WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:06.640 So, I was eating alphabet soup for breakfast this morning and the letters 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:10.000 told me that today is tech news day. So, 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:12.080 here I am. I always follow the letters. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:17.119 Mosilla has officially delivered on their promise of an AI kill switch for 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:23.199 Firefox. Starting with Firefox version 148 scheduled for February 24th, users 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:25.600 will find a new AI controls section in 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:31.199 settings with a block AI enhancements toggle that nukes all current and future 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:35.920 AI features from the browser. This comes after announcements late last year that 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:41.920 Mozilla would be turning Firefox into a modern AI browser, prompting enraged AI 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:45.760 haters the world over to flood online forums demanding these features be 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:49.200 optional, even though it said right there in the blog post that they would 00:00:47.440 --> 00:00:54.079 be optional. All of this is happening amidst Mosilla's larger AI strategy, 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:57.920 which is running counter to what most of the tech giants are doing. Mark Surman, 00:00:56.320 --> 00:01:02.000 president of the Mosilla Foundation, which owns the Mosilla Corporation, 00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:06.799 which makes Firefox. Anyway, he says he's building a rebel alliance of 00:01:04.479 --> 00:01:12.880 startups and developers to take on the big tech AI empire. The goal is to make 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:18.880 AI more open and trustworthy and build a mainstream open-source AI ecosystem by 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.280 2028, which maybe won't blow up the AI 00:01:18.880 --> 00:01:25.920 Death Star, but might blow up the shield generator stationed on AI Endor. We took 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:30.400 this analogy way too far. Mozzilla is not the only one trying to win back the 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:34.400 anti- AI crowd. Remember last Friday when we talked about Windows President 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:38.320 Pavon Davaluri saying that 2026 would be about rebuilding trust? Well, Windows 00:01:36.640 --> 00:01:43.759 Central is now further reporting that Microsoft is actively walking back their 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:48.079 AI push. Copilot buttons in Notepad and Paint are under review. And they're 00:01:45.520 --> 00:01:52.880 currently exploring ways to evolve the recall feature as they currently 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:57.600 consider it to be a failure along with most other people. But you know what 00:01:54.640 --> 00:02:01.119 they say, the greatest teacher failure is. It's just too bad that Disney hasn't 00:01:59.600 --> 00:02:07.759 seemed to learn anything from from the failure of the sequels. But anyway, different video. SpaceX has filed with 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:10.560 the FCC to launch up to 1 million 00:02:07.759 --> 00:02:14.800 satellites into orbit to serve as data centers for AI, which is frankly going 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:20.319 to do nothing to help Elon beat the super villain allegations. For context, 00:02:17.040 --> 00:02:23.280 there are currently only about 15,000 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:28.000 satellites circling Earth in total, and about 10,000 of those are already 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:33.360 Starlink satellites. So this would be an incredibly reasonable 100 times increase 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:38.000 because according to the filing, it's a first step towards becoming a 00:02:35.440 --> 00:02:41.599 Cardartesev 2 level civilization, which is evidently a civilization that can 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:46.160 harness the sun's full power. You know, for some reason, I thought we were all 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:50.080 worried about egg prices and inflation. I completely forgot we were supposed to 00:02:48.319 --> 00:02:54.160 be super focused on harnessing the sun's full power. But why data center 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.480 satellites? Well, they would orbit between 500 and 2,000 km up, communicate 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:05.280 via lasers, and radiate heat into the vacuum of space instead of wreaking 00:03:02.720 --> 00:03:09.920 havoc on groundbased water systems, which will still happen, but not because 00:03:07.519 --> 00:03:15.360 of the new space-based data centers. This comes as Musk's SpaceX just 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:20.080 announced it's acquiring XAI, which already absorbed Twitter, aka X, last 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:26.080 year. So, this is going to be combining his rockets, Starlink satellites, the X 00:03:22.720 --> 00:03:28.640 platform, and Grock all under one roof 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:34.959 ahead of a SpaceX IPO expected to value the company above $1 trillion. All this 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:39.519 so we can make Grock better, which given all the trouble it's been for us 00:03:36.239 --> 00:03:41.680 subcartev level one plebs, I fully 00:03:39.519 --> 00:03:46.879 support hurling into space. But it made a better Wikipedia, 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:49.599 did it? Notepad++, the popular text 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:54.560 editor, was compromised for the last 6 months of 2025, according to the app's 00:03:52.239 --> 00:03:58.720 developers, and Rapid 7, a cyber security firm who did a follow-up 00:03:56.159 --> 00:04:03.439 investigation. Apparently, Chinese state affiliated hacker group Lotus Blossom, 00:04:01.519 --> 00:04:09.120 compromised the hosting infrastructure behind Notepad++'s update system and 00:04:06.560 --> 00:04:13.599 selectively redirected certain targeted users to malicious servers. Not 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:18.560 everyone, they just said, "Fuck these users." in particular. The campaign 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:22.639 began around June 2025. The hackers briefly lost access after an update in 00:04:20.799 --> 00:04:27.120 September and then got back in using stolen credentials that were never 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:31.280 rotated. It wasn't until December that someone finally noticed what was 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:36.720 happening, allowing Notepad++ to patch the issue in version 8.8.9, add proper 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:40.800 certificate and signature checks, rotate credentials, and move to a new hosting 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:44.000 provider. Rapid 7 says the affected users were mostly government and 00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:47.680 infrastructure related targets in Southeast Asia and Central America. But 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.360 even if you don't live there, you never know when Chinese state hackers are 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:55.759 going to decide to ruin your day. So you should probably make sure your Notepad++ 00:04:53.919 --> 00:04:59.120 is fully patched. And check out our sponsor, Acflow. It's the ultimate 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:03.040 productivity tool for busy professionals. Organize your day with 00:05:00.880 --> 00:05:07.199 intuitive time blocking. Just drag and drop tasks directly into your calendar 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:11.039 and connect Gmail, Slack, To-Doist, Notion, and more to see all your tasks 00:05:09.520 --> 00:05:16.320 in one place. Well, that all sounds great, but it's 2026, so where are the 00:05:13.039 --> 00:05:18.479 AI features? Well, with AI Co-Pilot, 00:05:16.320 --> 00:05:23.039 AIFlow learns your habits and assigns tasks automatically, saving you time and 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:27.039 keeping you focused. No fuss for us. Plus, customize your workflow with 00:05:24.960 --> 00:05:31.039 color-coded projects, morning rituals, and AI powered organization. AIFlow 00:05:29.280 --> 00:05:35.520 helps you stay in control, focused, and productive every day. So, enhance your 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.400 productivity today with AIFlow. Use our link below to get started. Sometimes I 00:05:37.039 --> 00:05:44.080 like to move the alphabet soup around with my spoon really, really fast and see what it spells. And one time it 00:05:41.520 --> 00:05:50.000 spelled quick bits kind of if you kind of like turned if you were like 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:55.199 stupid. Apple has completely redesigned how you buy a Mac online, giving 00:05:52.400 --> 00:06:00.320 customers more options for building the computer they want. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:06:04.960 Tim, you've changed. I hardly recognize you. Instead of choosing from 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:10.479 preconfigured models, you now build your machine component by component. Display, 00:06:07.840 --> 00:06:15.199 chip, memory, storage, even which power adapter you want. What company is this? 00:06:12.880 --> 00:06:22.160 Price and delivery time update in real time as you customize. Look, I'm just a 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:25.840 CEO standing in front of a customer 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:28.880 asking them to configure their own Mac. 00:06:25.840 --> 00:06:31.440 I love you. Never leave. Not like 00:06:28.880 --> 00:06:37.600 Barbara did. Barbara. And in other surprisingly good Apple news, Apple is 00:06:33.919 --> 00:06:40.080 adding a new privacy toggle in iOS 26.3 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:44.240 that lets iPhone and iPad users limit how precisely cellular carriers can 00:06:42.400 --> 00:06:48.960 track their location. Instead of a street level pin, networks may only see 00:06:46.479 --> 00:06:53.360 a rough area without hurting signal quality or emergency services. The catch 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:57.759 is that it only works on newer devices and supported carriers. But hey, it's a 00:06:55.919 --> 00:07:01.039 start. Like, my carrier doesn't need to know that I went to McDonald's at 2:00 00:06:59.520 --> 00:07:04.639 a.m. and then sell that info to advertisers who will serve me ads for 00:07:02.880 --> 00:07:07.919 late night drive-throughs that continues a vicious cycle because I'll keep going. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:14.160 I don't know, maybe we can get Tim Cook to just disable tracking altogether by bribing him with some Apple turnovers. 00:07:11.440 --> 00:07:19.199 My favorite, Amazon is tightening its reigns on sideloading on Fire TV 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:23.120 devices. After first slapping piracy apps with full screen warnings at 00:07:21.039 --> 00:07:27.759 launch, Amazon has now moved the roadblock earlier, showing an app 00:07:25.440 --> 00:07:31.599 installation blocked message for apps that are flagged as providing unlicensed 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:35.919 content. The company says there are no exceptions and you are absolutely not 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:39.759 able to get around it, which somebody's going to take as a challenge. It pairs 00:07:37.599 --> 00:07:44.960 neatly with Amazon's plans for a new Fire TV operating system called Vega OS, 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:49.360 which promises to block sideloading entirety. It's the feature users want. 00:07:47.520 --> 00:07:54.400 Guess now you can't promise your mom that the Shadow the Hedgehog app on your 00:07:51.440 --> 00:07:59.199 TV is definitely 100%. It's Netflix. It just looks different. Motorola just 00:07:55.919 --> 00:08:01.520 launched the new Moto G17, a budget 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:07.680 phone that ships with the last generation Android 15 and somewhat 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:09.759 awkwardly zero promised Android OS 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:14.639 upgrades. As some tech journalists recently discovered, EU rules that 00:08:12.319 --> 00:08:18.960 sounded like they require manufacturers to provide 5 years of updates actually 00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:24.560 contained a loophole in the form of a very big if. If a company chooses to 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:29.280 provide updates for a device, then those updates must be available for 5 years. 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:34.399 Motorola has simply chosen not to provide OS updates for the Moto G17. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:39.200 Easy. They have chosen to provide two years of security updates which will 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:43.360 according to EU rules remain available to download for five years after the 00:08:41.839 --> 00:08:48.240 phone leaves the market. Does that all make sense? TLDDR, it's all perfectly 00:08:45.760 --> 00:08:52.880 legal if you kind of squint. And it's also perfectly legal for us to tell 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:57.920 Motorola to off. And scientists in Shanghai just built a computer chip 00:08:55.200 --> 00:09:04.800 inside a fiber thinner than a human hair. And it's absurdly tough. The team 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:06.640 at Fudan University packed about 100,000 00:09:04.800 --> 00:09:12.320 transistors per centimeter into a flexible strand that survives washing 00:09:09.360 --> 00:09:20.000 machines, extreme heat, and being crushed by 15.6 tons. 00:09:16.560 --> 00:09:23.120 15.7 tons. It's done. It's aimed at 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:25.200 smart textiles, VR gear, and even brain 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:28.320 computer interfaces. I just feel like I'm thinking of other things. This is 00:09:26.880 --> 00:09:31.760 going to be like an actual functional reasons for robots to have hair. And if 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:36.160 you cut it off, they lose all their power. It's Samson. 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:40.399 But no matter what your hair looks like, I know you have the strength to return 00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:47.040 back here on Wednesday for more tech news. The soup says you'll be back. The 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:47.040 soup doesn't lie. Unlike the cake,