Tech Gumbo

News and Updates: Meta's Secret "Arena" App: Zuckerberg is building a standalone prediction-markets app to rival Polymarket and Kalshi, likely using points instead of real money, separate from Facebook and Instagram. Meta's AI Reorg Backlash: CTO Andrew Bosworth admitted Meta's 6,500-person Applied AI division rollout was "atrocious," promising better communication, smaller management spans, and w...

News and Updates: Solar Passes Coal: Solar supplied more U.S. electricity than coal for the first time in May (12.8% vs 12.2%), even as Trump spends $700M boosting coal power plants. Drone Boat Combat Rescue: Saronic's unmanned Corsair vessel pulled two downed aviators from the Strait of Hormuz, marking a first for the Navy's autonomous Task Force 59 unit. SCOTUS Protects Location History: In Chat...

David Susko, a Martian geologist working for a NASA contractor is our guest. He builds and operates cameras for space missions, including a visible-light camera called MACIE (Mars Color Imager) that photographs the Martian surface at various scales and resolutions.   Key points discussed: The lunar base vision The goal isn't just a brief visit — it's continuous human presence on the Moon, similar...

David Susko, a Martian geologist working for a NASA contractor is our guest. He builds and operates cameras for space missions, including a visible-light camera called MACIE (Mars Color Imager) that photographs the Martian surface at various scales and resolutions.   Key points discussed: Moon before Mars. The Moon is a mandatory stepping stone — everything from Apollo to the ISS has been about le...

News and Updates: Religious Exemption from AI at Work: A North Carolina software engineer secured a faith-based workplace exemption from using AI, citing her Unitarian Universalist beliefs. Employment lawyers warn Pope Leo's encyclical could trigger a wave of similar requests, and employers who dismiss them risk Title VII discrimination lawsuits. Estonia Gives Students ChatGPT: Estonia distributed...

News and Updates: CISA Staffing Concerns: DHS Secretary Mullin told Congress that CISA's ideal staffing level is 2,800 personnel — up from today's 2,200 but still well below the 3,400 it had before Trump's second term, raising cybersecurity concerns among lawmakers. Google Pays SpaceX $920M Monthly: Google agreed to rent 110,000 Nvidia chips worth of data center capacity from SpaceX at $920 millio...

News and Updates: Trump Signs AI Executive Order: President Trump signed an order requiring AI companies to give the government 30-day advance access to powerful models before release, a scaled-back version of a shelved 90-day proposal. Anthropic Mythos Expansion: Alongside the executive order, Anthropic received White House approval to expand access to its Mythos model from 50 to roughly 150 comp...

News and Updates: Don't Troll Scam Texts: Replying to smishing texts — even with fake info — confirms your number is active, potentially landing it on the dark web and making you a future fraud target. Instagram Teen Content Limits: Meta is testing restrictions on repeated exposure to body image and mental health content for teen accounts on Instagram, expanding similar controls to Facebook and Me...

News and Updates: Pope Leo's AI Encyclical: Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, calls for AI to be "disarmed" from monopolistic control and refocused toward humanity's common good, citing Tolkien's Gandalf. Vatican AI Translation: St. Peter's Basilica debuts an AI-powered real-time translation system, allowing Mass attendees to follow liturgical celebrations in up to 60 languages...

News and Updates: OS Age Verification Laws: California's Digital Age Assurance Act (2027) requires operating systems to collect and share user age ranges with apps, sparking major privacy concerns nationwide. Vanguard Bricks Cheaters: Riot Games' latest Vanguard anti-cheat update permanently disables DMA cheat firmware on PCs, forcing full OS reinstalls — Riot's response was unapologetic and blunt...

News and Updates: American Rebellion Against AI: Public opposition to AI and data centers is surging, with 48 projects worth $156 billion blocked last year and isolated acts of violence reported against data center supporters. AI May Actually Be Creating Entry-Level Jobs: A survey of 1,500 employers found nearly three times as many companies using AI are increasing junior hiring in 2026 as those c...

News and Updates: Microsoft Ditches SMS Two-Factor Authentication: Microsoft is phasing out SMS-based login codes, citing fraud vulnerability, and pushing users toward more secure passkeys using biometrics or device PINs. Faulty Drivers Secretly Draining Windows 11 Batteries: Microsoft admits third-party drivers have silently prevented laptops from entering hibernation for years, announcing strict...

News and Updates: Yarbo Robot Security Nightmare: A security researcher remotely hijacked thousands of Yarbo robot lawn mowers worldwide, exposing owners' Wi-Fi passwords, GPS coordinates, and live home camera feeds through critical firmware vulnerabilities. Voice Replacing Typing: AI dictation apps like Wispr Flow are transforming workplaces into noisy, call-center-like environments as users ditc...

News and Updates: AI Compute Tax Debate: Economists and policymakers are debating taxing AI processing power to offset job displacement and fund social services, though critics argue it's too blunt a tool. AI Dividend Proposal: NY congressional candidate Alex Bores unveiled an "AI Dividend" plan funding direct payments to Americans through a token tax on AI consumption and equity stakes in frontie...

News and Updates: Dating App Steals Student's Image: A Tennessee college student sued dating app Meete for allegedly taking her TikTok video without consent and geofencing it as a "friends with benefits" ad to nearby men. Meta Glasses Workers See Too Much: Kenyan data workers reviewing Meta smart glasses footage reported seeing graphic content, including nudity. Meta then cancelled its contract wi...

News and Updates: Photoshop's Accidental Origin: A 1987 PhD student's grayscale display fix evolved into Adobe Photoshop, launching commercially in 1990 and reshaping photography, publishing, and design forever. Gemini Hits the Road: Google is rolling out its Gemini AI to millions of cars with Google built-in, enabling natural, conversational interaction for navigation, tasks, and hands-free respo...

News and Updates: Claude Mythos Finds Thousands of Flaws: Anthropic's unreleased Claude Mythos AI autonomously discovered thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities, including a 27-year-old OpenBSD flaw and critical Linux kernel exploits, without human assistance. DeepSeek V4 Goes Public: Chinese AI firm DeepSeek released V4, an open-source model matching top closed-source competitors at a fraction of...

News and Updates: Tim Cook Retires as Apple CEO: Cook's 15-year tenure ends Sept. 1; his supply chain discipline built a trillion-dollar company. Incoming CEO John Ternus faces pressure to sustain both innovation and operational excellence. Apple's Succession Question: New CEO John Ternus is a proven hardware engineer, but analysts question whether he can manage Apple's complex global supply chain...

News and Updates: Stanford AI Trust Gap: The 2026 AI Index reveals a widening divide: while 56% of experts feel positive about AI, only 10% of the public agrees. Orbital Compute Launch: Canada’s Kepler Communications successfully launched an orbital cluster of 10 satellites using Nvidia processors, proving software can operate effectively in space. Compute Power Shortage: Soaring demand for autono...

News and Updates: Roblox Age Tiers: Roblox is introducing "Roblox Kids" and "Roblox Select" tiers in June, implementing strict chat and content restrictions based on age-specific maturity labels. Roblox now requires video selfies or ID uploads for chat usage, despite concerns over biometric data privacy and the resale of verified accounts. Netgear FCC Exemption: The FCC granted Netgear a temporary...

News and Updates: Kalshi Prediction Markets: Kalshi is a federally regulated exchange where users trade "yes/no" contracts on real-world events like elections and interest rates, recently valued at $22B. A federal court ruled Kalshi’s sports bets are "swaps," giving the federal government exclusive jurisdiction and preventing states like New Jersey from banning them. Copilot "Entertainment" Clause...

News and Updates: The 6G Hype Cycle: Industry leaders at MWC heralded 6G’s 2029 launch, pitching it as an AI-driven necessity despite technical hurdles and unclear benefits for average consumers. Future 6G networks aim to integrate AI at every level, offering "Integrated Sensing and Communication" (ISAC) to create real-time 3D maps of entire cities. Experts warn that 6G’s precise sensing capabilit...

News and Updates: The Jetsons Predicting 2062: As we approach the show’s fictional 2062 setting, modern tech like eVTOLs (flying cars) and video calling have arrived, though the "nine-hour workweek" remains a distant dream. AI Attention Harvesting: Viral "MAGA dream girl" accounts like Jessica Foster use AI-generated imagery of fake soldiers to gain millions of followers, funneling users toward pa...

News and Updates: Historic Liability Verdict: A California jury awarded $6 million to a plaintiff, ruling Meta and Google were negligent in designing addictive platforms that caused mental health issues. Big Tobacco Comparison: Legal experts view these verdicts as a "bellwether," potentially triggering a wave of litigation similar to the 1990s crusade against the tobacco industry. New Mexico Penal...

Interview: Andrew Dalovisio with Director Cellular Therapy w/ Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Immunotherapy: How immunotherapy intersects with technology CAR-T cell therapy Long Term: Potential future of cancer treatments using technology