Technology & Business
Apple raises prices; the refurbished store deserves a fresh look
Apple’s recent price increases across several product lines are a reminder that even highly disciplined supply chains are not immune to market pressure.
The MIT-Licensed Frontier: Why GLM-5.2 Reshapes Enterprise AI Trade-Offs
Enterprise artificial intelligence strategy is shifting from model selection to control architecture selection.
As organizations move from experimental deployments toward production-grade agentic systems, the dominant constraints are no longer model performance alone. They are increasingly defined by control over weights, data residency, licensing structure, and operational governance boundaries.
The release of GLM-5.2 by Z.ai (Zhipu AI) reflects this shift. Based on publicly available technical documentation and reported benchmark evaluations, the model is positioned as a large-scale mixture-of-experts system targeting frontier-level capability in software engineering and multi-step reasoning tasks.
Its significance is not isolated performance. It is the combination of capability, deployment flexibility, and permissive licensing under a widely used open-source framework.
The greenest product may be the one you do not replace
We talk a lot about what products are made of.
We talk far less about how long they last.
That is a gap in how we think about environmental responsibility.
Venture capital explained: understanding startup funding rounds
If you follow the technology sector, you have likely seen headlines about startups raising Seed funding, closing a Series A round or reaching unicorn status. The terminology is everywhere, but the mechanics are rarely explained clearly. Here is the straightforward version.
The first hurdle is the hardest in generative AI adoption – and businesses keep falling | IT Pro Despite rapid AI adoption, many businesses struggle with implementation, falling into “pilot purgatory” due to issues like skills gaps, legacy systems, and a lack of advanced use cases. While employees report individual productivity gains, companies are slow to achieve business-wide benefits, with a significant portion of firms still in basic AI application stages.
Why Gas Prices Drop in the Evening
If you live in Ontario, you have likely noticed it: the price at your local station in the morning looks one way, and by the time you drive past after work, it is often several cents per litre lower. It is not a promotion, not a glitch and not your imagination. In competitive Ontario markets, it is a recognizable pattern — and the explanation is more commercial than mysterious.
Are Dorsey’s giant job cuts the start of an AI jobs apocalypse? Economists weigh in Block CEO Jack Dorsey’s decision to cut nearly half the company’s workforce raises questions about AI’s impact on jobs, but economists suggest this is a company-specific adjustment rather than a sign of a broader labor market shift. While AI may disrupt some jobs, experts like Claudia Sahm emphasize that it doesn’t necessarily lead to mass layoffs, and other economists believe AI will enhance productivity by changing workflows rather than eliminating jobs outright.
Speedtest® Connectivity Report | Canada H2 2025 The Speedtest Connectivity Report for Canada H2 2025 reveals Bell as the leader in 5G performance, offering the fastest 5G speeds and best mobile gaming and video experiences. Bell pure fibre also dominated the fixed broadband market, recognized as the fastest and top-rated ISP with the best gaming experience. Rogers excelled in mobile video experience and 5G availability, while TELUS was noted for the most consistent mobile network.
The Hydra of Knowledge: Anna’s Archive in 2025
Ethics Statement & Disclaimer
This article is for educational, research and cybersecurity awareness purposes only. It analyzes the operational security, infrastructure and legal implications of shadow libraries. It does not endorse copyright infringement, piracy or the circumvention of digital rights management (DRM). Readers are advised to comply with all applicable intellectual property laws and organizational acceptable-use policies.
Intro
In the post-platform era of digital knowledge, Anna’s Archive has emerged as the most resilient and comprehensive shadow library initiative yet observed. Since its launch in November 2022—immediately following coordinated U.S. and European domain seizures targeting Z-Library—Anna’s Archive has surpassed predecessors such as Sci-Hub and Library Genesis in scale, architectural decentralization and operational durability.
For cybersecurity leaders, policymakers and digital preservation researchers, the archive provides a living case study in the collision between intellectual property law, infrastructure resilience and the long-term preservation of human knowledge.
[Google will finally allow you to change your @gmail.com address](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-will-finally-allow-you-to-change-your-gmailcom-address/) Google will soon allow users to change their @gmail.com address, a feature previously unavailable for standard Gmail accounts. This new functionality, which appears to be rolling out gradually and was initially spotted in a Hindi support document, will enable users to switch to a new @gmail.com address while retaining their original one as an alias.
Uber, Lyft set to trial robotaxis in the UK
Uber, Lyft set to trial robotaxis in the UK in partnership with China’s Baidu www.cnbc.com/2025/12/2… Chinese tech giant Baidu has announced plans to bring robotaxis to London starting next year through its partnerships with Lyft and Uber, as the UK emerges as a growing autonomous vehicle battleground. The announced collaborations will bring Baidu’s Apollo Go autonomous vehicles to the British capital through the Uber and Lyft platforms, the companies said on their respective social media accounts. Lyft’s testing of Baidu’s initial fleet of dozens of vehicles will begin in 2026, pending regulatory approval, “with plans to scale to hundreds from there,” Lyft CEO David Risher said in a post on social media platform X on Monday.
NIST tried to pull the pin on NTP servers after blackout caused atomic clock drift
NIST tried to pull the pin on NTP servers after blackout caused atomic clock drift www.theregister.com/2025/12/2… A staffer at the USA’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) tried to disable backup generators powering some of its Network Time Protocol infrastructure, after a power outage around Boulder, Colorado, led to errors. As explained in a mailing list post by Jeffrey Sherman, a NIST supervisory physicist who maintains the institute’s atomic clocks, “The atomic ensemble time scale at our Boulder campus has failed due to a prolonged utility power outage.
Coursera to buy Udemy, creating $2.5 billion firm to target AI training | Reuters Coursera announced an all-stock deal to acquire Udemy, valuing the combined company at $2.5 billion. The merger aims to strengthen their position in corporate workforce training, particularly in AI, data science, and software development. The deal is expected to close in the second half of next year, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals.
FTC: Instacart to refund $60M over deceptive subscription tactics The FTC has ordered Instacart to refund $60 million to customers due to deceptive subscription tactics, including misleading advertising about free delivery and automatic enrollment in paid memberships without clear disclosure. Instacart will also be required to stop these deceptive practices and clearly disclose subscription terms.
Europe's Quest for a Domestic Alternative to US Hyperscalers
Europe’s Quest for a Domestic Alternative to US Hyperscalers www.databreachtoday.com/europes-q… European cloud users love hyperscalers - but they’re all American. Microsoft, Google and Amazon Web Services together hold 70% of the European market, with local providers mustering a mere 15% collectively. That landscape could soon change in the face of geopolitical reality, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term inserts doubt into the transatlantic relationship. With Trump’s White House painting European allies as weak and threatening them with new tariffs and even NATO withdrawal, European governments are taking the potential need for technological independence more seriously than before.
Microsoft Scales Back AI Goals Because Almost Nobody Is Using Copilot | Extremetech Microsoft has reportedly scaled back AI goals for its Copilot software due to low user adoption and sales, with some targets cut by 50%. While Microsoft disputes the sales quota claims, AI agents have shown low success rates in tasks, and Copilot lags behind competitors like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini in market share.
Australia Abandons Proposed Mandatory AI Rules in New Plan Australia has shifted from proposed mandatory AI rules to a voluntary framework, opting for existing laws on privacy and copyright instead of new AI-specific legislation. This decision has been met with support from business groups but criticism from academics and the Greens, who argue it lacks enforcement and adequate investment compared to international approaches.
Canada launches first register of AI uses in federal government - Canada.ca Canada has launched its first public AI Register to detail how artificial intelligence is used within the federal government, marking a key step in the public services AI Strategy. The register currently lists over400 AI systems across42 institutions and will undergo public consultations in2026 for refinement.
DJI Ban: How the World’s Biggest Drone Maker Is Being Forced Out of the United States
DJI Ban: How the World’s Biggest Drone Maker Is Being Forced Out of the United States Source: www.theverge.com/news/8312… Dec. 23, 2025, is the date on which DJI will be automatically banned from the United States unless the administration intervenes. Existing DJI drones and Osmo cameras may continue to be used, but the company will be prohibited from importing any new products. The FCC may also retroactively block imports of older DJI devices after a mandatory waiting period. The ban covers more than drones — it applies to any DJI product containing a wireless radio.
Black Friday Shopping: What You Need to Know About Price Manipulation
With Black Friday approaching, many of us are looking for deals online. However, it’s important to understand a common retail tactic that can make deals look better than they actually are.