Character-Assasinations-Ain't-Us, Update To

By The Canadian
in Back Page News

 Share

Recommended Posts

Veteran

The Canadian

Posted
Posted

It never was my intention to attack anyone personally....

My sights were set on correcting some obvious misconceptions. It was a focused attack on ignorance but with some unsolicited commentary on a particular group.

Whether by proxy or focused intent, it appears that is what has happened, however.

A particular teacher within the Austin Independent School District now sucks.

The consensus began building about 24 hours ago when I published a blog strongly chastising a teacher who emailed me. She made, what I considered to be, some amazingly ignorant statements, statements that I felt attacked the very core reason for my existence. It made me much angrier than it should have.

I'm human, so sue me.

No wait, scratch that last line...don't sue me. It is being discussed.

Her tone didn't help her case much. She insinuated that I may had done something illegal. We build/refurbish computers for kids who are financially disadvantaged. We also build and present computers to kids of high achievement. To even hint that I am involved in anything that approaches breaking the law is not only silly, it evokes emotion better left un-evoked. I've worked for years to bring the level of success, however limited, we have now. The last thing I need is to lose it all for something silly.

So instead of crafting a measured, count-for-count personal response, I chose to share her obvious ignorance with members of the Linux Community. It was meant to illustrate the maddening ignorance and bias a Linux Advocate faces in a Microsoft Windows world. It was also meant to digitally spank the hand of the offender. It was a good direction to go I thought.

Things pretty much turned to fecal flakes from there.

Look, I write this little back-water blog to document what we do at the HeliOS Project and to advocate Linux in general. One of our main focuses is to see to it that Linux begins gaining a foothold in the computing public's awareness. And no, my goal isn't to convince you to switch to Linux.

That's my desire.

My goal is to make you aware that you have a choice in how you operate your computers. And yes, a bias exists on the Linux side of the ledger.

Ya think? People don't realize they are prisoners in their own computers when they use Microsoft Windows. If they ever read the EULA, they'd understand quickly.

So boasting a stunning readership in the dozens, I go about my business writing about things that happen in our day to day operations. Every now and then, something or someone does or says something that I believe needs attention.

Holy Crap!

Well, we got attention. When I published a part of the email this Teacher sent me, it experienced something known as "The Slashdot Effect." Slashdot is a website devoted to the tech/internet world and is read by hundreds of thousands an hour.

Yeah...hundreds of thousands an hour. My article scolding this teacher ended up on the front page of Slashdot.

For whatever reason, this story took on a life of its own. By 10:30 AM, I had to turn my cell phone off. Poeple were getting my number from my business website and calling me with their comments and reactions.

Not all of them were particularly on my side.

I received calls from South Africa, The Netherlands, Croatia, The Land Down Under and Russia.

It's the one from New Zealand that bothered me the most.

The caller identified himself and then further identified himself as an editor for a well known magazine published in the UK. He was extremely to-the-point with his call.

He would donate $1000.00 immediately to The HeliOS Project if I would give him the name of the Teacher I blogged about.

I hung up the phone.

"This is madness." I thought to myself. What is the big friggin' deal here? This is a non-story.

And my phone buzzed again but it wasn't with the incoming call ring...it was a text message being received. I cued the caller ID and it returned as "unavailable".

I pushed "read message" and waited for the text to appear on my screen.

"Can I call you?"

I pulled the truck over into a parking lot and answered:

"I guess. Who r u?"

The inactivity was so long that I started the truck and began to put it into gear and re-enter traffic when the buzz came again. I pushed the read button.

"Karen".

It was my turn to hesitate. Finally, I toggled Reply and typed in one character.

"k"

She didn't call right away. It took her about 15 minutes to finally call me. When she did she didn't say anything for the first 15 seconds. When she finally did speak, it was obvious she was crying.

"Why did you throw me to the wolves like that?"

I didn't even have to think of the reply.

"I didn't throw you to the wolves Karen, I threw ignorance to the wolves. Let me ask you something. If I had not emailed you a link to my blog, would you have even known about this?"

Again she hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you didn't know I had written that blog, would you have known about all these comments? Has anyone called you or bothered you about this? Have your co-workers mentioned it?"

"Well...no."

"Then the wolves didn't touch you Karen. If I had included your last name or email address, then yes, you could ask me that question but as it stands, you are just a nameless school teacher that evoked a public response from me."

She didn't say anything for several seconds. When she did, it was a quiet and simple:

"Thank you".

Yeah...thank you. Like I deserve that. Let me share a couple things with you here. First off, I want to sincerely apologize for some things I did say, things that were way off base and even if they were situationally true, they didn't add anything of value to the conversation.

I want to apologize to all the hard-working and honest NEA members. My statements were based on an isolated but nasty experience two years ago, and, while I developed a nasty dislike for the people in that situation, it was both unfair and short-sighted to say the things I did. The teachers that we entrust our kids with on a daily basis do us a service that is under-appreciated, under-paid and over-criticized. My mini tirade didn't add anything of value to the situation and only served to inflame an already volatile area of debate. You have my sincere apology for slapping you all with such a wide brush.

Karen isn't alone in her ignorance. I have sat in a PhD's office...a PhD that happened to be a principal of a school. She told me that according to her "tech staff", it was illegal to remove Microsoft Windows from their school computers. So who is ignorant here? The "tech staffer" afraid of losing his MCSE position or the Dr. of Education that didn't bother to check into such a statement. Ignorance isn't the sole possession of this particular school teacher.

Karen and I have talked on the phone now for a couple of hours, here and there. We've come to understand each other more and had she said some of the things in her email that she said during our phone conversations...this black ink on white digital paper probably wouldn't exist.

And neither would over 2000 comments that were less than kind on one end of it and absolutely brutal on the other.

The student did get his Linux disks back after the class. The lad was being disruptive, but that wasn't mentioned. Neither was the obvious fact that when she saw a gaggle of giggling 8th grade boys gathered around a laptop, the last thing she expected to see on that screen was a spinning cube.

She didn't know what was on those disks he was handing out. It could have been porn, viral .exe's...any number of things for all she knew. When she heard that an adult had given him some of the disks to hand out, her spidey-senses started tingling. Coupled with the fact that she truly was ignorant of honest-to-goodness Free Software, and you have some fairly impressive conclusion-jumping.

In a couple of ways, I am guilty of it too.

Karen seems to be a good teacher, and as she stated to me today, she has learned more about the tech world in a few days than she's learned in five years.

That's because she's trapped in a world of Windows. Most people are.

I have contacted the technology department of AISD and have discovered it has a rich technology environment that uses open source software in all aspects of instruction, operation, and administration. The District has over 36,000 desktop and laptop computers. While about 24,000 of those computers run some version of Windows, AISD is anything but a Windows shop. Their current standard teacher/student image includes both Open Office and Firefox on all Windows computers, and recently has added Open Office to the Apple OS image. Other open source software on both images include audacity and lame, and other Free Software such as Google Earth, iTunes, Adobe and many plug-ins. They also are members of the world community grid; their 36,000 computers are providing many hours of spare processing time (during the work day) to organizations trying to solve major world problems such as energy, cancer, and AIDS. Additionally, they are running more than 100 Linux servers. Other Open Source and Free Software AISD uses include:

apache for web servers

samba for file sharing

nagios for server monitoring

mySQL and postgreSQL for some databases

sendmail for email services

ISC DHCP and bind for DHCP services

moodle for course management

tomcat and jboss for web based applications

perl and php to build in-house applications

As an Austin citizen I am proud to see that AISD is a solid supporter of the open source community and is not blindly following a Microsoft centric architecture. In fact because they are reasonably agnostic they make an overt attempt to find applications that are multi-platform and save money. Also, it is not unreasonable that an organization with approximately 6,000 teachers representing a cross section of America with many different teaching specialties, that there will be some individuals that are not totally aware of current technology trends.

Now to the meat of the matter. Many, many of you have pushed for the identification of this teacher.

I cannot or will not relinquish that. Read the comments from slashdot alone or the hundreds on my blog to understand why!

There isn't any amount of money I will accept to throw a human being into that cement mixer.

The fact that I did it to a profession is bad enough.

All Righty Then

Source: Blog of helios

Veteran

The Canadian

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Hope she gets a chance to see your post.

I'm glad the two of you came to an understanding. And starting this thread took a lot of courage.

Again, I am NOT Ken Stark, this does NOT take place in Canada...can you not see the source URL; hell did you even bother reading the article to see this takes place in Texas...!

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
Again, I am NOT Ken Stark, this does NOT take place in Canada...can you not see the source URL; hell did you even bother reading the article to see this takes place in Texas...!

It would help if you put the source link at the top, to show the external origins. And put the content in

tags, so that it is even MORE obvious that you are not the person in question. :yes:

As for the article, I think that a lot more can be conveyed in face-to-face conversation and even over the phone, like what was described in this latest entry, than can be done in written communications. No inflections or other audible cues can be conveyed in writing, and this sometimes leads to misunderstandings.

As I said in the first part of this series in Neowin's BPN, it is possible the kid was being disruptive (as it turned out to be). But the original letter did not mention that at all.

It is good that HeliOS can continue their charitable work, and that the teacher maybe learned almost as much as Mr. Starks did. :yes:

Grand Master

LTD

Posted
Posted
Again, I am NOT Ken Stark, this does NOT take place in Canada...can you not see the source URL; hell did you even bother reading the article to see this takes place in Texas...!

I thought this was you or something. That source URL looks mighty small down there. That whole "Austin citizen" bit just added to the confusion. ;)

Grand Master

Berserk87

Posted
Posted
Again, I am NOT Ken Stark, this does NOT take place in Canada...can you not see the source URL; hell did you even bother reading the article to see this takes place in Texas...!

you didnt put the article in quotes, when i started reading it i wasnt sure if it was you or not either, i had to scroll to the bottom to look for a "source" to know whether it was you or a story.

Veteran

The Canadian

Posted
  • Author
Posted
you didnt put the article in quotes, when i started reading it i wasnt sure if it was you or not either, i had to scroll to the bottom to look for a "source" to know whether it was you or a story.

Everyone puts the source at the bottom, and hardly anyone puts anything in quotes...the only time I use quotes is when there are quotes in the article.

Grand Master

LTD

Posted
Posted
Everyone puts the source at the bottom, and hardly anyone puts anything in quotes...the only time I use quotes is when there are quotes in the article.

You began the article incorrectly.

We see your avatar, your name, and a vague title.

Then you begin with this:

It never was my intention to attack anyone personally....

My sights were set on correcting some obvious misconceptions. It was a focused attack on ignorance but with some unsolicited commentary on a particular group.

After posting a novel that reads in the first person all the way through, you post the source as an afterthought. And you didn't put the article in quotes. Next time, do your readers a favour by introducing your topic, or provide them with some kind of indication as to what follows.

Community Regular

lordpake

Posted
Posted
Everyone puts the source at the bottom, and hardly anyone puts anything in quotes...the only time I use quotes is when there are quotes in the article.

Not sure about this place, but in few places where I link to articles, I always mention source/author first, and then link to the entire story. After that comes to actual text, usually brrief quotation so that people can decide whether to read the whole story or not :)

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
Everyone puts the source at the bottom, and hardly anyone puts anything in quotes...the only time I use quotes is when there are quotes in the article.

Just for the record, check my few BPN threads. I put the source line at the top, and the article in quotes.

That way, if someone quotes my post, the text in the article isn't quoted to look like it is my words.

Mentor

wellofsouls

Posted
Posted
Just for the record, check my few BPN threads. I put the source line at the top, and the article in quotes.

That way, if someone quotes my post, the text in the article isn't quoted to look like it is my words.

ditto.

I think that's also how most people here do BPN here.

Veteran

DavidM

Posted
Posted

I believed as many others it was you writing the article/post, and to be honest why wouldn't we? It's written in the first person and you posted it as if you had written it. That's really neither here nor there.

Why do people pay so much attention to blogs knowing they are only getting half of the story? He even admits to omitting parts of the story the first time and the second one he still hints at things, the supposed lawsuit, which only drive the story the wrong way.

I'm beginning to wonder like several posters if this was even real. It certainly put the HeliOS Project on the F/OSS community map (it my have been there already, I wouldn't know being trapped in the Microsoft world that I am :) )

I also wonder about a community that wants to maim a school teacher for making a mistake as well, yes, yes, they all didn't want to but most did.

He, He, hope nobody wants to gouge my eyes out or break my typing fingers for my views....may be if I started my own blog.

Grand Master

markwolfe Veteran

Posted
  • Veteran
Posted
I'm so confused

The full story, in summary, from the beginning:

  • Student is Linux enthusiast
  • Student gathers other students in class, showing them Linux on his laptop
  • Teacher finds this disruptive, and investigates, to find him promoting distributing this software copies for free. Claiming he got the software from an adult on a website.
  • Teacher isn't certain if there is warez or porn on the CDs, so confiscates the CDs.
  • Teacher brings student to office and quizzes kid to find out source of software.
  • Student gives them the HeliOS site.
  • Teacher fires of nasty email to HeliOS and threatens to investigate their illegal software, as illegal software is harmful to children. She mentions confiscating the CDs, but does not state student was being disruptive.
  • HeliOS owner Mr. Starks sends a nasty response back to teacher, and publishes the exchange (with the school and teacher's name censored to remove identity other than first name)
  • The exchange gets slashdotted and the bright white spotlight of attention is on the exchange.
  • Mr. Starks is offered cash to disclose the teacher's info, but refuses.
  • Teacher is upset by the harsh email response, so contacts Mr. Starks to speak to him directly. Because of the sanitized personal info, no one outside of Mr. Starks has contacted her, or is aware of who she is.
  • Teacher and Mr. Starks come to an understanding of each other, and Mr. Starks also publishes the followup you see reproduced in the first post of this thread here on Neowin. Both have overreacted to the situation, and hopefully both have learned and will live happily ever after.

How is that for a summary? :p

Grand Master

dead.cell

Posted
Posted
am i the only one who knew this wasnt the OP's content?

I didn't think it was him, considering the whole Canada thing, but as I kept reading, I kept thinking,"Okay, is this a Canadian who now lives in Texas or what?"

Seriously though, please put it in a

. Thanks.
Grand Master

ViperAFK

Posted
Posted
The full story, in summary, from the beginning:
  • Student is Linux enthusiast
  • Student gathers other students in class, showing them Linux on his laptop
  • Teacher finds this disruptive, and investigates, to find him promoting distributing this software copies for free. Claiming he got the software from an adult on a website.
  • Teacher isn't certain if there is warez or porn on the CDs, so confiscates the CDs.
  • Teacher brings student to office and quizzes kid to find out source of software.
  • Student gives them the HeliOS site.
  • Teacher fires of nasty email to HeliOS and threatens to investigate their illegal software, as illegal software is harmful to children. She mentions confiscating the CDs, but does not state student was being disruptive.
  • HeliOS owner Mr. Starks sends a nasty response back to teacher, and publishes the exchange (with the school and teacher's name censored to remove identity other than first name)
  • The exchange gets slashdotted and the bright white spotlight of attention is on the exchange.
  • Mr. Starks is offered cash to disclose the teacher's info, but refuses.
  • Teacher is upset by the harsh email response, so contacts Mr. Starks to speak to him directly. Because of the sanitized personal info, no one outside of Mr. Starks has contacted her, or is aware of who she is.
  • Teacher and Mr. Starks come to an understanding of each other, and Mr. Starks also publishes the followup you see reproduced in the first post of this thread here on Neowin. Both have overreacted to the situation, and hopefully both have learned and will live happily ever after.

How is that for a summary? :p

thank you I even already knew about the original article and was still confused because of how the first post was.

  • 2 weeks later...
Neowinian

triplef

Posted
Posted

what happened to the statement that started most of this ?

"there is no such thing as free software !"

or was this made up ?

and yes by not having all the facts we could over-react...

READ " XYZ country nukes XY country" vs " XYZ country nukes XY country after XY country attaks XYZ"

Veteran

DDStriker

Posted
Posted

I think this guy is just an arrogant ass i find it annoying how he keeps attacking windows by throwing in "window users are prisoners of their own systems" and **** like that

also there is some rules when school rent these computers who knows maybe the OS that is on the pc must remain on that pc as part of their contract? he claims it as ignorance for the phd person but who knows there are rules enforced this could easily be one of them all in all he just seems to cocky towards linux

This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Posts

    • AMD 9070XT

      By Steven P. · Posted

      Well I really think the repasting helped if your higher clocks have returned, maybe the next thing to look at is if there is a problem with your case airflow? I guess this because your 3080 has returned to optimal state, but is still staying too warm, which might suggest it was thermal throttling before you repasted, of which the only logical conclusion could be outside factors.
    • The official Funny Pictures thread

      By Steven P. · Posted

    • Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8, Z Fold Wide: Everything you need to know

      By Hamid Ganji · Posted

      Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Flip 8, Z Fold Wide: Everything you need to know by Hamid Ganji Galaxy Z Fold 7 - Image via Samsung The next generation of Samsung foldables is set to be unveiled next month at the second Unpacked event of the year. Samsung’s 2026 foldables are not expected to offer significant upgrades over their predecessors, with the Korean firm instead focusing on design refinements and conventional upgrades such as faster processors and better cameras. However, Samsung is reportedly planning to unveil an all-new passport-style foldable this year to rival Apple’s first foldable iPhone, which is expected to debut this September. Here’s a roundup of everything we know about Samsung’s upcoming foldable devices ahead of their official debut. When can we expect Samsung’s new foldables? The Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 series were unveiled in July, and Samsung is expected to maintain this timeframe in 2026. Based on previous reports from Korean sources, Samsung will hold its Unpacked event on July 22 in London, UK, to pull back the curtain on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series. The devices are also expected to hit the shelves a few weeks after launch. However, Samsung has yet to announce an official date. A new naming scheme? One of the most interesting changes we might see this year is a new naming scheme for Samsung’s latest foldables. SamMobile reported that since Samsung is expected to unveil three foldables this year, it has adopted a new naming strategy to simplify product identification for customers. Accordingly, the standard Galaxy Z Fold 8 will reportedly be called the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and will serve as the direct successor to last year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7. The “Ultra” suffix suggests the phone could feature higher-end specifications, such as additional rear camera modules. Samsung’s new passport-style foldable is expected to carry the Galaxy Z Fold 8 name without any suffix. This model is reportedly equipped with two rear cameras. No major changes are expected for the Flip model. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 anticipated specs Rumors over the past few months suggest Samsung is preparing several upgrades for its upcoming foldables, although the devices may continue to rely on larger batteries and faster charging speeds rather than dramatic design changes. The primary focus this year is expected to be the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and its wide-screen design. Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here are the anticipated specifications for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra based on previous leaks: 6.5-inch outer display and 8-inch inner display, 120Hz refresh rate, and 2,600 nits peak brightness Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB of storage 4.1mm thickness when unfolded and a weight of 210g 200MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, 10MP or 12MP telephoto camera, 10MP cover camera, and 10MP selfie camera 5,000mAh battery with 45W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 As for the Galaxy Z Flip 8, the device is not expected to be a major departure from its predecessor, although it could become slightly slimmer. Expected specifications include: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 or Exynos 2600 processor 12GB of RAM with 256GB and 512GB storage options 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X inner dispaly and 4.1-inch Super AMOLED outer dispaly 50MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera 4,300mAh battery with 25W wired charging Android 17 and One UI 9 Samsung’s foldables are also expected to launch with Gemini Intelligence, Google’s AI suite for automating tasks in Android ecosystem. Moreover, given current memory and component costs, some Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra and Z Flip 8 variants could see a price hike. Galaxy Z Fold 8 adopts a wide-screen design The centerpiece of the upcoming Unpacked event could be the Galaxy Z Fold 8, previously rumored as the Galaxy Z Fold Wide. This model adopts a passport-style form factor and is expected to compete directly with Apple’s iPhone Fold. Galaxy Z Fold 8 official CAD renders - Image via AndroidHeadlines Here’s what to expect: 7.6-inch primary OLED display and 5.4-inch cover display, 120Hz refresh rate, 2,600 nits peak brightness, and 4:3 aspect ratio Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, 12GB or 16GB of RAM, and 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB storage options 4,800mAh battery with 45W wired charging 50MP main camera, 50MP ultrawide camera, and 10MP selfie camera Android 17 and One UI 9 The three new foldable phones are unlikely to be the only devices unveiled at Samsung’s Unpacked event. The company is also expected to introduce the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and the Galaxy Watch 9 series.
    • Dopamine 3.0.6

      By Jaybonaut · Posted

      Thanks
    • 7 Days: Killing uBlock Origin bypasses, Euro Office faces fire, and will AI replace you?

      By Aditya Tiwari · Posted

      7 Days: Killing uBlock Origin bypasses, Euro Office faces fire, and will AI replace you? by Aditya Tiwari 7 Days is a weekly roundup of picks of what's been happening in the world of technology - written with a dash of humor, a hint of exasperation, and an endless supply of (black) coffee. This week's highlights include WWDC 2026 announcements, updates on child safety, and Meta's use of data from outside businesses to optimize your feed. Let's get started. You can check out the recent issues of the 7 Days weekly roundup. Killing uBlock Origin bypasses The hottest news of the week was about Google Chrome effectively ending most uBlock Origin workarounds (a free, open-source ad blocker extension) by permanently dropping MV2 extensions and their bypasses. Chrome is transitioning towards newer MV3 extensions. A recent discussion thread highlighted how the latest and upcoming versions of the most popular browser are expected to be its final releases with support for MV2 extensions. Genuinely European? Euro-Office faces fire The recently launched cloud-based office suite, Euro-Office, is facing criticism at home. The LibreOffice developer wrote an open letter criticizing Euro-Office for its marketing claim that it's the "first open-source office suite developed in Europe," since the honor has belonged to OpenOffice since 2001. The Document Foundation has called out Euro-Office, arguing that it can't consider "itself genuinely European" as long as it keeps pushing Microsoft defaults on users, adding that "it has to speak ODF as its mother tongue." Will AI replace you? Image: Tara Winstead via Pexels Microsoft's AI boss, Mustafa Suleyman, said in an interview earlier this year that AI would replace office workers within 12 to 18 months. Joining the ranks of top executives who have softened their stance on AI replacing humans, Suleyman recently walked back his earlier remarks and now says that AI will automate tasks, not replace entire white-collar jobs. He defended his earlier comments by arguing that they referred only to individual actions people perform at their desks. Louis Rossmann wants to sue Samsung Image: Louis Rossmann Tech repair entrepreneur and right-to-repair activist Louis Rossmann contacted Samsung support over a failed 4TB Samsung 990 Pro NVMe SSD. After back-and-forth communication, Samsung offered a $330 refund instead of a replacement, but Rossmann found that the SSD was readily available for new buyers at a higher price. He has issued a formal 60-day notice and intends to file a suit in Texas small claims court, as Samsung's actions reflect a failure to honor its warranty obligations. Samsung reached out to Neowin to clarify its updated stance that customers in such situations will receive a refund equal to the product's current market price. Child safety or mass surveillance? Image: Jonathan Borba via Pexels Signal accused the UK government of using child safety and device-level explicit content ban as a cover for mass surveillance. Calling the plan "dystopian," Signal warned that it violates everyone's fundamental right to privacy. The messaging platform believes that the government should keep children "safe" and "protected," but it should do so through social services and education. Fears of social media regulation Image via DepositPhotos.com More governments across the globe are tightening their grip on social media and bringing stricter regulations in the name of child safety. Bluesky COO, Rose Wang, warned that social media regulations could destroy competition from small startups and that heavy regulatory compliance costs favor deep-pocketed tech giants while locking out new entrants. Our Features Image: Pexels Our coffee-powered team publishes a platter of editorials, opinion posts, and guides. Here's what they got for the week: UK **** blockers are a looming privacy disaster, we must be able to see the source code This week in software news Image: Proton Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Dark clouds over PC makers: Building on our report from last month, Dell officially acknowledged that its own remediation software was causing BSOD issues and unexpected system restarts. HP is also facing equally frustrating issues involving recent Windows Secure Boot updates on Windows 11. Controversial icon: Spotify finally removed the disco ball icon from its app and replaced it with the familiar flat green logo after weeks of mixed reactions online. While some people don't like the new design, the retro, three-dimensional look has generated a following of its own. Even other brands are coming up with their versions of the disco logo. NVIDIA fixes stuff: A new hotfix driver 610.52 fixes various issues related to monitors and displays, noting that G-SYNC-related frame pacing troubles should now be resolved on Ada Lovelace GPUs. The feedback thread also points out that the hotfix patches a BSOD issue. FIFA World Cup tracker: Opera is redesigning its Android browser with a built-in football tracker for the upcoming World Cup in the US. The new homepage is now "more immersive" with easier access to common browser features. Command line for Proton: The Swiss technology company has launched a command line version of the Proton Drive, which you can use to manage your encrypted files directly from a terminal across all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This week in hardware news Image: Thermaltake Catch up on some of the latest software news updates that arrived throughout the week: Intel and AMD PCs in one case: Thermaltake's CAPO X dual-system chassis brings you the best of both worlds by supporting two microATX (mATX) motherboards and up to two 360 mm AIO liquid coolers. If you want ideas, maybe you can use one as your main PC and another as an AI agent. Google Tensor production: While TSMC will remain the lead producer, the search giant is reportedly in talks with Samsung to hand over part of the production of its next-generation Tensor AI chips. The upcoming TPUs are reportedly codenamed “Icefish” and will be produced using Samsung's 2-nanometer process technology. Lethal fake phone chargers: UK-based consumer rights organization Which? has warned that "potentially lethal knock-off chargers" are still being sold on online marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay, despite the dangers of such chargers having been exposed. This week in Google News Image: Google Catch up on some of the latest Google news updates that arrived throughout the week: Sliding into DMs: You might remember that YouTube had a direct messaging feature back in the day. It's now rolling out a revamped direct messaging inbox that lets you share Shorts, videos, and live streams and have conversations about them. New in NotebookLM: The AI-powered note-taking app got some new agentic capabilities and more advanced reasoning, thanks to support for Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity. NotebookLM can now generate outputs in more formats, making it easier to start new projects with less information. This week in Apple News Image: Apple Catch up on some of the latest Apple news updates that arrived throughout the week: WWDC 2026: This week was all about Apple's annual developer conference, where the iPhone-maker finally unveiled an upgraded Siri AI and a platter of new Apple Intelligence features. Siri AI now has a cross-platform app, which is supported on select models of iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. What's different about WWDC: I wrote a detailed feature this week discussing how Apple changed the WWDC keynote this year, blurring the lines between its operating systems. Apple didn't have dedicated segments for its operating systems this year and didn't even publish the official press releases. Liquid Glass slider (finally): It's that time of the year when Apple previews fresh updates for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods, and other platforms. A new transparency slider for Liquid Glass is coming to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27 Golden Gate. Is your device supported?: If you're wondering whether your Apple device supports the new developer beta builds, you can check the respective compatibility lists for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27. Siri AI not coming to Europe: Yes, that's true due to complications related to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). While Apple penned a blog post to tell its side of the story, a European Commission spokesperson told Neowin that the DMA does not prohibit Apple from launching its services in the EU; the company is simply required to comply with the law. New child safety features: Apple announced a trove of new safety features for kids, including a simpler setup experience for parents, Ask to Browse, Time Allowances, and a redesigned Screen Time UI. Parents can now visit a new website to find answers to common questions around child safety features. More cloud power: Apple's Private Cloud Compute cloud infrastructure will now run beyond its own data centers for the first time. It's working with Google and NVIDIA to run new Apple Intelligence workloads on Google Cloud systems powered by NVIDIA GPUs. This week in Meta news Catch up on the latest Meta news updates that arrived throughout the week: Data from outside: Meta is rolling out a new update globally to personalize your AI responses and primary feeds using data from outside businesses. It already targets ads based on shopping activity, but the latest development enables it to personalize other "parts of your experience." There is a toggle in the Settings to disable activity from other businesses; however, it won't prevent companies from sending your data to Meta. Level playing field: The European Commission has ordered the social media giant to restore access to WhatsApp for third-party AI chatbots, including ChatGPT and Copilot. Meta previously blocked rival AI chatbots from operating on WhatsApp, prompting the Commission to launch an antitrust investigation. Spying on users: On the flip side, WhatsApp accused the Israeli cyber-intelligence firm, NSO Group, of deploying a fresh wave of targeted "spear phishing" attacks against its users, which were thwarted by WhatsApp's security teams. Reorder profile grid: Adding some customization for the profile grid feature, Instagram now lets you rearrange posts in your profile without deleting and reuploading content. Go to your profile and long-press any thumbnail to find the "Reorder grid" option. This week in AI news Catch up on the latest artificial intelligence news updates that arrived throughout the week: Claude RAM hogger: Windows users are getting infuriated by Claude Desktop's hidden 1.8GB Hyper-V VM bug, which spins up if you use Claude Cowork or agent mode even once. It shows a Vmmem process in Task Manager, indicating 0% CPU usage but 1.8GB of RAM usage. Claude Fable 5: The new state-of-the-art AI model from Anthropic beats OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.5 in multiple AI benchmarks. Claude Fable 5 sits above the Opus models and outperforms most other generally available models across knowledge work, vision, scientific research, and more. However, the model was abruptly suspended after receiving an export control directive from the US government. Stack Overflow for AI agents: The popular Q&A platform has launched Stack Overflow for Agents in beta, which AI agents can use to share, find, and reuse coding knowledge. It explained that AI agents operate in isolation, creating an Ephemeral Intelligence Gap, and valuable tokens are wasted on something another agent has already solved. Upgrading Codex: OpenAI is buying a company called Ona, which makes secure cloud execution and orchestration technology for developers. The ChatGPT-maker aims to make Codex agents run for days without being tied to a local machine or an active session. It also announced a new developer mode in Chrome. This week in open-source news Catch up on some of the latest open-source and Linux updates that arrived throughout the week: Linux 7.1 rc7: Linux Torvalds dropped an optimized rc7 with crucial fixes for AMD and laptop hardware. He said that a stable version of Linux 7.1 could arrive next week, adding that the latest RC is not small, but smaller than recent releases. Alpine Linux 3.24: The latest Alpine Linux release added support for COSMIC Desktop, Linux 6.18, IPv6 installer support, automatic serial console configuration for headless setups, and major package updates and removals. This week in Microsoft News Microsoft had to shut down more than 70 GitHub repos after they were compromised by malware, Teams is getting a controversial tracking feature that users may hate, and the company explained why the new update makes PowerToys faster. You can check out Taras's freshly baked Microsoft Weekly roundup to catch up on all the interesting stories this week. This week in gaming The latest issue of Pulasthi's Weekend PC Game Deals curates several exciting games on sale this week. On the Epic Games Store, the new titles on display for grabs include Warhammer 40K Speed Freeks and The Ouroboros King. NVIDIA GeForce NOW's summer sale lowered the prices of both the Performance and Ultimate membership options for a limited time period. Meanwhile, the Xbox Free Play Days brought Undead Labs' post-apocalyptic title State of Decay 2, as well as two Team17-published titles. That said, here are some more stories from the gaming world: Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen expansion to bring snowy region, new updates also coming Playground drops 30 minutes of Fable gameplay, shows off life sim and morality system Playground Games confirms Forza Horizon 6 save wipe bug Doom: The Dark Ages Revelations expansion gives the Slayer a brutal Chain Spear State of Decay 3 is out in 2027, reveals Plague Nests with new co-op gameplay trailer From the review corner This week, Taras got his hands on the DuRoBo Krono portable e-ink reader, which comes with a $279 price tag. It's a smartphone-sized device with a rotating dial, sitting somewhere between premium and cheap in terms of build quality. Speaking of the pros, the physical controls are cool, the smart dial is useful, the battery life is good, and Android 15 has no-nonsense software. On the flip side, the device lacks software customization, the built-in AI needs improvement, the smart dial is a bit wobbly, and there is no ambient light sensor. EA Sports UFC 6 EA Sports UFC 6 does a better job at onboarding new players than most fighting games, according to Pulasthi's detailed review. The game comes with rewarding combat systems, top-notch animation, impressive impact physics, and visible damage on fighters. However, the menus lag a lot, grappling isn't very fun, and the flow state feels a little misplaced. More price drops! We got you covered with some hot tech deals all week. For some reason, if you missed out on a great discount, here is a summary of some recent deals that are still alive: GIGABYTE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC ICE 16G - $649.99 (13% off) 1TB Samsung T7 Portable SSD - $189.98 (31% off) AirPods Pro 3 - $179 ($50 off) Edifier R1280Ts Powered Bookshelf Speakers - $129.99 (24% off) To view all of our recent deals, click here. So, these were some of the biggest tech news and other updates from this week. There will be more issues of our 7 Days series in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned. You can also support Neowin by registering for a free member account or subscribing to extra member benefits, along with an ad-free tier option. Have a great weekend!

  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      agatameier earned a badge
      One Month Later

  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      505
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      197
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      141
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      80
    Show More

  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!