More details have come out regarding the lawsuit 36 US states have threw at Google yesterday. According to the states, "Google engaged in a range of anti competitive practices, including offering large app developers profit-sharing agreements in exchange for exclusivity, creating unnecessary hurdles for sideloading, and attempting 'to buy off Samsung to limit competition from the Samsung Galaxy app store'" - that is a wild allegation, but totally believable. Google denies all this in a blog post and argues that "others" (aka Apple) with less choice are the real problem. Heads up, the little violin store is out of stock, I bought all of them to play a symphony for Google.
The NSW Department of Education announced yesterday afternoon that they've "been a victim of a cyber-security attack". They don't give any more detail about the attack, but a "a number of internal systems have been deactivated by the Department as a precaution and have been unavailable since late Wednesday". Really shit timing as Term 3 starts in a few days and will be done remotely due to NSW's COVID lockdown. Hopefully it doesn't impact the kiddies too hard as remote learning is a tough slog. Cyber Security NSW is assisting the department in getting stuff back to normal and NSW Police plus "federal agencies" are looking for the crooks that did it.
Qualcomm is making their own smartphone - kinda. They've teamed up with ASUS to make a "Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders" (that is honestly its name), a smartphone that uses the best bits Qualcomm make. The SSI is based off ASUS's ROG 5 and is basically the same except for replacing the macro camera with a telephoto, a smaller battery (making the SSI a bit thinner and lighter), a rear fingerprint sensor instead of an under display one, mmWave 5G support and removal of the 3.5mm headphone socket. There's also a pair of earbuds to go with it to make a "Snapdragon Sound" experience, but apparently are very average. Such a shame, as Qualcomm have a lot of good gear, would be nice if it was paired with a classy phone and no bullshit version of Android. Oh, and it costs $2,200+
📻 Dumb - Cosmic Psychos
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The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.