The Pixel 4A is out now, 5G version & Pixel 5 coming later this year
Trump seems to think the US government is owed a slice any potential TikTok sale
Local VC fund Blackbird Ventures is cashed up despite COVID-19
Facebook aided the war crime of selling stolen Syrian archaeological relics
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Google has released new version of its Pixel smartphone. Out now and shipping Sept 10 is the Pixel 4a, a slightly lower spec Pixel 4. The 4a is made out of plastic instead of glass, has a 3.5mm headphone socket, slower SoC and a single rear camera. Not bad for half the price ($599 vs $1049)! There's only one colour and one capacity. It's the phone to get if you want an Android device that isn't stupid expensive I reckon. A 5G version of the 4a will come later this year for an extra US$100 (so. Google also said that the Pixel 5 is coming later this year, but hasn't said much about it beyond the fact it'll have 5G.
Donald Trump confirmed that if TikTok isn't sold to Microsoft or some other US company by September 15, it will be banned in the USA. If you needed further proof Trump's a fucking moron, he seems to think that the US government is entitled to a cut of the deal between Microsoft and TikTok, saying "a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States. Because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen", "the United States should be reimbursed, or should be paid a substantial amount of money because without the United States they don’t have anything, at least having to do with the 30%". Wild.
Need some cash to fund your business idea? Maybe give Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes a buzz as he's now the chairman of Blackbird Ventures, who raised a $500m pot of cash to piss against the wall in the hopes of massive gains. A chunk of that cash came from sources like the "Future Fund, Australian Super, HESTA, institutional clients of Cambridge Associates, First State Super, Telstra Super". You might know Blackbird Ventures for being the mob to blame for Canva existing, as they were an early stage investor. They also played a role in making Safety Culture, Zoox and Culture Amp a thing.
One of the ways ISIS funded its evil death machine was by stealing antiques and archaeological relics from Syria and selling them to eager private collectors around the world using Facebook. ISIS destroyed UNESCO World Heritage sites and looted museums to find stuff to sell over Facebook - a literal war crime. This happened for years whilst Facebook turned a blind eye to it all. The UN Security Council called Facebook out for being one of the main reasons ISIS antiquity looting was so prevalent. Without an easy way to sell these stolen goods (Facebook), it wouldn't have happened in such a massive scale. It was such a money spinner that it directly funded ISIS operations. People died and precious historical areas destroyed because Facebook couldn't be fucked moderating what was happening on its platform. Again. It's not as bad as genocide, but still, how many war crimes does Facebook need to facilitate until we shut that shit down?
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