Hockey Day in Victoria Weekend Edition
schedule: VictoriaHockeyDay.ca/events
January 20 & 21, 2024 Tech Talk Show Notes
🎙️ Show airs live
Saturday: 10:05am-Noon
🔁 Rebroadcast
Sunday: 1:05pm-3pm
🎧 Podcast
Anytime
The crew this week:
Security and Privacy News
1) Watch out for scam Facebook texts, advising that your account is to be permanently deleted because of a trademark violation.
A screenshot of one of these scam texts is on the left.
Note the link they want you to click on to request a review of their "decision" (yellow arrow)…it'll take you to a fake Facebook log-in page hosted on a website in Brazil (.br red circle).
If you put in your Facenbook password, the scammers will send you a message advising that you are going to be sent a security code to confirm your identity, and to type that code in the reply to them.
If you do that, you will be giving the scammers what they need to change your password and take over your Facebook account and lock you out!
NEVER click on links in texts or emails like this.
If you think a message like this is real — it never is — you could go to your Account Status within your Facebook app and look for any Notifications there.
2) Watch out for scam emails that appear to be a PayPal receipt for an item or service which you did not purchase.
The screenshot on the left, submitted by astute Tech Talk listener Peter, claims to be a receipt for a printer for $247, and encourages you to call a toll-free number if you did not make this purchase.
If you call that number (which connects to a call-centre in India), scammers posing as PayPal will offer to refund you the purchase, and will try to talk you into logging into your credit card or bank account online, and sharing the screen with them. They will then make it look like they vastly over-refunded you and will pressure you into transferring them the difference.
NEVER call phone numbers in emails like this.
If you think the receipt mightr be real, open your PayPal app or log into PayPal.com and check your transactions therre, and you'll see there's no sign of this fake one.
3) Here's an easy way to avoid being scammed:
If you get an email or a text about a problem with an account or service, or about a package that can't be delivered, or an invoice/receipt for an item or service you didn't order, or about a refund owed to you, or about a prize you've won, assume it's a scam, especially if it urges you do something right away.
If you think it might be real, check with your bank, or with the merchant, but NEVER call the number, and NEVER click on the button or link.
4) Apple's next iOS update will make it a lot harder for thieves to break into your iPhone
Apple is expected to include a new security feature in iOS 17.3 next week called Stolen Device Protection that'll make it far harder for would-be phone thieves to hijack your Apple ID and any financial info stored on the device.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24931347/236792_iPhone_15_Pro_and_15_Pro_Max_product_photos_AJohnson_0003.jpg)
Heads-up: Apple says iOS 17.3, iPadOS 17.3, and watchOS 10.3 will all be released this coming week, bringing security patches and bug fixes as well as the new Stolen Device Protection feature above.
5) Microsoft says Russian state-sponsored hackers managed to steal some emails and documents from staff accounts.
Microsoft says Russia's "Midnight Blizzard" hackers were able to access "a very small percentage" of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of its senior leadership team and employees in its cybersecurity, legal, and other functions.
Reuters
Microsoft says it was hacked by Russian state-sponsored group
By Zeba Siddiqui and Christopher Bing (Reuters) - Microsoft said on Friday that a Russian state-sponsored group hacked into its corporate systems on Jan. 12 and stole some emails and documents from staff accounts. The Russian group was able to access "a very small percentage" of Microsoft corporate email accounts, including members of its senior leadership team and employees in its
Tech Deals This Weekend
Lenovo ThinkPad laptop: $225
- Ten only: refurbished Lenovo 13.3" ThinkPad laptops with 7th-gen Intel Core i3 processors
- 8GB of RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, Windows 11 Pro
- $225 at Tesseract Computers in downtown Victoria, while they last, open 12:30-2pm Saturday or when they re-open on Monday.
Epson EcoTank ET-2850 printer: $270 (save $70) + bonus black ink
- Epson Eco-Tank 28500 wired/wireless printer/copier/scanner, with top-loading paper feed which is great if you also want to print on photo paper, labels, or card stock.
- Has two-sided printing capability, and can also print on legal-sized paper.
- Comes with four bottles of ink that'll last you two years (literally) plus an extra black ink bottle.
- On sale for $270 — save $70 — at Costco stores and online (membership required) till Jan. 28.
10) TD Bank customers to share a $16 million Canadian class-action lawsuit settlement over NSF fees.
The lawsuit filed in Ontario alleged that TD hit clients with multiple NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds) fees when a cheque or pre-authorized payment bounced between 2019 and last November.
Without admitting fault, TD has agreed to settle the case by paying $15.9 million Canadian to affected clients.
Clients who were hit with those fees — and who are still a TD client — will have their share of the settlement (likely $75-$80) automatically deposited into their account, provided the courts approve the settlement on Feb. 13th. If you're no longer a TD client, you unfortunately won't get any money.
It's worth noting that similar lawsuits are also working their way through the legal system involving clients Scotiabank, Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank and CIBC, so more similar settlements are likely.
11) Apple has agreed to pay $14.4 million to Canadians affected by iPhone "batterygate".
If you owned an iPhone 6 and/or iPhone 7, you could get up to $150 from Apple Canada, as part of a draft settlement of a class-action lawsuit arising from software which Apple used to slow-down those iPhones to extend their life once newer more power-intensive operating systems were released.
In order to get your share of the settlement — which is scheduled to be approved by the BC Supreme Court on January 29th — you'll have to fill out a claim form, which will require you to provide your iPhone’s serial number, which is something many of us may no longer have.
If you had an iPhone 6 or iPhone 7 (including 6s, 7+ etc.), but it's long gone because you sold it or traded it in, you might be able to find the serial number on an old contract or phone bill.
12) Meta has offered to pay $51 million to Canadians in BC and three other provinces to settle legal action alleging that Facebook used users' images in ads without their knowledge or consent
Lawyers estimate that 4.3 million Canadians in BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Newfoundland & Labrador are eligible for a share of the $51 million.
The class-action lawsuit centres around Facebook's "Sponsored stories" program, which ran from January 2011 to May 2014. If you "liked" a product under the program, Facebook generated a news feed endorsement using your name and profile photo, but didn't tell you your image was being used.
The draft settlement — which calls for Meta to reach out to the affected Facebook users — is to go before a BC Supreme Court Justice for approval on March 13. The proposal is for the money to be divided up amongst FB users who were affected, based on how many times their images were used.
13) Samsung is gambling that AI-powered features will tempt people to buy its new Galaxy S24 smartphones
Samsung this week unveiled its new S24 flagship line of smartphones, but there's not much new — with one big exception — AI.
One of the standout new features in the S24 models is ‘Circle to Search', which lets you circle, highlight, scribble on, or tap anything on a Galaxy S24 smartphone’s screen to use on-device AI to quickly find search results for it.
The new phones also come with ‘Live Translate,’ which provides real-time AI translations of phone calls natively on the phone app, plus ‘Interpreter,’ which helps users translate live conversations on a split-screen view, allowing two people speaking different languages to converse. Being powered by AI, this new feature works without cellular data or Wi-Fi. AI built into the Samsung Keyboard can also translate messages, emails, and more in real-time in 13 languages.
The three new phones (S24, S24+ and S24 Ultra) are available to pre-order now starting at $1100, $1400, and $1800 respectively (the same as last year's S23 models), and will hit stores on the 31st.
Samsung says some of the new AI features will be added via a software update to S23, Fold, Flip, and S9 phones later this year. But, the company also quietly says that the best features will only be free until the end of 2025, and after that, you'll have to pay to keep using them.
14) Samsung has also unveiled its new 8K Neo QLED TV's for 2024
Samsung this week unveiled its new 8K TV lineup, the Neo QLED series.
An 8K TV delivers the highest resolution of 7680x4320 with extreme details and three-dimensional depth. At 33 million pixels, it has 4 times more pixels than a 4K TV to give you the most realistic and immersive viewing experience. The sets range in price from $1800 to $6300 CAD.
15) Apple is about to start selling its long-awaited Vision Pro mixed reality goggles (in the USA), but don't expect a big splashy launch.
Apple has quietly announced that it's Apple Vision Pro mixed reality goggles will be available in the USA starting on Groundhog Day — Feb. 2nd — for a breathtaking $3499 USD ($4699 CAD).
Because of the price, and the fact these are the first version, with lots of features to come in subsequent versions, Apple is being decidely low-key about the launch.
- Twin 4K displays inside the headset provide incredible HDR picture quality, but if you wear glasses you'll need to get custom Zeiss inserts.
- Disney is creating exclusive experiences for the headset, including Disney World, Marvel games, and more. However, YouTube and Spotify will not be included.
16) Meta will encourage teens to get off Instagram at night with ‘nighttime nudges’
A nudge will appear on teen accounts when they spend more than 10 minutes on Instagram in places like Reels or DMs between 10pm and 4am. The notice will say, “Time for a break?” followed by “It’s getting late. Consider closing Instagram for the night.”
17) Microsoft is adding support for USB 4 Version 2.0 to Windows 11
Microsoft's latest update for Windows 11 includes USB 4 Version 2.0 support, doubling transfer speeds to 80Gbps and enhancing data storage and display capabilities.
18) Microsoft is offering a $20/month Pro version of its CoPilot A-I assistant
CoPilot Pro adds generative AI to Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote on PC, Mac, and iPad. Plus, you get priority acess during times when demand slows down responses and outputs.
If you don't want to pay the fee, CoPilot will remain free in the Microsoft Edge browser, and as a free app on iPhones, iPads and Android devices.
You'll also soon be able to sync chats and queries from your phone to a Windows PC.
Yahoo News
Microsoft Copilot (free) vs Copilot Pro: What are the differences and features?
Microsoft is now selling a monthly subscription for its AI Copilot service that it says enhances the experience with better performance and other benefits. But, how exactly does Copilot Pro differ from the free version of Copilot, and is it worth paying $20 a month for?
19) Microsoft 's free AI-powered Image Creator has been renamed "Image Creator from Designer"
The new version works the same, but allows CoPilot Pro subscribers to create 100 images per day before it slows down.
The free version allows 25 creations per day.
Try it for free at Bing.com/create or ask CoPilot to create your image for you.
The new name is a nod to Designer, Microsoft's graphic design app that uses AI to create new content from prompts.
For example, in honour of "Hockey Day in Canada", I asked it to "create me an image of a golden retriever wearing a Vancouver Canucks hockey jersey on ice at sunset", and here's one of the images it created…
20) Microsoft has released "QuitBot" — a free AI-powered chatbot to help people quit smoking, and the early reviews are great.
The "QuitBot" chatbot is available for free on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
21) The Source stores to be rebranded as ‘Best Buy Express’.
Bell has signed a deal with Best Buy Canada to rebrand about half of its 300 The Source stores as ‘Best Buy Express’ locations. The other half of the 300 stores will be closed.
The new Best Buy Express stores will sell general consumer electronics as well as Bell’s telecom services, including those from its Virgin Plus and Lucky Mobile brands.
The Source began business here in Canada way back in 1986 as the Canadian wing of US-based RadioShack.
22) If you want to watch Crave without ads, it'll now cost you more.
Bell has raised the monthly price of its only ad-free subscription plan, ‘Premium', to $22, up $2/month from the previous $19.99 cost.
CP24
Crave tells subscribers they'll need to fork out $2 more per month to avoid ads
Avoiding commercials on the Crave streaming service is about to get a little costlier. Bell Media has told Crave subscribers who use its “premium ad-free” package that they'll now have to pay $22 per month - an increase of $2.01.
23) Amazon wants us to pay for a supercharged Alexa
Amazon is said to have a tentative June 30 launch-date for a new AI-powered version of its digital assistant, named "Remarkable Alexa", which we'd have to pay for.
But we're told things are not going well, with word that Remarkable Alexa is great at having conversations and terrible at doing anything useful. Plus, many workers on the project are unconvinced people will be willing to pay for a supercharged digital assistant…
Gizmodo
Amazon Wants You to Start Paying for Alexa
More than 75 million people use Alexa, but by Amazon’s standards, the service is a total failure. The problem is Alexa doesn’t make any money, and the service is a huge drain on company resources. Apparently, Amazon has a last-ditch plan to save its digital assistant by supercharging it with AI and charging you for the privilege of using it—but things aren’t looking good.
25) 25 years ago this week, the first Blackberry was released
The Blackberry 850 was a two-way pager with integrated email and a monochrome screen, which was released in 1999 at a price of $499.
At the height of their popularity in 2011, Waterloo-Ontario-based Research In Motion had 85 million Blackberry devices in use worldwide.
Blackberry was slow to respond to the emergence of iPhones and Android phones, though, and by 2013, was in big trouble.
26) iPhone Crash Detection saves two men after 4×4 rollover crash
Arrowsmith Search and Rescue is crediting an iPhone Crash Detection feature for the safe rescue of two victims of a 4×4 rollover crash near Nanoose Bay.
Automatic Crash Detection is built into all iPhone 14 and 15 models, as well as the Apple Watch Series 8 and 9, Apple Watch SE, and Watch Ultra. Find the on/off switch for this potentially life-saving feature under Settings, Emergency SOS, Call After Serious Crash.
26) See how far 3D printing has come in just a few years
"Tech Talk" listener Peter got a 3D printer for Christmas, and within a couple of hours, he says he was printing all sorts of objects…
Peter says it takes about 10 hours to 3D-print each of these objects on his Creality Ender 3 Neo v2 3D printer ($249), which Santa got for him at Industrial Plastics & Paints on Oak Street…
27) How to disable notifications for a website in Safari on MacOS
Note: In MacOS Ventura and newer the "Preferences" menu option has changed to "Settings".
Homework videos (a.k.a. "time well wasted"!)
40) Watch Trevor Noah, in his new role as Microsoft's Chief Questions Officer, talk with the inventor of a QuitBot, a free Microsoft chatbot that's using A-I to help people quit smoking…
41) Watch Samsung's 2024 "Unpacked" event where its new AIO-powered S24 line of flagship smartphones were unveiled this week, along with new 8K QLED TVs and more…
42) …or watch a three-minute highlights version…
43) Watch how Paris is getting a 10 billion USD makeover to prepare to host the 2024 Summer Olympics…
44) Watch how the master drone pilots from JayBirdFilms recorded the opening U2 concert inside the massive new Las Vegas Sphere…
45) Watch a hands-on look at Apple's revolutionary Vision Pro mixed reality headset…
46) Watch (and listen) as Tuva Semmingsen and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra superbly perform the full Lord Of The Rings Suite, live…
…and finally…
And so it goes…