Users are now flocking to Bluesky. But every social media platform becomes a wasteland in the end.

MacworldAcross industries, its hard to avoid needing to build your own website once in a while. Most of the time, you have two options: you can learn to code (hard), or you can use something like WordPress and create a website that looks like a million others. Why not try a third option?MaxiBlocks is a WordPress plugin that keeps the familiar parts of building a WordPress site and adds a robust customization toolkit, and you never need to write a line of code. Pick up a MaxiBlocks lifetime subscription for just $59 (reg. $447).This powerful WordPress plugin offers over 2,300 block patterns and 280 page templates, making it easier than ever to build stunning websites without coding. The drag-and-drop interface is intuitive and seamless, letting you focus on creativity rather than technical hurdles. Advanced design options and full Gutenberg integration mean your websites work across devices and look good doing it.MaxiBlocks doesnt just give you templates. It provides a full toolkit, including 14,300 SVG icons and style cards for consistent, professional designs. Whether youre a beginner or an experienced web developer, youll appreciate how effortlessly you can create unique layouts that stand out.Updates and additional assets are included so your designs stay fresh and modern. Its like having a comprehensive design studio built into WordPress.Get a MaxiBlocks No-Code Webpage Builder lifetime pro plan for $59.MaxiBlocks No-Code Webpage Builder: Pro Plan Lifetime Subscription (3 Licenses) $59See DealStackSocial prices subject to change.

MacworldApples AirTag is a compact tracking device that can be attached to personal items to make it easy to find them. Unlike a GPS tracker, which requires cell service and may drain a battery quickly, an AirTag relies on the distributed Find My network of iPhones, iPads, and Macs that hundreds of millions of people around the world carry with them, and uses Bluetooth LE to send a signal to other devices.The concern is that there have been reports of people using AirTags to track others. In response to the early reports of this behavior, Apple added a feature that means if an unknown AirTag is detected near by, you will see an alert on your iPhone. For that reason people are obviously concerned if they see an AirTag has been detected near you alert. Of course its not always malicious. You might have found a device that someone had lost, or a pet with an AirTag in its collar might have taken a shine to you. You might even be the one who has lost their device and wants to know how to use the AirTag to track it down. Whatever your reasons to find an AirTag detected near you we will explain the process below. Apple AirTagRead our reviewAre AirTags safe?While there are a thousand positive and legitimate ways to use an AirTag, unfortunately, AirTags have been used to track people without their knowledge. For example, back in December 2021, the York regional police department in Canada announced that AirTags were being placed in hidden areas of target cars parked in public, and then tracked to the drivers residence, where the cars are stolen while parked in the driveway. In another incident, a woman claimed that she found an AirTag hidden in her wheel well after her iPhone alerted her to an AirTag moving with her. State governments in New York and Pennsylvania have issued warnings about the misuse of AirTags and similar tracking devices.Incidents like this are rare (at the time, York police said there had been five AirTag-involved thefts out of 2,000 in the region). Apple has put some safeguards in place so that an iPhone, iPad, and AirTag provide varying alerts and information if the owner who paired the AirTag with their iPhone or iPad isnt nearby. There are tools built into the iPhone to find and disable AirTags as well as an Android app that will scan for AirTags nearby. This is why you may have seen a warning that an AirTag has been detected near you. These warnings arent restricted to Apple devices: in May 2023, Apple and Google announced a joint initiative to allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across iOS and Android platforms. Read: How to identify unwanted tracking by a compact Bluetooth device.Find the best AirTag accessories, key rings, holders, and bag tags weve tested. Also, read our Guide to the AirTag and find out when the new model is coming out. How an AirTag can track youBecause AirTags dont register proximity except to the owner, the only way it can be used to gather information about you is if it travels with you. An AirTag in your home, office, or classroom wont reveal anything to someone trying to keep tabs. That reduces the surface area of unwanted surveillance because the AirTag has to be in your clothes, wallet, or purse, something else youre carrying, or in a vehicle youre in and using exclusively or at least regularly.If youre traveling regularly through urban and suburban areas or on public transportation, other peoples devices will still pick up and relay location information about any AirTag thats with you. That can include something as innocuous as pulling over to a rest area on a highway, and someone 50 feet away has an iPhone, or even driving on a highway near other people who have iPhones or iPads connected to a cellular network.Bluetooth LEs range is surprisingly long. I found that an AirTag I temporarily placed in my car, parked two flights of stairs down from our ground floor and about 50 feet from the house still provided regular updates about its location via devices I ownednot to mention those of neighbors walking or driving by.Everyones devices participate in relaying secured, privacy-protecting location information about their devices and AirTags unless they opt out of the Find My network. That makes everyone around you a potential participant in tracking you via an AirTag you dont know about.Once the AirTag is in your possession it will relay its location to the owner via the Find My network and other Bluetooth devices. How do you know if you are being tracked by an AirTag?Apple issues alerts to let someone know that theres an AirTag near them that isnt associated with their iCloud account. These alerts happen after some period of time or while youre moving and the AirTag is moving with you.Should an unknown AirTag be tracking you you will see an alert that will state: AirTag Found Moving With You. Apple will invite you to open the Find My app on your iPhone to go through various options to disable the tracking and locate the AirTag, discussed below. (Incidentally, you may also see an alert for other devices moving with you, such as AirPods and other Bluetooth trackers).Apple recognizes that it could be an innocent case of having borrowed an item from someone with an AirTag attached or inside it, so one of the options is to Pause Tracking Notifications. To make sure you will receive an alert like this follow these steps: You will need to have an iPhone or iPad running iOS/iPadOS 14.5 or later. Open the Find My app.Tap the Me tab.Tap Customise Tracking Notifications.Make sure the Allow Notifications slider is green (it should be by default).Via the alert, you can see how long this AirTag has been with you. You can also see a map of the locations where the AirTag has been tracked in your possession, which may give you an indication of where you picked it up. How to find an AirTagLuckily Apple makes it easy to locate an AirTag and find one that is tracking you. Heres what to do if you have seen a warning from Apple that an AirTag is detected near you.One option is to use Apples Find My app to manually scan for AirTags near you using the Items That Can Track Me option in the Items tab.If you have an Android phone, you can also check for unknown AirTags moving with you using the Tracker Detect app. Its far less robust than Apples Find My app and needs to be run manually.1. Play a sound to locate the AirTagYou may find that the tracking AirTag will play a sound once it has been separated from its owner for a time and then moves. This happens after what Apple calls an extended period of time away from its paired iPhone or iPad (the company has disclosed elsewhere that this is three days). After this period, an AirTag makes a beep whenever its moved. If you hear an unexpected beep from something youre carrying or within your vehicle, then its time to engage in the hunt for an AirTag.The audio alert winds up being less useful than one might hope. If a stalker or other person engaged in surveillance can come within range of the AirTag at least every three days, and they know you dont have an iPhone or iPad thats running 14.5 or later, they can reset that counter. The beep thats made isnt ongoing or particularly loud, and it can be muffled without blocking the Bluetooth signal substantially.If you havent heard a beep, or want to hear it again, you can force the AirTag to play a sound. If you have received an alert about an AirTag that is traveling with you and want it to make a sound follow these steps: Tap Apples Alert. Tap Continue. Tap Play Sound. You will have the option to play the sound again. You may find that there is no option to play a sound, in that case, the item may no longer be near you or it may be back in range of its owner. Another reason why you may not be able to find the AirTag is that it may have changed its identifier (which happens regularly). The Bluetooth ID produced by an AirTag, and by all Apple devices that participate in Find My crowdsourcing, changes on a regular basis to avoid becoming a reverse tracking item: if it were persistent, then someone could track your devices based on the anonymous Bluetooth ID. That means that your iPhone or iPad has to notice an AirTag moving with it over a relatively short period of time.Another possibility is that the AirTag speaker has been disabled. After reports of people disabling AirTag speakers, Apple announced that it would add a notification along with the sound on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch it is moving with. Apple also says it will adjust the tone sequence that plays when a user has an unknown AirTag traveling with them to make anunknown AirTag easier to find. In a 2022 firmware update version 1.0.301, Apple tweaked the unwanted tracking sound to more easily locate an unknown AirTag. If you own the AirTag it is easy to locate it using the Find My app on an iPhone or iPad to play an audible sound on the AirTag. As part of macOS 13.1, this feature also came to the Find My app on Macs. 2. Use Precision Finding to find the AirTagAs well as the option to play a sound the alert will also give you the option to use Precision Finding if that is available on your device. Your iPhone would need to support Ultra Wideband via the U1 chip to precisely locate an AirTag, which includes iPhone 11 and later. If Apples Alert gives you the option for directions tap Go and you should see directional arrows pointing you in the right direction and a guide to the distance between you and the device. This should help you locate it. So, for example, if you were trying to find an AirTag in your car you could use Find Nearby and follow onscreen directions to locate the AirTag. It should display distance and direction so you can find the AirTag in your car (although, in this case, it would probably be easier to play the alert sound.)3. Search for the AirTagIf you didnt manage to get it to make a sound and Precision Finding wasnt the answer for you you will need to look for the AirTag. An AirTag (underside)AppleThe first step is to get familiar with what it looks like. If you havent seen an AirTag before,consult Apples site. They have a rounded white top and a silver base, are somewhat larger than an American quarter or a dollar/pound/single unit coin in many countries, and about three to four times thicker. As we mentioned earlier, the AirTag has to be moving with you for Apple to have sent the alert, so look inside things that you have with you when you move around:Check pockets:In clothing, not just pockets but also check inside the lining or anywhere it could have been sewn in. Check bags: Look inside purses, luggage, messenger bags, and other items, unzip and also feel for an AirTag thats been placed or sewn in.Check belongings: Someone could have posted you an item with an AirTag in it. Examine your car:A car may have a number of locations that are unreachable or hard to check. Because an AirTag has as long as a years worth of power, someone might wrap it in cotton (to stifle the beep it may make; see below), slit a fabric seam, slip it in, and sew it back up. Parking your car away from homes and businesses and using a Bluetooth scanner can help you pinpoint if one is in your car.Even if someone doesnt have access to your home, work, school, or vehicle, and you dont receive mail at the address at which you liveyou might use a P.O. box or another persons addresssomeone could ship you an item with an AirTag in it, and when you take that home, they could have your location. If youre in that specific situation, you may need to examine all packages received elsewhere before bringing them home.4. Find the AirTag using a Bluetooth scannerBecause AirTag regularly emits Bluetooth signals that Apple devices can pick up, you can use a simple Bluetooth tracker for iOS or iPadOS to scan the area around you and see if an AirTag is nearby. While these tracking apps cant identify AirTag as suchAirTag changes its Bluetooth ID regularly to avoid being trackable themselvesthe apps give you the lay of the landscape. That includes the names of Bluetooth devices that do label themselves in their broadcasts.BLE Scanneris a limited but free app that provides a list of Bluetooth devices your iPhone or iPad can detect, and offers a mapping feature that roughly sorts them by signal strength into distance away. This is particularly useful if youre checking out whether a car has a hidden AirTag; less so inside when there may be dozens of your own and neighbors devices close enough to register. Regular Bluetooth devices typically identify themselves generically (like my HP OfficeJet Pro 9010 series printer) or specifically, as with the sharing name of your Macs, iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs, FitBit trackers, and so on.Bluetooth BLE Device Finder(free to download, but $4.99 to unlock needed features) has the advantage of letting you drill down into Bluetooth technical details, which may give additional clues about which devices are legitimate and not.Bluetooth scanning apps can provide cues about unknown devices near you, which may include AirTags.If you can eliminate all known Bluetooth devices, including by powering down equipment that youre unsure of, and whats left has no associated name, it can be worth looking further by hand.How to stop an AirTag tracking youThere are a number of ways you can stop the AirTag from tracking you. Well run through them all below including how to find an AirTag in your car and what to do if there is an AirTag detected near you but you cant find it.1. Opt out of the Find My network While you cant stop other iPhone, iPad, and Mac users from relaying the location of the AirTag, you can at least opt yourself out of the Find My network, though this removes your ability to track your own lost or stolen iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, or an AirTag through this extended network. Earlier versions of iOS and macOS dont include support for the Find My network.In iOS 13 or iPadOS 14 or later go toSettings > Account name > Find My > Find My iPhone/iPad, and disable Find My network.In macOS 10.15 Catalina or later, go to the Apple ID preference pane, select the iCloud link at left, click the Options button to the right of the Find My Mac item, and uncheck Offline Finding or Find My network (the text varies by macOS version).Disabling the Find My network prevents your devices from tracking AirTags or other Find My items and devices near you.2. Get the AirTags serial number and associated phone number If you find an AirTag, you can safely determine more information about it without disclosing to the person who planted it that youve done so. The AirTag includes NFC, useful both for pairing the device initially and for letting any smartphone or tablet with an NFC reader pull up a URL from the device. That includes Android phones and other hardware, as it uses an industry standard for NFC encoding. On following the URL, youre taken to a page that contains the AirTags serial number. That page can also show a phone number set by the owner if they marked it lost. The owner isnt notified in any fashion about the page being loaded, and Apple preserves the owners privacy by providing no direct linkage at all.An NFC transmitter lets you pick up information about an AirTag you discover.However, in the case of unwanted tracking, the serial number may help if you pursue civil action, want to obtain a restraining order, or contact law enforcement. Because AirTag tracking requires device pairing, an iCloud account, and an iPhone or iPad thats logged into the account, anyone actively tracking you is also producing a trail of information stored on their phone, across the cellular network, and in other places.A found AirTag displays its serial number via the NFC link and Apple provides instructions on how to disable it.Apple uses end-to-end encryption to protect the location information sent from an arbitrary device to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, which has to use the Find My app to view it. But the information isnt secured in the same way on the device. Police and national investigators would be able to create a close association of logins and access, as well as prove that an AirTag was paired with a specific iPhone or iPad. This may deter abusers and others somewhat if theyre aware of how easily they can be tracked back.3. Disable the AirTagOnce youve found the AirTag and obtained the information you want from it, you dont need a hammer or rock to disable it. Unlike most of Apples hardware, the AirTag has a removable battery. Use pressure to rotate the AirTags metal underside counter-clockwise (from upper right to upper left).Remove that plate.Then remove the battery.What to do if you are being tracked by an AirTagYou probably know already if youre a candidate for involuntary tracking: someone in your life (or formerly so) or a family member may show up at unexpected times in unexpected places when they have no reason to know youre there. They may comment in person, via email, or otherwise about your activities or whereabouts. Or youre in the middle of or long past a nasty break-up of a relationship or marriage or have broken off contact with a parent or family members.Whatever the case, if youre in need of help, consult one of these U.S.-based services theNational Domestic Violence Hotlineormore specialized resourcesfor victims of domestic abuse, stalking, and other violence listed by theNational Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Local law enforcement, the FBI, or national police in other countries also offer resources.For our recommendations of Mac Antivirus Software that we have tested see: Best Antivirus for Mac 2024: Top Security Software Compared.

Apple has already seized a leadership position with Apple Silicon. Now, it seeks to build a second bridgehead in networking chips so it canmake the 5G chip, the Wi-Fi chip, and Bluetooth chips used inside its devices.Why? Cutting component costs might be part of its calculation, but improving performance, battery life, and the integration of these very different networking components might well yield a greater prize.Apple now aims to introduce the first combined Wi-FI/Bluetooth chip in Apple TV and HomePod mini in early 2025, with the component set to appear in iPhones later next year. Macs and iPads will reportedly gain the new networking component in 2026. Current supplier Broadcom will continue to supply Apple with RF filters and is now working with it on development of AI chips for Apples Private Cloud Compute servers. (Broadcom and Apple also have some relationship ondevelopment of 5G modemsfor Apples devices.To some extent, much of this was known. Apples silicon development teams have been working on multiple chips for use in Apple devices for some time, including M-, A-, S- and R- series chips used in Macs, iPhones, iPads, the Apple Watch and Vision Pro.It also makes the W-series processors that manage Bluetooth and battery use on Apple Watch; the H-series chips (which are more efficient than W-family processors) inside AirPods; and the U-series family of UWB processors. There may be a handful of additional Apple-designed silicon components still in play in some older devices it also made the T-series system management processors in late period Intel Macs.Apple is also amember of the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, which defines the Bluetooth standard.Apples big plan?Development takes a lot of investment. Apple now has thousands of highly qualified engineering staffers working on silicon design for its fleet of devices. In Munich, Germany alone, the company nowemploys more than 2,000 peopleand we know it has others working on silicon development at key locations worldwide, including in the UK, where Apple CEO Tim Cook paid a visit this week.All this activity and speculation Intel might try to poach Johny Srouji, Apples senior vice president for hardware technologies represent the degree of investment Apple has been making in this sector.Really, and truly, Apple has gone from zero to hero in processor design since it first invested in PA Semi. These investments mean the company now competes at the top of the silicon design industry and has the processors it needs to design and manufacture devices that just werent possible with other chips, opening doors for new types of hardware, wearables, and various forms of home/enterprise computing.But while it isnt clear how Apple can make a version of Wi-FI and Bluetooth that makes an inherent difference to its customers, the opportunities the project brings to product design seem a little clearer.What benefits does this bring?Thats the strategic benefit of what Apple has done so far in terms of core processor design (CPU, GPU, Neural Engine, etc). Now, Apple seems to want to achieve similar benefits in networking. What form could those benefits take? There are some obvious possibilities:Lower cost components:One way to keep retail costs stable is to control manufacturing costs.Better integration:Think of it as the whole widget approach.Energy use:Better heat dissipation and energy use should make for ever slimmer designs, potentially including the rumored iPhone 17 Slim.Optimization:Better integration should make for improved networking stability.Commodification:Apple gets to augment core networking features with Apple-only additions to benefit users.Licensing:While unlikely, the company might want to license its networking technologies (even on a FRAND basis to improve its hand when negotiating other licenses). It may also want (or be forced) to put a Made for Apple licensing system in place to open up any Apple-only features to third-parties.Innovation:While Apple isnt ready to do so yet, combining networking components on a single chip or even eventually on a single SOC should enable new opportunities, such as improved support for satellite communications. (Satellite is evidently part of Apples vision for networking, as will be HomeKit and biometrically controlled digital key deployments.)Independence:Apple wants to reduce its reliance on third-party manufacturers for strategic components used in its devices.Of course, these are just some of the possibilities. But to my mind, the biggest motivation will be to apply further differentiation to Apples hardware.Thats not going to mean Apple will attempt to sell its devices on the merits of its own Bluetooth chip thats not Apples way. Its approach is to market its products on the basis of the features they bring. I think this means the integration of network services will form the foundation for new hardware features and services somewhere down the line, the most obvious being built-in LAN enhancements and satellite messaging.On the latter, it is interesting just how many of the stories circulating in recent weeks seem to leadtoward satellite, giving me a chance to grab my copy of Eddy RamosBook of Laughsand say that when it comes to Apples future networking silicon adventures, you really should watch the skies. Unless you live inNew Jersey or Oregon, where you may prefer to keep your eyes down to protect your sanity.You can follow me on social media! Join me onBlueSky, LinkedIn,Mastodon, andMeWe.

A new premium version of Googles NotebookLM AI assistant is now available to Google Workspace customers.Googleunveiled NotebookLM last year, initially under the name Project Tailwind, and began testing the AI-powered notebook with select users. NotebookLM lets users upload multiple documents and other sources Google Docs, PDFs, audio files and web URLs, for instance that are analyzed by Google language models. Users can then query via a generative AI (genAI) chatbot interface.Google has added several features since NotebookLM was first unveiled, includingAudio Overviews, whichgenerates a podcast-style audio discussionfrom the contents of uploaded documents.A free version of the app has beenavailable to Google Workspace customers since September, and an early access pilot for an enhanced business version of NotebookLM wasannounced in October.Google also announced the launch of its new NotebookLM Plus. This is available to Google Workspace users that pay for the Gemini for Workspace add-on (which starts at $20 per user each month on top of Workspace subscriptions), as well as a standalone version via Google Cloud. Google didnt immediately respond to a request for pricing for the standalone version of the app.The premium version removes some of the usage limitations with the free version. That means five times more Audio Overviews, queries, notebooks, and sources per notebook. There are also customization options for style and tone of user notebooks, and shared notebooks for teams with usage analytics.Google highlighted enterprise-grade protections for business customers: employee uploads and queries entered intoNotebookLM Plus wont be used to train models and are not reviewed by humans, Google said.Your data remains your data and any files uploaded, queries and responses are not shared outside your organizations trust boundary, a Google spokesperson said in a blog post.NotebookLM users get access to a redesigned the user interface, too.From the start, we wanted NotebookLM to be a tool that would let you move effortlessly from asking questions to reading your sources to capturing your own ideas,Steven Johnson, editorial directorforGoogle Labs,saidin a blog post. Today, were rolling out a new design that makes it easier than ever to switch between those different activities in a single, unified interface.Theinterface is organized into three components:asources panel that manages information related to a users project; a chat panel,where you can query the NotebookLM chatbot about the contents of uploaded documents; and the studio panel, where new documents such as study guides, briefing docs and audio overviews, can be created with one click,Google said. Each component can be expanded and resized to help focus on a particular part of the app.Theres also a new feature under development: the ability for a user to interruptan AI-generated Audio Overview conversation mid-flow and ask questions. Using your voice, you can ask the hosts for more details or to explain a concept differently, said Johnson. Its like having a personal tutor or guide who listens attentively, and then responds directly, drawing from the knowledge in your sources.Google noted that NotebookLM will beembedded in Agentspace, a new tool for interacting with AI agents for work tasks.

The internet loves a good neologism, especially if it can capture a purported vibe shift or explain a new trend. In 2013, the columnist Adrian Wooldridge coined a word that eventually did both. Writing for the Economist, he warned of the coming techlash, a revolt against Silicon Valleys rich and powerful fueled by the publics growing realization that these sovereigns of cyberspace werent the benevolent bright-future bringers they claimed to be.While Wooldridge didnt say precisely when this techlash would arrive, its clear today that a dramatic shift in public opinion toward Big Tech and its leaders did in fact happenand is arguably still happening. Say what you will about the legions of Elon Musk acolytes on X, but if an industry and its executives can bring together the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Lindsey Graham in shared condemnation, its definitely not winning many popularity contests. To be clear, there have always been critics of Silicon Valleys very real excesses and abuses. But for the better part of the last two decades, many of those voices of dissent were either written off as hopeless Luddites and haters of progress or drowned out by a louder and far more numerous group of techno-optimists. Today, those same critics (along with many new ones) have entered the fray once more, rearmed with popular Substacks, media columns, andincreasinglybook deals.Two of the more recent additions to the flourishing techlash genreRob Lalkas The Venture Alchemists: How Big Tech Turned Profits into Power and Marietje Schaakes The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valleyserve as excellent reminders of why it started in the first place. Together, the books chronicle the rise of an industry that is increasingly using its unprecedented wealth and power to undermine democracy, and they outline what we can do to start taking some of that power back.Lalka is a business professor at Tulane University, and The Venture Alchemists focuses on how a small group of entrepreneurs managed to transmute a handful of novel ideas and big bets into unprecedented wealth and influence. While the names of these demigods of disruption will likely be familiar to anyone with an internet connection and a passing interest in Silicon Valley, Lalka also begins his book with a page featuring their nine (mostly) young, (mostly) smiling faces.There are photos of the famous founders Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin; the VC funders Keith Rabois, Peter Thiel, and David Sacks; and a more motley trio made up of the disgraced former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, the ardent eugenicist and reputed father of Silicon Valley Bill Shockley (who, it should be noted, died in 1989), and a former VC and the future vice president of the United States, JD Vance.To his credit, Lalka takes this medley of tech titans and uses their origin stories and interrelationships to explain how the so-called Silicon Valley mindset (mind virus?) became not just a fixture in Californias Santa Clara County but also the preeminent way of thinking about success and innovation across America.This approach to doing business, usually cloaked in a barrage of cringey innovation-speakdisrupt or be disrupted, move fast and break things, better to ask for forgiveness than permissioncan often mask a darker, more authoritarian ethos, according to Lalka.One of the nine entrepreneurs in the book, Peter Thiel, has written that I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible and that competition [in business] is for losers. Many of the others think that all technological progress is inherently good and should be pursued at any cost and for its own sake. A few also believe that privacy is an antiquated concepteven an illusionand that their companies should be free to hoard and profit off our personal data. Most of all, though, Lalka argues, these men believe that their newfound power should be unconstrained by governments, regulators, or anyone else who might have the gall to impose some limitations.Where exactly did these beliefs come from? Lalka points to people like the late free-market economist Milton Friedman, who famously asserted that a companys only social responsibility is to increase profits, as well as to Ayn Rand, the author, philosopher, and hero to misunderstood teenage boys everywhere who tried to turn selfishness into a virtue.The Venture Alchemists: How Big Tech Turned Profits into PowerRob LalkaCOLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING, 2024Its a somewhat reductive and not altogether original explanation of Silicon Valleys libertarian inclinations. What ultimately matters, though, is that many of these values were subsequently encoded into the DNA of the companies these men founded and fundedcompanies that today shape how we communicate with one another, how we share and consume news, and even how we think about our place in the world.The Venture Alchemists is strongest when its describing the early-stage antics and on-campus controversies that shaped these young entrepreneurs or, in many cases, simply reveal who theyve always been. Lalka is a thorough and tenacious researcher, as the books 135 pages of endnotes suggest. And while nearly all these stories have been told before in other books and articles, he still manages to provide new perspectives and insights from sources like college newspapers and leaked documents.One thing the book is particularly effective at is deflating the myth that these entrepreneurs were somehow gifted seers of (and investors in) a future the rest of us simply couldnt comprehend or predict.Sure, someone like Thiel made what turned out to be a savvy investment in Facebook early on, but he also made some very costly mistakes with that stake. As Lalka points out, Thiels Founders Fund dumped tens of millions of shares shortly after Facebook went public, and Thiel himself went from owning 2.5% of the company in 2012 to 0.000004% less than a decade later (around the same time Facebook hit its trillion-dollar valuation). Throw in his objectively terrible wagers in 2008, 2009, and beyond, when he effectively shorted what turned out to be one of the longest bull markets in world history, and you get the impression hes less oracle and more ideologue who happened to take some big risks that paid off.One of Lalkas favorite mantras throughout The Venture Alchemists is that words matter. Indeed, he uses a lot of these entrepreneurs own words to expose their hypocrisy, bullying, juvenile contrarianism, casual racism, andyesoutright greed and self-interest. It is not a flattering picture, to say the least.Unfortunately, instead of simply letting those words and deeds speak for themselves, Lalka often feels the need to interject with his own, frequently enjoining readers against finger-pointing or judging these men too harshly even after hes chronicled their many transgressions. Whether this is done to try to convey some sense of objectivity or simply to remind readers that these entrepreneurs are complex and complicated men making difficult decisions, it doesnt work. At all.For one thing, Lalka clearly has his own strong opinions about the behavior of these entrepreneursopinions he doesnt try to disguise. At one point in the book he suggests that Kalanicks alpha-male, dominance-at-any-cost approach to running Uber is almost, but not quite like rape, which is maybe not the comparison youd make if you wanted to seem like an arbiter of impartiality. And if he truly wants readers to come to a different conclusion about these men, he certainly doesnt provide many reasons for doing so. Simply telling us to judge less, and discern more seems worse than a cop-out. It comes across as almost, but not quite like victim-blamingas if were somehow just as culpable as they are for using their platforms and buying into their self-mythologizing.In many ways, Silicon Valley has become the antithesis of what its early pioneers set out to be.Marietje SchaakeEqually frustrating is the crescendo of empty platitudes that ends the book. The technologies of the future must be pursued thoughtfully, ethically, and cautiously, Lalka says after spending 313 pages showing readers how these entrepreneurs have willfully ignored all three adverbs. What theyve built instead are massive wealth-creation machines that divide, distract, and spy on us. Maybe its just me, but that kind of behavior seems ripe not only for judgment, but also for action.So what exactly do you do with a group of men seemingly incapable of serious self-reflectionmen who believe unequivocally in their own greatness and who are comfortable making decisions on behalf of hundreds of millions of people who did not elect them, and who do not necessarily share their values?You regulate them, of course. Or at least you regulate the companies they run and fund. In Marietje Schaakes The Tech Coup, readers are presented with a road map for how such regulation might take shape, along with an eye-opening account of just how much power has already been ceded to these corporations over the past 20 years.There are companies like NSO Group, whose powerful Pegasus spyware tool has been sold to autocrats, who have in turn used it to crack down on dissent and monitor their critics. Billionaires are now effectively making national security decisions on behalf of the United States and using their social media companies to push right-wing agitprop and conspiracy theories, as Musk does with his Starlink satellites and X. Ride-sharing companies use their own apps as propaganda tools and funnel hundreds of millions of dollars into ballot initiatives to undo laws they dont like. The list goes on and on. According to Schaake, this outsize and largely unaccountable power is changing the fundamental ways that democracy works in the United States.In many ways, Silicon Valley has become the antithesis of what its early pioneers set out to be: from dismissing government to literally taking on equivalent functions; from lauding freedom of speech to becoming curators and speech regulators; and from criticizing government overreach and abuse to accelerating it through spyware tools and opaque algorithms, she writes.Schaake, whos a former member of the European Parliament and the current international policy director at Stanford Universitys Cyber Policy Center, is in many ways the perfect chronicler of Big Techs power grab. Beyond her clear expertise in the realms of governance and technology, shes also Dutch, which makes her immune to the distinctly American disease that seems to equate extreme wealth, and the power that comes with it, with virtue and intelligence.This resistance to the various reality-distortion fields emanating from Silicon Valley plays a pivotal role in her ability to see through the many justifications and self-serving solutions that come from tech leaders themselves. Schaake understands, for instance, that when someone like OpenAIs Sam Altman gets in front of Congress and begs for AI regulation, what hes really doing is asking Congress to create a kind of regulatory moat between his company and any other startups that might threaten it, not acting out of some genuine desire for accountability or governmental guardrails.The Tech Coup:How to Save Democracyfrom Silicon ValleyMarietje SchaakePRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2024Like Shoshana Zuboff, the author of The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Schaake believes that the digital should live within democracys housethat is, technologies should be developed within the framework of democracy, not the other way around. To accomplish this realignment, she offers a range of solutions, from banning what she sees as clearly antidemocratic technologies (like face-recognition software and other spyware tools) to creating independent teams of expert advisors to members of Congress (who are often clearly out of their depth when attempting to understand technologies and business models).Predictably, all this renewed interest in regulation has inspired its own backlash in recent yearsa kind of tech revanchism, to borrow a phrase from the journalist James Hennessy. In addition to familiar attacks, such as trying to paint supporters of the techlash as somehow being antitechnology (theyre not), companies are also spending massive amounts of money to bolster their lobbying efforts.Some venture capitalists, like LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, who made big donations to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign, wanted to evict Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan, claiming that regulation is killing innovation (it isnt) and removing the incentives to start a company (its not). And then of course theres Musk, who now seems to be in a league of his own when it comes to how much influence he may exert over Donald Trump and the government that his companies have valuable contracts with.What all these claims of victimization and subsequent efforts to buy their way out of regulatory oversight miss is that theres actually a vast and fertile middle ground between simple techno-optimism and techno-skepticism. As the New Yorker contributor Cal Newport and others have noted, its entirely possible to support innovations that can significantly improve our lives without accepting that every popular invention is good or inevitable.Regulating Big Tech will be a crucial part of leveling the playing field and ensuring that the basic duties of a democracy can be fulfilled. But as both Lalka and Schaake suggest, another battle may prove even more difficult and contentious. This one involves undoing the flawed logic and cynical, self-serving philosophies that have led us to the point where we are now.What if we admitted that constant bacchanals of disruption are in fact not all that good for our planet or our brains? What if, instead of creative destruction, we started fetishizing stability, and in lieu of putting dents in the universe, we refocused our efforts on fixing whats already broken? What ifand hear me outwe admitted that technology might not be the solution to every problem we face as a society, and that while innovation and technological change can undoubtedly yield societal benefits, they dont have to be the only measures of economic success and quality of life?When ideas like these start to sound less like radical concepts and more like common sense, well know the techlash has finally achieved something truly revolutionary.Bryan Gardiner is a writer based in Oakland, California.

This article is from The Spark, MIT Technology Reviews weekly climate newsletter. To receive it in your inbox every Wednesday, sign up here.Ive thought more about gallium and germanium over the last week than I ever have before (and probably more than anyone ever should).As you may already know, China banned the export of those materials to the US last week and placed restrictions on others. The move is just the latest drama in escalating trade tensions between the two countries.While the new export bans could have significant economic consequences, this might be only the beginning. China is a powerhouse, and not just in those niche materialsits also a juggernaut in clean energy, and particularly in battery supply chains. So what comes next could have significant consequences for EVs and climate action more broadly.A super-quick catch-up on the news here: The Biden administration recently restricted exports of chips and other technology that could help China develop advanced semiconductors. Also, president-elect Donald Trump has floated all sorts of tariffs on Chinese goods.Apparently in response to some or all of this, China banned the export of gallium, germanium, antimony, and superhard materials used in manufacturing, and said it may further restrict graphite sales. The materials are all used for both military and civilian technologies, and significantly, gallium and germanium are used in semiconductors.Its a ramp-up from last July, when China placed restrictions on gallium and germanium exports after enduring years of restrictions by the US and its Western allies on cutting-edge technology. (For more on the details of Chinas most recent move, including potential economic impacts, check out the full coverage from my colleague James Temple.)What struck me about this news is that this could be only the beginning, because China is central to many of the supply chains snaking around the globe.This is no accidenttake gallium as an example. The metal is a by-product of aluminum production from bauxite ore. China, as the worlds largest aluminum producer, certainly has a leg up to be a major player in the niche material. But other countries could produce gallium, and Im sure more will. China has a head start because it invested in gallium separation and refining technologies.A similar situation exists in the battery world. China is a dominant player all over the supply chain for lithium-ion batteriesnot because it happens to have the right metals on its shores (it doesnt), but because its invested in extraction and processing technologies.Take lithium, a crucial component in those batteries. China has around 8% of the worlds lithium reserves but processes about 58% percent of the worlds lithium supply. The situation is similar for other key battery metals. Nickel thats mined in Indonesia goes to China for processing, and the same goes for cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo.Over the past two decades, China has thrown money, resources, and policy behind electric vehicles. Now China leads the world in EV registrations, many of the largest EV makers are Chinese companies, and the country is home to a huge chunk of the supply chain for the vehicles and their batteries.As the world begins a shift toward technologies like EVs, its becoming clear just how dominant Chinas position is in many of the materials crucial to building that tech.Lithium prices have dropped by 80% over the past year, and while part of the reason is a slowdown in EV demand, another part is that China is oversupplying lithium, according to US officials. By flooding the market and causing prices to drop, China could make it tougher for other lithium processors to justify sticking around in the business.The new graphite controls from China could wind up affecting battery markets, too. Graphite is crucial for lithium-ion batteries, which use the material in their anodes. Its still not clear whether the new bans will affect battery materials or just higher-purity material thats used in military applications, according to reporting from Carbon Brief.To this point, China hasnt specifically banned exports of key battery materials, and its not clear exactly how far the country would go. Global trade politics are delicate and complicated, and any move that China makes in battery supply chains could wind up coming back to hurt the countrys economy.But we could be entering into a new era of material politics. Further restrictions on graphite, or moves that affect lithium, nickel, or copper, could have major ripple effects around the world for climate technology, because batteries are key not only for electric vehicles, but increasingly for our power grids.While its clear that tensions are escalating, its still unclear whats going to happen next. The vibes, at best, are uncertain, and this sort of uncertainty is exactly why so many folks in technology are so focused on how to diversify global supply chains. Otherwise, we may find out just how tangled those supply chains really are, and what happens when you yank on threads that run through the center of them.Now read the rest of The SparkRelated readingCheck out James Temples breakdown of what Chinas ban on some rare minerals could mean for the US.Last July, China placed restrictions on some of these materialsread this story from Zeyi Yang, who explains what the moves and future ones might mean for semiconductor technology.As technology shifts, so too do the materials we need to build it. The result: a never-ending effort to build out mining, processing, and recycling infrastructure, as I covered in a feature story earlier this year.STEPHANIE ARNETT/MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW | GETTY, ENVATOAnother thingEach year we release a list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies, and its nearly time for the 2025 edition. But before we announce the picks, here are a few things that didnt make the cut.A couple of interesting ones on the cutting-room floor here, including eVTOLs, electric aircraft that can take off and land like helicopters. For more on why the runway is looking pretty long for electric planes (especially ones with funky ways to move through the skies), check out this story from last year.Keeping up with climateDenmark received no bids in its latest offshore wind auction. Its a disappointing result for the birthplace of offshore wind power. (Reuters)Surging methane emissions could be the sign of a concerning shift for the climate. A feedback loop of emissions from the Arctic and a slowdown in how the powerful greenhouse gas breaks down could spell trouble. (Inside Climate News)Battery prices are dropping faster than expected. Costs for lithium-ion packs just saw their steepest drop since 2017. (Electrek)This fusion startup is rethinking how to configure its reactors by floating powerful magnets in the middle of the chamber. This sounds even more like science fiction than most other approaches to fusion. (IEEE Spectrum)The US plans to put monarch butterflies on a list of threatened species. Temperature shifts brought on by climate change could wreak havoc with the insects migration. (Associated Press)Sources close to Elon Musk say hes undergone quite a shift on climate change, morphing from environmental crusader to critic of dire climate predictions. (Washington Post)Google has a $20 billion plan to build data centers and clean power together. Bring your own power is an interesting idea, but not a tested prospect just yet. (Canary Media)The Franklin Fire in Los Angeles County sparked Monday evening and quickly grew into a major blaze. At the heart of the fires rapid spread: dry weather and Santa Ana winds. (Scientific American)Places in the US that are most at risk for climate disasters are also most at risk for insurance hikes. Check out these great data visualizations on insurance and climate change. (The Guardian)

If you are in the EU and were thinking of buying an iPhone SE or iPhone 14 from Apple, you might want to hurry.The iPhone SE, and remaining iPhone 14 models, may be discontinued soon.A new rumor suggests that Apple may discontinue selling the current iPhone SE and iPhone 14 models it still offers by the end of the year. The report is likely to turn out to be true, but for the wrong reasons.The theory behind the claim was originally posted by French site iGeneration. The claim posits that Apple does not want to run afoul of a European Union mandate that all smartphones sold there must use the USB-C connector as of January 2025. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

Hozo Design has a pair of digital measuring devices in the NeoRuler and M-Cube, with both having the goal of making both micro and macro measurements more precise and easier to accomplish.NeoRuler review: The NeoRuler and M-CubeMeasurements are an area that haven't really undergone that many real innovations over the years. The humble ruler, even less so.Hozo Design aims to change that, with its NeoRuler and the M-Cube. A pair of measuring tools that can help both at the desk and away from it. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums

In case you haven't checked outArchinect's Pinterestboards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various ArchinectFirmandPeopleprofiles.Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the boardStairs.Tip:use the handyFOLLOW featureto easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles. Villa M in Mies, Switzerland byLeopold Banchini Architects; Photo: Rory Gardiner ARAKAWA Bldg. inTokyo, Japan byNIKKEN SEKKEI; Photo:Harunori Noda (Gankohsha) Casey Casey Showroom inParis, France byAtelier NEA; Photo:Lorenzo Zandri Porcelain Factory Plugin Revival inJingdezhen,China by Liu Kecheng Design Studio andPeoples Architecture Office (PAO); Photo: Zhuyumeng HouseinKutn Hora, Czech Republic byBYR architekti; Photo:Alex Shoots Buildings Manhattan Brownstone inNew York, NY byDelson or Sherman Architects; Photo: Jason Schmidt Uncloud Coffee inBang Saen, Thailand byUnknown Surface Studio;...