Summary
Overview
This tech news episode covers YouTube's new shorts-blocking feature, the EU's failed age verification app launch, Adobe competitors slashing prices, and various industry updates including NVIDIA reviving old GPUs, Microsoft's browser bribery, and a fascinating discovery about whale language.
YouTube Introduces Shorts Kill Switch
YouTube has rolled out a new feature allowing users to completely disable the shorts feed by setting the daily watch time limit to zero minutes. The feature is currently only available on mobile devices for iPhone and Android users, leaving desktop users without the option. This move comes amid concerns about content quality, as a December study revealed that over half of shorts recommendations to new users consisted of AI-generated or brain rot content, despite shorts averaging 200 billion daily views.
- New setting allows users to set daily shorts watch time limit to zero, effectively pausing the feed
- Feature rolling out to iPhone and Android users, but not available on desktop
- December study showed over half of shorts recommendations to new users were AI slop or brain rot content
- Shorts average 200 billion daily views despite the quality concerns
" Einstein once said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results. Congratulations, you're back for more tech news. "
" all you boomers watching shorts on desktop will continue to have your brains cooked sous vide style by the never-ending dopamine machine "
EU Age Verification App Hacked Within Hours
The European Union launched its highly anticipated age verification app with promises of meeting the highest privacy standards, only to be compromised in under two minutes by security researchers. Security consultant Paul Moore demonstrated multiple critical vulnerabilities, including an unencrypted PIN, easily manipulated rate limiting, and a simple Boolean flag for biometric authentication. The demonstration was so brief it fit in a single tweet, with Telegram CEO Pavel Durov calling the app "hackable by design."
- EU President Ursula von Leyen claimed the app met the highest privacy standards
- Security researchers broke into the app in under two minutes
- PIN isn't cryptographically tied to identity vault, rate limiting is just a config file counter, biometric authentication is a single Boolean flag
- Entire security demonstration fit into a single tweet
- EU confirmed new version being rolled out to patch the flaws
" online platforms would have no more excuses not to verify kids' ages, because the app met the highest privacy standards "
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