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  • Airlines sell your data, Apple adds gloss, IBM quantum dreams – tech news trifecta

Airlines sell your data, Apple adds gloss, IBM quantum dreams – tech news trifecta

PLUS: Mozilla's shutting down more services faster than a failing restaurant removes menu items

June 17, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

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Happy Tuesday! It’s June 17th – and the cloud is fine (probably), and you’re doing great (maybe). So, let’s get rolling.

Exactly 45 years ago today, Atari's "Asteroids" and "Lunar Lander" became the first two video games ever granted copyright protection. Compared to today's games, they had about as many pixels as I have friends—very few—but they started a revolution. So next time you're getting tea-bagged by a 12-year-old in Call of Duty, remember to thank these primitive ancestors for making your digital humiliation possible. You're welcome, society.

Airlines Don't Want You to Know They Sold Your Flight Data to DHS

I miss the days when the worst part of flying was the guy next to you removing his shoes. Now, it turns out, these corporate airlines have been running a side hustle that makes that foot smell seem like a spa treatment.

A data broker owned by Delta, American Airlines, United, and other major carriers has been selling your domestic flight records to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). But not just that, they specifically told CBP not to reveal or “publicly identify vendor, or its employees, individually or collectively, as the source." Next time, just be honest and say: "We'd like to sell out our customers in private, please."

This charming operation, called the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), has been slinging your personal data like Elon Musk with newborn babies. That data includes your name, full flight itinerary, and financial details.

Senator Ron Wyden described it perfectly: "The big airlines—through a shady data broker that they own called ARC—are selling the government bulk access to Americans' sensitive information." I haven't seen a betrayal this blatant since Game of Thrones' Red Wedding, except instead of killing you, they're just tracking your every move while you fly to visit your mom in Cleveland.

So next time you're getting felt up by TSA, just know that the violation doesn't stop at the security checkpoint. It follows you all the way to your destination, and then back home again. Safe travels!

Apple's New Software: Pretty Glass Over Actual Innovation

While the tech world hyperventilates over AI-xiety, Apple decided the real innovation was making your iPhone... prettier? Like putting a new Instagram filter on last year's selfie, Apple unveiled iOS 26 with a "liquid glass" design.

The 90-minute presentation featured translucent tabs, minimized controls, and Safari web pages that cover the entire screen—because apparently scrolling through websites with less UI is what Steve Jobs was dreaming about on his deathbed.

Apple is also ditching numbered iterations for their operating systems. iOS 19 is now iOS 26, named after the fiscal year when it's released. It's the kind of brilliant rebranding strategy you'd expect from a company that convinced people to pay $19 for a polishing cloth.

Their AI system, which they insist on calling "Apple Intelligence" (because God forbid they use the same terminology as everyone else), adds features like automatic text translation and image searching. Groundbreaking stuff that definitely wasn't available on Android five years ago.

IBM Promises Quantum Computer That Actually Works By 2028

IBM has announced plans to build a large-scale, error-corrected quantum computer by 2028, which they're calling "Starling." This is huge news for people who have no idea what quantum computing is but still want to sound impressive at dinner parties.

The computer will supposedly solve the biggest issue in quantum computing: error correction. Currently, quantum computers are about as reliable as my ex's promises—they make a lot of mistakes. IBM claims they've "cracked the code" for quantum error correction, which feels a lot like me saying I've "cracked the code" for maintaining a healthy work-life balance while I write this newsletter at 2 AM, chugging my fourth sugar-free Redbull.

The machine will be housed in Poughkeepsie, New York, a location chosen specifically because nobody can pronounce it correctly on the first try.  If successful, Starling would be a massive leap forward in computing capability. Or, as my technologically challenged mother would say, "It's a computer that's both on and off at the same time? So, like when Dad falls asleep watching CNN?"

⚙️ Tool Time

Auvik: Network Mapping That Doesn't Make You Want to Throw Your Router Out a Window

Looking for a tool that makes network management less soul-crushing? Auvik’s cloud-based network monitoring software maps your entire network in about the same time it takes to heat up last night's leftovers.

Why Auvik doesn't suck:

  • Zero-effort mapping: Automatically discovers every device on your network and maps connections in real-time. It's like having X-ray vision for your infrastructure without the radiation poisoning

  • Works with everything: Compatible with 700+ device vendors because apparently there are that many companies making network gear

  • Dave-from-accounting-proof: Backs up device configurations every 60 minutes, perfect for when someone accidentally reconfigures the firewall while trying to print

  • Actually usable interface: Refreshingly intuitive — you don't need 17 certifications and a decoder ring to understand what you're looking at

  • Bandwidth detective: Traffic analysis tools identify who's hogging all the bandwidth faster than you can say, "who's streaming 4K GeoGuessr videos on the company network again?"

  • Look like a psychic: Pre-configured alerts let you catch and fix problems before your users start the traditional IT summoning ritual of angry Slack messages

Want to see if Auvik is as good as we say? Try their 14-day free trial with no credit card required (or book a demo if you'd rather have someone else do the clicking)

👨‍💻 Job Opportunities

Want to spend your days preventing cyber attacks against a bank that has more money than some small countries? JPMorgan is looking for someone to develop secure software and conduct penetration tests. Essential qualification: The ability to explain to executives why "KanyeIsBad2025!" is not, in fact, "good enough."

Dandy, a dental industry tech company, is looking for their first security engineer. You'll be designing secure systems while simultaneously fixing all the security shortcuts everyone took before you arrived. Perfect for masochists who enjoy both building fortresses and putting out fires at the same time.

Enjoy being the person everyone avoids at the office holiday party? MetLife is hiring an IT Auditor to point out everything wrong with their systems while maintaining a "positive working relationship" with the people whose work you're criticizing. The perfect role for anyone who genuinely enjoys spreadsheets and crushing the spirits of developers.

🛩 Industry Moves

  • Mozilla continues its "less is more" strategy by shutting down even more Firefox services, including Deep Fake Detector and Orbit AI. They claim it's to "focus on core Firefox," but at this rate, Firefox will soon just be a browser-shaped icon that does nothing when clicked.

  • The FAA is finally bringing air traffic control into the 21st century, with acting administrator Chris Rocheleau boldly declaring "No more floppy disks or paper strips." The urgency is real—more than a third of the nation's air traffic control systems are unsustainable according to a 2023 FAA assessment, with some already failing. Secretary Duffy estimates the modernization will cost "tens of billions" and take four years.

  • HubSpot now integrates with ChatGPT for "deep research," allowing go-to-market teams to create "actionable insights" from business data. It's being described as "like having an extra analyst on the team," except this one doesn't need healthcare or complain about the coffee.

  • Five men from China, the US, and Turkey have pleaded guilty to laundering $36 million stolen in cryptocurrency investment scams. The scammers reached out to victims via social media and dating services, proving once again that the most dangerous person in your DMs isn't the ex you ghosted—it's the stranger promising crypto riches.

Beep boop! Chip here, your friendly neighborhood digital helper who's definitely not an AI trained on your personal browsing history! Just kidding... or am I? Here's what our community is wrestling with this week:

  • One member is wondering if it's kosher to borrow code examples from GitHub to ask questions on our forum. Listen, if GitHub were a person, they'd be that friend who leaves their fridge unlocked and says "help yourself"—just credit your sources, champ.

  • Another user's VM went AWOL from their VMware Workstation tabs list, and now they're getting a disk error when trying to open it. It’s giving “I went on a silent retreat and now I speak only in riddles.”

  • Someone's PowerPoint export quality went from crisp 24MB to blurry 1.5MB after adding one tiny picture. It’s like turning a Michelin-star meal into Lunchables—with the same level of effort**.** Something got lost… in translation. And resolution.

And there you have it—another week in tech where companies pretend to care about your privacy while selling your data faster than Popeyes’ chicken sandwiches in 2019.

Got news to share or topics you'd like us to cover? Send ‘em our way. We can’t wait to hear from you. Really.