Look, the way TechLink works is simple. If we say anything that offends you, it was just a joke.
If we say anything smart, we meant it, obviously.
Windows is currently vulnerable to two attacks that hackers could use to effectively downgrade
victims' operating systems to older versions of Windows
that didn't constantly show me pop-up ads for OneDrive. Sounds great, sign me up.
That was a joke, do not sign me up, because this isn't the fun kind of version rollback.
One of the attacks could be used to undo bug patches
while the other could replace entire Windows system files
with older versions that are vulnerable to long-forgotten Windows vulnerabilities.
It'd be like letting Grandpa moderate Twitch chat. He's not equipped to deal with those memes.
The attacks were discovered in February 2024
by Safebreach Labs researcher, Alan Leviev,
who immediately disclosed it to Microsoft and the company acknowledged the flaws
and started working on a fix. But it's been a while
and Microsoft still hasn't patched it. So Leviev presented his findings
at the Black Hat USA and DEF CON conferences,
which always seems to me like a dangerous thing to do,
but admittedly, I'm not a hacker. I'm the grandpa, it me.
Apple has once again updated their European App Store policies
in what the tech giant keeps insisting is an attempt to play by the EU's new rules.
Look, we're letting developers promote offers
for purchasing their stuff anywhere, another website, a much worse and stupid app store,
wherever they want. Apple did remove restrictions on developers' linking
outside of their apps, but it added new fees
that could force developers to pay Apple a 15 to 25% cut
of every sale they make on any platform
if the user got there through the iOS app. Obviously, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney is not a fan
and neither is Apple's other arch nemesis regarding this stuff, Spotify,
who called Apple's new rules unacceptable.
I haven't been keeping track perfectly, but this seems like the third time
that Apple has made app store changes to try and avoid getting fined by the EU,
and I'm starting to think this might be a case of Apple genuinely not understanding the assignment.
Okay, sure, yeah, we allow other app stores and linking out and all that,
and then we get the developers firstborn child, right?
No? This is stupid, I should have taken the other course.
Intel has published a detailed update on the patch that will address the now infamous instability issues
in its 13th gen and 14th gen CPUs.
Intel says the patch primarily improves operating conditions
for K, KF, and KS processors, and promises that all future products
will not be affected by this issue, and you can take that to the bank.
Maybe don't though, Intel and Finances don't really go too well together right now.
The patch is being distributed to motherboard makers with at least ASUS and MSI
already rolling out BIOS updates. Thankfully, it seems like patch systems
can expect little to no performance impact, and as the cherry on top,
Intel says they're also investigating mitigations
for processors already impacted by the voltage issue,
although the official guidance is still to get a replacement.
Intel has confirmed they'll be footing the bill for that, even for chips in complete systems
bought through a manufacturer. The Verge, when an asked 14 of them,
if they'd honor Intel's two year extended warranty for affected processors,
all of which said yes, except for Acer, Lenovo, and NZXT.
I think I know a way to bring them around though.
Boo! Boo, bad!
Do the obvious good thing! Intel did not provide any update
on the supposedly completely separate issue also causing instability in some laptop chips,
but they did delay their innovation event
from September to sometime in 2025, although that apparently will not affect
the launch of Aero Lake. That's still gonna launch in 2024,
and it's gonna be completely fine. Quake bits!
OpenAI published the system card for its flagship GPT-4O model,
which shed some light on their reasons for delaying the rollout of its advanced voice mode.
It was doing this wacky thing where it has an emotional outburst
and then impersonates you. I'm gonna do this just for the sake of doing it.
I think it's really important.
That's such a pure and admirable approach.
No, and I'm not driven by impact either,
although if there is impact, that's great.
That's funny.
This comes after OpenAI seemingly upgraded GPT-4O's
capabilities to better compete with recent LLM releases,
which came after multiple executives either left the company or took leaves of absence,
presumably because they were tired of chat GPT sassing them in their own voice.
Rude. I would not like to be told by a robot that I'm not unique.
The latest SteamOS beta contains a hint at the possibility of a general install version of the OS,
which could officially support installation on non-Steam Deck devices.
There is an image that you can install on non-Steam Deck devices,
but it doesn't officially support anything. Said hint is this bullet point in the release notes.
Added support for extra ROG Ally keys.
If you're unaware, the ROG Ally is a Windows handheld with a better processor and display than the Steam Deck,
but it's still somehow worse. SteamOS could go some ways to improving the user experience
and if gamers could install it on anything,
maybe we wouldn't have to rely on Windows so much.
Oh, just install another Linux distro.
I don't want to. Jacob isn't here to take your side, guys. I'm sorry.
An 18 year old vulnerability has been mitigated
that affected virtually every web browser
on macOS and Linux. Windows was not vulnerable.
Windows did have our back on this one. Windows left those footprints in the sand.
Anyway, researchers at Oligo Security, Oligo, I don't know,
published their findings on the 0.0.0.0 day vulnerability.
So named because it allowed malicious websites to exploit the, I have to say it again,
0.0.0.0 IPv4 address.
Safari, Firefox, and Chrome have already been patched,
which is great because I do not want to read that address again. The personal information of three billion people,
like a third of the Earth's population, may have been exposed in a hack,
according to a proposed class action lawsuit against a company called National Public Data,
which is great foreshadowing. Kudos to the writers of reality on that one.
The data breach in question is currently being investigated,
but if the class actions complaints are valid, billions of people just had their full names,
complete addresses, and social security numbers exposed on the dark web.
And that's really embarrassing. And a group of physicists think they can solve
one of the biggest problems in developing practical fusion energy, using mayonnaise.
Turns out we just needed to fling a couple dollops into the reactor and Bob's your...
No, the researchers say they learned something about fusion from spinning some mayonnaise around,
because just like the material inside fusion reactors,
Mayo behaves like a solid, but starts to flow when under pressure.
Next week, we'll cover a breakthrough in the development of warp drives
discovered during a routine lab catch-up fight. So you don't wanna miss it.
Even though I did just make that last thing up, none of us can know whether it will come true,
unless you come back on Monday. I'll have sandwiches.