from the is-this-really-necessary? dept Earlier this year, I bought a Framework laptop. If you haven’t heard of the Framework, it’s a very new laptop company, but one that really believes in not just respecting, but encouraging tinkering and the right to repair. Cory Doctorow had written a glowing piece about the Framework that first got my attention, talking about how it was designed so that users can take it apart, fix things, and upgrade it easily. It literally ships with the only tool ...read more

The LockBit ransomware gang is claiming responsibility for the July cyberattack against cybersecurity giant Entrust, but with a twist — the group is also accusing its latest victim of a counterattack. Entrust, which describes itself as a global leader in identities, payments and data protection, said in late July that an “unauthorized party” accessed parts of its network, but declined to describe the nature of the attack or say if customer data was stolen. Entrust’s customers incl ...read more

The Advocat team. (Advocat Photo) Seattle-area startup Advocat is using artificial intelligence to help companies save time and money with their legal contracts. Led by a former U.S. diplomat, Advocat’s AI-based legal contract generator uses templates based on existing company contracts and guardrails set by legal teams. Its software also provides a negotiation tracking tool. The idea is to eliminate repetitive work for legal teams, keep contracts up-to-date, and streamline business pr ...read more

In context: Cryptocurrency miners and PC users have anticipated Ethereum's "Merge" throughout the year amidst multiple delays. Arguably one of the most significant events in cryptocurrency history, it should drastically cut Ethereum's carbon emissions and lessen demand in a GPU market already set for new hardware launches. Earlier this month, the Ethereum Foundation announced its momentous "Merge" would finally come in mid-September. Ethereum developers have long planned to switch the cryptoc ...read more

On 4 September 2018, someone known only as Rabono bought an angry cartoon cat named Dragon for 600 ether—an amount of Ethereum cryptocurrency worth about US $170,000 at the time, or $745,000 at the cryptocurrency’s value in July 2022. It was by far the highest transaction yet for a nonfungible token (NFT), the then-new concept of a unique digital asset. And it was a headline-grabbing opportunity for CryptoKitties, the world’s first blockchain gaming hit. But the sky-high transaction ...read more

Imagine building some of the most sophisticated hardware-driven technologies in the world — spacecraft, drones or autonomous vehicles. Then imagine being unable to easily share your data to different teams, having to use clunky user interfaces and relying on a single person manually inputting data in an Excel spreadsheet to bottom-line your project. “You’d be shocked at how archaic the tools are,” Lucy Hoag, co-founder of Violet Labs, said. She wasn’t referring to the sophistication o ...read more

EV acceleration hit a new and interesting phase at the Monterey Car Week event that wrapped Sunday. Kia, (yeah Kia) showed up at the typically ultra-luxe affair with its EV6 GT, a new performance trim that will go on sale by the end of the year and can travel from zero to 60 miles per hour in just 3.4 seconds. This isn’t a hypercar or even a sports car — yet it’s capable of leaving both types of vehicle in the dust. This increasingly common scenario puts supercar makers like Lamborghini i ...read more

In context: The return-to-work mandate is proving to be the tech industry's hot-button topic, with many employees resisting calls to come back into the office after more than two years of working from home. Apple is one of the industry giants experiencing this outrage as staff petition against plans to return to the workplace next month. Apple CEO Tim Cook last week sent out a memo to all employees informing them that they must return to the office for at least three days a week starting Sept ...read more

Elon Musk’s legal team has subpoenaed former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, marking the latest development in the legal battle over Musk’s attempt to break his $44 billion acquisition agreement with the social network company. Dorsey will be asked about the impact of bots and spam accounts on Twitter’s business and operations. Dorsey stepped down as Twitter CEO last November and handed the role over to current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. Dorsey has displayed his support for Musk in the pas ...read more

WTF?! Several of today's automotive companies are abandoning traditional physical keys that access and start vehicles in favor of apps and NFC tech. That's good news for anyone worried about losing their keys, but what if you've left your smartphone somewhere? That's when a key chip implanted into your hand would be helpful. Tesla owner Brandon Dalaly is a fan of biomodification. He has a chip implanted in his left hand that's used to unlock his home and also store information such as his por ...read more