Tech Gumbo

Twitter/X Loses 115K Users, Bluesky Adds 700K, Microsoft Copilot, Amazon Haul Takes On Temu, Apple Vision Pro Struggles

News and Updates:

Since election day:

• 115,000 people have deleted the Twitter/X account
• Bluesky added 700,00 new users
• Threads is growing as well

Microsoft Copilot:

• Is ending the Enterprise and Pro versions
• Releasing the free version in Australia and New Zealand first
• Getting stronger and encouraging more usage

Amazon is creating a Temu killer called Haul

Apple Vison Pro is shutting down production because of lack of sales

A.I. And A Teen’s Suicide, Gen AI In The Fashion Industry, AI Making Mistakes IN Hospitals, Microsoft Tries To Fix AI Falsehoods, 25% Of Google’s Code is AI Generated

The Big Stories:

• Is AI to be blamed for a teen’s death?
• Fashion retailer using Gen AI instead of real models and photographers
• AI transcription tools making mistakes at hospitals
• Microsoft is trying to fix AI “Hallucinations”
• Google says over 25% of its code is written by AI

Tech Gumbo Begins Our 11th Year!, Google Adds New Features To Chrome, Waze and Maps, uBlock Origin Ad Blocker, Nvidia And Intel Chips

News and Updates:

• Tech Gumbo started Nov 2014
• Google:
  - Adds Safety Check to Chrome
  - Adds Unsubscribe to Chrome
  - Makes it easier reporting features to Waze
  - Adds AI assistance to Maps, including places to explore on your trip
  - Begins disabling adblocker uBlock Origin
• Nvidia joins the Dow Jones Industrial Average
• Intel is cause for concern in D.C.
• TSMC stays very profitable making chips

Top 10 Self-Driving Car Companies, 30-Year-Old Backdoor Laws, End To Tracking Celebrity Jets, Computer Chips Being Made IN USA, Russia Fines Google $20 Decillion

The Question of the Week:  Last week you talked about Tesla’s “Full Self Driving” cars, who else is do that?

 

The Big Stories:

• A 30-year old law forcing backdoors is creating security risk
• Meta follows twitter, will ban accounts that track celebrity jets
• TSMC Chip plant in Arizona making better chips than Taiwan
• Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Starlink Needs 30k Satellites, Replacing The ISS Because Of Age And Leaks, Returning Astronauts To Earth, Redbox Customer Data Breach, San Fran Trying To Stop Using Floppy Disk, AI Radio Presenters

News and Updates:

• Starlink to petition the FCC to allow 30,000 satellites to achieve Gig speeds
• Vast has plans to replace the International Space Station
• The ISS is leaking, but not a risk
• NASA does a crew swap, 2 still have their extended stay going
• Info from Old Redbox kiosk easily hacked with customer info revealed
• SanFran Train System plans to stop using 5 1/4 -inch disk within 10 years
• Poland radio station using AI “Presenters”, listeners are not happy

Interview w/ Josh Goldwitz – Transportation and Logistics Expert

The Big Interview:

A career through multiple companies and how it impacts transportation and logistics

• Exponent (Crash Reconstruction Photogrammetry) (using photos to reconstruct measurements- also key to modern camera-based autonomy systems)
• Lloyd Register – London Underground
• MTA (NYC)- subway system, rail, buses, ferries
• Jet Blue- electrification of ground support equipment
• Amazon- last mile delivery

NHTSA investigating Tesla’s Full Self Driving Cars. TikTok’s Execs Knew How Harmful It Is To Teens, Kids TV Is A Thing Of The Past

News and Updates:

• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating the Full Self Driving claims of Tesla and the wrecks involved
• Lawsuit against TikTok reveals how harmful it is to kids
  • Addictive in 35 minutes
  • Demotes people deemed unattractive
  • 95% of smartphone users 17 and under are on TikTok
  • Discourages kids from making eye contact with other people
  • Filters content to conform with one-sided opinions
• Children’s TV Channel ratings are off by over 75%, it is all YouTube now

 

Google Killing Fitbit, Tesla’s ‘We, Robot’ Fiasco, Tesla Competitors Get a Boost

The Question of the Week: What’s going on with Fitbit?

The Big Stories:

• Tesla big event, “We, Robot” to show off CyberCab and Optimus Robots was a flop!
• The Autonomous robots were actually being controlled by humans
• Waymo, Uber , Lyft got a big stock market bounce because of Tesla’s event
• Tesla is losing its grip on the EV market in California

6G Cellular Research, Wi10 EOL In 1 Year, Win11 Has Excess Junk, Florida Neighborhood Is Hurricane Proof, Racist Home Robot Vacs

News and Updates:

• Researchers working on 6G Cellular are achieving 190 gigabits of thru put
• Win 10 End of Life is 14Oct2025, check now to see if your computer will upgrade, if not, don’t wait to buy a new PC
• Win 11 24H@ Update has a junk file that is 8.6GB and you can not delete it
• A new neighborhood in Fla built homes with solar panels and batteries, 15 feet off the ground and easily able to resist winds up to 120mph
• Hackers breached home robot vacuums, began shout racist slurs

States Sue TikTok Claiming Harmful to Children, Use Caution With AI Meeting Recordings At Work, Licenses Plate Readers And Bumper Stickers

The Question of the Week: Who is suing TikTok Now?

The Big Stories:

• AI Assistants recording virtual meetings and creating havoc
• License Plates readers also keeping bumper sticker info building another database

Cybertruck Becoming Uninsurable, SpaceX Threatened By Telcos, Starlink Gets And Demands More Spectrum

News and Updates:

• GEICO stops covering Cybertrucks from Tesla
• SpaceX threatened by EU Telcos
• Starlink to get another rival
• Starlink gets more spectrum to use from FCC
• SpaceX demands Spectrum from rivals

Calif Law Forces Licensing Disclosure, iPhones Using Satellites To Communicate After Helene, OpenAI Changing To For Profit

The Big Stories:

• Laws forces disclosure on digital platforms to not use but or purchase when “renting” media
• After Helene, people in N.C. are using iOS 18 enabled phones to text via satellites
• OpenAI will become a “For Profit” business
• OpenAI is still burning thru Millions of dollars monthly, but still has very high expectations

GPS Spoofing OF Airliners, “Evil Twin” Wi-Fi Attack, Twitter Down To 25% Valuation, DirectTV And Dish Network Merging

News and Updates:

• Electronic warfare in war torn areas creates GPS spoofing for airlines
• Man charged with “Evil Twin” Wi-Fi attack on airplane in Australia
• Twitter’s valuation is down to 25% of the purchase price
• DirectTV And Dish Network merging to compete with streaming platforms

CD/DVD Life Expectancy, TikTok Legal Challenges, TikTok’s Defense Strategy, Google Wins Legal Battle in EU, Calf. Passes Deepfake Laws

The Question of the Week: I have a bunch of old CDs. How long will they last?

The Big Stories:

• TikTok not doing well in the U.S. Court of Appeals
• TikTok throws Shein & Temu under the bus
• Google wins an Antitrust case in the EU
• Passes laws about deepfakes and draws in Social Media platforms

Merging Streaming Platforms, Nuclear Power & AI Needs, Protecting Autonomous Vehicles From Being Hacked

News and Updates:

• Several major streaming platforms talk about mergers or bundling
• Big Tech is investing in Nuclear Power because they need the electricity
• Protecting autonomous vehicles from data leaks and bad actor hackers

Interview with Greg Trahan, Director of Economic Development, LSU and Duke Hartman, CEO, Integer Technologies LLC

The Interview with Greg Trahan, Director of Economic Development, LSU and Duke Hartman, CEO, Integer Technologies LLC:

• LSU & Integer Technologies have partnered to do research to benefit the Navy
• Research around autonomous vehicles in the air, on the ocean both on the surface and underwater
• The research is bring under grad and grad students and well as faculty and working engineers together to find solutions
• The research will also benefit the oil industry, especially in South Louisiana

iOS 18 Released With Security Flaws, Cybersecurity Talent Shortage, Is Big Tech Really Listening, Instagram Restricting Teen Accounts, Autonomous Vehicle Stats

News and Updates:

• Apple released iOS18, and quickly had to release an update to patch 33 security flaws
• The Biden Administration is trying to address Cybersecurity talent pool shortage
• Are the Social Media Platforms really listening to everything, or is it something worse?
• Instagram rolling out stricter guardrails to prevent teens from “workarounds”
• Waymo released impressive safety stats for autonomous vehicles

Kids And Cybersecurity, iPhone 16 Announcement, Apple Intelligence, Apple Pays Ireland $13 Billion

The Question of the Week: My children are starting to use the Internet, what should I be telling them?

 The Big Stories:

• iPhone 16 (all versions) announced, plus Apple Watch 10 and AirPods 4
• Apple Intelligence (A.I.) will not be available at launch, look for a slow roll out
• CIO’s and CTO’s concerned about the new iPhone’s AI and security risk
• Wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas before you buy the new phone or upgrade to iOS 18
• Apple loses tax dispute again, must pay Ireland $13 Billion

Ford Patents In Car Ads, Voldemort Malware, Hackers Bypassing MFA, Messaging Platforms Becoming Interoperable, Google Maps In Space

News and Updates:

• Ford was awarded a patented for in car advertising that will listen to passenger’s conversation
• A new Malware, name Voldemort has been released and is affecting Google Sheets
• Hackers are learning how to bypass MFA
• WhatsApp and Messenger must be compatible with Telegram, Signal and iMessage
• Google upgrades from Sky Maps to Google Maps in Space! And it is Awesome!

Interview with Brian Housewright - Tech and The Health Care Industry

Tech and the Health Care industry

• Tell me about the sector of the Health Care industry that you come from?
• Talk about the evolution of technology in Health Care
• What is an EHR/EMR? Why is it important? How has it developed over time?
• What are some of the challenges related to the adoption of Technology in a healthcare setting? How does it affect the user?
• Talk about some of the key regulations and mandates related to technology in the healthcare industry (i.e HIPAA)
• Talk about the different Healthcare settings, the unique requirements for each, and the challenges of sharing data.
• How does technology affect or impact the healthcare consumer?
• What are the legal ramifications related to technology/software and its use in the healthcare setting?
• What are some of the key data points/metrics that a healthcare entity is focused on from a management standpoint?
• Where is HC technology headed for the future? i.e. AI, Machine Learning, Robotics etc.

Guest Host- Brian Housewright- US Navy Using Starlink, Celebrity AI Scams, New Cars Being Watchdogs, Cool Tech for Hot Outdoors, AI Travel Scams

News and Updates:

• US Navy allowing sailors to use Starlink for Internet access while aboard ship
• Tom Hanks and other celebs in AI scams
• Ford applied for a patent that could make cars surveillance tools
• New tech in clothes making it cooler on hot days
• Another Alert about AI and Travel “Deals Scams”

Our Guest, Doug Kelly, American Edge Project

The Interview:

• The importance of American Leadership in all things technology
• China is biggest threat to US technology and economy
• Congress needs to develops laws to spur technology advancements

Altering Google Maps, NFL & Facial Recognition, Gemini Replacing Google Translate, SpaceX for Emergency Cellular Calls, Cars Talking To Cars

News and Updates:

• People are requesting to blur their homes on Google Maps
• NFL is using facial recognition for credentialing in Vegas, not everyone is happy with
• Will Google’s LLM Gemini replace Google Translate?
• SpaceX wants to provide emergency cellular calls to go across their system
• USDOT is pushing for car to talk to other cars, especially autonomous vehicles

Kids Bypassing Parental Controls On iPhones, Defending the Dissertation- Dr. Haggai D. Davis, III

The Question of the Week: I’ve been told it is easy for my kids to bypass the Parental Controls on iPhones, is this true?

The Big Story: Dr. Haggai D. Davis, III

Defending the Doctoral Dissertation:

Understanding, Assessing and Improving the Feasibility of Urban Freight Electrification

DOJ Sues TikTok, Win10 To Win11 Upgrade Mandate, Streaming Vs. Cable TV, Unique Challenge to Section 230, Social Security Number Breach, AI Creates IPA Beer

News and Updates:

• US Dept of Justice sues TikTok over Child Privacy law infractions
• Microsoft Confirms Oct 2025 as End of Life (Support) for Windows 10, Upgrade to Win 11 Now!
• Streaming platforms were 41% of TV watched in July, Cable TV was 20%
• New challenge to Section 230, trying to use it against Big Tech
• National Public Data was breached, 272 Mil Social Security numbers released
• NJ Brewery used AI to create a recipe for a new IPA to great reviews

Bluetooth Cyber Risk, ChatGPT Anti-Cheating Tool, Overturning Chevron V. NRDC

The Question of the Week: Are Bluetooth headphones, or EarPods, a cyber security risk?

 The Big Stories:

• ChatGPT has a tool to prevent cheating , OpenAI will not release it
• SCOTUS overturned Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, how that affects Big Tech

Google Ruled A Monopolist, Musk Sues Former Advertisers, Musk Moves Twitter HQ

News and Updates:

US Dept of Justice wins case against Google

• Illegally maintained a monopoly status
• Could possibly change search industry
• Could possibly change smartphone industry
• If Google is forced to change, what are the possibilities?
• Microsoft Edge, Mozilla and Firefox could benefit from the ruling
• Don’t expect changes from Google very quickly, probably in the courts for years

Elon Musk and Twitter/X

• Suing Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which represents lots of major advertisers
• Moving HQ from San Francisco to Texas for political and financial reasons

Guest Host William Sellers Talking About Datacenters

The Big Stories:

• What is a datacenter and what actually happens in a there
• What are the qualifications one would need to have to work in a datacenter?
• In your nearly 25 years of working in a datacenter, what are some of the biggest changes you seen?
• Are all datacenters alike? If not, what are some differentiators?
• DartPoints Datacenters

Guest Host William Sellers- Amazon Still Losing $$ On Twitch, Gemini For Search, EU Creating More Rules for AI, Technology’s Grip On Our Modern Lifestyles

News and Updates:

• Amazon paid $1B ten years ago and still losing money
• Using Google’s Gemini for search
• The EU is taking in consultation shaping rules for AI
• Our dependence on tech in our daily lives, highlighted by CrowdStrike

Guest Franz Borghardt, Attorney at Law, Discusses SCOTUS Social Media Decisions And 1st Amendment

The Big Stories:

• SCOTUS sent 2 cases, Texas and Florida attempted to regulate Social Media Platforms, back to lower courts for more work

CrowdStrike Details, Trump Shooter’s Phone, Stalkerware

The Question of the Week: How can our society minimize the effects of such things as the CrowdStrike Tech outages recently?

News and Updates:

CrowdStrike: Who are they, Who was affected, What caused the crash, Lessons learned

FBI gets into Trump shooter’s smartphone

Stalkerware: What is it?, How do you get it?, How do you get rid of it?

Guest Host Suzanne Wortmann- Archiving Data Files, Chicago PD & Machine Learning, Spotting Fake Videos, Social Media Influencers Money Woes

The Question of the Week: What is the best to save files for a long time?

The Big Stories:

• Machine learning predicting shootings in Chicago
• Can you really spot a fake video online?
• Social Media Influencers are not making much money
• Influencing is still hard to walk away from

Guest Host Suzanne Wortmann- Car Dealership Woes, AT&T Client Data Leak, No New Siri, Google Maps Upgrade, Google Advanced Protection, Google Monitoring Dark Web

News and Updates:

• CDK Global ransomware attack cripples car dealerships then pays ransom
• Entire AT&T Customer Base phone and text data released. White hat hacker deletes the data
• Apple will not upgrade Siri with new AI until Spring 2025
• Google Maps gets upgrades on Car Play
• Google Advanced Account Protection is easier to use
• Google will monitor Dark Web for you for free

Which Accounts need MFA, Big $$ Investments in AI Startups, Smaller AI May Be Better, AI Bubble?, Training AI LLM’s, Too Much Spent On AI, Little ROI

The Question of the Week: Is MFA more important on different types of accounts?

The Big Stories:

• Investors put $56B into startups in Q2- 2024, ½ went to start up AI Companies
• AI Companies are trying smaller Large Language Models to save money
• We are in an AI Bubble, are we headed for an AI Burst
• AI Companies are spending billions on training their LLM’s
• When, if ever, will investors see a return on their money?

The End Of: Japan’s Floppy Disk, Wii U, Amazon’s Astro Robot, 1 Million Check Boxes, 10B Passwords Leaked, Tips for Better Passwords, Hackers Stealing Crypto

News and Updates:

• Japan has finally stopped requiring 3.5 inch floppy disc
• Nintendo will no longer support/fix the Wii U
• Amazon ends the Astro Robot program
• One Million Checkboxes is useless and fun!
• 10 Billion Password leaded in largest ever data breach
• 4 Tips for creating better passwords
• Hackers have stolen $1.4B in Crypto currency so far this year

Carl England & Monika England Interview- Industrial Design & Architecture (Part 2 of 2)

Carl England & Monika England Interview- Industrial Design & Architecture (Part 2 of 2)

• Motivation to get into Design & Architecture
• How Design & Architecture have been altered by technology

Carl England & Monika England Interview- Industrial Design & Architecture (Part 1 of 2)

Carl England & Monika England Interview- Industrial Design & Architecture (Part 1 of 2)

• Evolution of technology in Design and Architecture
• Tech tools used in Design & Architecture
• How technology both hindered and helped the design process

Olympic AI Al Michaels, Don’t But An iPhone This Summer, Wi-Fi 7 and Win11, YouTube Defeats Ad Blockers

News and Updates:

• NBC will have a GenAI Al Michaels giving personal Olympic updates
• Do not buy an iPhone, iPad or Mac this summer, wait until the fall’s new line up
• If you want Wi-Fi 7, you will need Win11 on your PC
• YouTube has a new way of defeating Ad Blockers

A Special 1-Year Later Discussion on LLM’s And Generative AI (Part 3 of 3)

The Expert Panel:

Don Monistere, CEO & President - General Informatics

Justin Obney, CTO – Paystar

Kenny Nguyen, CEO – ThreeSixtyEight

 

From a year ago:

• Can we trust these LLM’s?
• What has been the acceptance rate?
• What does the next 1 Year look like?

A Special 1-Year Later Discussion on LLM’s And Generative AI (Part 2 of 3)

The Expert Panel:

Don Monistere, CEO & President - General Informatics

Justin Obney, CTO – Paystar

Alexander Adams Founder/CEO - Vigilus & Griffin Games

Kenny Nguyen, CEO – ThreeSixtyEight

 

From a year ago:

• What have we learned about Generative AI?
• What is the predominant status of Generative AI?

A Special 1-Year Later Discussion on LLM’s And Generative AI (Part 1 of 3)

The Expert Panel:

Don Monistere, CEO & President - General Informatics

Justin Obney, CTO – Paystar

Alexander Adams Founder/CEO - Vigilus & Griffin Games

Kenny Nguyen, CEO – ThreeSixtyEight

 

From a year ago:

• What were we right about Generative AI?
• What were we wrong about Generative AI?

iOS 18 Features, Apple intelligence, Apple AI on your iPhone 15 or newer, AI Candidates Running For Parliament and For Mayor In Wyoming Microsoft’s New AI Tool

The Question of the Week: When is ChatGPT coming to my iPhone?

The Big Stories:

• Apple new AI started in Google datacenter, runs local on your phone or Mac
• Apple’s AI will require the iPhone 15 Pro or later to get all of the features of iOS 18
• An AI candidate is running for Parliament in the UK
• An AI candidate wants to run for Mayor in Cheyenne, Wy- Sec of State says NO!
• Microsoft’s new AI tool VASA-1 can create realistic videos from a still photo

Surgeon Gen’s Warning Label for Social Media, Mouse-Mover get workers fired, Online Passport Renewals, Microsoft Delays “Recall”, Ending Samsung Repair Programs

News and Updates:

• The US Surgeon General urges Congress to put a Warning label on Social Media
• Remote workers caught using “Mouse-Mover” technology get fired
• You can renew your US Passport online, if you are quick enough to log on at 1pm ET
• Microsoft decides against rolling out “Recall” and negative feedback and security risk
• BestBuy and iFixit ending their Samsung repair programs

Conner Leblanc joins as Special Co-Host- Is Starlink Profitable?, Apple’s Entry in to AI, Siri Gets ChatGPT Integration

The Question of the Week: You mentioned recently that Starlink now has over 6,000 satellites, my question is, “Are they making or losing money”?

The Big Stories:

• Apple’s WWDC announces new “Apple Intelligence”, their entry in the AI arena
• Apple Intelligence will be integrated into the iOS, iPadOS and macOS
• Apple’s Siri will get ChatGPT Integration, so will it suck a lot less

Conner Leblanc joins as Special Co-Host- Microsoft Teams and Office, Windows Recall, MacBook’s Secret Radio, China’s Prepositioned Cyber Threat, Randy Travis’ New AI Generated Song

News and Updates:

• The EU has force Microsoft to split Teams from Office
• Microsoft’s Copilot+ will have a feature called “Windows Recall”
• MacBooks and iPads have secret radio that does nothing?
• China is reading cyber attacks aimed at US infrastructure
• Randy Travis has released an AI Generated song and it debuted on Billboard’s Country chart

Restarting Smart Phones, OpenAI’s Next Frontier and SuperAlignment Team, Google Gives Strange Results, Google’s Algorithm Leaked, Can You Trust AI?, Celebrity AI, Low Adoption Rate for AI Worldwide

The Question of the Week: You Should Restart Your Phone Weekly: Here's Why

The Big Stories:

• OpenAI begins planning for their “Next Frontier Model”
• OpenAI is restarting their SuperAlignment Team to put in safeguards and better training
• Google’s Gemini Give bizarre search results and scrambles to remove weird answers
• Google confirms leaked documents about their search algorithm are legitimate
• Can you trust AI, especially at work?
• Would you want to talk to an AI of your favorite celebrity or influencer?
• Worldwide adoption rate to Generative AI is very low

Hackers Breach Christie’s Auction House, FTC Warns Of More Scams, Preventing Facebook From Sharing Your Data, Win 10 EOL Options, Zoom Stupidities

News and Updates:

• Hackers breach Christies’ Auction House, Christies’ ignores ransom demands!
• FTC warns scammers are using more email and less cell phones using big brand names
• How to stop Facebook from sharing all of your personal data
• Windows 10 End Of Life is Oct2025, what are your options
• A man Zooms into his court proceed about a suspending driver’s license, while driving

How Big Is Google, Smartphones Banned From The Classroom, Parents Struggle With The Ban, Does Banning Smartphones From The Classroom Make A Difference?

The Question of the Week: You guys talk about it, but how big is Google?

The Big Stories:

• Schools ban smartphones, social media usage goes down, things get better
• 43% of schools already have a ban on smartphones, very few actually enforce the ban
• Parents struggle with smartphone ban more than students
• Should smartphones be allowed in the classroom?

TikTok Sues U.S., iPhone Spyware, 3rd Party iOS App Store, Google and Microsoft on Passkeys, LinkedIn Games Launches, Starlink Update

Read the rest of this entry »

AI Hype Bubble, Gen AI And Job Loss?, Gen AI Relacing Call Centers, Catholic AI Priest Gives Strange Answers

The Big Stories:

• Is the Gen AI Hype leveling off?
• Google says Gen AI will not take jobs any time soon
• Gen AI could start replacing call centers in 2025
• Microsoft investing Billions in AI Infrastructure where most call centers are now
• Catholic group created an “AI Priest” bot, who gave strange answers and is no longer a Priest