Tech Boys

What does AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile all have in common? Aside from being the four major mobile carriers in the U.S., these companies have also just been slapped with millions in fines from the FCC . Why? AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile allegedly provided location data to third parties without their users' consent, which is illegal. “Our communications providers have access to some of the most sensitive information about us," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in a statement. "These carriers failed to protect the information entrusted to them. Here, we are talking about some of the most sensitive data in their possession: customers’ real-time location information, revealing where they go and who they are.”  FCC fines the biggest U.S. mobile carriers According to the FCC, T-Mobile has been fined the largest amount: $80 million. Sprint, which has merged with T-Mobile since the FCC's investigation began, also received a $12 million fine. ...

A federal judge has sentenced Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (often known as “CZ”) to four months in prison, as first reported by The New York Times . Prosecutors had recommended three years. Zhao pleaded guilty in November to violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to set up an anti-money-laundering program. The DOJ accused Zhao of allowing criminal activity to flourish on the crypto exchange. “Binance turned a blind eye to its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. Its willful failures allowed money to flow to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers through its platform,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in November. The government accused Binance of refusing to comply with American sanctions and failing to report suspicious transactions related to drugs and child sexual abuse materials. Prosecutors said in court that Zhao had told Binance employees it was “better to ask for forgiveness than permission” while bragging that if Binance had obeyed the law, it woul...

Art is integral to the success and longevity of social movements. It's woven into the very fabric of progress. The fight for Palestinian liberation is no different. Dozens of protests over the Israel-Hamas war have erupted across college campuses over the past few weeks. They began at Columbia University and spread to more than a dozen other schools across the country, led by students calling for their universities to divest from companies that are aiding Israel's military efforts in Gaza.  Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted Tweet may have been deleted The protests have led to a significant police presence on campuses. In response, some 1,000 people have been arrested . During one altercation between protesters and police at Cal Poly Humboldt, a protester hit a police officer in the head with a large, empty water jug , which is now being referred to online as the "Jug of Justice." It quickly went viral on social media and led to many peopl...

This content originally appeared on Mashable for a US audience and has been adapted for the UK audience. Smart homes are taking over, and it seems like smart light bulbs are the gateway device to all things Internet of Things. As with any new-fangled device, the smart light bulb market grows every day — and is possibly the most saturated smart device market out there. If you thought there were a lot of Amazon Echo devices to choose from, the smart light market is that, multiplied by hundreds. You might be asking why you even need a smart light bulb. Isn't a regular old light bulb enough? You know, one that switches on and off and, erm, adds some light to a room? And what features do smart light bulbs actually have? And how do you know which smart light bulb is best for you? Fear not, because we probed Amazon and its massive selection of smart light bulbs to find the best ones. We've also put together a quick guide to help shine a light on the situation. What is a smart l...

Oh hey there! If you're here, it must be time for Wordle . As always, we're serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today's answer. If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 30's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. Where did Wordle come from? Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble , music identification game Heardle , and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once .  Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times , and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing . Not th...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 29's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have bee...

TL;DR: Microsoft Visual Studio Professional 2022 for Windows is on sale for £31.93. Virtually any profession finds itself intertwined with at least one Microsoft application. Writers live and breathe Word, data analysts often use Excel, and many working in a remote or hybrid setup are familiar with Teams. Meanwhile, developers have found a home in Visual Studio, an integrated development environment (IDE) that allows for easy coding, debugging, deploying, and managing all sorts of programs and applications. Securing a Visual Studio license usually requires a hefty investment of £400, making it out of reach for many developers. Luckily, for a limited time, it's on sale for £31.93 — no coupon necessary. You'll only have to pay once and install and use the program on a single computer for lifetime use. This deal nets you the full capabilities of Visual Studio Professional 2022 for life. Whether you're writing a simple "hello world" program or a complex projec...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 29's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have bee...

TL;DR: Watch Gujarat Titans vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL for free on JioCinema . Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN . The new season of the IPL is in full swing and is already displaying incredible talent and exciting competition. The latest game will see Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru take to the pitch as some of the best cricket players in the world go head-to-head. Want to catch the next fixture? You can watch Gujarat Titans vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru for free from anywhere in the world, just keep reading to find out how. When is Gujarat Titans vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru? Gujarat Titans vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru starts at 11 a.m. BST on April 28 . This game will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, India. How to watch Gujarat Titans vs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru for free Cricket fans can tune in to live streams of IPL cricket matches with the help of JioCinema . The...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 28's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have bee...

Eken Group has reportedly issued a firmware update to resolve major security issues with its cheap doorbell cameras that were uncovered by a Consumer Reports investigation earlier this year. The cameras in question pair with the Aiwit app and are sold under a slew of brand names, including Eken, Tuck, Fishbot, Rakeblue, Andoe, Gemee and Luckwolf. During its tests, the watchdog found that the unencrypted cameras could expose sensitive information like home IP addresses and Wi-Fi networks, and allow outside parties to access images from a camera’s feed using its serial number. Now, Consumer Reports says the issues have been fixed — just make sure you update your devices. Devices from those brands should now reflect a firmware version of 2.4.1 or higher, which would indicate they’ve received the update. Consumer Reports says its own samples got the update automatically, but it can’t hurt to double check in your settings considering the risks (that is, if you haven’t tossed the camer...

Apple has resumed conversations with OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, to power some AI features coming to iOS 18, according to a new report in Bloomberg . Apple is also building its own large language models to power some iOS 18 features, but its talks with OpenAI are centered around a “chatbot/search component,” according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman.  Apple is also reportedly in talks with Google to license Gemini, Google’s own AI-powered chatbot, for iOS 18. Bloomberg reports that those talks are still on, and things could still go either way because Apple hasn’t made a final decision on which company’s technology to use. It’s conceivable, Gurman says, that Apple could ultimately end up licensing AI tech from both companies or none of them. So far, Apple has been notably quiet about its AI efforts even as the rest of Silicon Valley has descended into an AI arms race. But it has dropped enough hints to indicate that it’s cooking up something. When the company announced i...

According to a court document viewed by Engadget, the Federal Trade Commission accused Amazon of using Signal’s disappearing messages feature to conceal communications as part of its antitrust suit against the company . The FTC says the retailer continued to auto-delete its communications even after the agency notified it that it was under investigation and asked it to preserve them. Founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos and current CEO Andy Jassy are among the accused. “For years, Amazon’s top executives, including founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos, discuss[ed] sensitive business matters, including antitrust, over the Signal encrypted-messaging app instead of email,” the FTC wrote in the full document, acquired by (Bezos-owned) The Washington Post . “These executives turned on Signal’s ‘disappearing message’ feature, which irrevocably destroys messages, even after Amazon was on notice that Plaintiffs were investigating its conduct.” The FTC wants a federal judge to compel Amazon to pr...

There are four little words that the girls just can't get out of their heads: "That's that me espresso" — a little nonsensical, a lot catchy. They seem to answer the season's hottest question: What's the Song of the Summer? Sabrina Carpenter's sun-drenched hit, "Espresso," is currently the top contender. While artists scramble to promote their summer bops on TikTok and stan Twitter battles it out, Carpenter is not-so-quietly poised to take the crown. SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift's brand is mightier than her pen The Extremely Online — a.k.a. X / Twitter users — are constantly referencing, reworking, and memeifying the song's lyrics. Carpenter is no stranger to internet attention. She's a former Disney Channel star who, back in 2021, was the infamous "blonde girl" referenced in Olivia Rodrigo 's " Driver's License ." But in 2022, Carpenter released her album Emails I Can't Send , establishing herself...

Apple took a leap just two months ago and launched an entire brand new product category for the company with the release of the Apple Vision Pro . In the days and weeks after its February release, Apple's new AR/VR headset was the talk of social media. Tech reviewers raved about how using it was a glimpse into the future of home computers. And the Apple Vision Pro memes were in abundance . Who can forget the guy who wore an Apple Vision Pro at his wedding ? Then February came and went — and there's not much talk about anymore. It turns out that there's likely a good reason for the sudden silence around the product: the Apple Vision Pro simply isn't selling. SEE ALSO: I used AI to plan my Costa Rica trip — why I'll never use it again Apple Vision Pro sales tank According to prominent analyst Ming-Chi Kuo , Apple has revised its Apple Vision Pro shipment expectations for 2024 down to 400,000 to 450,000 units.  Apple originally expected to sell as many as 80...

Connections is the latest New York Times word game that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle , Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle. If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 26's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you. What is Connections ? The NYT 's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common. Tweet may have bee...

People usually want to make sure their iPhones and other Apple devices are extremely easy to find should they ever get misplaced. But the Find My iPhone feature isn't always for everyone, and you might want to turn it off. Find My iPhone is Apple's way of helping you locate your lost or misplaced phone, even if the device is offline. (Huge!) By accessing the Find My feature in Settings, using the Find My app, or using Find My on iCloud.com , you can find your lost or misplaced devices and easily share locations with friends and family members. There are clear benefits to utilizing the technologically advanced feature, but if you're concerned about privacy and location sharing, are getting rid of your phone, or want to disable the feature for whatever reason, you can easily turn it off. As Apple notes , just keep in mind that when Find My iPhone is disabled, you'll no longer be able to use it to locate, lock, or erase your device. If you're set in your deci...