Miscellaneous Tech News
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China’s “democracy” includes mandatory apps, mass chat surveillance
Researcher discovers servers in China collecting data on 364 million social media profiles daily.
That system of democracy apparently involves mass surveillance to tap into the will of the people. While China's growth as a surveillance state has been well-documented, the degree to which the Chinese leadership uses digital tools to shape the national political landscape and to control Chinese citizens has grown even further recently. That's because authorities have been tapping directly into Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members' and other Chinese citizens' online activities and social media profiles.
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Gorilla Glass-maker plans to produce glass suitable for folding iPhones
Glass would be more durable than the plastic polymers used in early foldables.
According to Wired, glass-maker Corning is "working on ultrathin, bendable glass that's 0.1 millimeters thick and can bend to a 5 millimeter radius" that may be usable for smartphone displays within two years. Corning produces Gorilla Glass used in Apple's iPhones, as well as in phones made by other manufacturers like LG, Asus, OnePlus, Nokia, Samsung, and more.
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Fitbit goes after new wrists with less expensive $159 Versa Lite smartwatch
Fitbit wants more users on its platform—that means devices at many price points.
Instead of doubling down and trying to make the next best Apple Watch killer, Fitbit is focusing on potential users and prices. Today, the company launched the new $159 Versa Lite smartwatch, a pared-down version of the $199 wearable it came out with last year. It will also bring the newly announced Inspire and Inspire HR fitness trackers, priced from $69 to $99, to all consumers.
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Apple no longer refuses to fix iPhones with third-party batteries
Now Genius Bars and Authorized Service Providers won't turn these iPhones away.
Apple has reportedly updated the rules of its strict repair program to be a bit more lenient toward iPhones with aftermarket batteries. Internal company documents reportedly instruct its Genius Bars and Apple Authorized Service Providers to repair iPhones with third-party batteries, something that the iPhone maker has never allowed before.
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Microsoft is first major cloud provider to open African data centers
Cape Town, Johannesburg cloud regions now available.
First announced in 2017, the company originally intended to open its facilities—South Africa West in Cape Town and South Africa North in Johannesburg—in 2018. Even with the delays, Microsoft has still beaten Amazon to the punch; an AWS datacenter is to open in Cape Town in 2020. As well as offering Azure services, Microsoft is going to use the facilities for hosting Office 365 from the third quarter of the year and Dynamics 365 from the fourth quarter.
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After the Galaxy Fold, Samsung has two more foldable smartphones coming
Samsung is developing a Mate X-style wraparound display phone and a flip phone.
It seems like many companies in the smartphone industry are moving toward developing foldable smartphones. There are two real devices so far: Samsung has announced the Galaxy Fold and Huawei is building the Mate X. Oppo is experimenting with a foldable prototype that looks like the Mate X; Motorola is planning an all-screen revival of the Moto Razr; and Xiaomi has teased a crazy prototype with two folds in the display. Even Corning is working on a flexible glass cover to someday protect all these devices from scratches.
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iFixit opens up the Galaxy S10, revealing tiny in-display fingerprint sensor
Get a look at Qualcomm's new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor in the S10.
The newest component inside the Galaxy S10 is the new ultrasonic fingerprint reader, which lives under the display and can make a 3D map of your finger with nothing but sound. In terms of actual components, the sensor is a thin, tape-like strip that gets glued to the back of the display. We've seen prototypes with a large fingerprint-reading area before, but for this first-generation commercial version, Samsung's fingerprint reading area is just a tiny strip. It's actually way smaller than a fingertip, which means you'll need to be precise about your finger position when you use it.
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Nintendo’s first VR product in 24 years is coming to Nintendo Switch
Coming April 12; starts at $40, or pay $80 for a larger, accessory-filled "VR Kit."
Yes, Nintendo's build-it-yourself Labo controller series will return on April 12 with arguably its most ambitious version yet: the Nintendo Labo VR Kit. This cardboard rig will include a plastic, face-fitting mask, complete with plastic lenses, that attaches to a Nintendo Switch in "portable" mode. This mix of face-fitting mask and lenses will translate the Switch's 720p screen into two eye-fitting images that simulate VR in much the same way as Google Cardboard.
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Zuckerberg: Facebook will shift focus to private networks instead of open ones
Facebook will focus on messaging platforms like WhatsApp—with big changes.
On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a more-than-3,000-word blog post that seems to declare a major shift in Facebook's strategy. In it, he says he believes that "a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today's open platforms."
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@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
Zuckerberg: Facebook will shift focus to private networks instead of open ones
Facebook will focus on messaging platforms like WhatsApp—with big changes.
On Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a more-than-3,000-word blog post that seems to declare a major shift in Facebook's strategy. In it, he says he believes that "a privacy-focused communications platform will become even more important than today's open platforms."
I just love how it seems that Privacy and Facebook just go hand-in-hand, lol.
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Tesla will build new, faster Superchargers and update cars to use them
New 250kW V3 Superchargers will start appearing later this year.
This was class-leading when Tesla started building out the network; at the time, the fastest DC Fast charger you could find for CHAdeMO or CCS maxed out at just 50kW. But times change, and companies like ElectrifyAmerica and ChargePoint are rolling out new DC Fast chargers for these standards that are capable of recharging a car at much higher power—350kW in the case of ElectrifyAmerica and 500kW in the case of ChargePoint.
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calc.exe is now open source; there’s surprising depth in its ancient code
The actual calculation engine is more than 20 years old.
The repository shows Calculator's surprisingly long history. Although it is in some regards one of the most modern Windows applications—it's an early adopter of Fluent Design and has been used to showcase a number of design elements—core parts of the codebase date all the way back to 1995.
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@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
calc.exe is now open source; there’s surprising depth in its ancient code
The actual calculation engine is more than 20 years old.
The repository shows Calculator's surprisingly long history. Although it is in some regards one of the most modern Windows applications—it's an early adopter of Fluent Design and has been used to showcase a number of design elements—core parts of the codebase date all the way back to 1995.
Cool cool. . . Now let's resurrect clippy from the great beyond and open source that code! Clippy is back baby!
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I really do kind of miss Clippy and his useless, but continual nagging. . .
It would be great to have clippy attached to an AI. So when you're working in word or whatever program it realizes you screwed up and says "Hey Dumbass. . ."
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@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
I really do kind of miss Clippy and his useless, but continual nagging. . .
It would be great to have clippy attached to an AI. So when you're working in word or whatever program it realizes you screwed up and says "Hey Dumbass. . ."
I can just see it now. Clipping popping out and saying, "Hey, we need to make your computer more secure. I'm gonna install updates for you at 3AM. Make sure you save your work."
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@DustinB3403 said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
@mlnews said in Miscellaneous Tech News:
calc.exe is now open source; there’s surprising depth in its ancient code
The actual calculation engine is more than 20 years old.
The repository shows Calculator's surprisingly long history. Although it is in some regards one of the most modern Windows applications—it's an early adopter of Fluent Design and has been used to showcase a number of design elements—core parts of the codebase date all the way back to 1995.
Cool cool. . . Now let's resurrect clippy from the great beyond and open source that code! Clippy is back baby!
i liked Rover, but i think its because he was a dog.
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GNOME Recipes on Fedora
https://fedoramagazine.org/get-cooking-with-gnome-recipes-on-fedora/ -
@black3dynamite Saw that yesterday. Got it installed and I like it. Lot of nice features, just hoping more recipes get added contnually.
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You can now play PlayStation 4 games on your iPhone
The PS4's 6.50 firmware update adds support for an iOS remote play app.
Today, Sony released its 6.50 firmware for PlayStation 4 systems. The tentpole feature of the update is support for remote play to iOS devices like iPhones and iPads. The release coincided with the release of a "PS4 Remote Play" app on the Apple App Store.
