Author: InfoForTech
In this episode of Uncanny Valley, our hosts discuss Threads as it recently hit 500 million monthly users, putting it on par with X—but is it really competing or just filling a different niche? Meanwhile, the reviews have been coming in for the Trump-branded T1 phone in recent weeks as it finally started shipping after a year of delays. Plus: We explain the fast-moving crisis around Senate candidate Graham Platner, who is stepping down after a long string of controversies.Articles mentioned in this episode:You can follow Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write…
Nostalgia is fuelling Singapore’s vinyl boom & record stores are reaping the rewards When people think of vinyl records today, they often think of a niche hobby making a comeback. But Singapore’s relationship with vinyl runs much deeper. Long before collectors were flipping through crates in neighbourhood record stores, Singapore was one of Southeast Asia’s biggest record-manufacturing hubs. By 1970, at least four major pressing plants were operating here, producing up to a million records a month before changing technologies and shifting consumer habits pushed the industry into decline. But today, vinyl has returned—not as a manufacturing powerhouse, but as…
Marketers, beware: The AI model you rely on today might not be the one you can rely on tomorrow.
As agentic AI accelerates enterprise transformation, data sovereignty is crystallizing from a compliance checkbox into a foundational strategic imperative — one that determines not just where data lives, but who captures the economic value it generates. The debate is particularly acute in Europe, where nations are pressing to retain both data residency and the commercial outcomes that AI-driven operations now produce. But sovereignty is no longer a European concern — it is a global reckoning, with companies everywhere reassessing how much control they have ceded to hyperscalers, model providers and closed-weight systems, according to Philip Rathle (pictured, right), chief technology…
Ravie LakshmananJul 09, 2026Supply Chain Security / DevSecOps GitHub has officially announced the release of npm version 12 with install scripts disabled by default, along with deprecating granular access tokens (GATs) designed to bypass two-factor authentication (2FA). The Microsoft-owned subsidiary noted that the following npm install behaviors that used to run automatically before have been made opt-in – allowScripts defaults to off, meaning dependency lifecycle scripts (i.e., preinstall, install, postinstall) and implicit node-gyp builds no longer run unless explicitly allowed. –allow-git defaults to none, meaning –allow-git defaults to none: Git dependencies (direct or transitive) are no longer resolved unless explicitly allowed.…
Inside a Microsoft data center. (Microsoft Photo) Microsoft has just four more years to reach its ambitious goal of removing more planet-warming carbon that it produces. But the company’s annual sustainability report, released Thursday, shows it’s moving in the opposite direction, as its 2025 emissions spiked 25% over the previous year. Despite the troubling increase, Microsoft leaders say they remain committed to the longer-term goal. “We continue to really be focused around carbon negativity by 2030,” said Melanie Nakagawa, chief sustainability officer, in an interview with GeekWire. The Redmond, Wash.-based company is the latest tech giant to fall further behind…
An EU court has rejected Apple’s attempt to dodge gatekeeper status. The company must now comply with strict DMA rules or risk massive financial penalties. Apple just suffered a massive legal blow in Europe. A Luxembourg-based court dismissed Apple’s challenge against the EU’s “gatekeeper” designation. This ruling officially confirms that the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) applies to Apple’s App Store and its iOS operating system. The DMA prevents Big Tech gatekeepers from: Favoring their own services Bundling personal data across platforms Locking users into a single ecosystem. Apple has been fighting these labels since 2024, claiming that the regulations…
Instagram is no longer just a photo-sharing app. For South African businesses it is a sales channel, a customer service desk, and a brand asset, which is exactly why criminals target it. At Da Vinci Cybersecurity, Instagram-related cases now land on our desks weekly: hijacked business profiles held to ransom, cloned accounts running advance-fee scams on a company’s own customers, and phishing DMs dressed up as “Meta Support” copyright warnings. This guide answers the questions we get asked most, in plain language, so you can act fast when minutes matter. How do I report a hacked Instagram account? If you…
When you ask people when they knew Covid was going to be a huge deal, they give a range of answers. “When Tom Hanks got sick” is a popular one. So is “when the NBA suspended the season.” The most plugged-in people will sometimes cite early rumblings from Wuhan in December 2019/January 2020.AI is scaling faster than any past tech boom, and it’s likely to produce an economic emergency — a moment when policymakers will suddenly accept big risks and big changes. The US isn’t ready.These crisis windows open dramatically but close fast. In 2008 and 2020, near-universal cash payments…
Google is rolling out a fresh batch of updates to Gemini for Home and the Google Home app, and the headline change is one that could get more users to try out automations. Version 4.20 of the Google Home app adds a handful of pre-built routines to the Automations tab, so instead of building one from scratch, you can pick one and turn it on with a tap. No more starting from zero Until now, setting up an automation in Google Home meant picking your own triggers, conditions, and actions, which can be a lot to figure out for less…