Tech Talk Thursdays

Tech

• You can now claim your piece of Apple's $95 million Siri privacy settlement

• Panasonic will slash its global workforce by 10,000

• Google settles lawsuit that accused it of fostering systemic bias against Black employees

• Mexico is suing Google over 'Gulf of America' name change for US users

• “Google wanted that”: Nextcloud decries Android permissions as “gatekeeping”

• Google introduces Advanc...

Tech

• Patreon Planning iOS App Update to Skirt In-App Purchases

• Refurbished iPhone 15 Models Now Available From Apple's Online Store in U.S. and Canada - MacRumors

• Microsoft’s new “passwordless by default” is great but comes at a cost - Ars Technica

• TeleMessage, a Signal clone the Trump administration uses, has been hacked

• Jury orders NSO to pay $167 million for hacking WhatsApp users - Ars Technica

• M...

Tech

• Google layoffs impact hundreds in Pixel, Android division

• Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for 3 days - Ars Technica

• Samsung Receives Government Approval To Increase The Work Hours To 64 Per Week For Its R&D and Semiconductor Divisions To Boost Competitiveness Against Rivals

• Microsoft is rolling out its controversial Recall feature to Windows Insiders

• Adobe Deletes Blue...

Tech

• Most Americans think AI won’t improve their lives, survey says - Ars Technica

• TikTok Gets Another 75-Day Reprieve From Ban - MacRumors

• DOGE is reportedly using AI to monitor government comms for anti-Musk and anti-Trump chatter

• Microsoft reportedly fires staff whose protest interrupted its Copilot event

Gaming

• Palestinian-led BDS movement adds Microsoft’s Xbox as priority boycott target | Polygon

•...

Tech

• End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging on iPhone coming in future software update - 9to5Mac
• YouTube investigating widespread low quality video playback issues on iOS
• This is one of the most sophisticated phishing attacks ever made against Mac users
• Microsoft's latest Windows update accidentally uninstalled Copilot
• Tesla recalls more than 46,000 Cybertrucks over a faulty exterior panel
• Amazon is getting rid of the option for Echo...

Tech

• Western Digital Has Reportedly Bid Farewell To The SSD Market; SanDisk Will Now Be Responsible For Existing & Future Products
• Apple must allow app sideloading in Brazil within 90 days, judge orders
• Elon Musk says a 'massive cyberattack' is to blame for X being down
• Reddit Is Restricting Luigi Mangione Discourse—but It's Even Weirder Than That
• Telecom tells employees they won’t get bonuses if they don’t follow RT...

Tech

• Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe Charging - MacRumors
• Apple is now fighting the UK over its demand for backdoor access to iCloud accounts
• Everything Apple announced since its last event
• Samsung will finally release Android 15 for Galaxy devices in April, nearly 6 months late
• Skype is shutting down soon, Microsoft pushing users to Teams - 9to5Mac
• Digg is returning thanks to Digg and Reddit co-founders Ke...

Tech

• Apple Announces iPhone 16e With A18 Chip and Apple Intelligence, Pricing Starts at $599 - MacRumors

• Apple Unveils 'C1' as First Custom Cellular Modem - MacRumors
• iPhone 16e Doesn't Have MagSafe - MacRumors
• Apple officially bids farewell to the Lightning port after 13 years
• Apple Discontinues iPhone SE - MacRumors

• Apple Discontinues iPhone 14 and 14 Plus - MacRumors

• Apple currently only...

Tech

• US senator wants to fine and jail those who use DeepSeek and other Chinese AIs
• TikTok advises Android users in the US to sideload the app

• Android users who want TikTok would be best advised to copy iPhone users

• Workday lays off 1,750 employees, citing demand for AI
• Amazon faces new union test in North Carolina | CNN Business
• Feds putting the kibosh on national EV charging program - Ars Techni...

Tech

• Dozens of subreddits are banning links to X - The Verge
• China suggests it’s open to a US deal for TikTok after all
• Meta will lay off more ‘low-performers,’ says CEO Mark Zuckerberg - The Verge
• Meta admits it deleted links to decentralized Instagram competitor Pixelfed
• A major data broker hack may have leaked precise location info for millions - The Verge
• AT&T pulls its 5G internet service in NY over new affo...

Tech

• John Deere says its self-driving tractors and trucks will help address labor shortages - The Verge
• Microsoft Says AI Will Lead To Job Losses, Invests $80 Billion In The Tech - GameSpot
• Instagram blocked LGBTQ hashtags and treated them as ‘sexually suggestive content’
• Meta is ditching third-party fact checkers on Facebook, Instagram
• Nvidia announces next-gen RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs - The Verge

Gaming

• ...

Tech

• Razzlekhan, crypto’s most embarrassing rapper, is going to prison - The Verge
• Amazon and SpaceX attack US labor watchdog in court - The Verge
• X adds Twitch to its advertising boycott lawsuit

• Apple Adds iPhone XS Max and More to Vintage/Obsolete Product Lists - MacRumors

• Microsoft made a $349 hardware client to connect to Cloud PCs
• Porch pirates appear to be accessing AT&T data to trac...

Tech

• Black people across the country have been getting racist texts about slave plantations
• Bluesky crosses the 15 million user mark - The Verge
• Bluesky apparently acted up today because of a cut fiber cable - The Verge
• Stopping the TikTok ban is reportedly a Trump priority - 9to5Mac
• Tesla Cybertruck hit with sixth recall this year, this time over a bad inverter - The Verge
• Apple Releases iPhone 16 and 16 Pro Parts f...

Tech

• Hackers made robot vacuums randomly yell racial slurs
• Brazilian police arrested the hacker who stole everyone’s SSN - The Verge
• You'll soon be able to safely and easily move your passkeys between password managers
• Apple Pay now works with third-party iOS and desktop browsers
• Google strikes a deal with a nuclear startup to power its AI data centers
• Automattic offered employees another chance to quit over WordPress ...

Tech

• WordPress co-founder is paying employees to leave if they disagree with him - The Verge
• Mastodon switches things up to make its app a little easier to use - The Verge
• Violent threats against FEMA swirl on social media - The Verge
• Porsche to recall over 27,000 EVs in US over battery short circuit risk - The Verge
• Geico insists it ‘has coverage’ for the Cybertruck after owners complain of dropped policies - The Verg...

Tech

• YouTube Shorts can now run up to three minutes
• Up to 600 million Facebook and Instagram passwords stored in plain text
• College students used Meta’s smart glasses to dox people in real time - The Verge
• Reddit policy changes make sitewide protests nearly impossible
• Hurricane Helene barreled through a crucial chip mining area in North Carolina - The Verge
• Verizon’s mobile services are down across the country - The ...

Discussion

• Futureproofing in Unethical Times

Tech

• Exploding pagers kill at least eight and injure thousands in an attack on Hezbollah - The Verge

• 14 dead as Hezbollah walkie-talkies explode in second, deadlier attack | Ars Technica

• Hundreds of Amazon drivers in NYC join the Teamsters union
• Amazon warehouse workers are getting free Prime and a pay raise - The Verge
• Amazon is...

Tech

• Abbott’s OTC glucose monitor is now available in the US
• An Apple Store in Oklahoma City is close to approving an union agreement for its workers
• Everything Apple revealed at the iPhone 16 launch event: Apple Watch Series 10, AirPods 4, iOS 18 and more
• Apple will release iOS 18, macOS 15, iPadOS 18, other updates on September 16th | Ars Technica
• Bluesky lets you post videos now - The Verge

Gaming

• Voic...

Tech

• Judge orders X ban in Brazil - The Verge

• Bluesky added 2 million new users in a week following Brazil's X ban

• Meta shouldn’t remove ‘from the river to the sea’ as hate speech, says Oversight Board - The Verge
• The Internet Archive loses its appeal of ebook copyright case ruling
• Oprah’s upcoming AI television special sparks outrage among tech critics | Ars Technica
• Generative AI ...