Geekly Update - 23 May 2024

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

Privacy advocates are concerned about Microsoft's new "Recall AI" feature that helps users search for information they've previously seen on their computer. Recall acts as a “photographic memory” of a user's activity, taking snapshots of screen activity every few seconds. Microsoft assures users that their privacy is protected, because snapshots are stored locally and not shared with Microsoft. Despite such assurances, there are concerns about Recall's potential.

In 2005, software maker PC Matic added a clause to their EULA (end-user license agreement) offering money to anyone who contacted them. It took 5 months before anyone noticed, and that lucky customer was rewarded with $1,000. They've repeated that experiment several times since, to prove the point that almost nobody reads EULAs before blindly accepting the terms.

Microsoft has been criticized for including ads in Windows 11, with the latest controversy involving its PC Manager tool. The tool suggests that users "repair" their systems by switching the default search engine to Bing, implying that using another search engine is a potential problem.

OpenAI announced it will remove the "Sky" voice used by ChatGPT after it was found to have an uncanny resemblance to actress Scarlett Johansson. OpenAI claims it was not intentional, despite the actress previously requesting that her voice not be used by the company. The issue underscores a concern that AI products should not imitate real individuals in a way that could lead to misunderstandings or legal challenges.

ChatGPT isn't the only chatbot having growing pains. Gizmodo reports that Google’s new AI-powered Search tool was caught recommending glue to keep cheese on pizza and falsely stating that 13 US Presidents attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, several after they had died. (No U.S. president has attended UW-Madison.)

For years, Craig Wright has claimed to be the mysterious "Satoshi Nakamoto", the creator of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. But after a six-week investigation, London High Court Judge James Mellor issued a dissenting ruling, while opining that “In my judgment, he is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is.” That leaves open the question: who created Bitcoin?

Tornado:3, Wind Turbines:0 - Tornadoes in Iowa took down several wind turbines. KCCI reporter Zane Satre saw at least three 250-foot towers snapped by tornadoes, leaving some buckled and on fire.

Automobile key fobs are convenient, allowing owners to open their car doors via electromagnetic waves. But hackers have found ways around the “rolling code” system that make some fobs hackable.

If the voices inside your head(phones) are getting to be a bit much, these AI noise-cancelling headphones might help, by blocking out certain background noises while allowing a user to focus on just one specific conversation.

And finally, this week's Just Here For The Headline item: There’s An Electric Salt Spoon That Adds Umami Flavor.

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