Canadian hacker gets three years in jail, Instagram brings bulk controls in the latest update, and Best Buy locks graphics card purchases behind its membership program.
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That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now, welcome to Hashtag Trending. It’s Friday, February 11th, and I’m your host, Tom Li.
A Canadian hacker has been sentenced to 40 months in jail for piracy. Gary Bowser, the leader of a group that hacks the Nintendo switch gaming console, was booked for conspiracy to circumvent technological measures, which is a felony in the United States. Bowser’s group sold devices that allowed players to modify games and play pirated games. The U.S. Department of Justice said that Bowser’s group caused more than $65 million in losses and harmed video game developers.
Instagram will finally bring bulk delete for comments and posts to the platform. The feature is supposed to increase user safety and privacy. In the news post, the company explained that users will be able to manage their content in the new “Your Activity” section. Not only will users be able to delete posts, comments and stories, they’ll also be able to manage their interactions including likes and story sticker reactions. Moreover, the new section will show the amount of time a user spends on the platform. The feature is rolling out to Instagram users in the latest update.
Graphics card buyers looking to score a deal at Best Buy were dismayed to find out that the hot commodity is locked behind a paywall. During the semiconductor shortage, Best Buy became one of the few retailers where gamers could purchase graphics cards at their retail prices. But according to Tom’s Hardware, Best Buy has locked the sales of the Nvidia RTX 30 series graphics cards to those in its Totaltech membership program in the most recent drop. The $200 annual membership gave exclusive discounts to certain products, faster shipping and free tech support. BestBuy only rolled out the membership nationwide in the U.S. back in October 2021, so Canadian buyers aren’t affected by this change. With that said, it does set a precedence for if the service makes its way into Canada.
Now for something a little different. The rampant abuse of Apple’s AirTag trackers has prompted the tech giant to take action. The company announced that it has introduced several changes to AirTags, including a new privacy warning during setup, and updated support documentation. In the future, Apple will introduce Precision Finding that will allow a user to locate an unknown AirTag. Additionally, AirTags will alert the nearby device when it detects that it’s moving with the user’s phone.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash briefings or your Google Home daily briefing. Make sure to sign up for our Daily IT Wire newsletter to get all the news that matters directly in your inbox every day. Also, catch the next episode of Hashtag Tendances, our weekly Hashtag Trending episode in French, which drops early every Thursday morning. If you have a suggestion or a tip, drop us a line in the comments or via email. Thank you for listening, I’m Tom Li.