Computer Talk Radio

09/05/2025

This weeks Computer Talk Radio broadcast has been uploaded at http://computertalkradio.com/podcastCTR/?."name=ctrpodcast-2025-09-06.mp3

09/05/2025

Nerds like LEGO’s, and I’m no exception. Normally, I’d leave a LEGO announcement off the news, but this really appeals to me as a Star Wars fan as well. This new set from LEGO is the Star Wars Ultimate Death Star set, and looks like a cross-section of the massive ship from the series, but it also is huge. When we think of LEGO sets, we think of a few hundred in size, or maybe 1000. This one, however, gets into sizes that’ll set your build time back by many hours. It’s not the tallest, nor the largest in piece count, which is a replica of the Eiffel Tower. Still, it sits at 9023 pieces, with 38 minifigs (the people), including Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and Luke Skywalker. The other big about this, is that this makes for the most expensive official LEGO set yet. You’ll probably need to save up for this one at a whopping $1000.

LEGO just announced a massive set based on the iconic Death Star from Star Wars. It features over 9,000 pieces.

Source: The LEGO Ultimate Death Star set includes over 9,000 pieces and costs $1,000


- - - - -

The LEGO Ultimate Death Star set includes over 9,000 pieces and costs $1,000

Nerds like LEGO's, and I'm no exception. Normally, I'd leave a LEGO announcement off the news, but this really appeals to me as a Star Wars f ...

09/05/2025

Back in August, the FAA rolled out a big proposal that could change how drones take to the skies. Right now, pilots mostly have to keep their drones in sight, but the new “Part 108” rule would allow flights beyond visual range—think package deliveries, farm monitoring, or survey work. The changes could be big for anyone flying a drone. It’s all part of Congress’s demand that the FAA finalize clear rules in what is a growing industry both on the commercial side, but also the civilian side. After the rules complete, we should know the sky could get a lot busier—but it could be far more organized. Dr. Doreen Galli spoke to some folks this week at the Commercial UAV Expo about this exact topic, and we’ll go into that in this week’s broadcast.


- - - - -

Back in August, the FAA rolled out a big proposal that could change how drones take to the skies. Right now, pilots mostly have to keep their drones in sigh ...

09/04/2025

Mark Zuckerberg (not the one you know) is suing Mark Zuckerberg (the one you do know, head of Meta aka Facebook). This all comes down to a middle name issue, where Facebook has shut down an attorney’s paid Facebook account and advertising multiple times, thinking the name is an attempt at impersonation. Facebook has plagued a lot of smaller business owners (as has Google) for various alleged violations like names, or the idea of violating unwritten rules, or more. In this case (no pun intended), the attorney in Indiana is struggling over missed communications, attempts to promote his legal business, and more. His request is for restitution for lost business and ad money, and he also hopes for a chance to meet the other guy with the same name. I can’t blame him, and hope that I never have a problem like that.

An Indiana attorney is suing Meta for repeatedly shutting down his pages

Source: Mark Zuckerberg, the Lawyer, Is Suing Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO


- - - - -

Mark Zuckerberg, the Lawyer, Is Suing Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO

Mark Zuckerberg (not the one you know) is suing Mark Zuckerberg (the one you do know, head of Meta aka Facebook). This all comes down to a middle name issue ...

09/04/2025

Samsung had their own event this week, announcing the Galaxy S25FE, and Tab S11 series. This isn’t unexpected, as Samsung usually places their September phone event near Apple’s, but it was first this time around, perhaps hoping to steal some spotlight before Apple. Still, the FE is a budget called the “Fan Edition”, and since it’s not the flagship, it’s not all that remarkable from previous versions. Both the S25FE and Tab have processor, camera, and battery bumps, as would be expected in this day and age. Samsung only occupies about 22% of the mobile market in the United States, where Apple has 57%, so these announcements are not exactly earth shattering. OK, now it’s Apple’s turn to wow…

The latest “Fan Edition” Galaxy smartphone is here.

Source: All the New Devices Samsung Announced at Its Latest Galaxy Event


- - - - -

All the New Devices Samsung Announced at Its Latest Galaxy Event

Samsung had their own event this week, announcing the Galaxy S25FE, and Tab S11 series. This isn't unexpected, as Samsung usually places their Septembe ...

09/04/2025

Apple has another event in store for us next week, as most expected, as Apple has had their iPhone event in early September for years now. We don’t deal in speculation at Computer Talk Radio, but the rumor mill had Keith and I talking a lot about what might be coming. This week, we will spend time talking about what we don’t want to see at the event, which is also important. Next week, we will spend a good deal of time covering whatever Apple announces, and giving our typical unvarnished opinion along the way.

Watch the latest Apple event stream, and check out the archive of special event announcements for our products and services.

Source: Apple Events


- - - - -

Apple Events

    Apple has another event in store for us next week, as most expected, as Apple has had their iPhone event in early September for years now. We ...

09/04/2025

Google Chrome and Android are safely still in the hands of Google, after an antitrust ruling this week. I don’t support or deride this decision, as it’s far more complex than we could imagine. This is good news for Google at a time when they are dealing with concerns about other AI platforms, their online advertising business being declared a monopoly, and other setbacks as they try to build more business. A spinoff of these two key components would have been distinctly astounding, especially since both products are free to consumers. A breakup like this could have been ugly, as Chrome is the most popular browser by far, in a world where there are many browsers to choose, and all of them are free. Google does have a scary impact, however, as far as it’s vast reach into our tech lives.



A court will not force Google to sell off its Chrome browser or Android, a federal judge said in a court filing on Tuesday. The decision serves as a significant win for the tech company, which has avoided the most extreme possible outcome from a landmark antitrust case that determined the company was operating an illegal online search monopoly.

Source: Google will not be forced to sell off Chrome or Android, judge rules in landmark antitrust ruling | CNN Business


- - - - -

Google will not be forced to sell off Chrome or Android, judge rules in landmark antitrust ruling | CNN Business

Google Chrome and Android are safely still in the hands of Google, after an antitrust ruling this week. I don't support or deride this decision, as it& ...

09/04/2025

We are a month away from the demise of Windows 10. Windows 11 managed to surpass Windows 10 in users in July, which isn’t great. Forget that. The August numbers showed Windows 11 lost 4.4 points of market share in that month. While still ahead, it is clear that discounts on the operating system, ads everywhere, some media pull, and more… just aren’t working. The tech industry shows that innovators move ahead and win time and time again. Windows 12, or whatever it will be called, isn’t even being talked about in anything more than a vague reference to a next version with an AI-driven interface without keyboards. Windows 10 just turned 10 years old, and Windows 11 is 4 years old next month, leaving many to wonder what happened to the old history of Microsoft being an innovator.





Microsoft is unlikely to be thrilled as Windows 10 once again gains market share while Windows 11 plummets.

Source: Windows 11’s market share plummets as Windows 10 surges


- - - - -

Windows 11’s market share plummets as Windows 10 surges

We are a month away from the demise of Windows 10. Windows 11 managed to surpass Windows 10 in users in July, which isn't great. Forget that. The Augus ...

08/29/2025

This weeks Computer Talk Radio broadcast has been uploaded at http://computertalkradio.com/podcastCTR/?."name=ctrpodcast-2025-08-30.mp3

08/28/2025

AI is touted for many things, and slammed for others.It is a tool, and businesses are using it to make advances, and I have been suggesting we all get better at using it. Apparently, some hackers have taken that thought to heart, and have developed an AI-generated malware called PromptLock, which leverages scripts from prompts to look through your drive, inspect files, move data, and encrypt files. The good news is that this appears to be more of a proof-of-concept, than something that is fully operational and in the wild, but what this means is that we are getting close to smarter and more efficient malware than we’ve seen before. Consider this new vector to represent yet another thing to keep you on your security toes, conscious of what the bad guys are looking to do to mess with our lives.

‘PromptLock’ could be a serious problem

Source: The first AI-powered ransomware has been spotted – and here’s why we should all be worried


- - - - -

The first AI-powered ransomware has been spotted – and here’s why we should all be worried

AI is touted for many things, and slammed for others.It is a tool, and businesses are using it to make advances, and I have been suggesting we all get bette ...

08/28/2025

There are times when people use old tech for various reasons. Some may make a little sense, but others are bizarre. In New Jersey, apparently those who are incarcerated, are limited to the expanse of 20 floppy disks. You’ve likely seen or worked with these things, but most have abandoned their usage because of things like USB flash drives.In this case, there’s an idea that somehow they could be abused behind the prison walls.So lawyers must copy files to flash, go to a specific PC, copy to floppy disks at a crazy slow speed, give them to the inmate, and then all back through the same process. Surely there must be some better, faster, more efficient way to deal with one’s attorney than this.



NJ prisoners are only allowed 28.8MB storage on 20 floppy disks, frustrating their legal defense

Source: New Jersey inmate claims outdated floppy disks jeopardize legal rights while outside world uses terabyte SSD drives daily


- - - - -

New Jersey inmate claims outdated floppy disks jeopardize legal rights while outside world uses terabyte SSD drives daily

There are times when people use old tech for various reasons. Some may make a little sense, but others are bizarre. In New Jersey, apparently those who are ...

08/28/2025

Every few years we hear about someone doing this… leaving some kind of disaster that disables computers, deletes data, ruins a company via tech, when they go out the door. This is one of the most stupid things people do. In the latest case, a Chinese national named Davis Lu, worked for an unnamed software company for 12 years, but in his last year, he was demoted. At this time, instead of seeking out a new job, he started to plan for his exit, building a dramatic proverbial ticking time bomb that checked to see if his account was disabled. Upon his termination, it created “infinite loops” that crashed servers, deleted files, and locked out all users. This cost the company 100’s of thousands of dollars, and this week, his trial ended with a sentence of 4 years in prison. Davis is a convicted felon. I imagine he’ll be deported. He will never gain a decent job in IT. None of this was worth it. When you leave, by your choice, or theirs, it’s time to move on. Plan a graceful exit, leaving on the best of terms.

He will have plenty of time to think about his actions – in prison

Source: A disgruntled worker built his own kill-switch malware to take down his former employer – and it didn’t pay off


- - - - -

A disgruntled worker built his own kill-switch malware to take down his former employer – and it didn’t pay off

Every few years we hear about someone doing this... leaving some kind of disaster that disables computers, deletes data, ruins a company via tech, when they ...