android app came out. This deal also shuts down a deal between Disney and Open AI that allowed Sora to use Disney intellectual property in user-prompted videos. The deal would have also expanded to ChatGPT. Disney said in a statement that it would continue to look at new ways to engage with AI platforms. 

Bernie Sanders and AOC have introduced legislation to ban any new data centers for AI that would have peak power loads of 20 megawatts. Techcrunch.com reports that the legislation would halt such projects until Congress enacts comprehensive AI regulation. This really goes to all of AI and not just data centers. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez…and otters..want the US government to review and certify models ahead of their release, enact protections against AI-driven job displacement, limit the environmental impact of data infrastructure, and require union labor in its construction. They also seek to prohibit the export of advanced chips to countries without similar rules — which, at this point, is most of them.

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

Apple Maps Get Ads; FCC Bans Non-US Routers; Google Android Auto Moving into Car Control; Claude Code Can Now Take Over Computer for Tasks

Posted: March 24, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In a move that will evoke no joy in any quarter…except Apple’s sales folks, bean counters, and advertisers…Apple Maps is getting ads. Techcrunch.com reports that it is starting to allow advertisers to target customers on Apple Maps, starting in the U.S. and Canada later this summer. The ads will be available to any size business that has a physical location and has already created a business listing on Apple Maps. Users, meanwhile, will see the ads appear next to relevant search results. Apple is folding this ad offering under Apple Business, which includes integrated email, calendar, and directory service. This is irritating, but really just Apple joining the party…Google has had ads for years. Theoretically, this could tack on billions to Apple’s bottom line. 

The FCC is banning all new routers not made in the US…unless they have already received FCC authorization. According to gizmodo.com, it “does not prohibit the import, sale, or use of any existing device models the FCC previously authorized.” The rub of this is…right now it doesn’t appear that there are ANY routers made in the US! Why did the Federal Communications Commission do this anyway? It’s all due to a series of attacks and hacks. There is a loophole that will continue to allow foreign routers, though…there is always a loophole. If the product is on the so-called ‘Covered List,’ of products and services that “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.” Many foreign routers already have conditional approval. They are primarily made in Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

Google is rolling out a new version of Android Auto. Android Auto has been a good open-source infotainment system, but the new software will be more of a car control system. Theverge.com notes that as cars become more and more a rolling computer, a unified software system will be a plus for a lot of can makers…or so Google thinks. Google is promising faster over-the-air software updates, better voice assistants, and more proactive vehicle maintenance alerts. Non-driving functions like climate control, lighting, and seating adjustment would fall under Android’s control. And the system would move beyond basic infotainment to create a unified ecosystem for features like remote cabin conditioning, digital key management, and personalized driver profiles. For the car makers, the unified Android Auto means spending less on developing their own expensive software systems. 

This sounds pretty Orwellian right out of the gate, but Anthropic is now getting into the game with AI agents that can take direct control of your computer desktop. Arstechnica.com reports that this is for both Claude Code and the more casual user-oriented Claude Cowork. The Agents can now “point, click, and navigate what’s on your screen” to “open files, use the browser, and run dev tools automatically” when necessary to complete tasks. The new feature is now available to Claude Pro and Max subscribers using MacOS in what Anthropic calls a “research preview.” That means the system “won’t always work perfectly” and will sometimes require a “second try” for complex tasks, Anthropic warns. Completing tasks via “computer use” also “takes much longer and is more error-prone” than performing the same task via Connectors, the company writes.

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

Microsoft Cuts Back Copilot AI Bloat; Reddit Looks at ID Verification to Battle AI Bots; Hackers Selling Data of 6 Million Verizon Users; Samsung Rolling out AirDrop Support

Posted: March 23, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Microsoft is rolling back a bit when it comes to the intrusiveness of its AI assistant, Copilot in Windows 11. TechCrunch.com reports that the company will reduce AI Copilot integration in some apps…beginning with Photos, Widgets, Notepad, and its Snipping Tool. Pavan Davuluri, the EVP of Windows and Devices wrote on the company’s blog that the goal is to focus on AI experiences that are ‘genuinely useful.’ What a concept! This ‘less ls more’ angle probably flows from increased consumer pushback against AI bloat. A Pew Research study that just came out this month showed that half of US adults are more concerned than excited about AI…up from 37% in 2021. 

Reddit is getting flooded with AI bots. In order to deal with the onslaught, the platform is considering a controversial move: requiring ID verification. According to mashable.com, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman discussed the problem on the tech show TBPN. He emphasized that ‘Reddit is for humans.’ Huffman said regarding screening out bots that “The most lightweight way is something like face ID or touch ID or broadly the family of technology that’s called passkeys.” He went on to say “Every platform wants to know ‘is this is a person?’ Now Reddit’s version is ‘is this a person but we don’t want to know which person this is.'” That is a huge deal for Reddit, which has made its bones on the ability of users to maintain their anonymity. Whatever they do, it is likely that Reddit will get blowback from their highly opinionated and privacy prone users.  

Hackers have gotten ahold of the data from 6 million customers and employees of  one of Verizon’s largest Verizon Authorized retailers Androidpolice.com says the info is now for sale on the dark web. That’s bad enough, but you’ll love this part…61 gigs of data is available for $1200. Your data on its own is a pretty cheap commodity. The retailer is Russell Cellular, which has over 2,000 employees and 750 locations. What is exposed in the breach? Names, phone numbers, email addresses, account numbers, device identifiers, and more. It also included employee usernames, passwords, and access roles; Verizon is also aware of the leak, and has begun an investigation, and promises to share the results of such when they become available. You can bet they are going to lock things down and make changes.  

Samsung is rolling out AirDrop support over its QuickShare, starting today. The support will initially be for The Galaxy S26, 26+, and 26 Ultra. 9to5google.com notes that AirDrop showed up on Google Pixel 10 devices in late 2025, and has now expanded to Pixel 9 phones. The support allows sharing between Samsung phones and Apple’s devices. One point with Samsung: unlike Pixel, where AirDrop support is enabled by default, you have to choose it. Under QuickShare settings, look for ‘Share With Apple Devices.’ For the Apple user to receive the shared picture or whatever, that Apple user needs to select ‘Everyone’ mode…that’s also true on the Galaxy devices if they are receiving from an Apple device. 

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. 

Amazon Announces 1-3 Hour Delivery; Tim Cook Denies Retirement Soon; Galaxy Z Trifold Being Discontinued; Google ‘Personal Intelligence’ Expands to All US Users

Posted: March 17, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is making it easier for users to find products eligible for its’ 1 hour and 3 hour delivery options. The ease comes via a new ‘getitfast’ page for same day delivery. Theverge.com reports that the 1 hour delivery is presently available in parts of major metro areas like LA, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. In addition, it is available in smaller cities like Des Moines, Iowa; Boise, Idaho; and American Fork, Utah. 3-hour delivery is offered in over 2,000 cities and towns, which includes large, mid-size, and small cities. Amazon has even tested 30 minute deliveries in Seattle and Philly…though if you need it that fast…hey, jump in the car and run to the store, for Pete’s sake! Amazon 1 hour delivery is $9.99 for Prime members, or $19.99 extra for non-members. the 3 hour window runs $4.99 for Prime members or $14.99 non-prime. You can already get same-day delivery free for Prime members on orders over $25. 

Rumors have been floating around since last year about Tim Cook, who has turned 65, retiring from Apple. Now, according to macrumors.com, Cook cooled those rumors off at least a bit in an interview on Good Morning America. Cook in fact called it merely ‘a rumor,’ and while he didn’t explicitly confirm or deny that he will be stepping down as CEO anytime soon, he said ‘I Can’t imaging life without Apple.’ Apple’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, is widely viewed as Cook’s most likely successor. Cook reportedly gave oversight of Apple’s design teams to Ternus at the end of last year, and Ternus has been making a lot more public appearances in interviews and in product introduction videos over the past few years. Cook has been Apple CEO since 2011. 

In what may be a record for short smartphone life, Samsung has discontinued the Galaxy Z TriFold in just 3 months. It just went on sale in the US the end of January. 9to5google.com says Samsung claims it never intended to sell to the mass market…and at $2899 they weren’t going to! It may not just be the cost, but the complexity of trying to make a device with two hinges and three inner display sections. Add in the rapidly increasing RAM prices due to AI, and it was probably a perfect storm that ended the tri-fold device. 

Google is bringing “Personal Intelligence” to all US users. Techcrunch.com notes that the AI assistant will now tailor its responses by connecting across your Google ecosystem, such as Gmail and Google Photos, to all users in the U.S. Previously only available to paid users, Personal Intelligence is available in AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, and Gemini in Chrome. The feature is off by default, but users have the option to choose it. For those concerned, Gemini doesn’t train directly on your Gmail inbox or Google Photos library. Instead, it trains on specific prompts in Gemini or AI Mode and the model’s responses, Google says.

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

Meta-$27 Billion Deal With Dutch Neocloud Firm; Apple Bows AirPods Max 2; Spotify Drops New Taste Profile Feature; OpenAI’s Adult Mode-Smutty, Not P0rnographic?

Posted: March 16, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Meta has inked a $27 billion deal with Dutch neocloud operator Nebius. Thenextweb.com reports that the deal will run for 5 years, and it dramatically expands the relationship between the combines. This deal comes less than a week after Nvidia announced a $2 billion strategic investment in Nebius. As for the Meta deal, Nebius will provide $12 billion of dedicated compute capacity across multiple locations, starting in early 2027. In addition, Meta has committed to purchase additional available capacity from certain upcoming Nebius clusters up to a total of $15 billion over the same five-year period. Nebius says it intends to sell that capacity to third-party customers first, with any remaining capacity going to Meta.

Apple has released AirPods Max2, the newest iteration of their pricy headphones. According to techcrunch.com, the new generation replaces the premium headphones launched back in 2020. The Max 2 cans cost $549, and they have active noise cancellation. The phones use the H-2 audio chip, and they support live translation, and have better sound quality than the previous model, too. Orders open on March 25th, and they will be available in early April. Apple says the new headphones’ active noise cancellation (ANC) is up to 1.5x more effective than their predecessor. And the Adaptive Audio feature lets the headphones automatically adjust the levels of ANC and Transparency based on the user’s surroundings to optimize the listening experience.

Spotify has bowed a new Taste Profile feature. What does that mean? It means you are responsible for your own Spotify algorithm now. Engadget.com notes that the feature was announced at South by Southwest (SXSW). It allows users to personally customize exactly what they want to listen to, whether it’s music, audiobooks or podcasts. This AI-powered feature is still in beta, and it will be available to Premium users in New Zealand in the coming weeks. It will be available in the US and Canada a month after New Zealand. Spotify says that Taste Profile is an optional feature, and unwilling users can “leave it and enjoy Spotify as usual.”

The delayed OpenAI ‘adult mode’ for ChatGPT will reportedly be ‘smutty, not p0rnographic.’ Now there’s a difference without much of a distinction! Theverge.com reports that it will offer ‘saucy’ text conversations at launch, but won’t give the ability to generate images, voice, or video. The mode was originally slated to come out last October, but was delayed due to internal concerns and tech challenges about the safeguards for the feature. They were particularly concerned about creating a ‘sexy suicide coach.’ OpenAI has an age prediction system, but 12 percent of the time, it misclassifies minors as adults. The OpenAI algorithm for age prediction is very similar to that used by other platforms.

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

Meta Rolls Out New Scam Detection; WhatsApp Gets Parent-Linked Kid Accounts, Nvidia Making Open Source Open Claw Competitor; Your Tire Monitors as Tracking Device

Posted: March 11, 2026 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Meta has launched new scam detection on its Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp platforms. Thenextweb.com reports that just last year the company removed 159 million scam ads last year and took down 10.9 million accounts linked to criminal networks. Now, the tentpole feature of the added scam protection is one for Facebook…it flags suspicious friend or follow requests before users act on them. When a request arrives from an account with no mutual connections, a different country location, or a suspiciously recent join date, Facebook will display a warning. WhatsApp also gets a new layer of protection. Device linking fraud has become a bigger issue…where you link your phone to a tablet, for example. Bad guys can spoof your account and get access. Scammers have been tricking users into scanning malicious QR codes, sometimes under the pretense of a customer service call or technical support request, which links the scammer’s device to the victim’s WhatsApp account. The app will now display a warning when it picks up a suspicious device linking request…and it will show where the request originated. On Messenger, on-device analysis automatically flags messages from unfamiliar contacts that match the patterns of common scams, fraudulent job offers, fake investment pitches, work-from-home schemes. Users get a warning, and have the option of sending the conversation to Meta AI for a cloud-based second review. 

WhatsApp has introduced a new set of parent-supervised accounts for kinds under age 13. According to TechCrunch.com, The company said that these accounts will only have access to messaging and calling, and won’t be targeted with any ads. While the company rates its apps 13+ on both the App Store and Play Store, many pre-teens use WhatsApp to communicate with parents, as WhatsApp said it is introducing this feature after feedback from parents. To set up the account, tor he parent will need both their own device and the child’s, to authenticate the account with QR codes. By default, the parent gets an alert when a pre-teen adds, blocks or reports a contact. The parent also gets an alert if the youngster changes their name of profile picture, or when they are getting a new chat request; joining, creating, or leaving a group; a group turning on disappearing messages; and deleting a chat or a contact. All these settings are protected by a six-digit PIN that parents can set and change from their own device. The kid accounts have no access to Meta AI, Channels, or Status. The messages are still end to end encrypted. When the kid gets older, they get a message that they can convert to a regular account…but the parent can use their supervisory power to delay that by 12 months…so age 14. That still seems pretty young for unsupervised child activity. 

We’ve mentioned OpenClaw here a time or two…the system that lets users direct ‘always-on’ AI agents from their personal machines, using any number of underlying models. Arstechnica.com says now Nvidia is now getting set to launch its own open source agent platform to compete with OpenClaw. Nvidia’s platform is dubbed NemoClaw, and they have already demo’ed it to Salesforce, Cisco, Google, Adobe, and CrowdStrike. Earlier this month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC that OpenClaw was “the most important software release probably ever.” The sudden interest in OpenClaw has seemingly driven a run on Mac Mini hardware with unified memory that’s well-suited to running the tool. NemoClaw will run on machines without using Nvidia’s own GPUs. 

You probably think of a device that can be planted under your car or something like an AirTag being used to track you by authorities, a crazy ex, or others. Well guess what? They don’t need any of that.Almost every modern car has something built in that allows tracking you. Bgr.com notes that it is your tire pressure monitoring system…TPMS. The system sends continuous signals so that if one of your tires is low on air, you get a warning….the little light on your dash, or in some cars it even shows you which tire. For less than $100 bucks, people can make a receiver that can pick up your car tire signals from up to 164 feet away…even if your car is moving or on the other side of a wall. A Spanish study revealed that someone using a very simple device can track the unique signal tires send out, meaning they can know if the same car has been tracked before. Over time, this can build out a pattern of someone’s routines such as when they arrive and leave for work, when they go home, or what day they head to the grocery store and to which one. Researchers are imploring manufacturers to fix this problem quickly! 

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

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