WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 Happy Halloween! You know when you think about it, this show is a bit like Frankenstein's Monster. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:10.000 We take bits of tech news from all over the place and jam them into one wildly entertaining 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:15.760 package. Plus, I'm sure our humor makes the viewers grown like the monster sometimes, too, 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:24.640 in ecstasy. AMD's release notes for their latest GPU driver update mysteriously omitted any mention 00:00:24.640 --> 00:00:32.640 of Radeon 5000 and 6000 series GPUs, causing concern that AMD was sunsetting those cards. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:37.680 Multiple outlets reached out to AMD, who clarified that the 5000 and 6000 series cards, 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:43.680 still in the prime of their lives, would be put into maintenance mode, only getting updates for 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:49.840 critical security and bug support. That would be frustrating for owners of the RDNA1 and 2 00:00:50.800 --> 00:00:56.480 and also a pretty wild move, as some of those graphics cards are only just over three years old. 00:00:56.480 --> 00:01:02.960 Not to mention that RDNA1 and 2 GPUs power many gaming handhelds, including the just-released 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:09.280 ROG Xbox ally. But we could take some small solace in the fact that the Steam Deck and SteamOS 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:14.240 powered devices would be unaffected because of AMD's Linux drivers being open source, 00:01:14.240 --> 00:01:19.120 as if we needed another reason to yearn for the greener SteamOS pastures. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:24.880 But don't despair just yet. After working the internet all up into a tizzy, this driver nightmare 00:01:24.880 --> 00:01:29.920 might prove to be a Halloween trick from AMD, as they've now declared that they'll continue 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:38.560 to release new features and game optimizations for RDNA1 and 2 based cards, quote, as required by 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:45.120 market needs. Whatever that means. And I think it's safe to assume that the market doesn't need 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:50.880 you to make three-year-old hardware obsolete just a bit too soon, guys. Microsoft is being 00:01:50.880 --> 00:01:57.920 accused of having YouTube remove videos detailing how to bypass Windows 11's installation requirements. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:04.480 YouTuber CyberCPUTech, aka Rich, told Tom's hardware that having some of his videos taken down 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.600 just days apart, he thought something was fishy when he appealed YouTube's decision and they 00:02:09.600 --> 00:02:15.200 told him his videos contained harmful or dangerous content, leading him to assume Microsoft is 00:02:15.200 --> 00:02:20.880 pushing for the takedowns rather than it being YouTube's discretion. Now, whether Microsoft's 00:02:20.880 --> 00:02:26.640 actually involved here is still unclear, and there are many active YouTube videos that cover 00:02:26.640 --> 00:02:31.920 the same content that he was flagged for, but the story is worth following because Microsoft 00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:37.200 does appear to be taking drastic actions to get folks to use Windows 11 the way they want you 00:02:37.440 --> 00:02:44.160 to, including killing poor Windows 10. It's only three years old. Microsoft, 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:50.560 the answer might just be to make Windows 11 good, but instead you gave us an optional October update 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:56.560 with a funny new bug. Whenever you try to close a task manager window, a new copy of task manager 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:02.240 opens up to replace it. Hey, you know what? I guess I can see why folks might want to make 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:08.480 content about how to more easily deal with Windows 11's BS. Tesla CEO Elon Musk says 00:03:08.480 --> 00:03:15.760 idling Tesla vehicles could soon double as part of a 100 million vehicle AI supercomputer 00:03:15.760 --> 00:03:21.440 generating up to 100 gigawatts of distributed computing power. This plan would allow parked 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:27.520 cars to lend their onboard chips to train AI models because in a time when we're strapping 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:33.120 decommissioned jet turbines to data centers, heaven forbid we leave a single ounce of computing 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:38.560 power on the table. It's a bold idea, although owners may have other Tesla-related concerns 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:44.560 right now. What with the company recently issuing a recall of some cyber trucks whose headlights 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:50.800 have been falling off thanks to Tesla securing them with adhesive instead of bolts? Hey, who needs 00:03:50.800 --> 00:03:55.280 lights anyway, right? Definitely not anyone driving during the daytime, the only time people ever 00:03:55.680 --> 00:04:00.480 drive, right? Anyway, meanwhile, the company's RoboTaxies, which launched this year in Austin, 00:04:00.480 --> 00:04:05.200 Texas, are reportedly crashing more frequently than their Waymo-powered counterparts 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:12.160 despite having a human safety supervisor on board. Now on the bright side, SpaceX is reportedly set 00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:19.760 to land a $2 billion Pentagon contract for Trump's Golden Dome Missile Defense Network. 00:04:19.760 --> 00:04:24.080 Because when Tesla stopped moving, Musk just launches something else. 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:28.880 Famously, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein's author, came up with the concept for the novel while 00:04:28.880 --> 00:04:34.400 summering in Switzerland. Funnily enough, the QuickBits also love Switzerland, big skiers, 00:04:34.400 --> 00:04:40.160 not so big on taking sides in a war. The US and China have agreed to a one-year trade truce, 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:46.320 pausing tariffs and restrictions on semiconductors and rare earth exports. The deal marks a rare 00:04:46.320 --> 00:04:52.880 cooldown in the ongoing tech trade war, with both sides pledging to reopen supply chains and 00:04:52.880 --> 00:04:58.720 stabilize the global chip market. Still, whether China will be allowed to buy NVIDIA's Blackwell 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:04.240 chips remains unclear under the new export rules. So for now, this is less of a peace treaty and 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:10.560 more like hitting the snooze button on a trade war that is destined to ring once more. Five more 00:05:11.040 --> 00:05:18.400 minutes. NAY! Samsung is bringing its chromium-based mobile browser called Samsung Internet to Windows PCs. 00:05:18.400 --> 00:05:24.560 The browser syncs history, bookmarks, and passwords between Galaxy phones and PCs. Features we 00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:29.520 definitely haven't seen in a web browser before. Samsung says their new desktop browser will deliver 00:05:29.520 --> 00:05:36.080 a seamless connected browsing experience. That is also delivered by a plethora of other chromium-based 00:05:36.080 --> 00:05:41.760 browsers we now have available that all pitch the same thing. But this one is also pre-installed in 00:05:41.760 --> 00:05:48.720 your phone? Ehh? Ah, Chrome is too. Whatever, it's cool. United States Immigration and Customs 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:54.800 Enforcement, better known as ICE, has their agents scanning people's faces with a smartphone app 00:05:54.800 --> 00:06:00.560 to verify their citizenship status, as reported by 404 Media. You know, it's about time someone 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:04.640 decided whether law enforcement should be able to use facial recognition on the general public, 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:08.160 despite years of debate over the privacy concerns related to such technology. 00:06:08.800 --> 00:06:14.240 Stop talking! Just look at the camera, because according to a DHS document, you can't refuse. 00:06:14.240 --> 00:06:17.920 Plus, it'll store your photo for 15 years for your convenience. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:22.560 Speaking of tools used by law enforcement, a new leak indicates that Celebrite's 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:28.800 phone cracking tools can pull data from most pixel models unless they're running the Android 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:35.200 fork GraphinOS. The leaked slides show that it works even on locked phones, but jokes on the feds, 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:40.320 because this leak seems to have originated from one of their own, a user that goes by 00:06:40.320 --> 00:06:45.760 rogue fed. It just goes to show that once again, if you think your dad is private, 00:06:45.760 --> 00:06:49.840 there's likely a company or an agent sitting next to you in the mission briefing room 00:06:49.840 --> 00:06:55.600 who thinks that's just adorable. And YouTuber Nick Bilt, rigged up a Raspberry Pi to make your 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:01.920 regular modern Wi-Fi sound just like that nostalgic screechy era of dial-up modems. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:09.600 Bilt's contraption feeds live wireless traffic through a Pi 3 plus a USB Wi-Fi adapter, 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:15.200 letting a microcontroller convert the signal into analog noise, which it plays on a little speaker, 00:07:15.200 --> 00:07:21.040 resulting in a charming wail. It sounds a little like the distorted last gasps of a dying robot. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:27.120 It feels like home. This episode is dying too, but we'll be back Monday for more tech news. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:33.600 Here's a Frankenfact. Boris Karlov, who played Frankenstein's monster on screen in 1931, 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:38.640 suffered from chronic back pain due to a brace he wore as the monster while filming. 00:07:39.840 --> 00:07:43.120 That's horrible. I just hope he feels better now.