Welcome to TechTalk with Adam Oldfield! Today we have some interesting tech news to share with you, from electric cars to old school Mac OS downloads. Let’s dive right in:
Vacu-Man has been busy with small fires, including dryer fires and commercial jobs, and has been helping banks clean their central air duct systems after fires started in the vestibule. They’ve noticed that soot from burning candles can get inside your vent system and cause problems. If you have carpet, you may see black marks around your registers, or dark soot around your cold air return. If you notice these signs, it’s probably time to get your system cleaned.
In 2023, you can now build your own electric car, even a 1965 P50 that used to be popular in England. Electric Classic Cars is revitalizing the P50 as an electric kit car that you can assemble at home, just like an IKEA product. The kit comes with a 4 KW motor and a top speed of 45 km/h. It’s the world’s smallest car, but it’s an electric vehicle that you can put together by following instructions.
For all you Apple users out there, you may be surprised to learn that Apple was not always the most popular computer. In the 90s, Steve Jobs revitalized Apple with the colored iMac and Mac OS 8 or 9. If you miss those programs, you can easily download them through a browser, just like a website. You can operate any of your old programs, and even load up old documents from floppy disks with a peripheral. It loads as fast as it did back in the ’90s.
The European Commission has come up with a long-lasting data sharing agreement to replace two older ones. Facebook, Meta may have to withdraw from the European market, which accounts for 22% of its total revenue, if they can’t comply with the new rules. The agreement requires that information stored by Facebook and Meta can’t be shared with servers or information outside of the country without explicit written approval. This will give the Biden government less access to the information that Facebook collects for advertising purposes. It’s still subject to change, but the process is likely to be established sooner than later.
Facebook is now offering a verified subscription bundle for a monthly charge of $20 Canadian that will be available for Facebook and Instagram. This verified message will give you confirmation that you are who you say you are, and allow you to reach someone in person at Facebook. It will also give you visibility and reach to some prominent areas within search comments and recommendations, as it makes you a priority to be found. This is set up for security reasons and to verify all the false representation of those that set up fake accounts. This is one of their ways to try and capitalize on lost revenue, and even if they get only 1% of their users to subscribe, that would equal 30 million in revenue alone from Canada.
That’s it for this week’s TechTalk with Adam Oldfield! Tune in next week for more exciting tech news. And don’t forget to catch us on 900 CHML with Bill Kelly at 11:30 AM.