Weekly output: TikTok fine, AI and healthcare, fixed wireless access, Google’s latest AI travel-search tools
About four years ago here, I wrote here that I had to bring my family to the Kennedy Space Center someday so they could see why I’m so crazy about watching rocket launches in person. I finally made that happen with Sunday morning’s launch of NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on a Falcon Heavy rocket. The sound from the KSC visitor’s center, about seven miles from historic Launch Complex 39A, wasn’t nearly as loud as from the center’s press site. But the sonic booms of the rocket’s two side boosters landing may have been even louder than I remembered from 2018’s debut of that SpaceX rocket.
8/24/2026: TikTok Hit With $400 Million Fine for Violating Children’s Privacy Law, PCMag
The Friday-news-dump timing of the Department of Justice’s release about this settlement gave me a little extra time to gather some context about how much this fine might actually hurt the short-form video platform. Answer: not much!
8/26/2026: The Doctor Is Not Real. More Americans Comfortable Consulting AI for Health Info, PCMag
I’d missed chances to cover the last couple of interesting Pew reports about attitudes towards AI, but I did have barely-enough time Tuesday to read and write up this pair.
8/27/2026: 5G Home Broadband Is Soaring in Urban Areas, and This Carrier Comes Out on Top, PCMag
A report with a conclusion that I didn’t expect from an organization whose work I trust always gets my attention.
8/27/2026: Google’s AI Mode Can Track Flight Prices, Help You Book With Points or Miles, PCMag
Appropriately enough, I wrote this from the airport in San Diego. For additional insights about the utility of these tools from somebody with what I’m sure is millions of miles more travel experience than me, see Matthew Klint’s take at Live and Let’s Fly.
#AIHealthcare #AIMode #AITherapy #childrenSPrivacy #COPPA #fixedWirelessAccess #FWA #home5G #milesAndPoints #PewResearchCenter #TMobile #TikTok #travelSearch