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Bizarre 'Fallout 76' bug deletes beta instead of letting players in
Tonight the Fallout 76 beta was supposed to unlock for a few hours so players on Xbox One, PS4 and PC could test it out. Unfortunately for players on PC, for some reason many people saw the 50GB beta installation suddenly begin to redownload instead of unlocking -- a serious problem since it was only scheduled for access between 7 PM and 11 PM ET. Bethesda's support accounts haven't mentioned anything about extending the test period, so hopefully none of you were impacted -- otherwise you'll have to wait until November 1st between 2 and 7 PM ET for another shot. Still, it could be worse -- this could have made it into a wide release, or just broken the game's AI for years until someone noticed. Update: Bethesda just announced that as a result of this bug, it's extending the November 1st test session to run until 11 PM ET.
Google Pixel 3 XL bug adds an annoying second notch
Several Google Pixel 3 XL owners have encountered what must be the most annoying of bugs. As if one notch wasn't bad enough, a second "software notch" is popping up on various parts of some screens, more or less making the display look like an expensive puzzle piece. Some users whose devices sprouted a second notch posted about the plague on Twitter and Reddit over the last few days.
Apple Watch daylight saving bug leaves Series 4 devices in a loop
Apple is still grappling with daylight saving time issues after all these years. Some Australian Apple Watch Series 4 owners have reported that their devices are stuck in reboot loops after the country switched to DST this weekend. Apparently, the Activity complication on the Series 4's Infograph Modular face doesn't know how to handle a day that's an hour short -- so long as that complication is active, the smartwatch crashes and restarts until it runs out of power.
Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update is reportedly wiping user data
Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update — referred to as the October Update or 1809 — may come with quite a few exciting new features, but could also wipe profiles with all the associated documents, music, pictures and other data. A number of reports detailing the issue have appeared on Reddit and Microsoft's support forums. Many of them apparently haven't been able to recover the deleted files.
Google will fix Home and Chromecast bug that reveals your location
Don't look now, but your Google Home speaker or Chromecast could give away your whereabouts... for a little while, that is. Google has promised a fix for an authentication vulnerability that lets attackers obtain your location using the company's devices as a conduit. While the necessary Home app on your phone normally performs most tasks through Google's cloud services, others (such as setting a device name and WiFi connection) are sent directly to the Home or Chromecast without authentication. If you use domain name system rebinding software, you can exploit this to obtain nearby wireless networks and use Google's location lookup services to obtain a position to an accuracy of a few feet.
Bizarre Android bug displays private text messages
Android smartphones are susceptible to a strange glitch that shows recent text messages when a specific malformed web address is entered. If you type "the1975..com" (with two periods) into the Google app, it delivers a summary of recent conversations instead of performing a search or attempting to pull up the eponymous rock band's website.
