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Tech Archive

Archives for October 2024

Kids with Android phones will be able to use Google Wallet tap-to-pay soonKids with Android phones will be able to use Google Wallet tap-to-pay soon
Ubisoft dumps its NFT game on the market to little fanfareUbisoft dumps its NFT game on the market to little fanfare
How to create and save Chrome tab groupsHow to create and save Chrome tab groups
Barbara Krasnoff
Emma Roth
Emma Roth
Google “can’t guarantee” that independent sites will recover from Search changes.

During the Web Creator summit, Google Search VP Pandu Nayak responded to concerns about smaller sites getting outranked on the search engine, as reported by Mountain Weekly News founder Mike Hardaker:

Our goal is to surface great content for users. I suspect there is a lot of great content you guys are creating that we are not surfacing to our users, but I can’t give you any guarantees unfortunately. We are focused on things for our users, that is not going to change.

I Drank the Kool-Aid at the 2024 Google Web Creator Summit

[Mike Hardaker]

A first look at Apple’s redesigned Mac Mini and its other new MacsA first look at Apple’s redesigned Mac Mini and its other new Macs
Play
Lauren Feiner
Lauren Feiner
Philly DA asks for more security at Musk’s America PAC hearing due to threats on X.

After Elon Musk shared a critique of District Attorney Larry Krasner’s suit to stop his swing state giveaways, the DA received an “avalanche” of antisemitic attacks, according to a legal filing. Krasner’s home address was even shared on the site, the filing says, with an X user writing that “Krasner loves visitors.”

Philadelphia DA filing

[DocumentCloud via Politico]

Call of Duty’s massive filesize drives peak internet usageCall of Duty’s massive filesize drives peak internet usage
Gaby Del Valle
Gaby Del Valle
Italy’s political class is caught up in a massive hacking scandal.

An IT consultant, Nunzio Samuele Calamucci, allegedly breached Italy’s Interior Ministry databases on behalf of Equalize, a private investigations company run by a former Italian police officer.

Equalize used a computer virus to break into government databases, prosecutors claim.

In wiretaps, Calamucci, who worked for Equalize, allegedly boasted of having hacked the information of 800,000 people.

Several Italian politicians were among those who were hacked. And agents with Mossad, Israel’s spy agency, allegedly tried to buy information from Equalize.

Massive hack-for-hire scandal rocks Italian political elites

[Politico]

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Today I’m toying with the Twistsaber, a 3D-printed marvel.

The Twistsaber is exactly what it sounds like — a lightsaber prop you twist to extend and retract, with an ingenious nesting screw design that makes it open and close incredibly fast. The files aren’t free, and it doesn’t light up, but there’s nothing else quite like it.

Also see: the self-retracting Goliath Power Saber, which nearly became an official Star Wars toy.

Here’s where you can preorder the new MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac MiniHere’s where you can preorder the new MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Mini
Allison Johnson
Allison Johnson
The first Snapdragon 8 Elite phone is the Xiaomi 15.

Qualcomm announced its newest flagship mobile SoC just last week and as usual, Xiaomi will be the first one to put that chipset in a phone. Both the 15 and 15 Pro use the 8 Elite, and the 15 Pro pairs it with an absolutely massive 6100mAh battery. They’re only launching in China for now, but fingers crossed for a global launch in 2025.

Rendering of Xiaomi 15 Pro in various colors.
Xiaomi 15 Pro in its array of green and not-green colors.
Image: Xiaomi
Google’s Pixel 9A might get a bigger displayGoogle’s Pixel 9A might get a bigger display
Dropbox cuts its workforce by 20 percent in latest round of layoffsDropbox cuts its workforce by 20 percent in latest round of layoffs
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Google says Sundar didn’t actually entertain the idea of splitting off AI from search.

On Google’s Q3 earnings call, Wells Fargo analyst Ken Gawrelski asked:

Why doesn’t it make sense to have two completely different search experiences? One, an agent-like answers engine and then, two, a links-based more traditional search engine? You could innovate on both and let the consumer decide.

Sundar replied: “I do think having two surfaces for us allows us to experiment more.”

But Google rep Chris Pappas tells us he’s referring to two different AI surfaces — AI Overviews and the Gemini App — not good ol’ link-based search.

Marvel has its 2025 Disney Plus roadmap all laid outMarvel has its 2025 Disney Plus roadmap all laid out

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