Tech News Roundup — July 26, 2026 (PM)

The week’s biggest Windows story broke over the weekend when an investigation by Gamers Nexus revealed that plugging certain LG monitors into a Windows 11 PC silently installed a companion app — and that app was serving McAfee ads. Microsoft intervened to get the ads pulled, but the underlying question is whether OEM accessories should be able to install software at all without explicit user consent. On the Linux kernel side, 7.2-rc5 lands a long-awaited fix for IPv4 networking over Firewire, and there’s a push to retire the decade-old Realtek rtl8723bs staging driver by merging it into RTW88. Pplware leads this afternoon with a ransomware disclosure from Metro Mondego, a flash-point in the Android foldable market where Carl Pei’s Nothing publicly accuses Samsung of cribbing from Apple rumours, and a sobering estimate that a major Lisbon-area earthquake could kill up to 27,000 people.

Microsoft & Windows

• LG’s McAfee adware is the test case for Windows 11 OEM lock-down. An investigation by Gamers Nexus showed that connecting certain LG monitors to a Windows 11 PC silently installed a companion app that then pushed McAfee ads to the user. Microsoft reached out to LG and the ads were removed, but the company argues that LG was given trust it then abused and that Microsoft needs to restrict any app installation that happens without explicit consent — even “useful” monitor-control apps. The same weekly recap also covered Xbox back-compat news and a string of Windows 11 upgrades. Windows Central
• A Windows Security cheat sheet for non-technical relatives. A Windows Central writer documents the runbook he assembled after one too many “tech support” calls from his parents — the password manager text, the “tech support took over my screen” call from his mom, and the consolidated list of Windows Security settings he now makes them apply once and leave alone. Practical: turn on MFA, lock down remote access, audit admin accounts, and add a password manager. Windows Central

Linux & Open Source

• Auto-CPUFreq 3.1 ships a monitoring-mode GUI and new configuration options. The long-running CPU power optimiser aimed at extending laptop battery life without sacrificing performance released v3.1 this week, adding a graphical monitoring mode for users who don’t want to live in the terminal, plus expanded configuration knobs and a stack of fixes. Phoronix
• Realtek RTL8723B/BS could finally leave staging after a decade. The rtl8723bs WiFi driver has been living in the Linux kernel’s staging area since 2017 (Linux 4.12) and Greg Kroah-Hartman has previously called it a “beast of a driver”. New patches propose folding the RTL8723BS and RTL8723B silicon into the cleaner RTW88 driver instead — a long-overdue code clean-up that would also cut the legacy abstraction cruft. Phoronix
• Linux 7.2-rc5 fixes a longstanding bug in IPv4 over Firewire. IEEE-1394 Firewire is still being maintained on Linux at least through 2029, and this week’s 7.2-rc5 release finally patches a long-standing IPv4-over-Firewire networking bug that has been troubling users for years. Phoronix

Self-Hosted

• Dockhand 1.0.39 lands for Synology and UGREEN NAS users. The Docker Compose-style management tool bumped from 1.0.38 to 1.0.39 on July 26, fixing a regression where stacks with relative bind mounts failed to deploy, ensuring that redeploying a stack with a new image clears the dashboard’s pending-update badge for the updated containers, and patching a backup failure on deeply nested stacks. Marius Hosting

In Brief

• The vertical video takeover is here — and it’s not just TikTok. A new Stepback newsletter argues that every major platform has reorganised around vertical video: YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and even traditional media. The short-form, full-screen feed format is now the default surface for video on the web. [The Verge]
• Carl Pei of Nothing publicly accuses Samsung of basing its new foldables on Apple rumours. Pei pointed to the Galaxy Z Fold8’s wider cover display as direct evidence that Samsung is chasing what leaks predict for the next iPhone Fold, escalating the cross-vendor marketing feud that has defined the foldable segment this year. Pplware
• A “phantom twist” drone that disappears when it spins 25 times per second. Engineers at Northwestern University built a drone that doesn’t try to hide with camouflage or transparent materials — it just spins so fast that the human eye can no longer resolve it, turning it into a single blur. The technique is comparable to the “wagon-wheel effect” seen in film. Pplware
• Driving to Spain this summer — V-16 light or the old warning triangle? Pplware walks through the current Spanish rule on the V-16 connected hazard light versus the traditional warning triangle, including which is mandatory, which is being phased out, and the penalties for not carrying the right one. Pplware
• A major Lisbon-area earthquake could kill up to 27,000 people. New Portuguese seismic-risk estimates put the worst-case-casualty figure at around 27,000 for a magnitude-7+ event on the lower Tagus valley fault — a sobering number that explains the country’s ongoing investment in early-warning systems and building retrofits. Pplware
• The ECB is redesigning the euro banknotes — and asking citizens to weigh in. The European Central Bank has unveiled the final design proposals for the next euro banknote series and, for the first time, is inviting the public to vote on which theme they prefer. Pplware
• Metro Mondego confirms ransomware attack — passenger and employee data exposed. The Coimbra-based public transport operator disclosed that it was hit by a ransomware incident that may have resulted in unauthorised access to personal data of passengers, employees, and partner entities. The operator has not yet named the threat actor or the timeline of the intrusion. Pplware

Roundup compiled from the TTRSS Tech feed. 13 articles from 5 sources summarised.