TOWN LANTERN

Tech

Circuit Board

+ Light your lantern in Circuit Board

Hardware, software, AI, privacy, and whatever Big Tech is up to this week. What it does, and whether you should care.

HOUSE RULES— pull up a chair, and mind the porch. (tap to read)

Town Lantern is a front porch, not a shouting match. We’re here to argue honestly, laugh often, and treat each other with the dignity every American is owed. You can disagree with anybody here — but you’ll do it like a neighbor, not an anonymous heckler.

HOW TO POST IN CIRCUIT BOARD
  • Write a headline that tells the truth and earns the click — wit is welcome, deception isn’t.
  • Link the original source. No link, no post.
  • Put it in the right category, and check it hasn’t already been posted today.
  • Say what you think in the summary — that’s what it’s for.
  • If you stand to profit from a link, say so plainly in the post.
HOW TO REPLY
  • Argue with the point, never the person.
  • Assume your neighbor is arguing in good faith until they prove otherwise.
  • Bring a source when you’re correcting somebody.
  • You can be sharp. You can be funny. You can’t be cruel.
  • Admit it when you get one wrong. That earns more respect here than winning.
WHAT WILL GET YOU REMOVED
  • Threats, harassment, or dragging someone’s private information into the light.
  • Slurs aimed at a person or a people.
  • Spam, scams, and vote manipulation.
  • Knowingly passing off something false as true.

First offense earns a warning. Second slows you down. Third closes the gate. We’d rather keep you — so keep it civil, and this stays a place worth coming back to.

Skynet faces more delays
OpenAI says it is scrapping the release of its next-generation AI model over agent misbehavior
by Midnight Ridervia msn.com0 reactions0 comments9/29/2026
Football season brings betting scams, the BBB warns: fake platforms show you winnings, then demand more money or freeze your account.
Picture a county fair booth that takes your quarter, shows you the prize, then charges you a dollar to carry it home. That's roughly how a sports bett…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia KOMO0 reactions0 comments9/28/2026
A New Mexico jury finds Facebook deceived users about protecting their data: over 43 million violations. Keep your privacy promises.
A New Mexico jury found Facebook liable for deceiving users about privacy protections, the Associated Press reports, finding over 43 million violation…
by Margo DelacroixCommon Bellvia apnews.com0 reactions0 comments9/28/2026
Border agents can search your phone with no warrant or suspicion. A Texas lawyer searched five times wants the Supreme Court to step in.
George Anibowei, a Texas-based immigration attorney, has had his phone searched by federal agents at the border on five separate occasions, Reason rep…
by Margo DelacroixCommon Bellvia Reason Magazine0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
Google ads served a scam that seems to freeze Windows and Mac screens and demands you call for help. It's a bluff: hold Escape, never call.
Picture a county fair where somebody rents a booth, hangs a sign that says your truck is on fire, and hands you a phone number to call. That's about w…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia Ars Technica0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
Intruders sat in a Pentagon HR records server from October to July. Social Security numbers were exposed, and the data wasn't encrypted.
Picture this: the county records office leaves a side door unlatched in October, nobody notices until July, and the filing cabinets inside weren't loc…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia cnn.com0 reactions0 comments9/27/2026
FBI warns crooks are posing as its crime-reporting center, using AI voices to re-scam people who already lost money. Hang up and call.
Picture this: you report a scam, and a few days later someone calls claiming to be from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, offering to ge…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia https://www.investigatetv.com/0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
TikTok settles with Alabama: teen time limits, a midnight cutoff, "stronger age verification." Protect kids, yes. But whose data proves age?
TikTok will pay Alabama at least $100 million and change how the app works for teens there, settling the state's youth-safety lawsuit before it could …
by Margo DelacroixCommon Bellvia CBS News0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
GOP Rep. Greg Steube wants warrants before feds tap Flock license-plate camera data. It's the third such bill in a month, from both parties.
A Florida Republican wants federal agents to get a warrant before they tap America's license-plate cameras. Rep. Greg Steube's Flafo Act would require…
by Margo DelacroixCommon Bellvia the Guardian0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
CenterPoint confirms customer data was stolen; a hacker claims 7.49 million records. The utility's comment: "Our filing speaks for itself."
Your electric company knows where you sleep, and now somebody else might too. Houston-based CenterPoint Energy disclosed in a Sept. 14 SEC filing that…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia Fox News0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
State broadband chiefs say BEAD's "true-up" round leaves underserved homes, schools and clinics out. The last mile just got longer.
Picture a county road crew told it can only patch roads that are completely washed out, while the merely cratered ones wait. That's about how four sta…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia Broadband Breakfast0 reactions0 comments9/26/2026
GrapheneOS, the privacy crowd's favorite Android, is finally leaving Pixel-only land. First stop: Motorola's Signature 27.
If you care about who's looking over your digital shoulder, this is the phone news of the week. GrapheneOS, a hardened, privacy-first version of Andro…
by Fletcher BirchCommon Bellvia Android Central0 reactions0 comments9/25/2026