I definitely prefer working at home. Despite the arguments that interaction between workers sparks creativity, I find that my staff is so used to working online, that they’re just as creative working on their own computers.

I’ve noticed that when I tell Sam’s or Walmart I’m on my way to pickup my order, they immediately start tracking me. Why do they need to know where I’m coming from?

From Windows Central <windowscentral@smartbrief.com>

By Kevin Okemwa published 2 days ago

A vast majority of users feel like Microsoft Teams’ Wi‑Fi location tracking feature crosses the line between productivity and surveillance.

Last year, I reported on a new Microsoft Teams feature, which raised controversy and privacy concerns among most users. The feature in question automatically updates a user’s work location when their device is connected to an office Wi-Fi network — becoming your boss’s lapdog, by snitching on your live location.

Shortly after the post became viral, Microsoft quietly changed how the feature works, as highlighted below:

“When users connect to their organization’s Wi-Fi, Teams will soon be able to automatically update their work location to reflect the building they’re working from. This feature will be off by default. Tenant admins will decide whether to enable it and require end-users to opt-in.”

“Microsoft is blurring the lines between coworker collaboration and IT oversight.

IT wise, yes the info was always there. But nobody is asking IT to snitch on you. The entire point of this is that your boss just has to click your name on Teams and now they know where you are. No IT requests, no privacy/ethics concerns, no breach of trust. It’s just right there at any time.

What’s the next step? The same tracking but for your phone? Microsoft letting your boss look at your screen? Sending your boss daily reports on click rates, words typed, program usage, etc?”

Interestingly, some users seem unfazed by the change, claiming that most Microsoft products and services already ship with this feature in some shape or form. “Most Microsoft products already meet the criteria for what we’d normally call spyware. What’s another drop in a flooded bucket?” a Reddit user indicated.

Some users came up with some interesting ideas on how to bypass the new Teams feature’s invasive nature, suggesting using a wired connection at the office instead of Wi-Fi. “I just won’t install teams on my phone then, and when I’m working remote they can’t find me anyway they can just message me and I’ll answer from the laptop,” another Reddit user indicated.

On the other hand, some users suggested that Microsoft’s efforts were seemingly misplaced and indicated that it should redirect them to fix some UI and UX elements in its Windows operating system. “God forbid they spend time to make the Windows search actually search my computer again,” a user indicated.

After reviewing hundreds of comments, it’s clear that users either want the feature scrapped entirely or simply don’t care, since many work remotely. “I swear there must be a team at MS that is just tasked with making Teams worse,” a user indicated on Reddit.

Previously, the oldest known human writing was from Mesopotamia, about 3000 years ago! This is pretty rudimentary writing, but we do copy editing, and you’d be surprised at how rudimentary today’s writing is! We post funny AI mistakes periodically! Watch this space for more!

Andrew Paul

Published Feb 23, 2026 3:00 PM EST

New evidence published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates humans experimented with symbolic writing as much as 40,000 years ago. If true, the discoveries dramatically recontextualize the history of communication, given the earliest known written languages are Mesopotamian proto-cuneiforms dating back to around 3000 BCE.

“The artifacts date back to tens of thousands of years before the first writing systems, to the time when Homo sapiens left Africa, settled in Europe, and encountered Neanderthal,” explained Ewa Dutkiewicz, a study co-author and archaeologist at Berlin’s Museum of Prehistory and Early History.

Dutkiewicz and colleagues have spent years analyzing 260 relics recovered from Stone Age cave sites in the Swabian Jura, a remote mountain range located in southwestern Germany. These include a small mammoth figurine carved from the extinct animal’s tusk along with the Adorant, a famous ivory carving that appears to depict a human-lion figure with outstretched arms. These and many other similar artifacts also feature frequently repeating sequences of lines, crosses, dots, and notches.

The team then entered over 3,000 geometric carvings into a Stone Age sign database, and examined them using various computational analysis tools. They didn’t expect to translate any of the messages, but instead used the analysis to compare and contrast their attributes with writing systems that developed later.

“There are plenty of theories, but until now there has been very little empirical work carried out on the basic, measurable characteristics of the signs,” added Christian Bentz, a study co-author from Germany’s Saarland University.

Bentz explained that using methods like quantitative linguistics and statistical modeling allowed them to compare the symbols found on the Paleolithic artifacts to early cuneiform, as well as modern writing formats. With this approach, they could estimate just how much information could be contained within the carved symbols.

“The human ability to encode information in signs and symbols was developed over many thousands of years. Writing is only one specific form in a long series of sign systems,” he said. “We continue to develop new systems for encoding information. Encoding is also the basis of computer systems.”

The results surprised researchers. Although they initially theorized the proto-cuneiform would share more similarities to present-day writing systems, it seems that the Mesopotamian communication method looks more like its Stone Age ancestors. This means that writing may have changed very little for tens of thousands of years. While the exact meanings of Paleolithic Germany’s artifacts remain a mystery, the team is confident it does not represent any spoken language.

“The signs on the archaeological objects are frequently repeated–cross, cross, cross, line, line, line. This type of repetition is not a feature found in spoken language,” said Bentz.

The team can also now begin narrowing the scope of possible interpretations. The discoveries also highlight that in terms of cognitive capabilities, Stone Age humans had already achieved a similar capacity to the present-day descendents.

“There are many sign sequences to be found on artifacts. We’ve only just scratched the surface,” said Dutkiewicz.

Editor’s note: Think he MEANT that to be a pun?

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Here are the items selected for review this year. I could find no justification for this selection other than “The WISeR Model tests the use of enhanced technology to decrease certain wasteful (low-value) services shown to have little to no clinical, evidence-based benefit. Technology companies participating in the model help streamline the review of medical necessity for select items and services earlier in the claims process to: 1) reduce inappropriate utilization, 2) lower spending in Original Medicare, 3) expedite decision making and(4) ease provider administrative burden.”

Who has shown these items to have no clinical, evidence-based benefit? RFK Jr?

1. Arthroscopic Lavage and Arthroscopic Debridement for the Osteoarthritic Knee (NCD 150.9)

2. Induced Lesions of Nerve Tracts (NCD 160.1)

3. Vagus Nerve Stimulation (NCD 160.18)

4. Phrenic Nerve Stimulators (NCD 160.19)

5. Electrical Nerve Stimulators (NCD 160.7)

6. Incontinence Control Devices (NCD 230.10)

7. Sacral Nerve Stimulators for Urinary Incontinence (NCD 230.18)

8. Diagnosis and Treatment of Impotence (NCD 230.4)

9. Percutaneous Vertebral Augmentation for Vertebral Compression Fracture (L34228, L38201, L35130)

10. Epidural Steroid Injections for Pain Management (L39015, L39240, L36920)

11. Cervical Fusion (L39741, L39758, L39793)

12. Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (L38307, L38310, L38385)

13. Application of Bioengineered Skin Substitutes to Lower Extremity Chronic Non-Healing Wounds (L35041) and Wound Application of Cellular and/or Tissue Based Products (CTPs), Lower Extremities (L36690)

14. Deep Brain Stimulation (NCD 160.24) – implementation delayed and will not occur on January 1, 2026; to be re-evaluated for implementation in a future performance year

15. Percutaneous Image-Guided Lumbar Decompression for Spinal Stenosis (NCD 150.13) – implementation delayed and will not occur on January 1, 2026; to be re-evaluated for implementation in a future performance year.