Buckle up, news hounds! It’s time again for another episode of “News You Probably Missed and Shouldn’t Have!” We’ve got a whirlwind of headlines that went under the radar this past week packaged together to make you go, “Wait, what? When did this happen?” From illegal roadblocks for wireless giants to who-knows-what, this roundup is sure to keep you informed and maybe even a little surprised. So, grab a cup of coffee (or tea, we don’t judge), and let’s dive in!
New Jersey town blocks T-Mobile from building a tower
A town in New Jersey is throwing a tantrum like a toddler refusing broccoli because it’s “icky.” They are not letting T-Mobile build a cellphone tower in the area because it is allegedly unsafe, an illegal claim. That’s despite the carrier meeting all the requirements mandated by the law for creating a telecom facility, including the radio frequency emission limit. T-Mobile is trying to improve your wireless network connectivity, townfolks. It certainly won’t be using the tower to communicate with aliens.
YouTube prepares a sleep timer to let you sleep
Insomniacs rejoice! YouTube might finally stop keeping you company all night with a built-in sleep timer. The Music version of YouTube already has the feature, so it’s nice to see the video counterpart copying it. The new feature doesn’t yet have an ETA but imagine falling asleep to cat videos without the worry of waking up to polka music at 3 am. That’s what it can do. It’s like putting your phone on bedtime with a teddy bear. Sweet dreams!
The EU wants Microsoft to keep Teams and Office separate
Microsoft seems to be in hot water with the EU again! This time, it’s over its bundling of Teams with Office products. Imagine getting broccoli shoved in your lunchbox every day, even if you only wanted the pizza. That’s kind of the situation the EU sees with Teams being forced down users’ throats alongside Office. The EU is worried this gives Teams an unfair advantage and limits competition. So, Microsoft might be facing a hefty fine if it doesn’t clean up its act fast. A “broccoli pizza” for lunch might not work.
Google Search rolls back to Goooooooooogle days
Google Search is going back to the drawing board! Remember that endless scroll that lets you see results for days? Yeah, it’s getting the boot. From now on, you’ll be back to clicking through pages like a digital explorer in the olden days. Google says this change will make searches load faster, but some folks might miss the convenience of that never-ending scroll. Think of it as a forced break from the rabbit hole of search results – maybe you’ll actually find what you’re looking for faster after all!
Your Google reviews are going public under one profile
Big brother Google is watching… your reviews! Get ready to be internet famous (or infamous) because Google just launched a new feature: public profiles for your reviews. Everyone can see if you think the latest Nicolas Cage flick is a masterpiece or a disaster. Bragging rights for that 5-star “Casablanca” review? You got it! Shame of admitting you secretly love reality TV? Uh oh. There is an option to make your profile private, but just like that time you accidentally posted a selfie you meant to delete… the internet never forgets.
You can now “Hype” up your favorite YouTube creator
Attention, YouTube devotee! Tired of just liking and sharing videos? Want to feel like a true patron of the arts (well, the art of cat videos)? YouTube is testing a new feature called “Hype”. It makes you a digital hype machine, boosting your favorite creators’ latest content. Think of it as showering them with virtual confetti (that grants them more views). It’s a win-win: creators get discovered, and you feel important. Now, someone just needs to invent a way to throw virtual tomatoes at bad content…
Apple aims to replace humans with robots in its iPhone factories
Ah, Apple and automation: a match made in…well, not exactly heaven for some folks. The company is looking to turn its iPhone factories into Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Instead of friendly humans, a bunch of robots will build your iPhone. It aims to replace at least half of human workers with machines. The good news: consistent quality control, maybe even lower prices. The bad news: saying goodbye to some human jobs, and the slight possibility of a robot uprising. Let’s just hope Siri doesn’t get any ideas…
Rimac is making a Level 4 robotaxi
Move over Bugattis, and make way for robotaxis! Rimac, the Croatian company known for its sleek and insanely fast electric supercars, is taking a sharp turn. Imagine ditching million-dollar rides for self-driving pod things. That’s basically Rimac’s new game plan. Their latest project is a Level 4 robotaxi called the Verne, and it’s aiming to hit the streets in 2026. So, ditch the dream of owning a Rimac supercar (unless you’ve got a Scrooge McDuck money vault), the future might involve being chauffeured around by one.
Verizon fined over $1 million for 911 outage
Verizon, the cell phone company that definitely isn’t run by pigeons in trench coats, blocked 911 calls in six whole US states for almost two hours! Instead of reaching paramedics or firefighters, all subscribers got was the soothing sounds of dead air. This happened sometime back, but the carrier couldn’t escape without repercussions. It had to cough up a cool $1 million for the blunder. Maybe invest in some signal flares for your next network upgrade, Verizon?
Korean internet provider installed malware on customer PCs
In a move that would make even a pirate raise an eyebrow, Korean internet service provider KT (aka Korea Telecom) is in hot water for allegedly installing malware on hundreds of thousands of customer computers (over 600,000). Why? To mess with their torrents, of course! Talk about a bad connection. This ISP decided to take a shady route to block a shady practice. Can’t wait to see how this plays out in court! Download justice may be slow, but it might hit KT hard.
Samsung to increase memory prices, blames AI for it
Samsung’s memory chips are suddenly in high demand, thanks to the booming world of AI. The company is using this as an excuse to bump up prices, which is about as subtle as a robot breakdancing. Imagine AI walking into a store, demanding memory chips in a robotic voice, and then accidentally tripping the inflation alarm. That’s basically what’s happening here. Looks like Samsung’s AI overlords are teaching it more about profit margins than processing power!
WhatsApp prepares a shortcut for video message replies
WhatsApp seems tired of seeing users fumbling around to reply to video messages (hey, WhatsApp claims it cannot see your messages). Its latest test update is saying “ditch the text, just react with a video!” Imagine a world where your grandma responds to your vacation clip with a thumbs-up video message – the future is here, folks! (Although, maybe hold off on sending that skydiving video to your parents just yet…)
