Eliana Willis

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  • 213 Shares159 Views

    in Information Technology

    I found a malicious Chrome extension on my system – here’s how and what I did next

    ZDNETWell, that wasn’t fun. Last week, Ars Technica ran a report about 33 Chrome extensions that have been found to have malware. And yeah, yesterday I found that I had one of them installed.You can read the Ars article for a list to check yourself. One seemed familiar: Reader Mode. It was intended to clear a page of all non-text to make it more readable, like Safari’s Reader Mode. I haven’t run it for quite some time, but the name was familiar. Also: Google’s favorite Chrome extensions of 2024 can save you time and moneyI went to my 3-dot menu in Chrome, then Extensions, then Manage Extensions. And there it was, right at the top of the page: “This extension contains malware.” Fortunately, the extension was switched off, but I have no idea when it became infected or whether it did any damage to the Chrome installs on my Macs or Windows machines. More

  • 163 Shares109 Views

    in Robotics

    Ring’s big CES announcement includes new Kidde smoke alarms and 2K cam upgrades

    Ring/Kidde CES is one of the biggest stages in the smart home industry, and Ring is one of the big brands making announcements during the event. The Amazon-owned home security company has announced it is upgrading two of its popular cameras to 2K video resolution and forming a new partnership with Kidde to integrate Ring technology […] More

  • 138 Shares169 Views

    in Robotics

    Home Depot’s upcoming smart home devices are surprisingly robust and capable

    Home Depot/ZDNETThe Home Depot has become a reliable resource for smart home devices powered by its Hubspace integration platform. The retail giant announced three new products at CES 2025 that will come to its shelves this year. The new Hubspace smart devices include a Remote Switch and two Vissani AC units with smart integrations.The Hubspace Remote Switch delivers smart control for Hubspace devices in your home, with on/off functionality and brightness control for lights. It comes in a wall-mounted plate that looks like a light switch, but the remote is removable. You can toggle the switch on and off to control a designated Hubspace device or double-click on or off to control the brightness.Also: CES 2025: What to expect and how to watchHubspace devices More

  • 163 Shares189 Views

    in Robotics

    Apple Intelligence now needs 7GB of storage, up from 4GB – here’s why

    Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNETThose of you who activate and run Apple Intelligence on your devices will now need a bit more space to handle the latest AI skills. In December, Apple updated its Apple Intelligence requirements page to reveal that 7 GB of storage is now required, as spotted by 9to5Mac. That’s up from the initial demand of 4GB of free space.If you have an iPhone, iPad, or Mac with hundreds of gigabytes of storage, that requirement shouldn’t be too onerous. But if your device came with a small amount of real estate, say 128GB, and you’re already running low, then the Apple Intelligence requirement could pose a problem. Plus, you can’t selectively turn specific AI features on or off; it’s all or nothing.Also: iOS 18.2 was killing my iPhone’s battery until I turned off this featureOn the initial version of its Apple Intelligence requirements page, Apple did include a footnote explaining that “storage requirements for on-device Apple Intelligence models will increase as more features roll out.” So even that 4GB requirement was just a starting point.Why the need for additional space at this point? Apple pretty much spelled it out.The 4GB demand was in place in September before the company had even officially rolled out iOS 18.1, the first version of iOS with Apple Intelligence. The same held true for iPadOS and MacOS Sequoia. Those versions offered only a few AI-powered tidbits, including Writing Tools, a new visual look for Siri, notification summaries, and the ability to record and view summaries of your phone calls. More

  • 163 Shares159 Views

    in Robotics

    How I turned the Starlink Mini into an almost perfect off-grid internet solution

    Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNETIf you need to be connected to the internet but there’s no Wi-Fi or cellular signal nearby, and not even an Ethernet port in sight, then you have to look up to the skies — to the satellites whooshing 340 miles above your head at dizzying speeds.I’ve tried a number of systems, from basic messenger units like the Garmin inReach Messenger Plus More

  • 125 Shares99 Views

    in Robotics

    This isn’t a power bank, it’s a professional power solution

    <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The power bank is very powerful It features three charging pads, along with USB-C, USB-A, and DC ports However, it is heavy and somewhat bulky. more buying choices Power banks have become much smarter over the years. While you can still pick up a plastic box with a few batteries inside […] More