Amazon has announced that it plans to bring same and next-day delivery to what they are calling ‘tens of millions’ of people who live in smaller towns by the end of 2026. Theverge.com reports that the online giant said in a press release that the faster deliveries will be available to residents “in more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities.” Items categorized as “everyday essentials,” including groceries, beauty products, household goods, or pet food, will now be available to small town or rural customers for same-day or next-day delivery. If they are Prime subscribers (currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually), they get unlimited free same-day delivery when spending over $25 at checkout. Amazon says it this will happen due to the company spending some $4 billion on new facilities and hiring new delivery drivers. 

Samsung has announced their next event, and the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 will bow on July 9th. According to 9to5google.com, reservations will open on that date, along with a $50 credit…something Samsung has done in the past. The event will take place in Brooklyn, and in addition to the new folders, they will show off a new series of smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch 8, Watch 8 Classic, and Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung watchers are looking for a MAJOR upgrade to the Galaxy Fold 7…thinner hardware, new cameras, and bigger displays are rumored. The Galaxy Watch 8 will feature a new design. 

The US House of Representatives has announced a ban on using WhatsApp on government devices. Engadget.com says this will apply to all Representatives, and Congressional staffers. The app is no longer permitted on any House-managed devices. In an email, the Chief Administrative Officer for the House said “The Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption and potential security risks involved with its use.” There is little doubt that this was brought on by the incident with the Department of Defense and Secretary Hegseth. Strangely, Microsoft Teams, Wickr, Signal, iMessage and FaceTime were reportedly cited as acceptable alternatives. Some of those seem to be quite hackable!

Some 20 years ago, scientists figured out how to get female mice to give birth to offspring that got a set of chromosomes from each of two fertilized eggs… without a sperm. I can remember some women claiming that this will make men unnecessary. Now, the other shoe…or sperm….has dropped. Arstechnica.com notes that researchers have been able to get viable mice by editing the DNA from two sperm. It is a little tricky, as 7 different imprinting sites have to be modified. So far, only 3 live births have been achieved…and they are all male. The researchers say that it too small a number to know if that is significant or not, or if they have to tweak things to get a female mouse.

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