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Take part on Saturday morning when we're live:

Instagram has added a new AI-powered image-generation tool called Muse Image, but it comes with a huge privacy issue: unless you change it, by default, anyone can use your profile photo and posts to create and share images of you in all sorts of dubious settings and situations!

Update: Meta has listened to the flood of criticism and just pulled this feature, admitting, "we missed the mark".

Here's what Meta is saying about Muse Image in Instagram…

Here's the important part: public Instagram profiles are now automatically opted into being fodder for generative AI remixes. All someone has to do is tag your account’s profile in a prompt — if it’s public — and they can use Meta AI to generate and share images using your likeness.

Here's how to turn this off…

There's also a lower switch that allows people to reuse some or all of any original audio in your posts and reels, andyou can turn that off too, if you want.

Tell your friends about these new switches, and how to turn them off!

Feel free to bookmark that page, as we'll keep updating it with screenshots of the latest scams!

Stores don't open till 11am on Sundays at Hillside Centre, but this Sunday, July 12, Freedom Mobile will open at 10am for "Tech Talk" listeners only, and I'll be there with manager Darren Alexander and his staff to answer any questions you have — especially if you're going travelling soon, and want to stay connected without going broke!

Special deals will be available only during that hour, including…

Darren says he'll arrange for Tim Horton's coffee, so put it on your calendar!

Items start at #10, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more security items above!

Winners play each other in a Semifinal at Noon PT on Wed., July 15 in Atlanta

The other Semifinal will be at Noon PT on Tuesday, July 14 in Dallas…

CTV and Crave

CTV is broadcasting all of Canada's games and other knockout matches. These same matches are available to stream free on the Crave app through its live CTV channel hub — you just have to create a free Bellmedia account, if you don't already have one.

There are free outdoor public watch parties in numerous locations:

This was the scene in Market Square when Norway beat Brazil to advance last Sunday…

Watching Spain beat Belgium 2-1 on Friday at Langford Station with friends Rick and Zack…

…and these images show what it was like at the main watch party in Madrid…

British Airways has officially accepted the logo-swap challenge from Norwegian Air, which involves a playful bet over the World Cup semifinal match between Norway and England.

The bet states that if Norway wins, British Airways must switch its logo to Norwegian's for one day, and if England wins, Norwegian must switch its logo to British Airways' for the same period.

The challenge was initiated by Norwegian Air on Instagram, and after a couple days of playful online banter, British Airways responded with humour and confidence, officially accepting the bet…

British Airways is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom, while Norwegian Air is the second-largest airline in the Nordic region behind Scandinavian Airlines.

England is currently the favourite to advance to the semi-finals, where they'll face off against either Argentina or Switzerland depending on the results of the other quarterfinal Saturday night.

Quebec-based Freedom Mobile has lowered the amount of monthly data you get on some of its plans, reducing the allotments by 5GB to 20GB.

Here's is how the plans look now with the data cuts:

Even with the data reductions, these are still great plans for the pricepoints.

The CRTC is launching a review to determine if the Big Three carriers (Bell, Rogers, Telus) have violated its new rules banning junk fees.

In announcing the consultation, the CRTC says it'll require Bell, Telus, and Rogers to demonstrate that the fees comply with the new regulations.

If the commission finds that the companies have violated the rules, they could face fines of up to $10 million, with any relevant managers receiving fines of up to $25,000.

The Big Three, alongside members of the public, have until July 30 to submit comments.

Back in June, the CRTC introduced new regulations banning fees “related to the activation or modification of a telecommunications service plan, or any other fee whose main purpose is, in the opinion of the Commission, to discourage subscribers from modifying their service plan or cancelling their contract for telecommunications fees.”

Bell, Telus, and Rogers responded to the new rules by introducing new fees. Bell and Rogers introduced $40 fees related to activating a new phone, while Telus expanded when and how it charges a $15 SIM fee. The CRTC sent letters warning all three carriers that the fees may violate the new rules and suggested they change course to avoid regulatory action.

However, all three companies have since told the CRTC that they'll continue charging new fees, claiming the new charges are exempt from the junk fee ban.

Meanwhile, Rogers and its sub-brand Fido have lowered their device shipping fees amid the ongoing scrutiny from the CRTC.

Rogers was charging $25 to have a phone or tablet shipped directly to your door — but the Rogers website now shows it’s $9. Interestingly, if you choose to have the phone picked up in-store, the $9 fee is waived completely.

Rogers is expanding how many months of free satellite service customers get with some of the company’s plans.

Rogers now includes ‘Rogers Satellite’ satellite-to-mobile service free for 24 months with all of its available mobile plans.

Rogers' $65/month 5G+ Lite, $70/month 5G+ Essentials, and $85/month 5G+ Popular plans now all include the satellite-to-mobile service when you purchase any of the listed plans. Previously, these plans were limited to 12 months of free Rogers Satellite.

The company’s most expensive $100/month 5G+ Ultimate plan also has 24 months of free satellite, but it was already included with the plan — nothing has changed here.

The service is powered by Elon Musk’s Starlink and lets you access apps such as AccuWeather, Google Maps, WhatsApp, X, and more. Rogers has expanded the service’s coverage to include both Atlantic Canada and the U.S. through a partnership with T-Mobile.

If you want to see where Rogers Satellite is available, you can do so here.

It's illegal here in Canada for carriers to lock phones to their network — that was banned in 2017 — but Telus is asking the CRTC — Canada's communications regulator — for permission to lock them for two months after they're activated.

Telus has filed an application with the CRTC seeking a review of Canada’s Wireless Code to add a new, temporary 60-day device locking period for smartphones and other mobile devices. WhileTelus ultimately wants a permanent change to the Wireless Code, it has also requested a temporary allowance to lock devices until the code can be amended.

While waiting for an answer from the CRTC, in what's seen as an effort to underscore how important the issue is, Telus says it plans to sart locking phones to its network for 60 days after activation starting July 30th.

Telus, Bell, and other carriers have long complained that some people buy a phone but then cancel their credit card and disappear; if the phone is locked to a network, it can't be switched to another carrier and used.

If given the green light, Telus promises it'll automatically unlock phones at the end of the 60-day period, as long as customers’ accounts remain in good standing. It also says it'll be willing to make exceptions for customers who need to unlock a device early for legitimate reasons, such as travel, and switching carriers.

Meta has announced that their Ray-Ban smart glasses will now stop recording if they detect that someone has tampered with the LED light on the front. 

Over the years, plenty of tech companies have attempted to make smart glasses that are supposed to help you with everyday life. Some have focused on being able to record videos from your eyeline, while others have looked to replace your mobile phone by having a heads-up display.

Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have, to this point, been the most successful of the lot. However, they've come under fire for a number of security concerns. Most notably, there are lots of online videos and instructions showing users tampering with the flashing LED light that allows others to see that you’re recording – including even drilling the light out.

This has seen calls made to Meta to make a change, and they finally have. Meta says it has put out a mandatory firmware update with the result that any of their smart glasses detect that their recording light has been tampered, with will actually no longer record footage.

Anyone who's drilled-out the light on their glasses will now find that while they can still use them, they can no longer record with them.

Meta says its also actively searching-for and deleting Facebook, Instagram, and Threads posts showing how to tamper with the recording light, or showing videos made on modified smart glasses.

Sharon from Kelowna is staying all this month at the home of vacationing friends in Durango, Colorado, and her phone is on Bell. On top of her $75/month plan, she paid Bell an extra $80 for a 30-day USA Travel Pass that lets her use her phone in the USA just like here.

Sharon emailed to say her friends there told her that next time, she should sign-up with a carrier like PureTalk, which would give her all that she's getting from Bell and more for just $15/month, and wanmted to know if that would be a good thing to do.

PureTalk, and a raft of other budget carriers (here in Canada, think &-Eleven Speakout, Good2Go Mobile, Petro-Canada Mobility) are what are called MVNOs — Mobile Virtual Network Operators.

An MVNO does not have its own network, but instead, has made a wholesale deal to have its mobile customers use the network of one of the big four national carriers: Bell, Freedom Mobile, Rogers or Telus. Because they 'rent' access on someone else's network, and in most cases don't have physical stores, MVNO's can offer rates that are substantially lower than the major carriers.

In Sharon's case, PureTalk in the USA, which is based in Georgia and runs on the AT&T network, has awesome rates, and a reputation for excellent customer service…

Are there any downsides to signing-up with an MVNO?

There are two major issues to be aware-of, and you can decide if they're worth it to save:

If you're comfortable dealing with a carrier online, check-out the customer service reputation of a carrier, (AI agents like CoPilot and Gemini are great for answering questions like this), and if you like what you learn, it's fine to switch.

To install the Apple Devices app on a Windows PC:

Once installed:

"Tech Talk" listener Doug emailed to say that he's been seeing on Instagram and X that starting next year, iPhones sold in the European Union will be required to have a removable back panel for easy battery replacement, and wondering if that'll be happening here, too.

The reality is, a user-removable battery on higher-priced smartphones won't be happening ANYWHERE.

The EU does have new iPhone battery legislation that comes into effect in 2027, but iPhones and phones from Samsung and other major makers are exempted for the most part. Here's why:

Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1670 specifically applies to smartphones, mobile phones, cordless phones, and slate tablets, and at first blush, you'd think that'd also include the iPhone.

Boiled down to the bit that we're interested in, the regulation requires that a battery be readily removable and replaceable. The battery and the smartphone must be designed in such a way that a device owner can replace the battery when required.

Further, no specialized tools can be required, and the process must be straightforward enough for an average adult consumer to do it.

With all of that said, you could easily assume that Apple has a problem and a redesigned iPhone will come to EU countries in 2027.

But dig a little deeper, and it's clear that isn't the case.

Enter the snappily-named Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1670, Annex II, Part A and B, Section 1.1(1)(c)(ii) which is a clause that specifically applies to iPhones and other premium devices from the likes of Samsung, Google, etc.

The clause allows smartphone makers to restrict battery access in ways that would normally not be permitted. But the clause only applies to devices that meet three criteria:

If those three criteria are met, a smartphone becomes exempt from the new battery regulation.

X (formerly Twitter) is trying to get us to post more original videos on the app rather than repost popular clips from elsewhere. To help with that, X has added a video editor to its iPhone app.

The editor and recorder tool includes an option to add overlay captions in multiple languages with a customized look. There's a green screen feature as well.

X is currency rebuilding its Android app, but it seems likely the video editor will be available there too.

The video editor follows on other updates that indicate X is trying to chase the tails of TikTok and other video-focused apps. Last month, it added a video reaction function and it just set aside $1 million in payouts for live video streamers. 

While X is certainly hoping to better compete with video-centric platforms, there's another side to this. Having more original video content on the platform will help fuel the likes of Grok, which trains itself on public content on X.

If you're worried about your vehicle being stolen by car thiedves who have found ways to steal or clone your key fob, Ford has a way to prevent that: a new smartphone feature called Start Inhibit.

Owners of compatible Ford vehicles can use the Ford app on their smartphone to enable and disable Start Inhibit with a swipe, like the ‘swipe to unlock’ function on most phones.

While enabled, Start Inhibit prevents a vehicle from starting, even with an authorized key fob. That means even if a thief nabs your keys, they still can’t go anywhere — especially helpful since that’s one of the main ways thieves steal vehicles. However, Ford also built in a smart bypass mechanism where the Ford app generates a random, six-digit alphanumeric code that drivers can use to start their vehicle while Start Inhibit is enabled.

There's a lockout mechanism as well if the code is entered incorrectly too many times, but Ford was hesitant to share details about that and how the Start Inhibit works in general, to avoid giving thieves a head-start in trying to crack the system.

Start Inhibit is available on 2024 and newer Ford F-150's as well as 2026 Bronco, Expedition, Mustang Mach-E, and Lincoln Navigator models. IT's free for the fiurst year, then $10/month.

Along with Start Inhibit, Ford offers suspicious activity alerts through its Ford app, which can notify owners if someone tries to tamper with their vehicle. These alerts include intrusions (such as attempted break-ins or movement inside the cabin when the vehicle is locked), forceful impacts, location changes, or if the doors open for any reason. Owners can choose to toggle off some of the alerts if desired.

It’s a handy way to keep tabs on your vehicle, but it also has applications beyond just theft prevention: Ford made a video promoting Theft Alerts in which a bear attempts to gain access to an F-150 truck.

Volvo has officially announced the integration of Apple Music into more than two million of its vehicles, including the EX60, EX90, and ES90 models.

This integration allows Volvo drivers to access Apple Music directly through the in-vehicle interface, providing a seamless music experience.

Owners of eligible Volvo models will find Appled Music pop-up after an automatic over-the-air update to their in-vehicle display system.

Eligible new and returning Apple Music users can also receive up to three months of free service through the Volvo Cars app, valid until July 6, 2027.

Volvo says this integration represents its dedication to bringing Apple Music into the automotive world, offering a premium listening environment for its customers.

Tesla has expanded its official accessory lineup with a new collection of outdoor and camping gear engineered specifically for the Model Y. The new offerings include a powered sub-trunk refrigerator, an insulated front-trunk cooler, and a trunk-mounted canopy for campsite shelter.

The flagship accessory is the Model Y Dual Zone Fridge, priced at $840 CAD. Designed to fit perfectly inside the vehicle’s rear sub-trunk compartment, the 35-litre powered refrigerator plugs directly into the standard 12-volt trunk outlet. It features two separate compartments with independent temperature controls ranging from -18° to 20° C, allowing owners to keep items frozen in one zone and chilled in the other.

For the front of the vehicle, Tesla released a form-fitting Model Y Cooler priced at $345 CAD for the standard version and $389 CAD for Premium and Performance configurations. The insulated 37-litre cooler slots directly into the frunk, utilizing lightweight materials and heavy insulation to preserve ice for days without drawing vehicle power. This specific accessory is designed to fit Model Y units manufactured from 2025 onward.

In a blockbuster suit, Apple is suing OpenAI, alleging that two ex-employees, one of whom was Apple's previous VP of Product Design for iPhone and Apple Watch, maintained an ongoing and successful effort in stealing intellectual property to enrich OpenAI's development efforts.

In the suit, filed on Friday, Apple claims that for months after leaving Apple, Product Design VP Chang Liu and his predecessor Tang Yew Tan stole and used Apple intellectual property to advance OpenAI's goals. And, Apple claims, OpenAI didn't do anything about it, nor did they respond to Apple asking questions about the hires, the data, and what was being done with it.

Reportedly, Liu failed to return Apple-issued hardware, that was still authenticated to access Apple's networks. Apple alleges that Liu told a colleague, Alyssa Peng, still at Apple, that he was planning to access Apple info.

Peng departed Apple in April, after pointing out to Liu that they should communicate over a different secure platform. Specifically, the pair used Line Messenger.

Ultimately, Peng was hired by OpenAI in April 2026. She is not being sued at the moment.

Apple says its internal investigations found out that Tan was doing the same after departing Apple, following a 24-year career.

The suit alleges that in the months before Tan left Apple to serve as OpenAI's Chief Hardware Officer, he began emailing himself info about Apple suppliers. He also allegedly directed candidates to bring unreleased hardware components from Apple to their interviews with OpenAI to spill more info that's more current than what Tan supplied himself.

Apple is seeking judgement, an injunction against use and possession of Apple intellectual property, a demand of a return of Apple's property, damages, and royalties for use of Apple's intellectual property.

OpenAI says it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets,” adding that OpenAI remains “focused on building innovative technology that empowers people everywhere.”

Meta's Facebook and Instagram both use "addictive design" that could fall foul of the European Union's new Digital Services Act, and the European Commission has already preliminarily found Meta's iPhone apps are in breach of its rules.

The European Commission put Meta on notice that it has the right to defend itself, but if the Commission's preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta will be on the hook for a fine "proportionate to the nature, gravity, recurrence and duration of the infringement."

Any fine will be capped at 6% of Meta's total global annual turnover. In 2025, Meta reported revenue of $200.97 billion, so more than $12.5 billion USD is at stake here.

The Commission points the finger of blame squarely at Meta's use of infinite scrolling, autoplaying of media, and push notifications. It argues that these features help make Instagram and Facebook addictive to users, including minors and vulnerable adults.

The way Meta's apps are designed to constantly show fresh content, particularly via the infinite scroll feature, faced particular criticism. The Commission argues that these features push users to continue scrolling, shifting their brains into "autopilot mode" and contributing to unhealthy habits, including compulsive use.

It's also argued that Meta ignored available information about the time minors spend on its platforms during the evening hours. It also disregarded how its use of infinite scroll and other features could lead to excessive or compulsive use of its apps.

While Meta will no doubt argue that it offers parental controls and other features to help users limit their screen time, it's unlikely the argument will be well received.

The European Commission pointed to evidence that Meta's systems have failed to help. It warns that Facebook and Instagram's screen time tools are too easily dismissed and simply do not work as intended. Further, Meta's parental controls are said to require too much technical knowledge from parents.

The fix, the Commission says, is for Meta to disable infinite scroll and auto-playing media by default. It also wants the company to implement a more effective time management system for users to take advantage of.

There are now more than 40 of them, and they're in a separate Travel Tech Tips notes, which you can find on our Home Page, or on the toolbar at the top of any of our Notes.

The "Our Favourite Apps" list — which will have a lot more added in the coming weeks — is on our home page, and you can also get to it by going to Tech-Talk.ca/apps.

Paleontologists in China have described a small, previously unknown Jurassic bird whose short tail offers new evidence for how the earliest birds traded their long, dinosaur-like tails for the compact tailbone that helps the of today birds fly.

Modern birds are unique among vertebrates in having a short tail capped by a fused clump of bone called the pygostyle, which anchors their fan of tail feathers and is essential to flight.

Their dinosaur ancestors, by contrast, had long, bony tails with dozens of vertebrae.

How and when that transition happened has been difficult to pin down, largely because so few fossils capture birds in an intermediate stage.

The newly-identified bird species, Zhengheornis buyu, appears to be one of those missing pieces.

The fossil in question was found in 2024 in the Nanyuan Formation near Yangyuan village in Zhenghe country in China’s Fujian province. It has been carbon-dated to 148-150 million years ago, back to the end of the Jurassic period, when some of the earliest birds were beginning to diversify.

Check out our new YouTube Favourites playlist #2:

YouTube.com/playlist?list=PLOKnlVLuXE5URgg0ou8uGg4CnHXcou1UA

Our original Favourites playlist maxxed-out at 5000 videos; it's here…

YouTube.com/playlist?list=FLPPpa_PY8rxt-z1RoYZ7QJ

Videos start at #40, so the numbers don't get thrown-off if we add more tech news items above!

40) Watch "Rich On Tech" host Rich deMuro show how to find and turn off two important new privacy-invading switches on Instagram… SCRAPPED!

41) Watch the MegaBuilds team show how Australia is spending $1.2 billion to pave a 2720km highway across the desolate middle of that country…

42) Watch the trailer for a new Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: There's No Place Like Home, Snoopy, available to stream on Apple TV starting July 31…

43) Watch Tom Hartley explain how a man flying to Sydney, Australia accidentally ended up in not our Sidney, but in snowy Sidney, Montana…

44) Watch Bryan Adams' new Canadian anthem "51st State"…

44) Watch a look back at the memorable music career of Bonnie Tyler, who's died from stomach surgery complications in Portugal at the age of 75…

I'm happy to report that Emma is now 19, and she and her awesome boyfriend Domi both just graduated from Grade 13, finishing in the top 20% in their grades! They, like most students there, wore traditional German outfits when getting their graduation certificate…

Here's they all are: dad Markus, Emma's younger brother Vincent (who's suddenly now the tallest!), boyfriend Domi, Emma, her younger sister Viktoria, and mom Elisabeth…