Author: Geek Planet

A few weeks ago, Google announced a new feature called Personal Intelligence. Broadly, the idea is to let Gemini access the content saved in your Gmail inbox and Photos library. The next time you ask the AI about travel plans, projects, or anything relevant, it will seamlessly reference your stored information to offer helpful responses, without asking you for any context.  It just knows you.  Now, Google is doing the same for Workspace, the hub of your work tools such as Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive, among others. Of course, the name has to be fitting, so Google is calling…

I have been covering tech for years now, and I have seen companies do some questionable things in the name of innovation. But Meta’s latest move might just take the cake. According to a Reuters report, Meta is installing tracking software on its employees’ work computers. The tool, called Model Capability Initiative (MCI), will log mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes. It will also take occasional screenshots of employees’ screens. The reason? Meta says its AI struggles to replicate the way humans interact with computers. It seems that Meta wants to compete with the likes of Claude Cowork and Perplexity Computer,…

Few things are more frustrating than a slow, laggy laptop, and I cannot imagine having to put up with one while living and working aboard a space station. And since even astronauts aren’t immune to the slow grind of aging work laptops, NASA is planning a big upgrade. The Expedition 74 crew recently reviewed a station-wide computer upgrade planned for the weekend, starting with the replacement of network servers and followed by activation of “new, more powerful laptop computers” aboard the International Space Station. Which HP laptop is going to space? The short update from NASA didn’t reveal the name…

This abridged republished article first appeared in New English Review Born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, on 12th March 1685, Irish philosopher George Berkeley studied at Trinity College, Dublin. He became a Fellow in 1707 and this required him to be placed in clerical orders, thus leading to his ordination into the Anglican Church. In 1710, he published The Principles of Human Knowledge but it failed to win over readers to his immaterial theory. He then published a more popular version, The Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous, in 1713. Much of his philosophy was regarded as silly by other philosophers during this period but…

For a long time, monitors followed a predictable path. Resolution improved, refresh rates increased, and panel technologies evolved at a steady pace. Upgrades felt incremental, not transformative. That pattern is starting to shift. A new wave of display technology is changing what monitors are capable of, and more importantly, how they are being used. OLED is becoming more practical beyond gaming. Refresh rates are pushing well beyond what most users once considered necessary. Higher-resolution formats are beginning to replace traditional multi-monitor setups. These are not isolated developments. Together, they point to a category that is expanding in multiple directions at…

If you’ve ever left a meeting with a vague memory of what was discussed and a page full of half-baked, poorly-written notes, Google just built something for you.  At Google Cloud Next 2026 in Las Vegas, the company announced a major expansion of the “Take Notes for Me” feature in Google Meet. Now, it works whether you’re on a video call with someone or sitting in an actual conference room with people. How does “Take Notes for Me” work in actual in-person meetings? The process is quite simple. You have to open Google Meet on your phone or desktop, hit…

Artificial intelligence has undoubtedly brought plenty of useful tools to the internet. But it has also handed one of the most horrific forms of abuse a grim new boost. Recent reporting and watchdog findings point to the same ugly pattern of generative AI helping offenders create child sexual abuse imagery on a greater scale. These are now becoming increasingly realistic, and in formats that are becoming harder for platforms, regulators, and child-safety groups to deal with. How AI is making the scale worse and content more extreme Back in February, Reuters revealed that actionable reports of AI-generated child sexual abuse…

I was using the iPhone 17 when I picked up my iPhone 16 to look at an older video, and it led to an epiphany: nothing about the iPhone 16 felt any worse than its successor. It wasn’t any slower, the design didn’t feel dramatically different, and nothing about it screamed “old” or “outdated.” That feeling stuck with me for a few days. Over the years, the smartphone industry has trained us to treat one year of upgrades (no matter how incremental) as something that should feel significant, but upon switching back to the iPhone 16 after using the iPhone…

One of the first things computer engineers learn is digital logic and the most fundamental is switching theory.     Wide Clyde is alone in the basement in his summer house deep in the woods away from civilization.  He wants to go upstairs to cook some Top Ramen noodles. To do that, he needs to identify which of three switches controls the hot plate upstairs. The hot plate is plugged in but currently off. The other two switches turn outside lights off and on. Wide Clyde can’t see outside, so he can’t determine which switches control the lights.  He only wants to make one trip upstairs to determine which is the hot plate…

As Google launched the Pixel 10a, I did what everyone else does: opened the sheet, compared the chip with what other smartphones offer at the same price, and felt the familiar unease. I asked myself one question: “Why is Google even doing this?”  The Pixel 10a featured a Tensor G4 chip (from 2024) that didn’t impress in benchmarks, thicker front bezels, a 120Hz display without a truly variable refresh rate, no telephoto camera, and a battery that supported slower charging than the competition. On paper, it looked like a phone that lost a fight before even entering the ring (and…