This Week in Tech News | Page 8

Advertisers abandon YouTube over disgusting comments

Episode 1568

Advertisers are abandoning YouTube after comments by pedophiles have been found on certain channels and video content. The content itself isn't questionable, per se, but bad guys are putting disgusting comments into videos featuring kids, and that is causing advertisers to pull out. YouTube has responded by taking down 400 channels and deleting millions of comments. Leo says that the YouTube comments feature has been horribly broken for years.

New report shows how reliable SSD drives are.

Episode 1568

Backblaze, a backup company, attempts to determine the reliability of Solid-State Drives in their recent article. SSDs are generally faster than spinning drives, but some people aren't too confident in the endurance of their memory cells.

How Reliable are SSDs? (Backblaze)

"Study Powerful Country" is the number one app in China

Episode 1567

A propaganda app by the PRC Communist party is the number one app in China. Leo says it must be quite boring.

Right to Repair Still a Major Battle with Tech Companies

Episode 1567

Fifteen states now have bills posed to allow citizens the right to repair what they buy. Meanwhile, companies like John Deer and Apple are being very litigious in preventing third parties from repairing their products.

Pokemon Go Creators to Create Harry Potter SpinOff

Episode 1566

With the huge suggest of Pokemon Go, the game's creator, Niantic, is set to release a new version set in the world of Harry Potter. Leo says you think it's bad now, wait until you can go after Dementors with your virtual wand. And Niantic has it's hands full right now, as home owners have sued the company over people trespassing on their private property looking for Pokemon monsters.

Germany Wants Facebook to Stop Collecting Data

Episode 1565

A decision by a court in Germany has declared that Facebook must stop collecting data on users without their consent, and give them the option to opt-out. Facebook is appealing, and says without the ability to collect data, they would have to shut down the social network access nationwide. Leo says that is part of the deal you make with Facebook. Free services for collecting data on your usage of Facebook. Someone has to pay the bills.

Folding Phones Are All the Rage Now

Episode 1562

Leo says that folding phones are going to be the buzz word at this year's Mobile World Congress. Even Energizer, the battery company, is announcing one as part of their 26 model line of new phones. They are also going to do a phone with an 18000mAh battery, four times the battery life of the Note 9.

Leo also says sales of mobile phones have plateaued, and that means the "silly season" is about to start, where phone companies start adding "fins" and other silly features to lure customers back to buy.

Mark Zuckerberg Explains Facebook

Episode 1561

Under fire for privacy issues, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckberg wrote an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal explaining why and how Facebook collects your data and what they do with it. Leo says he thinks that Zuckerberg did a decent job of making his case for the business model Facebook uses. But he's also making the plea for regulators not to regulate social media.

Folding Phones are the New Thing

Episode 1560

Thanks to new technology that has brought about curved and bendable screens, foldable phones are going to be the thing this year. Samsung is believed to be announcing a foldable phone in February.

Collection #1 Password Hacks Prove to be Older than Believed

Episode 1559

Yesterday's story about Collection #1 - a package of hacked email passwords, is actually now reported to be a few years old, so the damage is not as great as previously believed. But Leo still says that it's a wise idea to go to HaveIBeenPwned.com/passwords and see if your account has been hacked. And then change your password. In fact, it may be a good idea to change it anyway, and turn on 2 factor authentication while you're at it.