📲TechnoGram

🌐 IPv6: Why your home network should care IPv4’s 4.3 billion addresses ran out years ago, pushing many ISPs to carrier-grade NAT. That extra translation can break peer‑to‑peer gaming; tests showed Xbox connections fail when both players share one public address. IPv6, with 128‑bit space (~340 undecillion), gives every device its own address but won’t make Wi‑Fi faster. About 51% of users now reach major sites over IPv6; adoption varies (France 87%, US 55%, China just over 6%). If your ISP supp…

🎧 Why earbuds are usually cheaper True‑wireless earbuds grabbed 68.2% of earbud/headphone revenue in 2025, helped by portability, low weight, and better battery life and spatial audio. They cost less because they’re smaller and simpler: fewer materials, no headband or cushioned earcups, and typically smaller drivers (larger drivers cost more and are common in headphones). High volumes, off‑the‑shelf designs, and fewer features can further cut price. Pick by use: earbuds are pocketable but eas…

🖥️ Old Chromebook? Give it a second life Use it as a second display with apps like Duet to mirror or extend a PC or Mac; there’s a small subscription fee. Or turn it into a digital photo frame: keep the screen awake and run a fullscreen slideshow. For smart homes, run Google Home in the browser or the Android app, or use it as a dedicated panel for Home Assistant hosted on a PC or Raspberry Pi. A touchscreen Chromebook works well for whole-home controls. Feeling advanced? Install Linux and ru…

🕶️ AI glasses vs headphones: when glasses win Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses launched in Oct 2023 drew backlash over face-mounted cameras, prompting bans by MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean. Now camera-free models like Ray-Ban Meta Audio aim for privacy while keeping voice control and open-ear speakers. Glasses are always on you, leave ears unobstructed, and make calls comfortable without heat or isolation. Quick swipes adjust volume so you can talk while music plays, and alerts arrive even when yo…

🔊 Turn old speakers into TV sound Active speakers (with power cord or USB) are easy: feed audio from the TV’s 3.5mm headphone/line-out or RCA. If the TV only has optical (TOSLINK), add a basic digital-to-analog converter; with HDMI ARC only, adapters exist but cost more. USB on PC speakers is usually power only—audio still goes via 3.5mm/RCA, and TVs won’t load drivers. A TV USB port can power them; an HDD-labeled port supplies up to ~900 mA. Some TVs keep USB live in standby, others cut it. …

💡 Smart switches beat bulbs for shared homes Smart switches replace the wall control, so anyone can use lights normally—no app, no speaker. They’re better for multi-bulb fixtures and keep automations stable because power stays at the switch. They can be cheaper too: six smart bulbs at $5–$50 each vs one switch from about $11 in a bundle. Check compatibility and whether you have a neutral wire, and match the load rating for fans or other fixtures. Use switches in kitchens, halls, baths, and li…

🎮 Smarter picks with Steam’s Personal Calendar Valve is rolling out Personal Calendar on Steam, a feed of recommended games based on your recently played titles, time spent, wishlists, and players with similar profiles. Brief trials won’t sway it much, as heavy-played games count more. Suggestions refresh daily as models retrain, but shifts will be gradual, typically over about eight weeks or as studios lock in release dates. After months in Steam Labs, users click into 2,000+ different games…

🧬 UK puts $134m into AI Biosecurity Lab The government launched AIBL to study AI‑enabled bio risks and strengthen resilience to emerging threats. Officials say frontier AI accelerates discovery but can also lower barriers to harmful biological activity, as recent lab work showed AI‑designed viruses targeting drug‑resistant bacteria. AI minister Kanishka Narayan says AIBL will be a global hub for safety. OpenAI and Anthropic will each provide £100m in model credits; Google DeepMind will collabo…

🔔 Ring without a plan: what still works Without a subscription you keep Live View, motion alerts and Two‑Way Talk in the app—handy to answer the door, check kids or pets, or watch for deliveries on the go. What you don’t get is saved video; plans from $4.99/month add cloud history that can aid after theft. Controversy continues: a lawsuit claims “Familiar Faces” captured facial data, and a Super Bowl ad for AI Search Party raised surveillance concerns. A 2025 partnership with Flock Safety allo…

💿 Kutaragi backs Sony’s shift away from discs Ken Kutaragi, former PlayStation chief, said resistance to a disc‑free PlayStation is a “mentality issue,” noting discs have come to symbolize ownership. He added today’s SIE, staffed with talent from streaming firms, may see PlayStation as a “content terminal.” He first predicted discs would fade in 2006. This is his personal view. Sony plans to end disc-based PS games from January 2028. In April–June, 82% of PS4/PS5 full-game sales were digital; …

🧊 Ice remnants tried to regrow—modern warming reversed the trend Researchers report that the tiny remnants of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in North America began a modest expansion about 2,000 years ago, during a period of natural cooling. In recent decades, human-driven warming has canceled that growth, and the remnants are shrinking again. The finding shows today’s warming is strong enough to override a millennia-scale tendency toward ice advance. 📲TechnoGram

🌐 Time to pick a new browser Issue 149 of a weekly tech digest argues it’s time to find a new browser and rounds up what to read, watch, and try this week. Highlights include reads on Demis Hassabis, computer chips, and permafrost, plus the first episodes of Machine Gods. The editor is filming the next season of Version History (pet season), saw You Can See Everything and dove into coverage, painstakingly updated everything in 1Password, and experimented with Tiny Little O for tiny documents. …

🛑 Meta pauses new business terms over scraping backlash Meta is delaying updated terms that would have allowed its web scrapers to access business-linked domains and use any content to provide, develop, improve, research, train, and maintain Meta products. After criticism, the company removed explicit AI training language. Publishers filed antitrust complaints, and the News Media Alliance demanded withdrawal by October 30, warning publishers could be forced to aid competing products without pa…

🤖 Block unveils “Dessa,” an AI trained only on human conversation Block announced an AI model called Dessa, trained from scratch on nothing but human dialogue to aim for more natural back-and-forth. To demonstrate it, the team shared chat transcripts that feel mostly natural but sometimes awkward or uncanny. In one example from Dessa lead Ragavan Thurairatnam, the model initially mistakes the speaker for someone named “Ronaldo” before continuing the conversation, highlighting both its fluency …

🔗 Meta limits Facebook link posts, even for nonprofits Meta is testing paywalls for posting links on Facebook: many pages see “You can add links to 2 posts per month,” with more requiring a Meta One subscription starting around $50/month. Though Meta says nonprofits and government pages are exempt, libraries and small charities report being limited and are pushing URLs to comments instead. One nonprofit with ~1,000 followers was offered $49.99 for 8 links, $149.99 for 20, or $499.99 for unlimi…

📷 Sigma FP2: compact full-frame gets real upgrades Seven years after the original fp, Sigma has announced the FP2, a similarly tiny full-frame mirrorless successor. It adds an improved sensor, an articulating LCD, and longer battery life for more flexible shooting. With the upgrades comes a slight weight gain, so Sigma now claims only the “world’s smallest” full-frame camera, not the lightest, as the body-only weight is up by about six grams. 📲TechnoGram

🛏️ Brick Night auto-blocks apps when you enter the bedroom Brick, maker of the $59 tap-to-block gadget, has launched Brick Night, a $129 device aimed at curbing bedtime doomscrolling. Unlike the original Brick that requires tapping your phone on the device, Brick Night uses Bluetooth to detect when you’re in range and automatically activates app blocking in that room. Place it in a bedroom—or any room—to trigger phone app limits without manual steps, making it easier to put the phone down bef…

🚫 Cybertruck scrapped for Australia and New Zealand Tesla says it will no longer release the Cybertruck in Australia and New Zealand. The pickup is built only in left-hand drive, and the Texas plant isn’t set up for right-hand drive, making it illegal on roads in AUS/NZ, as well as the UK, Japan and Ireland. The model also lacks UK/EU launch and regulatory approval. EU rules on crumple zones, pedestrian safety (sharp-edged stainless body), lighting and weight classes are cited as likely blocke…

⚖️ Oura sues Ultrahuman again to block US ring sales Oura filed a new lawsuit claiming Ultrahuman’s redesigned Ring Pro still infringes its patents, despite earlier US Customs clearance. Ultrahuman’s prior Ring Air was already barred from US sale by an ITC ruling. Oura now cites two patents, including US 12,769,363 issued two days before the filing, and also names SVTronics in Plano, Texas, which assembles the Ring Pro for the US market. The company seeks to stop US sales. Ultrahuman says the…

🧬 Gene-edited military dogs planned for 2027 Warhound, a new startup backed by partner Palmer Luckey and biotech founder Ben Lamm, will breed genetically engineered working dogs. First litters are expected in early 2027. The initial edits aim to cut breed-specific diseases like hip dysplasia and some cancers. David Spirk, formerly at Palantir, is CEO. Later, Lamm says dogs could be tuned for speed, agility and sharper smell. No cyborgs: Anduril will build protective gear and software—goggles, …