Month: July 2022

Enlarge / Let's see, you landed on my "Google Ads" space, and with three houses... that will be $1,400. (credit: Ron Amadeo / Hasbro)

The US Justice Department is gearing up for a possible antitrust lawsuit against Google's ad business, and a new report from The Wall Street Journal outlines a "concession" Google is proposing in response to the investigation. Google might split up some of its ad business and move it to Google's parent company, Alphabet.

The meat of the WSJ report says: "As part of one offer, Google has proposed splitting parts of its business that auctions and places ads on websites and apps into a separate company under the Alphabet umbrella, some of the people said. That entity could potentially be valued at tens of billions of dollars, depending on what assets it contained."

The goal of "splitting up" the ad division isn't necessarily to make the whole ad division separate from Google but to weaken Google's end-to-end ownership of the ad business. Currently the company serves as broker and auctioneer for advertisements—which is what the DOJ has a problem with. Google makes tools that cover both the "buy" and "sell" sides of the web advertising world, which naturally pushes advertisers using Google's buy tools toward publishers selling ad space with Google's auctioning system. Most online systems work similarly. Amazon has an interface where Amazon product sellers sell to Amazon product buyers, Uber has a system for drivers and riders, but the rules are different when you're a monopoly, as opposed to just "very big."

Enlarge / Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 7 2-in-1. (credit: Scharon Harding)

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, now in its 7th iteration ($1,870.03 MSRP as tested, as of writing), continues its modern take on the business-focused ThinkPad. It has the durability expected of a business machine, as well as smooth navigation underscored by a thoughtfully programmed keyboard fit for frequent typists, and, of course, that famous red nub.

However, the laptop doesn't necessarily outperform high-end consumer laptops, even some with slightly cheaper price tags. And similar to other ThinkPads we've tested, heat in its Best performance mode is so much of an issue that even light workloads will run the machine so warm that you won't want to touch it in certain areas.

ThinkPad styling

Part ThinkPad, part Yoga. (credit: Scharon Harding)

Naming tells you this machine is part Lenovo ThinkPad, part Lenovo Yoga, but the styling and tough build lean more toward the former. Yes, there's the same 360-degree hinge found on Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1s, as well as a modern, thin-and-light build in a dark gray that's more fun than the more traditional ThinkPad black. But the density and tough feel of the aluminum chassis combined with the deep keyboard, advanced trackpad, and famous red rubber nub all scream ThinkPad.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images)

Microsoft has stunned core parts of the security community with a decision to quietly reverse course and allow untrusted macros to be opened by default in Word and other Office applications. The company later clarified that the move is temporary.

In February, the software maker announced a major change it said it enacted to combat the growing scourge of ransomware and other malware attacks. Going forward, macros downloaded from the Internet would be disabled entirely by default. Whereas previously, Office provided alert banners that could be disregarded with the click of a button, the new warnings would provide no such way to enable the macros.

"We will continue to adjust our user experience for macros, as we’ve done here, to make it more difficult to trick users into running malicious code via social engineering while maintaining a path for legitimate macros to be enabled where appropriate via Trusted Publishers and/or Trusted Locations,” Microsoft Office Program Manager Tristan Davis wrote in explaining the reason for the move.

Enlarge / Starlink Maritime puts dual terminals on large boats. (credit: Starlink)

SpaceX yesterday announced a Starlink Maritime service that will bring satellite Internet service to large boats for $5,000 per month and an up-front hardware purchase of $10,000.

"From merchant vessels to oil rigs to premium yachts, Starlink Maritime allows you to connect from the most remote waters across the world, just like you would in the office or at home," the service's webpage says.

Starlink Maritime advertises download speeds of up to 350Mbps and the ability to "pause and un-pause service at any time" while being billed in one-month increments. There's also "secure fleet management" and remote monitoring to "manage your Starlink fleet from a single portal."

Enlarge (credit: Stephen Maturen / Stringer | Getty Images North America)

The same week that a federal judge sentenced ex-cop Derek Chauvin to more prison time for killing George Floyd, Arizona passed a law making it harder to record police by limiting how close bystanders can be while recording specified law enforcement activity. Chauvin was convicted in part because a recording showing his attack on Floyd at close proximity went viral. It was filmed by a teenager named Darnella Frazier while she was standing “a few feet away.”

The new Arizona law requires any bystanders recording police activity in the state to stand at a minimum of 8 feet away from the action. If bystanders move closer after police have warned them to back off, they risk being charged with a misdemeanor and incurring fines of up to $500, jail time of up to 30 days, or probation of up to a year.

Sponsored by Republican state representative John Kavanagh, the law known as H.B. 2319 makes it illegal to record police at close range. In a USA Today op-ed, Kavanagh said it is important to leave this buffer for police to protect law enforcement from being assaulted by unruly bystanders. He said “there’s no reason” to come closer and predicted tragic outcomes for those who do, saying, “Such an approach is unreasonable, unnecessary, and unsafe, and should be made illegal.”