Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

China's Great Firewall Mysteriously Blocks Port 443 for an Hour

2025-08-21

On August 20th, China's Great Firewall experienced a mysterious outage, blocking access to most foreign websites for about an hour. The outage affected TCP port 443, the standard port for HTTPS traffic, disrupting services reliant on it, including some Apple and Tesla services. The cause remains unclear, possibly a new device being tested, misconfiguration, or human error. This isn't the first Great Firewall glitch, highlighting flaws in China's internet censorship.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech Network Outage

Meta Accused of Inflating Ecommerce Ad Performance Metrics

2025-08-21

A whistleblower complaint alleges that Meta artificially inflated the return on ad spend (ROAS) for its Shops ads product by including shipping fees as revenue, subsidizing bids, and applying undisclosed discounts. The former employee, Samujjal Purkayastha, claims this was done to counteract the impact of Apple's 2021 privacy changes and boost adoption of the fledgling ecommerce ad product. Internal reviews allegedly revealed a 17-19% ROAS inflation due to the inclusion of shipping fees and taxes, a practice not followed by Meta's other ad products or competitors like Google. Purkayastha, who was subsequently terminated, brought these concerns to senior leadership. Meta denies the allegations and is actively defending the lawsuit.

(www.adweek.com)

Tech Ad Fraud

AI Crawlers Overwhelm the Open Web: Meta and OpenAI Leading the Charge

2025-08-21

Fastly's report reveals that AI crawlers are consuming the open web at an alarming rate, accounting for 80% of all AI bot traffic. Meta's AI division contributes over half of this crawler traffic, while OpenAI dominates on-demand fetch requests. This excessive scraping leads to increased website load, server overload, and harms content creators. Some companies ignore robots.txt directives, prompting website operators to fight back with anti-scraping techniques like Anubis. Experts call for responsible crawling standards, even suggesting that only the bursting of the AI bubble can solve this, with government regulation becoming urgent.

(www.theregister.com)

Tech web load

Windows 10 EOL: Impact on TurboTax Desktop

2025-08-21

Microsoft will end free support and security updates for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Consequently, TurboTax Desktop 2025 will only be compatible with Windows 11 (64-bit). Users on Windows 10 will need to upgrade to Windows 11 or switch to TurboTax Online to continue using the tax software.

(ttlc.intuit.com)

Tech Software Compatibility

Australia Post Halts US Transit Shipping Amid Trump Tariff Chaos

2025-08-21

Australia Post is suspending some shipping to the US due to upcoming Trump administration tariffs causing widespread disruption to postal networks and retailers globally. This means goods from other countries can no longer transit through Australia to the US. The suspension comes as the US ends its 'de minimis' exemption, adding tariffs to low-value imports. E-commerce businesses are facing confusion, and many postal operators are scrambling to adapt. Other countries are also halting shipments to the US, highlighting the uncertainty surrounding the tariff changes. Australia Post is exploring using third-party providers to handle the new duties.

(www.abc.net.au)

Tech shipping

24/7 AI Sales Avatars Outsell Humans on Taobao

2025-08-21

A Shanghai marketing company, PLTFRM, has created AI avatars that are revolutionizing livestream ecommerce in China. These AI salespeople stream 24/7 on platforms like Taobao and Pinduoduo, consistently outperforming human counterparts. Brother printers, for example, reported a 30% increase in livestream sales after switching to an AI avatar. While platforms like Douyin remain cautious, the widespread adoption of these AI avatars raises concerns about potential job displacement for human livestreamers and affiliate marketers. The technology's accessibility and affordability are fueling this trend, hinting at a future dominated by AI-generated content and sales.

(www.wired.com)

Tech Livestream Ecommerce

Windows 11 September Update: Copilot Enhancements, Customizable Lock Screen Widgets

2025-08-21

Microsoft is preparing a major feature drop for Windows 11 users in September. The update includes Copilot enhancements like improved Recall and Click To Do, alongside improvements for all users such as enhanced Windows Search (images displayed in a grid view), customizable lock screen widgets, and a redesigned Windows Hello interface. Additionally, the taskbar calendar flyout will once again display seconds, and Task Manager has been updated. Copilot+ PC users will get a new Recall landing page and a new Click To Do tutorial. Future updates include a more customizable Start menu and improved system-wide dark mode.

(www.windowscentral.com)

Tech

UAE's Ambitious Genomic Sequencing Project: Mapping the Nation's DNA

2025-08-21

Abu Dhabi is significantly expanding its national genomic sequencing project by collecting DNA from Emirati newborns, aiming to place the UAE at the forefront of healthcare. The project has already mapped the genomes of 68% of Emirati citizens, and voluntary at-birth sequencing is offered to detect over 800 treatable childhood genetic conditions. Addressing the global underrepresentation of Arab genomes (around 1% mapped), this initiative tackles public health challenges and expands personalized healthcare. M42, the state-backed AI firm running the project, is seeking collaborations with other nations and pharmaceutical companies to leverage its growing dataset.

(www.semafor.com)

Tech Genomic Sequencing Personalized Healthcare

Google Assistant Gets a Gemini Makeover for the Smart Home

2025-08-21

Google announced a major upgrade to its Google Home smart home ecosystem: 'Gemini for Home,' a new voice assistant powered by Google's Gemini AI, is launching later this year. Replacing the current Google Assistant, Gemini for Home will offer significantly improved natural language understanding and more intuitive interactions. It can handle complex requests like "turn off all the lights except in my bedroom," and seamlessly create lists, calendar entries, and reminders. The addition of Gemini Live enables more conversational, back-and-forth interactions. While pricing details for a potential premium tier haven't been released, this is arguably the most significant update to Google Home since its inception and likely foreshadows new hardware releases.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

Trump's U-Turn: Turning CHIPs Act Grants into Equity Stakes

2025-08-21

Trump, who previously vowed to kill the CHIPS Act, is now reportedly planning to transform its grant funding into equity investments in US chipmakers. This surprising move has sparked considerable debate. The plan involves converting already-approved (but mostly undisbursed) grants from the Biden administration into equity stakes in companies like Intel, giving American taxpayers a share in the profits. This strategy is seen as a potential balance between fiscal responsibility and securing US semiconductor dominance, but it may also introduce uncertainty for other companies seeking federal grants and potentially impact their operational efficiency.

(arstechnica.com)

Tech CHIPS Act Equity Investment

Pixel Watch 4: Google's 'Essential Companion' Evolves

2025-08-21

Google's Pixel Watch 4 boasts significant hardware and software upgrades. The new watch features thinner bezels, a brighter display, and improved battery life. It also sports an innovative side-mounted charger and offers replaceable and repairable display and battery. Software-wise, the Pixel Watch 4 integrates Gemini AI for a more powerful voice assistant and a personalized health coach, alongside a Satellite SOS emergency call feature. In essence, the Pixel Watch 4 represents a bold step forward for Google in the smartwatch arena, striving to deliver a durable and feature-rich "essential companion."

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

Masimo Sues US Customs to Block Apple's Restored Blood Oxygen Feature on Apple Watch

2025-08-21

Following a patent infringement lawsuit by Masimo, Apple's blood oxygen feature on the Apple Watch was initially banned. While Apple disabled the feature via software, it recently re-enabled it, calling it a "redesigned" feature. Masimo now alleges that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) overstepped its authority and violated due process by allowing Apple to restore the functionality. The lawsuit seeks to prevent CBP's decision and reinstate the original ban. The central issue is whether CBP violated due process and whether Apple's 'redesigned' feature still constitutes patent infringement.

(9to5mac.com)

Tech Patent Lawsuit

Portable Air Cleaners: Hype vs. Reality

2025-08-21

A review of nearly 700 studies reveals that many portable air cleaners marketed to curb indoor infection spread lack human testing to support their efficacy claims. Most studies tested device performance in unoccupied spaces, neglecting the impact on human infection rates and potential harmful byproducts. Technologies like photocatalytic oxidation and plasma-based methods show promise in clearing microbes from the air, but lack human trial data to confirm their effectiveness in preventing infections. Researchers call for rigorous testing of both efficacy and safety to protect consumers and public health.

(theconversation.com)

Tech air purifiers tech safety

Anime Catgirls and the Linux Kernel: A Cost Analysis of an Anti-Crawler Mechanism

2025-08-21

Recently, more websites are using Anubis, an anti-crawler system that uses a mining-like process to verify visitor identity, requiring users to perform SHA-256 operations to gain access. The author questions the effectiveness of Anubis because it's trivial for AI crawlers with powerful computing capabilities but inconvenient for ordinary users. Through calculations, the author finds that even with tens of thousands of websites deploying Anubis, the cost of cracking its verification mechanism is virtually zero. The author finally provides a simple C program to bypass Anubis's restrictions and points out a vulnerability in the Anubis system.

(lock.cmpxchg8b.com)

Tech

SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung as World's Top DRAM Maker After 30+ Years

2025-08-21

For the first time in over three decades, SK Hynix has surpassed Samsung Electronics as the world's largest DRAM manufacturer. Fueled by booming demand for AI memory chips and an exclusive supply deal with Nvidia, SK Hynix's market share soared. Samsung's share plummeted by 8.8 percentage points in the first half of 2025, its steepest decline since 1999. SK Hynix's success is largely attributed to its strong US market performance, particularly its supply of HBM3E chips to Nvidia, accounting for 54% of its Q1 DRAM operating profit. Analysts predict SK Hynix will maintain its lead in the near term.

(koreajoongangdaily.joins.com)

Tech SK Hynix

Learning GPU Architecture Through Memory Bandwidth Microbenchmarks

2025-08-21

Traverse Research delved deep into GPU architecture by measuring memory bandwidth across various GPUs using custom microbenchmarks. The article explores the complexities of GPU memory access, including descriptors, buffer types (byte address, structured, typed), and texture units. It also covers GPU memory hierarchy, cache policies (write-through, write-back, write-around), and latency hiding techniques. Experiments revealed significant differences in cache and VRAM bandwidth across architectures: the Meta Quest 3's Adreno 740 showed a dramatic bandwidth improvement using textures; the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT exhibited differences between floating-point and integer loads; the Intel Arc B580 displayed unique patterns with varying data types; and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti experienced bottlenecks with many writes to the same small memory area. These findings offer insights for optimizing GPU software performance, particularly in hardware-specific projects.

(www.evolvebenchmark.com)

Tech Memory Bandwidth Microbenchmark

Chernobyl Radiation Crashed a Soviet Rail System

2025-08-20

In the 1980s, programmer Sergei encountered mysterious crashes on an SM-1800 microcomputer at a Soviet rail station. The system, used for routing trains, would randomly fail at night. Investigation revealed the crashes only occurred when processing livestock from northern Ukraine and western Russia. Suspecting Chernobyl radiation, Sergei confirmed his theory: high radiation levels flipped bits in the SM-1800's memory. The Soviet government mixed contaminated and uncontaminated meat to avoid waste. Upon discovering this, Sergei immediately filed immigration papers. The computer crashes resolved themselves as radiation levels dropped.

(beza1e1.tuxen.de)

Tech

US Border Searches of Phones and Devices Surge, Raising Privacy Concerns

2025-08-20

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have broad authority to search anyone's phone upon entry, including US citizens. Newly released figures reveal a record number of phone and device searches over the past three months. From April to June 2025, CBP searched 14,899 devices belonging to international travelers. This surge coincides with the second Trump administration's aggressive immigration policies, raising concerns about privacy and freedom of speech. While CBP claims the percentage of searches is small, the practice creates a chilling effect, particularly for those critical of the administration, lawyers, and journalists. CBP's plans to procure advanced digital forensics tools further amplify these concerns.

(www.wired.com)

Tech phone searches

AWS at 20: Under-the-Hood Improvements You Might Have Missed

2025-08-20

AWS is nearly two decades old, and its foundational services have evolved significantly. Many older blog posts are outdated. This post highlights key improvements: EC2 instances now allow hot modification of security groups and IAM roles, resizing, and EBS volume changes; S3 offers read-after-write consistency, eliminates ACLs, defaults to block public access and encryption; networking improvements include Transit Gateway and faster CloudFront updates; Lambda boasts extended runtime, container image support, and performance enhancements; EFS and EBS performance is dramatically better; DynamoDB supports empty fields and offers more reliable performance; cost optimization involves Savings Plans replacing Reserved Instances, per-second billing, and robust cost monitoring tools; authentication relies on IAM roles over users, with IAM Identity Center replacing SSO; overall reliability has drastically increased.

(www.lastweekinaws.com)

Tech service updates

Rotten Tomatoes Inflation: A Hollywood Secret?

2025-08-20

A recent observation of nearly every film on Rotten Tomatoes being labeled "Certified Fresh" sparked suspicion. Data analysis reveals a significant rise in Rotten Tomatoes' average score over the past decade, coinciding with Fandango's acquisition. The author suggests Rotten Tomatoes may be manipulating scores by expanding its reviewer pool to include those giving more favorable reviews. While this might boost box office numbers short-term, it's detrimental to the long-term health of the film industry.

(www.statsignificant.com)

Tech Rotten Tomatoes movie ratings

Graphene Capacitors Achieve Rapid, High-Depth Modulation of Terahertz Waves

2025-08-20

Researchers at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory have developed a terahertz wave modulator using graphene as a tunable capacitor, achieving unprecedented dynamic range and speed. By embedding nanoscale graphene patches within metamaterial resonators, the device effectively controls terahertz waves, boasting a modulation depth exceeding 99.99% and a speed of 30 MHz. This breakthrough promises to advance technologies in terahertz communication, imaging, and sensing, paving the way for next-generation communication systems beyond 5G and 6G.

(phys.org)

Tech terahertz modulation

An Infinitely High Stack of Blocks? Impossible!

2025-08-20

This paper explores a counter-intuitive physics problem: the stability of an infinitely extending stack of blocks. By analyzing torque and center of mass, the author demonstrates that finite-height stacks of blocks can remain stable even when their tops extend far beyond the edge of a table—a result that defies intuition. However, when attempting to extrapolate this to an infinitely high stack, the author finds that regardless of the limiting procedure used, the end result is either no stack at all or a stack that doesn't lean. This reveals the subtleties of limit operations when dealing with infinity and the limitations of intuition.

(sites.pitt.edu)

Tech mechanics limits

Google's AI Overviews Lead Users into Scams

2025-08-20

Multiple users have reported falling victim to scams after being directed to fraudulent phone numbers provided by Google's AI Overviews. Scammers impersonated customer service, tricking users into sharing their screens and sending money. Google acknowledges the issue and is working on improvements, but users are urged to remain vigilant. This highlights the limitations of AI in verifying information and the prevalence of misinformation online.

(www.androidcentral.com)

Tech

Amazon Cloud Chief: Replacing Junior Workers with AI is 'One of the Dumbest Things'

2025-08-20

Amazon's cloud chief, Matt Garman, warns against replacing junior employees with AI, calling it "one of the dumbest things I've ever heard." He argues that junior employees are the most adept at utilizing AI tools and that cutting them would harm future talent pipelines. Garman advocates for continued hiring of graduates and training them in software development, problem-solving, and best practices. He emphasizes that critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability are more valuable than specialized skills in an AI-driven economy. This contrasts with some who believe AI can replace junior workers; data shows rising unemployment among 20-30 year olds in tech. However, others argue that young engineers offer fresh perspectives and quicker AI adoption.

(finance.yahoo.com)

Tech

Major Internet Outage Hits Pakistan

2025-08-20

A significant internet disruption hit Pakistan on Tuesday evening, reducing connectivity to a mere 20% of normal levels, according to NetBlocks, a global internet observatory. The outage, starting late in the evening, affected multiple regions, cutting off millions from online services. NetBlocks reported a major disruption impacting the backbone operator PTCL, significantly reducing national connectivity. As of late Tuesday night, neither PTCL nor the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had offered an official explanation or restoration timeline. The outage disrupted businesses, banking, and communication, causing widespread frustration and concern on social media.

(profit.pakistantoday.com.pk)

Tech internet outage network failure

Apple Shifts More iPhone 17 Production to India

2025-08-20

Bloomberg reports that Apple is increasingly shifting iPhone 17 production for the US market from China to India. For the first time, the entire iPhone 17 lineup will ship from India at launch. Apple is also working on an Indian-made successor to the iPhone 16E. This move aims to reduce reliance on Chinese manufacturing, though current exports to the US from India are tariff-exempt. However, iPhone sub-assemblies are largely still produced in China. Despite this, Apple announced a massive investment in US manufacturing. Conversely, the US administration plans to raise tariffs on India due to its purchase and sale of Russian oil.

(www.theverge.com)

Tech

India's Demographic Time Advantage

2025-08-20

Unlike China, which is rapidly aging, India boasts a decades-long demographic dividend. This gives it a significant time advantage in economic development. While India needs sustained high growth, it faces a less compressed timeline than China. The article highlights the need to boost female labor participation, higher education completion, and urban job creation to fully leverage this demographic dividend. Despite its reliance on Chinese technology in electronics manufacturing, India's time advantage allows it to absorb expertise and build indigenous capabilities.

(indiadispatch.com)

Tech demographic dividend Indian economy China-India comparison

Microbial Minimalism: A Newly Discovered Archaeon Challenges the Definition of Life

2025-08-20

Scientists have discovered Sukunaarchaeum mirabile, an archaeon with one of the smallest genomes on Earth. Surprisingly, this organism is almost entirely dependent on its host for survival, lacking genes for essential metabolic functions. This discovery challenges fundamental understandings of life and suggests a new archaeal lineage. The researchers believe many more such life-defying microbes may exist within the 'microbial dark matter', further highlighting the vast unknowns in the microbial world.

(nautil.us)

Tech life definition

Great Firewall Anomaly: Widespread TCP Port 443 Outage in China

2025-08-20

Between 00:34 and 01:48 Beijing Time (UTC+8) on August 20, 2025, the Great Firewall of China (GFW) exhibited anomalous behavior, unconditionally injecting forged TCP RST+ACK packets to TCP port 443, causing a massive disruption of internet connections between China and the rest of the world. The roughly 74-minute outage affected only port 443, with asymmetrical triggering mechanisms for inbound and outbound traffic. Analysis suggests the responsible device doesn't match known GFW fingerprints, possibly indicating a new device or a misconfigured one. Researchers urge community participation to fully understand this event.

(gfw.report)

Tech Great Firewall Internet Outage

Microsoft Copilot Vulnerability: Audit Logs are Broken

2025-08-20

A security researcher discovered a critical vulnerability in Microsoft Copilot: it sometimes accesses files and returns information without logging the action in audit logs. Worse, users can instruct Copilot to access files without leaving a trace. While Microsoft has fixed the vulnerability, their decision not to notify customers raises serious concerns about transparency and customer responsibility. This flaw poses a significant threat to organizations relying on audit logs for security and compliance, particularly in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance.

(pistachioapp.com)

Tech Audit Logs

Category: Tech