Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from February, 2025

Rookie robocallers impersonate FCC, accidentally target actual FCC employees

The calls occurred on the night of February 6 and the morning of February 7 last year, as the FCC recently revealed. Over a dozen FCC employees, along with some of their relatives, received automated calls featuring an artificial voice introducing itself as the "FCC Fraud Prevention Team." The robotic... Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/DKYcels via

Trump wants a TikTok deal, but China still might let it die

President Donald Trump boasted that he would save the popular social media platform TikTok from a ban in the U.S. And that still could happen. However, according to those close to the talks, negotiations between the U.S. and TikTok's parent company, the China-based ByteDance, have stalled. In a new report from the Washington Post , sources involved in the deal discussions say that it appears the Chinese government may still let it die unless it receives "larger concessions" from the Trump administration on other policies, such as trade. ByteDance requires approval from China's government before signing off on any sale, and Trump's new tariffs certainly haven't done a potential deal any favors. SEE ALSO: Trump says U.S. government could buy TikTok During his first term, Trump initiated the push to ban TikTok in the U.S., citing national security concerns. However, Trump left office without taking any action to shut TikTok down in the States. Congress...

Tablet shipments rose 9.2% worldwide in 2024, reversing three-year slump

Apple led all other manufacturers in 2024 with nearly 57 million iPads shipped – good for a 38.6 percent market share. The company's most recent release, the iPad mini 7th gen, debuted in late October and features the A17 Pro processor. Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/1nwRHGu via

What was the first all-transistor television ever released?

The world's first non-projection, fully transistorized television was launched in May 1960. Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/MUF5O3b via

47 unique gift ideas for men who say they have everything

Whiskey stones, funny T-shirts, and cheap cologne — these might be classic man gifts, but unique gifts for men, they are not. The special guys in your life deserve better. While searching for the perfect gift, you may have learned the hard way that finding unique gifts for men isn’t always such a simple task, especially if they have more eclectic, off-the-beaten-path tastes. To find the perfect present for these types of guys — whether they’re your dad, brother, best friend, boyfriend , or husband — you’ll need to do some creative thinking and get something they would have never thought of buying for themselves. For Christmas, birthday gifts , Valentine's Day , and anniversary gifts, these are our picks for the most unique and interesting gift ideas for your favorite guy. from Mashable https://ift.tt/NQ1jdUE https://ift.tt/g3I8Rwf

Apple Invites is an AI-powered social event planner

Getting started with Apple Invites is as simple as choosing a background template from the app's gallery or selecting an image from your own photo library. You can also tap into Apple Intelligence to create unique illustrations in Image Playground. From there, simply add any pertinent details like the date,... Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/4ytxEMf via

Bill threatens to make using DeepSeek a crime for Americans

A proposed new law would make it illegal for Americans to download the popular Chinese AI app DeepSeek . On Monday, Sen. Josh Hawley, the Republican senator from Missouri, introduced legislation that would "prohibit the import from or export to China of artificial intelligence technology." While the announcement mentions DeepSeek, the bill called the Decoupling America’s Artificial Intelligence Capabilities from China Act doesn't explicitly mention the Chinese AI company. Instead it speaks more broadly about protecting U.S. intellectual property and preventing a foreign adversary from using technology that undermines national security. SEE ALSO: DeepSeek just taught the AI industry 5 hard lessons "America cannot afford to empower our greatest adversary at the expense of our own strength. Ensuring American economic superiority means cutting China off from American ingenuity and halting the subsidization of CCP innovation," said Hawley in the announceme...

Nearly one million Discord users exposed in third-party app data breach

Nearly one million Discord users just had their account details – including usernames, IP addresses, and Discord IDs – exposed in a hacking forum. However, Discord, the popular chat room service, doesn't appear to have suffered from a data breach directly. Instead, a third-party backup solution known as RestoreCord has been breached. As first noticed by cybersecurity website Leakd , a file containing a massive leak of Discord user data was posted freely on a popular hacking forum called BreachForums. The data, which includes users' Discord IDs, IP addresses, and usernames, was posted by a BreachForums user with the handle "Sythe." RestoreCord is a service used by some Discord users to backup their servers on the platform. RestoreCord says on its website that it is "the only Discord Bot that you will ever need to protect and recover your server from raids, nukes, and more." RestoreCord boasts that it serves 99 million members, including 100,000 paying cus...

Save $50 on the compact Sonos Era 100 smart speaker

SAVE $50: The Sonos Era 100 smart speaker is on sale at Amazon for $199, down from the typical price of $249. That's a 20% discount. Opens in a new window Credit: Sonos Sonos Era 100 $199.00 at Amazon $249.00 Save $50.00 Get Deal Your movies, TV shows, and playlists deserve something better than your TVs built-in speakers . Those are notoriously not so great (for starters, most face backward) and we have a new White Lotus theme song to look forward to in just a few weeks. Before the new episodes drop, make sure your TVs sound system is ready thanks to today's deal at Amazon. As of Feb. 3, the Sonos Era 100 smart speaker is on sale at Amazon for $199, marked down from the standard price of $249. That's a 20% discount that'll save you $50. You're free to snag the white or black colorway options to score this sale price. The Bluetooth enabled Sonos Era 100 is ready to play your favorite tunes with a dual-tweeter acoustic architecture and 25% big...

Microsoft hides "official" workaround for installing Windows 11 on older PCs

When Windows 11 launched in 2021, Microsoft provided an official method for installing the operating system on devices that didn't meet its stringent hardware requirements. However, four years after its debut, Microsoft and its OEM partners would very much like for customers to purchase newer PCs instead of recycling their older machines. Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/pk7ejub via

Elon Musks DOGE team attempt takeover of USAID

Elon Musk and his allies in the federal government are at it again — this time, taking aim at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). According to a CNN report , the chaos kicked off late Saturday night when two senior USAID officials refused to let Musk-linked personnel access the agency’s offices, blocking what appeared to be an attempt to grab sensitive and possibly classified information. Their reward: administrative leave. Now, the future of USAID is hanging by a thread. SEE ALSO: Elon Musk seizes computer system, locks out senior government officials USAID oversees billions in global aid, funding NGOs that fight poverty, famine, and disasters. As an agency rooted in distributing resources to the world’s most vulnerable, it has become a natural target for Musk and President Donald Trump. The duo has already attempted to dismantle social safety nets like FAFSA and SNAP, but federal judges have stopped them . Previous Trump executive orders targeting the age...

Use OBS Studio to livestream your gaming sessions

OBS Studio lets you broadcast to YouTube, Twitch, Instagram, and other platforms, as well as record videos from multiple sources including browser windows, webcams, and more. It's free and runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/IMgCHWO via

NYT Strands hints, answers for February 2

If you're reading this, you're looking for a little help playing Strands , the New York Times ' elevated word-search game. Strands requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically. SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections . If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle,...

Google Sheets now offers AI-powered charts and data analysis

The updated Gemini can now provide in-depth insights into trends, patterns, and correlations within spreadsheet data. For instance, a marketing manager can ask Gemini to analyze the top three performing channels by conversion rate and receive a breakdown with supporting visualizations. Similarly, a financial analyst can prompt the AI to... Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/CaxNOS9 via

Get ready for The Big Game with these great deals on Roku devices

The Big Game is just over a week away, so you know what that means: It's time to start planning the watch party. And if you want to be the best host possible, you're going to want a pretty stellar TV and streaming setup. Also, order a few pizzas. SEE ALSO: What's new to streaming this week? (Jan. 31, 2025) That can quickly become an expensive task, though, so you'll want to take advantage of some deals if you don't want to end up going into credit card debt over simply watching football. Thankfully, Roku is offering a few great discounts on some of their most popular offerings, including TVs and streaming devices. Check out our top Roku deal picks below, and whichever team you're rooting for next week, we hope they win. Roku Pro Series 4K TV Opens in a new window Credit: Roku Roku 55-inch Class Pro Series 4K TV $599.99 at Best Buy $899.99 Save $300.00 Get Deal One of Roku's best budget-friendly TVs is $300 off ahead of The Big Game...

Meta dominates VR market, but Reality Labs division posts $5 billion loss for the quarter

Meta's Reality Labs division achieved a significant milestone in Q4 2024, generating $1.1 billion in sales, primarily driven by the success of the Meta Quest 3 headset. This impressive figure underscores Meta's dominance in the consumer VR gaming market, where the Quest 3 holds most of the market share. Unfortunately,... Read Entire Article from TechSpot https://ift.tt/txUPI1v via