Newsletter Archives

• MS-DEFCON 2: Closing out the year

  Posted on December 5, 2024 at 02:45 CST by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.49.1 • 2024-12-05

  

  By Susan Bradley

  As we close the year of patching, I’m surprised to see that our vendors are facing many of the same issues they faced years ago — governments looking over their actions.

  But this time, instead of scrutinizing monopolies for on-premises software, they are looking at how Microsoft is making monopolizing cloud services as well as coercing governments to use more of their services. Recently, a ProPublica investigation questioned how much Microsoft’s free government outreach to enhance the security of its products was designed to lock government customers into these subscription services.

  Then the Department of Justice asked a judge to break up Google and force it to sell off the Chrome browser and restrict their use of artificial intelligence and the Android mobile operating system. I still remember the lengthy monopoly trials against Microsoft. It seems like the more things change, the more things in technology stay the same. We constantly have a push-pull relationship with our vendors.

  Anyone can read the full MS-DEFCON Alert (21.49.1, 2024-12-05).

  AskWoody Plus Alert, MS-DEFCON AI, AirPods Pro 2, Alerts, Antitrust, Apple, Google, MS-DEFCON, MS-DEFCON 2, Patch Lady Posts, Scanners, Windows 11 23H2, Windows 11 24H2

• Write 200 social-media posts in 10 minutes! Quality, right?

  Posted on October 28, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  I’ve been thinking about the profession of journalism lately, given the emails bombarding me these days about how I could create 240, 300, or even 1,200 articles per hour if I would only use the latest in chatbot tech.

  YouTube’s funny farm is overflowing with videos of such miracles. They tell me I could write a whole ebook in 24 hours — true writers never sleep, you know — and make $8,327 a week ($433,000 a year) merely by pressing a few buttons.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.44.0, 2024-10-28).

  Public Defender AI, Chatbot decay, Chatbots, ChatGPT, Generative AI, Newsletters

• Core Ultra Series 2 desktop processors

  Posted on October 14, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  INTEL

  

  By Will Fastie

  Once again, new naming conventions make understanding Intel’s processors confusing.

  Late last week, Intel announced a series of new Core Ultra processors for desktop computers. These are designated “S” models. A month ago, Intel announced Core Ultra processors for laptops, designated “V.”

  At least for the moment, this is all very confusing. My big takeaway is that the V models are optimized for AI in the most popular form factor, laptops. The S models are optimized for the desktop gaming market. These initial S models do not perform as well for AI.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.42.0, 2024-10-14).

  Intel AI, Copilot+ PCs, Core Ultra, Intel Processors, Newsletters, NPUs, Performance, TSMC

• Forces shaping the future: The courts at work

  Posted on September 23, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  Three social factors shape the path of future development of technology: government rules, litigation, and consumer actions.

  In last month’s Legal Brief, we reviewed how government rules and enforcement actions are being used to attempt to influence how technology will develop.

  This time, we’ll look at how litigation — both private and governmental — is being used in attempts to influence the path of technological development.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.39.0, 2024-09-23).

  Legal Brief AI, ByteDance, Consumers, Copyright, Facebook, Fair Use, GARM, Google, Legal, Litigation, Meta, Newsletters, NFT, TikTok

• Microsoft’s new Copilot+ PCs don’t play nice with games

  Posted on September 16, 2024 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Microsoft is wreaking havoc in the virtual worlds of billion-dollar online gaming companies, with incompatibilities in its new Copilot+ machines.

  These much-hyped PCs feature a new processor based on power-efficient Arm chips from Qualcomm. Redmond’s shift to non-Intel silicon gives the new Windows 11 PCs a modicum of built-in artificial intelligence and other features. No access to a central AI server is needed. (See Microsoft’s introduction of the new devices.)

  But almost half of the more than 1,300 video games tested by an independent third party are running slowly, subjecting users to stuttering game play, or refusing to run at all. The worst incompatibilities affect the biggest names in multiplayer environments.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.38.0, 2024-09-16).

  Public Defender AI, Compatibility, Copilot+ PCs, Games, Neural Processing Units, Newsletters, NPUs, Qualcomm, Snapdragon X Elite

• Your government at work

  Posted on August 26, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Max Stul Oppenheimer • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.35 • 2024-08-26

  LEGAL BRIEF

  

  By Max Stul Oppenheimer, Esq.

  While most of the world was distracted by the question of whether anyone in their right mind would voluntarily swim in the Seine, there were major legal developments affecting the tech world.

  In a two-part series, I’ll first summarize what the US federal government has been up to. In the follow-on column, I’ll cover some notable actions taken by state governments and private individuals.

  First, the feds.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.35.0, 2024-08-26).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Legal Brief AI, Antitrust, ByteDance, Credit cards, Deepfakes, Federal Trade Commission, Generative AI, Google, Newsletters, Targeted Pricing, Terms of Service, TikTok

• Intel’s troubles

  Posted on August 12, 2024 at 02:45 CDT by Will Fastie • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 21.33 • 2024-08-12

  INTEL

  

  By Will Fastie

  In the nearly 50 years I’ve been following Intel, I’ve never seen the company in such disarray. Things are bad.

  On August 1, Intel released its financial results for its second fiscal quarter ending July 31. Although there was a tiny bright spot in its Client Computing Group (up 9% year over year), net revenue was down 1% and the company recorded a quarterly loss of USD $1.6 billion, nearly $3 billion lower year over year.

  Intel’s stock dropped by over 25% in the two following days. And that’s just one of Intel’s problems.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.33.0, 2024-08-12).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Intel AI, Apple, Core 13900K, Core 14900K, Intel, Intel News, Microsoft, Microsoft Surface, Newsletters, Qualcomm, Silicon, Surface

• Can we align human interests with robots, so they don’t turn on us?

  Posted on August 5, 2024 at 02:43 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Robots in human-like forms are already starting to assume jobs that have been performed for centuries by ordinary workers in manufacturing, logistics, and other industries.

  This is my second column in a two-part series. The first installment described humanoid bots that are faster than humans at certain tasks, much stronger in moving heavy objects, and far lower in cost than the labor force in most industrialized nations. Employers are currently paying only $10 to $12 per hour for bots when averaged over the useful lives of the mechanical workers.

  The outlay is expected to fall into the $2 to $3 per hour range, plus software costs, as soon as mass-production scale is achieved, which is projected to occur as early as 2025.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (21.32.0, 2024-08-05).

  Public Defender AI, Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Isaac Asimov, Newsletters, Robots
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