Happy New Year!
Welcome back to the Top Tech News of the Week. Our Tech News Dispatch.
A lot’s happened since our last segment on First News 570. Elon Musk had to dump some Tesla stock to prop up his Twitter payments. Then Tesla goes on to have a record sales year cranking out 1.22 million cars in 2022. SBF said he’s not guilty. And I lend an assist to Mr. and Mrs. Claus to get Christmas delivered on time.
So, let’s get to it.
It’s Thursday.
I’m back on the air with Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s hot and fresh tech news: Apple pays out over broken keyboards, Amazon cuts 18,000 jobs, Louisiana forces porn websites to verify ages for real. and the Consumer Electronics Show. You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.
APPLE HAS THE BUTTERFLIES OVER KEYBOARD FLAP
MacBook owners who bought a computer between 2015 and 2019 have until March 6, 2023 to claim their part of a $50 million settlement. The lawsuit involved problems with Apple’s butterfly keyboard in their MacBook and MacBook Pro computers. Apple replaced their previous keyboard with a newfangled design that resulted in sticky keys when the smallest amount of dust gets under the keys. The settlement only applies to owners who’ve had to have Apple fix or replace their keyboard one or more times. Owners with the most serious issues will get a $395 payout. MacBook owners who bought during the timeframe can go to keyboardsettlement.com to seek damages.
Big news happening right now! After years of continuous growth and hiring, Amazon is cutting 18,000 jobs from its workforce. The cuts equal 6% of its 300,000 person workforce. Amazon says its cutting staff from its Stores and People, Experience, and Technology teams. Not much said about cutting AWS staff. Layoffs will start January 18th.
LOUISIANA INSTITUTES PORN ID LAW WITH PRIVACY FEARS
As of January 1, 2023, Louisiana will require pornographic websites verify the age of its visitors. Using a simple date picker, or pull down menu for month, day, and year won’t suffice like it does on alcoholic product websites or MA rated video games. Porn websites will require Louisiana users to verify their age using Louisiana’s digital ID app, LA Wallet. Louisiana is one of the few states that have implemented a digital ID with an app to support it. Problems begin to mount from there. Porn websites will need to implement interfaces into third party verification services that accept LA Wallet often requiring multiple accounts. Consider the sketchiness of the industry, nefarious websites can swoop in and take some of that digital ID data. I get it, I really do get it. No one wants porn to fall into the eyeballs of children. But like a lot of things, vice, these barriers open up opportunities to even worse content.
GADGET GODS DESCEND ON VEGAS FOR ANOTHER CES
The Consumer Electronics Show starts today! This year promises to be the most over-the-top gadget year with a $3,300 auto-driving stroller (parents ARE ready for it, I know I was), electric skates, AI-powered bird feeders, digital temporary tattoos, and doggy fitness trackers. We’ll highlight the gadgets to look out for this year’s Christmas next week.
MagFest also starts today!
If you’re local, the Super Music and Gaming Festival starts today. MAGFest is a weekend dedicated to gamers, music lovers, and nerdy folks. It’s going to be loud, and it’s going to be fun. I’ll be roaming around on Saturday.
The latest episode of The Cloud dropped on New Year’s Eve. The season’s final episode is all about autonomous vehicles. We featured our 3rd Obama administration appointee, Eric Werner, to talk about self-driving cars, AI-autonomy, and what it takes to bring more autonomous vehicles to society. Listen now! We’re producing Season 2 now, and it’s going to be packed with deeper technology coverage.
Thanks for reading, and for listening. Have a great weekend!