Author: The Tech Guy

I’ve spent this week bouncing between Android browsers, and I keep landing on the same conclusion: stock Firefox no longer gets the automatic benefit of the doubt from me that it once did. Mozilla’s clumsy 2025 rollout of Firefox’s first Terms of Use, in which vague licensing language led critics to worry that Mozilla was claiming broad rights over anything users typed into the browser, did not exactly strengthen my confidence in the browser’s direction. Mozilla later clarified the wording and stressed that it was not claiming ownership of user data, but the episode still made me look more closely…

There’s a chance you clicked on this story out of morbid curiosity. After all, an iPad doesn’t seem like the best option for navigation to most people, much less offline. Sometimes, however, an iPad is all you have, and there is one obvious advantage: more content onscreen. You can see more of the surrounding area, and if you’ve got your tablet mounted in a car, buttons will be easier to read and tap. I’ve successfully traveled around Berlin and Munich on foot, never once tethering to my phone. The trick, though, is to pick an iPad with the right specs…

For over eight months, a threat actor has been using a destructive backdoor and wiper that has multiple system-level sabotage capabilities, Microsoft reports. Dubbed GigaWiper, the malware is a sophisticated Go-based backdoor that consists of multiple malware families and robust command-and-control (C&C) capabilities. According to Microsoft, the malware in GigaWiper was folded in the form of on-demand backdoor commands, allowing the attacker to execute a standalone wiper, a ransomware-like encryption command, and a wiping command that performs multiple erase passes. “The consolidation of multiple destructive capabilities into a modular backdoor reflects a notable shift in wiper malware, which is typically…

Can a company outgrow Earth’s economy? The claim is not crazy on long timescales. Saudi Aramco already approximates a whole nation’s economy, tech megacaps now dwarf the entire stock market of 15 years ago, and history shows step-changes in growth (0.3% agrarian → 2-3% industrial). North America’s economy became larger than the economy of Europe. If AI removes the labor cap and space removes the energy cap, sustained 20-30% GDP growth — and a company capturing a huge share of a projected ~$11 trillion AI buildout — becomes conceivable. WWII America growing ~18% a year during mobilization is a precedent…

Anycubic’s Kobra X multicolour 3D printer has just had its price cut by 35%, making now the moment to grab one. That drop takes the Kobra X down to $194.99 from its usual $299.99, a $105 saving that puts genuine four-colour printing within easy reach of anyone just starting out on the hobby. Getting into 3D printing? Anycubic’s Kobra X multicolour printer is down by $105, making it a smart starter investment for creating your own designs at home If you have been wanting to get into 3D printing for a while, the Kobra X at $194.99 makes a compelling…

For decades, Audi’s RS division has built its reputation on extracting astonishing performance from combustion engines, pairing muscular powerplants with the brand’s legendary quattro all-wheel-drive system to create machines that could embarrass exotic supercars while carrying an entire family… and their pets.But times have changed. Stringent emissions regulations, the soaring cost of fuel and the industry’s rapid shift towards electrification all mean that even Audi’s most revered performance badge can no longer ignore battery packs.Rather than resisting the inevitable, the Ingolstadt-based company has embraced it, introducing a plug-in hybrid powertrain to the RS 5 for the very first time. If…

Organizations across multiple sectors have been targeted in a vishing campaign aimed at harvesting Microsoft 365 credentials, Okta warns. The campaign started in April and has involved voice calls directing the victims to fake Microsoft Entra ID login pages under the pretense that they need to register a new passkey. Tracked as O-UNC-066 and also known as CL-CRI-1147 and Pink, the hacking group has been targeting automotive, aviation, construction, food and beverage, healthcare, and technology organizations, mainly for data extortion. As part of the observed attacks, the threat actor has been registering domains incorporating the word ‘passkey’, and has been…

1 min readPreparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) Back to ECF Home Advanced Diagnostics for High-Enthalpy Test Facilities Simulating Spacecraft Atmospheric Entry Damiano BaccarellaUniversity of Tennessee, KnoxvilleApplication of Resonance Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization Diagnostics to the Characterization of Arcjet Flows​ Ciprian DumitracheColorado State UniversityUltrafast Laser Diagnostics for Nonequilibrium Flowfields Characterization in Atmospheric Entry Studies​ Dan FriesUniversity of Kentucky, LexingtonMultiplexed Polarization Spectroscopy for Single-Shot Multi-Species Diagnostics in High-Enthalpy Flows​ Yi MazumdarGeorgia Institute of TechnologySimultaneous Temperature, Species, and Velocity Measurements using Ultrafast Laser Diagnostics for Ground Testing of Spacecraft Atmospheric Entry Systems​ Planning for Autonomous Spacecraft Using Machine Learning Methods to…

YouTube users in the U.S. are getting a new way to search for videos on the web. The company has started rolling out Ask YouTube, its conversational AI search experience, beyond the Premium-only test announced at Google I/O 2026. Instead of entering a few keywords and scrolling through a standard list of results, users can ask YouTube a complete question. The feature is designed for broader searches where the exact video, channel, or topic may not already be clear. So what exactly does Ask YouTube do? Ask YouTube can handle more detailed queries, such as how to teach a child…

We’ve all heard the advice that a wired Ethernet connection is better than a wireless one. Even if you’re using the latest Wi-Fi 7 gear, direct Ethernet cables will win in speed, reliability, and bandwidth every time. Understanding this concept is one thing, but actually implementing it in your home is another. There are many obstacles to wiring devices to Ethernet that stop people from taking entire rooms off Wi-Fi. I used to connect my main computer and Apple TV to Ethernet, and leave everything else on Wi-Fi. As an apartment dweller, I only had a single RJ45 jack available…