Elon Musk just told advertisers on X to “f*ck yourself” for trying to blackmail him!
Advertisers Fleeing X After Elon Musk Controversy
Major advertisers like Apple, IBM, Disney, and Sony have pulled their advertising dollars from X (formerly known as Twitter) after several controversial comments by Elon Musk. It didn’t help that they discovered that their ads being shown next to anti-semitic and neo-Nazi posts.
Earlier this month, watchdog group Media Matters published a report claiming that X ran advertisements for major companies next to neo-Nazi posts. Musk would later file a lawsuit against the group.
But Musk escalated things when he publicly endorsed an antisemitic tweet which claimed that the Jewish communities have been “pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them“.
According to Sensor Tower, the biggest advertisers – Apple, IBM, Sony, Disney, Comcast (NBC Universal) and Paramount collectively cut off 7% of total US ad spend on X (Twitter. On top of that, half of the top X advertisers have ceased buying advertisements from a year ago (as of October 2023).
On Wednesday, 29 November 2023, Andrew Ross Sorkin interviewed Elon Musk at the 2023 DealBook Summit in New York. In that interview, Elon apologised for endorsing the antisemitic tweet, saying that he should not have replied to it.
But he was belligerent about the advertising crisis at X. He claimed that those advertisers were trying to blackmail him, and literally told them to go “f*ck yourself”. If that wasn’t enough, he singled out Disney CEO Bob Iger in his tirade:
I don’t want them to advertise. If somebody’s gonna try to blackmail me with advertising? Blackmail me with money?
Go f*ck yourself. Go. F*ck. Yourself. Is that clear? Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience, that’s how I feel. Don’t advertise.
Elon Musk also told his interview, Andrew Ross Sorkin, that he didn’t mind being hated for his controversial opinions.
But Musk admitted that the advertisers could kill X by boycotting it en masse.
What this advertising boycott is going to do is it’s going to kill the company. And the whole world will know that those advertisers killed the company.
What Musk may not have realised when he made those profane comments, was that he may well have helped to dig the grave for X.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is Apple about to quietly release new iPad models in October 2023?! Take a look at the new rumours!
Claim : Apple Is Releasing New iPad Models In October 2023!
The Internet is abuzz with rumours that Apple is about to quietly release new iPad models this week, in October 2023!
It started with a report by SuperCharged that “sources familiar with Apple’s media plans” told them that Apple will announce new iPad models “as soon as Tuesday, October 17”, and the new iPads will have these improvements:
Apple will announce updates to its iPad lineup this week, according to sources familiar with Apple’s media plans who spoke to Supercharged. Apple is planning briefings with select media personnel scheduled for later this week specifically focused on the iPad.
The sources added that the announcements could happen as soon as Tuesday, October 17.
The updates will feature minor spec bumps, bringing the models in line with faster and more efficient chips. The iPad Air will gain the M2 chip, an upgrade from the current M1 chip, while the upcoming iPad mini will feature the A16 Bionic chip.
The announcements will take place on Apple’s website and its YouTube channel and will not include a flashy hybrid event for significant product announcements.
This report was later corroborated by 9to5Mac, who spoke to their own sources:
Via Supercharged, Apple is set to announce new iPad updates this week, likely on Tuesday October 17. 9to5Mac has corroborated the report with our own sources.
The iPad Air, iPad mini and the base model iPad are expected to be refreshed. These updates will likely comprise smaller spec bump updates rather than significant design changes.
Now, I’m no Mark Gurman or Ming-Chi Kuo, and Tech ARP is no 9to5Mac or SuperCharged, but I did break the news on Apple’s new MagSafe connector and the SD card reader’s return in the 2021 MacBook Pro.
I actually heard from a source a couple of weeks earlier that Apple will not release any new entry-level iPad models this year. Rather, the new entry-level iPad is slated to debut in April 2024.
This, of course, only addresses the entry-level iPad models. It is possible that Apple will announce updated iPad Air and iPad mini models this week, while leaving the entry-level iPad for April 2024.
However, my money is on Apple not releasing any new iPad models this year, and my source is correct about the April 2024 date. In fact, I literally bet my own money on my source’s information, by purchasing an iPad yesterday for my parents.
In any case, I don’t think Apple will wow anyone with the new entry-level iPad model. It’s all about incremental changes these days. In fact, Apple has already been shifting away from a yearly update cycle, as it gets harder to deliver any exciting updates for these tablets.
On top of that, the entry-level iPad was completely redesigned just a year ago – in October 2022. Most likely, the new entry-level iPad will feature the A16 Bionic chip, with maybe a new colour or two. Is that exciting? I don’t think so.
The truth is – even the 7th Generation iPad that I currently own is fast enough for most people. I personally don’t see a real need to upgrade to the 11th Generation iPad when it arrives, whether it’s this week, or in April 2024.
So yes, I think Apple will quietly update its iPad line-up through a simple and cheap press release and YouTube announcement. I just don’t think it’s this week, or even this year.
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People keep sharing the wisdom in the Last Words of Steve Jobs, but guess what – they are all LIES!
Take a look at the famous last words that Steve Jobs allegedly said, and find out what the FACTS really are!
Updated @ 2023-04-29 : Updated with additional information Originally posted @ 2021-09-15
Claim : These Are The Last Words of Steve Jobs!
This is the famous Last Words ofSteve Jobs that have been shared by hundreds of thousands of people on websites, social media and email chain letters.
It’s a very long article, so just skip to the next section for the facts!
Last Words of Steve Jobs
I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success.
However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
In the darkness, I look at the green lights from the life supporting machines and hear the humming mechanical sounds, I can feel the breath of god of death drawing closer…
Now I know, when we have accumulated sufficient wealth to last our lifetime, we should pursue other matters that are unrelated to wealth…
Should be something that is more important: Perhaps relationships, perhaps art, perhaps a dream from younger days
Non-stop pursuing of wealth will only turn a person into a twisted being, just like me.
God gave us the senses to let us feel the love in everyone’s heart, not the illusions brought about by wealth.
The wealth I have won in my life I cannot bring with me. What I can bring is only the memories precipitated by love.
That’s the true riches which will follow you, accompany you, giving you strength and light to go on.
Love can travel a thousand miles. Life has no limit. Go where you want to go. Reach the height you want to reach. It is all in your heart and in your hands.
What is the most expensive bed in the world? Sick bed… You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.
Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – Life.
When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – Book of Healthy Life.
Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends. Treat yourself well. Cherish others.
Truth : Those Are Not The Last Words of Steve Jobs!
The truth is – this is a fake story probably created by a fan to lionise Steve Jobs, or a fake news website to make money off his name.
Fact #1 : Those Were Not The Last Words Of Steve Jobs
It is really not possible for a dying Steve Jobs to wax lyrical and say so much.
At the end, he just muttered monosyllables, repeated three times – OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW. That’s it.
This was what his sister, Mona Simpson, revealed in her New York Times eulogy :
Steve’s final words, hours earlier, were monosyllables, repeated three times.
Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them.
Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.
Fact #2 : Steve Jobs Was Not On Life Support
Steve Jobs was not on any life support. Although his family has been very private about his final days, we do know that he was not being kept alive by a mechanical ventilator.
If he was being kept alive by a mechanical ventilator, he wouldn’t be able to say “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” as his sister revealed were his true last words.
In fact, on August 11, 2011 – less than two months before he died, Steve Jobs asked Tim Cook to visit him. As recounted in Tim Cook’s book – Becoming Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs was more than capable of talking lucidly even then :
He told me he had decided that I should be CEO. I thought then that he thought he was going to live a lot longer when he said this, because we got into a whole level of discussion about what would it mean for me to be CEO with him as a chairman. I asked him, ‘What do you really not want to do that you’re doing?’
“It was an interesting conversation,” Cook says, with a wistful laugh. “He says, ‘You make all the decisions.’ I go, ‘Wait. Let me ask you a question.’ I tried to pick something that would incite him. So I said, ‘You mean that if I review an ad and I like it, it should just run without your okay?’ And he laughed and said, ‘Well, I hope you’d at least ask me!’
I asked him two or three times, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ because I saw him getting better at that point in time. I went over there often during the week, and sometimes on the weekends. Every time I saw him he seemed to be getting better. He felt that way as well. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.”
Finally, if he was really kept alive by a mechanical ventilator, it would have kept him alive. He wouldn’t have died of respiratory arrest, which was the immediate cause of death.
The fact that he did indeed die of respiratory arrest is evidence that he was not on artificial respiration.
Fact #3 : Steve Jobs Did Not Die In A Hospital
Steve Jobs died at home, not in a hospital. The New York Times noted :
In his final months, Mr. Jobs’s home — a large and comfortable but relatively modest brick house in a residential neighborhood — was surrounded by security guards. His driveway’s gate was flanked by two black S.U.V.’s.
We don’t have an exact date for when he was confined to his home for his last days, but we do know that by August 11, 2011, he was permanently at home :
“He said, ‘I want to talk to you about something,’ ” remembers Cook. “This was when he was home all the time, and I asked when, and he said, ‘Now.’”
Fact #4 : Steve Jobs’ Last Words Were Never Mentioned In Any Biography
Steve Jobs had an official biography written by Walter Isaacson (Steve Jobs, ISBN 978-1501127625), who was given unprecedented access to his personal life, including over 40 interviews with Steve Jobs himself.
If Steve Jobs wanted to pass along such a message, he would have done it in that book. There is no mention of such a message in that biography.
The fake quote refers to God twice, which Steve would never do because he did not believe in God.
He was a Zen Buddhist, not the Lutheran Christian he was brought up to be. Buddhism is a religion, but their adherents do not believe in God or gods.
Fact #6 : Steve Jobs Was A Perfectionist
The fake story is replete with bad grammar. That is something Steve Jobs would never condone, being the perfectionist that he was. Needless to say, the writing style was not his either.
Fact #7 : Steve Jobs Was Not Afraid Of Death
The fake story claimed that Steve Jobs regretted spending his life in the pursuit of success at the expense of his family.
This cannot be further from the truth. Steve Jobs not only embraced his impending demise, he used it to spur him to make the most of his time left.
During his famous commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005, he said that “Death is very likely the single best invention of life“.
He then expounded on using that knowledge that our impending deaths to spur ourselves to greater heights, and to do what we really want to do in life :
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.
Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.
And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
Fact #8 : Steve Jobs Did Not Pursue Wealth
The story of the inspiring last words of Steve Jobs alluded to a mindless pursuit of wealth. That cannot be further from the truth, because Steve Jobs earned a cool annual salary of $1 since he returned to a struggling Apple in 1997.
He was not the only corporate executive to do this, of course, as they can be compensated through alternate means like bonuses, stock options, etc. Steve Jobs was notable, though, for not taking any alternative form of compensation since 2003.
He took virtually nothing in compensation for his time and effort at Apple because he was not pursuing wealth, but his vision. His wealth, and his position at Apple, were the means to the end, not the goal itself.
Help Us Kill The Fake Last Words Of Steve Jobs!
No matter whether you are a Steve Jobs fan, or just someone who loves an inspirational story, help us kill this fake story!
Many people tell us that it’s okay to create fake stories like that, because “the message is more important than the truth“.
Do we really want to teach our children that it’s moral to tell lies about other people, as long as if it’s for a good reason?
The truth is – these fake stories are being propagated by clickbait websites to generate money. Stop funding the creation of fake news.
STOP SHARING THIS FAKE NEWS! SHARE THIS FACT CHECK INSTEAD!
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
You can now use the same WhatsApp account on different phones at the same time!
Find out what this means, and how you can link multiple phones on WhatsApp!
You Can Now Use WhatsApp On Multiple Phones!
On Tuesday, April 25, 2023, WhatsApp announced that you can now use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones! This is a further evolution of the multi-device capability that WhatsApp introduced last year.
The earlier WhatsApp multi-device capability allows us to use WhatsApp on four other non-phone devices (like a computer or a tablet), without using our smartphone. While that was really useful, it still limited users to using the same WhatsApp account on a single phone.
That changes with the introduction of the ability to use the same WhatsApp account on multiple phones.
Going forward, you will have the same ability to link your WhatsApp account on your primary phone, as well as four other devices. However, they do not need to be non-phone devices – you can now link other phones to the same WhatsApp account.
Previously : You can link one phone + four non-phone devices to one WhatsApp account
Now : You can link one phone + four other phones / other devices to one WhatsApp account
Please note that this new feature is being rolled out globally in the next update, which will be available in the coming weeks. It may not be readily available for your WhatsApp account.
Once you link other phones to the same WhatsApp account, you will be able to switch between different phones without signing out, and continue messaging where you left off your other devices.
This unified messaging system will also be useful to businesses – multiple employees can now respond to customers directly from their phones using the same WhatsApp Business account.
Each linked phone will connect to WhatsApp independently, and will ensure that your messages, media and calls are end-to-end encrypted.
Your primary phone does not need to stay connected to the Internet to use WhatsApp on your linked devices. However, your linked companion devices will be automatically logged out:
if your primary phone is inactive for 14 days, or
if the linked device is inactive for more than 30 days.
To remain connected, you need to log into your primary phone at least once every 14 days, and your companion devices must be active at least once every 30 days.
You should also know that these features are NOT currently supported on linked companion devices:
WhatsApp will be introducing a new and easier way to link multiple phones. In coming weeks, you ill be able to enter your phone number into WhatsApp Web to receive a one-time code, which you can use on your other phones to enable device linking.
But until that rolls out, here are the steps to link multiple phones on WhatsApp:
Android Smartphone
Step 1 : Download and install WhatsApp on your Android companion phone that you wish to link.
Step 2 : Open WhatsApp and tap AGREE AND CONTINUE.
Step 3 : Tap More Options, and select Link to existing account. WhatsApp will display a QR code.
Step 4 : Open WhatsApp on your primary phone to scan the QR code:
Android : Tap More options > Linked devices > Link a device.
iPhone : Go to WhatsApp Settings > Linked devices > Link a device
Step 5 : Scan the WhatsApp QR code on the Android companion phone with your primary phone.
That’s it! The WhatsApp account on your primary phone will now link with the WhatsApp on your Android companion phone. It should now show “This is a linked device. Learn more” in Settings.
Apple iPhone
Step 1 : Download and install WhatsApp on your Android companion phone that you wish to link.
Step 2 : Open WhatsApp and tap AGREE AND CONTINUE.
Step 3 : Tap Link this device to an existing account. WhatsApp will display a QR code.
Step 4 : Open WhatsApp on your primary phone to scan the QR code:
Android : Tap More options > Linked devices > Link a device.
iPhone : Go to WhatsApp Settings > Linked devices > Link a device
Step 5 : Scan the WhatsApp QR code on the iPhone companion phone with your primary phone.
That’s it! The WhatsApp account on your primary phone will now link with the WhatsApp on your iPhone companion phone. It should now show “This is a linked device. Learn more” in Settings.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple may be planning to limit data transfer and charging speed on USB-C ports used in its devices, by introducing MFI certification!
Earlier : Apple Forced To Adopt USB-C Port!
Apple has been hesitant about moving to the superior USB-C port for years, limiting it to Mac computers and iPad tablets.
The 12-inch MacBook was the first Mac computer to get USB-C in 2015, while the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets made the switch from Lighting to USB-C in 2018. However, Apple stubbornly refused to migrate its iPhones to USB-C.
The choice to stick with their proprietary Lightning port was taken out of their hands on October 4, 2022, when the European Parliament voted decisively to adopt the USB-C (USB Type C) port as the new standard for all portable devices.
By the end of 2024, all portable devices sold in the EU must come with a USB-C charging port. This directive is more or less directed at Apple, which is the only brand that continues to use its own proprietary Lighting connector.
Apple MFI plan to limit speed, power on USB-C leaked!
Now that the EU is firmly forcing everyone to use USB-C, Apple will start using the USB Type C port in its upcoming iPhone 15 models.
However, Apple apparently isn’t going to give up its lucrative side gig of selling its users MFI (Made for iPhone) cables and accessories at exorbitant prices.
According to ShrimpApplePro, who accurately leaked on the iPhone 14, Apple will introduce MFI for its USB-C cables and accessories.
And even worse – cables that lack MFI certification will have their data and charging speeds limited.
Yeah usb-c with MFI is happening
Foxconn already in mass production accessories like EarPods and cables
Cables w no MFI will be software limited in data and charging speed
MFI-certified cables have a small authenticator chip to verify that they are “certified” to work with Apple devices. If you use cables that lack this authenticator chip, you will get the “This accessory is not supported” warning on your Apple device.
Apple gets paid for every authenticator chip, so MFI cables and accessories are priced at a premium, even if they work just as well as non-MFI cables and accessories.
Apple is already expected to limit the iPhone 15 base model, and iPhone 15 Plus, to USB 2.0 data transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbps (60 MB/s), while Pro models will get the much higher transfer rates of 20 Gbps (USB-C 3.2) or even 40 Gbps (Thunderbolt 3).
People may not bat an eye at Apple limiting data transfer speeds to differentiate their Pro models from the non-Pro models, but limiting battery recharging speeds for non-MFI cables should ruffle some feathers. After all, there is technically no good reason why Apple cannot allow their devices to benefit from faster charging using non-MFI cables.
Naturally, Apple benefits financially from introducing MFI for USB-C. It will force Apple users to pay the notorious “Apple tax” on top of the “Apple premium” they paid for their Apple devices.
Imagine if Apple introduces MFI for USB-C and phases that in for future Mac computers and iPad tablets, as well as the upcoming iPhone 15 smartphones. Even those who have been happily using regular, non-MFI USB-C cables will have to switch them to MFI cables, and for what?
There is really no discernible benefit for Apple users to use MFI-certified cables over regular USB-C cables. It’s not like they will give your Apple devices magical powers. If there is any reduction in transfer rate or charging speed, it will only happen because Apple intentionally chose to make it so.
Of course, this leak may turn out to be true, and Apple may not be quite so evil as to foist the MFI tax on its loyal users. But I fear that Apple believes its users are more loyal than discerning, and will yet again, quietly pay for MFI cables just because Apple said so.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Two thieves made off with $35,000 worth of Apple products at an Apple Store in broad daylight… in just 60 seconds!
Take a look at the viral video, and find out what happened!
Gone In 60 Seconds : Apple Store Robbed Of $35K!
At around 4:17 PM on Friday, November 25, 2022, a pair of thieves brazenly stole $35,000 worth of Apple products in front of shocked customers and store workers at the Apple Store in Palo Alto, California!
The Black Friday heist showed the two masked men yanking multiple iPhones and MacBook laptops from the display tables to stuff in their bags, while pushing past customers and store workers.
A customer can be heard on the video asking, “Should we stop them?”, and an Apple Store worker responded, “Let them go”.
The minute-long video showed just how quickly the two thieves were able to “work the room”, to steal all those Apple devices!
Even though they were unchallenged by the customers and store workers, one of the thieves “made a general statement to the crowd of physical violence” if they attempted to stop the robbery.
That escalated the crime from merely “shoplifting” to a robbery, according to the police, who confirmed that about $35,000 worth of Apple phones and laptops were taken.
One of the suspects was wearing a beige hoodie with blue jeans, white shoes and a red backpack, while the other was wearing a blue camouflage hoodie with black Adidas pants, red shoes and a black Adidas backpack.
The police are currently looking for both men, described as black males in their late teens or early 20s, who fled in a red Mazda hatchback and were last seen by a security guard driving north on Highway 101 at around 4:30 PM.
The Palo Alto Apple Store has been robbed three times in recent years. In 2018, it was robbed twice within 24 hours, with thieves taking over $100,000 worth of merchandise, while in 2016, robbers smashed a rental car through its store front and made off with thousands of dollars worth of Apple products.
As its products are considered high-value, Apple has seen its store in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington, D.C. targeted in large heists.
As a result, Apple has initiated several measures to make it difficult for thieves to sell their loot of stolen Apple devices.
For example, demo devices like the ones just stolen from the Palo Alto Apple Store would have been registered with an Apple ID, and can therefore be easily tracked using the Find My iPhone service.
These demo devices also have proximity software installed since 2016, which automatically disables them once they are taken outside of their assigned Apple Store.
Apple also has the ability to disable and track stolen devices, even those that are brand-new, in-the-box. Those who purchased them will find that their devices can’t be turned off, and their location would be sent to local authorities.
The stolen iPhones will also display a warning to the user, informing them that the device has been disabled and being tracked, and that the local authorities has been alerted. The user is advised to return the iPhone to the Apple Store where it was stolen from.
Please return to Apple Walnut Street
This device has been disabled and is being tracked. Local authorities will be alerted.
This pretty much makes these stolen devices useless, if the thieves intend to sell them to other people. They may, however, find some use as spare parts for far less profit, of course
Apple is also blocking access to repairs for lost or stolen devices. For starters – Apple will refuse to repair iPhones if its Find My iPhone feature cannot be disabled (to prove ownership).
In addition, Apple repair technicians can now see if an iPhone has been reported lost or stolen in the internal MobileGenius or GXS system. If the device was reported lost or stolen, they will decline to repair the device.
All these measures will mean that the viral $35,000 heist at the Palo Alto Apple Store will not amount to much for the thieves.
In fact, Apple is the winner in this robbery – its demo devices would have certainly been insured. In a way, Apple “sold” the stolen $35,000 inventory in this robbery to their insurance company!
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple has accelerated its plans to leave Zhengzhou in China, where the massive iPhone City manufacturing zone is located!
Apple To Move MORE iPhone Production Out Of China!
As anti-government protests continue across China, Apple is accelerating its plans to leave Zhengzhou – where the massive iPhone City manufacturing zone is located!
Apple CEO Tim Cook is now eyeing Vietnam and India as new manufacturing hubs to replace Zhengzhou, where Foxconn workers earlier fled amidst repeated protests.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple now plans to move to 45% of iPhone production to factories in India, and ramp up production of its MacBooks, Apple Watches and AirPods in Vietnam.
Those moves come with serious challenges as Apple faces having to deal with different regional government bureaucracies in India.
Meanwhile, Vietnam only has 10% of China’s population, and can only handle a 60,000 person factory – far smaller than the 300,000 person “iPhone City” in Zhengzhou.
So Apple is still considering switching to other suppliers in China – Luxshare Precision Industry Co. and Wingtech Technology Co., although these alternate plans may be jeopardised by the Chinese government’s persistence with its Zero COVID policy.
Apple Earlier Planned To Move iPhone Production Out Of China!
While Apple had been planning the move for months due to the Chinese government’s insistence on Zero COVID policy, the recent uprisings at its Zhengzhou manufacturing hub has accelerated those plans.
In November, iPhone City in Zhengzhou erupted in violent protests by Foxconn employees over strict Zero COVID policies and pay disputes, prompting a lockdown.
This forced Foxconn to offer $1,400 to quit their jobs, and later, a $1,800 bonus to stay. Even so, manufacturing at Zhengzhou is down to about 20% of its capacity.
Foxconn has tried to shift some of its production to its Shenzhen factory, but it cannot make up the shortfall, which is reported to be as much as 6 million iPhone Pro smartphones.
Things got so bad the Chinese government even called on military veterans and CCP members to work at the iPhone City factories as volunteers!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
China abruptly lifted COVID-19 restrictions in several Chinese cities, after large protests erupted in at least seventeen cities.
China Lifts Some COVID-19 Restrictions Over Protests
The CCP government of China has been cracking down on protests that have spread to at least seventeen cities, but its resolve appear to have cracked a little.
The authorities in the major cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Zhengzhou abruptly lifted COVID-19 lockdown measures and restrictions.
On Wednesday afternoon, 30 November 2022, Chinese authorities announced the lifting of lockdowns in four districts in Guangzhou, and instructed local officials to remove “temporary control orders” and to predesignate those areas as “low risk”. They also announced an end to mass PCR testing for COVID-19.
Both Guangzhou and Chongqing also announced that close contacts of COVID-19 positive people will be allowed to quarantine at home instead of being forcibly taken to a quarantine centre, subject to certain conditions.
Shanghai – China’s largest and most affluent city, announced that the lockdown of 24 high-risk areas across 11 of its districts would be lifted on Thursday, 1 December 2022.
The city of Zhengzhou – the location of the massive iPhone factory and earlier protests, announced the “orderly” resumption of business, including markets, supermark1ets, restaurants and cinemas. While lifting COVID-19 restrictions in general, they published a list of buildings that would remain under lockdown.
China Could Quietly Kill Zero COVID Policy Over Protests
China could be preparing to quietly “kill” its Zero COVID policy that had been the hallmark “achievement” of President Xi Jinping.
On Wednesday, 30 November 2022, Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan – China’s most senior official in charge of its COVID-19 response, told health officials that the country faced “a new stage and mission” in pandemic control.
She noticeably did not mention the Zero COVID policy, but said that the National Health Commission (NHC) should take a “human-centred approach”, in an apparent nod to the anti-government protests that have wracked multiple Chinese cities.
Sun also called for China to enhance its “diagnosis, testing, treatment and quarantine” measures, while boosting vaccination rates especially for its senior citizens, and beef up medication and medical resources.
This appears to suggest that the Chinese authorities are at least thinking of further loosening its strict Zero COVID measures, if not killing it completely.
Her comments come a day after top Chinese health officials pledged to change COVID-19 control measures to reduce their impact on people’s lives.
Chinese National Health Commission (NHC) officials said that lockdowns to suppress the spread of COVID-19 should be lifted “as quickly as possible” during outbreaks.
Cheng Youquan – a director at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that some control measures were implemented “excessively” by local officials taking a “one size fits all” approach, without regard for people’s demands.
NHC officials also announced an “action plan’ to boost vaccination rates amongst the elderly, which would be necessary if China is to reopen the country.
As of November 28, about 90% of Chinese population received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, but only 66% of people over 80 have done so. A very high vaccination rate is critical, because Chinese vaccines have much lower efficacy than Western vaccines.
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He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Find out how Apple has quietly limited AirDrop to help China prevent anti-government protests!
Protestors In China Use AirDrop To Organise + Bypass Censors!
China has been rocked by anti-government protests, that started at the in Zhengzhou, but later spread to at least seven cities.
Despite efforts by the CCP government to censor and block efforts to organise demonstrations, Chinese protestors were able to bypass the “Great Firewall” using the Apple AirDrop feature.
AirDrop is a proprietary feature that allows for the wireless transfers of files between Apple mobile devices and computers. It was used to great effect in 2019, when protestors in Hong Kong used it to bypass the China’s “Great Firewall” and organise their demonstrations.
Now, Chinese citizens are using the AirDrop feature of their iPhones to circulate information about planned demonstrations, or memes and messages opposing Chinese President Xi Jinping, or the Chinese government.
Since AirDrop communicates directly between Apple devices, it works even when the authorities shut down mobile communications and Internet connectivity.
How Apple Helps China Limit Protests Using AirDrop!
Unfortunately, Apple quietly introduced an update on November 9, 2022 to severely restrict the AirDrop feature on iPhones sold in China.
In the past, iPhone users in China could set AirDrop to accept files from Everyone without any time limit, allowing them to discreetly send and receive files from strangers.
The iOS 16.1.1 update introduced a 10 minute limit for AirDrop, making it impossible to receive files from strangers.
While it is still possible to receive files from strangers, users will have to repeatedly reset the setting to Everyone for 10 Minutes, which is not practical.
On top of that, the new time restriction on AirDrop affects all iPhones sold in China, regardless of which country your App Store account is based in. So foreigners who purchased their iPhones in China will be similarly affected.
It is not surprising that Apple would bend the knee to the CCP government. After all, China accounts for almost a fifth of Apple’s total sales!
In 2021, it was even reported that Apple CEO Tim Cook signed a secret $275 billion deal with China in 2016 to “solve” regulatory problems.
The relationship between Apple and the CCP government in China appears to be so strong that when Foxconn employees fled the massive iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, Beijing ordered military veterans and Communist Party members to fill in for the labour shortage!
It will now be up to the Chinese protestors to figure another way to bypass the Great Firewall. Jia you!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Will your phone get hacked while you are voting in GE15?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Your Phone Will Get Hacked While You Vote In GE15!
This warning has gone viral on WhatsApp and social media, claiming that your phone will get hacked while you are voting in GE15!
The post is long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts!
For first time voters, it might be tempting to bring your phone along with you to document and record your experience voting for the first time.
However, the Election Commission (EC) has announced that the use of mobile phones inside polling stations will not be allowed.
As such, you may use your phone to kill time while standing in line, but you’d have to surrender your phone once you collect your ballot paper.
But, according to a Malaysian self-taught ethical hacker, this might not be the wisest move.
In a Twitter post that has gone viral, Twitter user @BeardtimusPrime shared that leaving your phone unattended and in the hands of volunteers at polling stations raises many security bells.
In a response to an infographic about the on-the-day process, he said that you should never leave your smartphone unattended and if you had to, you should at least put security tape over the USB/Lightning port before handing it over.
How could that be possible?
In an interview with WORLD OF BUZZ, the Twitter user explained that the issue lies in the fact that you’d be handing over your phone to volunteers, with close to zero vetting and background checks.
“Physically handing over your device is the worst thing to do when it comes to security. It’s similar to sharing passwords.”
He then explained that there are various ways hackers could access your data with your device in their hands and that simply turning off a smartphone doesn’t truly turn it off unless you were to take the battery out which requires special tools.
“Malware injection is still possible as the device will be in a ‘soft-off’ state,” he explained.
He then shared an explainer video on how hackers could easily access your data simply by plugging in what appears to be a standard cable which would allow them to remotely control and access your phone.
The video showed how people who have managed to access your phone would be able to read your messages, send messages from your phone and other worrisome things.
If you’d like to find out more on how exactly this can happen, checkout the video below (tap link to view video).
We hope that this will serve as a reminder to never leave your phone unattended. Are you still planning to bring your phone to the voting stations?
Truth : Your Phone Won’t Get Hacked While You Vote In GE15!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Phones Are Left On KTM Table In Individual Boxes
First, let us establish some basic facts about how phones are “surrendered” before voting in GE15:
Each polling station (Saluran) will have two voting booths, allowing two voters to mark their ballots at the same time.
The KTM (Ketua Tempat Mengundi – Head of Polling Station) will have two cardboard boxes – one for each phone.
On the way to the voting booth, each voter will place his/her phone into one of the two cardboard boxes on the KTM’s table.
After casting the ballots, the voter will retrieve his/her phone from the cardboard box.
The polling clerks and the head of the polling station (KTM) will NOT touch any phone. Voters must place and retrieve their phones by themselves.
Fact #2 : There Are Many Witnesses In Each Polling Station
Each polling station has at least one police officer, three polling clerks and a KTM (Head of the Polling Station), as well as two or more observers.
That’s seven or more people arranged along three sides of the room, which means the phones placed on the KTM’s table are visible to all of them. Any attempt by anyone but the voters to handle the phones would be instantly noticed.
Fact #3 : KTM Is Usually A Teacher Working In That School
In Malaysian elections, schools are generally used as voting centres, with classrooms converted into polling stations.
Usually, the Malaysia Election Commission (SPR) appoints teachers of the same school as the KTM – head of each polling station.
While this does not mean some of these teachers are not secretly awesome hackers in their spare time, it means that your phones are generally being watched by teachers.
If you can trust school teachers with your kids, you can certainly trust them to WATCH OVER your precious phone.
Fact #4 : Marking Your Ballots Take Less Than A Minute
The only time your phone is out of your view is when you are marking your ballots in the voting booth.
How long do you reckon it takes to mark X on one or two ballots, and fold them? Maybe 10 seconds? 20 seconds if you are slow. No matter what – your mobile phone will only be out of sight for less than a minute.
Do you actually believe any hacker would have the time to hook up your phone to any cable, never mind hack it, in less than one minute?
Fact #5 : Juice Jacking Requires Cable To Be Plugged Into Phone
What this “ethical hacker” is referring to is called juice jacking. Juice jacking requires a cable to be plugged into your phone. It cannot happen wirelessly, because it relies on USB vulnerabilities.
As noted in Fact #1, you will place your phone into a large cardboard box. You will be able to see that there are no cables present.
While you are marking your vote, the box containing your phone will be fully visible to at least six other people in the room, if you discount the “nefarious KTM who is secretly an evil hacker”.
Even a “nefarious KTM who is secretly an evil hacker” will have trouble taking your phone out of the box, without any of the other people in the room noticing, never mind actually plugging in a cable.
That’s why the real risk of juice jacking isn’t that 20-30 seconds you spend voting in GE15, but when you plug your phone into a free USB power socket.
If you are paranoid, just cover your phone’s USB or Lightning port with tape, before you place it in the designated box.
Fact #6 : Juice Jacking Vulnerabilities Have Been Mitigated
As ethical hackers reveal security risks like juice jacking, Google and Apple have taken measures to mitigate the risks.
Both Android and iOS, for example, no longer allow the phone to be mounted as a drive when plugged in over USB. You will get a prompt asking you to confirm the step, which is not possible for the hacker to do without first unlocking the phone.
There have also been many Android and iOS security updates that patch vulnerabilities that could potentially lead to juice jacking attacks. That’s why it’s so important to keep your phone operating system updated.
Please WATCH OUT about such FAKE NEWS on WhatsApp and social media.
Remember – democracy does not guarantee us a good government. Democracy only guarantees us the right to vote out a bad government!
Happy voting on 19 November 2022!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The massive iPhone factory in Zhengzhou is now under another COVID-19 lockdown, after thousands of employees fled!
iPhone Factory Now Under COVID-19 Lockdown!
On Wednesday, 2 November 2022, China placed the Zhengzhou Airport Economy Zone under a new COVID-19 lockdown. This is where Foxconn has its largest iPhone factory, employing about 200,000 workers
The Zhengzhou industrial zone, located in the Henan province, was placed under “silent management” measures with immediate effect, and last for one week – until November 9, 2022.
all residents are barred from going out
only approved vehicles are allowed on the road
Foxconn said in a statement that its campus will continue operating under a “closed loop” management system, in which employees sleep, live and work in a bubble, isolated from the rest of Zhengzhou and the world.
A source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters that such a lockdown could cut production of Apple iPhones by as much as 30%, and that Foxconn was working to boost production at their Shenzhen factory to make up for the shortfall.
Employees Have Been Fleeing iPhone Factory For Days!
For several days now, Foxconn employees have been fleeing the Zhengzhou factory, after some workers were placed under quarantine following a COVID-19 outbreak.
The Foxconn employees also complained of poor food quality, and a lack of medical care for those who tested positive.
On Sunday, 30 October, Foxconn said that it would not stop them from leaving, and many workers chose to walk back to their hometowns.
Videos of those employees climbing over fences, and walking away from the factory went viral. So did photos and videos of those Foxconn workers trekking across fields in the day, and long roads at night.
Some people were walking amid wheat fields with their luggage, blankets and quilt. I couldn’t help but feel sad.
Those videos galvanised volunteers from nearby villages to put out food and drinks for the workers. Foxconn and several local governments finally arranged transportation for them.
Workers who were transported back to their hometowns were quarantined on arrival. A belated measure that should have been initiated earlier.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just froze its original plan to use China’s YMTC NAND flash memory chips in their iPhones!
Apple Freezes Use Of China’s YMTC NAND Chips!
On Monday, October 17, 2022, Nikkei Asia (paywall) reported that Apple just froze its original plan to use NAND flash memory chips from Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC)!
Apple had originally planned to start using NAND flash memory chips manufactured by YMTC in iPhones manufactured for the Chinese market, eventually purchasing up to 40% of its chip requirements from the Chinese state-funded company.
Those plans had to be put on hold after the US government announced stricter technology export controls designed to block China’s access to advanced semiconductor technologies.
The United States added YMTC – China’s top memory chipmaker – and 30 other Chinese companies to its “Unverified List” of companies that its official are unable to inspect to ensure compliance with its export controls.
The United States also initiated a new 60-day deadline for entities under the “Unverified List” to allow for complete end-to-end inspections, or risk even tougher penalties if added to the infamous “Entity List“.
YMTC is also being investigated by the US Commerce Department over allegations it violated earlier United States export controls by selling chips to HUAWEI, which was blacklisted under the Trump Administration.
Apple Decision Stymies Earlier Preparations By YMTC
Apple’s decision to freeze its purchase of YMTC flash memory chips stymies earlier preparations by the Wuhan-based memory chipmaker to mitigate looming US export controls.
According to four employees who spoke to Financial Times, YMTC had been stockpiling foreign equipment for months after US lawmakers started urging the Biden Administration to punish it for helping the Chinese military and violating trade restrictions by supply HUAWEI with chips.
YMTC has also come under scrutiny over concerns that massive Chinese government subsidies allow it to sells its chips below market price, even at a loss, just to gain market share at the expense of other companies.
We’ve been doing everything possible beforehand to support existing production lines, such as stockpiling all kinds of equipment.
– Senior YMTC engineer
All that preparation was for naught, because Apple’s decision to freeze its massive purchase of YMTC flash memory chips is only the tip of the iceberg.
Other companies will similarly be forced to freeze or cancel their purchase of YMTC chips unless YMTC acquiesces to comply with audit requirements by US officials – a step the Chinese chipmaker is (politically) incapable of taking.
YMTC is, after all, China’s largest memory chipmaker, and a national champion in the country’s drive to build a domestic chip industry. It received 220 billion yuan (over $30.5 billion) in funding from both the Hubei province, and a national fund.
After the Biden Administration announced new chip export restrictions, the top three US chip toolmakers – KLA Corporation, Lam Research and Applied Materials immediately stopped sales and services to YMTC.
Despite its earlier stockpiling efforts, one YMTC employee revealed that the company only had enough wafers and parts for equipment repairs to last a year, but that’s assuming it won’t need technical support from foreign companies.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
An Apple Watch Series 7 exploded recently, and Apple tried to cover it up. Maybe that’s why there’s not much uproar over it!
Apple Watch Explodes, Apple Tries To Cover It Up!
An Apple Watch Series 7 user recently reported to 9to5Mac that his smartwatch overheated, started smoking and eventually exploded!
The user recently noticed that his smartwatch was getting much hotter than usual, and that the back of the Apple Watch Series 7 had cracked.
watchOS also started showing a warning about needing to shut down due to the high temperature. This happened while he was in his own home where the temperature was just over 70°F / 21°C.
He immediately called Apple Support, and his call got escalated through multiple levels, eventually landing in the hands of a manager who told him not to touch the watch until he heard back from them.
The next morning, the Apple Watch was even hotter to the touch, and the heat actually shattered its display!
When he picked it up to take photos to send to Apple Support, it started making “crackling sounds” and “exploded” just as he threw it out the window.
The exploding Apple Watch Series 7 left burn marks on his couch, and he visited the hospital emergency room out of an abundance of caution over the potential of lead poisoning from the burning Apple Watch.
When he reached out to Apple, he was told that his case was a “top priority”, and that he would receive an update by the “following Monday”. Apparently, it wasn’t top priority enough to deal on a weekend…
Eventually, he waited until Wednesday, October 5, 2022, to hear back from Apple – it arranged to pick up the Apple Watch for further tests in its labs.
Apple also sent him a document asking him to agree not to share his experience with anyone. Fortunately, the Apple Watch user declined to sign the document, so he could share his story. Otherwise, we would never have known about an Apple Watch Series 7 exploding!
Apple Watch Explodes vs. Samsung Phone Batteries Bloating
It is inevitable that comparisons will be made between this story of an Apple Watch actually exploding, and the recent complaints by influencers that their Samsung phone batteries were bloating.
First, let me point out that in both cases, we cannot determine cause and effect merely from a few cases (in the saga of bloating Samsung batteries) or one case (this example of an exploding Apple Watch).
Apple sold over 100 million Apple Watch models since December 2020, and Samsung sells over 270 million smartphones every year. So it is important to frame both incidences in that context.
While exploding or bloating batteries are a real danger that we must all be aware of, it is an unavoidable risk of using lithium-ion battery technology.
When the drama over bloating Samsung batteries first exploded (pun intended!), many people asked me for my opinion as I too have many smartphones that I keep for comparison tests.
I shared that so far, the only Samsung phone to bloat was an old Galaxy S7 edge from 2017, and many other smartphones from ASUS, Xiaomi, etc. have bloated on me. In fact, a realme smartphone is slowly splitting itself in two from a battery bloat in front of me right now.
So it isn’t exactly a “brand problem”. In fact, the worst brand for battery bloating in my personal experience is Apple. My 15-inch MacBook Pro suffered no less than THREE (3) sets of bloated batteries in just 3 years. So Apple fans really should not laugh at other brands over battery issues.
All lithium-ion batteries have an innate risk of bloating, catching fire, or even exploding. That is something we must all acknowledge.
Of course, better design decisions and stringent quality control can greatly reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of such dangerous incidences. When hundreds of millions of lithium-powered devices are being manufactured every year, it is inevitable that many of them will bloat after some time, and a few will catch fire and may even explode.
That is why airlines forbid travellers from storing lithium-ion batteries, or devices with lithium-ion batteries, in their check-in luggage. That’s to ensure that if a fire does break out, it would be noticeable to the cabin crew, and can be tackled quickly.
What is most concerning though what happens when companies are made aware of battery issues. Do they take you seriously and treat you right? Or do they try to shut you up, to protect their reputation and sales?
What Samsung did was assuring, but probably only because they learned their lesson from the Galaxy Note7 battery saga. Apple did not suffer through such a traumatic event, and it shows.
Perhaps they should go through a similarly traumatic experience. Then maybe they will treat their customers a little better. The way they treated me when I reported my MacBook Pro’s bloated batteries is why I steadfastly refuse to ever consider buying an iPhone.
And trying to cover up this case of an Apple Watch exploding? That’s just not right…
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
It’s official – the EU has ordered all brands to standardise on the USB-C connector for all mobile chargers, including Apple!
EU Orders All Brands To Use USB-C, Including Apple!
On Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the European Parliament voted decisively in favour of adopting the USB-C (USB Type C) port as the new standard for all portable devices.
The directive passed with an overwhelming vote of 602 MEPs in favour, and just 13 against (with 8 abstentions), and now heads to the EU Council for the formality of a final approval.
Once the Council signs off on the directive, it will enter into force 20 days after publication in the EU’s Official Journal. Member states will then have 12 months to transpose the new directive, and another 12 months after that transposition period, to apply the new rules.
Once these new rules are enforced, consumers will be able to use and share chargers since all portable devices use the same charging port.
The EU expects the directive to greatly reduce e-waste, and help consumers save up to €250 million a year on purchasing chargers of different standards.
In the EU, chargers alone account for about 11,000 tonnes of e-waste every year. So this directive will help to cut down on the environmental impact of disposing of so many old or unused chargers.
Details Of EU Directive On USB-C Standardisation
Here is my quick round-up of the new EU directive on standardising portable devices and laptops on the USB Type C charging port.
All Devices Must Come With USB-C Charging Port
What this means is that by the end of 2024, all portable devices sold in the EU must come with a USB Type C charging port.
Regardless of their manufacturer, all new mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, headphones and headsets, handheld videogame consoles and portable speakers, e-readers, keyboards, mice, portable navigation systems, earbuds and laptops that are rechargeable via a wired cable, operating with a power delivery of up to 100 Watts, will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C port.
Small devices like smartwatches and health trackers that cannot fit a USB-C port are exempted from this requirement.
This directive is more or less directed at Apple which persists in using its own proprietary Lighting connector for its devices – everything from iPhone, iPad, AirPods and even its wireless keyboard and mouse.
The only way for Apple to get around this is to switch their new devices to wireless charging before the end of 2024.
All Devices Must Support USB-C Fast Charging Standards
Also important is the fact that the EU is going to force all brands to adopt USB-C fast charging standards.
While the legislation won’t stop manufacturers from implementing special fast charging capabilities, it will ensure that their chargers and devices support USB-C fast charging standards as a minimum.
All devices that support fast charging will now have the same charging speed, allowing users to charge their devices at the same speed with any compatible charger.
USB-C Mandate To Extend To Laptops In 2026
On top of that, the directive also requires laptops to standardise on the USB Type C charging port by spring 2026.
This new directive will not please Apple MacBook users who just celebrated the return of the MagSafe connector, but it will be a great advantage for consumers.
Once enforced, everyone will be able to use their laptop’s USB-C charger to also recharge their other devices, because they all have the same USB Type port!
Dedicated Labels
The directive also requires brands to use dedicated labels to help consumers decide if their existing chargers will support their new devices, or if they need to purchase a new charger.
This will hopefully prevent consumers from being hoodwinked into purchasing a new charger with every new device, when their existing chargers will work just as well.
Dedicated labels will inform consumers about the charging characteristics of new devices, making it easier for them to see whether their existing chargers are compatible.
Buyers will also be able to make an informed choice about whether or not to purchase a new charging device with a new product.
Wireless Charging To Be Standardised Too
The directive also commanded the European Commission to tackle wireless charging interoperability by the end of 2024.
It highlighted the risk of brands using proprietary wireless charging technologies to “lock in” users, replicating what Apple did with its Lightning connector for wired charging.
Like with wired charging, the EU wants wireless charging to be interoperable as well.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Now that Apple Pay is available in Malaysia, here is my guide on how to set it up with your debit / credit card!
Apple Pay Is Now Available In Malaysia!
Apple Pay was first launched way back in September 2014, together with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, its global availability was slow and some would say, tortuous.
For years, Apple fans in Malaysia have requested for Apple Pay to be introduced in Malaysia, and could only look at Singapore in envy, when Apple Pay was introduced there more than six years ago in April 2016!
But the wait is over! The steady drip of leaks has finally culminated in actual confirmation that yes, Apple Pay is now available in Malaysia!
While this guide is based on credit cards in Malaysia, it will work in other countries too, as long as Apple Pay is supported.
Not All Banks Support Apple Pay
First of all, you must understand that not all banks support Apple Pay. Here in Malaysia, only three banks support Apple Pay at the moment.
Banks In Malaysia That Support Apple Pay
You will be able to register debit and credit cards issued by these banks :
AmBank
Maybank
Standard Chartered Bank
Banks In Malaysia That Do Not Support Apple Pay
You won’t be able to add debit or credit cards from these banks :
CIMB
Citibank
UOB
OCBC
I will update this article as and when I find out what other banks in Malaysia support, or don’t support, Apple Pay.
To help you register your debit / credit card with Apple Pay, here is my step-by-step guide :
Step 1 : Open the Wallet app in your iPhone.
Step 2 : Tap on the Add button to “Add a credit or debit card to get started using Apple Pay”.
Step 3 : In the next screen, tap on the Continue button.
Step 4 : You will now be asked to “scan” your debit / credit card using your iPhone camera, positioning it within the frame.
Step 5 : The Wallet app will try to pick up important details of your credit card like :
Name
Credit card number
Expiry date
If nothing happens, that means it cannot read the details off the card. Then you will need to tap on the Enter Card Details Manually option at the bottom.
Step 6 : Whether your card details are detected or not, verify the key card details required by Apple Pay :
Name
Card Number
Expiry Date
Security Code
If the detected details are wrong, edit them to make sure they match your debit / credit card.
Step 7 : You will need to key in the Security Code, which is a 3-digit or 4-digit CSC (Card Security Code) / CVV (Card Verification Value) / CVC (Card Verification Code) usually printed on the back of your debit / credit card.
Step 8 : If your credit card is not supported, you will get a pop-up message saying :
Your Issuer Does Not Yet Offer Support for This Card
Ask your issuer if they offer cards that support Apple Pay.
If your card is supported, you will see a list of Terms and Conditions. You will need to tap on Agree to continue.
Step 9 : The screen show details of your credit card while the Wallet app sets it up for Apple Pay. Just wait for a few seconds.
Step 10 : You will now be asked to verify your card for Apple Pay, usually through Text Message. Tap Next to continue with the verification process.
Step 11 : You will receive an SMS with a 6-digit One Time Password (OTP). You need to key that in within 2 minutes :
Card enrolment OTP for your digital wallet is XXXXXX. It will expire after 2 mins. If you have not performed this, please contact the bank.
Step 12 : Tap Next after keying in the OTP, and you should see the Card Activated notice.
That’s it! Your credit card is now ready for Apple Pay. When you open your Wallet, you should see that debit / credit card listed.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
An XPeng engineer just pleaded guilty to stealing trade secrets from the Apple Project Titan self-driving car program!
Here is what we know so far…
XPeng Engineer Guilty Of Stealing Apple Car Secrets!
A former Apple engineer who joined Xpeng – the Chinese electric vehicle maker, just pleaded guilty to the criminal charge of stealing trade secrets from the Apple self-driving car program!
Zhang Xiaolang initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but he reached a plea deal with prosecutors and changed his plea to guilty, according to court documents released on Monday, August 22, 2022.
The plea deal is sealed, so the details are unknown. Zhang’s attorney, Daniel Olmos, confirmed the plea agreement but declined to comment on the details. Sentencing however is set for November 2022.
Zhang faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine. With this plea deal, he should serve a much shorter sentence.
In addition to Zhang, US federal prosecutors also charged Chen Jizhong with stealing secrets from the Apple self-driving car program. Chen, however, continues to plead not guilty, and will have his day in court on August 29, 2022.
Chen is also represented by the same lawyer as Zhang – Daniel Olmos.
Zhang Xiaolang worked on the Apple Project Titan autonomous vehicle program as a hardware engineer between 2015 and 2018, during which he designed and tested circuit boards.
He travelled to China during his paternity leave in 2018, and on returning in April 2018, he told his boss at Apple that he was leaving to work for XPeng (Guangzhou Xiaopeng Motors Technology) in China.
XPeng, also known as XMotors in the United States, is a Chinese electric car startup backed by Alibaba, Foxconn and IDG Capital. It has developed electric cars like the XPeng G3 and XPeng P5.
His boss felt that Zhang was “being evasive” during the meeting. There was also increased network activity and visits to his office, before he resigned. All that led to an internal Apple investigation of his two company-issued phones and laptop.
That’s when they discovered that Zhang had been downloading confidential files from the Apple lab during his time away. He was also caught on CCTV removing circuit boards and a Linux server from their lab.
Zhang’s network activity was found to consist of “both bulk searches and targeted downloading copious pages of information from the various confidential database applications“.
Zhang was arrested at the San Jose airport in July 7, 2018, before he could board a last-minute, one-way flight to China aboard Hainan Airlines.
In an interview with Apple’s security team, Zhang admitted that he downloaded the data online, and removed hardware from its labs. He also admitted to the FBI that he stored the files he downloaded on his wife’s laptop.
The FBI described the data he stoled as “largely technical in nature, including engineering schematics, technical reference manuals, and technical reports“.
The files – about 24 GB worth – include a 25-page document containing engineering schematics of a circuit board, as well as technical manuals and PDFs related to the Apple self-driving car prototype.
The other Apple engineer to be charged with stealing secrets of its autonomous car project – Chen Jizhong – was accused of stealing stolen thousands of sensitive documents, as well as 100 photos taken inside its self-driving facility – all discovered in a hard disk drive he owned.
Chen was also arrested when he attempted to board a flight to China, ostensibly to visit his ill father.
XPeng Denies Involvement In Theft Of Apple Car Secrets!
XPeng said in a Weibo post that it was aware of the plea agreement from media reports, but it was “not clear about the details, nor involved in further investigation conducted by US law enforcement“.
It has been more than four years into the case, and we are not aware of the specifics of the case and have not been involved in the follow-up investigation of the case by the US judiciary.
We also have no relevant dispute with Apple and have no connection with the case. We strictly abide by relevant laws and attaches great importance to intellectual property protection.
Zhang joined XMotors in May 2018, but the company quickly distanced itself from its employee, stating on July 11, 2021 :
There is no indication that he has ever communicated any sensitive information from Apple to XMotors.
XMotors always has strictly abided by the laws of China and the United States and takes protection of intellectual property rights seriously.
Company spokesperson Isabel Jiang also stated that once they were notified in late June 2018 that US authorities were investigating Zhang, they secured his computer and office equipment and denied him access to his work. They subsequently fired him.
XPeng also said that Zhang signed an intellectual property compliance document on the day he joined, and that there was “no record that he reported any sensitive and illegal situations” to the company.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple did not announce anything official, but Apple Pay is now available in Malaysia!
Here is what you need to know, and how you can start using Apple Pay in Malaysia!
Apple Pay Is Now Available In Malaysia!
Apple Pay was first launched way back in September 2014, together with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, its global availability was slow and some would say, tortuous.
For years, Apple fans in Malaysia have requested for Apple Pay to be introduced in Malaysia, and could only look at Singapore in envy, when Apple Pay was introduced there more than six years ago in April 2016!
But the wait is over! The steady drip of leaks has finally culminated in actual confirmation that yes, Apple Pay is now available in Malaysia!
Apple did not announce anything, but you can now add your debit / credit cards to Apple Pay and start using it in Malaysia!
This makes Malaysia only the second country in Southeast Asia to support Apple Pay. The first was Singapore in April 2016.
Malaysia is also only the 10th territory in Asia to support Apple Pay, after Australia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Singapore.
What Banks Currently Support Apple Pay In Malaysia?
Right off the bat, I have to warn you that support for Apple Pay is still pretty limited in Malaysia, to just three banks as far as I can tell.
Banks In Malaysia That Support Apple Pay
You will be able to register debit and credit cards issued by these banks :
AmBank
Maybank
Standard Chartered Bank
Banks In Malaysia That Do Not Support Apple Pay
You won’t be able to add debit or credit cards from these banks :
CIMB
Citibank
UOB
OCBC
I will update this article as and when I find out what other banks in Malaysia support, or don’t support, Apple Pay.
To help you register your debit / credit card with Apple Pay, here is my step-by-step guide :
Step 1 : Open the Wallet app in your iPhone.
Step 2 : Tap on the Add button to “Add a credit or debit card to get started using Apple Pay”.
Step 3 : In the next screen, tap on the Continue button.
Step 4 : You will now be asked to “scan” your debit / credit card using your iPhone camera, positioning it within the frame.
Step 5 : The Wallet app will try to pick up important details of your credit card like :
Name
Credit card number
Expiry date
If nothing happens, that means it cannot read the details off the card. Then you will need to tap on the Enter Card Details Manually option at the bottom.
Step 6 : Whether your card details are detected or not, verify the key card details required by Apple Pay :
Name
Card Number
Expiry Date
Security Code
If the detected details are wrong, edit them to make sure they match your debit / credit card.
Step 7 : You will need to key in the Security Code, which is a 3-digit or 4-digit CSC (Card Security Code) / CVV (Card Verification Value) / CVC (Card Verification Code) usually printed on the back of your debit / credit card.
Step 8 : If your credit card is not supported, you will get a pop-up message saying :
Your Issuer Does Not Yet Offer Support for This Card
Ask your issuer if they offer cards that support Apple Pay.
If your card is supported, you will see a list of Terms and Conditions. You will need to tap on Agree to continue.
Step 9 : The screen show details of your credit card while the Wallet app sets it up for Apple Pay. Just wait for a few seconds.
Step 10 : You will now be asked to verify your card for Apple Pay, usually through Text Message. Tap Next to continue with the verification process.
Step 11 : You will receive an SMS with a 6-digit One Time Password (OTP). You need to key that in within 2 minutes :
Card enrolment OTP for your digital wallet is XXXXXX. It will expire after 2 mins. If you have not performed this, please contact the bank.
Step 12 : Tap Next after keying in the OTP, and you should see the Card Activated notice.
That’s it! Your credit card is now ready for Apple Pay. When you open your Wallet, you should see that debit / credit card listed.
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Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Multiple leaks confirm that Apple Pay is launching soon in Malaysia! Here is what you need to know…
Leaks Confirm Apple Pay Is Launching Soon In Malaysia!
Multiple leaks have more or less let the cat out of the bag – that Apple Pay is launching soon in Malaysia!
This would make Malaysia the second country in Southeast Asia to support Apple Pay, and the 10th territory in Asia, after Australia, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and Singapore.
AmBank Sent Apple Pay SMS
The first to leak was AmBank, when they sent out an SMS to their customers in July 2022, prematurely telling them that they can now use Apple Pay.
It appeared to have been a test run that ran awry, as their Apple Pay website was not yet ready. But it alerted everyone to the fact that Apple Pay is coming to Malaysia.
Shopee Added Apple Pay As Payment Option
The second to leak was Shopee, which released an Apple Pay option in version 2.91.28 of their app on 2 August 2022.
If you tap on it, you will simply be asked to “ensure there’s an active card in your Apple Pay wallet to proceed“.
Of course, you can’t actually add any credit / debit card to your Apple Pay wallet yet, but you can see that it is listed as a payment option.
Maxis Accidentally Promotes Apple Pay As Payment Option
On 5 August 2022, a Maxis Centre accidentally put out a cardboard sign announcing “Apple Pay accepted here“.
The tweet was deleted by its poster, but the cardboard sign was traced to the Sri Muda Maxis Centre in Shah Alam.
sorry guys had to delete the tweets atas permintaan pihak tertentu. but don’t worry cuz apple pay is coming soon to Malaysia!
AmBank Released Their Apple Pay Portal!
On 8 August 2022, AmBank (accidentally?) released their Apple Pay portal, confirming that the contactless payment system is ready to launch in Malaysia!
The AmBank Apple Pay portal has now been removed, but here are some of the details it revealed :
There is no transaction limit for Apple Pay, as opposed to a transaction limit of RM250 per purchase, with a RM750 daily limit, for other contactless payment platforms.
There is also no transaction limit for online purchases using Apple Pay through your iPhone, iPad or Mac computer.
AmBank also offered some promotions, including cash back for the first purchase using Apple Pay.
There were two unlisted YouTube videos (now removed) showing how to pay for your purchases using Apple Pay. Basically:
a) Look for the Apple Pay and EMV contactless payment logos at the retailer
b) Simply tap your iPhone or Apple Watch on the credit card terminal to pay
c) Use either Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to verify the payment
Apple Pay Is Now Available In Malaysia!
You would have thought that AmBank would have learned from their July 2022 SMS mistake, but no… they didn’t.
Then again, they may have “accidentally” leaked the Apple Pay website to drum up some hype ahead of the official launch.
Most likely, Apple will roll it out in Malaysia with the next iOS update – probably iOS 15.6.1.
Currently iOS 15.6 does not support Apple Pay in Malaysia. When you try to add a debit / credit card to the Wallet app, you get this pop-up :
To add cards, keys, tickets and passes to Wallet, look for the Add to Wallet button in apps, emails and websites.
Until Apple adds this functionality through an iOS update for Malaysia, there is simply no way to add any card to the Wallet app.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the controversial butterfly keyboard used in its MacBook laptops!
Apple Sued For Controversial Butterfly Keyboard!
Apple introduced the controversial butterfly keyboard mechanism to their MacBook laptops from 2015 to 2019, to make them slimmer.
The butterfly mechanism uses mirrored switches that expand like wings, unlike the typical scissor mechanism used in laptop keyboards which uses two interlocking switches that click together when the key is pressed.
While the butterfly mechanism made the keys thinner, they also made the keyboard prone to trapping dust and debris, resulting in sticky and/or easily broken keys.
Apple added a membrane to the butterfly mechanism, in an effort to make it quieter while keeping debris out; but it didn’t help. Small design changes in 2019 also did little to improve the keyboard.
The Wall Street Journal even printed a famous typo-ridden column to demonstrate the butterfly mechanism’s issues in 2019.
Two law firms – Girard Sharp LLP, and Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP – then bought on a class action lawsuit, claiming that Apple was aware of the problem but failed to rectify the problem and do enough in supporting customers who experienced the problem.
Apple Settles Butterfly Keyboard Lawsuit For $50 million!
On July 18, 2022, Apple filed a $50 million settlement in San Jose, California, to settle the class action lawsuit over its butterfly keyboard.
If approved by a judge, the law firms can claim up to $15 million out of the $50 million settlement, for legal fees. Apple denied any wrongdoing, and did not offer any comments.
The rest of the settlement would be used to pay customers who bought a MacBook, MacBook Air, and most MacBook Pro laptops between 2015 and 2019 in seven US states :
California
Florida
Michigan
New Jersey
New York
Washington
Under the proposed settlement, customers who had issues with their butterfly keyboards in those states will receive :
up to $395, for those who had to replace multiple keyboards
$125 for those who had a single keyboard replacement
$50 for those who had to replace key caps
Apple dumped the butterfly keyboard for the more traditional scissor mechanism keyboard in 2019, with the introduction of the 16-inch MacBook Pro and the Magic Keyboard.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr just publicly asked Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores!
Here is what you need to know about the renewed heat on TikTok!
FCC Commissioner Asks Apple + Google To Remove TikTok!
On June 29, 2022, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr publicly called on Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores.
This move came after leaked TikTok audio recordings obtained by Buzzfeed News revealed that ByteDance staff in China (and possibly the Chinese government) retained extensive access to data on US citizens.
In his public letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the FCC Commissioner asked that TikTok be removed for “its pattern of surreptitious data practices”.
It is clear that TikTok poses an unacceptable national security risk due to its extensive data harvesting being combined with Beijing’s apparently unchecked access to that sensitive data.
But it is also clear that TikTok’s pattern of conduct and misrepresentations regarding the unfettered access that persons in Beijing have to sensitive U.S. user data – just some of which is detailed below – puts it out of compliance with the policies that both of your companies require every app to adhere to as a condition of remaining available on your app stores.
Therefore, I am requesting that you apply the plain text of your app store policies to TikTok and remove it from your app stores for failure to abide by those terms.
FCC Commissioner Carr also labelled TikTok as a “sophisticated surveillance tool” that is designed to harvest “personal and sensitive data“.
At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.
Indeed, TikTok collects everything from search and browsing histories to keystroke patterns and biometric identifiers, including faceprints – which researchers have said might be used in unrelated facial recognition technology – and voiceprints.
It collects location data as well as draft messages and metadata, plus it has collected the text, images, and videos that are stored on a device’s clipboard. The list of personal and sensitive data it collects goes on from there.
This should come as no surprise, however. Within its own borders, the PRC has developed some of the most invasive and omnipresent surveillance capabilities in the world to maintain authoritarian control.
Carr ended his letter with an “ultimatum” of sorts – if Apple and Google do not remove TikTok from their app stores, they need to provide “separate responses” to him by July 8, 2022, explaining why TikTok does not contravene their App Store policies.
As of June 30, 2022, TikTok is still available to download in the US app stores of both Apple and Google.
If Apple and Google acts on the FCC Commissioner’s request, TikTok will only be removed from their US app stores. It won’t affect downloads in other countries.
Neither would it prevent users in the US from continuing to use TikTok. They just won’t be able to download it any longer, or update to newer versions.
FCC Commissioner Lists History Of TikTok Data Practices!
While the leaked TikTok audio recordings may have precipitated this open letter to Apple and Google, FCC Commissioner Carr pointed to a list of questionable data practices by TikTok in the past.
The list makes for really interesting reading, especially for those who are not up to date on TikTok’s privacy and data security issues :
In August 2020, TikTok circumvented a privacy safeguard in Google’s Android operating system to obtain data that allowed it to track users online.
In March 2020, researchers discovered that TikTok, through its app in the Apple App Store, was accessing users’ most sensitive data, including passwords, cryptocurrency wallet addresses, and personal messages.
In 2021, TikTok agreed to pay $92 million to settle lawsuits alleging that the app “clandestinely vacuumed up and transferred to servers in China (and to other servers accessible from within China) vast quantities of private and personally identifiable user data and content that could be employed to identify, profile, and track the physical and digital location and activities of United States users now and in the future.”
In March 2022, a report included current and former TikTok employees stating in interviews that TikTok delegates key decisions to ByteDance officials in Beijing and that an employee was asked to enter sensitive information into a.cn domain, which is the top-level domain operated by the Chinese government’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Earlier, in 2019, TikTok paid $5.7 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that its predecessor app illegally collected personal data on children under the age of 13.
India- the world’s largest democracy–has already banned TikTok on national security grounds for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data in an unauthorized manner.
Multiple U.S. military branches have also banned TikTok from government-issued devices due to national security risks, including the Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marine Corps.
U.S. government officials have also urged troops and their dependents to erase the app from their personal phones.
U.S. national security agencies have similarly banned TikTok from official devices citing national security risks, including the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and the TSA.
The RNC and DNC have warned campaigns about using TikTok based on security concerns and the threat of officials in Beijing accessing sensitive data.
Citing data security concerns, private U.S. business operations have also banned TikTok from company devices, including Wells Fargo.
Once accessed by personnel in Beijing, there is no check on the CCP using the extensive, private, and sensitive data about U.S. users for espionage activities because compliance with the PC’s 2017 National Intelligence law is mandatory in China.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple just launched the M2 – their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers!
Let’s compare the new M2 against the last-generation M1 series SoCs!
Apple Silicon M1 vs. M2 Comparison
On 6 June 2022, Apple unveiled their second-generation M-series system-on-a-chip (SoC) for Mac computers – the Apple Silicon M2!
Built on an improved 5 nm process technology, the Apple M2 has 20 billion transistors – 25% more transistors than the M1.
All those transistors allow the Apple M2 to deliver better performance than the last-generation M1 :
Faster Performance cores with a larger cache
18% faster CPU performance
35% more powerful GPU at max. power
40% faster Neural Engine
50% more memory bandwidth
up to 24 GB of unified memory
a new image signal processor (ISP) for better image noise reduction
The new M2 no doubt offers a significant boost in performance and capabilities over the M1.
On top of that, it partially addressed the limited Unified Memory capacity offered by the M1, by offering a 24 MB option.
The new M2 will debut in the 2022 MacBook Air, and the updated 13-inch MacBook Pro 2022 laptops.
To give you a better idea of how they compare, here is our direct comparison b between the Apple M1 and the Apple M2 :
Specifications
M1
M2
Difference
Fab Tech
5nm (N5)
5 nm (N5P)
–
Transistor
Count
16 billion
20 billion
+25%
Die Size
120 mm²
NA
–
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 x Firestorm
@ 3.2 GHz
4 x Avalanche cores
@ NA GHz
–
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 x Icestorm cores
@ 2.06 GHz
4 Blizzard cores
@ NA GHz
–
L2 Cache
P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : +33%
SLC
16 MB
32 MB
+100%
GPU Cores
7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
+1 / +2 cores
Neural Engine
16 cores
(11 TOPS)
16 cores
(15.8 TOPS)
+44%
Memory Options
8 GB / 16 GB
8 GB / 16 GB / 24 GB
–
Memory Type
LPDDR4X
LPDDR5
–
Memory Speed
2133 MHz
3200 MHz
+50%
Memory Bus
128-bit
128-bit
–
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s
102.4 GB/s
50%
Apple Silicon M1 Series vs. M2 Comparison
While the M2 may offer significant improvements over the M1, Apple has been careful in not letting it cannibalise sales of the higher-performing M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips.
Even without testing the new M2, its specifications show that it slots in between the M1 and the M1 Pro.
M2 has 8 cores like M1, with 2-4 fewer Performance cores than the M1 Pro.
Its Performance cores have L2 cache size of 16 MB, right between M1 (8 MB) and M1 Pro (24 MB).
Its 8-10 GPU core count is right between M1 (7-8 cores) and M1 Pro (14-16 cores).
Its maximum Unified Memory option is 24 GB, right between M1 (16 GB) and M1 Pro (32 GB).
It retains the M1’s narrower 128-bit memory bus, but uses the M1 Pro’s faster LPDDR5 memory.
To show you what I mean, here is a table I created comparing the key specifications of the M1 series against the new M2 :
Specifications
M1
M1 Pro
M1 Max
M1 Ultra
M2
Fab Tech
5nm (N5)
5 nm (N5P)
Transistor Count
16 billion
33.7 billion
57 billion
114 billion
20 billion
Die Size
120 mm²
245 mm²
432 mm²
864 mm²
NA
CPU Cores
(Performance)
4 cores
(Firestorm)
3.2 GHz
6 / 8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
8 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
16 cores
(Firestorm)
3.23 GHz
4 cores
(Avalanche)
NA GHz
CPU Cores
(Efficiency)
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
2 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Icestorm)
2.06 GHz
4 cores
(Blizzard)
NA GHz
L2 Cache
P-core : 12 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 24 MB
E-core : 4 MB
P-core : 48 MB
E-core : 8 MB
P-core : 16 MB
E-core : 4 MB
SLC
16 MB
32 MB
64 MB
128 MB
32 MB
GPU Cores
7 / 8 cores
1278 MHz
14 / 16 cores
1296 MHz
24 / 32 cores
1296 MHz
48 / 64 cores
1296 MHz
8 / 10 cores
NA MHz
Neural Engine
16 cores
32 cores
16 cores
Memory Options
8 / 16 GB
16 / 32 GB
32 / 64 GB
64 / 128 GB
8 / 16 / 24 GB
Memory Type
LPDDR4X
LPDDR5
Memory Speed
2133 MHz
3200 MHz
Memory Bus
128-bit
256-bit
512-bit
1024-bit
128-bit
Memory
Bandwidth
68.2 GB/s
204.8 GB/s
409.6 GB/s
819.2 GB/s
102.4 GB/s
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Apple has gotten so exasperated that they shifted some iPad production out of China for the first time!
Here is what we know so far…
Exasperated Apple Shifts Some iPad Production Out Of China!
Apple has reportedly shifted some of its iPad production out of China, over the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Shanghai.
Strict lockdowns in and around Shanghai after a surge in COVID-19 cases have led to months of supply chain disruptions for Apple, even though their factories operated in a closed loop.
Apple built production lines in Vietnam with the help of China’s BYD, and will “soon start to produce” some iPads there.
Apple had asked Foxconn to move iPad and MacBook Pro production from China to Vietnam in 2020, with plans to manufacture a significant proportion of iPads there. However, a COVID-19 surge in 2021 delayed those plans.
Even though China has started to lift their Zero COVID restrictions in Shanghai, Apple is unlikely to reverse these plans to shift production to Vietnam.
This will be the second major production line to shift to Vietnam. Apple shifted almost 30% of AirPods production to Vietnam in the second quarter of 2020.
Apple Also Asked Suppliers To Build Up Inventories
Apple also asked multiple component suppliers to build up their inventories, to prevent supply chain disruptions from affecting production.
One of the people with direct knowledge of this issue said :
For example, component supplier X has a 40% share of Apple’s business in Jiangsu Province, which is a risky region of supply chain disruption, and supplier Y in another city accounts for the remaining 60% share.
Apple would want supplier Y to build enough additional components to match supplier X’s 40% share in the coming months in case production in Jiangsu is shut down again.
If China continues with its Zero COVID policy, it is likely that Apple and other companies will seriously look at shifting more of their production to other countries.
Supplies of electronics from China’s factories have been severely impacted by their strict COVID-19 lockdowns, even though some factories are allowed to use a closed loop system.
There is also worker welfare to consider – there is only so much they can tolerate the closed loop system, where workers are restricted to factory campuses for weeks on end.
In early May, workers at the Quanta factory producing MacBook laptops in Shanghai rioted over the closed loop system, and fled the factory.
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Touch ‘n Go eWallet app was quietly restored to the Apple App Store, as quietly as it was removed earlier!
Here is what we know so far…
Touch ‘n Go eWallet Is Now Back On Apple App Store!
Apple quietly removed the Touch ‘n Go eWallet (TNG eWallet) from the App Store in the first week of May 2022.
The TNG eWallet download page earlier stated “App Not Available – The app is currently not available in your country or region“.
It was also removed from the App Store search listing. The Boost eWallet now appears, instead of the TNG eWallet.
Even though the Touch ‘n Go eWallet app is no longer available in the Apple App Store, you can continue to use it if you had already installed it earlier.
The TNG Digital team stated that they are working to resolve the issue with Apple, and confirmed that the app that is installed in your iPhone will continue to work with all features fully-functioning.
Fortunately, the Touch ‘n Go eWallet (TNG eWallet) app was quietly restored to the Apple App Store on 11 May 2022.
Was Touch ‘n Go eWallet NFC Feature Removed For Apple Users?
Neither Apple nor Touch ‘n Go eWallet stated why the TNG eWallet app was removed from the App Store.
At that time, believed Apple removed it because of the recently-added NFC top-up feature for physical Touch ‘n Go cards.
That’s because Apple Pay is the only mobile wallet / eWallet allowed to use the iPhone and iPad’s NFC capabilities for contactless payments.
That limitation has resulted in an antitrust charge by the European Union :
The European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that it abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices. By limiting access to a standard technology used for contactless payments with mobile devices in stores (‘Near-Field Communication (NFC)’ or ‘tap and go’), Apple restricts competition in the mobile wallets market on iOS.
The Commission takes issue with the decision by Apple to prevent mobile wallets app developers, from accessing the necessary hardware and software (‘NFC input’) on its devices, to the benefit of its own solution, Apple Pay.
However, the newly-approved Touch ‘n Go eWallet version 1.7.73 continued to feature the NFC reload option.
Therefore, it seems more likely that Apple removed the app earlier due to the Face Verification feature in the Touch ‘n Go eWallet app.
In fact, the new Touch ‘n Go eWallet version 1.7.73 now lacks the Face Verification feature. Their FAQ also stated that :
Face verification is being upgraded for iOS users, this feature will be temporarily disabled. Kindly use your PIN as alternate authentication.
The previous version of Touch ‘n Go eWallet could have contravened this App Store Review Guidelines rule :
2.5.13 Apps using facial recognition for account authentication must use LocalAuthentication (and not ARKit or other facial recognition technology) where possible, and must use an alternate authentication method for users under 13 years old.
But at least Apple iPhone users can rest assured that they will continue to get the latest Touch ‘n Go eWallet app. They just have to live without the Face Verification feature for now…
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The Touch ‘n Go eWallet app was just removed from the Apple App Store!
Here is what we know so far…
Touch ‘n Go eWallet Removed From Apple App Store!
Apple quietly removed the Touch ‘n Go eWallet (TNG eWallet) from the App Store a few days ago.
The TNG eWallet download page now states “App Not Available – The app is currently not available in your country or region“.
It was also removed from the App Store search listing. The Boost eWallet now appears, instead of the TNG eWallet.
Interestingly, the download page in the official Touch ‘n Go eWallet website is also not functioning, with a 404 error – Page not found.
It is however still available in the Google Play Store, so Android users can still download it just fine.
Even though the Touch ‘n Go eWallet app is no longer available in the Apple App Store, you can continue to use it if you had already installed it earlier.
The TNG Digital team stated that they are working to resolve the issue with Apple, and confirmed that the app that is installed in your iPhone will continue to work with all features fully-functioning.
This does not mean the removal is to be taken lightly. Until the app is restored to the App Store, you will no longer be able to update the app.
Over time, you may lose out on new features. But more importantly, you will no longer receive security and fixes.
Why Was Touch ‘n Go eWallet Removed From App Store?!
Neither Apple nor Touch ‘n Go eWallet stated why the TNG eWallet app was removed from the App Store.
However, I believe Apple removed it because of the recently-added NFC top-up feature for physical Touch ‘n Go cards.
That’s because Apple Pay is the only mobile wallet / eWallet allowed to use the iPhone and iPad’s NFC capabilities for contactless payments.
That limitation has resulted in an antitrust charge by the European Union :
The European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that it abused its dominant position in markets for mobile wallets on iOS devices. By limiting access to a standard technology used for contactless payments with mobile devices in stores (‘Near-Field Communication (NFC)’ or ‘tap and go’), Apple restricts competition in the mobile wallets market on iOS.
The Commission takes issue with the decision by Apple to prevent mobile wallets app developers, from accessing the necessary hardware and software (‘NFC input’) on its devices, to the benefit of its own solution, Apple Pay.
If this was the reason for the TNG eWallet app’s removal, it will be yet another example of Apple’s egregious anti-competitive nature, and yet another strike against their walled garden.
If they continue to lock down the NFC feature on the iPhone / iPad to force the use of Apple Pay, they will invite more anti-trust actions, and possibly turn people to the Android platform.
Unfortunately, there’s really nothing much Apple users can do.
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did China lock down Shanghai, not to fight COVID-19, but to spite US companies over the Ukraine war?
Take a look at the viral article, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : China Locked Down Shanghai To Spite US Over Ukraine War!
People are sharing an article by Kanthan Pillay, which claimed that China locked down Shanghai not to fight COVID-19 but to spite US companies over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It’s a rather long post, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts…
Shanghai Lockdown Not Because Of Covid -19!!
Two weeks after Russia’s forces moved into Ukraine, China locked down Shanghai.
Let me hit you with some bullet points:
More than 800 multinational corporations have regional headquarters in Shanghai . Among them, 121 are Fortune Global 500 companies, including Apple, Qualcomm, General Motors, Pepsico.
More than 70 000 foreign companies have offices in Shanghai. More than 24 000 of these are Japanese.
The shutdown of Tesla’s operation in Shanghai because of the lockdown has set the company back with lost production of 40 000 units of electric vehicles. That’s just one car company. Volkswagen and General Motors both have factories in Shanghai.
Ford has a global design center in Shanghai.
Let’s talk about Apple: iPhone supplier Pegatron has its major factory in Shanghai and another in nearby Kunshan. Both have been shut by the lockdown.
TSMC , the world’s most valuable manufacturer of semiconductors, has a major production facility in Shanghai. (TSMC makes 7-nanometre and 5-nanometre chips used by the Apple A14 and M1 SoC .)
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has a global R&D centre in Shanghai.
To top this off, Shanghai is the world’s biggest container port moving more than 47 million shipping containers per year. Shutting down the city for more than a month means 4 million of those have potentially been impacted.
As can be seen, the simple act of shutting down Shanghai has delivered a body blow to global giants in the US sphere of influence at a time when they are already scrambling to reset their economies after their disastrous sanctions against Russia.
Now I know that correlation does not imply causation.
But it is a fact that Russia and China laid out the parameters for a new world order in February…
And it is a fact that their respective actions over the next weeks have brought the economies of the western powers to a grinding halt…
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true.”
Truth : China Did NOT Lock Down Shanghai To Spite US Over Ukraine War!
I have read many conspiracy theories about China and the Ukraine War, but this has to be one of the stupidest I have read to date.
I cannot believe I have to actually explain why China did not lock down Shanghai just to spite US companies over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But here we go…
Fact #1 : China Has Been Locking Down Cities Since 2020
First, I should point out that China has been locking down cities since the COVID-19 pandemic started in Wuhan.
This isn’t a new tactic. China locks down entire cities as part of their COVID Zero policy.
In fact, China locked down 4 additional cities in the first two months of 2022, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine :
4 January : Yuzhou, Henan province
11 January : Anyang and Zhengzhou, Henan province
7 February : Baise, Jilin province
It is therefore ridiculous for Kanthan Pillay to claim that China locked down Shanghai to spite US companies.
Fact #2 : Shanghai’s COVID-19 Outbreak Began On 28 February
Ironically, Shanghai’s COVID-19 outbreak began on the same day Russia chose to invade Ukraine – 28 February 2022.
I’m surprised Kanthan Pillay did not suggest that the Chinese introduced the Shanghai outbreak as part of a false flag operation to spite US companies. LOL!
Fact #3 : Shanghai Lockdown Only Started A Month Later
Kanthan Pillay falsely claimed that China locked down Shanghai two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine. Why two weeks? Why not immediately?
In any case, Shanghai only adopted “area-separated and batch-separated control” on 28 March 2022 – a month after their COVID-19 outbreak started, and a month after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Only a week later – on 5 April 2022, did Shanghai put the entire city under lockdown.
Fact #4 : Hong Kong Has More Regional HQs Than Shanghai
In his first “bullet point”, Kanthan Pillay said that more than 800 multinational corporations have their regional headquarters in Shanghai.
What he does not point out to you is that Hong Kong has almost twice as many regional headquarters as Shanghai – 1,457 as of 2021.
If the Chinese wanted to “attack” US companies by targeting their regional headquarters, they would do better to lock down Hong Kong.
But wait – Hong Kong is still NOT under lockdown, even with a massive surge of Omicron cases.
Fact #5 : Regional HQ Not As Important As Factories
Kanthan Pillay does not seem to understand that regional headquarters are not as critical to US companies as the factories that produce goods for them.
Many employees of these regional headquarters can conduct their work from home, even hold meetings virtually from anywhere in the world. So using regional headquarters and design centres as examples of Chinese sabotage is stupid.
Factories, on the other hand, cannot produce goods virtually. Hence, factories that produce goods for US companies are far more important than regional HQs and design centres.
Fact #6 : Shanghai Lockdown Affects All Companies
Kanthan Pillay is apparently unaware thatChina’s lockdown of Shanghai is not limited to US citizens or companies.
The Shanghai lockdown affects all residents, whether they are Chinese citizens or foreigners. Similarly, Chinese companies are affected just as badly as their Western counterparts.
Even more importantly – there are far more Chinese companies in Shanghai than Western companies. More Chinese citizens are being employed by Chinese companies in Shanghai, than Western companies.
If China intentionally locked down Shanghai to spite US companies, they would be sacrificing their own economy to do that.
The Chinese are not quite so stupid as to cut off their noses, just to spite their own faces.
Kanthan Pillay also seems to be unaware that the TSMC plant in China is not state of the art, and does not manufacture 7 nm or 5 nm chips as he alleged.
The TSMC Fab 10 foundry in Shanghai was completed around the end of 2004, and produces 8-inch wafers using old 0.25 micron and 0.35 micron processes from the 1990s.
Fact #8 : Shanghai Semiconductor Companies Not Affected By Lockdown
Despite the entire city of Shanghai being under strict lockdown, its semiconductor companies continued to maintain full production.
They managed to achieve this through closed-loop systems, where most employees work on-site while others work remotely from home.
Both TSMC and SMIC say that they are maintaining full production in Shanghai using such closed-loop systems.
Fact #9 : Companies Can Shift To Other Countries
Kanthan Pillay ludicrously believe that China shut down Shanghai to deliver “a body blow to global giants in the US sphere of influence“.
Multinational companies, especially those from the West, can and have shifted to other countries or states, if conditions become unfavourable.
Some have already started shifted production from China to Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.
If China did really do this just to spite US companies, it would be one more reason to shift their operations to other countries. It’s not like they can only build factories in China.
Fact #10 : Chinese Sacrifice Will Not Help Russia
What Kanthan Pillay does not explain is WHY on Earth would China sacrifice its own people and economy to help Russia?
And how does crippling Shanghai’s economy help Russia? Sure, Tesla will miss its production target… again, but so what?
These are public-listed companies, not the US government. Whatever happens to these companies won’t have a material effect on the US government, only its shareholders.
Needless to say – it won’t sway Western sanctions on Russia, and it certainly won’t help Russia in any way.
Kanthan Pillay ended his article by claiming that such actions by Russia and China have “brought the economies of the Western powers to a grinding halt“.
I have no idea what he has been smoking, but it must be some fantastic shit, because none of the Western economies are remotely close to collapsing!
In fact, the US Fed just made the biggest interest rate increase in 22 years, announcing a 0.5% interest rate hike to tackle inflation.
Other Western economies are poised to similarly raise their interest rates. They would not be raising interest rates if their economies were collapsing as Pillay alleged.
The Kanthan Pillay article is nothing more than a meaningless self-masturbatory fantasy.
Unfortunately, it’s being widely shared by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) and pro-CCP netizens.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
People are sharing a post by Li Guangman on what China should worry about the Russia-Ukraine War.
Take a look at the viral post, and find out what the facts really are!
Li Guangman : What China Should Worry About Russia Invading Ukraine!
Chinese and pro-China netizens have been sharing this post by Chinese blogger Li Guangman on what lessons China should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It’s a very long post, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts…
Some worries brought about by the Russia-Ukraine war (says Li Guangman)
After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the robbery behavior in the entire Western world broke many Chinese people’s perceptions, which made me feel a strong and deep worry.
First, in the past, the Chinese generally believed that all public platforms were neutral and would not be interrupted no matter what happened. However, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, some so-called public platforms immediately announced their participation in sanctions against Russia. First, a large number of foreign Internet service operators headed by the United States announced sanctions against Russia and launched a “disconnection action” against Russia. The second is the removal of major Russian banks from the U.S.-controlled SWIFT system, making it impossible for major Russian banks to conduct global transactions and settlements. Both the network root directory system and the U.S. dollar settlement system are so-called public platforms controlled by the United States. Once a war breaks out, all of them will become weapons of war, and even become a key factor in determining the victory of the war. The greater the reliance on these systems, the more victims will suffer, the deeper the degree.
Second, some previous propaganda told us that satellites in space are safe and will not be attacked, and space wars will not break out. However, immediately after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, a mysterious hacker group (obviously the cyber army behavior of some government organizations) attacked the Russian space control center, and claimed to have shut down the Russian space center and successfully made all Russian satellites out of control. The Russian space control center said it was indeed attacked, but the security system automatically obscured the attack and repelled it. Does this suggest that warfare has extended into space? Are space battles going on all the time?
Third, the Chinese generally believe that banks in Western countries are safer than domestic banks, and Western countries attach great importance to the sacrosanctity of private property. However, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian War, the entire Western countries immediately erupted with ferocity like hungry wolves, killing Russia. All the assets of the government and private individuals overseas were looted, not only the bank assets were frozen, but even the luxury yachts and private residences of the Russians overseas were taken away. According to preliminary statistics, the total amount of Russian overseas assets frozen by Western groups this time is about 8 trillion US dollars. Li Ka-shing, who had previously cashed out hundreds of billions of yuan from China and switched to the UK, has recently started selling grid assets worth more than 100 billion yuan in the UK. What does that mean? These capital tycoons who have no motherland and no conscience are finally starting to feel unsafe to invest overseas. What is China’s total overseas assets? Some people estimate that the total overseas assets of the Chinese government, enterprises and individuals are about 16 trillion US dollars, which is roughly equivalent to China’s annual GDP. To freeze US Treasury bonds purchased by China. Once a conflict breaks out between China and the United States or between China and Western countries, the United States and Western countries will definitely take action against China’s overseas assets, which is certain.
Fourth, in the consciousness of the Chinese, Switzerland is a neutral country, and it is absolutely safe to store money in Switzerland. However, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Switzerland immediately gave up its neutral position, announced its participation in sanctions against Russia, and froze all Russian funds in Swiss banks thus uncovering the hypocrisy that Switzerland is a pure financial land. How much assets do Chinese people deposit in Switzerland? These assets are probably no longer safe now.
Fifth, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, almost all high-tech companies in the United States and Western groups announced their participation in sanctions against Russia. They cut off the supply of chips and all high-tech products to Russia. Musk’s Starlink also participated in the sanctions against Russia. Sanctions and support for Ukraine, Apple is also involved in sanctions, the depth and breadth of the technology sanctions imposed on Russia by the entire West are beyond our imagination, sanctions are imposed on anything that can sting or kill Russia, and the methods are used to the extreme. What science without borders is just bullshit. In this regard, the United States has already used China’s Huawei. In the future, once a conflict between China and the United States breaks out, the United States and the West will definitely impose the most severe sanctions and embargoes on all high-tech products, materials and technologies in China. There is no doubt about this.
Sixth, many Chinese believe that Western public opinion is the freest, and Western news is the most authentic. However, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the entire Western public opinion has become a public opinion war machine launched against Russia, and the major Internet platforms in the United States and Europe. They have closed Russia’s external communication channels, they control the entire public opinion dissemination, guide public opinion in a direction that is beneficial to the United States and the West, and they continue to create fake news. Once a conflict between China and the United States breaks out, the United States will definitely launch a war of public opinion against China. On the one hand, it strictly seals the voice of China, preventing China from speaking in the world, and on the other hand, it amplifies the negative news that attacks and smears China.
Seventh, there are many other sanctions. For example, the sports, cultural, artistic, and music industries have imposed sanctions on Russia, and even Russian cats and Russian trees have been sanctioned. It looks funny, but it is not funny. A true manifestation of Western political and cultural hegemony, which allows us to see how deep and wide the influence and control of Western hegemony are. These areas that do not seem to belong to politics have suddenly become weapons of war. It has become a tool of war that kills people without blood. This is probably the first time we have such a deep feeling.
The above points should give us a sense of sudden awakening. Now we will truly realize that the Russian-Ukrainian war is actually a real all-out war waged by the entire Western bloc against Russia. In addition to providing arms and funds to Ukraine, the Western bloc is also waging an all-out war against Russia in all fields. These The means of participating in the war are either open or covert, but they are all aimed at the key points of Russia, and both are fatal. If the United States and the Western bloc were not afraid of Russia’s thousands of nuclear bombs, and not afraid of Putin’s strongman character as he said and did, they must have already rushed to bite them directly.
In my opinion, the contradictions between China and the United States and the group of Western countries are irreconcilable and inevitable. All the means and weapons used by the United States and Western groups on Russia today will be used on China, and they will only be more vicious and barbaric, with no exceptions.
There will definitely be conflicts between China and the United States. The United States and Western blocs will definitely cut off China’s Internet connection with the world. They will definitely launch attacks on China’s space satellites and satellite navigation systems. They will definitely drive China out of SWIFT and make China like Russia and Iran. Launching an unprecedented financial war against China will definitely impose stricter and more comprehensive sanctions and blockades on China’s high-tech and high-end manufacturing industries, it will definitely cut off China’s energy transportation channels, and it will definitely launch a war of public opinion against China. To launch a color revolution, it will definitely try to isolate China from the so-called “mainstream” of world politics in all fields. The war will be carried out with unimaginable cruelty and brutality, there will be no so-called morality, and there will be no so-called rules, in addition to life and death, there is no way out.
This comprehensive war launched by the United States and the Western bloc against Russia is a realistic version of the sand table exercise for us, and it is a bloody teaching. We must start to act now, start the layout, and be fully prepared to deal with a comprehensive war that is bound to happen in the future, which is related to the fate of the country and to life and death.
The situation is getting more and more serious, not the storm is coming, but the storm is coming, we must act now, act now, act now, because the hatred of the United States and the entire Western bloc against China is deeper than that of Russia, destroying and the will and impulse to loot China is stronger.
Therefore, the coming war will be more tragic and bloody, there will be no mercy, there will be no reinforcements, everything can only depend on ourselves, on our own strength, on our own preparations, on our own will.”
PS. I have no idea who Li Guangman is, but apparently, some Community Party folks think he’s important, and have been sharing his posts.
Li Guangman Is Wrong About Why China Should Worry About Russia Invading Ukraine
I have no idea if Li Guangman actually wrote that post, but one thing is for sure – it is full of misinformation.
I’m not going to focus on what lessons China should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but I will show you what can be easily and factually proven false in that viral post.
Fact #1 : Corporations Do Not Sanction Countries
Li Guangman falsely claimed (intentionally?) that Internet service providers and social media platforms announced sanctions against Russia after they invaded Ukraine.
That never happened, because corporations don’t issue sanctions. Those corporations only decided to stop working with Russia, after Western countries announced sanctions against Russia.
Cogent Communications, which is the second-largest Internet connectivity provider in Russia, terminated their contracts there on 4 March 2022 to comply with EU Regulation 2022/350.
Fact #2 : Corporations Chose To Stop Doing Business In Russia
Many corporations decided to stop doing business in Russia, mainly because they are public-listed companies that are answerable to their shareholders, and their customers worldwide.
For many, the limited Russian business they conduct is not worth risking their worldwide business, especially when the rest of the world is stridently against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Automotive : Ford, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen and Nissan
Aviation : Boeing and Airbus
Finance : Visa, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal, Western Union, Moody’s, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup
Big Tech : Airbnb, Amazon Web Services, Apple, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Netflix, Nintendo, Sony, Spotify, TikTok
Hotels : Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott
There is also the issue of sanctions – Western sanctions may also prohibit them from selling their products and services to Russia and/or Belarus.
Fact #3 : US Did Not Launch “Disconnection Action” Against Russia
Li Guangman also falsely claimed (intentionally?) that the US launched disconnection action against Russia. That never happened.
The easiest way to do that would be to get ICANN to remove Russian domains from the Internet, which would prevent anyone from accessing any server in Russia.
However, the United States never made such a request. Only Ukraine asked ICANN to do this, but ICANN refused their request.
It is also a very silly claim to make, because it actually benefits the US and Western nations to maintain Internet connectivity to Russia, which allows them to reach out to Russian citizens with the truth.
Fact #4 : Russia Blocked Western Social Media
In fact, Li Guangman (intentionally?) left out the fact that the Russian government itself blocked or restricted access to Western social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The truth is – it does not benefit Russia to let their citizens access uncensored information about their invasion of Ukraine. That’s why they blocked access to Western social media platforms.
This is where Russia is attempting to mimic China in its control of what information citizens can access. China is the undisputed leader in Internet censorship.
Fact #5 : Russia Prepared To Cut Itself Off The Internet
Li Guangman also (intentionally?) left out the fact that Russia was more than prepared to cut itself from the Internet.
The Russians started working on the ability to cut themselves from the Internet in the early 2010s, testing that ability in 2019 and in subsequent years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also signed into law, a set of 2019 amendments called the Sovereign Internet Law (Закон о «суверенном интернете»), that lets the government cut Russia off the rest of the Internet.
Fact #6 : SWIFT Is Controlled By EU, Not US
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications) messaging network is not American, but Belgian, based in La Hulpe, Belgium.
As a cooperative society under Belgian law, SWIFT is owned by its members – financial institutions, not countries. In fact, its current chairman is Yawar Shah of Pakistan, while its CEO is Javier Pérez-Tasso of Spain.
Li Guangman (intentionally?) forgot to point out that the United States and Britain had been pushing for Russia to be banned from SWIFT, but EU nations refused earlier.
In the end, the European Union agreed to remove seven Russian banks from SWIFT, instead of the entire country.
The EU also excluded Sberbank (largest bank in Russia) and Gazprombank from the SWIFT removal, so they could still buy oil from Russia.
All proof that SWIFT is controlled by the EU, not the US.
Fact #7 : SWIFT Is Just A Messaging Service
SWIFT is a messaging system that securely transfers “messages containing the payment instructions between financial institutions involved in a transaction“.
It is not a payment system, and therefore, does not hold any funds. Neither does it perform cleaning or settlement services.
After a payment instruction has been initiated through SWIFT, the corresponding financial institutions must then “settle” the transaction through a payment system, like TARGET2 in Europe.
Fact #8 : SWIFT Removal Is Only An Inconvenience
While removal from SWIFT is a big deal, it is not the end of the world for those seven Russian banks, because it is merely a messaging system.
Banks can use alternative methods like faxes (yes, they still exist!) or alternative messaging systems like Russia’s own SPFS, China’s CIPS and India’s SFMS.
VEB is largely focused on domestic projects, and uses SPFS for overseas transactions
Sovcombank says that other sanctions already block it from making overseas payments, so the SWIFT removal has no impact
Promsvyazbank said that it had prepared for SWIFT removal, so it will not have a significant impact
VTB and Otkritie said that they would not be impacted
So Li Guangman’s claim that SWIFT removal is a weapon of war is… absurd and melodramatic.
Fact #9 : No One Ever Said Satellites Are Safe From Attacks
Li Guangman also falsely claimed (intentionally?) that Western nations had earlier claimed that “satellites are safe and will not be attacked“.
No country ever said that. In fact, the United States Space Force was formed, in part, to protect US satellite communications.
The US Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations, General David Thompson even shared in November 2021 that :
“Both China and Russia are regularly attacking US satellites with non-kinetic means, including lasers, radio frequency jammers, and cyber attacks… every single day“
Li Guangman seems incredibly naive and ignorant about daily attacks on satellites, because the alternative explanation would be that he knew but intentionally chose to mislead you.
Fact #10 : Anonymous Is Not A Government Organisation
Li Guangman falsely claimed (intentionally?) that Anonymous is “some government organisations”.
Anonymous is a decentralised collective of anonymous hactivists… hence, its name.
It is not a government organisation.
It has previously attacked several Western governments, including the United States
Dozens of people associated with Anonymous cyberattacks have been arrested in the US, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Spain, India and Turkey.
This is common knowledge, so it is peculiar that Li Guangman is so ignorant about Anonymous… or believes that people are stupid enough to believe him.
Fact #11 : Anonymous Did Not Hack Russian Space Agency
They never shut down the Russian space control centre, or took any Russian satellite out of control. All those are lies that Li Guangman apparently concocted.
Roscosmos Chief Executive, Dmitry Rogozin also denied the claim, saying that “The information of these scammers and petty swindlers is not true. All our space activity control centers are operating normally.‘
So you have to ask yourself – why would Li Guangman lie about this? These are all on public record. Does he believe that you are so gullible that you would believe everything he says?
Fact #12 : Sanctioned Assets Were Frozen, Not Seized
Li Guangman falsely claimed (intentionally?) that the assets of Russian government and private individuals were looted (stolen) by Western banks / governments.
As part of sanctions against the Russian government, Western countries also sanctioned certain Russian individuals, including the super-rich Russian oligarchs.
However, their assets were frozen, not seized. At least, not yet.
All individuals sanctioned by the US Treasury Department, for example, will have their assets frozen. Those assets would be locked up, and cannot be sold or accessed in any way.
The owner has to get a licence from the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control to do anything – even to just pay property taxes, or fix a leaking roof.
That’s different from the government actually seizing the frozen assets – this requires the government to first prove that they are linked to a crime. Until that happens, the assets have not been “looted”.
According to Michael Parker, head of the anti-money laundering and sanctions practice at Ferrari & Associates :
These cases need to be built, there has to be a showing of some sort of underlying theory of forfeiture, there has to be a reason that they are forfeited. The mere fact that somebody the United States has said is a target owns this asset isn’t enough to form a basis of seizure under U.S. law.
Fact #13 : Only Assets Of Sanctioned Individuals Were Frozen
Li Guangman also falsely claimed (intentionally?) that ALL assets belonging to the Russian government and private individuals were stolen by Western banks / government.
Not only were they not stolen, only assets belonging to sanctioned individuals and the Russian government were frozen. The assets of other Russian individuals were not affected.
Chinese netizens need not be overly concerned about their money stashed in Western banks.
Even if China decides to do something similarly evil like Russia, and invade another country, Western banks will only be forced to freeze the assets of those in power, like Chinese President Xi Jinping, for example.
Fact #14 : Less Than US$1 Trillion Frozen So Far
Li Guangman also falsely claimed (intentionally?) that Western countries froze US$8 trillion worth of assets.
On 5 March, UK Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted a chart that showed the value of Russian bank assets that were being sanctioned. That was actually criticised as being overly optimistic, but let’s assume it’s true.
That’s a total of £537.6 billion pounds, or US$703.7 billion. Even if you add US$15 billion of assets targeted by sanctioning seven Russian oligarchs, the total is still under US$719 billion.
So Li Guangman overstated the amount of sanctioned Russian assets by some 11X… if not more.
The City of London leads the way in the effects of sanctioning Russian banks. pic.twitter.com/WAgFV64ghy
Fact #15 : Switzerland Only Adopts Military Neutrality
Li Guangman appears to be confused by the concept of “Swiss neutrality”, which refers to military neutrality – Switzerland will not be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states.
Switzerland, however, pursues an active foreign policy, and is frequently involved in peace-building processes globally.
Fact #16 : Switzerland Has Adopted EU Sanctions Since 1998
Li Guangman appears to be living in the past, claiming that Switzerland abandoned its neutrality to sanction Russia.
While Switzerland declined to be part of EU, it has been adopting EU-only sanctions for the past 24 years!
1998 : EU sanctions against Yugoslavia
2000 : EU sanctions against Myanmar
2002 : EU sanctions against Zimbabwe
2006 : EU sanctions against Uzbekistan and Belarus
2022 : EU sanctions against Russia and Belarus
Fact #17 : Tech Companies Have To Comply With Sanctions
Li Guangman appears to be surprised that tech companies are complying with sanctions.
Of course, tech companies have to comply with sanctions. If they don’t, they would be legally liable and punished with fines and other legal actions.
In fact, Russia just announced sanctions against a wide range of American officials, including US President Joe Biden. They are expecting companies to comply with those sanctions as well.
We should also remember that China imposed sanctions of her own on US individuals and organisations, and expected companies to comply with their sanctions.
Did he expect companies to only comply with Russian and Chinese sanctions, but not those from Western countries?
Fact #18 : Russia Started The Conflict
Li Guangman claimed that Russia invading of Ukraine is “a real all-out war waged by the entire Western bloc against Russia“. What utter nonsense.
Western nations have repeatedly warned the world that Russia was planning to invade Ukraine since November 2021, even as Russia and pro-Russia forces derided them.
As early as December 2021, US President Joe Biden even threatened Russia with sweeping Western economic sanctions if it invaded Ukraine.
Russia repeatedly denied it was going to invade Ukraine, dismissing those warnings as “hysteria”. But they were lying, and ultimately invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
So let me be clear to Li Guangman and his supporters – the invasion of Ukraine was a war that Russia actively chose to initiate.
This was not a war “waged by the entire Western bloc against Russia“. This was a war that Russia waged against Ukraine.
Until today, the United States and NATO have repeatedly refused to directly defend Ukraine against attacks by Russia. So to call it an “all-out war” is also ludicrous.
This fake news appears to be part of the disinformation campaign conducted by the Chinese 50 Cent Army (wumao, 五毛) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check out!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Find out how to add your MySejahtera vaccine certificate to Apple Wallet and Apple Health!
Here is what you need to know!
Apple Wallet + Health Now Support MySJ Vaccine Certificate!
When Apple released iOS 15.4, it included support for the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) in both Apple Wallet and Apple Health.
This allows you to store your EUDCC in Apple Wallet, and verifiable versions of your COVID-19 vaccinations, lab results and recovery records in Apple Health.
Happily, the EU officially accepted the MySejahtera digital COVID-19 certificate, connecting Malaysia to the EUDCC trust framework on 4 April 2022.
Now that’s done, you can add your MySejahtera vaccine certificate to both Apple Wallet and Apple Health!
For those who prefer a pictorial guide, here are the steps :
Step 1 : Please make sure you update to iOS 15.4 or newer. We highly recommend upgrading to the latest iOS 15.4.1.
Step 2 : Open MySejahtera and look for the QR codes :
a) Go to MySejahtera > Profile
b) Scroll down to your digital COVID-19 certificate
c) Tap on the Show QR button
d) Take screenshots of the QR codes, or photos of them using another phone. Please make sure each screenshot or photo only has a single QR code.
You can also find these QR codes in the PDF version of your vaccine certificate.
Step 3 : You will now need to scan the QR codes. There are three ways to do it.
Option A : Use Camera App
Use this method if you took photos of the QR codes using a different phone, or you printed the QR codes.
Open the Camera app.
Aim the rear camera at one of the QR codes in your MySejahtera vaccine certificate.
The Camera app will recognise the QR code and ask you if you wish to add to Wallet & Health.
Tap on the notification.
Tap on the Add to Wallet & Health option.
Tap Done.
Option B : Use Photos
Use this method if you took screenshots of the QR codes. But please make sure each screenshot only has one QR code.
Open the Photos app.
Tap on the screenshot of your QR code to open it.
Tap on the QR code in the image, and hold.
Tap on the notification “Open in Health“.
Tap on the Add to Wallet & Health option.
Tap Done.
Option C : Use Wallet
Use this method if you took photos of the QR codes using a different phone, or you printed the QR codes.
Open the Wallet app.
Tap on the Get button.
Tap on the Scan Code option to launch the Camera app.
Aim the rear camera at one of the QR codes in your MySejahtera vaccine certificate.
The Camera app will recognise the QR code and ask you if you wish to add to Wallet & Health.
Tap on the notification.
Tap on the Add to Wallet & Health option.
Tap Done.
Step 4 : Repeat Step 3 for all of the QR codes in your MySejahtera vaccine certificate, and you are done!
You should now see all of your MySejahtera vaccine certificate QR codes in your Apple Wallet. If you have three QR codes, all three should appear.
This will allow any health authority to quickly check and verify all of your COVID-19 vaccinations.
This is similar to showing them your digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate in MySejahtera.
You will also find your MySejahtera vaccination details in Apple Health, under Immunisations.
If you tap on Immunisations, you will see a list of your COVID-19 vaccinations, including the type of vaccine and when you received them.
I hope you found my guide useful. Please feel free to share it out!
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Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
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Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Find out why you should cancel your Spotify Free or Spotify Premium account, and how to do it!
PS. Cancelling your free account isn’t as easy as you’d think! But cancel it, you must…
Why Cancel Your Spotify Free / Premium Account?
Spotify has long been the giant of music streaming services, but there will come a time when you want to cancel your Spotify Free or Spotify Premium account.
Most notably, Spotify is now being cancelled because they chose to allow Joe Rogan to continue spreading misinformation on their platform.
But even if you don’t care about Joe Rogan and fake news, Spotify has been slacking against the competition, namely Apple Music and Amazon :
its Premium account still does not offer lossless quality
its Premium account still does not offer spatial audio
Spotify still does not support 16-bit CD-quality audio
Spotify has rested on their laurels for way too long, and you – the customer- have the option of cancelling your free or premium account to show your displeasure and hopefully wake them up from their slumber…
Even if you are using a free ad-supported Spotify account, you should still cancel it. Your cancellation matters, because Spotify relies on user base numbers to hype up their popularity to please shareholders and negotiate with artists, record labels, etc.
Under the Update Details button, click on the “cancel your subscription” option.
Credit : Luke Filipowicz, iMore
Your Premium account will stay active until your next billing date, then your account switches to free. Please go to the next section to completely remove your Spotify free account.
Note : Due to a tremendous number of people requesting to cancel their accounts, Spotify may tell you that you are not allowed to cancel at the moment.
If that happens, simply remove your credit card in your Spotify profile settings. This will prevent them from charging your credit card, and extending your Premium subscription.
How To Cancel Your Spotify Free Account?
Here is how you can cancel your Spotify Free account. It is important to do this, even if you had already cancelled your Premium account.
Remember – as long as you maintain your Spotify Free account, you still count in their statistics of subscribers and listeners.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The little loophole is now closed – Apple education discount now requires UNiDAYS verification!
Here is what you need to know…
Apple Education Discount : Formerly Based On Trust + Audit
For many years now, savvy parents and techies have counted on the Apple education discount to get some financial relief on Mac computers and iPad tablets.
Ostensibly limited to teachers and staff of educational facilities, as well as college and university students, the Apple education discount programme was based on trust.
Anyone can go to the Apple Education page, and order a Mac computer or iPad tablet with (usually) a 10% discount. Apple doesn’t even ask you to prove your qualification for the education discount.
Instead, Apple performs random audits. If you cannot prove that you are an educator, or a college/university student, then they have the right to charge your credit card for the education discount you (illegally) received earlier.
Apple Education Discount Now Requires UNiDAYS Verification!
Sadly, it appears that Apple is moving away from the trust system, and is requiring verification through UNiDAYS in certain countries.
France
Germany
India
Italy
South Korea
Spain
Malaysia : Started on 15 December 2021
United Kingdom
Unlike the earlier Apple education discount programme, UNiDAYS verification greatly limits those who qualify for discounted Apple Mac computers and iPad tablets :
Students who are 16 years and above
Must be currently enrolled in the Sixth Form, a college or a university
Must have a personal institution email address (.edu email, for example), or a credit card-style student ID, issued by the school / college / university
The Good
Signing up for UNiDAYS has some advantages. It gives you access to discount programmes for other companies.
And students who sign up for UNiDAYS will get a free Apple Music student subscription in certain countries, which may even include Apple TV+ access!
The Bad
Parents cannot sign up and purchase for their children. Each student must sign up for their own UNiDAYS account.
If UNiDAYS cannot automatically verify your student credentials, it has a manual process but that could mean several days of delay to verify your account.
The Ugly
The UNiDAYS verification process blocks parents of younger students from getting the education discount.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are forced to purchase tablets and laptops for their children’s online classes. While not entirely legit, the Apple education discount has helped many parents alleviate the high cost of providing each child with a tablet or computer.
While this verification process will help Apple cut down on fraud, I wish they would take the opportunity to open up the education discount programme to younger students.
That would really be a win-win situation – parents get a small but much appreciated discount, and Apple gets a head start on developing the next-generation of Apple users.
Until then, parents of younger children can “work around” this limitation, by asking a college / university student to help them make the purchase.
Countries Where Apple Education Discount Do Not Require UNiDAYS!
This switch to UNiDAYS verification for the Apple Education Discount programme appears to be a gradual process.
For now, these countries still do not require UNiDAYS verification :
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
Hong Kong
Ireland
Japan
Mexico
New Zealand
Philippines
Russia
Singapore
Taiwan
Thailand
United States
So parents of younger children in those countries can still get the Apple Education discount, without jumping through the UNiDAYS hoop.
Pro Tip : When purchasing any Mac computer or iPad with the Apple Education discount, make sure you grab all the accessories you need at the same time, to get the discount as well.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
macOS Monterey continues to be plagued by an insidious memory leak problem that Apple does not seem able to fix.
So here are a few workarounds that you can try!
macOS Monterey Memory Leak : What’s Going On?
Ever since it was released on 25 October 2021, macOS Monterey has been plaguing users with an insidious memory leak problem.
And even as Christmas approaches, Apple is still unable to fix the problem. Here is what we know so far…
It Gobbles Up Insane Amounts Of Memory
The memory leak quietly eats up insane amounts of memory, creeping up on users without warning.
A single affected app like Firefox can gobble up almost 80 GB of memory. Even a critical macOS process like WindowServer can end up using 24 GB of memory, while the Mail app can use more than 100 GB of memory!
Unless you have been keeping an eye on memory usage, you will only realise this is happening when you get the warning that “Your system has run out of application memory” with a request to Force Quit apps you are not using.
It Appears To Be An OS Issue
This Monterey memory leak affects many different apps with no obvious culprit in sight :
Internet browsers like Firefox and Safari
Apps like Tweetbot and Final Cut Pro
macOS features like Control Center, Mail and Finder
macOS processes like WindowsServer
That strongly suggests that it is an operating system issue, and not a bug in any particular app.
It Affects Intel + Apple Silicon Models
This Monterey memory leak problem is not platform-specific, and affects both Intel and Apple Silicon models.
So you are not going to be able to “escape” this memory leak problem by upgrading to the new M1 Pro / Max-powered MacBook Pro laptops.
macOS Monterey Memory Leak : Possible Solutions
Unfortunately, Apple still does not seem to be able to plug this insidious macOS Monterey memory leak. So here are some solutions that may work for you…
Revert To Standard Mouse Pointer
One of the new features macOS Monterey is the ability to change the mouse pointer’s size, as well as its outline and fill colours.
However, the developers at Mozilla discovered that using a non-standard mouse pointer in macOS Monterey causes a large memory leak!
This memory leak is not limited to Firefox, but occurs anytime the non-standard mouse pointer changes its look, like when you mouse over a button or a text field.
To fix this, you will need to revert to a standard mouse pointer, and here’s how to do that :
Step 1 : Go to Settings and select Accessibility.
Step 2 : Tap on the Display option, and select the Pointer tab.
Step 3 : Move the Pointer size all the way to the left (Normal).
Step 4 : Click on the Reset button to the right of Pointer outline colour and Pointer fill colour.
Step 5 : Restart your Mac, and fingers crossed – this fixes your Monterey memory leak problem!
Relaunch Finder
If you notice Finder using a prodigious amount of memory, that memory leak happens when you use the Find (⌘ F) feature in to search for files.
The easiest way to prevent this memory leak is to avoid using Finder’s Find feature. Try using the Search option on the upper right corner.
But once you get a Finder memory leak, you must relaunch it to release the leaked memory…
Option A : While in the Finder window, click on the Apple menu. Then press and hold the Shift key and click on Force Quit Finder.
Option B : Click on the Apple menu. Click Force Quit (Command + Option + Escape). Then select Finder and click on Relaunch.
Limit Use Of Control Center
Some users have reported that the Control Center can use upwards of 20GB of RAM, but most users fortunately do not encounter such terrible waste of memory.
This memory leak is easily reproducible – every time you use a control, it uses a little more RAM but does not release it.
Unfortunately, there is no way to release the leaked memory short of restarting the computer. So the best way to avoid this memory leak is to limit the use of Control Center.
Restart Apps Whenever Memory Use Is Too Much
Well, this seems obvious, but I have to throw it in anyway.
If any app, whether it’s Safari or Final Cut Pro starts using way too much memory, just close and reopen it. That should quickly recover the leaked memory.
Of course, this is only a stopgap solution until Apple releases a fix for this truly pesky memory problem in macOS Monterey…
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
