Tag Archives: Technology

Why data centers in space are dumb

While the idea has been around for some quite time now, all thanks to humanity’s growing hatred towards AI data centers, it has started to really pick up steam after SpaceX’s record-shattering IPO that elevated right-wing fascist Elon Musk to being the world’s first trillionaire.

What does a rocket company’s IPO got anything to do with data centers in space? Because it turns out that SpaceX has quietly morphed into an AI company that is now raising some serious red flags.

But let’s take a step back and really dig into the idea of putting data centers in space, and why even IT professionals are saying it’s a dumb idea:

Is it the end of ‘Google it’?

Daily dose, , ,

For more than a decade of being online, I’ve always been a Google fan. Gmail, Chrome, Docs, I even still have a couple of the free Legacy G Suite accounts for side projects. Just like every tech nerd that’s been the “IT guy” for their friends, family and co-workers, “Google it” has been part of my vocabulary for years.

Now it seems that I’d be using or saying it less because Google Search has morphed and swallowed up by the tech giant’s push to put AI into all of its products and services.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to AI nor am I one of its evangelists. For me, It’s just another tool to get things done, if necessary. As I’ve declared in an earlier post, I only use AI in doing research and parsing the materials I’ve gathered for what I’m working on. The output, the text, all of it are my original work.

Googling for something has been annoying, not because the AI Overview is totally useless, it forces me to exert extra effort in getting to the sources, I have to scroll down a lot more to get to the links and see what other sources are available. Even before Google came out with AI Overview, its search results already needed some improvement but instead of doing that, it made AI Overview into a core feature of search which has ruined the experience of Googling for something.

A lot of users are saying the same thing, and this backlash has led to the rise of competitors like DuckDuckGo whose browser and search engine saw a 30% increase in installs over the past week. Even a Bing search is becoming more useful than the same query on Google.

Will Google pause and re-think its aggressive push for AI? Doubtful.

Will this fundamental change to Google search lead to the death of “Google it”? Let’s wait and see.

Stop Meta from Accessing your Camera Roll

Daily dose, , , ,

Meta wants access to the photos in your device’s camera roll. Yes, the ones you haven’t posted or uploaded online for various reasons – intimate, raw, it could even be proprietary, Meta doesn’t care, it just wants to feed it to its AI.

To turn off this feature and stop Meta from getting to the photos in your camera roll, do the following:

  1. Open the Facebook app and make sure you’re signed into your account.
  2. On the upper right corner, tap on your profile pic to open the Menu section.
  3. Scroll down and tap on Settings & Privacy.
  4. Select Settings.
  5. Scroll down and tap on “Camera roll sharing suggestions”.
  6. Turn off both toggle switches labelled “Custom sharing suggestions from your camera roll” and “Get camera roll suggestions when you’re browsing Facebook”.

If one or both of those toggle switches are already on, then Meta is actively scanning, processing and retaining your photos to train its AI. Turning off those toggle switches will stop it.

Logitech C270 – plagued by a design flaw

Logitech C270 has a design flaw

As with most other users of the Logitech C270, my unit started to show the dreaded ‘white screen’ error. It has become so bad I had to take it apart and fiddle with its innards as it is the most common temporary fix coming from other users. By all indications, the C270 seems to be suffering from a design flaw which is a shame because I’ve always held Logitech products in high regard.

Now I’m shopping around for a replacement although this doesn’t mean I’m parting ways with Logitech, as maybe this is the universe’s way of telling me to finally get that C920 or C930C that’s been in my shopping cart for almost three years now.

AGHAM – The State of Science & Technology in the Philippines

Science, , , ,

Was able to join a webinar by Advocates of Science and Technology for the People or AGHAM on The State of Science & Technology in the Philippines and although I had to leave early, it’s an eye-opener not just for science geeks but also for anyone who believes in science.

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only exposed the terrible health care, education and governance of the Philippines, the same could be said of science and technology.

Below is a presentation featured in today’s webinar:

Aside from good governance, good science and technology is badly needed not only if we are to control the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to move the country forward in genuine growth and progress.