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Every year, tech companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft send out an email to each of their users advising that they've updated their Terms of Service. These are FYI only emails, with no action required on your part.

But scammers take advantage of this happening to send out scam versions, like the one shown in the screenshot below shared by astute "Tech Talk" listener Peter in Saanich…

The email, which comes from an account at Microsoft's chief competitor (Google-owned Gmail), includes an attached PDF, which looks like this…

The text has poor sentence structure and capitalization, and doesn't even include the correct Microsoft logo or corprate name (Outlook_Communications ???).

It includes a link the scammers want you to tap or click-on, but if you hold your finger on it on a mobile device or hoverv the mouse over it on a computer, you'd see that it'll take you not to a Microsoft website, but to: Lovable.dev/preview/NPOcy58jH1ny4ESV2AQ

That almost immediately bounces to…

…and a webpage that looks like this…

…and if you tap or click on the CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE button, it'll take you to…

…which is a fake Microsoft sign-in page that looks like this (complete with the use of Latin letters highlighted in yellow in an effort to avoid scam filters)…

If you were to fill out that form and hit Sign In, it'd take you to a page advising that Microsoft is going to send you a code to confirm your identity, and ask you to input that code. The overseas scammers would then immediately trigger a password reset for your Microsoft account, which would prompt Microsoft to send you a code.

If you were to type that code into the box on your screen, you'd have just given the scammers permission to change your password and lock you out if your own account!

They'd then proceed to steal first your identity, and then your money.

NEVER tap or click on links in emails like this!

Gillian in Saanichton fell for this one this week, and the scammers got $1500 in three transactions, of which CIBC was only able to recover $500.

These emails, which are not well-written, are being sent by overseas scammers using @gmail.com accounts, and claim your account needs to be updated or you'll lose access to it…

The scammers are hoping you'll click on the link, which takes you to a fake Shaw Webmail Account Verification Required page hosted at JotForm.com, and if you tap on the VERIFY button, you'll be taken to a fake Shaw Webmail page hosted on wixsite.com…

If you provide your @shaw.ca email address and password, overseas hackers will then immediately do several things…

1) they'll forward a copy of all your incoming emails to themselves at a gmail.com address (so they'll still get a copy of your emails even if you catch on and change your password)

2) they'll create 'rules' that also immediately move all incoming emails that contain keywords like "password" and "reset" and "code" to your Archive folder so you won't see them

3) they'll then look through your emails for financial messages and trigger password reset emails for bank accounts and/or credit cards and then start making purchases and sending money to themselves

NEVER click on links in emails like this!

This scam is only possible because two-factor authentication for @shaw.ca email accounts is not provided by Rogers. If 2FA was provided, the scammers would not be able to access your email even if you got tricked into giving them your password, because they'd also need a code that would be texted to you.

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

You're not alone if you just received an "Apple Threat Notification" saying it detected a "mercenary spyware attack targeted at your iPhone", as shown in these screenshots…

Some users on Reddit are reporting that they received alerts shown in the screenshots after Apple sent out a new batch of threat notifications on August 13, but the feature itself is not new.

Apple has been sending these threat notifications multiple times a year since 2021, when it detects highly targeted mercenary spyware attacks.

The list of potential targets includes journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats, who have historically been among those targeted by this type of spyware.

These attacks are expensive, highly sophisticated, and typically aimed at a very small number of people. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks.

Apple relies on its own threat intelligence and investigations to identify suspected mercenary spyware activity, which means these notifications are "high-confidence alerts" and not just a regular warning.

If Apple detects this activity, it sends an email and iMessage notification to the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user's Apple Account. 

You can verify if a threat notification is genuine because Apple will not ask you to click a link, open a file, install an app or profile, or provide an Apple Account password or verification code.

You can also check the alert by signing in directly to account.apple.com. If Apple sent you a threat notification, it'll appear at the top of the page after you're logged in.

If you believe you've been affected, you should enable Lockdown Mode and reach out to a cybersecurity expert.

When Tesseract Computers re-opens after the weekend on Monday, Gary will have a small number of refurb Lenovo T14s business-grade 14" Windows 11 Pro ThinkPads for just $499…

They're powered by 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processors, and come with a new 500GB NVMe SSD, and 16GB of RAM. Monday at Tesseract Computers at 720 Broughton Street in Victoria

Gary will also have a few Lenovo starter Windows 11 Pro laptops when he re-opens on Monday; these are good for web-surfing, emails, watching YouTube and Netflix, standard stuff…

They're powered by either an 8th-gen Intel Core i3 processor or AMD Ryzen 5 processor and have a new 256GB SSD and 8GB of RAM.

If you agree to trade in a working old phone for a Pixel 11 series phone pre-order this weekend, Freedom Mobile will give you an additional trade-in bonus of $360 towards your new phone on a Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL or Pixel 11 Pro Fold on a $50/month rate plan.

That works out to at least $15/month off the pre-order sale prices below…

Freedom Mobile appears to once again have the best deals on the new Pixel 11 series phones; here's how they compare to other carriers, as compiled by MobileSyrup.com…

Because new iPads are expected to be unveiled next month, Staples is trimming its stock of current models in anticipation. They're offering $30 to $100 off depending on which model…

London Drugs and most other stores will price-match if you ask, if they have stock.

HiSense 8,000 BTU home portable AC end-of-season clearance: $248.88 (save $351!) at London Drugs stores + get an extra $50 rebate from BC Hydro

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

Rogers is responding to the wildfires here in BC by enabling its mobile-to-satellite service across the province for all Rogers wireless customers, businesses, and the government.

Rogers iusually charges $10/month for satellite connectivity for the first year and $15/month after that, but until further notice here in BC, Rogers says its waiving those charges and making the service available as a pilot to see how much the mobile-to-satellite tech can help during emergencies and natural disasters.

Rogers Satellite works using SpaceX’s Starlink system to offer wireless connectivity where traditional cell coverage isn’t available. The company says it can help keep customers connected in the event a tower goes down — for example, if it’s damaged by wildfires or if there’s a hydro outage.

The service supports text messaging and text-to-911 services, as well as select apps including WhatsApp, Google Maps, Accuweather, Facebook Messenger, X (formerly known as Twitter), and more. Rogers said the mobile-to-satellite tech can work as long as you can see the sky. You can use Rogers’ coverage map to see exactly where you can get satellite coverage.

Rogers says satellite service will work with most phones, but offers a tool on its website for checking device compatibility, which is here…

Evacuated Telus and Koodo postpaid mobility customers are automatically getting 50GB of free wireless data. Telus is also crediting Internet, TV, home phone and SmartHome Security bills for all evacuated households, and says it will keep home services billing paused for anyone facing an extended evacuation or displacement. There are more than 20,000 evacuated right now due to BC wildfires and that includes everyone in Summerland.

Telus says its technicians are working around the clock to keep infrastructure running in rough conditions. That includes hauling in generators to keep cell sites alive where commercial power has gone out, and repairing damaged equipment once it’s safe to get in.

Google has just shown off six new products for its Made by Google event: the Pixel Watch 5, the Pixel Tag, and the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

The new Pixel 11 series phones bring minimal updates vs. the previous versions, and in some cases, there've been downgrades between the Pixel 10 series and the Pixel 11, plus the phones unfortunately also come with a higher pricetag due to the skyrocketing cost of memory and RAM.

What's actually changed? Pixel 11 vs. Pixel 10

Pixel 11 Pro vs. Pixel 10 Pro: Any downgrades?

There are two small areas where the Pixel 11 Pro technically steps down:

Everything else is upgraded:

Pixel 11 Pro XL vs. Pixel 10 Pro XL

Same pattern:

How much more expensive are Pixel 11 models here in Canada?

📱 Base / Standard Models

📱 Pixel 10 Pro vs Pixel 11 Pro

📱 Pixel 10 Pro XL vs Pixel 11 Pro XL

📱 Pixel 10 Pro Fold vs Pixel 11 Pro Fold

Google's Pixel Watch 5 is a major upgrade over the Pixel Watch 4, focused on on‑device AI, advanced health monitoring, and much faster hardware, but it's substantially more pricey.

The biggest additions are Gemini on‑device AI, Health Guardian, blood‑pressure trend tracking, insulin‑resistance insights, breathing‑emergency detection, double GPS accuracy, and a faster Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 Accelerated processor:

The Google Pixel Watch 5 will be in stores on the 20th (you can pre-order it now), but it'll start at $550 CAD, up from the $360 CAD starting price for the Pixel Watch 4.

Google has also released the Pixel Tag, an AirTag-like tracker designed for people who have Pixel phones. It utilizes Google's Find Hub network, which connects over a billion Android devices, allowing users to locate belongings using their Pixel phone. Key features include:

This is the new logo, which Instagram head Adam Mosseri says in an IG post (linked below) is "cleaner and more modern with references to the original and the simplicity and craft that’s always made it Instagram". By comparison, here's the cursive-font-styled logo which Instagram has been using for the last decade…

The new wordmark mostly switches to a simple print font, but keeps some letters stylized like cursive, which makes for a pretty strange look, Many commenters say the new wordmark looks like it says “Instagzam”!

It’s not clear yet when the new wordmark will roll out to users, or if other design changes will come with it, or if the growing backlash over the change will be enough to make Mosseri and crew abandon the new wordmark, as happened with Cracker Barrel earlier this year.

I've been guilty of telling people who've asked me what to do if their phone is really hot, to put it in the fridge for a few minutes to cool it down.

Turns out, that's bad advice, and for that, I apologize — I've since learned otherwise.

For a lot of people, placing a device in a fridge when it shows an overheating warning, or obvious signs it is getting too hot, seems like a good idea. The practice has become more popular since social media videos started pushing it as a smart and easy solution.

In reality, it's very risky. One of the biggest problems is condensation. When a warm device enters a fridge or freezer, warm, humid air trapped around or inside the phone cools rapidly. As that air drops below its dew point, water vapour can condense on the phone's surfaces, ports, speaker openings, or potentially inside the casing.

When the chilled phone is removed, the risk can become greater because warm room air hits the cold device and condenses on it – similar to moisture forming on a cold drink.

Moisture inside a device can lead to lots of issues, from corrosion to short circuits. There are also risks from thermal shock, in which a sudden temperature change can stress the screen, glass, seals, adhesives, and internal components; and battery damage from the extreme cold.

So, what should you do to cool a hot phone?

Both Apple and Samsung recommend you put it in a cool, shaded spot, or perhaps in the path of a fan blowing cool air — but never in a fridge or freezer. Pass it on!

"Tech Talk" listener Don, who has hearing loss that's at the upper end of the "mild" scale, compared the test results done by an audiologist, with those done by the Appler Hearing Test on his iPhone using AirPods Pro, and says he was very impressed with how close the results were.

Here are scans of his results: audiology test on the left, and Apple Hearing Test on the right…

The Apple Hearing Test is only currently available to iPhone users who have AirPods Pro 2 or AirPods Pro 3 models paired with their iPhone, and not yet here in BC for most people. Some, like Don, have found that it was enabled on their iPhone, so here's how to check…

In mid-June, the BC government over-ruled the BC College of Speech and Hearing Health Professionals, and not only approved the use of Apple AirPod Pro models 2 and 3 to help adults overcome mild to moderate hearing loss, but also ruled that hearing ads can be bought OTC (over-the-counter) without requiring a prescription.

The hearing aid industry in BC had previously refused to allow that, because they knew they'd lose a lot of business if they did, but the government over-ruled them. The Ontario government is considering doing the same.

Health Canada last year approved the use of AirPods Pro 2 and 3 to assist people with mild to moderate hearing loss — but the final say is up to each Canadian province and territory.

Apple says it's still waiting to receive official approval from the BC Government, and once it gets that — hopefully shortly — the hearing aid feature will be enabled here in BC.

Note that in the USA, people can also use AirPods 3 & 4 models which have with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), but here in Canada, the approval is limited to only AirPods Pro 2 & 3 models.

Once the hearing aids functionality is enabled, you can use the instructions below to use it…

Fido customers using iPhones are reporting widespread disruptions with RCS messaging, leaving many unable to send advanced text messages to Android users.

Numerous subscribers have taken to social media to say that their data-based texting features have suddenly stopped working, leaving their device status stuck on “Waiting for Activation".

The issue prevents iPhone users from using modern messaging features such as read receipts, typing indicators, and high-quality media sharing when texting non-Apple devices. Checking the network settings on affected phones shows that IMS services have dropped down to basic voice and traditional SMS texting.

When customers reached out to Fido tech support, they stated that no official outage was logged on their system. Support agents attempted to reset connections remotely, but those efforts failed to resolve the problem, leaving phone owners without a clear fix.

The problem appears to stem directly from backend carrier services rather than a specific phone update, as users on different iOS versions are experiencing identical activation failures. Fido has not yet publicly commented on when full RCS functionality will return for impacted customers.

Apple has begun selling ads on Apple Maps and is offering incentives to advertisers to get it going. Just don't bother if you're a plumber or politician.

Firms here in Canada and in the US can now enroll in what Apple is calling "Ads on Maps." There are various conditions to do with the size of companies, but eligible ones that order by October 11 will get a discount.

For users, Apple has insisted that the ads will be a help rather than a hindrance. "Maps with ads is just as private as Maps without ads," a spokesperson said, adding, "Personal data stays on your device, is not collected or stored by Apple Ads, and is not shared with third parties."

What Apple is telling advertisers is that there are already over a billion searches for businesses on Apple Maps every month. It says that around 50% of such searches result in the user in some way engaging with the business, such as getting directions to drive to retail sites.

Political parties are not allowed to advertise on Apple Maps. There'll also be no alcohol advertising, although supermarkets are allowed. Apple will refuse religious ads, gambling, medical aids and more. One still not explained category of ads that will not be accepted is the home services one. No plumbers or electricians can advertise on Apple Maps.

AI companies’ penchant for scraping through large swaths of the public web in search of valuable training data has already led to lawsuits and technical fixes aimed at stopping the practice. Now, a pair of designers is hoping to stymie these scrapers with a new font designed to offer people a perfectly readable webpage while serving scrapers a subtly-edited, nonsensical version in the underlying HTML.

ShieldFont, by designers Isaque Seneda and Gabriel Abrucio, is based around ligatures, a long-standing feature of many fonts that is usually used to replace certain letter pairs with a more readable version when they’re smushed up next to each other. With ShieldFont, though, those ligatures are instead used to replace entire words with others in an attempt to destroy the text’s value to scrapers. This substitution only happens when the font engine draws the page onscreen, meaning scrapers that simply download plaintext source code get an altered version that end users never see.

Here's what you and I would see online…

…but here's the nonsensical version that'd be seen by AI scraping tools…

So ShieldFont replaces words with similar parts of speech that occupy a completely different informational context—swapping “horse” with “potato,” for instance. The result is a scrapable sentence that looks semantically correct but has a completely altered meaning. Thus, even altered pages that get through a scraper’s quality filter will contain scrambled informational content that can poison a training data set.

Anthropic has revealed that it's rolling out machine-readable watermarks to comply with the European Union’s AI Act, which requires all AI system providers to watermark AI-generated or manipulated audio, image, text, and video outputs.

Anthropic confirmed that moving forward, all new models offered globally — not just in the EU — will mark AI-generated content “from day one.” Text outputs will “carry embedded watermarks,” invisible to the user, and other “generated files will include digitally signed provenance metadata where supported,” Anthropic said.

A watermark applied at the model level can’t tell wholesale generation from a comma fix, so Claude may end up stamping exactly the content the law was written to leave alone. How thoroughly it truly watermarks will not be known until Anthropic releases a detection tool that can be tested. The company said that it plans to eventually share details about how to detect marks in order to offer technical support that the EU’s law requires.

The approach being implemented by Anthropic is unfortunately trivially easy for bad actors to bypass, while potentially punishing users who trust the system to accurately label their outputs.

Text watermarks work by biasing the model’s word choices in a pattern spread across the entire document, only detectable in aggregate by the right tool. The catch is that “invisible” can also mean the model occasionally trades the best word for a slightly worse one, just to keep the signal intact.

Anthropic noted that those marks “will travel with the text when it’s copied and pasted elsewhere, and may persist through some editing.” But if watermarked text is pasted into another chatbot system that edits the text, the watermark could be destroyed. With image and video content, screenshotting/recording or using any decent metadata editing tool will suffice to remove this information, too. And once Anthropic tells the world how to identify these watermarks, building a system to remove them would be trivial.

Andrew asked Anthropic's AI assistant Claude to try to book him a spot in one of his gym's coveted morning classes.

But Andrew was shocked by what happened next. 

Claude found a way to book the gym class months further in advance than the gym allowed, thanks to a vulnerability it discovered in the booking software.

But then it went even further, kicking someone out of the waiting list who was ahead of Andrew — something it was not asked to do. 

This accidental hack is the first known Australian case of an emerging risk from a new generation of AI capable of behaving in unexpected ways. It has led experts to sound the alarm about the breakneck pace of development and prompted questions about who bears responsibility for an AI agent that goes rogue.

How the hack happened

Earlier this year, Andrew, who works for an Australian company that sells AI products to businesses, began experimenting with OpenClaw, a popular AI agent software that he used Anthropic's Claude AI service to run.

AI agents combine a chatbot's ability to answer questions with tools that let them access the internet, email, credit cards, as well as planning and carrying out multi-step tasks. 

Andrew decided to use the AI agent to book the class for him.

Minutes later, his AI agent reported it had discovered a way to book Andrew into classes several weeks in advance, far beyond what was supposed to be possible.

Andrew, who was sitting fourth on a waitlist for a class later that week, asked if it was possible to move him to the top of the list. 

The agent came back and told Andrew that it had kicked another gym-goer off the list as part of the testing of its capabilities.

Alarmed, Andrew asked the agent to undo this. "Bad news — I can't add them back," the AI agent replied. 

Public Mobile is the self-serve ultra-budget carrier owned by Telus, and they keep costs down by not having retail outlets or traditional phone or text customer service.

Instead, if you had a question or a problem, you'd message a customer support portal and someone from Public Mobile would hopefully post a reply.

That annoyed a lot of users, who flooded social media with complaint posts, and as a result, Public Mobile is switching to what it calls Public Mobile Expert Messaging.

Your first point of contact will still be Public Mobile’s chatbot. Only if it can’t solve your issue will you then be connected with the Expert Messaging team. This support change will happen within the same chat window. You won’t be asked to manually take your query elsewhere.

From there, you simply type in your query and send it the Expert Messaging team’s way. The main appeal here is that you’re then free to go about your day without needing to keep the chat window open. The details of your issue will be sent to an agent, and you'll be notified via SMS/email once they have replied.

According to the Expert Messaging FAQ, users can expect replies within 30 minutes to an hour, with some delays expected “during peak times". Once you receive a reply, you'll be able to return to the conversation via the Message Centre. This can be repeated until your issue has been resolved.

This new system is rolling-out now, and should be fully operational by Aug. 24th.

With smartphone prices rising to offset the skyrocketing cost of processors and memory caused by demand from AI data-centres, Bell (full disclosure: Bell is the parent company of C-FAX) has come up with a creative way to lower the monthly cost.

Because CRTC regulations here in Canada currently limit phone purchase contacts to two years, what Bell is doing is offering customers two separate 24-month contracts — what they call their "Flex Option". They let you defer about half the phone's subsidized cost to the second contract, which substantially lowers your initial monthly bill, and Bell is currently offering this interest-free.

So, what's the catch?

This option is only available when you buy a new phone on a plan that's $100/month or higher, and you have to stay on that pricey plan for the full four years.

Currently, after two years, you can buy out the phone and switch to a cheaper plan.

Here's an example off Bell's website for a $1300 phone…

Bell is offering this new 48-month Flex Option on their Ultra plan on the latest Samsung and Pixel phones, and plans to do the same on Apple's iPhone 18 models when they're released this fall.

If you're on a great plan now, you'll pay a lot less in total if you either buy the phone direct from Samsung, Google, or Apple — all of who offer either interest-free or low-interest 24-month payments — or buy it over two years from another carrier like Freedom Mobile which charges way less ($60 vs. $100) for the mandatory two-year monthly plan.

Skiplagging (aka hidden city ticketing) is a flight‑pricing loophole where you book a ticket with a layover in the city you actually want to visit, then get off at the layover and skip the final leg.

Courts have repatedly ruled that skiplagging is legal, but, be aware that airlines can ban you from flying with them, if they catch you repeatedly skiplagging. Also, you must only book one-way flights, and you can't have any checked luggage as you'll be getting off before the final destination. But, you can save a lot of money, so many people are willing to skiplag!

Here's an actual example (skiplagging usually involves a USA departure city)…

If you want to fly from Seattle to Munich, Germany on October 9th, it'd cost you $2443 USD one way for business class on Lufthansa.

But, if you were to book the same flight with your final destination being a connecting flight from Munich to Zurich in Switzerland, it'd only cost you $740 USD (a saving of $1702 USD!), and you'd just get off at Munich and skip your connecting flight to Zurich.

A second example would be to book Seattle to Munich to Copenhagen, which would be $803 USD (a savings of $1671 USD over Seattle to Munich), and again, you'd get off in Munich and skip the connecting flight to Copenhagen…

The best place to find skiplag savings is at SkipLagged.com…

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.

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 the Half As Interesting" crew explain how you can save a lot on airfares by 'skiplagging' — which is legal but which airlines hate…

41) Watch a video showing the creation of the world's largest pop-up book…

42) Watch Val and Thomas finish their more than 6300km bike-ride across Canada at Mile 0 on the Victoria waterfront on Tuesday afternoon…

43) Watch CBC's Nora Young explore the huge shift that's happening on the internet as searches get replaced by AI questions and tasks…

44) Watch illusionist David Blaine go back to his roots, amazing people on the street with his unique up-close illusions…

45) Watch FPVEvan's spectacular and deservedly award-winning GoPro drone footage of Niagara Falls…

46) Watch a new mix of 1982's "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, showing the group performing the worldwide hit over the decades…

Pat switched to Freedom Mobile before going to Europe, so she could use her iPhone there just like here at no extra cost, using Freedom's "Roam Beyond" service, which we highly recommend.

In Lisbon, she ate Pastels at the original bakery (other bakeries have to call them Pastel de Nata) where they make more than 20,000 of them every day!

Of all the eclipse photos I've seen, these are my two favourites, both shot in Spain: one of a wingsuit flier racing through the eclipse, and another of a skateboarder jumping through the eclipse…

On Tuesday afternoon, I was the videographer at Mile 0 on the Victoria waterfront as Val Duquenne and Thomas Clark, two young novice cyclists from Grande-Digue, New Brunswick, finished a 51-day bike ride across Canada, raising more than $15,000 for men's mental health…

Unfortunately, on Thursday night, thieves stole their locked bikes and bike-rack off the support car that a volunteer was driving back to New Brunswick, as he slept at a motel in Calgary. Their original bikes were stolen from outside CBC studios in Winnipeg while they were on the air there last month. People there donated them new bikes so they could carry-on cycling, and Winnipeg Police have since recovered Val's bike, which the driver will pick up this weekend on his way to Moncton.

You can still join me in donating to their "Men Don't Ride Alone" GoFundMe campaign, below…

Congratulations and "thank you" to Victoria's own David Foster and event producer Mike Ravenhill for last Saturday night's magical 40th Anniversary free David Foster Foundation Concert which saw 70,000 people pack the area around the Victoria inner harbour…