Malaysia just reversed its controversial decision to block use of public DNS servers using DNS redirection! Here is what you need to know…
Malaysia orders DNS redirection, affecting consumers too!
According to an FAQ posted by Maxis, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has ordered all Internet service providers in Malaysia to implement DNS redirection for businesses, governments, and enterprises by 30 September 2024.
DNS redirection basically blocks the use of public DNS servers, by redirecting DNS queries to the ISP’s own DNS servers, where certain websites can be blocked by government directive. In other words – DNS redirection prevents people from circumventing the ISP’s own DNS servers (and the government’s block list).
The Maxis FAQ, which is titled Maxis Business DNS Redirection, states that ISPs in Malaysia were ordered to implement DNS redirection for business/enterprise/government users, blocking their access to public DNS servers.
However, it now appears that the directive actually applied to everyone in Malaysia, not just business, enterprise, or government users!
After news broke that MCMC quietly ordered Internet service providers to implement DNS redirection in Malaysia, there was a public outcry, and people started looking up ways to bypass it.
The public outrage proved too much for the Malaysian government, and it backtracked on that controversial decision. On Sunday, 8 September 2024, Malaysia Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil announced that he asked MCMC not to proceed with its DNS redirection directive.
… considering the feedback received through a series of engagements with @MCMC_RASMI and the public, I have requested that MCMC not proceed with the implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) management redirection method.
At the same time, MCMC will continue its engagement series with all stakeholders to gather views, suggestions, and recommendations to ensure that the goal of a safer internet can be collectively achieved.
With that, Malaysia officially reversed its DNS Redirection decision within days of the news breaking.
There is no doubt that this reversal was due to many Malaysian netizens who spoke up against the controversial decision to hijack access to public DNS servers. So kudos to everyone who spoke up.
It is encouraging to see that public dissent can still force the government of the day to reverse controversial directives. But perhaps the government can avoid such controversies in the future by getting feedback from the public before quietly issuing controversial directives.
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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 MCMC just block the use of public DNS servers in Malaysia?! Here is what we know so far…
MCMC blocks public DNS servers only for business and government?
According to an FAQ posted by Maxis, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has ordered all Internet service providers in Malaysia to implement DNS redirection for businesses, governments, and enterprises by 30 September 2024.
DNS redirection basically blocks the use of public DNS servers, by redirecting DNS queries to the ISP’s own DNS servers, where certain websites can be blocked by government directive. In other words – DNS redirection prevents people from circumventing the ISP’s own DNS servers (and the government’s block list).
The Maxis FAQ, which is titled Maxis Business DNS Redirection, states that ISPs in Malaysia were ordered to implement DNS redirection for business/enterprise/government users, blocking their access to public DNS servers.
However, it now appears that the directive may actually apply to everyone in Malaysia, not just business, enterprise, or government users. Or the ISPs may be implementing the directive across the board. Here is what we know so far…
Public DNS servers appear to be blocked in Malaysia!
As far as I can tell, MCMC has not officially announced its DNS redirection order to ISPs. All we are relying on so far is the Maxis FAQ on DNS redirection, which suggested that it applied only to businesses, enterprises, and government agencies.
Why is DNS redirection being implemented for Enterprise/Business/Government services?
DNS redirection is being implemented to assist in preventing the commission or attempted commission of an offence under any written laws of Malaysia or otherwise in enforcing the laws of Malaysia. By blocking access to harmful websites more effectively and quickly, this proactive measure helps ensure compliance. This is particularly important for Enterprise/Business/Government, as it will also reduce the risk of reputational damage and inadvertent commission of offence.
However, the Maxis FAQ also states, in a different section, that “all service providers must implement this measure, and it applies to to all users of their services“, our emphasis in bold below:
The implementation of DNS redirection is a regulatory requirement enforced by MCMC to ensure compliance with Malaysian laws and to protect users from harmful online content. All service providers must implement this measure, and it applies to all users of their services.
If that’s accurate, then the MCMC directive to block the use of public DNS servers may apply to consumer users as well, not just business, enterprise, or government users.
Regular Internet users in Malaysia have started reporting (here, here) that they are no longer able to use public DNS servers from Google or Cloudflare.
The affected ISPs so far appear to be Telekom Malaysia (Unifi), Time, and Maxis. Digi and Celcom appear to be unaffected … so far.
We tested on Unifi and Digi Broadband, and confirmed that we cannot connect to Google DNS (8.8.8.8 / 8.8.4.4) or Cloudflare DNS (1.1.1.1). You can test it out yourself using these methods:
Using any Internet browser
Using any Internet browser, just go to the Cloudflare public DNS website – https://1.1.1.1/, which will appear in your Internet browser as https://one.one.one.one/.
But if your ISP has implemented DNS redirect, both domains are no longer accessible. Our tests on Friday, 6 September 2024 show:
Unifi : Unable to connect Digi Broadband : Connects normally
For the more technically-inclined, you can try using traceroute (macOS / Linux) or tracert (Windows), to see if your computer can connect to your preferred public DNS server – for example, 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare) or 8.8.8.8 (Google).
It’s pointless to use ping, because pings to the public DNS server IP will get redirected to the ISP’s own DNS server, and you will still get a response.
Using traceroute to connect to 8.8.8.8, our tests on Friday, 6 September 2024 show:
Unifi : Redirected
192.168.0.1 (192.168.0.1)
jhb-113-254-tm.net.my (203.106.113.254)
10.55.52.54 (10.55.52.54)
10.55.52.90 (10.55.52.90)
10.55.52.54 (10.55.52.54)
10.19.129.65 (10.19.129.65)
Digi Broadband : Not redirected
192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1)
172.16.136.1 (172.16.136.1)
115.164.8.106 (115.164.8.106)
72.14.243.96 (72.14.243.96)
dns.google (8.8.8.8)
As you can see, the traceroute showed that requests to Google DNS (8.8.8.8) on the Unifi network were routed to a Telekom Malaysia server (10.19.129.65) instead.
On the other hand, the same requests on the Digi Broadband network still get routed to Google DNS (8.8.8.8) as intended.
So it does appear that some Internet service providers in Malaysia have started to block access to public DNS servers by redirecting DNS queries to their own DNS servers. However, it is uncertain if MCMC actually ordered those ISPs to implement DNS redirection for consumers.
The blocking of public DNS servers will not matter to people who don’t know how to use these public DNS servers. But it will matter a lot to Malaysian netizens who want to use public DNS servers for faster performance, better privacy and security, as well as bypass government censorship. Some will inevitably see this as a step towards China’s Great Firewall.
While the goal of blocking dangerous or scam websites is admirable, that is already served by existing bans of those websites on the ISP level for regular users. People who are tech-savvy enough to configure their computers to use public DNS servers would know better than to fall for those websites.
Hopefully, MCMC only issued that DNS redirection directive for business/enterprise/government users, and Malaysian ISPs will roll back the implementation for consumers.
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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.
MCMC has ordered ISPs in Malaysia to implement DNS redirection for businesses, enterprises, and government agencies! Here is what you need to know…
Malaysia orders DNS redirection for business and government!
According to an FAQ posted by Maxis, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has ordered all Internet service providers in Malaysia to implement DNS redirection for businesses, governments, and enterprises by 30 September 2024.
The Maxis FAQ, which is titled Maxis Business DNS Redirection, states that this directive by MCMC is meant to “protect users from harmful or illegal online content” by blocking access to “websites involved in online gambling, pornography, copyright violations, scams, and other illegal activities.”
Here is a quick primer on what DNS redirection would mean for Malaysian businesses, enterprises and government agencies.
What is DNS?
When you visit a website, you will normally key in a user-friendly name (like www.techarp.com), but the website itself uses a numerical IP address (like 192.0.2.1).
DNS translates that user-friendly name into the correct IP address, so your computer can access the website.
What is DNS redirection?
By default, most people use the DNS servers provided by their Internet service provider. However, some people choose to use alternative DNS servers from Google or Cloudflare for privacy, faster speeds, or to avoid censorship.
DNS redirection prevents that by redirecting all DNS queries from your phone or computer to the ISP’s own DNS servers, where certain websites can be blocked by government directive. In other words – DNS redirection prevents people from circumventing the ISP’s own DNS servers (and the government’s block list).
Is DNS redirection good or bad?
Blocking access to illegal, or dangerous websites is important for businesses, enterprises, and government agencies, because it reduces the risks of reputational damage, and prevents the inadvertent commission of offence by employees. Blocking scam websites is also an important way to prevent people and companies from getting scammed.
On the other hand, public DNS servers from Google and Cloudflare offer faster speeds with lower latency, and block tracking by ISPs or governments. They also offer enhanced security using DNSSEC – DNS Security Extensions.
According to the Maxis FAQ, this MCMC directive affects all ISPs offering both mobile and fixed Internet services in Malaysia.
Who will be affected by DNS redirection?
According to the Maxis FAQ, this MCMC directive primarily affects Business / Enterprise / Government customers who use public DNS services. But there are already reports that consumer DNS queries have also been redirected.
Interestingly, the Maxis FAQ also states, in a different section, that “all service providers must implement this measure, and it applies to to all users of their services“. So this MCMC directive may actually apply to consumer users, and not just business, enterprise, or government users.
Which DNS services are affected?
According to the Maxis FAQ, this directive currently affects public DNS services like Google DNS and Cloudflare. OpenDNS was not mentioned, but is likely to be affected too.
Private DNS servers, and encrypted DNS queries like DNS over HTTPS (DoH) or DNS over TLS (DoT) are not affected.
When must Malaysian ISPs implement DNS redirection?
According to the Maxis FAQ, MCMC ordered all Internet service providers in Malaysia to implement its DNS redirection directive by 30 September 2024.
Users on Time, Telekom Malaysia and Maxis networks have reported that DNS redirection is already in effect.
How to check if DNS redirection has been implemented?
DNS redirection is designed to block access to websites deemed illegal by the government of Malaysia. If you access a blocked website, it will be inaccessible.
You can also test by trying to go to the Cloudflare DNS website – https://1.1.1.1/ using your Internet browser. If you see “Unable to connect”, instead of the 1.1.1.1 website, then your DNS queries are being redirected to your ISP’s own DNS servers.
Alternatively, techies can use the tracert command (in Windows command prompt), or traceroute command (in macOS Terminal) to connect to the alternative DNS server (like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8), and see if it gets routed properly.
If the trace route shows your query ending in a different IP address than the alternative DNS server you selected (like 1.1.1.1 or 8.8.8.8), then it is being redirected.
Can you opt out of DNS redirection?
No, unfortunately – you are not allowed to opt out, because it’s a regulatory requirement by MCMC.
Please Support My Work!
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.
Steam has suddenly been banned entirely in Vietnam! Here is what we know so far about this developing situation…
Steam Is Suddenly Banned Entirely In Vietnam!
Earlier this week, Steam appears to have been banned entirely across Vietnam, with Vietnamese players taking to Steam to complain about how Vietnamese internet service providers have blocked access to both the Steam app, and the Steam website.
Currently, neither the government of Vietnam, nor Steam, has commented on the matter. So it is unclear, at least officially, what led the Vietnamese government to ban Steam. However, it appears that domestic game publishers in Vietnam may be responsible for this ban…
According to a translated story on VietNamNet, domestic game publishers were more than a little annoyed that Steam was releasing thousands of titles into their market “without having to ask for permission”, which they saw as “an injustice”.
Less controversially, domestic game developers pointed out that they are required to censor violence and sexual content from their games, while Steam freely offers such uncensored games to Vietnamese gamers.
VietNamNet then suggested that a possible middle path might be to use a restricted version of Steam in Vietnam, like what was done for China, serving a much more limited number of game titles that the authorities have approved.
Steam is Valve’s video game distribution service launched in 2003 as a software application that automatically delivers games and was expanded to distribute third-party titles.
Talking to VietNamNet, many domestic game publishers believe that they are being treated unfairly, when the Steam platform is releasing more than 100,000 unlicensed computer (PC) games into the Vietnamese market.
“Steam is releasing games freely into Vietnam, including violent games, adult games… but without having to ask for permission. This is an injustice to domestic publishers. This requires authorities to take management measures with this cross-border platform, otherwise, domestic game publishers will die,” a representative of a game publisher shared.
According to PV VietNamNet’s research, Steam is Valve’s video game distribution service launched in 2003 as a software application, automatically providing games and expanded to distribute game titles. of third parties from the end of 2005 until now.
Steam offers a variety of features such as technical management, game server connection with Valve Anti-Cheat anti-hacking solution, social networks and Streaming services. Besides, Steam’s application also automatically updates games, cloud storage, community features…
Steam is released globally, currently has more than 100,000 games distributed (including paid and free) as well as updating 6,000 – 8,000 games each year. This platform supports up to 24 languages and is easily accessible to all users around the world. According to VGC, 2023 has seen a series of games distributed on Steam, with 14,535 new games, an increase of nearly 2,000 games compared to 2022.
To use Steam is very simple, just download and install Steam Client, then register an account and proceed to buy games or play free games provided by this platform. Steam also has a built-in electronic wallet (Steam wallet) so players can recharge and pay for user needs (buying games, buying items on the market, items…).
As noted, a lot of shooting games are being released on Steam, which still leave the effect (red blood) intact. In Vietnam, games of the same genre must be edited, due to the violent nature that affects the players’ psychology. In addition, on this platform there are also games with adult content with revealing images, sexual intercourse…
In 2021, the Steam Global version was officially “banned” in the Chinese market, replaced by a Steam version specifically for China. The game library on this platform has just over 100 titles, most of which are Chinese games. Players can find some famous games like Dota 2, CSGO… but will not be able to find games rated 18+ which are very popular on Steam.
In addition to lacking about 110,000 games compared to the Global version, Steam China is also not allowed to have any community features, does not support Workshops, does not allow selling trading cards on the Community Market, and does not have a forum to Gamers communicate and support each other,…
New games that want to appear on this platform will also be strictly censored. Specifically, games released in China are not allowed to have blood, are not allowed to show images of “skulls and bones” and images that can hurt gamers.
According to sources from the management agency, with no contact point in Vietnam, the authorities are looking for solutions to prevent illegal cross-border services from being provided to Vietnamese users in the future next time.
It is unknown when Steam will be reinstated in Vietnam, if ever. What seems certain though is that Vietnamese gamers will not be able to access Steam in its current form…
A Possible Workaround To Access Steam In Vietnam!
Enterprising gamers have been able to bypass the ban on Steam in Vietnam by simply changing the DNS servers used by their computers, or routers.
Here is a quick guide on how to do that in Windows:
Go to Network & Internet settings.
Select the Change adapter options.
Right click on your Wi-Fi or LAN connection, and select Properties.
Double-click on Internet Protocol Version 4, or select it and click Properties.
Switch to Use the following DNS server addresses.
Then key in the alternate DNS addresses from one of these excellent options:
Cloudflare
Primary DNS : 1.1.1.1
Secondary DNS : 1.0.0.1
Google
Primary DNS : 8.8.8.8
Secondary DNS : 8.8.4.4
NordVPN
Primary DNS : 1.1.1.1
Secondary DNS : 1.0.0.1
After keying in the DNS servers you want, click OK, and you are done!
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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.
Jetpack Stats is no longer free – Jetpack has started charging websites a monthly fee to keep an eye on their stats!
Here is what you need to know, and what you can switch to…
Jetpack Stats Is No Longer Free!
On 10 April 2024, Jetpack announced that it will now start charging websites a monthly fee to keep an eye on their stats, based on the amount of traffic they receive.
While Jetpack says it is “excited” to share that personal websites are staying free, it is likely that the vast majority of websites will never qualify, as Jetpack’s definition of “commercial sites” is wide-ranging. You are considered “commercial”, as long as:
your website has advertisements of any kind, including Google Adsense
you sell products or services on your website
you promote a business on your website
you solicit donations or sponsorship on your website
In other words, you will have to pay even if you are a charity seeking donations, or a Girl Scout troop hawking cookies.
On top of that, Jetpack is not charging a flat rate for its Stats module, but a pretty hefty fee based on the amount of traffic you receive every month!
Please note that you are billed yearly. To make it easier for you to understand the cost, I summarised the prices for Jetpack Stats in this table:
Monthly Limit
Monthly Price
Yearly Cost
10K page views
US$8.34
US$100
100K page views
US$16.67
US$200
250K page views
US$25
US$300
500K page views
US$41.67
US$500
1M page views
US$58.34
US$700
2M page views
US$79.17
US$950
Every additional
1M page views
+US$20.83
+US$250
Mind you – this is just the cost for Jetpack Stats, which appears to be a separate and additional cost to the Jetpack Security and Jetpack Complete subscriptions, which are US$9.95, and US$24.95 per month respectively.
So you are talking about forking out serious money just to monitor your website stats, and get some insights.
Best Free Jetpack Stats Alternative : MonsterInsights
To be sure, Jetpack Stats was a useful and convenient tool, when it was free, but it really doesn’t make sense to pay so much to stick with it. After all, it’s basically displaying a summary of your Google Analytics data!
Fortunately, there is a great alternative – MonsterInsights. It looks remarkably similar to Jetpack Stats (or vice versa), so you should have no problem switching. It’s also easy to install and setup – I took less than 10 minutes to migrate from Jetpack Stats to MonsterInsights. Best of all – MonsterInsights is FREE!
There is a paid MonsterInsights Pro version, but that’s only necessary for those who need specialised features like events tracking, ecommerce tracking, custom dimensions tracking, page speed reports, popular post tracking, custom dimensions, affiliate link tracking, video, tracking, etc.
Step 7 : Sign into your Google Account, and select the right Analytics Property.
Step 8 : Complete the rest of the setup, including selecting the features you want. Then wait for it to complete its setup process.
That’s it! You should be able to instantly monitor your website stats using MonsterInsights, without paying to use Jetpack Stats!
We hope you found this guide useful. Please SHARE this article, and please SUPPORT our work!
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.
Is Google shutting down Gmail for good by August 2024?! Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Google Is Shutting Down Gmail For Good!
A post has gone viral on X (formerly Twitter), allegedly posted by the SVP of Product at Google, who claimed that he accidentally fired the entire Gmail team, and ordered it shut down after misreading a message from CEO Sundar Pichai!
Chris Bakke : I’m the SVP of Product at Google ($28.8M TC).
Last night, Sundar asked me to “fire the entire Gemini team.”
I misread his message (insanely bad service at my 7br 11bath cabin in Park City) and I accidentally fired the entire Gmail team.
Gmail…Gemini.
Look at that quickly without your glasses when you’re 7 margaritas deep at the fire pit on a Wednesday and you’d make the same error.
I mean you get how that’s confusing right?
Anyway, I’m rolling with the decision.
Gmail’s gone.
A screenshot of a Google notice about sunsetting Gmail was attached to the post, and it suggested that Gmail accounts would become inaccessible after 1 August 2024.
Google is sunsetting Gmail
Dear Gmail User,
We are reaching out to share an important update about Gmail. After years of connecting millions worldwide, enabling seamless communication, and fostering countless connections, the journey of Gmail is coming to a close. As of August 1, 2024, Gmail will officially be sunsetted, marking the end of its service. This means that as of this date, Gmail will no longer support sending, receiving, or storing emails.
Why Gmail is Sunsetting
The decision to sunset Gmail has been made with careful consideration of the evolving digital landscape and our commitment to providing high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of our users. In the spirit of progress and adaptation, we are focusing our resources on developing new technologies and platforms that will continue to revolutionize the way we communicate and interact online.
What This Means for You
• Email Access: Up until August 1, 2024, you will be able to access and download all your emails. After this date, Gmail accounts will become inaccessible.
This is yet another example of fake news circulating on X (formerly Twitter), and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Google Is Not Shutting Down Gmail
Let me start by pointing out that Google is not shutting down Gmail. For one thing – no one received the “Google is sunsetting Gmail” email. There is also no announcement on the Google blog.
There is also an absence of legitimate news and tech media reporting on such a shocking announcement. In fact, all you will find are fact check articles like this, telling you that this is just another example of fake news on X.
There is also the fact that the official Gmail account on X (formerly Twitter) posted a terse response:
Gmail is here to stay
To be clear – Google is not shutting down Gmail. This is just satire / shitposting on X.
Google is itself highly-reliant on Gmail services, and would be in deep shit if Gmail goes down for even an hour, never mind shut down forever.
I should also point out that Chris Bakke is not the Senior Vice President of Product at Google in charge of Gmail. In fact, he’s currently working at X, not Google!
Chris Bakke was the founder and CEO of Laskie, a tech recruitment company that X (formerly Twitter) purchased in May 2023. He is currently the Product Lead for X, and is known to be a notorious “shitposter” or “trash poster” on the social media platform.
When Austen Allred, another tech founder, tweeted about the acquisition when it was revealed, Elon Musk said he thought it was a good sign:
Austen Allred : Only fitting that Twitter’s first acquisition in the Elon era is a company run by a notorious shitposter.
Elon Musk : I regard that as a good sign 🙂
Elon is probably going to give Chris a bonus for the millions of views and engagement his new “shitpost” has generated on X. Throw some our way, Chris, will ya!
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
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.
Is WhatsApp going to charge you a fee for keeping a backup of your old messages?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : WhatsApp To Charge Fee For Backup Of Old Messages!
People are sharing articles with alarming titles that claim or suggest that WhatsApp is going to start charging you a fee for keeping a backup of your old messages!
WhatsApp warning over fee to keep old messages
Millions of WhatsApp users face shock new fees for viewing chats – are you affected?
Truth : WhatsApp Is Not Charging Fee For Backup Of Old Messages!
Let me share with you why WhatsApp is not charging any fee to backup old messages!
Fact #1 : WhatsApp Backup To Count Against Google Account Storage
First, let me just point out that the whole “drama” about WhatsApp charging a fee for the backup of old messages is based on the announcement that it will stop providing free unlimited backups on Android!
What it really means is that the storage used for your WhatsApp backup will count towards your Google Account’s cloud storage limit.
If you have a personal Google Account, you have 15 GB of free cloud storage space. When this new policy kicks in, you will need to reserve some of that space for your WhatsApp backup.
If you choose to enable WhatsApp backups on Android, personal Google Accounts come with 15GB of storage at no charge – 3X more than most mobile platforms – that’s shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
To be clear – WhatsApp is not going to charge you to backup your old messages!
Fact #2 : Meta, Not Google, Owns WhatsApp
This new WhatsApp policy indirectly “encourages” you to pay for more storage in your Google Account, unless you diligently restrict the amount of storage used by WhatsApp, Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
While this may appear as if WhatsApp is “charging you” to store large backups, that is simply not true. For one thing – WhatsApp isn’t actually charging anything. The other issue is WhatsApp is owned by Meta (the parent company of Facebook), not Google.
In other words, WhatsApp does not benefit financially from any user paying Google to add more storage, unless there is some kind of referral or profit sharing agreement between the two companies.
It is odd that some people think that they won’t be able to read their old messages once they run out of Google Account storage.
That’s simply not true, as the chat messages are stored in your phone. Only your WhatsApp backup file is being stored in your Google Account.
You can read all of your old messages even if you never backed up your WhatsApp data in the phone, or in your Google Account.
You will only lose your messages if you don’t back them up somewhere, and your phone gets destroyed.
Fact #4 : New Policy Only Affects Free Google Accounts
I should also point out that this new policy of counting the storage used by your WhatsApp backup towards your Google Account storage limit only affects people using free personal Google Accounts.
Google specifically said that this new policy does not affect people using paid Google Workspace subscriptions, even if they were provided by work or school.
In short – Google is only targeting cheapskates (like us) who refuse to subscribe to a paid Workspace account.
Those who are using paid Google Workspace accounts will continue to enjoy free and unlimited storage space for their WhatsApp backup files, that do not count towards their storage limit.
Fact #5 : You Can Avoid The Fee
If you are a cheapskate like us, there are several ways to avoid paying Google for extra storage space for your WhatsApp backup file:
switch to local backup on your phone (not recommended)
create a new Google Account specifically for your WhatsApp backup
do not include videos in your WhatsApp backup
clear WhatsApp media files once in a while to reduce backup size
cut storage use of other Google services – stop uploading photos to Google Photos, for example
In short – it is possible to continue backing up your WhatsApp chat history, without paying a cent to Google.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
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.
WhatsApp just announced that it will stop providing free unlimited backup for its Android users! Find out what this means for you!
Previously : Free Unlimited WhatsApp Backup On Android!
From the beginning, WhatsApp has been providing its users with unlimited backup of chats and files on Android for free.
In fact, none of us ever thought about just how much storage we have been using to backup our WhatsApp chats and files. It was just something that we took for granted.
Well, that is going to change starting in December 2023… and here is what you need to know!
WhatsApp : No More Free Unlimited Backup On Android!
On Tuesday, 14 November 2023, Google Community Manager Jamie dropped a bombshell, announcing that WhatsApp will stop providing free unlimited backup on Android!
As an important heads up, WhatsApp backups on Android will soon start counting toward your Google Account cloud storage limit, similar to how WhatsApp backups are handled on other mobile platforms.
WhatsApp Is Not Charging Any Backup Fee
This does not mean WhatsApp will start charging a fee for backup storage. No, what will happen is that the storage used for your WhatsApp backup will count towards your Google Account’s cloud storage limit.
If you have a personal Google Account, you have 15 GB of free cloud storage space. Now, you will need to reserve some of that space for your WhatsApp backup.
If you choose to enable WhatsApp backups on Android, personal Google Accounts come with 15GB of storage at no charge – 3X more than most mobile platforms – that’s shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
The 15GB of free cloud storage is not a lot of space, because it is shared by Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. Most users will quickly run out of space, unless they disable uploading photos to Google Photos, for example. Or regularly prune WhatsApp chats to reduce backup space.
To be clear – WhatsApp is not charging any fee to backup your old messages!
If you run out of storage, WhatsApp backup will stop working. The last backup will still be there, but you won’t be able to update that backup.
WhatsApp backups on Android will continue to work, as long as you have available space within your Google Account storage. If you hit your storage limit, you’ll need to free up space to resume backups by removing items you do not need.
What Google does not point out is that the other services relying on the same Google Account storage – Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos – will also stop working when you run out of storage!
In other words, you are being indirectly “encouraged” to pay for more Google storage. Unless you diligently restrict the amount of storage used by WhatsApp, Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos.
Change Only Affects “Free” Personal Accounts
Currently, this change only affects users of personal Google Accounts. Those who have a Google Workspace subscription through work or school are not affected.
In other words, Google will only stop providing free unlimited backup to people who are using free personal Google Accounts.
Those who are using paid Google Workspace accounts will continue to enjoy free and unlimited storage space for their WhatsApp backup files.
This change will start rolling out for WhatsApp Beta users in December 2023, but everyone else can expect to lose the free unlimited backup in the first half of 2024.
This change will first start rolling out to WhatsApp Beta users starting in December 2023, then gradually to all WhatsApp users on Android starting early next year.
WhatsApp said that it will let users know 30 days before the change happens through a banner in the app.
You Can Backup Onto Your Phone
WhatsApp will still offer a local backup option that won’t count towards the storage limit. However, it is a poor alternative to cloud backup.
Click on the hamburger icon and go to Settings > Chats > Chat backup.
Tap on the “Back up to Google Drive” option, and select “Never“.
Tap on the green Back up button, and WhatsApp will create a local backup.
The local backup file is saved on your phone’s internal storage. You will need to periodically copy it to a micro SD card, or an external storage device. Otherwise, you will not have access to the backup, if you accidentally destroy your phone.
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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.
If you own an Android TV, or Android TV box, you might need to disable the Lock Screen requirement. Find out how to do that!
Why Do You Need To Disable Android TV Lock Screen?
Android TV, whether it’s already integrated into your television set, or in a separate box, requires a Google account to download and install apps through the Google Play Store.
If you have been using your Google Workspace account, or the Free Legacy G Suite account, you will likely encounter this error message:
To access your work account on this device, you’ll need to set a lock screen. This is your organization’s mobile device policy.
A lock screen? Android TV has a TV lock option, but by default, that’s disabled and rightly so – TVs traditionally do not require a password when you turn them on!
You can ignore it, and continue to use your Android TV or Android TV box, but you cannot log into Google Play Store to download and install any apps.
How To Bypass Android TV Lock Screen Requirement!
This Android TV Lock Screen error message appears because Google, by default, sets company accounts to require a Lock Screen on all mobile devices.
The easiest way to bypass this Android TV Lock Screen requirement is to simply use a personal Google Account. Or better still, create a new personal Google Account just for your Android TV.
Once you switch to a personal Google account, you won’t have to face this Lock Screen requirement, and can freely download and install apps from the Google Play Store. However, this method only works for people who only intend to download and use free apps.
If you intend to download and install a paid app, like Minecraft for example, then this method won’t work because that paid app is tied to your Google Workspace / Free Legacy G Suite account.
How To Disable Android TV Lock Screen Requirement!
If you need to use your Google Workspace / Free Legacy G Suite account (which is tied to a company) with your Android TV, then you need to disable the Lock Screen policy. In this video tutorial, we will show you just how to do that.
https://youtu.be/pe3XpfLgW_s
Just in case you prefer a step-by-step guide, here are the steps with screenshots.
Step 2 : Type “Universal Settings” in the search box at the top, and a list of relevant options will appear.
Step 3 : Click on Universal Settings. Alternatively, you can navigate manually using the menu on the left : Devices > Mobile and endpoints > Universal settings
Step 4 : In the Universal Settings page, click on General : Turn on device management and password controls to reveal the available general settings.
Step 5 : In the General section, you will see two options – Mobile management and Password requirements.
Either option will let you disable the Lock Screen requirement in Android devices. So you will need to select one of them.
I will share the two available methods as Option A and Option B below. Choose one.
Option A : Disable Mobile Management
By default, your account is set to Basic (Agentless) mobile management, which applies basic password controls (including requiring the Lock Screen).
Step 6A : Select Turn off mobile management (Unmanaged).
Step 7A : Click on Save to save the changes. The change generally happens instantaneously but can take a few minutes to propagate.
As turning off basic mobile management will deprive you of the ability to wipe work accounts, and remove compromised device protection, I would recommend you try Option B as the first resort, and keep Option A as a back up alternative.
Option B : Disable Password Requirements Recommended!
By default, your account is set to Require users to set a password, which has a basic requirement of “Any screenlock“.
Step 6B :Untick the Require users to set a password checkbox.
Step 7B : Click on Save to save the changes. The change generally happens instantaneously but can take a few minutes to propagate.
I personally recommend using this option, as it would leave you the ability to perform some basic mobile management of your devices.
Step 8 : While the change happens within seconds to minutes, you must remove your Google Account from your Android TV / Android TV box.
Step 9 : Log into Google Play Store using your Google Account again. It should now work properly, without asking you to register a Lock Screen.
I hope you found this guide useful. Please SHARE this guide out, and SUPPORT our work!
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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.
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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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.
One of China’s most popular apps – Pinduoduo apparently contains a malware that monitors user activities and is difficult to remove!
Take a look at what CNN and multiple cybersecurity researchers have discovered about Pinduoduo!
Pinduoduo : What Is It?
Pinduoduo is actually a Chinese online retailer. Think of it as China’s Amazon. While Amazon started as an online bookstore, Pinduoduo started as an online agricultural retailer.
Since then, Pinduoduo has become one of China’s most popular online shopping platform, with its app offering its 750 million users access to cheap products in China, by offering steep discounts on group buying orders.
Despite its meteoric rise, Pinduoduo has not been without its controversies. In 2018, the company was criticised for hosting inferior and imitation products, to which it responded by taking down more than 4 million listing and shutting down 1,128 stores.
In 2019, Pinduoduo was hit by hackers who stole discount coupons worth tens of millions of Yuan. And just last month, Google suspended the Pinduoduo app after discovering that versions offered outside its Play Store contained malware.
The Off-Play versions of the e-commerce app that have been found to contain malware have been enforced on via Google Play Protect.
Western interest may have been initiated by Google suspending the Pinduoduo app, but cybersecurity experts had already started looking into the app, and what they discovered was very troubling.
Alert First Raised By Chinese Cybersecurity Company
I think we should start by noting that it was a Chinese cybersecurity company called Dark Navy that first raised concerns about malware in the Pinduoduo app in February 2023.
Although Dark Navy did not name Pinduoduo in its report, cybersecurity researchers knew who it was referring to and soon followed up with their own investigations and reports, confirming Dark Navy’s report.
Sophisticated Malware
Half a dozen cybersecurity teams from Asia, Europe and the United States identified sophisticated malware in the Pinduoduo app that were designed to exploit vulnerabilities in the Android operating system used by many smartphones.
The malware allows the Pinduoduo app to bypass Android security features to monitor activities in other apps, check notifications, read private messages, and even change settings. It is also difficult to remove once installed.
Mikko Hyppönen, chief research officer at WithSecure, a Finnish cybersecurity firm, said that:
We haven’t seen a mainstream app like this trying to escalate their privileges to gain access to things that they’re not supposed to gain access to. This is highly unusual, and it is pretty damning for Pinduoduo.
Dedicated Hacking Team To Look For Vulnerabilities
Even more damning, CNN reported that a current employee revealed that Pinduoduo set up a team of about 100 engineers and product managers to look for vulnerabilities in Android smartphones, and find ways to exploit them for profit.
To avoid exposure, the source said that the company targeted users in rural areas and smaller towns, and avoided users in megacities like Beijing and Shanghai.
By collecting expansive data on those users, Pinduoduo was able to create a comprehensive portrait of their habits, interests, and preferences; while improving its machine learning models to personalise push notifications and ads.
Pinduoduo App Gained More Access Than Allowed
Three cybersecurity companies – WithSecure, Check Point Research, and Oversecured conducted independent analysis of version 6.49.0 of the Pinduoduo app that was released in late February 2023, and found code designed to achieve “privilege escalation” – a type of cyberattack that exploits vulnerabilities in the operating system to gain a higher level of access to data that it’s supposed to have.
Our team has reverse engineered that code and we can confirm that it tries to escalate rights, tries to gain access to things normal apps wouldn’t be able to do on Android phones.
The Pinduoduo app was able to continue running in the background, and prevent itself from being uninstalled. This was apparently done to boost the platform’s statistic for monthly active users.
Pinduoduo App Has Access To User Data Without Consent
Delware-based app security start-up, Oversecured, found that the Pinduoduo app had access to user data like locations, contacts, calendars, notifications, and photo albums, without their consent.
The app was also able to change system settings, and access user social media accounts and chats.
The Pinduoduo app also had the ability to snoop on competing shopping apps, by tracking activity on other shopping apps, and gathering information from them.
Pinduoduo App Able To Secretly Receive Updates
Check Point Research found that Pinduoduo was able to push updates to the app, without first going through an app store review process to detect malicious code.
Pinduoduo App Programmers Attempted To Obscure Malicious Code
Check Point Research also found that some plug-ins used by the Pinduoduo app tried to obscure potentially malicious code by hiding them under legitimate file names, such as Google’s.
Such a technique is widely used by malware developers that inject malicious code into applications that have legitimate functionality.
Pinduoduo Targeted Android Devices
According to Sergey Toshin, founder of Oversecured, Pinduoduo’s malware specifically targeted Android operating systems used by Samsung, HUAWEI, Xiaomi and OPPO.
He also described the app as “the most dangerous malware” ever found in mainstream apps, exploiting about 50 Android system vulnerabilities. Most of these exploits targeted customised OEM code used by smartphone brands to customise their smartphone software.
I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s like, super expansive.
After cybersecurity researchers started reporting about the app, Pinduoduo released version 6.50.0 on March 5, which removed the exploits they found. Two days later, Pinduoduo disbanded its Android hacking team, according to the same employee.
The hacking team members found themselves locked out of Pinduoduo’s workspace communication app, called Knock, and lost access to files on the company’s internal network, with their privileges revoked.
Most of the team was later transferred to work at Pinduoduo’s sister app, Temu. A core group of about 20 cybersecurity engineers however remain at Pinduoduo.
In addition, Sergey Toshin of Oversecured noted that while the exploits were removed in the new version of Pinduoduo, the underlying code remained and could be reactivated to carry out attacks.
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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.
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!
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.
It’s official – Google is shutting down Stadia for good, just three years after it launched the “future of gaming” to great fanfare!
Google Stadia Is Shutting Down For Good!
On Thursday, September 29, 2022, Google announced that it was shutting down Stadia for good, just three years after it launched the “future of gaming” to great fanfare!
In his blog post, Phil Harrison, the Vice President and General Manager of Stadia, announced that they will begin winding down their streaming service.
Gamers will be able to continue playing until January 18, 2023, and most will receive their refunds by middle of January 2023.
A few years ago, we also launched a consumer gaming service, Stadia. And while Stadia’s approach to streaming games for consumers was built on a strong technology foundation, it hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected so we’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.
We’re grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start. We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia store.
Players will continue to have access to their games library and play through January 18, 2023 so they can complete final play sessions. We expect to have the majority of refunds completed by mid-January, 2023.
Why Google Stadia Is Shutting Down For Good!
Stadia’s problem isn’t streaming, it was a complete lack of original games. Despite branding it as the “future of gaming”, Google failed to release any original titles.
Instead Stadia relied on third-party games, which it reportedly had to pay tens of millions of dollars to port over.
With no headlining game to drive gamers to the platform, it was rumoured as early as July that Stadia was headed for the chopping board, when Killed by Google (now suspended) claimed that it would be dead by the end of summer.
At that time, the streaming service retorted that “Stadia is not shutting down” and that there would be “more great games” to come. But two months later, Stadia truly got axed.
Stadia’s demise goes to show that, yet again, content is king. Whether it applies to movies or games, it is content that matters more than the platform.
Netflix realised that, but apparently Stadia didn’t get the memo, and is now paying the ultimate price.
Google Stadia May Live On… Differently
While Stadia is going to shut down on January 19, 2023, that does not mean it won’t live on… in other ways.
Stadia VP and GM Phil Harrison said that its technologies can be applied to other parts of Google, like YouTube, Google Play and its augmented reality (AR) projects.
He also pointed out that its streaming technologies can be made available to their partners, hinting to past overtures to Peloton and Bungle.
The underlying technology platform that powers Stadia has been proven at scale and transcends gaming. We see clear opportunities to apply this technology across other parts of Google like YouTube, Google Play, and our Augmented Reality (AR) efforts — as well as make it available to our industry partners, which aligns with where we see the future of gaming headed.
We remain deeply committed to gaming, and we will continue to invest in new tools, technologies and platforms that power the success of developers, industry partners, cloud customers and creators.
That effort may help assure current Stadia team members that their jobs may not be axed even when the streaming service shuts down. Harrison said that many Stadia team members will continue their work in other parts of Google:
Many of the Stadia team members will be carrying this work forward in other parts of the company.
We’re so grateful for the groundbreaking work of the team and we look forward to continuing to have an impact across gaming and other industries using the foundational Stadia streaming technology.
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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.
Google just cancelled their next Pixelbook, and dissolved the team behind it, but don’t worry – the Chromebook lives on!
Google Kills Pixelbook + Dissolves Team
Google just cancelled the next-generation Pixelbook laptop that was supposed to debut next year. They also dissolved the team developing it, and transferred its members to other teams.
This sudden decision came after Google said in May 2022 that it planned to continue its Pixelbook laptop business.
Then in July, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that he wanted to slow down hiring and cut some projects :
In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes. In other cases, that means pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas.
It looks like Google decided that their next Pixelbook would be a waste of resources, and killed it to shift their resources elsewhere.
Google Pixelbook Is Dead, But Chromebook Lives On!
While there will no longer be a new Pixelbook laptop in 2023, that does not mean Google has given up on ChromeOS or Chromebook laptops.
In fact, Google likely canned their Pixelbook project because their OEM partners are doing a great job of producing a plethora of good or even great Chromebook laptops.
As Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh pointed out at Google I/O 2022 in May, the Chromebook market had matured and would last a long time.
Google have always developed hardware as a way to push the envelope, and to show its partners what can be achieved. It doesn’t benefit Google to directly compete with its partners.
Now that OEM partners like Acer, Lenovo and HP are offering Chromebook laptops in a wide range of price points and configurations, it just doesn’t make sense for Google to muddle the market with a new Pixelbook.
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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 a prankster used Wikipedia to fool Google into “killing” Conor McGregor!
Google Fooled Into “Killing” Conor McGregor!
On August 5, 2022, Google was fooled into “killing” Irish mixed martial artist, Conor McGregor.
Many people started posting screenshots of Google Search showing that Conor McGregor died on August 4, 2022.
But the truth was – Conor McGregor is very much still alive. In fact, he posted photos he took with Arnold Schwarzenegger a day after he purportedly died…
I’ll be back! For the sake of humankind! I must return! 🦸♂️ Happy birthday my man, @Schwarzenegger! Hope you and H are proud of my recovery / work and my latest move on the board. Fun times ahead, bring it 🦿❤️ pic.twitter.com/v7z2Fppn9K
Despite those social media posts, people were still confused, asking why is Google showing that Conor McGregor died on August 4, 2022.
why does it say conor mcgregor is dead if you google it?
Wtf is this? Searched Conor dead and this is what came up? @TheNotoriousMMA you good champ? Google saying you’re dead
Are we not gonna talk about this how he is allegedly dead 🤷🏼♀️@TheNotoriousMMA
How Wikipedia Was Used To “Kill” Conor McGregor!
This Google search debacle was traced to a prankster who edited the Spanish Wikipedia article about Conor McGregor, to include a date of death.
Due to the importance Google Search gives information on Wikipedia, and how Knowledge Graph pulls from Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, the false date of death was given undue prominence.
Even after the fake date of death was removed from Wikipedia, it remained cached in the Google search results, prolonging the confusion.
This was what a spokesperson for Wikimedia Foundation explained :
It looks like the Spanish Wikipedia article about Conor McGregor was vandalized yesterday to include a date of death and has since been resolved.
Given the way Knowledge Graph results pull from Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, this can (in rare instances) result in some vandalism being cached in search results, sometimes even after it’s already been addressed on Wikipedia.
It appears that the issue has also been addressed in search results.
This death hoax highlights the dangers of open databases like Wikipedia, and the importance Google Search gives its information.
This makes us wonder – what other Wikipedia entries have been faked / vandalised without admins realising it, that are reflected in Google Search results.
Perhaps Google needs to tune down its reliance on Wikipedia entries…
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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.
Indonesia just banned a number of major websites including Steam, Epic Games, PayPal and Battle.net!
Here is what you need to know!
Indonesia Banned Steam, PayPal, Epic Games + More!
On 30 July 2022, Indonesians woke up to the shocking discovery that a number of gaming platforms like Steam, Epic Games, Origin, Ubisoft and Battle.net are now banned!
Not only were gaming platforms banned, Indonesia also banned major websites and digital services like PayPal and Waze.
Indonesian netizens have started sharing tips on how to bypass this sudden ban – by using VPN, or changing their DNS servers, to bypass what appears to be an IP block.
Why Indonesia Banned Steam, PayPal, Epic Games, Etc!
There was no official announcement by the Indonesian government, but it is likely that Indonesia banned Steam, PayPal, Epic Games and a bunch of other websites and digital platforms because they failed to register as an Electronics System Provider / Penyelenggara Sistem Elektronik (PSE).
On November 24, 2020, the Indonesian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology (Kominfo) imposed a new regulation calling for all local and international digital services to register with them for cybersecurity and user protection purposes.
Failure to comply with that regulation would subject the digital service to being banned / blocked in Indonesia.
Here is a partial list of major websites, platforms and digital services registered with the Indonesian government, and those that have not been registered, or are known to be blocked.
Those on the unregistered list are likely to be blocked, if not already blocked. Interestingly, Telegram is listed as registered, but is currently inaccessible (blocked) in Indonesia.
Registered
Unregistered
Blocked
LINE
WhatsApp
TikTok
Google
Google Classroom
Google Drive
Gmail
Google Cloud
YouTube
Amazon AWS
Facebook
Telegram
Twitter
Instagram
Discord
Zoom
Gojek
Spotify
Shopee
Lazada
Traveloka
Netflix
Disney+ Hotstar
Zenius
Mobile Legends
LinkedIn
Roblox
Vidio
FB Messenger
Wikipedia
Deezer
Waze
Brainly
Notion
Pinterest
SoundCloud
PayPal
EA
Nintendo
Ubisoft
Mangaku
MediaFire
GitHub
GitLab
Bitbucket
CloudFlare
MS Azure
Amazon
Reddit
DuckDuckGo
Twitch
IMDb
MS Office
Yahoo
IMDb
Patreon
Epic Games
Steam
Uplay
Battle.net
Origin
On July 15 – just 2 weeks earlier – Kominfo warned that digital service providers will be banned in Indonesia on July 21, 2022 if they refused to register.
The deadline for all PSE registration – both domestic and foreign – was set at July 20, 2022. After that, Kominfo would start banning unregistered apps and services.
At that time, Kominfo reported that many major brands and companies have yet to register with them, like Google (which owns YouTube, Google Drive, Gmail, etc.), Meta (which owns WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook), Twitter, Netflix, PUBG Mobile and Mobile Legends.
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.
Chinese netizens are incensed over evidence that WPS Office was monitoring and deleting their files!
Find out what’s going on, and what it means for the digital privacy of WPS Office users!
Chinese Netizens : WPS Office Is Monitoring + Blocking Our Documents!
Chinese company, Kingsoft, is under fire for claims that its productivity suite WPS Office is actively monitoring and deleting user documents that might displease Beijing!
At the heart of this issue is the WPS Cloud platform that works like Microsoft 365, allowing users to store their documents in the cloud, or locally.
Chinese netizens are alleging that WPS Office was actively monitoring their documents, and even deleting those that were detected to contain content that might displease the Chinese authorities.
One novelist who goes by the pseudonym Mitu, claimed that she was unable to access her unpublished 1.3 million character document. Not only was it blocked in her cloud storage, she couldn’t access the local copy using the desktop WPS client.
She was told that “the file may contain sensitive content and access has been disabled“.
Mitu shared her experience on Lkong – an online Chinese literature forum, and the social media platform Xiaohongshu, in late June 2022; and it only began trending in Weibo in early July after an influencer reposted her complaint.
A Weibo post on her complaint appears to have been deleted, but fortunately a screenshot was captured. This was the post in Chinese, machine translated into English :
Simply put, WPS seems to have some kind of sensitive word harmony function,Then after being detected, not only the ones stored on the cloud disk will be harmonized
According to the victim’s complaint, it is not only on the cloud, but also on local files.It’s hard to escape a harmony.
At present, according to some netizens, it may be checked after being saved.Sensitive words are detected and then determined to be files that may contain sensitive information,
Directly blocked, or it may be directly locked after being remotely detected by the background serverlocal files There is no other way but to appeal (and it will be fixed in time) but thisIs it remote from the server?
Now there is a lot of panic in the online literature circle, for fear that hundreds of thousands of words of manuscripts will be blocked overnight.Asking both online and offline harmony, many people re-use ms and writing padswrite file
As of now, some companies that write scripts and some industries have said they want to change the MS office.
Mitu said she reported the problem to Kingsoft, which eventually apologised and restored access to the file within two days. The company admitted that “the file was not problematic”.
However, her story spurred other Chinese netizens to come forward with their own stories. A writer in Guangzhou who goes by the pseudonym Liu Hai also said that his WPS Office document of nearly 10,000 words was similarly blocked on July 1, 2022.
These incidents have sparked concerns about privacy in China. While the Chinese government routinely monitors and censors social media content, monitoring and blocking of personal documents would represent a new level of censorship in China.
WPS Office Admits Blocking File Access
After the online furore over claims that WPS Office deleted user files, the software developer issued a terse public statement on July 11, 2022.
It said that WPS Office does not delete the “user’s local files”, and that it was a misunderstanding. They only deleted the “online document link”, and blocked “others from access the link according to the law”.
Here is the Weibo post in Chinese, machine translated into English :
Statement on the exposure of online transmission #WPS will delete the user’s local files
A recent online document link shared by a user is suspected of violating the law, and we have prohibited others from accessing the link according to law.This has been misrepresented as #WPS delete user local files.
To this end, we specifically declare: WPS, as an office software developed for more than 30 years, has always put user experience and user privacy protection first.
The statement about deleting the user’s local files is purely misleading, and we will reserve the right to safeguard our legitimate interests through legal means.
WPS Office cleverly claims that it never “censors, locks or delete users’ local files”, which is technically correct but as Mitu and Liu Hai described, WPS Office blocks access to their users’ local files.
It was discovered that the files can still be opened by other software, like Microsoft Word or Tencent Docs. But the blocked files cannot be opened by WPS Office, even if they are stored locally (in the user’s computer).
It should be noted that Mitu never shared her file online. So WPS Office’s claim that they only blocked “others” from accessing the file is misleading.
WPS Office Not The Only Cloud Provider Monitoring Content
To be fair to WPS Office and Kingsoft, they are not the only ones monitoring content uploaded to the cloud. They just took things one step further by blocking access to local files.
By default, traffic to and from cloud-based productivity services like Google Docs, Microsoft 365 and WPS Office are not end-to-end encrypted.
That means they can and most likely are reading / monitoring EVERYTHING you type or upload. This includes files uploaded and stored in cloud-based storage services like Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.
That is the right of cloud service providers, because you are using their servers to store your content.
Google, for example, lists content that can be automatically removed and could even lead to a ban :
Account hijacking
Account inactivity
Child sexual abuse and exploitation
Circumvention
Dangerous and illegal activities
Harassment, bullying, and threats
Hate speech
Impersonation and misrepresentation
Malware and similar malicious content
Misleading content
Non-consensual explicit imagery
Personal and confidential information
Phishing
Regulated goods and services
Sexually explicit material
Spam
System interference and abuse
Unauthorized images of minors
Violence and gore
Violent organizations and movements
People need to be aware of this, and stop assuming that they have privacy on such cloud services, even if they paid to use them.
So it is not surprising that WPS Office monitors everything its users do. If they stopped at blocking access to the online files that contravened local laws, no one would bat an eye.
What is unusual though is that it also blocked access to the users’ local files! That means that their desktop and mobile apps were specifically designed to enforce a list of blocked files issued by WPS Office / Kingsoft.
If WPS Office / Kingsoft goes to that extent, does it mean that they would also alert the Chinese authorities about users producing content that displease them?
That is something everyone should think about, not just Chinese netizens who are justifiably concerned about WPS Office.
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.
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.
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.
Google just changed its mind and will allow you to continue using Gmail for FREE with your own domain!
Here is what you need to know!
Earlier : You Must Migrate Free Gmail To Google Workspace Subscription!
Google officially got rid of G Suite, rebranding it as Google Workspace and introducing a cloud-based solution that is more integrated and offers real-time collaboration.
At that time, they still allowed people with free Gmail accounts to continue using them, with custom domains. Like adrian@mywebsite.com, for example.
That changed in January 2022, when Google announced that it “will now transition all remaining users to an upgraded Google Workspace paid subscription based on your usage“.
In other words – you must pay Google if you want to continue using Gmail with a custom domain.
Google gave everyone until May to migrate their emails out of Gmail, or pay to continue using it. Then they delayed it to 1 June to give people more time to decide.
But they met with a lot of anger, and resistance. It was not just a matter of migrating emails from Gmail to a cheaper or even free email service like Zoho.
Many people also use the same Gmail account with a custom domain, to sign in for various services including Google services and Android smartphones. They would have LOST the ability to retrieve or change their password, or even login in certain instances.
Now : You Can Use Gmail For FREE With Custom Domain!
Fortunately, Google appeared to have realised that trying to blackmail loyal Gmail users (albeit free users) into boosting their profit margins was not only bad press, it was counterproductive.
For example, how will Google manage purchases people made in the Google Play Store? Will losing data from so many people be worth it?
In the end, Google folded and quietly allowed people to continue using Gmail for free, and with their custom domain to boot!
From now until 27 June 2022, you will have the option of signing up to continue using Gmail for free, with your custom domain.
Just head to your account’s Google Admin Console, and you should see this option pop-up. Just click Confirm for personal use, and you are done!
Not only will you get to continue using Gmail for free, and retain your custom domain, you will also :
retain access to free Google Workspace services like Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Search, Google Maps and YouTube
keep your purchases in Google Play, and data stored on Google Workspace
However, Google “may” remove business functionality, and will not provide support.
If you had earlier agreed to pay for Google Workspace after getting the migration prompt, but wish to switch to this “non-commercial personal use” option, you need to contact Google Support.
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.
Did MySJ Trace stop working, even with Bluetooth enabled?
Find out what’s going on, and the solution to this problem!
MySJ Trace Won’t Work, Even With Bluetooth On!
Recently, you may have noticed that MySJ Trace stopped working, even with Bluetooth enabled!
You will be asked to setup MySJ Trace again, but clicking on the Allow button does nothing, and Bluetooth is listed as turned off, even when it is actually enabled.
Why MySJ Trace Won’t Work With Bluetooth On
Some people assumed / claimed that it was a bug in the new MySejahtera version that allowed 5-11 year-old children to be registered for COVID-19 vaccination.
That’s not really the case. It is really because you recently updated your smartphone to Android 12. For example, many Samsung users recently received the upgrade to One UI 4, which is based on Android 12.
Google has been introducing new privacy features in every iteration of Android, limiting the amount of data apps have access to.
In earlier versions of Android, the ability to scan for nearby Bluetooth or Wi-Fi devices was tied to the Location permission. That’s why the Android version of MySejahtera requires Location permission, while the iOS version does not.
This led to (false) accusations that contact tracing apps like MySejahtera were tracking people’s movements.
To fix that problem for good, Google added two new Bluetooth permissions to Android 12 – BLUETOOTH_SCAN and BLUETOOTH_CONNECT, that are separate from the Location permission.
These two new Bluetooth permissions allow your smartphone to detect Nearby devices without the need to enable Location.
Unfortunately, this Nearby devices permission is disabled by default, so when you upgrade to Android 12, MySejahtera automatically loses the ability to check for nearby devices.
How To Get MySJ Trace Working Again In Android 12
Here is what you need to do to get MySJ Trace working again with Android 12 devices:
Step 1 : Go to Settings > Apps > MySejahtera > Permissions.
Step 2 : Tap on the Nearby devices option under the list of Not allowed permissions.
Step 3 : Tap on the Allow option.
If you have already setup MySJ Trace earlier, it will now work without further action.
I hope you found this guide useful. Please SHARE it with your family and friends!
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.
If you just installed the Google Site Kit, only to find it reporting Data error in Analytics with an invalid JSON response, we have the solution for you!
Google Site Kit : What Is JSON Data Error?
The Google Site Kit for WordPress is supposed to make it seamless to integrate Google services like Analytics and AdSense into your website.
But you may get this error message, even after you successfully set up Google Site Kit for your WordPress website.
Data error in Analytics
The response is not a valid JSON response.
This is how it looks like after we integrated Google Site Kit into Tech ARP.
As you can see, it’s kind of pointless if Google Site Kit cannot display your Analytics data directly in your WordPress admin page.
Google Site Kit : How To Fix JSON Data Error?
At first, we thought it might be a Google Site Kit configuration error, but that was not the case.
We tried disabling and re-enabling it, reinstalling it, reconfiguring and logging in again, but none of that worked.
iThemes Security Was The Problem
The problem, we finally discovered, was the popular iThemes Security plugin.
But removing it was not the solution either – it is a critical tool in mitigating the DDOS attacks that keep hitting Tech ARP.
Here Is The Solution
Finally, we stumbled upon the solution, and it’s ridiculously simple!
Log into your WordPress admin page.
Go to the iThemes configuration page (Security > Settings).
Click on the System Tweaks option.
Look for the Long URL Strings option.
Uncheck the Filter Long URL Strings option.
Click on Save Settings.
That’s it! After you refresh the Site Kit dashboard, you should now see the full stats displayed!
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.
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Acer introduced SIX new Chromebook models in 2021, offering a wide selection of affordable laptops with long battery life.
Here is what YOU need to know about the six new Acer Chromebook laptops!
2021 Acer Chromebook Laptops : What You Need To Know!
Acer introduced SIX new Chromebook models in 2021, in a variety of sizes and form factors with long battery life.
14-inch Acer Chromebook 314
17.3-inch Acer Chromebook 317
14-inch Acer Chromebook 514
14-inch Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514
13.5-inch Acer Chromebook Spin 713
13.5-inch Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713
In this article, we are going to take a look at the six 2021 Acer Chromebook laptops, to see what they offer, and how they compare with each other!
2021 Acer Chromebook 314
Weighing only 1.5 kg, the 2021 Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-2H/CB314-2HT) is an ultra-portable laptop designed for students.
Its 14-inch IPS display has a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and optional touch controls. It supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, and comes with a 720p HDR webcam.
Powered by the MediaTek MT8183 octa-core processor, it can provide up to 15 hours of battery life.
2021 Acer Chromebook 317
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 317 (CB317-1H) is targeted at users who want a large display for multitasking and streaming content.
It has a large 17.3-inch display with a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and anti-glare coating. It also comes with a large keyboard (with optional backlighting) with a numeric keypad and a large touchpad.
There is also space for two full-sized upward-facing speakers to give you a more immersive audio experience.
The 2021 Chromebook 317 is built around the latest Intel Celeron processors with Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and up to 10 hours of battery life.
2021 Acer Chromebook 514
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W/CB514-1WT) is built around the 11th Gen Intel core processors, with up to 10 hours of battery life.
Thanks to its metal top cover and reinforced design, it is MIL-STD810H rated for military-grade durability. On top of that, its touchpad is protected against scratches and corrosion with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass.
It supports the latest Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, and comes with two full-function USB Type C ports with Thunderbolt 4, and a backlight keyboard with an optional embedded fingerprint reader.
2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise 514
The 2021 Acer Chromebook 514 (CB514-1W/CB514-1WT) is built around the 11th Gen Intel core processors, and MIL-STD810H rated for military-grade durability. On top of that, its touchpad is protected against scratches and corrosion with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass.
It supports the latest Intel Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity, and comes with two full-function USB Type C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a HDMI port and a backlight keyboard with an optional embedded fingerprint reader.
It also features a Full HD MIPI webcam, and speakers powered by a Smart Amplifier, with support for DTS Audio.
Its Chrome Enterprise operating system features integrated manageability features to help your company cut costs, streamline operations and reduce security risks by letting you deploy, update and manage all your devices remotely.
2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook.
It features a premium aluminium chassis that is MIL-STD 810H rated for military-grade durability, in a convertible form factor. Its 13.5-inch VertiView display has a resolution of 2256 x 1504, giving you 18% more vertical screen space.
Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, it only weighs 1.37 kg and is less than 17 mm thick. Its fast-chargeable battery lasts up to 10 hours, and can get 4 hours of battery life with a quick 30 minute charge!
2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713
The 2021 Acer Chromebook Enterprise Spin 713 (CP713-3W) is the world’s first Intel Evo platform-verified Chromebook with Chrome Enterprise manageability built-in.
It features a premium aluminium chassis that is MIL-STD 810H rated for military-grade durability, in a convertible form factor. Its 13.5-inch VertiView display has a resolution of 2256 x 1504, giving you 18% more vertical screen space.
Built around the 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, it only weighs 1.37 kg and is less than 17 mm thick. Its fast-chargeable battery lasts up to 10 hours, and can get 4 hours of battery life with a quick 30 minute charge!
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.
Malaysia finally admits losing the Apricot undersea cable due to its cabotage policy, in a stunning reply from the Communications and Multimedia Minister.
Malaysia Admits Losing Undersea Cable Due To Cabotage!
Malaysia Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong has stridently rejected claims that Malaysia was excluded from the Apricot undersea cable project due to the cabotage policy.
On 30 September 2021, he denied that his decision to revoke the exemption of cabotage on undersea cable repairs was the reason Malaysia was excluded from the Apricot undersea cable project.
However, Bukit Mertajam MP Steven Sim revealed that he received a Parliamentary reply from the Communications and Multimedia Minister that basically admits that the loss was due to the cabotage policy.
Here is the Bahasa Malaysia quote from the Communications and Multimedia Minister, followed by our English translation :
Pemilihan negara bagi menyertai rancangan pemasangan kabel Internet Apricot dasar laut (subsea cables) adalah keputusan syarikat Facebook dan Google. Malaysia tidak tersenarai (bypass) sebagai salah satu negara yang terlibat dalam pendaratan stesen kabel dasar laut tersebut memandangkan isu pengecualian Dasar Kabotaj yang masih belum selesai.”
The choice of country to participate in the Apricot undersea Internet cable (subsea cable) installation plan is decided by Facebook and Google. Malaysia was not listed (bypassed) as one of the countries involved in the landing of the submarine cable station due to the unresolved Cabotage Policy exemption issue.”
This reply by the Communications and Multimedia Minister directly contradicts the Transport Minister’s strident denials, and confirms what most people already know – Malaysia was bypassed in the Apricot undersea cable project because this government refused to exempt undersea cable repairs from the cabotage policy.
What Does Loss Of Apricot Undersea Cable Mean For Malaysia?
Backed by Google and Facebook, the Apricot undersea optic cable will connect South East Asia and North Asia and the US, with a whopping bandwidth of 190 terabits per second (Tbps) and very low latency.
Being bypassed means Malaysia has lost investments and high-speed connectivity worth US$300-400 billion (RM1.26 to RM1.68 billion), according to MIDF Research.
And to add salt to the wound, it comes after Malaysia already lost two earlier undersea cable investments by Google and Facebook called Bifrost and Echo.
This continued loss of subsea cable landings runs contrary to Malaysia’s MyDIGITAL Initiative, which aims to achieve the HIGHEST number of subsea cable landings in South East Asia by 2025.
Malaysia currently only has 23 subsea cables, including those under construction. This leaves it behind Indonesia and Singapore, which have 55 and 31 cables respectively. Even the Philippines is catching up with 19 cables so far.
Is the continued refusal to exempt subsea cable repairs from the cabotage policy worth the loss of billions of dollars of investments?
This government seems to think so, but many would strongly disagree with them.
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.
Find out how much money a website can make from Google AdSense, and learn what you can do to MAXIMISE your earning potential!
How Much Can A Website Make From Google AdSense?
Many people have asked me for advice on how to start up their own websites.
Some want to make some side income during the pandemic. Some asked us to take them on as full-time staff.
Others want to start a new business they can do at home – a big plus during this pandemic.
The reality is that – AdSense does NOT pay well at all. But when I tell them that, they think I’m trying to bullshit them.
I procrastinated over this article for many weeks, because it is very uncomfortable for me to acknowledge the facts as well. But we must face the facts… so let’s take a look…
First, take a look at how many page views we get here at Tech ARP.
From December 2020 until April 2021, we published around 402 articles which drew 1.13 million page views.
That averages out to about 282,500 page views a month, or 2,800 views per article. Not a lot of traffic, but it’s not too shabby.
How much do you think we should get with this kind of traffic? Keep that figure in your head, and then take a look at our estimated Google AdSense earnings.
Do note that these are estimated earnings that may change somewhat – Google deducts a certain amount for “invalidated clicks and impressions”.
Assuming that there are no further deductions – Tech ARP earned only US$553.26 or about RM2,268 over four months – an average of US$138 or RM567 per month.
For context – the minimum wage in Malaysia is US$300 or RM1,200 per month. So whatever Tech ARP earns every month is LESS THAN HALF the minimum wage.
And that’s just our revenue. We have not even deducted the costs of maintaining and upgrading our server and other equipment – testbeds, work computers, etc.
Obviously, the money we make from AdSense does NOT even cover our costs, never mind make a decent living for any ONE person.
Google AdSense Reality Check : Why So Little???
It was not always like this. Google AdSense used to pay much better… back when there was serious competition from other advertising networks.
So why do websites get paid so little these days?
Ad Blockers Everywhere!
Everyone loves free information, and everyone hates advertisements. Not many people understand that advertisements drive the free Internet model.
So many people install ad blockers to get rid of those pesky advertisements. How many? Let’s calculate…
Tech ARP served 1.13 million page views, of which only 308,000 page views displayed any ads!
That means 72.7% of our readers are using ad blockers, which prevent any advertisements from being shown at all.
We receive ZERO revenue from these readers, even if they like what we write and want to support us.
Shift To CPC Advertisements
The industry’s shift from CPM ads to CPC ads is also partly to blame.
CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions) ads generate revenue per view, so you get paid every time an advertisement appears to your reader.
CPC (Cost per Click) ads only generate revenue when your readers actually CLICK on the link, and get sent to the advertiser’s website.
With the shift to CPC ads, you don’t get paid a cent for the millions of advertisements that are shown to your readers. You only get paid when someone clicks on them.
Let’s calculate how often people actually click on these CPC advertisements.
Out of 493,132 advertisements that Google AdSense showed our readers, there were only 2,191 clicks.
That’s a click-through rate of just 0.444%.
In other words, only 1 out of every 225 readerswho did not use an ad blocker clicked on a single advertisement.
Even more sobering – only 1 out of ever 516 pages people read generated a single ad click.
You would think that people would click on an advertisement as a show of support. In reality, it doesn’t work that way.
Don’t Rely On AdSense! This Is What You Should Do…
You still want to create your own website, despite our reality check? I applaud you!
Passion and drive are CRITICAL to creating, maintaining and developing your own website, and I do truly wish you all the best.
The desire to share my knowledge with the world is what keeps me going since I started Tech ARP in 1998 – 23 years ago!
But we must still acknowledge reality, especially as we grow older and have fiscal responsibilities, and a family to support.
I hope these suggestions will help you in your endeavour.
Use AdSense To Cover Costs
Forget about relying on AdSense to generate enough revenue to make a living.
For every US$1000 of income, you probably need 2 million page views. It’s not impossible, but it will take A LOT of work to get there.
I recommend that you only rely on AdSense to cover your costs. Please do NOT quit your day job, if you have one.
In some months, you may get a sudden surge in income. But this is fleeting, so don’t count on it.
Protect Your PR + DA
Build up and protect your Page Rank (PR) and Domain Authority (DA). They are key to ensuring you get high traffic from search engines.
Do NOT sacrifice your PR and DA by committing these mistakes :
Selling dofollow links : this kills your PR and DA by siphoning them to your “sponsor” for a pittance!
Publishing guest posts : free content isn’t really free if they include dofollow links which sap your PR and DA like vampires
Posting press releases : your website will get penalised for “scraped content” if you post lots of press releases, because they are all duplicates of the original content
Adding a PR Newswire widget : you are basically helping them make money off your website, while siphoning your PR and DA for nothing in return.
Page Rank and Domain Authority take years to build up. Trading them even for money is foolish, but sacrificing them for a smile or a thank you is idiotic.
Photo Credit : Kevin Carden Photography
Foster Relationships
Once you start establishing yourself, PR and marketing agencies are going to start sending you press releases and invitations to their events.
These can be great opportunities to get in touch with brands, and develop relationships that could lead to collaborations and other business opportunities.
Brands that understand and value the work you do will line up to support you. Work with them for a win-win relationship.
Don’t Be A Useful Idiot
Some brands and PR / marketing agencies are notorious for making use of the media, and tossing them aside once they cease to be of any use.
Avoid them at all costs.Don’t fall into the trap of becoming their useful idiot.
The truth is – they don’t appreciate your work, and you are nothing more than their KPI farm – a useful idiot to help them achieve their PR or marketing KPI for the quarter.
Just tell them, “No, thank you” and move on. Have some respect for yourself. You are not their free marketing department.
Remember – branded swag and thank you will not feed you or your family. They are ALL getting paid money for their work, and so should you.
Facebook and Instagram swag. Photo credit : @Programmai on Twitter
Ask Your Readers To Support Your Work
This is something that I have recently decided to tried out for myself – asking my readers to support my work.
Whether it’s through Patreon or directly to you, you need to swallow your pride if you want to actually make a decent living writing online.
Ask them to contribute to your work, by making a cash contribution to you, the writer.
This is also the only way to reach the 73% of our readers who use ad blockers. Who knows – it may remind them that ad blocking hurts writers like us?
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.
Many people are sharing the fact that you can reject the COVID-19 vaccine you are offered.
Find out why people are demanding the right to reject the vaccine they’re offered, and why you should NOT do that!
Why Are People Demanding To Reject The Vaccine Offered?
Since public vaccinations began, people have been asking – can they reject the COVID-19 vaccine at the vaccination centre, if they discover it’s not the vaccine they want?
Why? Because suddenly they are all medical and geopolitical experts, able to debate the nuances of COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, and the impact of these vaccines on East-West supremacy.
Here are some reasons why people are demanding the right to reject the vaccine offered at COVID-19 vaccination centres :
I only want the American / Chinese vaccine.
The Pfizer / Sinovac / AstraZeneca vaccine killed people.
The Pfizer / Sinovac / AstraZeneca vaccine is the best!
You can’t trust the Chinese / Americans.
I want to support China / America.
I hate China / America.
Chinese vaccines are made with slave labour.
American vaccines are made from aborted foetuses.
You Can Reject The Vaccine You’re Offered
Healthcare professionals can tell you that you can reject anything you want. That includes the right to refuse medical treatment, even if it’s to save your life.
And there are many “helpful netizens” who want to help you fight for your right to do any damn thing you want.
Do u know that u cannot choose the vaccine that will be given to u on appointment day but u hv the right to ask what type of vaccine that is given on that day n u can REJECT (our right) to take the vaccine if its not the one u wanted.
On 19/4/21 I took my auntie for co.19 vac. after taking Q#, registration, screening plus other sops n @the last station b4 signing the indemnity form, I asked the person on duty to confirm the vaccine available that day. It was Pzifer. I asked her whether can reject… YES.
Please spread the news to everyone u know b4 its too late. I think 90% of d population did not know or too scared to exercise their right. Just re-register wait in the Q again for the china vac. I hv spread spread to relatives n friends but not in our group. Remember once injected can’t take out.
These are the folks egging on those standing at the ledge, “Go on! You have the right to jump! Damn those who say no to you! It’s your right! FREEDOM!”
But will they take responsibility if you get killed or injured listening to their advice?
Of course, not! It was your right, YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, your freedom to do what you please!
Why You Should NOT Reject The Vaccine You’re Offered!
There are no words to describe the disdain I have for those who actively encourage other people to reject the COVID-19 vaccine they are offered.
Let me explain to you why you should not listen to those IDIOTS, who are putting YOUR LIVES at risk with their uninformed opinions.
Fact #1 : The best vaccine you can get is the first vaccine you can complete!
The COVID-19 vaccine is not a cure. Think of it as a training boot camp for your immune system.
The vaccine teaches your immune system how to identify the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and gives it the opportunity to create antibodies against the real virus.
All this takes time – several weeks at least – for your immune system to learn how to do all that from the vaccine.
That is why it is important to take the FIRST VACCINE you are offered, and COMPLETE IT.
Fact #2 : Vaccines prevent the disease, they cannot cure it
Waiting for the vaccine you prefer puts you at risk of contracting COVID-19 before you get vaccinated.
If you reject the vaccine you are offered at the vaccination centre, you get pushed to the back of the queue, and rightly so.
But in the meantime, you are at risk of contracting COVID-19, and potentially dying from it. Even worse, you are risking your family’s lives too!
If you get COVID-19 before you are vaccinated, the vaccine cannot help you. As I explained above, your immune system needs several weeks to learn how to fight off COVID-19 after you are vaccinated.
So do NOT wait. Do NOT push yourself to the back of the queue. Get the FIRST VACCINE you are offered, and COMPLETE IT!
Fact #3 : Google doctors do NOT understand vaccine efficacy
The clever Google doctors who write all those pithy advice on WhatsApp and Facebook do NOT even understand vaccine efficacy.
The real doctors and scientists who do, can only facepalm when they read online “debates” on vaccine efficacy.
Fact #4 : All approved vaccines protect you against SEVERE disease + DEATH!
What Google doctors also do not understand is that vaccine efficacy isn’t really that important.
I prepared this table to show you how misleading efficacy rates are.
COVID-19 Vaccines
Protection Against
Symptomatic
Infection
Severe
Disease
Death
Pfizer Comirnaty
95.0%
100%
100%
Moderna mRNA-1273
94.1%
100%
100%
Gamaleya Sputnik V
91.6%
100%
100%
AstraZeneca AZD1222
76% ~ 85%
100%
100%
Novavax Covovax
60 ~ 89%
100%
100%
CanSino Convidecia
65.7%
90.98%
100%
Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV
79% ~ 86%
90%
100%
J&J Janssen COVID-19
66.0%
85%
100%
Sinovac CoronaVac
50.65%
83.7%
100%
The truth is all approved vaccines will protect you against severe disease, and prevent you from dying from COVID-19.
Sure, it would be really nice if you get a vaccine that protects you against even mild COVID-19, but not getting killed by it sounds pretty awesome to me!
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
YouTube will soon withhold up to 30% of income from non-US creators as tax for the United States!
Find out whether you will be double-taxed, and how much income non-US YouTube creators will lose!
YouTube To Tax Non-US Creator Income By Up To 30%!
On 10 March 2021, YouTube creators started getting this email :
We’re reaching out because Google will be required to deduct U.S. taxes from payments to creators outside of the U.S. later this year (as early as June 2021). Over the next few weeks, we’ll be asking you to submit your tax info in AdSense to determine the correct amount of taxes to deduct, if any apply. If your tax info isn’t provided by May 31, 2021, Google may be required to deduct up to 24% of your total earnings worldwide.
Yes, the alert says that up to 24% of your total worldwide earnings may be deducted, but the actual deduction could be as high as 30%.
It all depends on which bracket you fall into :
Those Who Submit US Tax Info
Foreign creators : 24% to 30% withholding tax, unless your country has a tax treaty with the US.
US creators : 0% withholding tax, because they have to pay taxes on their total income
Those Who Do NOT Submit US Tax Info
Business account (Foreign) : 30% withholding tax of US earnings
Business account (US Resident) : 24% of total worldwide earnings
Individual account (Foreign + US) : 24% of total worldwide earnings
This change only impacts the earnings of non-US YouTube creators, since US creators are already paying taxes on their income.
Why Are Non-US Residents Getting Taxed On US Income?
You may not be a US citizen or resident, but the US government requires income generated in the US to be taxed.
Since they cannot tax your income like they would an actual US resident, they require companies to withhold a portion of your US income as tax.
The general idea is that as long as you make money in the US, or from US residents, you must pay tax on that income.
Does This Mean Non-US Residents Will Be Double-Taxed?
Unless your country has a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) with the United States, yes, you will end up getting double taxed – by the US government and your own government.
Since YouTube will withhold part of your income, the double taxation impact is somewhat lessened because you will only pay your country’s income tax on what’s left over.
That is scant consolation because you are still getting double-taxed, and will end up with considerably less income.
How Much Tax Will Non-US YouTube Creators Have To Pay?
How much income non-US YouTube creators will lose depend on four factors :
whether they file their US tax info,
whether their country has a double tax treaty with the US,
whether they are an individual or a company, and
how much income they get from US viewers
YouTube shared a hypothetical example, but it is overly optimistic – assuming only 10% US traffic.
So we came up with our own scenarios of 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% US traffic. For simplicity, we eliminated ”discounts” eligible to countries with US tax treaties.
This table we created shows the maximum US withholding tax you have to pay, with a monthly YouTube income of US$1,000.
Tax Deducted From
$1000 Income
% of US Traffic
25%
50%
75%
100%
Did not submit tax info (24% worldwide)
$240
$240
$240
$240
Individual with Tax Info (24% US income)
$60
$120
$180
$240
Business with Tax Info (30% US income)
$75
$150
$225
$300
And this table shows how much income you will receive, after deducting the US tax, from a YouTube income of US$1,000.
Income Per $1,000
After Tax Deduction
% of US Traffic
25%
50%
75%
100%
Did not submit tax info (24% worldwide)
$760
$760
$760
$760
Individual with Tax Info (24% US income)
$940
$880
$820
$760
Business with Tax Info (30% US income)
$925
$850
$775
$700
There is no doubt that this is a massive tax that is going to cut deeply into the income of every non-US YouTube channel, because it is a non-progressive flat tax, with no deductions.
What Can You Do About This US Tax By YouTube?
This withholding tax is going to irk a lot of YouTubers who have never stepped foot in the US, or received any benefit from the US government.
More so for non-US creators in countries without a double tax treaty with the US, because they would get double-taxed.
YouTube creators may be incentivised to target non-US viewers by producing more localised content, but ultimately, US traffic still pays the best. So we don’t see shifting focus away from US viewers as a good strategy.
Unfortunately, there is nothing anyone can do but bite down and bear the pain, on top of what has already been a terrible 2020 and 2021.
But if you are ever in the US and get some shit about being a foreigner, I suppose you can send them this smackdown, “I have every right to be here! I pay taxes too!“.
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Google Play Music is officially dead across the world, and you have until December 2020 to migrate your music library and playlists to YouTube Music.
Find out how to download your music library and playlists from Google Play Music before they are deleted forever!
Google Play Music Is Dead : Whaaaaat???
On 4 April 2020, Google dropped the bombshell – they announced that they were replacing Google Play Music play with YouTube Music by December 2020.
They would kill off Google Play Music starting September 2020 in New Zealand and South Africa, and October 2020 for the rest of the world.
Users will no longer be allowed to stream from, or use the Google Play Music app from that point onwards. They will only be allowed to transfer their music libraries to YouTube Music.
Even that migration offer is limited to December 2020, after which the Google Play Music libraries will be deleted and will no longer be available to download or transfer to YouTube Music.
Google Play Music Is Dead : Download Your Music Now!
Google offers the option to migrate your Google Play Music libraries and playlists to YouTube Music, but you may not want to do that for these reasons :
128 kbps quality limit for free subscriptions
you can’t upload your own music through the app, only using an Internet browser
offline playback of your own music requires you to upload and then download the same music
Before deciding what to do next, the first thing you should do is download your music library.
You have until the end of December 2020 to download your music, so do it now!
Open Google Play Music.
Tap on Manage Your Data.
Tap on Download your music library.
Leave Google Play Music checked.
Select to export once.
Select the more common .zip file format, or the .tgz alternative
Select the maximum file size you prefer – 1 GB, 2 GB, 4 GB, 10 GB or 50 GB.
Google will split your files into multiple compressed files based on the maximum size you selected.
Newer operating systems (Windows 10, macOS) can support files larger than 4 GB.
Tap Create export and let Google archive and compress your music library.
You will receive an email with a download link when it’s done.
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Google recently introduced Confidential Computing, with Confidential VM as the first product, and it’s powered by 2nd Gen AMD EPYC!
Here’s an overview of Confidential Computing and Confidential VM, and how they leverage the 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processor!
Google Cloud Confidential Computing : What Is It?
Google Cloud encrypts customer data while it’s “at-rest” and “in-transit“. But that data must be decrypted because it can be processed.
Confidential Computing addresses that problem by encrypting data in-use – while it’s being processed. This ensures that data is kept encrypted while in memory and outside the CPU.
Google Cloud Confidential VM, Powered By 2nd Gen AMD EPYC
The first product that Google is unveiling under its Confidential Computing portfolio is Confidential VM, now in beta.
Confidential VM basically adds memory encryption to the existing suite of isolation and sandboxing techniques Google Cloud uses to keep their virtual machines secure and isolated.
This will help customers, especially those in regulated industries, to better protect sensitive data by further isolating their workloads in the cloud.
Google Cloud Confidential VM : Key Features
Powered By 2nd Gen AMD EPYC
Google Cloud Confidential VM runs on N2D series virtual machines powered by the 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors.
It leverages the Secure Encrypted Virtualisation (SEV) feature in 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors to keep VM memory encrypted with a dedicated per-VM instance key.
These keys are generated and managed by the AMD Secure Processor inside the EPYC processor, during VM creation and reside only inside the VM – making them inaccessible to Google, or any other virtual machines running on the host.
Your data will stay encrypted while it’s being used, indexed, queried, or trained on. Encryption keys are generated in hardware, per virtual machine and are not exportable.
Confidential VM Performance
Google Cloud worked together with the AMD Cloud Solution team to minimise the performance impact of memory encryption on workloads.
They added support for new OSS drivers (name and gvnic) to handle storage traffic and network traffic with higher throughput than older protocols, thus ensuring that Confidential VM will perform almost as fast as non-confidential VM.
Easy Transition
According to Google, transitioning to Confidential VM is easy – all Google Cloud Platform (GCP) workloads can readily run as a Confidential VM whenever you want to.
Available OS Images
In addition to the hardware-based inline memory encryption, Google built Confidential VM on top of Shielded VM, to harden your OS image and verify the integrity of your firmware, kernel binaries and drivers.
Google currently offers images of Ubuntu v18.094, Ubuntu 20.04, Container Optimized OS (COS v81), and RHEL 8.2.
They are currently working with CentOS, Debian and other distributors to offer additional OS images for Confidential VM.
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
TikTok was caught spying on what we type in other apps, not once, but TWICE… so far.
Find out what’s going on, and what you should do about it!
TikTok : What Is It?
TikTok is a Chinese social networking service built around short video clips. Developed and owned by ByteDance which is based in Beijing, it is very popular amongst young people and even children.
This has led to numerous controversies as TikTok proved slow or reluctant to remove dangerous or racist videos :
TikTok Caught Spying What We Type In Other Apps… TWICE!
Beyond their obvious desire to grow their service at the expense of the danger to real people, there have been cybersecurity and privacy concerns about TikTok.
In a space of just four months, TikTok has been caught spying on what we type in OTHER APPS… not once, but TWICE. Take a look at this video expose…
TikTok Caught Spying On What We Type : First Time
Let’s start in March 2020, when Talal Has Bakry and Tommy Mysk exposed how they found that TikTok was spying on what we typed in other apps through the pasteboard / clipboard.
In the video above, you can see how TikTok immediately asked to read all text stored in the pasteboard, whenever it is launched.
The pasteboard contains everything you copied earlier – messages from other people, quotes from an article, or far more sensitive stuff like your password or account number.
And because of Apple’s universal clipboard feature, this means everything you copy on your Mac or iPad will be available on your iPhone, and therefore TikTok.
To be clear, TikTok was just one of the many apps that they found to be spying on what we type. Here were the apps they confirmed were spying on the pasteboard / clipboard.
News
Games
Social
Other
ABC News
Al Jazeera English
CBS News
CNBC
Fox News
News Break
New York Times
NPR
itv Nachrichten
Reuters
Russia Today
Stern Nachrichten
The Economist
The Huffington Post
The Wall Street Journal
VICE News
8 Ball Pool
AMAZE!!!
Bejeweled
Block Puzzle
Classic Bejeweled
Classic Bejeweled HD
Flip The Gun
Fruit Ninja
Golfmasters
Letter Soup
Love Nikki
My Emma
Plants vs. Zombies Heroes
Pooking – Billiards City
PUBG Mobile
Tomb of the Mask
Tomb of the Mask: Color
Total Party Kill
Watermarbling
TikTok
ToTalk
Tok
Truecaller
Viber
Weibo
Zoosk
10% Happier: Meditation
5-0 Radio Police Scanner
Accuweather
AliExpress Shopping
Bed Bath & Beyond
Dazn
Hotels.com
Hotel Tonight
Overstock
Pigment – Adult Coloring Book
Recolor Coloring Book to Color
Sky Ticket
The Weather Network
At that time, TikTok told Zak Doffman that it was Google Ads that was snooping into the pasteboard / clipboard.
“The clipboard access issues showed up due to third-party SDKs, in our case an older version Google Ads SDK. We are in the processes of updating so that the third-party SDK will no longer have access.“
They claimed it was because TikTok was using an older Google Ads SDK, which they have since replaced with a newer version.
TikTok Caught Spying On What We Type : Second Time
BFast forward to June, and the release of iOS 14 beta. The new clipboard warning feature in iOS 14 appears to have caught TikTok spying on the pasteboard / clipboard once again.
In the dramatic video shared by Jeremy Burge – the 1:35 point in our video above – he shows TikTok grabbing the contents of his iPhone’s clipboard every 1-3 keystrokes, as he typed in Instagram!
Okay so TikTok is grabbing the contents of my clipboard every 1-3 keystrokes. iOS 14 is snitching on it with the new paste notification
— Jeremy Burge (@jeremyburge) June 24, 2020
Okay so TikTok is grabbing the contents of my clipboard every 1-3 keystrokes. iOS 14 is snitching on it with the new paste notification pic.twitter.com/OSXP43t5SZ
This is even more egregious than the first time they spied on the pasteboard / clipboard! Instead of just looking at what you copied into the clipboard earlier, TikTok is literally reading what you are typing in a different app!
TikTok claimed that this issue was “triggered by a feature designed to identify repetitive, spammy behaviour“, and that they have already submitted an updated app without this “anti-spam feature“.
TikTok Caught Spying : What Should YOU Do?
If you are not a frequent TikTok user, the answer is simple – UNINSTALL TikTok.
If you really like TikTok, you should immediately update to the latest version, which ByteDance claims will no longer read your clipboard because it has both an updated Google Ads SDK, as well as their anti-spam feature removed.
Either way, if you are concerned about privacy issues with TikTok, you should write to privacy@tiktok.com and express your deep concerns about not letting them read what you are typing, whether it is in their app or other apps.
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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.
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Ice Universe shared a really interesting problem earlier today – a wallpaper that would set certain Android smartphones into a boot loop. Literally wallpaper malware!
Find out what this wallpaper malware is all about, and how to prevent it from bricking your Android smartphone!
Android Wallpaper Malware Explained + Solved Video
For a quick run-down, we prepared this video that explains what the wallpaper does, and how to solve the problem.
Android Wallpaper Malware : What Is It?
The wallpaper was first shared by Ice Universe whose friend was affected by it. As you can see, there is really nothing remarkable about it.
If you set it as a wallpaper on a vulnerable Android smartphone, it will force the device to go into a boot loop.
Once that happens, there is nothing more you can do, except to factory reset your smartphone – destroying all of its data.
Android Wallpaper Malware : The Cause
Ice Universe paved the way to discovering the cause when he noted that the wallpaper’s colour seemed to changed when he uploaded it to Weibo.
So we looked into the metadata of the wallpaper, and discovered that it has a specific ICC colour profile for Google Skia – E3CADAB7BD3DE5E3436874D2A9DEE126
That ICC colour profile appears to trip the Google Skia graphics engine for certain Android devices, causing them to reboot.
Technically, com.android.systemui.glwallpaper.ImageProcessHelper crashes from an ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException while trying to load the wallpaper with the embedded colour profile.
And because the wallpaper loads when Android UI loads, it triggers another reboot. Your smartphone is now stuck in a boot loop – it will keep rebooting on loading the wallpaper.
Android Wallpaper Malware : The Solution
The solution is surprisingly simple – remove the ICC colour profile. You can do that by using a photo editor (like Photoshop) and simply saving the wallpaper without embedding the colour profile.
Alternatively, you can use an EXIF remover app or software to strip the wallpaper’s metadata. That should strip its colour profile as well. Just make sure you check before you load it into your phone!
The only problem is that stripping the colour profile makes the wallpaper look less vivid.
But the best thing to do is really just avoid the wallpaper altogether. Don’t even download it.
Google really needs to look into how such a bad colour profile in a picture can trip Google Skia and force the phone into a boot loop.
We should consider this a shot across the bow. Not only should we question whether we really “need” that nice wallpaper, we should be more proactive and :
offload our data from our smartphones on a regular basis
keep constant backups of our smartphone data
consider recording our photos and videos to a microSD card
This way, even if another wallpaper or picture malware comes along and bricks your phone, you won’t lose all of your data.
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