Issue 1669 - Thursday 11th August, 2022

In Today's Issue

The News

Coinbase tells investors they're under a fresh SEC investigation

Coinbase is in the shit again. They told shareholders they've "received investigative subpoenas and requests from the SEC for documents and information about certain customer programs, operations and existing and intended future products". The certain customer program being "Coinbase's staking programs, asset-listing process, classification of assets and stablecoin products". Meanwhile their revenue is tanking, posting a 64% year-over-year drop in revenue. Coinbase's stock has dropped over 60% over the last year, but it's okay as they told investors "Coinbase is an all-weather company with experience in navigating through crypto asset price cycles". When this fucker pops it's going to take out so many innocent people.

Lawsuit alleges Meta staff were bribed to add users to terrorist watchlist

Run a business and don't like your competitors? Why not bribe Meta employees to add users of your competitor to a terrorist watchlist and get their YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat accounts closed down to destroy their business - that's what OnlyFans did! A bunch of adult performers have sued OnlyFans, claiming they were added to a database run by the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism by "one or more Meta employees" that they allege were bribed by OnlyFans "through a secret Hong Kong subsidiary into offshore Philippines bank accounts set up by the crooked Meta employees". They don't teach that in marketing school.

Samsung's updated folding phones, smartwatch & wireless earbuds

Samsung's still persisting with the folding phone gimmick, releasing the Z Flip 4 and Galaxy Z Fold 4 last night. They're reheated versions of their existing folding phones - same designs, same foldingness, faster SoC, better camera, better battery life - you know the drill. If you weren't convinced to buy one already these new ones aren't gonna change your mind. There's a new Galaxy Watch 5, which looks quite nice (better than the dated looking Apple Watch IMHO from a design standpoint) and has new and improved sensors and a bigger battery. Rounding out the announcement are the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. 15% smaller, 24-bit audio over Bluetooth via a proprietary "seamless codec", but still no multipoint support.

Something I Saw On The Internet

Instagram & Facebook are tracking everything you do on their iOS in-app browser

Fleix Krause has demonstrated that "links to external websites are rendered inside the Instagram app, instead of using the built-in Safari". This allows Meta to "monitor everything happening on external websites, without the consent from the user, nor the website provider" and inject "their tracking code into every website shown, including when clicking on ads, enabling them monitor all user interactions, like every button & link tapped, text selections, screenshots, as well as any form inputs, like passwords, addresses and credit card numbers". Same thing happens in the Facebook iOS app. Look up the phrase "dodgy cunts" in the dictionary and you'll see a Meta logo.

Bargains

The End

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