Tech Support Guy banner

Sign of the times

460K views 8K replies 41 participants last post by  ekim68 
#1 ·
#6,867 ·

"Extremely fast-charging" battery hits 60 percent in under 6 minutes


By rethinking a key battery component, scientists in China have come up with what's described as "extremely fast charging" technology that sees a lithium-ion battery hit 60 percent capacity in under six minutes. The breakthrough is billed as a significant one for the world of electric vehicles where recharge times lag far behind refueling times for conventional cars, and could make them a far appealing proposition on that front.
 
#6,868 ·
#6,871 ·
GitHub will require all code contributors to use two-factor authentication

GitHub, the code hosting platform used by tens of millions of software developers around the world, announced today that all users who upload code to the site will need to enable one or more forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) by the end of 2023 in order to continue using the platform.

The new policy was announced Wednesday in a blog post by GitHub's chief security officer (CSO) Mike Hanley, which highlighted the Microsoft-owned platform's role in protecting the integrity of the software development process in the face of threats created by bad actors taking over developers' accounts.
 
#6,872 ·

Mexico: Rail link worth billions won't go through Texas after Abbott used trade as 'political tool'


The Mexican government said it intends to shift long-range plans to build a trade railway connection worth billions of dollars from Texas to New Mexico in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott's stepped-up border inspections last month, which were widely criticized as being financially damaging and may now leave a lasting impact on relations between Texas and its No. 1 trading partner.
 
#6,873 ·

'Buy now, pay later' is sending the TikTok generation spiraling into debt, popularized by San Francisco tech firms


Do a quick scan of TikTok and you'll find trendy young people casually blowing hundreds or thousands of dollars on clothes and jewelry, often set to the clattering, bass-boosted din of Florida rapper Saucy Santana's fittingly titled "Material Girl." Plenty of those influencers get the goods they flaunt for free. But if you don't have the followers, or the up-front cash to blow, TikTokers have a tip: Just use "buy now, pay later" services, the hottest new way to take on debt.
 
#6,874 ·
#6,875 ·

FBI: Cyber-scams cost victims $6.9b-plus worldwide in 2021


Cyber-scams cost victims around the globe at least $6.9 billion last year, according to the FBI's latest Internet Crime Report.

Since 2017, the bureau's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received an average of 552,000 complaints per year. This includes reports of extortion, identity theft, phishing, fraud, and a slew of other nefarious schemes that cost victims no less than $18.7 billion in losses over the five-year period.
 
#6,877 ·

How millions of Russians are tearing holes in the Digital Iron Curtain


RIGA, Latvia - When Russian authorities blocked hundreds of Internet sites in March, Konstantin decided to act. The 52-year-old company manager in Moscow tore a hole in the Digital Iron Curtain, which had been erected to control the narrative of the war in Ukraine, with a tool that lets him surf blocked sites and eyeball taboo news.

Konstantin turned to a virtual private network, an encrypted digital tunnel commonly known as a VPN. Since the war began in late February, VPNs have been downloaded in Russia by the hundreds of thousands a day, a massive surge in demand that represents a direct challenge to President Vladimir Putin and his attempt to seal Russians off from the wider world. By protecting the locations and identities of users, VPNs are now granting millions of Russians access to blocked material.
 
#6,879 ·

Microsoft Recommends People Uninstall Optional Windows 11 Update


In what can only be described in technical terms as a "whoopsie," Microsoft is advising Windows 11 users to uninstall a recent update. Reports indicated the update, which is optional, is causing various apps to crash. The problem involves an interaction between the update and the .Net Framework that's part of Windows. At this time it's unclear which apps are affected by the issue, leaving uninstallation as the only viable solution.
 
#6,880 ·

The iPod is dead


Last October marked 20 years of the iPod. It's a remarkable run in the cutthroat, always-iterating world of consumer electronics. And while it's undoubtedly true that life hasn't been particularly fruitful for the music player in a product lineup that includes various iPhones and iPads, the beloved music player has somehow managed to hang on.

That is, until today.
 
#6,883 ·

Apple, Google, and Microsoft will soon implement passwordless sign-in on all major platforms


In a joint effort, tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft announced Thursday morning that they have committed to building support for passwordless sign-in across all of the mobile, desktop, and browser platforms that they control in the coming year. Effectively, this means that passwordless authentication will come to all major device platforms in the not too distant future: Android and iOS mobile operating systems; Chrome, Edge, and Safari browsers; and the Windows and macOS desktop environments.
 
#6,884 ·

ICE 'now operates as a domestic surveillance agency,' think tank says


Although it's supposed to be restricted by surveillance rules at local, state and federal levels, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has built up a mass surveillance system that includes details on almost all US residents, according to a report from a major think tank. Researchers from Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology said ICE "now operates as a domestic surveillance agency" and that it was able to bypass regulations in part by purchasing databases from private companies.
 
#6,886 ·
:eek:


Andy Warhol's Portrait of Marilyn Monroe Sells for $195 Million, Setting an Auction Record for an American Artist


You can buy a lot with $200 million. A Burgess Jubilee superyacht. (Two of them at $100 million each, actually.) A couple dozen miles of interstate highway. The services of Aaron Rodgers for four years in the NFL.

Or you could purchase a 1964 silkscreen painting of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol for a record $195 million, which is exactly what one buyer did this week.
 
#6,887 ·
#6,888 ·

Algae energy harvester powers electronics for a year on its own


As the number of electronic devices grows, we're going to have to get creative with our energy sources. Cambridge researchers have now demonstrated how an algae energy harvester can use sunlight to power a microprocessor for over a year without any human help.

Algae features heavily in green technologies of the future, in many different ways. It shows promise in producing hydrogen, purifying wastewater, removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, forming the basis of biofuels, and generating electricity through photosynthesis.
 
#6,892 ·
Top