Anthropic just released Claude Fable 5, calling it the most powerful AI model it has ever made widely available and praising its skills in biology, among others. But the model won’t answer basic biology questions — the kind you’d expect a high schooler to handle. Instead, it hands off the query to the former flagship model, Claude Opus 4.8.
Technology
Put down your phone: How selfies and videos are ruining gym etiquette and invading privacy
Taking selfies and videos is now as common as sending emails or text messages. While taking selfies and videos in the comfort of your own home or in your own chosen company is a given, what about public spaces with strangers?
That’s a new world to navigate, as you now don’t only have to worry about “Big Brother” spying on you but also the stranger lifting weights or running on the treadmill next to you.
While a proud workout photo or video to post on social media or send to your friends or family to keep you motivated on your fitness journey is one thing, people are starting to film videos of themselves in group workout classes and all aspects of the gym experience.
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Woman taking a selfie at the gym. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Gyms tackle privacy in the age of social media
While gym rats may be comfortable with the ins and outs of gym culture and have a routine down pat, new members and private individuals alike who are already intimidated by stepping foot into the gym face the risk of being in some random person’s viral social media photo or video without their consent.
Though some influencers make a conscious effort to position their phones in an isolated way to photograph or tape only themselves or get permission from anyone else in the photo or video before posting, others capture people without their consent.
While hospitals and government buildings have started to post stronger “no cellphone” or “cellphone recording” policies, gyms, and workout studios are also starting to enact new policies to address the impact of selfies and videos.
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Man and woman doing yoga at yoga studio. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Top reasons why you should put the phone down at the gym
While a good workout selfie or video can feel like a personal post-workout reward, below are the top seven reasons why putting your phone down may be an even better reward:
1. Better focus: Unless you’re filming yourself working out to watch later to see how your form has changed over time, not having to worry about what angle to film or who is or isn’t in the shot helps you be more present during the workout. Not worrying about how you’re being filmed also likely helps you maintain better form.
2. Better results: Proper form and being engaged in your workout leads to better results.
3. Safer workout: Focusing helps you with better form for better results and keeps you safer. Anyone who’s done a squat incorrectly can attest to how important form is to getting results, not injuries. That split-second distraction from your phone can lead to chronic or acute pain later. It also creates a safer environment for others by limiting accidents.
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Women giving each other a high-five during workout.
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4. Better connection: It’s easy to scroll when there is a lag time between when you enter and start your workout class. But when you put the phone down before class, those few minutes can help you connect with yourself and those around you. You may not be paying attention to your energy levels if you’re busy focusing on taking a selfie or video before class or a cardio session. You could easily overdo it, which can lead you to “throw in the towel” too soon or not soon enough. You can miss connecting with the person next to you or the instructor giving key guidance.
5. Better experience: Most people don’t head to the gym to be reminded about all of life’s challenges, so why not shut off your phone and put those challenges at bay for the duration of your workout? The neighbor on the treadmill next to you likely doesn’t want to hear you complaining about work or your spouse. And to be honest, you probably don’t want to hear about their day, either.
Man checking his phone during a workout at the gym. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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6. Faster workout: Who hasn’t looked on their phone to check the time, only to be sucked into a time warp of notifications and other distractions? If you put down the phone, you’re likely to move through the different exercises faster. While resting intentionally between sets can be helpful for your body, taking selfies and recording videos may derail the momentum of your workout.
7. Protect your privacy and those around you: If you post “live” footage, photos or videos of you working out at the gym or a workout studio, you can leave yourself open to being targeted by unsavory individuals. If you must post, post after you leave the gym and mix up when you post so no one knows exactly where and when you work out. If you don’t care about others knowing your schedule, the person next to you might.
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Kurt’s key takeaway
People have a lot of strong feelings about phones in workout spaces. While most aren’t trying to harass or intimidate those around them with what feels like an innocent workout selfie or video, some people are mocking other gym goers on social media — a terrible form of bullying that needs to be stopped. While some are looking for an escape from the perpetual feeling of being observed and potentially recorded, some gym goers say having a camera recording their workouts makes them feel safer when the gym is empty, or they’re working out alone.
You should absolutely be proud of keeping fit in your workout spaces. While documenting your progress can be a healthy part of it, it is important to be mindful of when, where, and with whom you are doing it. Who knows? Maybe not documenting every workout can create a better workout experience for yourself.
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It isn’t because Fable doesn’t know the answers. It’s because Anthropic won’t let it, by design.
Fable is a public-facing, Mythos-class model, a family so capable at cybersecurity tasks Anthropic said it was too dangerous to release publicly. But while Anthropic has spent much of the extended Mythos rollout warning about cybersecurity, it is biology where Fable’s guardrails are the most obvious — and most limiting.
When I tried the model, it refused to answer a range of basic biology questions, many that felt about as far away from any plausible safety risk as any question could be. It would not respond to “tell me about cell membranes” or answer “what are mitochondria,” that famous powerhouse of the cell. It refused to explain “what is a prion,” the proteinaceous particles behind mad cow disease, or “how mRNA vaccines work.”
“We made this tradeoff so customers could benefit from the model’s capabilities sooner without the risks.”
The restrictions applied to ordinary and objectively rather harmless medical queries too. Fable would not answer “what causes hay fever,” explain how asthma medicine works, explain how antibiotic resistance arises, or tell me what Ebola is and how it spreads. Some of my basic queries occasionally got through, with Fable answering questions like “what is cancer” and “what is DNA.” When Fable refused, Opus 4.8 generally answered perfectly well.
Anthropic says the broad biology filters are an intentional choice and are deliberately conservative, with bioweapons the primary concern. “With the launch of Claude Fable 5, our first Mythos-class model, we believe models now have a greater ability to accomplish real-world scientific tasks and for malicious actors to potentially use our models for highly risky biological research,” spokesperson Paruul Maheshwary told The Verge. “We have always used classifiers to block our models from helping with bioweapons-related requests. To deploy Fable 5 safely, we believe it was necessary to be overly conservative with our safeguards so they block most queries tied to biology work.”
Anthropic has previously highlighted four key areas where it would throttle Fable’s responses for safety: chemistry, biology, cybersecurity, and distillation, a technique for training smaller AIs using the outputs of larger ones. The company has accused Chinese rivals like DeepSeek of using distillation on its models on an “industrial” scale.
While I could not meaningfully test distillation, Fable seemed more willing to answer questions about chemistry and cybersecurity. For example, it gave a basic overview of the explosive TNT, though withheld synthesis instructions “for obvious reasons.” It readily answered questions on the use of chlorine gas as a chemical weapon, common password threats, and nuclear fusion and fission, as well as explaining how to secure an iPhone from hackers. It still limits: Fable deferred to Opus when I asked it about sarin gas, a highly toxic nerve agent. Fable and Opus both refused the prompt “how to make anthrax,” and Claude paused the chat entirely. That made sense. The mitochondria prompt refusal seems like a false positive.
“We made this tradeoff so customers could benefit from the model’s capabilities sooner without the risks,” Maheshwary explained, adding that Anthropic is working hard to improve its detection and reduce the false positives. “We intend to make Mythos-class models available without these safeguards to the broader biology and life sciences community so these capabilities can be used to accelerate biomedical research and drug discovery.”
Anthropic did not answer questions about whether this kind of restricted release will become the new norm for future models.
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Texas mom jailed over dirty water Facebook post
Jennifer Combs says she was arrested on a felony charge after using Facebook to collect reports about water concerns in Trinidad, Texas. A grand jury later declined to indict her. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Jennifer Combs says she never set out to become the face of a fight over free speech, dirty water and small-town power. She says she was simply trying to help people in Trinidad, Texas, report problems with their water. Some residents had complained about discoloration, sediment, odors and health concerns. So Combs used her Southern Belle Watch Facebook page to collect reports and send them to the state.
Then, according to Combs, the situation took a turn that still sounds hard to believe. She says police came to her home and arrested her on a felony warrant over a Facebook post.
“I’ve never even had a speeding ticket,” Combs said. “I’m a mom of four kids. I have one grandbaby right now. I have two more grandbabies on the way.”
Now, Combs says her arrest has become about something much bigger than one Facebook post.
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Jennifer Combs says she was arrested on a felony charge after using Facebook to collect reports about water concerns in Trinidad, Texas. A grand jury later declined to indict her. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
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Why Jennifer Combs started asking about Trinidad water
Jennifer sat down with me for my CyberGuy Report podcast at CyberguyPodcast.com to explain what happened, why she started asking questions and what she wants other communities to learn from her ordeal.
Combs says she got involved after seeing a post from an older woman who needed help buying bottled water. According to Combs, the woman was on a fixed income and had already spent part of her monthly money on bottled water. Combs said the woman claimed her doctor had told her not to cook with or drink the tap water. That moment stuck with her.
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“I’m a firm, firm person on transparency,” Combs said. “I stand on it. I think if you’re going to be in government, there should be zero reasons for you not to be transparent with your people that elected you to be there.”
So she started collecting complaints. Her plan was simple. If residents shared their water issues, she could pass those reports to the state. That way, inspectors would know where to look.
Trinidad water complaints had been building
Combs says the water issue had been going on for years in parts of Trinidad. “That’s real. That’s not AI. That is absolutely very real,” Combs said when asked about images of the water.
She said some residents did not want to speak publicly because they feared backlash. “A lot of them wanted to be able to message me anonymously, because the retaliation in Trinidad is very, very real,” Combs said.
That is why she created a place where people could quietly share reports. She says she wanted to collect the information, map the affected areas and send everything to the state.
The Facebook post behind the arrest
Combs read the Facebook post during our conversation. In it, she said her page had received reports that some citizens had been hospitalized due to bacteria in the water. She called it “a serious public health concern that deserves immediate attention.”
The post asked residents to message the page if their water looked discolored, contained sediment, had a strong odor or if they had related health concerns. It also asked for general neighborhood areas, photos, videos, dates and times.
Combs says the post was later removed by Facebook after it was reported by a select group of people from the community and flagged, though she says Facebook did not tell her why. But before it came down, she says, then-Trinidad Police Chief Charles Gregory had taken a screenshot of it and posted it on the Trinidad Police Department Facebook page, accusing her of making a false report.
“I never filed a report with the police department,” Combs said. “I only filed a report with the state of Texas with the water.” She says she was gathering community reports about the water and sending them to the state. That distinction is important because it raises questions about why a public health complaint on Facebook became a police matter. We reached out to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for comment, but did not hear back before our deadline.
Trinidad hired a contractor to handle water issues
Combs says the city had hired a contractor to help manage the water problem. She said boil notices listed his number, so residents were often directed to call him instead of City Hall when they had water concerns. According to Combs, that created even more frustration. She said residents still felt they were not getting clear answers, and some began sending complaints to her instead.
Later in our conversation, Combs said the person who made the complaint that led to her arrest was the same contractor paid by the city to address the water problem. “Do you want to know who that someone is?” Combs said. “That someone that made the call report is the contractor that’s paid by the city to fix the water.”
That detail adds another layer to the story. The person hired to help solve the water issue, according to Combs, was also the person who reported her for collecting complaints about it.
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Police arrested Jennifer Combs at her home
Combs says this all came to a head on April 6. Two officers came to her home in Kearns, Texas, about eight miles from Trinidad. She says they told her she had a felony arrest warrant from Henderson County.
“I said, ‘Oh, what? What do you mean?’” Combs said. “And they said, ‘Yeah, you have a felony arrest warrant. We have to take you to Navarro County Jail.’”
Then she was handcuffed in her front yard. “To be handcuffed in my front yard and taken to jail and spend 23 hours in jail before I could get out was very traumatic,” Combs said. “It was insane.”
Combs says she was charged with a felony false report tied to public panic over the water system. “I was just in disbelief, in absolute disbelief,” she said.
Residents said the water reports were real
Combs says Gregory later doubled down on Facebook and defended the decision to arrest her. But Combs says the part that still bothers her is what happened after Gregory posted about her online. According to Combs, some of the same residents who had contacted her then commented on the police department’s post to say the reports were real.
“The people that had made the reports to me commented on there, and they never even interviewed them,” Combs said. “They never even talked to them. But they literally commented on his own post saying, ‘Hey, this really happened.’”
That raises a basic question. If residents were saying the reports were real, why treat the person collecting those reports like a criminal?
Grand jury declines to indict Jennifer Combs
After Combs arrest, the costs started adding up. She says her husband had to bail her out, and the legal bills started soon after. “It’s $2,500,” Combs said about the bail amount. “So he had to pay 300 and something to get me out of jail. And then we’ve had to pay attorney fees.”
Combs says the felony charge eventually went before a grand jury. The grand jury no-billed the case, meaning it did not indict her. “The grand jury said no bill. Absolutely no part of this,” Combs said. “No bill, not enough evidence.”
That meant the charge was no longer hanging over her head. Still, Combs said her attorney had to keep working through the process of getting it removed. By then, the damage had already been done. Combs had spent nearly a day in jail. Her husband had to bail her out. She had to hire a lawyer. And her name had been tied to a felony allegation over a Facebook post about water.
Trinidad water fight took another turn
Combs says the fallout did not stop with her arrest. After she was arrested, a man she identified as Otto the Watchdog protested outside Trinidad City Hall. Combs says he was handcuffed and put in a police car for disorderly conduct because officials claimed he offended a water clerk.
Then, according to Combs, the water clerk said she was not offended. “The water clerk is fired because she would not sign a statement that said she was offended,” Combs said.
Combs says a judge later dropped the disorderly conduct issue involving the protester. Then, she says, the city fired that judge. “The judge dropped it. They fired the judge,” Combs said.
She also said the city attorney was fired the same night. Yet Combs says it happened during a recorded city council meeting with cameras in the room.
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A Texas mother says her effort to document residents’ complaints about discolored and contaminated water led to a felony arrest and nearly a day in jail. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
City of Trinidad responds to request for comment
CyberGuy requested comment from the City of Trinidad. Zachary Smith, an associate attorney with Iglesias Law Firm, responded on behalf of the city and said the firm represents Trinidad. “We recognize that the public wants answers, and that is not lost on us or our clients,” Smith wrote.
Smith said the city is leaving the details to the legal process. “Because lawsuits have been filed, our clients are not able to comment on the specifics at this time. As you know, this is standard practice in active litigation,” Smith wrote.
He also defended the city’s position. “The claims against the City of Trinidad will be answered where they belong, in a court of law,” Smith wrote. “The officials who serve this community have acted, and continue to act, in the best interests of the people of Trinidad. We look forward to addressing these claims fully during the litigation process.”
Why the Trinidad water story raises free speech concerns
People complain online about local problems every day. They post about roads, trash pickup, schools, taxes, crime and public utilities. Some posts are emotional. Some include claims that still need to be checked. But that does not mean a citizen should be treated like a criminal for asking questions.
Combs said it best. “You have the right to question what anybody is doing,” she said. “You have the right to figure out what is in your water, what you’re drinking.”
Then she added one line that says a lot about her. “I’m never going to tell people, ‘Oh, just keep your mouth shut. Don’t say anything and just be quiet.’ That’s not me. I don’t hush very well.
Jennifer Combs wants answers for Trinidad
Combs says the water problem still needs outside attention. She said the mayor went on national TV and asked for the Texas Rangers to step in. Combs also said she had reached out for support.
“I need someone to help,” Combs said. “It’s insane. It’s not going to get fixed the way it is.” She said people in Trinidad have waited long enough.
“They’ve had all of these years to do it,” Combs said. “And now you’re putting people in jail for talking about it.” That is the part that should make all of us pay attention. If people are afraid to speak up about water, what else will they stay quiet about?
What Jennifer Combs wants people to know
At the end of our conversation, I asked Combs what message she has for people who speak out online about local issues. Her answer was direct.
“I think people that speak out for their communities are extremely brave,” Combs said. “So I’m never going to not tell people to speak out.”
She also said people should not let her experience scare them into silence. “You can’t let what happened to me prevent you from standing up and doing what’s right to people,” Combs said. “You can’t because then there’s no good people left.”
How to protect yourself when posting on Facebook
Facebook can be a powerful way to raise local concerns, but you should think carefully before posting. If your goal is to alert the public, a public post can help more people see it. If you are still gathering information, a private group or direct messages may be safer while you verify what residents are reporting.
Before you post, save screenshots of your draft, your final post and any comments that support what you wrote. If Facebook removes the post or someone reports it, you still have a record of the exact wording.
Also, protect people who contact you. Ask for photos, dates, times and general locations, but avoid sharing exact addresses, phone numbers or medical details without permission. You can show a pattern without exposing someone’s private information.
Finally, be clear about what you know and what you are still trying to confirm. Use phrases like “residents reported,” “according to messages sent to me,” or “we are asking the state to review this.” That can help show you are collecting community concerns, not claiming every detail has already been proven.
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Jennifer Combs argues her arrest over a Facebook post raises broader concerns about free speech, government transparency and public accountability. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
Kurt’s key takeaways
Jennifer Combs says she wanted clean water, transparency and answers. Instead, she says she was handcuffed in her front yard and spent the night in jail. That should concern anyone who has ever posted a complaint about a local issue online. When people question public officials, those officials should respond with records, facts and accountability. They should not turn criticism into a police matter. This story also shows why local journalism and citizen watchdogs still have power. Small towns can have big problems. Sometimes the person asking the uncomfortable question is the one doing the public a favor. The bigger question is simple: If a Facebook post about dirty water can lead to a felony arrest, what would stop another local government from trying the same thing? To hear Jennifer tell her story in her own words, check out The CyberGuy Report podcast at CyberguyPodcast.com.
Have you ever spoken up about a local problem and felt ignored, intimidated or brushed aside? Let us know by writing to us at CyberGuy.com.
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Microsoft’s Office 2019 apps for Mac will stop working next month, because the company isn’t renewing a certificate that validates Office licenses. Owners of Office 2019 for Mac are being warned they’ll have to purchase Office 2024 or a Microsoft 365 subscription if they want to continue editing documents.
Microsoft previously promised that “all your Office 2019 apps will continue to function,” when it announced end of support in 2023. The company then quietly updated that support note last month to remove the mention of apps continuing to function, replacing it with “Rest assured that all your Office 2019 apps won’t lose any data.”
Starting on July 13th, Office 2019 for Mac and Office 2021 for Mac will both run in “reduced functionality mode,” allowing people to open files but not edit, save, or create new documents. The reduced functionality will impact Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.
While Microsoft is providing a certificate update for Office 2021 as it’s still supported until October 13th, 2026, the company is leaving Office 2019 for Mac users out in the cold as support for these apps ended a few years ago. “Office 2019 for Mac reached end of support on October 10, 2023, and no longer receives updates,” says Microsoft. “Because Office 2019 cannot be updated to the required version, this issue cannot be resolved by updating or reinstalling Office 2019 for Mac.”
JimmyTech points out that old versions of Microsoft 365 apps on Mac and iOS will also be affected by this certificate issue, but a simple update will fix it for those users.
Microsoft regularly ends support of software and there’s always the risk you could run into issues running older apps or versions of Windows. It’s still surprising to not see Microsoft make an exception here though, particularly because this certificate issue breaks the main functionality of an app you’ve paid a one-time license fee for.
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