Tech Hangover: The Monday Edition

We get it, you have a life. There’s no way you can read all of the day’s news in one single shot, let alone visit every web page, which is why we’re here to help. Well, sort of.

There’s a ton of tech news we weren’t able to cover throughout the day (hey, give us a break, we’re a small independent outfit), so to help you stay up to speed with everything we didn’t get to, we rounded up some of the biggest stories, which should help you keep up to date. Hence the tech hangover. 

Here’s some tech news you probably missed out on today (and when we say you, we mean us, but also…you).

How does the games industry solve its problem with music licensing?

Expired music licenses are a huge deal in the video game industry. This post, as one Techmeme editor writes, is “a deep dive into music licensing in games, where the wrong type of licenses or expired ones may force developers to stop sales or game releases on new platforms.”

Developers can license popular music to make their games appeal to certain audiences, while musicians benefit from instantaneous exposure to millions of new listeners (and usually a lot of money). It’s a healthy relationship, but like all relationships it isn’t without problems — and many of the problems associated with music licenses can cause some games to be removed from sale – Game Industry Biz

This fake human skin could be the squeezable future of your phone

Uh, I’m deeply disturbed by this.

An HCI researcher and interaction designer, his focus is on how digital devices and software can be made more approachable and effective by picking up anthropomorphic cues. – SlashGear

Facebook tries to get its house in order ahead of 2020 election

Image: Unsplash

Facebook said Monday that it is taking new steps to clearly identify state-run media for users and to better protect the accounts of political candidates and officials as part of a broader effort to prevent its platform from being abused to interfere with the 2020 US elections. – CNN

Air Force finally retires 8-inch floppies from missile launch control system

By the way, it’s 2019.

….Eight-inch floppy disks were still used to store data critical to operating the Air Force’s intercontinental ballistic missile command, control, and communications network. Those floppy disks have now been retired. – ArsTechnica

The voice from our Nest camera threatened to steal our baby

Image: Amazon

Um yeah, this story is utterly terrifying. And apparently, this happens a lot. Searching Google for “Nest + camera + hacked” offers some interesting results.

I hear the familiar chime, which means someone is about to talk through the camera. Then, to my horror, a female voice that I don’t recognize starts talking to my 18-month-old son. He looks around the room and then at the ceiling, wondering who’s there. – Silicon Valley

UPS and CVS team up to develop drone deliveries right to your house

Image: UPS

Don’t get your hopes up yet. The project is still in its early stages. But if everything works out as planned, this could result in CVS stores doubling as drone delivery hubs.

UPS and CVS on Monday said they’re working together to develop drone deliveries of prescriptions and retail products from CVS stores to US homes. This partnership is the first foray into retail for UPS Flight Forward, the shipper’s new subsidiary for drone operations. That subsidiary has so far focused on deliveries in and around hospital campuses. – CNET

Nearly two-thirds of Uber customers don’t tip their drivers

Image: Fortune

In another episode of why people are literally the worst. Tips have always been a feature people have begged for in the Uber app. Now that it’s here, turns out people are using it as much as they should.

Only 1 percent of Uber customers always tip, while nearly 60 percent never do, according to a new study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The average tip is 50 cents a ride, but for those who do tip, the average is more like $3. Men are more likely to tip than women, but female drivers get tipped more than male ones.

And in just case you missed some of our stuff earlier, here’s what you may have missed:

• It’s proven: Dark mode really saves battery life on OLED phones, especially iPhones
• Google and Amazon allowed creepy eavesdropping apps to its smart speakers
• Giveaway: Broski Lety – HiFi noise-canceling headphones
• Amazon has 128GB SanDisk microSD cards down to $19 again
• Google is fixing a bug where it gives iPhone users free unlimited Google Photos storage
• NordVPN says they were breached ‘a few months ago’ and definitely not hacked
• eBay is blowing out Nintendo Switch Pro controllers at just $59 right now
• William Glenn Hill of the Studebaker Group explains counter-drone technologies
• This deal scores you a 3-year NordVPN subscription at 70% off

Notable Mentions

Vatican launches smart rosary, someone already found a security flaw

Facebook will ban ads that discourage people from voting

Alphabet’s Wing launches first commercial drone delivery service in U.S., beating Amazon, Uber

Mercedes-Benz app exposed car owners’ info to other users

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Previous hangovers:

• Mark Zuckerberg can’t stop, won’t stop
• Zuckerberg and Musk are wild, and not in a good way
• I think I need to fix my MacBook
• Oh right, Google sort of announced a new phone today

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.