One of the major issues for EV owners this past summer has been charging. It wasn’t the lack of access to charging stations, rather states such as California and Colorado were experiencing record breaking heat and issuing alerts asking people to reduce their power consumption during the peak times to avoid rolling blackouts. For EV owners who would normally plug-in when they get home, this meant unplugging or not starting to charge until the power demand dropped later in the evening. Bidirectional or vehicle-to-grid charging which while has been around for a few years has been slow to take off in the…
2022
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Yesterday it was reported how iFixit found Apple’s new iPhone 14 was easier to repair than previous generation models. It seems however that ease does not apply to the premium iPhone 14 Pro version. So much for the iPhone 14’s surprisingly repairable design extending across the lineup. iFixit has completed a teardown of the iPhone 14 Pro Max, and the easier-to-fix internals haven’t carried over. Break the back glass and you’ll have a harder time repairing it yourself — or an expensive ($549 in the US) Apple Store visit if your device is out of warranty. While Apple never said the Pro models would receive…
Apple (and other smart phone makers) are facing pressure from federal (such as The EU) and state governments to make their devices last longer and easier to repair. It appears Apple is already ahead of the curve as iFixit suggest this is the most repairable iPhone model in several years. Apple acknowledged that the iPhone 14 was designed to be easier to repair, but it might have undersold that upgrade. iFixit has finished a teardown of this year’s base iPhone, and it’s clear that the device was reworked from the ground up with do-it-yourself fixes in mind. The back glass is easier and cheaper…
Spellcheck is a blessing and a curse. On one hand you get instant feedback if you mistype something. On the other hand, it causes people not to know how to correctly spell. However, if users have opted-in to use Chrome’s Enhanced Spellcheck or Microsoft Editor (add-on) in Edge, users could unknowingly be sending Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to Google or Microsoft. Users can check if they opted-in to use Chrome’s Enhanced Spellcheck. by entering: chrome://settings/?search=Enhanced+Spell+Check in the Chrome address bar. Enhanced spell check setting in Chrome needs to be opted-in (BleepingComputer) Now you may be wondering what kind of PII could I…
Way back in 1993 Intel introduce the Pentium Processor which was the next version of Intel’s x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors (it was the successor to the 486 processor). Intel released future generations of its flagship processor (including Pentium II and Pentium III) in the years following. By 2006 the ‘Intel Core’ line had become the new flagship processors for Intel. Pentium processor were still being made for low power devices and entry level desktops. Intel’s Celeron processor was introduced in 1998 based of the Pentium II processor. However, Celeron were lower end processors Celeron often with less cache or intentionally disabled…
This should come as to no surprise given SSDs (Solid State Drive) don’t have any moving mechanical parts which could fail such as those in the ‘old school’ Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). While SSDs do have a finite number of reads/writes, with an average lifespan of 10-years the SSD is likely to outlast the device which it is installed within. As speedy solid-state drives began to rise as a realistic alternative to the decades-old hard drive for consumers, early adopters worried that their new SSDs would fail faster and more frequently. But that might not be the case now, if…
It is bad enough when you are doing a search in your browser you get presented with ‘Sponsored’ (ad) results. At least if you asked Alexa something she would provide a generic and ad-free response. Depending on the questions asked that could soon change as early as next year. A new Alexa feature has been announced at the Amazon Accelerate conference called “Customers Ask Alexa,” which allows brands to submit their own answers to questions you may ask the device. One such example was “How can I remove pet hair from my carpet?” which would usually provide generic tips or…
Microsoft’s Edge Browser is built off of Chrome is the default (and if S Mode is enabled only) browser for Windows 10 and 11. Some users are being feed fake stories in their Microsoft Edge Newsfeed which when clicked-on can bring up a fake Microsoft Defender Security Center landing page with a toll-free number to call Microsoft. Alternatively, clicking the ‘ad’ may bring the user to a decoy page. This is yet another variation of the ever evolving and popular Tech Support Scams. These fake ads/stories have a catchy headline and picture such as ‘Man Finds a Hidden Cave Inside…
While Google failed to get Europe’s General Court to overturn the Commission’s ruling on its Android antitrust case, they did manage to get their fine reduced from €4.3 Billion to €4.125 Billion (~$4.121 Billion USD). The Commission previously found that Google acted illegally by making it mandatory for Android manufacturers to pre-install its apps and its search engine. By doing so, the Commission said that the company was able to “cement its dominant position in general internet search.” Approximately 80 percent of smart devices in Europe as of July 2018 were running Android OS, and people tend to be content…
HP promoted their Dynamic Security System to their customers as a way to “upgrade their experience and maintain the integrity of its printing systems.” Instead many consumers found their Internet connected HP printers turned into an expensive paper-weight when their devices refused to work. According to a US Class Action Lawsuit: In or around late October and early November, 2020, HP caused to be transmitted a firmware update containing malware designed to lock out then-compatible third-party supply cartridges. HP wrote, designed, and transmitted the firmware or a portion thereof solely for the purpose of disabling third-party supply cartridges, which were…