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Supreme Court Allows DOGE Access to Social Security Data

Supreme Court Allows DOGE Access to Social Security Data

WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the way for members of the Department of Government Efficiency, a cost-cutting group once led by Elon Musk, to access sensitive Social Security Administration records.
Granting an emergency request by the Trump administration, the justices lifted a lower court order that for now had barred DOGE employees or affiliates from accessing the agency's systems and directed them to delete personal information they already had gathered.

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Apple Prepares To Cancel The Classic MacBook Pro
Apple Prepares To Cancel The Classic MacBook Pro

Forbes

time28 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Apple Prepares To Cancel The Classic MacBook Pro

New MacBook Pro laptops are displayed during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2023. (Photo by ... More JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images) As Tim Cook prepares to open the Worldwide Developer Conference next week, countless Apple fans are getting ready for new life to be breathed into their hardware. There will be something for everybody, from iPhones and iPads to Apple Watches and MacBook Pro laptops. Yet there will be some let down by the next version of macOS. It's worth noting that Apple is refreshing the numbering system across all of its operating systems, so the next version of macOS will be macOS 26, and the moniker naming looks set to continue with macOS Tahoe. Apple continues to offer multi-year support across its hardware, including the Mac platform in general and the MacBook laptops in particular. And this is where things get awkward for the laptop owners. The support window for the MacBook Pro is expected to reach back as far as the 2019 MacBook Pro. That passes an important rubicon. At that point, the Mac family was still running on x86-based Intel hardware. The ARM-based Apple Silicon arrived at the end of 2020, with the M1 MacBook Pro, M1 MacBook Air, and M1 Mac Mini. Apple Silicon offered a significant leap in performance, power and efficiency. That Apple can support the M1 chipset some five years down the line and bring the full range of new tools, including the latest generative AI suite, should not come as a surprise. Yet Apple still plans to support the older, slower and inefficient Intel MacBook Pro models. How much can Apple offer the older laptops? It's clear for MacBook Air owners still running Intel-powered Airs. The MacBook Air from 2020, the last with the Intel Core chipset, will be dropped, leaving only Apple Silicon powered MacBook Air models supported by macOS Tahoe and the versions that follow. It's less clear for the MacBook Pro. At the very least, Apple should offer security updates to the laptops, but whether the latest apps and utilities are offered remains to be seen. Given the demands placed on the hardware, it's likely to be a limited subset of those available to Apple Silicon Macs. Consumers using third-party apps will already be familiar with the 'unsupported' error messages on apps that are exclusively for Apple Silicon Macs) a list that is growing longer by the day), and more demanding apps such as Photoshop are asking for so much that the Intel Mac are being left behind, no matter what Cupertino is offering. It's unfortunate that no laptop can last forever. While Apple's support window is rarely specified for Macs, six years of updates is welcome, yet feels short for an Apple product. This is the downside of the 2020 move from Intel to ARM; Apple gained a much more powerful platform, but was left having to support the older platform for a polite number of years. That support is coming to an end. The consumer-focused MacBook Air has a hard stop coming up. At the same time, the professionally focused MacBook Pro will squeeze out another year or two, which will be welcomed by those using the laptop in a production environment, but Tim Cook has put the platform on notice. The MacBook Pro that many knew and loved is coming to the end of its story. Now read the latest MacBook Pro, macOS and WWDC headlines in Forbes' weekly Apple news digest...

Trump-Musk feud shows why GOP can't actually balance the budget
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Indianapolis Star

time30 minutes ago

  • Indianapolis Star

Trump-Musk feud shows why GOP can't actually balance the budget

The honeymoon phase of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk's bromance has been waning for weeks, and now their relationship appears torn beyond repair just as publicly as it started. The pair exchanged blows on social media June 5, with Trump threatening on Truth Social to strip Musk's companies of subsidies, while Musk took credit for the 2024 GOP victory and took to X to accuse Trump of being on the Jeffrey Epstein list. This ridiculous escalation distracts from the real point at issue, though. Musk seems frustrated that Republicans used him in their charade to balance the federal budget, frustrated that Trump used him for his own end. But he really should be frustrated that he was so gullible – because he should have seen all of this coming. I'm frustrated that this is the only thing receiving attention, considering the amount of work that needs to be done with the budget. Whether Musk genuinely believed himself when he promised to cut $2 trillion (before quickly tempering that estimate) is up for debate. If he did believe it, he was entirely naive about both the current state of the Republican Party and our federal government. Republicans thought they could use Musk as a political win and distraction, allowing him to claw back government spending through the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, while congressional Republicans authorized massive deficit increases. Even after accounting for the economic growth that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act would stimulate, it's projected to add $2.4 trillion (yes, with a T) to the federal deficit over the next decade. This figure stands as a mountain next to the small pile of $2 billion (yes, with a B) worth of verifiable budget cuts from DOGE. Hicks: Soaring national debt means cities need to prepare for cuts All the while, Republicans and Trump sang Musk's praises, knowing that they would turn around and spend money that we don't have. But Musk should have realized it was all a show. Trump skyrocketed the deficit in his first presidency, and every promise he's ever given for a balanced budget has been a lie. As much as MAGA likes to claim otherwise, Trump's GOP is no different than the swamp creatures they like to criticize. Those who are actually interested in cutting government spending, which I think Musk at least somewhat seems to be, should not attach the idea to political parties because they will inevitably disappoint. There hasn't been a genuine effort to produce a balanced budget since the late 1990s, and there isn't likely to be from either Republicans or Democrats anytime soon. I'm not the least bit surprised that these two narcissists' relationship flamed out so quickly. There was never enough room in Trump's White House for both his and Musk's personalities. Trump has never maintained an extended relationship with somebody who is willing to disagree with him publicly. During his first term, Trump had extremely high personnel turnover rates, both among his Cabinet and his aides. Trump's 'you're fired' catchphrase really says a lot about his approach to relationships. He is quick to turn on people who disagree with him or even just publicly embarrass him. Hicks: Indiana's startling Medicaid math forces unpleasant choices Musk has been loudly advocating against Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" for its impact on the deficit. After a week of Musk criticizing the deficit spending in Trump's bill, the president has clearly had enough. He cannot tolerate a dissenting voice from within his ranks. Trump and the GOP are now likely to kick a powerful ally to the curb, all because Trump is so vain that he cannot handle differing opinions. This is why the Republican Party is now made up of yes-men, because they have allowed Trump to push all the spine that he can out of the party. Now that the sideshow of Musk is gone, Republicans have one less thing to hide behind. I'm not sure that makes it any more likely they'll act responsibly, but at least it's more transparent to Americans now.

Week in Review: Why Anthropic cut access to Windsurf
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Yahoo

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