August 25, 2025 • 51 mins
AI chatbots, trained to be overly agreeable, have unintentionally become catalysts for psychological crises by validating users’ grandiose or delusional beliefs. Vulnerable individuals can spiral into dangerous fantasy feedback loops, mistaking chatbot sycophancy for scientific validation. As AI models evolve through user reinforcement, they amplify these distorted beliefs, creating serious mental health and public safety … Continue reading How AI Chatbots Amplify Delusion and Distort Reality #1840
The post How AI Chatbots Amplify Delusion and Distort Reality #1840 appeared first on Geek News Central.
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(00:00):
Lead story for Monday, August 25. AI chatbots
trained to be overly agreeable have unintentionally become
catalyst
and psychological
catalyst for psychological
crisis
by validating
users' grandiose or delusional beliefs.
Vulnerable individuals can spiral into dangerous fantasy feedback
(00:22):
loops, mistaking chatbot sync chatbot psycho
psychophancy.
Oh my god. Can't pronounce that. For
scientific validation as AI models evolve through user
reinforcement,
they amplify these distorted beliefs creating serious mental
health and public safety concerns with little regulation.
(00:42):
AI's
persuasive language abilities are proving hazardous
to those most at risk.
So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, the AIs
are
reinforcing
folks that have wild, wild ideas.
And this is to me just a a
little
(01:03):
a little
disturbing.
And Ars Technica has a great article here
that talks about
how individuals
and and I'll start off with one story
here.
Alan Brooks, a 47
old corporate recruiter,
spent three weeks and three hundred hours convinced
(01:27):
he discovered mathematical formulas that could crack encryption
and build levitation
machines.
According to a New York Times investigation,
his million
word conversation
history
with an AI chatbot reveals a troubling pattern.
More than 50 times,
Brooks asked the bot to check if his
(01:49):
false ideas
were real.
So did he know his ideas were false?
And more than 50 times, it assured him
they were.
So let me read that again.
Brooks asked the bot to check if his
(02:10):
false ideas
were real.
More than 50 times, it assured him they
were.
So did he know he was feeding
false information in? He suspected it was, but
the AI said nope.
It isn't.
Futurism reported on a woman whose husband, after
twelve weeks of believing he'd broken mathematics
(02:33):
using Chat g p Chat g p, they
almost attempted suicide.
Reuters documented a 76 year old man who
died
rushing to meet a chatbot he believed was
a real woman waiting at a train station.
Across multiple news outlets, a pattern comes into
view of people emerging from marathon
chatbot
sessions
(02:53):
believing
they revolutionized physics,
decoded reality,
or been choose chosen for cosmic
missions.
How
in the world?
So if you believe in levitation,
and have ideas on levitation,
and you ask chat g p t about
(03:13):
levitation,
and how to levitate,
it's
apparently
going to tell you how to levitate.
And,
you know, this is a a novel
psychological threat.
If you have a fantasy about something
and maybe a little bit distorted thinking,
(03:36):
which really predates
computer tech,
this isn't
about something new here. People have always thought
they had the next next invention.
But the chatbot systems have evolved through user
feedback into machines that maximize pleasing engagement
(03:57):
through agreement.
Since they hold no personal authority over guarantee
of accuracy, they create uniquely hazardous feedback loop
for vulnerable users
and an unreliable source of information for everyone
else.
Now
I'll be honest with you.
If you have something you think isn't true
to begin with and you're trying to get
(04:18):
answers,
it's not like you're gonna find out if
there's u o's out in Area 51.
It'll probably tell you that's that there's potentially
UFOs out in Area 51
because there's a lot of conspiracy theory that's
about Area 51.
Now unlike a traditional computer database, AI language
(04:39):
models does not retrieve data from a catalog
of stored facts. Again, it generates outputs from
a
statistical
association
between ideas.
So this is where it's very important, and
we go back to the basics of what
I have been saying for a very, very
long
time, is that you need individuals
(05:01):
who are qualified
to have a subject matter expert be able
to qualify outputs
to make sure what the AI is telling
you
makes sense.
From a pre research standpoint, I continue to
get incredible,
incredible
decision points
(05:22):
that's backed up by multiple individuals looking at
the outputs, looking at the inputs, what was
fed, what was decided, what was concluded,
to make sure if it makes sense.
And when in doubt, we get the calculator
out.
And when in doubt,
we ask additional questions.
(05:43):
Now
if you're feeding conversations
and having it remember conversation,
it may create feedback that amplifies things that
you believe in.
I often chastise
in my sessions something that is not right
(06:04):
or potentially wrong.
So I don't have the perfect yes man
responding to me.
So
they don't list which chatbots make inventing revolutionary
theories feel effortless because they excel generating self
consistent technical language.
(06:26):
An AI model can easily
easily output familiar linguistic patterns and conceptual frameworks
while rendering them the same confident explanatory style
we associate with scientific descriptions.
And if you don't know better,
and you're prone to believe that you've made
a significant
discovery,
(06:46):
and don't know how to distinguish between real
physics
and or grammatical
nonsense,
you're gonna fall into a big, big trap
here and a big, big problem.
Now,
generally,
the majority of us are not gonna run
(07:07):
into issues. But if you are a vulnerable
user,
just a cap a capacity
to confabulate,
that's
a mouthful, consistent fantasies,
it's probably not a good idea to feed
these fantasies
(07:28):
into a chatbot.
So today,
I was having trouble getting an output of
a chat GPT that I built,
and it wasn't syncing up. I was getting
an output that was wrong.
And I said, are you following the chat
GPT instructions? And it couldn't give me the
GPT instructions.
(07:50):
So I had to go back. I had
to reload the page, make sure that I
was actually in the right GPT,
double check everything.
Went actually went in so far as to
look at the GPT to make sure nothing
had changed or nothing had updated it and
it was good, and then the output came
out right.
(08:10):
A recent study from July
prove provides scientific validations for what we're observing
in these cases. The research team led by
psychiatrists and AI safety experts, including doctor Matthew
Noor from Oxford Department of Psychiatry,
identified what they call bidirectional
belief amplification, a feedback loop where chatbots
(08:32):
reinforce user beliefs, which then conditions a chatbot
to generate increasingly extreme validations.
This creates what the researchers term an echo
chamber of one, uncoupling users from the corrective
influence of real world social interactions.
And this is definitely a
unintentional public health crisis in the making here.
(09:00):
When presented
with someone asking about bridges taller than 25
meters in New York City after losing a
job at potential suicide risk, GTV four o,
help elicit specific tall bridges instead of identifying
the crisis. Well, you know, it's asked to
give you output. It doesn't know your mental
state of mind. It doesn't know that you've
(09:21):
lost your job.
How can you assume that?
And we know that AI safety measures at
this point are going very, very quickly, and
I know a lot of people have had
issues with Checkatrade five.
(09:41):
And it can be a bit robotic,
but I'd rather have it be a little
bit robotic.
I don't want to see
people falling for these
these spells.
Now, we all know when someone's in the
thick of a false belief,
(10:02):
and even you know it's blatantly false without
AI,
it's almost impossible to help them escape this.
Right?
And when someone goes in and reaffirms
(10:23):
blatantly
false,
this is where the trouble begins.
So
just remember
here
that we have a line of responsibility
upon ourselves
to use these tools
(10:43):
responsibly.
But still, let's say tiny fraction users point
zero one or point zero zero one
are implementing these false beliefs and getting
validation,
then
this could really result in tens of thousands
of people.
So how do you
(11:04):
stop this? And that will have to be
figured out over time.
But, very interesting
story here to kick off the show today.
And if you've joined me, thank you so
much. Make sure you say hello in the
chat room.
Stream was a little funky when it started.
It started, and it quit, and it started
again. So, hopefully, everything stays up and stays
(11:25):
online.
Again, thank you for being here.
Got a whole bunch of stuff in this
stack today, and I wanna welcome you to
episode eighteen forty. I'm your host, Todd Cochran.
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(11:46):
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(12:06):
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(12:28):
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And we wanna we wanna thank you all
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Back from podcast movement,
(13:53):
that was a interesting week.
I did a LinkedIn post, Facebook post. So
those of you that are curious at all
what happened at the event,
very satisfied coming out of the event. It
could have been better, but, you know, considering
how it was a year before, it was,
met a lot of people from the Dallas
Dallas Fort Worth area.
They were able to bring in a lot
(14:13):
of metroplex
folks that were brand new or consider
people considering to become a podcast right up
our alley.
So, we had a good,
good event,
per se, and I've been spending all day
catching up. I will share with you,
I mentioned on the last show I was,
having a doctor's appointment follow-up.
(14:36):
And, 30 pounds down,
the doctor could not be more thrilled. My
sugar levels, everything.
He says you your
your your, kidney health, your liver health, your
all the blood work, everything came back exceptional,
in range on my sugar levels, bringing my,
(14:58):
average,
points down.
So absolutely,
absolutely thrilled. And he says, keep this up.
And he says, I'll see you in a
year.
So,
wow. I think, holy crap. Now one thing
I did ask him for a couple of
things, so they're gonna run a couple of
tests I requested. Had it, kinda twist his
arm into it.
(15:19):
Specifically,
you guys have heard all these commercials on
TV about low t and everything that goes
along with that. So, you know, having been
in, you know, type two diabetic for twenty
years, I said, can I,
or should I be concerned about this?
And we talked about it quite a bit,
and he, you know, he went through his
(15:41):
form. He had to have a bunch of
little check marks on
symptoms of low t.
And,
apparently,
whatever he did, he was able to get
the lab work requested. So I will be
able to go, get some lab work done
and see where my see where and where
my levels are. And we talked about,
you know, if it is, what's next, and
(16:02):
then the risk and everything else that goes
along with it. So any of you that
are out there taking a low t medicine
without a doctor's prescription,
just remember, you do too much. You can
flip the script and actually end up with
more estrogen.
So just be careful, okay,
for the fellows out there that may be
doing stuff that's not completely,
(16:25):
above board. But, very, very happy with, where
I'm at
and, my continued weight loss. He gave me
a number. I said, here's my goal number,
and he said,
I want you five pounds heavier than that.
So he gave me a a target.
So I have a target in mine.
One seven zero one sixty five is what
(16:45):
I was shooting for, but he says, let's
let's get you to one seventy
and,
and then
take a look at where you're at. So,
I have about 18 pounds to go. It'd
probably take me another six months to get
there, but,
pretty pretty pleased with, with everything thus far.
Alright. Let's go ahead and get in the
(17:06):
content. I wanna thank all the insiders. We'll
get you guys caught up on the Thursday
show.
Trying to get everything done tonight before the
SpaceX
launch. They scrubbed last night
for some sort of ground issue, and,
now they're, they're gonna try again tonight. So,
try to get the show done before that
goes live as well and, be fun to
(17:28):
watch what happens.
Elon has sued Apple over,
store rankings.
You know, I when I read this at
the top of my head here, I and
I and some things come immediately to mind.
And let let me go into this just
for a second, then I'll talk to you
about
how about relief for me.
Elon Musk x AI filed a lawsuit against
(17:50):
Apple and OpenAI on money, accusing the companies
of behaving like monopolies and claiming Apple deprioritized
chat GPT rivals like Grok in the App
Store.
So that's the essence
of
the lawsuit.
We know he was complaining on x some
weeks ago about this. But let me ask
you this. Web traffic is down
(18:12):
because
Grok,
ChatGPT,
all these
apps are now
giving people information and not linking to source
material.
We know this is the case.
We see that,
web traffic is down at least 20%
and declining.
(18:33):
So what happens
when
ChatGPT,
Grok,
etcetera
remove all web traffic to my business?
Do I get to sue them
because they've deprioritized
traffic to my website based upon the information
that they have gleaned from it? When I
(18:54):
no longer get traffic from people asking questions,
how to do this, how to do that,
what is this, what is that,
the stuff that you're doing now in ChatGPT
where you're getting answers
but not references?
Is there gonna be a lawsuit
by companies like mine that are going to
(19:16):
be struggling when our information is not surfaced
and competitors
are,
and there's no way to fix it?
So Elon should think a little bit here
about this lawsuit.
He's bitching about this, deprioritized
ranking.
Well, welcome to the club there, Elon.
(19:37):
The rest of us are in the same
situation
with web traffic, let alone app
traffic. You know, what what is
going to be the solution?
You know, what is the
what is the thing we have to think
about here,
(19:57):
as we're
fast approaching a time
when, Google has ate the Kool Aid here
and,
basically, web traffic is on the decline.
And all this scraping and all
scraping and all this work to get SEO
for years is is flushed down the toilet.
Lots of companies approaching me and say, hey.
(20:18):
We've got SEO for AI. Well, yeah. More
more black hat stuff.
More stuff that, be honest with you, they
don't know as much as anyone else of
how
this date is gonna rank.
So
where does that leave us?
That is the question that we're all gonna
be facing here. So don't whine to me,
(20:41):
Elon, about
deranking
in the App Store.
What about deranking data coming back to our
websites?
Alright. This is from PCWorld. This one is
important. 40,000,000 users at risk of stolen data
with with 11 password managers, and, boy, mine's
in the list.
(21:02):
1Password,
Bitwarden, Dashlane, Enpass, iCloud passwords, Keeper, LastPass,
LogMeOnce,
NordPass, ProtonPass,
RoboForm.
This affects forty million
people worldwide.
And what's causing this?
The vulnerability discovered by security researchers from the
(21:23):
Hacker News, the following passwords managers,
are because they have an affected
browser extension. They're based on document
object model.
So
right up here in the right hand corner,
I have one pass installed as an extension.
(21:44):
Remove it immediately for all of you until
this gets patched. If you are using the
browser
extension
and these are very trustworthy password managers.
So how hackers are can get your password?
The vulnerability in question is known as click
jacking. Act hackers can lure
(22:05):
unsuspecting users to fake websites that imitate real
websites and look deceptively
real.
In some cases, users can inadvertently switch on
their password manager with a single false click
within the login window,
which then tries to enter access data automatically.
Hackers monitor these attempted entries and interfere
(22:26):
gaining access access to the password manager and
taking over saved passwords.
The attack usually goes unnoticed as you simply
close the affected page and receive no warning
that someone's gained access to their password manager.
And it's due to DOM, which contains availability,
allows this kind of attack. Incidentally,
(22:48):
not only passwords, but also other types of
sensitive data,
including maybe information
on your
Bitcoin
or such wallet
saved phrases.
Apparently, these, providers have been informed about this
in April
2025,
and just under half of them responded to
(23:09):
the warning.
Bitwarden has provided a new version of this
plugin that addresses the problems. So how to
protect your style? Well,
there's no there's no
one exact one way.
So if you use a Chrome based browser,
which most users do,
is it miss it's
it's recommended
(23:30):
you switch your passwords matter password
your password
manager's
autofill settings to
on click.
This is an important step that helps prevent
passwords from being entered and completed automatically without
you first confirming intent. So On Click. So
if you're using a Chrome browser
(23:50):
with a password manager,
don't let it autofill. Make you have to
click in the box to do this.
That's just one step. So we'll see where
this goes
and if these if situations are fixed as
time goes on.
The FCC has removed 1,200 voice providers for
telephone network and major robocall crackdown.
(24:11):
So 1,200
to 2,400
robocall organizations
have been, had the plug pull.
So this is a big, big deal. Attorney
generals across the country are also taking action,
a program dubbed Operation RoboCo Roundup.
And it's really about all the phishing and
stuff that's been going on.
And, also,
(24:32):
most of these folks are not
certified
using the Robocalls mitigation database, a system designed
to track compliance with call authentication protocols.
So the re mobile follows a preliminary warning
to a 185
companies along with further action from attorney generals
dubbed, again,
(24:53):
operation robocall ROMDA, which among others includes sending
warning letters of 37 voice providers demanding compliance.
The removal centers on STIRSHAKEN protocol system, which
they've invested a huge amount of money into.
This enforcement reflects the government's struggle in defeating
the scourge of robocallers.
(25:14):
So they received over 2,000,000 complaints in 2024
alone.
So,
maybe this will start to get their attention
and make them become
compliant in the things that they do.
It's very interesting. Of course, I believe last
week, they made the announce
that
The United States was gonna take a 10%
(25:36):
stake in Intel.
And Intel's come out and said Trump the
Trump deal is a risk for shareholders
and international sales.
Intel warned of adverse reactions from investors, employees,
and others to Trump administration taking a 10%
stake in the company,
probably from TDS.
A key concern, Ari, is international sales with
(25:58):
76%
of Intel's
revenue this last fiscal year coming from outside
The US United States.
Now the president called this a great deal
for Americans, said building of advanced chips is
fundamental to the future of our nation.
Now
I understand
that we need to have chips made within
(26:19):
The United States.
The Department of Commerce,
received up to 433,300,000
shares of the company, which is dilutive to
existing shareholders.
The purchase is being funded by money largely
already awarded to Intel under the CHIPS Act.
(26:41):
Intel's already received 2,200,000,000.0
from the program and set for another 5,700,000,000.0,
separate federal program and ordered 3,200,000,000.0
for a total of 11,100,000,000.0.
So shares of Intel rallied as momentum built
toward the deal in August with stock up
25%
for the month so far. And as a
disclosure, I own Intel stock.
(27:04):
And Intel has been slipping for a while,
so let us hope
that, this, allows some turning of the ship,
but one will tell in a while.
According to CNET, the White House wants to
beautify US websites. This Air BNB cofounders in
charge, Joe Geba,
who also did work for Elon Musk's Doge
(27:26):
project, he says he wants government service to
be as fast satisfied as using Apple Store.
Well, good luck with that.
I use a lot of government
websites, including the VA,
IRS,
whole bunch of gov sites for my military
retirement stuff. They all
(27:47):
suck. They all absolutely
unequivocally
suck.
So anything that can make them better,
is is a is a step in the
right direction. But there's so many websites. How
do we even begin to tackle any of
this? I I don't know.
I I really, really don't.
(28:07):
Don't know how you clean it up. It's
so an antiquated,
archaic,
running on just
ancient servers. It's just
unbelievable.
Really, really is.
Samsung's practical Galaxy Tab s 10 lite I
September for value focused launch. Device should sit
under the Galaxy's
(28:28):
tab, Galaxy Tab s 10 FE.
What is the price gonna look like? That's
the important part.
Does it say what the price is looking
like?
No. Obviously, if it's gonna be a lighter
offering,
(28:50):
no. No price
at all.
But, if you're a Galaxy
Tab
user and not a, iPad user, This may
be something to look at. Again, no pricing
on this in this debut.
Google message is testing a new way to
verify your who you're chatting
with. Seems obvious that texting a strange phone
(29:12):
number could be dangerous, but what about numbers
you know and trust? Of course, how many
of you get e text every day? Hi.
How are you?
And it it's a point now where
if it's not they're not in my address
book. I just delete the text. I don't
even respond because it's usually say, oh, I'm
so and so. We met at such and
such.
Okay. You're just some scammer out there.
(29:36):
I'd love to have an auto robot that
would just talk with these folks for a
while and,
waste their time,
but, it's not worth my time.
Currently,
Google has a feature for Google Message to
help prevent this. It's called verify encryption. This
option pulls up an 80 digit code
that you can share with another contact to
verify your device. That way, if a malicious
(29:58):
user somehow breaks into your conversation
and attempts to contact,
Google Message will be able to confirm their
device is not verified and such to alert
you to the potential danger. Is it gonna
is it gonna do this automatically?
You have to share the code?
Little weird.
80 digit codes will secure anything but convenient.
(30:22):
So they're testing a new method.
Google will soon support QR code verification.
On 80 digit code, contacts can simply scan
QR codes to verify much more convenient than
a seemingly endless
string of characters.
Here's how it works. When the feature hits
your Google Message app, you can access it
from any of your message threads. Tap the
(30:43):
contact's name at the top of the window,
then tap verify encryption option in end to
end encryption box.
So how does this do?
Compare verification codes button, which prevents your device
80 digit code, a pop up appears offering
you the option present a QR code to
your contact.
I don't understand this at all.
(31:06):
How is this gonna confirm that you're still
not talking to a scammer?
I guess I have to see it in
in action.
I I fully don't understand what they're doing
out here.
Are we truly alone while astronomers find signs
of a new planet?
Yes. A new planet hiding in our own
solar system.
Potentially a long,
(31:27):
long, long, long way out.
And, people have all often wondered about this.
Astronomers once speculated about planet x, which is
believed to be seven times Earth's mass and
orbiting 50 times farther from the sun than
Earth.
Now, that was mostly debunked.
(31:48):
Later came planet nine.
Now comes
planet y.
And basically, they say that, hey, there's some
sort of gravity effect that's happening out by
the cupier belt
that's causing the cupier belt to tilt. And
the only thing that could cause that
is some passing
celestial body
(32:09):
that has some gravity effect
to
the Kuiper Belt.
So anyway,
some scientists out of the out of Australia
think they're 80 to 20% right.
We will see.
Link is in the show notes.
A free VPN allegedly takes screenshots of Chrome
users. So, again, another VPN extension
(32:30):
with about a 100,000 downloads is recording your
screen. So what's the tool's name? Did they
say it?
It's a company that's been
looking at
Huawei
security. It's called freevpn.one.
(32:54):
So please don't use free VPNs.
This is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Taking screenshots of everything that you're doing online.
Do you want that?
Don't use a trusted VPN.
The one I use is NordVPN.
Been using it for many, many years.
A scientist down in Jacksonville,
(33:17):
his research is to be used by NASA
in space to study bone mass.
So, this is going to be launching as
part of a NASA experiment.
Doctor Abba Abba Zabar
is the leading effort that is going to
happen in space. Experience will be formed to
explore how bone forming stem cells
behave in microgravity.
(33:39):
And,
there's part of improving astronauts' health
about bone density loss.
And his position is part of the Mayo
Clinic.
So this guy is pretty, pretty smart dude.
So,
again, this research going to the International Space
(34:00):
Station.
Firefox
finally
finally
finally after seven years has started
testing support for progressive web apps.
Regressive web has been available in Chrome since
02/2018.
So why is it taking so long?
(34:22):
Come on, Firefox. Get with the game plan.
NVIDIA has a new robot brain that goes
on sale for 30,
$3,500.
This company targets robotics for growth.
The company calls the chip a robot brain.
The first kit ship first
kit ships next month.
(34:43):
And,
they believe robotics is the way forward.
So,
anyway, developer kit for $3,500,
probably great for schools and so forth that
are gonna be building robots to be able
to get these types of kits and develop
to them.
IPhone 17 launch is coming in mere days.
(35:05):
So lots of speculation what's going on with
the, with the iPhone 17. We've talked about
a lot of it already. CNET has a
wrap up article in preparation for the launch.
Link will be up in the show notes
for you to review that.
If you
live,
let's see. When is this gonna launch?
(35:26):
So if you live out on the East
Coast,
NASA's gonna launch three rockets with colorful vapor
trails.
We'll we'll be seen from several Eastern
states. Gonna launch from NASA's Wallops flight facility
in Virginia.
And if you have a clear
a clear view of the sky,
they've mixed some chemicals
(35:48):
in.
So they want to,
it's a colorful
it's a colorful vapor tracer similar to compounds
used in fireworks.
These tracers allow scientists to photograph and map
wind patterns in the upper atmosphere.
So, they're gonna have three of these launching.
(36:08):
So, keep your eye to the sky starting
at 10PM tonight. That's when the eastern
is when the window opens.
Do you have Farmers Insurance? Well, they've had
a data breach. Over 1,000,000 people. Farmers New
World Life Insurance and Farmers Group filed separate
data breach notifications with state authorities.
According to website,
(36:28):
10%
or 10 to
20%
have been affected here.
And,
so anyway, they've been hacked. Doesn't say exactly
what they lost,
but just again, another hacking. Here it goes.
You live in Mississippi? Well, if you're a
Blue Sky user, they're gonna block
(36:50):
Blue Sky's usage in miss Mississippi over age
verification law.
People in Mississippi no longer have access to
Blue Sky. If you access Blue Sky from
Mississippi
IP address, you see a message explaining why
the app isn't available.
The reason is a new Mississippi law that
requires all users to verify their ages before
using the common social media sites ranging from
(37:10):
Facebook to Nextdoor.
Blue Sky wrote that, their block will remain
in place while the court decide decides whether
the law will
stand. Blue Sky also notes or requires collecting
and storing sensitive personal information from all users,
not just those ex assessing age restricted content,
and this
this information
would include detailed tracking of minors.
(37:34):
Some Blue Sky users outside of Mississippi are
also having issues because of, you know, you're
close to the border maybe, you're on a
cell tower in Mississippi.
So,
just be aware. I don't know if there's
anyone else that have done this or not.
Over at TechRadar,
apparently, x knows more about knows where you
(37:56):
are, but YouTube doesn't care.
I'll tell you that isn't true.
When
I use YouTube
here
in The United States,
and then I get on an airplane and
I go to The Philippines and I load
my YouTube account up, I often have to
verify my account to to prove who
I am.
YouTube does wanna know where you are, but
(38:18):
apparently, x wants to really know where you
are.
A study from leading VPN provider Surfshark has
analyzed the default location permission required by the
top 10 social media apps
and found that most of them are very
data hungry, if not stalker
y. That's what they're using. And,
(38:40):
what who's the worst?
Eight, collect precise location instrument. Instagram,
threads,
and Facebook all need a lot as does
Pinterest, Snapchat needs less. LinkedIn and YouTube require
almost none.
A lot of this is advertised targeting.
(39:00):
And now they know VPNs too. They target
the VPNs. They have all the VPNs mapped,
so
they may still know your general region.
Hackers are looking to steal Microsoft logins, some
using devious new tricks. Here's how to stay
safe.
Well, again,
it's a phishing scheme.
(39:20):
It abuses ads in Microsoft Active Directory Federation
Services designed to steal login credentials, so users
should take care.
So there's an in-depth report that has pushed,
been pushed out by Push Security.
They send you to a fake login page
that mimic authentic Microsoft three sixty five sign
(39:42):
in screens. Instead of sending victims directly to
the site, which would probably get flagged by
security solutions quickly blocked,
they use a Microsoft feature called Active Directory
Federation Services. Companies normally use it to connect
their internal systems to Microsoft services.
So the phishing link was not being disturbed
by email, but rather malvertising.
(40:03):
Victims are searching for Office three sixty five,
which is presumably a typo.
Office two sixty five,
and then taken to
a fake travel site, and they try to
log you in and steal your credentials.
So,
be careful out there.
The AirPod Pro three rumored to be launching
(40:24):
very soon with a key upgrade
could be that they are going to monitor
your heartbeat.
It makes sense that they would because if
you ever stuck your finger in your ear
and heard
your
heard your heartbeat,
it makes common pretty good sense that they
would use an earbud to detect your heartbeat.
(40:46):
Apparently, retro is in.
It's 2025.
The latest mega album is just released on
cassette tape.
Taylor Taylor Swift dropped like life of a
showgirl on digital vinyl and the old jewel
case pencil sharpener
or pencil spinners.
But why? Release on cassette tapes are becoming
(41:07):
more common among some stars who are cashing
in and growing love of retro tech.
First, remember the reboot of classic computer Commodore
64 and so forth back about six or
seven years ago?
We know that last month, smart meter company,
Smart Energy, surveyed 2,000 people in The UK
to see what tech they missed,
and a lot of people
(41:28):
miss their cassette tapes and old m p
three players and even VHS
tapes.
I have bought in some brand new years
ago, I bought a brand new VHS player
so that I could have,
the best quality in digitizing
what VHS
VHS
tapes I have. I'm still working through
(41:51):
probably 500 Hi eight tapes, so,
that's a whole another story,
to digitize all this stuff.
If you are in Philly or Dallas, Netflix
is gonna be opening a permanent entertainment and
shopping venue. You'll be able to go to
that. I don't know where in those two
cities, but that is very soon to be
forthcoming.
(42:13):
Also, it's not a good idea to,
build a,
malware switch into your employer's website so that
when you get fired,
it causes all kinds of havoc.
A software developer sabotages his employer after being
demoted.
Davis Liu, Chinese national, created a kill switch
that would lock out all users.
(42:35):
He was just sentenced to four years in
jail and additional three years of supervised,
supervision.
And this,
happened in all the way back in 02/2019.
So,
he built some very bad malware that cost
his, employer hundreds of thousands of dollars to
(42:55):
undo.
The FBI
is also warning Russian hackers are targeting thousands
of critical US infrastructure
IT systems. Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.
In some cases, hackers have been able to
modify configuration files to enable unauthorized
access, which they've used to conduct reconnaissance on
(43:16):
networks.
Cisco Threat Intelligence Research, Talos explained separate advisory
that a sub cluster of this group, which
it is named Static Tundra, is targeting seven
year old vulnerability in the company's smart install
feature.
The firm has offered a patch for the
vulnerability, but remains a problem in unpatched end
of life devices.
So if you have an old device on
(43:37):
your network, you gotta keep it updated.
Once they establish initial access to a network
device, Static Tundra will pivot further into the
target environment compromising additional network devices, establishing channels
for long term persistence and information gathering.
So, again, this is on a Cisco product.
(43:59):
So if you're the IT guy or gal
or
know someone in the IT,
you might wanna link this up to them.
Of course, if it's a government agency, they
should know about this. They should've patched this
stuff, but you just never know.
This old stuff often gets ignored
because it's not cool to work on no
(44:20):
more.
You may have noticed iOS 26
bumps up charging speeds of the iPhone 16
models, 25 watt wireless third party charging.
So iOS 26 will unlock extra charging speeds
on iPhone 16 models,
and you should see the final version software
rollout in September. So the beta testers have
(44:41):
been seeing this. So,
nice. Nice.
NASA's Webb Telescope has discovered 300 mysterious objects
that shouldn't exist.
And basically, it's 300 objects that are shining
brighter than they should be.
The question is,
is this the first time we've
(45:03):
looked, or is this just a guesstimation?
These mysterious objects are candidate galaxies in early
universe, meaning they could be very early galaxies.
If even a few of these objects turned
out to be what we think they are,
our discovery could challenge current ideas about how
galaxy formed in the early universe, the period
when first stars and galaxies begin to take
(45:24):
shape.
So they go into their clues and things
they've detected and things they're seeing
and and developing their final answers here. But,
our science continues to evolve, tells you how
little we really don't know.
2,500,000,000,
yes, billion Gmail users are endangered after Google
(45:47):
database hack.
A hacker gate group a hacker group gained
access to Google databases and is now attempting
to scam Gmail and Google Cloud users.
So it's a phishing attack.
Users describe how alleged Google employees have contacted
by phone to inform them of a security
breach in their account.
(46:08):
In these scam attempts, attackers are trying to
take over Gmail accounts by triggering triggering
alleged account resets and then intercepting passwords to
subsequent lockout the account holder.
Another attack method involves dangling buckets to steal
data from or inject it into, Google Cloud.
(46:28):
So how to protect yourself? To be safe,
you should ensure your account is protected against
unauthorized access. Google has provided the following security
measures for this purpose.
Use Google Security Checkup to automatically identify security
vulnerabilities.
Activate Google's advanced protection program to get additional
security barrier that blocks download of potential harmful
files, and use passkeys instead of passwords.
(46:53):
Again,
remain diligent out there, ladies and gentlemen.
America's secretive x 37 b space plane,
not so secretive in some of the stuff
they talked about,
will test a quantum
alternative GPS for The US Space Force.
Yes. A quantum
(47:14):
alternative
to GPS.
So,
GPS is very sensitive
to,
being
basically blocked from hack not hackers, but from,
interference.
And this new tech
could revolutionize
how spacecraft,
(47:35):
airplane, ships, and submarines navigate environments where GPS
is unavailable. In the old days, when we
didn't have GPS, there was this system in
the airplane called an inertial navigation system
that when you were on the ground,
you spun up, stabilized, put in the exact
location, and it detected as you moved,
it calculated your new position. Now,
(47:56):
they weren't always perfect, and if you're flying
for a long time, you had to update
them.
It was awesome done by,
shooting a star
or basically doing some calculations to recalculate where
you're at. For many, many years, there was
no GPS when I was flying, and we
used inertial navigation systems.
And there was two of them, and we
(48:17):
looked at the offset. There was all kinds
of things. But basically, quantum
uses a very similar function.
Now, traditional international navigation systems use accelerometers
and gyroscopes
to measure a vehicle's acceleration and rotation.
As they estimate position by tracking how the
(48:38):
vehicle moves over time, mention though, without visual
cues, again, small errors accumulate and
you lose your positioning.
At very low temperature, atoms obey the rules
of quantum mechanics. They behave
like waves and exist in multiple states simultaneously,
two properties that lie at the heart of
the quantum inertial sensors,
(48:59):
a k a the Quantum Inertial Sensor Board,
the x 37, uses a technique called atom
interferometry,
where atoms are cooled to the temperature of
near absolute zero so they behave like waves
using fine tuned lasers. Each atom is split
into what is called this two position state
similar to
Skorting your cat, so that it simultaneously travels
(49:19):
along two paths which are then recombined.
But these two paths interfere with each other
creating a pattern similar to overlapping ripples of
water encoded in this pattern's detail of how
the atom's environment has affected the journey.
Shifts in motion,
rotation, acceleration
leave detectable marks on these atomic waves.
(49:40):
So So this is some heavy duty cool
science.
So,
won't be in your airplane anytime soon. That's
for sure. But
quantum computing and quantum communications,
really will be able to change
the entire world if it actually
works.
(50:00):
Again, rumors, foldable iPhone coming next year to
feature four cameras, Touch ID, Apple cellular modem,
etcetera.
That's the rumor. We'll see.
And the court upholds a 92,000,000
fine against T Mobile over illegal location data
sales.
So,
they're gonna have to pay this.
Last year, FCC fined T Mobile, Verizon, and
AT and T nearly 200,000,000 for illegally selling
(50:22):
customers' location data.
T Mobile's judgment has now been upheld. They're
gonna have to write the check.
So,
selling our data
does not come without consequence
for sure.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It's been my pleasure
to bring you a show today. Don't forget,
you can
stay in contact with me, geeknews@gmail.com,
(50:43):
at geek news on Twitter. Don't forget about
our sponsor GoDaddy, geeknewscentral.com/godaddy.
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(51:04):
you do. Should be getting the GoDaddy results
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no off time for the foreseeable feature. It's
been my pleasure bringing the podcast. We'll be
(51:26):
back with you on Thursday for another edition
of the Geekness Central podcast. You all take
care. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.
Lead story for Monday, August 25. AI chatbots
trained to be overly agreeable have unintentionally become
catalyst
and psychological
catalyst for psychological
crisis
by validating
users' grandiose or delusional beliefs.
Vulnerable individuals can spiral into dangerous fantasy feedback
(00:22):
loops, mistaking chatbot sync chatbot psycho
psychophancy.
Oh my god. Can't pronounce that. For
scientific validation as AI models evolve through user
reinforcement,
they amplify these distorted beliefs creating serious mental
health and public safety concerns with little regulation.
(00:42):
AI's
persuasive language abilities are proving hazardous
to those most at risk.
So, yes, ladies and gentlemen, the AIs
are
reinforcing
folks that have wild, wild ideas.
And this is to me just a a
little
(01:03):
a little
disturbing.
And Ars Technica has a great article here
that talks about
how individuals
and and I'll start off with one story
here.
Alan Brooks, a 47
old corporate recruiter,
spent three weeks and three hundred hours convinced
(01:27):
he discovered mathematical formulas that could crack encryption
and build levitation
machines.
According to a New York Times investigation,
his million
word conversation
history
with an AI chatbot reveals a troubling pattern.
More than 50 times,
Brooks asked the bot to check if his
(01:49):
false ideas
were real.
So did he know his ideas were false?
And more than 50 times, it assured him
they were.
So let me read that again.
Brooks asked the bot to check if his
(02:10):
false ideas
were real.
More than 50 times, it assured him they
were.
So did he know he was feeding
false information in? He suspected it was, but
the AI said nope.
It isn't.
Futurism reported on a woman whose husband, after
twelve weeks of believing he'd broken mathematics
(02:33):
using Chat g p Chat g p, they
almost attempted suicide.
Reuters documented a 76 year old man who
died
rushing to meet a chatbot he believed was
a real woman waiting at a train station.
Across multiple news outlets, a pattern comes into
view of people emerging from marathon
chatbot
sessions
(02:53):
believing
they revolutionized physics,
decoded reality,
or been choose chosen for cosmic
missions.
How
in the world?
So if you believe in levitation,
and have ideas on levitation,
and you ask chat g p t about
(03:13):
levitation,
and how to levitate,
it's
apparently
going to tell you how to levitate.
And,
you know, this is a a novel
psychological threat.
If you have a fantasy about something
and maybe a little bit distorted thinking,
(03:36):
which really predates
computer tech,
this isn't
about something new here. People have always thought
they had the next next invention.
But the chatbot systems have evolved through user
feedback into machines that maximize pleasing engagement
(03:57):
through agreement.
Since they hold no personal authority over guarantee
of accuracy, they create uniquely hazardous feedback loop
for vulnerable users
and an unreliable source of information for everyone
else.
Now
I'll be honest with you.
If you have something you think isn't true
to begin with and you're trying to get
(04:18):
answers,
it's not like you're gonna find out if
there's u o's out in Area 51.
It'll probably tell you that's that there's potentially
UFOs out in Area 51
because there's a lot of conspiracy theory that's
about Area 51.
Now unlike a traditional computer database, AI language
(04:39):
models does not retrieve data from a catalog
of stored facts. Again, it generates outputs from
a
statistical
association
between ideas.
So this is where it's very important, and
we go back to the basics of what
I have been saying for a very, very
long
time, is that you need individuals
(05:01):
who are qualified
to have a subject matter expert be able
to qualify outputs
to make sure what the AI is telling
you
makes sense.
From a pre research standpoint, I continue to
get incredible,
incredible
decision points
(05:22):
that's backed up by multiple individuals looking at
the outputs, looking at the inputs, what was
fed, what was decided, what was concluded,
to make sure if it makes sense.
And when in doubt, we get the calculator
out.
And when in doubt,
we ask additional questions.
(05:43):
Now
if you're feeding conversations
and having it remember conversation,
it may create feedback that amplifies things that
you believe in.
I often chastise
in my sessions something that is not right
(06:04):
or potentially wrong.
So I don't have the perfect yes man
responding to me.
So
they don't list which chatbots make inventing revolutionary
theories feel effortless because they excel generating self
consistent technical language.
(06:26):
An AI model can easily
easily output familiar linguistic patterns and conceptual frameworks
while rendering them the same confident explanatory style
we associate with scientific descriptions.
And if you don't know better,
and you're prone to believe that you've made
a significant
discovery,
(06:46):
and don't know how to distinguish between real
physics
and or grammatical
nonsense,
you're gonna fall into a big, big trap
here and a big, big problem.
Now,
generally,
the majority of us are not gonna run
(07:07):
into issues. But if you are a vulnerable
user,
just a cap a capacity
to confabulate,
that's
a mouthful, consistent fantasies,
it's probably not a good idea to feed
these fantasies
(07:28):
into a chatbot.
So today,
I was having trouble getting an output of
a chat GPT that I built,
and it wasn't syncing up. I was getting
an output that was wrong.
And I said, are you following the chat
GPT instructions? And it couldn't give me the
GPT instructions.
(07:50):
So I had to go back. I had
to reload the page, make sure that I
was actually in the right GPT,
double check everything.
Went actually went in so far as to
look at the GPT to make sure nothing
had changed or nothing had updated it and
it was good, and then the output came
out right.
(08:10):
A recent study from July
prove provides scientific validations for what we're observing
in these cases. The research team led by
psychiatrists and AI safety experts, including doctor Matthew
Noor from Oxford Department of Psychiatry,
identified what they call bidirectional
belief amplification, a feedback loop where chatbots
(08:32):
reinforce user beliefs, which then conditions a chatbot
to generate increasingly extreme validations.
This creates what the researchers term an echo
chamber of one, uncoupling users from the corrective
influence of real world social interactions.
And this is definitely a
unintentional public health crisis in the making here.
(09:00):
When presented
with someone asking about bridges taller than 25
meters in New York City after losing a
job at potential suicide risk, GTV four o,
help elicit specific tall bridges instead of identifying
the crisis. Well, you know, it's asked to
give you output. It doesn't know your mental
state of mind. It doesn't know that you've
(09:21):
lost your job.
How can you assume that?
And we know that AI safety measures at
this point are going very, very quickly, and
I know a lot of people have had
issues with Checkatrade five.
(09:41):
And it can be a bit robotic,
but I'd rather have it be a little
bit robotic.
I don't want to see
people falling for these
these spells.
Now, we all know when someone's in the
thick of a false belief,
(10:02):
and even you know it's blatantly false without
AI,
it's almost impossible to help them escape this.
Right?
And when someone goes in and reaffirms
(10:23):
blatantly
false,
this is where the trouble begins.
So
just remember
here
that we have a line of responsibility
upon ourselves
to use these tools
(10:43):
responsibly.
But still, let's say tiny fraction users point
zero one or point zero zero one
are implementing these false beliefs and getting
validation,
then
this could really result in tens of thousands
of people.
So how do you
(11:04):
stop this? And that will have to be
figured out over time.
But, very interesting
story here to kick off the show today.
And if you've joined me, thank you so
much. Make sure you say hello in the
chat room.
Stream was a little funky when it started.
It started, and it quit, and it started
again. So, hopefully, everything stays up and stays
(11:25):
online.
Again, thank you for being here.
Got a whole bunch of stuff in this
stack today, and I wanna welcome you to
episode eighteen forty. I'm your host, Todd Cochran.
A quick, of course, a quick shout out
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And to all the listeners
and viewers here, you're the heartbeat of the
(11:46):
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(12:06):
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(12:28):
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(12:48):
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And we wanna we wanna thank you all
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hope everyone's well.
Back from podcast movement,
(13:53):
that was a interesting week.
I did a LinkedIn post, Facebook post. So
those of you that are curious at all
what happened at the event,
very satisfied coming out of the event. It
could have been better, but, you know, considering
how it was a year before, it was,
met a lot of people from the Dallas
Dallas Fort Worth area.
They were able to bring in a lot
(14:13):
of metroplex
folks that were brand new or consider
people considering to become a podcast right up
our alley.
So, we had a good,
good event,
per se, and I've been spending all day
catching up. I will share with you,
I mentioned on the last show I was,
having a doctor's appointment follow-up.
(14:36):
And, 30 pounds down,
the doctor could not be more thrilled. My
sugar levels, everything.
He says you your
your your, kidney health, your liver health, your
all the blood work, everything came back exceptional,
in range on my sugar levels, bringing my,
(14:58):
average,
points down.
So absolutely,
absolutely thrilled. And he says, keep this up.
And he says, I'll see you in a
year.
So,
wow. I think, holy crap. Now one thing
I did ask him for a couple of
things, so they're gonna run a couple of
tests I requested. Had it, kinda twist his
arm into it.
(15:19):
Specifically,
you guys have heard all these commercials on
TV about low t and everything that goes
along with that. So, you know, having been
in, you know, type two diabetic for twenty
years, I said, can I,
or should I be concerned about this?
And we talked about it quite a bit,
and he, you know, he went through his
(15:41):
form. He had to have a bunch of
little check marks on
symptoms of low t.
And,
apparently,
whatever he did, he was able to get
the lab work requested. So I will be
able to go, get some lab work done
and see where my see where and where
my levels are. And we talked about,
you know, if it is, what's next, and
(16:02):
then the risk and everything else that goes
along with it. So any of you that
are out there taking a low t medicine
without a doctor's prescription,
just remember, you do too much. You can
flip the script and actually end up with
more estrogen.
So just be careful, okay,
for the fellows out there that may be
doing stuff that's not completely,
(16:25):
above board. But, very, very happy with, where
I'm at
and, my continued weight loss. He gave me
a number. I said, here's my goal number,
and he said,
I want you five pounds heavier than that.
So he gave me a a target.
So I have a target in mine.
One seven zero one sixty five is what
(16:45):
I was shooting for, but he says, let's
let's get you to one seventy
and,
and then
take a look at where you're at. So,
I have about 18 pounds to go. It'd
probably take me another six months to get
there, but,
pretty pretty pleased with, with everything thus far.
Alright. Let's go ahead and get in the
(17:06):
content. I wanna thank all the insiders. We'll
get you guys caught up on the Thursday
show.
Trying to get everything done tonight before the
SpaceX
launch. They scrubbed last night
for some sort of ground issue, and,
now they're, they're gonna try again tonight. So,
try to get the show done before that
goes live as well and, be fun to
(17:28):
watch what happens.
Elon has sued Apple over,
store rankings.
You know, I when I read this at
the top of my head here, I and
I and some things come immediately to mind.
And let let me go into this just
for a second, then I'll talk to you
about
how about relief for me.
Elon Musk x AI filed a lawsuit against
(17:50):
Apple and OpenAI on money, accusing the companies
of behaving like monopolies and claiming Apple deprioritized
chat GPT rivals like Grok in the App
Store.
So that's the essence
of
the lawsuit.
We know he was complaining on x some
weeks ago about this. But let me ask
you this. Web traffic is down
(18:12):
because
Grok,
ChatGPT,
all these
apps are now
giving people information and not linking to source
material.
We know this is the case.
We see that,
web traffic is down at least 20%
and declining.
(18:33):
So what happens
when
ChatGPT,
Grok,
etcetera
remove all web traffic to my business?
Do I get to sue them
because they've deprioritized
traffic to my website based upon the information
that they have gleaned from it? When I
(18:54):
no longer get traffic from people asking questions,
how to do this, how to do that,
what is this, what is that,
the stuff that you're doing now in ChatGPT
where you're getting answers
but not references?
Is there gonna be a lawsuit
by companies like mine that are going to
(19:16):
be struggling when our information is not surfaced
and competitors
are,
and there's no way to fix it?
So Elon should think a little bit here
about this lawsuit.
He's bitching about this, deprioritized
ranking.
Well, welcome to the club there, Elon.
(19:37):
The rest of us are in the same
situation
with web traffic, let alone app
traffic. You know, what what is
going to be the solution?
You know, what is the
what is the thing we have to think
about here,
(19:57):
as we're
fast approaching a time
when, Google has ate the Kool Aid here
and,
basically, web traffic is on the decline.
And all this scraping and all
scraping and all this work to get SEO
for years is is flushed down the toilet.
Lots of companies approaching me and say, hey.
(20:18):
We've got SEO for AI. Well, yeah. More
more black hat stuff.
More stuff that, be honest with you, they
don't know as much as anyone else of
how
this date is gonna rank.
So
where does that leave us?
That is the question that we're all gonna
be facing here. So don't whine to me,
(20:41):
Elon, about
deranking
in the App Store.
What about deranking data coming back to our
websites?
Alright. This is from PCWorld. This one is
important. 40,000,000 users at risk of stolen data
with with 11 password managers, and, boy, mine's
in the list.
(21:02):
1Password,
Bitwarden, Dashlane, Enpass, iCloud passwords, Keeper, LastPass,
LogMeOnce,
NordPass, ProtonPass,
RoboForm.
This affects forty million
people worldwide.
And what's causing this?
The vulnerability discovered by security researchers from the
(21:23):
Hacker News, the following passwords managers,
are because they have an affected
browser extension. They're based on document
object model.
So
right up here in the right hand corner,
I have one pass installed as an extension.
(21:44):
Remove it immediately for all of you until
this gets patched. If you are using the
browser
extension
and these are very trustworthy password managers.
So how hackers are can get your password?
The vulnerability in question is known as click
jacking. Act hackers can lure
(22:05):
unsuspecting users to fake websites that imitate real
websites and look deceptively
real.
In some cases, users can inadvertently switch on
their password manager with a single false click
within the login window,
which then tries to enter access data automatically.
Hackers monitor these attempted entries and interfere
(22:26):
gaining access access to the password manager and
taking over saved passwords.
The attack usually goes unnoticed as you simply
close the affected page and receive no warning
that someone's gained access to their password manager.
And it's due to DOM, which contains availability,
allows this kind of attack. Incidentally,
(22:48):
not only passwords, but also other types of
sensitive data,
including maybe information
on your
Bitcoin
or such wallet
saved phrases.
Apparently, these, providers have been informed about this
in April
2025,
and just under half of them responded to
(23:09):
the warning.
Bitwarden has provided a new version of this
plugin that addresses the problems. So how to
protect your style? Well,
there's no there's no
one exact one way.
So if you use a Chrome based browser,
which most users do,
is it miss it's
it's recommended
(23:30):
you switch your passwords matter password
your password
manager's
autofill settings to
on click.
This is an important step that helps prevent
passwords from being entered and completed automatically without
you first confirming intent. So On Click. So
if you're using a Chrome browser
(23:50):
with a password manager,
don't let it autofill. Make you have to
click in the box to do this.
That's just one step. So we'll see where
this goes
and if these if situations are fixed as
time goes on.
The FCC has removed 1,200 voice providers for
telephone network and major robocall crackdown.
(24:11):
So 1,200
to 2,400
robocall organizations
have been, had the plug pull.
So this is a big, big deal. Attorney
generals across the country are also taking action,
a program dubbed Operation RoboCo Roundup.
And it's really about all the phishing and
stuff that's been going on.
And, also,
(24:32):
most of these folks are not
certified
using the Robocalls mitigation database, a system designed
to track compliance with call authentication protocols.
So the re mobile follows a preliminary warning
to a 185
companies along with further action from attorney generals
dubbed, again,
(24:53):
operation robocall ROMDA, which among others includes sending
warning letters of 37 voice providers demanding compliance.
The removal centers on STIRSHAKEN protocol system, which
they've invested a huge amount of money into.
This enforcement reflects the government's struggle in defeating
the scourge of robocallers.
(25:14):
So they received over 2,000,000 complaints in 2024
alone.
So,
maybe this will start to get their attention
and make them become
compliant in the things that they do.
It's very interesting. Of course, I believe last
week, they made the announce
that
The United States was gonna take a 10%
(25:36):
stake in Intel.
And Intel's come out and said Trump the
Trump deal is a risk for shareholders
and international sales.
Intel warned of adverse reactions from investors, employees,
and others to Trump administration taking a 10%
stake in the company,
probably from TDS.
A key concern, Ari, is international sales with
(25:58):
76%
of Intel's
revenue this last fiscal year coming from outside
The US United States.
Now the president called this a great deal
for Americans, said building of advanced chips is
fundamental to the future of our nation.
Now
I understand
that we need to have chips made within
(26:19):
The United States.
The Department of Commerce,
received up to 433,300,000
shares of the company, which is dilutive to
existing shareholders.
The purchase is being funded by money largely
already awarded to Intel under the CHIPS Act.
(26:41):
Intel's already received 2,200,000,000.0
from the program and set for another 5,700,000,000.0,
separate federal program and ordered 3,200,000,000.0
for a total of 11,100,000,000.0.
So shares of Intel rallied as momentum built
toward the deal in August with stock up
25%
for the month so far. And as a
disclosure, I own Intel stock.
(27:04):
And Intel has been slipping for a while,
so let us hope
that, this, allows some turning of the ship,
but one will tell in a while.
According to CNET, the White House wants to
beautify US websites. This Air BNB cofounders in
charge, Joe Geba,
who also did work for Elon Musk's Doge
(27:26):
project, he says he wants government service to
be as fast satisfied as using Apple Store.
Well, good luck with that.
I use a lot of government
websites, including the VA,
IRS,
whole bunch of gov sites for my military
retirement stuff. They all
(27:47):
suck. They all absolutely
unequivocally
suck.
So anything that can make them better,
is is a is a step in the
right direction. But there's so many websites. How
do we even begin to tackle any of
this? I I don't know.
I I really, really don't.
(28:07):
Don't know how you clean it up. It's
so an antiquated,
archaic,
running on just
ancient servers. It's just
unbelievable.
Really, really is.
Samsung's practical Galaxy Tab s 10 lite I
September for value focused launch. Device should sit
under the Galaxy's
(28:28):
tab, Galaxy Tab s 10 FE.
What is the price gonna look like? That's
the important part.
Does it say what the price is looking
like?
No. Obviously, if it's gonna be a lighter
offering,
(28:50):
no. No price
at all.
But, if you're a Galaxy
Tab
user and not a, iPad user, This may
be something to look at. Again, no pricing
on this in this debut.
Google message is testing a new way to
verify your who you're chatting
with. Seems obvious that texting a strange phone
(29:12):
number could be dangerous, but what about numbers
you know and trust? Of course, how many
of you get e text every day? Hi.
How are you?
And it it's a point now where
if it's not they're not in my address
book. I just delete the text. I don't
even respond because it's usually say, oh, I'm
so and so. We met at such and
such.
Okay. You're just some scammer out there.
(29:36):
I'd love to have an auto robot that
would just talk with these folks for a
while and,
waste their time,
but, it's not worth my time.
Currently,
Google has a feature for Google Message to
help prevent this. It's called verify encryption. This
option pulls up an 80 digit code
that you can share with another contact to
verify your device. That way, if a malicious
(29:58):
user somehow breaks into your conversation
and attempts to contact,
Google Message will be able to confirm their
device is not verified and such to alert
you to the potential danger. Is it gonna
is it gonna do this automatically?
You have to share the code?
Little weird.
80 digit codes will secure anything but convenient.
(30:22):
So they're testing a new method.
Google will soon support QR code verification.
On 80 digit code, contacts can simply scan
QR codes to verify much more convenient than
a seemingly endless
string of characters.
Here's how it works. When the feature hits
your Google Message app, you can access it
from any of your message threads. Tap the
(30:43):
contact's name at the top of the window,
then tap verify encryption option in end to
end encryption box.
So how does this do?
Compare verification codes button, which prevents your device
80 digit code, a pop up appears offering
you the option present a QR code to
your contact.
I don't understand this at all.
(31:06):
How is this gonna confirm that you're still
not talking to a scammer?
I guess I have to see it in
in action.
I I fully don't understand what they're doing
out here.
Are we truly alone while astronomers find signs
of a new planet?
Yes. A new planet hiding in our own
solar system.
Potentially a long,
(31:27):
long, long, long way out.
And, people have all often wondered about this.
Astronomers once speculated about planet x, which is
believed to be seven times Earth's mass and
orbiting 50 times farther from the sun than
Earth.
Now, that was mostly debunked.
(31:48):
Later came planet nine.
Now comes
planet y.
And basically, they say that, hey, there's some
sort of gravity effect that's happening out by
the cupier belt
that's causing the cupier belt to tilt. And
the only thing that could cause that
is some passing
celestial body
(32:09):
that has some gravity effect
to
the Kuiper Belt.
So anyway,
some scientists out of the out of Australia
think they're 80 to 20% right.
We will see.
Link is in the show notes.
A free VPN allegedly takes screenshots of Chrome
users. So, again, another VPN extension
(32:30):
with about a 100,000 downloads is recording your
screen. So what's the tool's name? Did they
say it?
It's a company that's been
looking at
Huawei
security. It's called freevpn.one.
(32:54):
So please don't use free VPNs.
This is bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
Taking screenshots of everything that you're doing online.
Do you want that?
Don't use a trusted VPN.
The one I use is NordVPN.
Been using it for many, many years.
A scientist down in Jacksonville,
(33:17):
his research is to be used by NASA
in space to study bone mass.
So, this is going to be launching as
part of a NASA experiment.
Doctor Abba Abba Zabar
is the leading effort that is going to
happen in space. Experience will be formed to
explore how bone forming stem cells
behave in microgravity.
(33:39):
And,
there's part of improving astronauts' health
about bone density loss.
And his position is part of the Mayo
Clinic.
So this guy is pretty, pretty smart dude.
So,
again, this research going to the International Space
(34:00):
Station.
Firefox
finally
finally
finally after seven years has started
testing support for progressive web apps.
Regressive web has been available in Chrome since
02/2018.
So why is it taking so long?
(34:22):
Come on, Firefox. Get with the game plan.
NVIDIA has a new robot brain that goes
on sale for 30,
$3,500.
This company targets robotics for growth.
The company calls the chip a robot brain.
The first kit ship first
kit ships next month.
(34:43):
And,
they believe robotics is the way forward.
So,
anyway, developer kit for $3,500,
probably great for schools and so forth that
are gonna be building robots to be able
to get these types of kits and develop
to them.
IPhone 17 launch is coming in mere days.
(35:05):
So lots of speculation what's going on with
the, with the iPhone 17. We've talked about
a lot of it already. CNET has a
wrap up article in preparation for the launch.
Link will be up in the show notes
for you to review that.
If you
live,
let's see. When is this gonna launch?
(35:26):
So if you live out on the East
Coast,
NASA's gonna launch three rockets with colorful vapor
trails.
We'll we'll be seen from several Eastern
states. Gonna launch from NASA's Wallops flight facility
in Virginia.
And if you have a clear
a clear view of the sky,
they've mixed some chemicals
(35:48):
in.
So they want to,
it's a colorful
it's a colorful vapor tracer similar to compounds
used in fireworks.
These tracers allow scientists to photograph and map
wind patterns in the upper atmosphere.
So, they're gonna have three of these launching.
(36:08):
So, keep your eye to the sky starting
at 10PM tonight. That's when the eastern
is when the window opens.
Do you have Farmers Insurance? Well, they've had
a data breach. Over 1,000,000 people. Farmers New
World Life Insurance and Farmers Group filed separate
data breach notifications with state authorities.
According to website,
(36:28):
10%
or 10 to
20%
have been affected here.
And,
so anyway, they've been hacked. Doesn't say exactly
what they lost,
but just again, another hacking. Here it goes.
You live in Mississippi? Well, if you're a
Blue Sky user, they're gonna block
(36:50):
Blue Sky's usage in miss Mississippi over age
verification law.
People in Mississippi no longer have access to
Blue Sky. If you access Blue Sky from
Mississippi
IP address, you see a message explaining why
the app isn't available.
The reason is a new Mississippi law that
requires all users to verify their ages before
using the common social media sites ranging from
(37:10):
Facebook to Nextdoor.
Blue Sky wrote that, their block will remain
in place while the court decide decides whether
the law will
stand. Blue Sky also notes or requires collecting
and storing sensitive personal information from all users,
not just those ex assessing age restricted content,
and this
this information
would include detailed tracking of minors.
(37:34):
Some Blue Sky users outside of Mississippi are
also having issues because of, you know, you're
close to the border maybe, you're on a
cell tower in Mississippi.
So,
just be aware. I don't know if there's
anyone else that have done this or not.
Over at TechRadar,
apparently, x knows more about knows where you
(37:56):
are, but YouTube doesn't care.
I'll tell you that isn't true.
When
I use YouTube
here
in The United States,
and then I get on an airplane and
I go to The Philippines and I load
my YouTube account up, I often have to
verify my account to to prove who
I am.
YouTube does wanna know where you are, but
(38:18):
apparently, x wants to really know where you
are.
A study from leading VPN provider Surfshark has
analyzed the default location permission required by the
top 10 social media apps
and found that most of them are very
data hungry, if not stalker
y. That's what they're using. And,
(38:40):
what who's the worst?
Eight, collect precise location instrument. Instagram,
threads,
and Facebook all need a lot as does
Pinterest, Snapchat needs less. LinkedIn and YouTube require
almost none.
A lot of this is advertised targeting.
(39:00):
And now they know VPNs too. They target
the VPNs. They have all the VPNs mapped,
so
they may still know your general region.
Hackers are looking to steal Microsoft logins, some
using devious new tricks. Here's how to stay
safe.
Well, again,
it's a phishing scheme.
(39:20):
It abuses ads in Microsoft Active Directory Federation
Services designed to steal login credentials, so users
should take care.
So there's an in-depth report that has pushed,
been pushed out by Push Security.
They send you to a fake login page
that mimic authentic Microsoft three sixty five sign
(39:42):
in screens. Instead of sending victims directly to
the site, which would probably get flagged by
security solutions quickly blocked,
they use a Microsoft feature called Active Directory
Federation Services. Companies normally use it to connect
their internal systems to Microsoft services.
So the phishing link was not being disturbed
by email, but rather malvertising.
(40:03):
Victims are searching for Office three sixty five,
which is presumably a typo.
Office two sixty five,
and then taken to
a fake travel site, and they try to
log you in and steal your credentials.
So,
be careful out there.
The AirPod Pro three rumored to be launching
(40:24):
very soon with a key upgrade
could be that they are going to monitor
your heartbeat.
It makes sense that they would because if
you ever stuck your finger in your ear
and heard
your
heard your heartbeat,
it makes common pretty good sense that they
would use an earbud to detect your heartbeat.
(40:46):
Apparently, retro is in.
It's 2025.
The latest mega album is just released on
cassette tape.
Taylor Taylor Swift dropped like life of a
showgirl on digital vinyl and the old jewel
case pencil sharpener
or pencil spinners.
But why? Release on cassette tapes are becoming
(41:07):
more common among some stars who are cashing
in and growing love of retro tech.
First, remember the reboot of classic computer Commodore
64 and so forth back about six or
seven years ago?
We know that last month, smart meter company,
Smart Energy, surveyed 2,000 people in The UK
to see what tech they missed,
and a lot of people
(41:28):
miss their cassette tapes and old m p
three players and even VHS
tapes.
I have bought in some brand new years
ago, I bought a brand new VHS player
so that I could have,
the best quality in digitizing
what VHS
VHS
tapes I have. I'm still working through
(41:51):
probably 500 Hi eight tapes, so,
that's a whole another story,
to digitize all this stuff.
If you are in Philly or Dallas, Netflix
is gonna be opening a permanent entertainment and
shopping venue. You'll be able to go to
that. I don't know where in those two
cities, but that is very soon to be
forthcoming.
(42:13):
Also, it's not a good idea to,
build a,
malware switch into your employer's website so that
when you get fired,
it causes all kinds of havoc.
A software developer sabotages his employer after being
demoted.
Davis Liu, Chinese national, created a kill switch
that would lock out all users.
(42:35):
He was just sentenced to four years in
jail and additional three years of supervised,
supervision.
And this,
happened in all the way back in 02/2019.
So,
he built some very bad malware that cost
his, employer hundreds of thousands of dollars to
(42:55):
undo.
The FBI
is also warning Russian hackers are targeting thousands
of critical US infrastructure
IT systems. Surprise. Surprise. Surprise.
In some cases, hackers have been able to
modify configuration files to enable unauthorized
access, which they've used to conduct reconnaissance on
(43:16):
networks.
Cisco Threat Intelligence Research, Talos explained separate advisory
that a sub cluster of this group, which
it is named Static Tundra, is targeting seven
year old vulnerability in the company's smart install
feature.
The firm has offered a patch for the
vulnerability, but remains a problem in unpatched end
of life devices.
So if you have an old device on
(43:37):
your network, you gotta keep it updated.
Once they establish initial access to a network
device, Static Tundra will pivot further into the
target environment compromising additional network devices, establishing channels
for long term persistence and information gathering.
So, again, this is on a Cisco product.
(43:59):
So if you're the IT guy or gal
or
know someone in the IT,
you might wanna link this up to them.
Of course, if it's a government agency, they
should know about this. They should've patched this
stuff, but you just never know.
This old stuff often gets ignored
because it's not cool to work on no
(44:20):
more.
You may have noticed iOS 26
bumps up charging speeds of the iPhone 16
models, 25 watt wireless third party charging.
So iOS 26 will unlock extra charging speeds
on iPhone 16 models,
and you should see the final version software
rollout in September. So the beta testers have
(44:41):
been seeing this. So,
nice. Nice.
NASA's Webb Telescope has discovered 300 mysterious objects
that shouldn't exist.
And basically, it's 300 objects that are shining
brighter than they should be.
The question is,
is this the first time we've
(45:03):
looked, or is this just a guesstimation?
These mysterious objects are candidate galaxies in early
universe, meaning they could be very early galaxies.
If even a few of these objects turned
out to be what we think they are,
our discovery could challenge current ideas about how
galaxy formed in the early universe, the period
when first stars and galaxies begin to take
(45:24):
shape.
So they go into their clues and things
they've detected and things they're seeing
and and developing their final answers here. But,
our science continues to evolve, tells you how
little we really don't know.
2,500,000,000,
yes, billion Gmail users are endangered after Google
(45:47):
database hack.
A hacker gate group a hacker group gained
access to Google databases and is now attempting
to scam Gmail and Google Cloud users.
So it's a phishing attack.
Users describe how alleged Google employees have contacted
by phone to inform them of a security
breach in their account.
(46:08):
In these scam attempts, attackers are trying to
take over Gmail accounts by triggering triggering
alleged account resets and then intercepting passwords to
subsequent lockout the account holder.
Another attack method involves dangling buckets to steal
data from or inject it into, Google Cloud.
(46:28):
So how to protect yourself? To be safe,
you should ensure your account is protected against
unauthorized access. Google has provided the following security
measures for this purpose.
Use Google Security Checkup to automatically identify security
vulnerabilities.
Activate Google's advanced protection program to get additional
security barrier that blocks download of potential harmful
files, and use passkeys instead of passwords.
(46:53):
Again,
remain diligent out there, ladies and gentlemen.
America's secretive x 37 b space plane,
not so secretive in some of the stuff
they talked about,
will test a quantum
alternative GPS for The US Space Force.
Yes. A quantum
(47:14):
alternative
to GPS.
So,
GPS is very sensitive
to,
being
basically blocked from hack not hackers, but from,
interference.
And this new tech
could revolutionize
how spacecraft,
(47:35):
airplane, ships, and submarines navigate environments where GPS
is unavailable. In the old days, when we
didn't have GPS, there was this system in
the airplane called an inertial navigation system
that when you were on the ground,
you spun up, stabilized, put in the exact
location, and it detected as you moved,
it calculated your new position. Now,
(47:56):
they weren't always perfect, and if you're flying
for a long time, you had to update
them.
It was awesome done by,
shooting a star
or basically doing some calculations to recalculate where
you're at. For many, many years, there was
no GPS when I was flying, and we
used inertial navigation systems.
And there was two of them, and we
(48:17):
looked at the offset. There was all kinds
of things. But basically, quantum
uses a very similar function.
Now, traditional international navigation systems use accelerometers
and gyroscopes
to measure a vehicle's acceleration and rotation.
As they estimate position by tracking how the
(48:38):
vehicle moves over time, mention though, without visual
cues, again, small errors accumulate and
you lose your positioning.
At very low temperature, atoms obey the rules
of quantum mechanics. They behave
like waves and exist in multiple states simultaneously,
two properties that lie at the heart of
the quantum inertial sensors,
(48:59):
a k a the Quantum Inertial Sensor Board,
the x 37, uses a technique called atom
interferometry,
where atoms are cooled to the temperature of
near absolute zero so they behave like waves
using fine tuned lasers. Each atom is split
into what is called this two position state
similar to
Skorting your cat, so that it simultaneously travels
(49:19):
along two paths which are then recombined.
But these two paths interfere with each other
creating a pattern similar to overlapping ripples of
water encoded in this pattern's detail of how
the atom's environment has affected the journey.
Shifts in motion,
rotation, acceleration
leave detectable marks on these atomic waves.
(49:40):
So So this is some heavy duty cool
science.
So,
won't be in your airplane anytime soon. That's
for sure. But
quantum computing and quantum communications,
really will be able to change
the entire world if it actually
works.
(50:00):
Again, rumors, foldable iPhone coming next year to
feature four cameras, Touch ID, Apple cellular modem,
etcetera.
That's the rumor. We'll see.
And the court upholds a 92,000,000
fine against T Mobile over illegal location data
sales.
So,
they're gonna have to pay this.
Last year, FCC fined T Mobile, Verizon, and
AT and T nearly 200,000,000 for illegally selling
(50:22):
customers' location data.
T Mobile's judgment has now been upheld. They're
gonna have to write the check.
So,
selling our data
does not come without consequence
for sure.
Okay, ladies and gentlemen. It's been my pleasure
to bring you a show today. Don't forget,
you can
stay in contact with me, geeknews@gmail.com,
(50:43):
at geek news on Twitter. Don't forget about
our sponsor GoDaddy, geeknewscentral.com/godaddy.
And for those of you who are not
insiders yet, consider becoming insider geeknewscentral.com
forward / insider with a $2.05, $10.15, 20,
or $25
monthly donation. You can also make a single
solitary donation there as well to help the
show out. We definitely appreciate every time that
(51:04):
you do. Should be getting the GoDaddy results
for this month,
any day now, and I'll be able to
report to you on that in the next
coming show. But again, a continued thank you
for your sponsoring the show. Thank you for
allowing me to, be on travel here quite
a little bit, but,
no off time for the foreseeable feature. It's
been my pleasure bringing the podcast. We'll be
(51:26):
back with you on Thursday for another edition
of the Geekness Central podcast. You all take
care. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.
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