Happy Halloween. You know, when you think about it, this show is a bit like
Frankenstein's monster. We take bits of tech news from all over the place and
jam them into one wildly entertaining package. Plus, I'm sure our humor makes
the viewers groan like the monster sometimes, too. Um in ecstasy.
AMD's release notes for their latest GPU driver update mysteriously omitted any
mention of Radeon 5000 and 6000 series
GPUs, causing concern that AMD was sunsetting those cards. Multiple outlets
reached out to AMD, who clarified that the 5000 and 6000 series cards, still in
the prime of their lives, would be put into maintenance mode, only getting
updates for critical security and bug support. Now, that would be frustrating
for owners of the RDNA 1 and 2 based cards, and also a pretty wild move, as
some of those graphics cards are only just over 3 years old. Not to mention
that RDNA 1 and 2 GPUs power many gaming
handhelds, including the just-released ROG Ally. But, we could take some small
solace in the fact that the Steam Deck and SteamOS-powered devices would be
unaffected because of AMD's Linux drivers being open source. As if we
needed another reason to yearn for the greener SteamOS pastures. But, don't
despair just yet. After working the internet all up into a tizzy, this
driver nightmare might prove to be a Halloween trick from AMD, as they've now
declared that they'll continue to release new features and game
optimizations for RDNA 1 and 2 based cards, quote, "as required by market
needs." Whatever that means. And I think it's
safe to assume that the market doesn't need you to make 3-year-old hardware
obsolete. Just a bit too soon, uh guys. Microsoft is being accused of having
YouTube remove videos detailing how to bypass Windows 11's installation
requirements. YouTuber CyberCPU Tech, aka Rich, told Tom's Hardware that
having some of his videos taken down just days apart, he thought something
was fishy when he appealed YouTube's decision and they told him his videos
contained harmful or dangerous content, leading him to assume Microsoft is
pushing for the take downs rather than it being YouTube's discretion. Now,
whether Microsoft's actually involved here is still unclear, and there are
many active YouTube videos that cover the same content that he was flagged
for, but the story is worth following because Microsoft does appear to be
taking drastic actions to get folks to use Windows 11 the way they want you to,
including killing poor Windows 10.
It's only 3 years old. Microsoft, the answer might just be to make Windows 11
good. But, instead you gave us an optional October update with a funny new bug.
Whenever you try to close a Task Manager window, a new copy of Task Manager opens
up to replace it. Hey, you know what? I guess I can see
why folks might want to make content about how to more easily deal with
Windows 11's BS. Tesla CEO Elon Musk
says idling Tesla vehicles could soon
double as part of a 100 million vehicle AI supercomputer, generating up to 100
gigawatts of distributed computing power. This plan would allow parked cars
to lend their on-board chips to train AI
models, because in a time when we're strapping decommissioned jet turbines to
data centers, heaven forbid we leave a single ounce of computing power on the
table. It's a bold idea, although owners may have other Tesla-related concerns
right now, what with the company recently issuing a recall of some
Cybertrucks whose headlights have been falling off thanks to Tesla securing
them with adhesive instead of bolts. Hey, who needs lights anyway, right?
Definitely not anyone driving during the daytime, the only time people ever
drive, right? Anyway, meanwhile, the company's robo-taxis, which launched
this year in Austin, Texas, are reportedly crashing more frequently than
their Waymo-powered counterparts, despite having a human safety supervisor
on board. Now, on the bright side, SpaceX is reportedly set to land a $2
billion Pentagon contract for Trump's golden dome missile defense network.
Because when Teslas stop moving, Musk just launches something else. The guy's
so busy, you got to take notes. And that's easy with our sponsor, the Plaud
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step towards improving your note-taking game by checking out the Plaud Note Pro
at the link below. Famously, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein's author, came up
with the concept for the novel while summering in Switzerland. Funnily
enough, the quick bits also love Switzerland. Big skiers. Not so big on
taking sides in a war. The US and China have agreed to a 1-year trade truce,
pausing tariffs and restrictions on semiconductors and rare earth exports.
The deal marks a rare cooldown in the ongoing tech trade war, with both sides
pledging to reopen supply chains and stabilize the global chip market. Still,
whether China will be allowed to buy NVIDIA's Blackwell chips remains unclear
under the new export rules. So, for now, this is less of a peace treaty and more
like hitting the snooze button on a trade war that is destined to ring once
more. Five more minutes. Nay. Samsung is
bringing its Chromium-based mobile browser called Samsung Internet to
Windows PCs. The browser syncs history, bookmarks, and passwords between Galaxy
phones and PCs, features we definitely haven't seen in a web browser before.
Samsung says their new desktop browser will deliver a seamless, connected
browsing experience that is also delivered by a plethora of other
Chromium-based browsers we now have available that all pitch the same thing.
But, this one is also pre-installed on your phone. Uh
Chrome is, too. Whatever. It's It's cool. United States Immigration and
Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, has their agents scanning people's
faces with a smartphone app to verify their citizenship status, as reported by
404 Media. You know, it's about time someone decided whether law enforcement
should be able to use facial recognition on the general public despite years of
debate over the privacy concerns related to such technology. Stop talking. Just
look at the camera, because according to a DHS document, you can't refuse. Plus,
it'll store your photo for 15 years for your convenience. Speaking of tools used
by law enforcement, a new leak indicates that Cellebrite's phone-cracking tools
can pull data from most Pixel models
unless they're running the Android fork GrapheneOS. The leaked slides show that
it works even on locked phones. But, jokes on the feds, because this leak
seems to have originated from one of their own, a user that goes by Rogue
Fed. It just goes to show that once again, if you think your data is
private, there's likely a company or an agent sitting next to you in the mission
briefing room who thinks that's just adorable. And YouTuber Nick Build rigged
up a Raspberry Pi to make your regular modern Wi-Fi sound just like that
nostalgic, screechy era of dial-up modems.
Build's contraption feeds live wireless traffic through a Pi 3 plus a USB Wi-Fi
adapter, letting a microcontroller convert the signal into analog noise,
which it plays on a little speaker, resulting in a charming wail that sounds
a little like the distorted last gasps of a dying robot.
Feels like home. This episode is dying, too, but we'll be back Monday for more
tech news. Here's a Franken fact. Boris
Karloff, who played Frankenstein's monster on screen in 1931, suffered from
chronic back pain due to a brace he wore
as the monster while filming. That's horrible. I just hope he feels
better now.