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Illinois is moving to require operating systems to report the age of child users, a bill that would effectively ask the software layer of your device to verify who is holding it. Critics are already raising serious questions about what that means for privacy, data collection, and whether such a mandate is even technically enforceable across platforms.
Shifting gears, a long-running bet posted on Long Bets back in two thousand eleven predicted that a specific URL would simply vanish within eleven years — and that original link is now itself approaching expiration. It is a quietly poetic reminder that the web we treat as permanent infrastructure is, in practice, extraordinarily fragile and short-lived.
And on the more hands-on side of the tech world, one developer has turned an old smartphone into a functioning personal server, walking through the surprisingly capable hardware sitting dormant in most people's drawers. The project has sparked a lively conversation about sustainability, self-hosting, and whether the phone in your pocket is already a data center waiting to happen.
Those are your top stories for today. Keep surfing. Tech Beat out.
