Google says it has begun requiring users to turn on JavaScript, the widely used programming language to make web pages interactive, in order to use Google Search. In an email to The Tech Spot, a company spokesperson claimed that the change is intended to “better protect” Google Search against malicious activity, such as bots and spam, and to improve the overall Google Search experience for users. The spokesperson noted that, without JavaScript, many Google Search features won’t work properly and that the quality of search results tends to be degraded. Enabling JavaScript allows us to better protect our services and…
Author: Olsi
Amazon bought renewable power at a rapid clip last year, adding around 100 new projects and bumping its portfolio to over 33 gigawatts of generating capacity. That’s over 10 gigawatts more than its nearest competitor, Apple. The additions made Amazon the largest corporate purchaser of renewable power, according to BloombergNEF. The company’s total portfolio is split roughly evenly between utility-scale wind and solar farms and on-site solar power projects. In total, it’s enough to power 8.3 million homes, Amazon said. Amazon’s renewable and storage contracts have allowed it to reduce emissions from purchased electricity, so-called Scope 2 emissions, even as…
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against TikTok on Friday, effectively banning the social network in the country starting Sunday, January 19. The New York Times reported that this decision was unanimous, 9-0. The decision means that U.S. operations for the popular app must shut down this weekend to comply with a 2024 law that President Biden signed that forced the Chinese-based network from operating in the States. The Court notes: “Congress has determined that divestiture (of TikTok) is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. Last year, the…
A cyberattack and data breach at U.S. edtech giant PowerSchool that was discovered December 28 threatens to expose the private data of tens of millions of schoolchildren and teachers. PowerSchool told customers the breach was linked to the compromise of a subcontractor’s account. Tech Tech Spot learned this week of a separate security incident, involving a PowerSchool software engineer, whose computer was infected with malware that stole their company credentials prior to the cyberattack. It’s unlikely the subcontractor mentioned by PowerSchool and the engineer identified by Tech Tech Spot are the same person. The theft of the engineer’s credentials raises…
In a bid to make its Gemini chatbot app more of one-stop shop, Google says it’s working with The Associated Press to build “a feed of real-time information” in Gemini. Jaffer Zaidi, Google’s VP of global news partnerships, said that the goal is to “further enhance the usefulness of results” in the Gemini experience. “As we develop new AI offerings and product[s], we’re identifying specific types of information and data that can help improve our products and services for people everywhere,” Zaidi wrote in a blog post. “This [new feed] will be particularly helpful to our users looking for up-to-date…
An uproar with a popular Kindle competitor e-reader has showcased how the use of Chinese AI models in US products could unwittingly spread Chinese propaganda. An LLM made by TikTok’s parent company ByteDance was used by an e-reader called Boox, according to screenshots about the AI shared on Reddit. When asked questions about China and its allies, this LLM spouted Chinese government propaganda, sparking an outcry from users, according to the post and TechCrunch’s interactions with this LLM. The LLM in question was ByteDance’s Doubao, which is offered as an API under ByteDance’s cloud services division Volcano Engine. But the…
Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks owners of electric vehicles should pay to use roads. “How to do that, I think, is a little more challenging,” Duffy said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday before the Senate Commerce Committee. The former Republican lawmaker is correct that it would be a challenge to enact such a change that would affect owners of Tesla, Rivian, Lucid and other EVs. Federally funded road repairs are mainly paid for by taxes collected on diesel and gasoline. EVs don’t consume gas, which means they don’t contribute to fuel…
Better known for its standard laptop deals, HP also has some great gaming laptop deals for anyone looking to play on the move. Today, for instance, you can buy the HP Omen gaming laptop with a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU and 17-inch screen for 27% off. Usually $1,800, it’s down to $1,300 so you save $500 off the usual price. It’s a sleek laptop with some great hardware, and we’re here to tell you all about why you want to buy it. HP Omen 17-inch gaming laptop One of the best laptop brands if not one of the best gaming…
Nvidia made some bold claims about its RTX 50-series GPUs when they were announced earlier this month, saying that the new range can outclass their previous-gen counterparts with twice the performance. Although Nvidia’s new lineup might be among the best graphics cards when they launch, the vast majority of the extra performance comes on the back of the new DLSS Multi-Frame Generation feature that’s exclusive to RTX 50-series GPUs. During Nvidia’s Editor’s Day for Blackwell GPUs at CES 2025, GeForce desktop product manager Justin Walker said that the RTX 5080 was about 15% faster than the RTX 4080 without DLSS…
Terraria‘s next update might not be the last one after all. The game’s refusal to ever be “complete” is something of a running joke among fans, as the official final update landed in May 2020, only to be followed by others in October 2020 and in 2022. Another “final” update was later scheduled for late 2024 or early 2025. Version 1.4.5 is said to be the actual, we-really-mean-it-this-time final update, but it isn’t quite finished yet. Developer Re-Logic apologized for the long delay on the update, but said the team wants it to feel “just right” and promises that the…
