The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which has had the task of regulating banks, is now expanding. Engadget.com reports that the CFPB will now supervise Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and other payment apps and digital wallets. The Bureau proposed regulating the apps in 2023, but now the supervision will actually go into effect…with refined policies…in 30 days. 

Amazon is supersizing Echo Show, introducing a new 21 inch model for smart home control, organization, and entertainment. According to geekwire.com, the Echo Show 21 smart display features built in Fire TV and Alexa. The screen comes with wall mounting hardware, for $399. If you prefer a counter stand, Amazon will sell you one of those for another $99. The 15 inch Echo Show has also gotten an upgrade with better audio quality. The 15-incher is $299.

We are finally…finally moving to a passwordless future. Now, 9to5mac.com says over 200 major companies are supporting passkeys. For those unfamiliar, passkeys were introduced two years ago, and they replace traditional passwords with more secure authentication using a security key or biometrics. The technology was developed by FIDO Alliance in partnership with companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Passkeys can use biometrics…like Apple’s FaceID and TouchID, freeing you from having to manage a massive list of passwords…or even using an app like 1 Password. It can’t happen soon enough!

It’s a kind of one person’s trash is another person’s treasure story. Dailykos.com picked up a report from the International Journal of Coal Science and Technology, and apparently there are rare earth elements in coal ash. The amounts are tiny…ordinarily not worth much, but there is a huge supply of the chalky coal ash in the US…maybe 11 million tons of accessible rare earth elements are in that coal ash. That is 8 times what the US has in domestic reserves. Most of our rare earths right now…about 75%…come from China. Ukraine also has a good supply, but this could make the US self-sufficient on these elements that go into batteries, solar panels, magnets, and other energy technologies. It’s likely that some entrepreneurs are active as we write this, looking at ways to efficiently extract those 17 rare elements.

I’m Clark Reid and you’re ‘Technified’ for now.