|
 Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 26.5 and iPadOS 26.5 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming two weeks after Apple released updated first betas.
|
|
 If you regularly share your iPhone's data connection with your laptop or iPad, or let family members piggyback on your device's data, you'll be glad to learn that Apple recently made it a lot easier to keep tabs on who's burning through your monthly allowance.
|
RELATED ARTICLES | | | | |
|
NEW RESOURCES yafira's itp blog: On Open Source and Making Things for Each Other. "One thing I've been working on is tinytinker.tools, a soft toolkit for curious makers — tiny, focused utilities […]
|
|
Dozens of civil rights organizations have written a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to warn of the dangers in bringing facial recognition technology to the company's smart glasses. More than 70 groups have banded together to form a coalition to urge Zuckerberg to abandon plans to incorporate the tech, on the grounds that it would empower stalkers, sexual predators and other bad actors.
This coalition includes organizations like the ACLU, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Fight for the Future, Access Now and many others. The letter isn't asking for safeguards. These groups want the feature to be completely eliminated, stating the idea behind facial recognition of this type is so dangerous that it "cannot be resolved through product design changes, opt-out mechanisms or incremental safeguards." This tracks, as there would be no real way for bystanders to know or consent to being identified.
"People should be able to move through their daily lives without fear that stalkers, scammers, abusers, federal agents and activists across the political spectrum are silently and invisibly verifying their identities and potentially matching their names to a wealth of readily available data about their habits, hobbies, relationships, health and behaviors," the letter states.
The organizations have urged Meta to disclose any known instances of its wearables being used for stalking, harassment or domestic violence. They also want the company to disclose past or ongoing discussions with federal law enforcement agencies, including ICE, about the use of Meta smart glasses and other wearables,
|
|
 With the second beta of iOS 26.5, Apple is continuing to prepare for ads in the Apple Maps app. There's a new splash screen in the app that says it will display ads based on approximate location, current search terms, or a view of the map when searching. Ads will also be shown in the "Suggested Places" section that was added in the first beta.
|
|
I spent over two months testing popular microcurrent devices, taking before-and-after photos to evaluate the results from NuFace, ZIIP Beauty and other brands.
|
|
Picture this: You're a senior Meta employee looking for feedback from the CEO. But, instead of hearing from the real Mark Zuckerberg, you get a response from a Zuckerberg AI character. As absurd as that sounds, it could eventually be a reality.
Meta is reportedly working on such an AI character, training it on Zuckerberg's mannerisms, tone and publicly available statements, according to the Financial Times. The character is also learning about the CEO's thoughts on recent company strategy, with the idea that it could offer advice to Meta employees.
The company has reportedly, for some time, been working on creating photorealistic, 3D animated AI characters that can manage interactions. However, it now appears to be focusing on this Zuckerberg AI character, which would interact with employees when the CEO can't or doesn't want to.
This additional AI tool follows last month's news that Zuckerberg is creating an AI agent to help him do his job,
|
|
Apple, Garmin, Samsung, Google or Amazfit? I put these watches through the paces to see where they land on step, distance and heart rate accuracy.
|
|
NEW RESOURCES Armenian Weekly: Armenian Needlelace Initiative launched. "The Armenian Needlelace Initiative is the first comprehensive website supporting Armenian needlelace traditions by encouraging learning and making, fostering connection across scattered populations, providing […]
|
|
NEW RESOURCES WHO: New WHO database helps countries turn health data into better policy. "Health information systems are key to well-functioning health systems. That's why WHO has just launched a new database […]
|
|
OpenAI has closed a yawning gap in its ChatGPT subscription pricing with a new $100 per month Pro plan that slots between the $20 per month Plus plan and $200 per month Pro plan. Offering five times more Codex than the $20 option, it appears designed to challenge Anthropic's $100 per month Claude option. "Compared with Claude Code, Codex delivers more coding capacity per dollar across paid tiers," an OpenAI spokesperson told TechCrunch.
So what's the difference between OpenAI's two Pro plans? The $200 version does offer four times the Codex. However, you get the same advanced tools and models with $100 plan, according to OpenAI's product page. To encourage users to jump in, it will offer double the Codex for a limited time, or 10 times what you get with the Plus plan.
Users have been screaming for such a plan for a while now, according to posts on OpenAI's developer community forums. "The Plus plan will continue to be the best offer at $20 for steady, day-to-day usage of Codex, and the new $100 Pro tier offers a more accessible upgrade path for heavier daily use," OpenAI said in a post on X.
With the launch of GPT 5.2 late last year and GPT-5.3-Codex in February, OpenAI significantly boosted the speed and reasoning capabilities of Codex, giving developers a tough choice between ChatGPT and Claude Opus. However, the sticking point for many power users was ChatGPT's $200 per month price — so OpenAI
|
|
 Apple's first foldable iPhone is being held up by pricing negotiations with manufacturing partners and an unresolved decision about hinge materials, rather than component or display problems, according to Chinese leaker Fixed Focus Digital.
|
|
NEW RESOURCES Midcoast Villager: Lost Stories Found: 124 Years of Midcoast History, Online and At Your Fingertips. "Last week, 1,500 editions of the The Courier-Gazette — one of the four historic newspapers […]
|
|
