In a refreshing and unusual instance of common-sense last week, the Australian government decided not to adopt strict age verification for online services like some states in the USA have already implemented. This appears to have pissed off eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant, who put out a press release to scare/remind us that "perpetrators were sliding into DMs on online games and social media to groom children to perform sexually explicit acts via in-built cameras on smart devices" and telling the ABC that her job now is to "make sure that we can get some industry to sign off on some robust codes".
One of the USA's top priorities seems to be preventing China from getting access to the best semiconductor technology. Experts have said that the aggressive trade sanctions preventing non-US companies like Zeiss and ASML selling crucial tools and technology to Chinese companies could lead to China being more self-sufficient and going by a new Bloomberg article, that appears to be happening. They got TechInsights to analyse a brand new Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone and discovered that its SMIC manufactured SoC uses pretty advanced 7nm technology that most people didn't think China could mass produce yet. TSMC is still more advanced, but SMIC is catching up and doing it without "western" help.
This is from last week, but Apple has finally outlined its reasons for abandoning development of the very controversial iOS feature that would have scanned devices (not just iCloud, but photos on your phone not kept on the internet) for images it thinks are CSAM and report it to law enforcement. According to Apple, doing this would "create new threat vectors for data thieves to find and exploit" and "inject the potential for a slippery slope of unintended consequences. Scanning for one type of content, for instance, opens the door for bulk surveillance and could create a desire to search other encrypted messaging systems across content types". If Apple, the richest company in the world with virtually unlimited resources and engineering talent doesn't think it can't be done safely, be weary of others saying they can do it.
The Verge sent some popular over-ear noise cancelling wireless headphones - Bose QC1 (the OG noise cancelling headphones from 2000) Bose NC700, Bose QC-45, Sony WH-1000XM5 & Apple AirPods Max - off to a laboratory to test their noise cancelling abilities. The full report is available in the article, but the best overall noise cancelling units were the Sony's, with the AirPods not far behind and the QC45 close to the AirPods. The AirPods did best for airplane type noise and "speech quality of audio playback with all the noise environments". So if you listen to a lot of podcasts and/or fly regularly, the AirPods Max are your best bet. I did not expect that.
Civilization III, like the other Civilization games, entails building an empire, from the ground up, beginning in 4,000 BC and continuing slightly beyond the modern day. The player must construct and improve cities, train military and non-military units, improve terrain, research technologies, build Wonders of the World, make war or peace with neighbouring civilizations, and so on. The player must balance a good infrastructure, resources, diplomatic and trading skills, technological advancement, city and empire management, culture, and military power to succeed. (RuriVarangian / Internet Archive)
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