U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SEIZED $2.3M IN BITCOIN FROM 1 day ago · The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million. According to the Department of Justice, “these funds allegedly represent the proceeds of a May 8, ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide.” This is the group that targeted the Colonial Pipeline, causing it to Continue reading U.S. Department of OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL WANTS GOOGLE DECLARED A PUBLIC 19 hours ago · Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit asking a court to declare Google a public utility, “reining in the ways the powerful search engine provides search results to Ohioans.”. According to the news release, Ohio is the first state in the country to bring such a lawsuit. INSTAGRAM SHEDS LIGHT ON HOW IT WORKS 19 hours ago · Have you ever wondered why you see posts on Instagram in the order that you do? Instagram posted a detailed blog post titled: “Shedding More Light on How Instagram Works”. I found some of the things in their blog post to be interesting. Instagram explained that it doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people Continue reading Instagram Sheds Light on How it Works → MICROSOFT TO RETIRE INTERNET EXPLORER IN 2022 Microsoft announced that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is Microsoft Edge. Microsoft stated that Microsoft Edge is a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but is also to able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. GOOGLE USED "DOUBLE IRISH" TAX STRUCTURE TO SHIFT PROFITS One of Google’s headquarters is based in Dublin, Ireland.According to The Irish Times, Google shifted more than $75.4 billion in profits out of Ireland using the controversial “double Irish” tax arrangement in 2019.. Financial Times provided information about the “double-Irish” in 2014. In short, it is a simple structure used by US technology and pharmaceutical companies to route NETWORK SWITCHES AND DATA TRANSFER SPEEDS I recently upgraded my home network from 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s by replacing the switches. The main house switch is an unmanaged 1U rack-mounted switch, with a second desktop switch. Out of pure interest, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of speed testing to see how much of a difference upgrading Continue reading Network Switches and Data Transfer Speeds → APPLE RELEASED SECURITY UPDATES FOR IOS Apple released two iOS security updates: iOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.3.1 on March 8, 2021.According to MacRumors, these new updates came two weeks after the release of macOS 11.2.2 (which was a bug fix update).. 9to5Mac reported that Apple said: “This update provides important security updates recommended for all users.” Apple instructed users to visit the Apple security LG UNVEILS NEWLY DESIGNED INSTAVIEW REFRIGERATORS AT CES At the first virtual CES, LG Electronics (LG) will unveil new InstaView Door-In-Door refrigerators that boast upgraded features and design innovators for improved user convenience. The revolutionized side-by-side refrigerator models feature a larger glass panel along with a modern flat door design, new Uvnano technology built into the water dispenser to reduce bacteria, and the exclusive LG QUANTUM OPERATION SHOWCASES WEARABLE GLUCOSE MONITOR AT Quantum Operation Inc., a Tokyo-based healthcare IoT startup, will present the world’s first noninvasive glucose monitor that is capable of truly continuous measurement. The company’s patented spectrum sensing technology enables the monitoring sensor to accurately measure glucose in a person’s bloodstream through the skin while being worn around their wrist. This monitor eliminates the TP-LINK AV600 POWERLINE REVIEW TP-Link have been releasing steadily HomePlug Powerline products based on the AV600 standard which offers increased capacity for multiple HD streams. TP-Link have kindly sent through some of their new AV600 Powerline gear for a bit of hands-on testing. Regular readers will recall that I’d previously looked at the WiFi Powerline Extender back in December Continue reading TP-Link AV600 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SEIZED $2.3M IN BITCOIN FROM 1 day ago · The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million. According to the Department of Justice, “these funds allegedly represent the proceeds of a May 8, ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide.” This is the group that targeted the Colonial Pipeline, causing it to Continue reading U.S. Department of OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL WANTS GOOGLE DECLARED A PUBLIC 19 hours ago · Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit asking a court to declare Google a public utility, “reining in the ways the powerful search engine provides search results to Ohioans.”. According to the news release, Ohio is the first state in the country to bring such a lawsuit. INSTAGRAM SHEDS LIGHT ON HOW IT WORKS 19 hours ago · Have you ever wondered why you see posts on Instagram in the order that you do? Instagram posted a detailed blog post titled: “Shedding More Light on How Instagram Works”. I found some of the things in their blog post to be interesting. Instagram explained that it doesn’t have one algorithm that oversees what people Continue reading Instagram Sheds Light on How it Works → MICROSOFT TO RETIRE INTERNET EXPLORER IN 2022 Microsoft announced that the future of Internet Explorer on Windows 10 is Microsoft Edge. Microsoft stated that Microsoft Edge is a faster, more secure and more modern browsing experience than Internet Explorer, but is also to able to address a key concern: compatibility for older, legacy websites and applications. GOOGLE USED "DOUBLE IRISH" TAX STRUCTURE TO SHIFT PROFITS One of Google’s headquarters is based in Dublin, Ireland.According to The Irish Times, Google shifted more than $75.4 billion in profits out of Ireland using the controversial “double Irish” tax arrangement in 2019.. Financial Times provided information about the “double-Irish” in 2014. In short, it is a simple structure used by US technology and pharmaceutical companies to route NETWORK SWITCHES AND DATA TRANSFER SPEEDS I recently upgraded my home network from 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s by replacing the switches. The main house switch is an unmanaged 1U rack-mounted switch, with a second desktop switch. Out of pure interest, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of speed testing to see how much of a difference upgrading Continue reading Network Switches and Data Transfer Speeds → APPLE RELEASED SECURITY UPDATES FOR IOS Apple released two iOS security updates: iOS 14.4.1 and iPadOS 14.3.1 on March 8, 2021.According to MacRumors, these new updates came two weeks after the release of macOS 11.2.2 (which was a bug fix update).. 9to5Mac reported that Apple said: “This update provides important security updates recommended for all users.” Apple instructed users to visit the Apple security LG UNVEILS NEWLY DESIGNED INSTAVIEW REFRIGERATORS AT CES At the first virtual CES, LG Electronics (LG) will unveil new InstaView Door-In-Door refrigerators that boast upgraded features and design innovators for improved user convenience. The revolutionized side-by-side refrigerator models feature a larger glass panel along with a modern flat door design, new Uvnano technology built into the water dispenser to reduce bacteria, and the exclusive LG QUANTUM OPERATION SHOWCASES WEARABLE GLUCOSE MONITOR AT Quantum Operation Inc., a Tokyo-based healthcare IoT startup, will present the world’s first noninvasive glucose monitor that is capable of truly continuous measurement. The company’s patented spectrum sensing technology enables the monitoring sensor to accurately measure glucose in a person’s bloodstream through the skin while being worn around their wrist. This monitor eliminates the TP-LINK AV600 POWERLINE REVIEW TP-Link have been releasing steadily HomePlug Powerline products based on the AV600 standard which offers increased capacity for multiple HD streams. TP-Link have kindly sent through some of their new AV600 Powerline gear for a bit of hands-on testing. Regular readers will recall that I’d previously looked at the WiFi Powerline Extender back in December Continue reading TP-Link AV600 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SEIZED $2.3M IN BITCOIN FROM 1 day ago · The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately $2.3 million. According to the Department of Justice, “these funds allegedly represent the proceeds of a May 8, ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide.” This is the group that targeted the Colonial Pipeline, causing it to Continue reading U.S. Department of OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL WANTS GOOGLE DECLARED A PUBLIC 19 hours ago · Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit asking a court to declare Google a public utility, “reining in the ways the powerful search engine provides search results to Ohioans.”. According to the news release, Ohio is the first state in the country to bring such a lawsuit.

PODCAST NETWORK

Geek News Central works with a number of podcasters on a tight and integral basis. Please check out their shows and subscribe. JEFF BEZOS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT #1532 1 day ago · Jeff Bezos is going to risk life and limb and strap himself into a rocket and go on a joyride to space to earn his Astronaut wings. Stepping down as CEO as of July 5th will allow him the opportunity to travel to space with 5 others including his brother. I would suspect his insurance company will

PODCAST INSIDER

The Ambies are considered to be one of the first major awards shows for podcasting and kicked off this past weekend. Guesting on the podcast this week, Barry Kantz from the team discusses multiple podcasting awards shows and interview techniques. SWATCH LAUNCHES SPACE COLLECTION Swatch has launched a five-watch space collection inspired by NASA and the exploration of space. On sale today in Swatch stores and from 8 June on-line, the watches feature the famous “worm” NASA logo. These are going to be hot. The collection consists of two different model sets. The first set of three watches are Continue reading Swatch Launches Space Collection →

GNC WEEK IN REVIEW

This week, Samsung unpacks again with products, Apple breaks records again in its earnings, and yes returns in Las Vegas - Show Notes: Samsung's Galaxy Book range Apple Q2 CES returns to Las Vegas Alphabet

Q1

THE GADGET PROFESSOR (AUDIO) Welcome to The Gadget Professor Show #510 hosted by Don Baine. This wee we take a look at an alternative to the Iphone photobackup/storage applet, It is going away June 1, 2021. Here is a very good alternative for you. Welcome to The Gadget Professor Show #508 hosted by Don Baine. Just received the AMAZON PRIME DAY APPROACHES, WARM UP YOUR WALLET Very few people don’t shop at Amazon at least occasionally. Some perhaps more than they should – or more than the significant other wishes. Good news, Amazon Pime Day is coming. You have a little time to make up your mind, the announcement just came out but the big moment takes place over two days Continue reading Amazon Prime Day approaches, warm up your wallet → PODCAST HELP DESK™ One thing you can always say about how podcasting works, it's always changing. The last couple of weeks it seems that there is a sort of shift in how it works on basic levels. JEFF BEZOS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT #1532 6 hours ago · Jeff Bezos is going to risk life and limb and strap himself into a rocket and go on a joyride to space to earn his Astronaut wings. Stepping down as CEO as of July 5th will allow him the opportunity to travel to space with 5 others including his brother. I would suspect his insurance company will

GNC INSIDER

Listeners who contribute at the levels indicated per year will be able to hold the title as listed below. New for 2021 a new Podcast called Insider which will be a private podcast for GNC Insiders. You will get periodic personal updates and behind the scenes audio-only commentary from your’s truly. Ohana + $2.00 Per Month. Warrior $5.00 Per BABYFACE PRO FS REVIEW Babyface Pro FS Review. The Babyface Pro FS is one of the most powerful audio recording tools that I have seen in a long time. The Babyface Pro FS is a professional 24-Channel, USB bus-powered audio interface with pristine sound quality that can be used in the studio or throw it in a backpack and head out to do a remote interview. GOOGLE USED "DOUBLE IRISH" TAX STRUCTURE TO SHIFT PROFITS One of Google’s headquarters is based in Dublin, Ireland.According to The Irish Times, Google shifted more than $75.4 billion in profits out of Ireland using the controversial “double Irish” tax arrangement in 2019.. Financial Times provided information about the “double-Irish” in 2014. In short, it is a simple structure used by US technology and pharmaceutical companies to route NETWORK SWITCHES AND DATA TRANSFER SPEEDS I recently upgraded my home network from 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s by replacing the switches. The main house switch is an unmanaged 1U rack-mounted switch, with a second desktop switch. Out of pure interest, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of speed testing to see how much of a difference upgrading Continue reading Network Switches and Data Transfer Speeds → UNPROTECTING EXCEL SPREADSHEETS WITHOUT THE PASSWORDUNPROTECTING EXCEL FILE WITHOUT PASSWORDUNPROTECT EXCEL SHEET WITHOUT PASSWORDUNPROTECT EXCEL SHEETS WITHOUT PASSWORDEXCEL MACRO UNPROTECT SHEET PASSWORDEXCEL UNPROTECT SHEET FORGOT PASSWORDEXCEL SPREADSHEET UNPROTECT FORGOT

PASSW…

Spreadsheets and Microsoft Excel in particular are great tools for any kind of numerical analysis, but they’re good for handling and storing other data as well. I seem to recall a survey a few years ago that Excel was the #1 database in the world with Access, Oracle and SQL Server lagging very far behind. Continue reading Unprotecting Excel Spreadsheets Without The Password → TP-LINK AV600 POWERLINE REVIEW TP-Link have been releasing steadily HomePlug Powerline products based on the AV600 standard which offers increased capacity for multiple HD streams. TP-Link have kindly sent through some of their new AV600 Powerline gear for a bit of hands-on testing. Regular readers will recall that I’d previously looked at the WiFi Powerline Extender back in December Continue reading TP-Link AV600 IKEA TRADFRI OUTLET WITH SAMSUNG SMARTTHINGS Samsung’s SmartThings might be one of the smarthome market leaders but its branded sensors aren’t the cheapest by a long way. Savvy SmartThings specialists are constantly on the hunt for cheaper devices from other vendors but these often require custom code (device handlers) or strange steps to get them linked up. Coming from the other Continue reading Ikea Tradfri Outlet with HOW TO USE IKEA TRADFRI BULBS WITH PHILIPS HUE When it comes to smart lighting, Philips Hue is the market leader (UK) with a range of bulbs, luminaires and accessories, plus a good app and comprehensive integration to other smart systems. On the other hand, Ikea’s Tradfri is more basic but with the important benefit of being cheap and widely available in Ikea’s stores. Continue reading How To Use Ikea Tradfri Bulbs with Philips Hue → PROOF THAT ALL HDMI CABLES ARE CREATED EQUAL An experiment with HDMI cables is being touted as showing definitive proof that expensive HDMI cables perform no better than cheaper competitors. Posted to Expert Reviews, the study compared HDMI cables – from relatively cheap (just a few dollars) to painfully expensive (a couple hundred dollars). What sets this experiment apart is the thoroughness employed Continue reading Proof That JEFF BEZOS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT #1532 6 hours ago · Jeff Bezos is going to risk life and limb and strap himself into a rocket and go on a joyride to space to earn his Astronaut wings. Stepping down as CEO as of July 5th will allow him the opportunity to travel to space with 5 others including his brother. I would suspect his insurance company will

GNC INSIDER

Listeners who contribute at the levels indicated per year will be able to hold the title as listed below. New for 2021 a new Podcast called Insider which will be a private podcast for GNC Insiders. You will get periodic personal updates and behind the scenes audio-only commentary from your’s truly. Ohana + $2.00 Per Month. Warrior $5.00 Per BABYFACE PRO FS REVIEW Babyface Pro FS Review. The Babyface Pro FS is one of the most powerful audio recording tools that I have seen in a long time. The Babyface Pro FS is a professional 24-Channel, USB bus-powered audio interface with pristine sound quality that can be used in the studio or throw it in a backpack and head out to do a remote interview. GOOGLE USED "DOUBLE IRISH" TAX STRUCTURE TO SHIFT PROFITS One of Google’s headquarters is based in Dublin, Ireland.According to The Irish Times, Google shifted more than $75.4 billion in profits out of Ireland using the controversial “double Irish” tax arrangement in 2019.. Financial Times provided information about the “double-Irish” in 2014. In short, it is a simple structure used by US technology and pharmaceutical companies to route NETWORK SWITCHES AND DATA TRANSFER SPEEDS I recently upgraded my home network from 100 Mb/s to 1 Gb/s by replacing the switches. The main house switch is an unmanaged 1U rack-mounted switch, with a second desktop switch. Out of pure interest, I took the opportunity to do a little bit of speed testing to see how much of a difference upgrading Continue reading Network Switches and Data Transfer Speeds → UNPROTECTING EXCEL SPREADSHEETS WITHOUT THE PASSWORDUNPROTECTING EXCEL FILE WITHOUT PASSWORDUNPROTECT EXCEL SHEET WITHOUT PASSWORDUNPROTECT EXCEL SHEETS WITHOUT PASSWORDEXCEL MACRO UNPROTECT SHEET PASSWORDEXCEL UNPROTECT SHEET FORGOT PASSWORDEXCEL SPREADSHEET UNPROTECT FORGOT

PASSW…

Spreadsheets and Microsoft Excel in particular are great tools for any kind of numerical analysis, but they’re good for handling and storing other data as well. I seem to recall a survey a few years ago that Excel was the #1 database in the world with Access, Oracle and SQL Server lagging very far behind. Continue reading Unprotecting Excel Spreadsheets Without The Password → TP-LINK AV600 POWERLINE REVIEW TP-Link have been releasing steadily HomePlug Powerline products based on the AV600 standard which offers increased capacity for multiple HD streams. TP-Link have kindly sent through some of their new AV600 Powerline gear for a bit of hands-on testing. Regular readers will recall that I’d previously looked at the WiFi Powerline Extender back in December Continue reading TP-Link AV600 IKEA TRADFRI OUTLET WITH SAMSUNG SMARTTHINGS Samsung’s SmartThings might be one of the smarthome market leaders but its branded sensors aren’t the cheapest by a long way. Savvy SmartThings specialists are constantly on the hunt for cheaper devices from other vendors but these often require custom code (device handlers) or strange steps to get them linked up. Coming from the other Continue reading Ikea Tradfri Outlet with HOW TO USE IKEA TRADFRI BULBS WITH PHILIPS HUE When it comes to smart lighting, Philips Hue is the market leader (UK) with a range of bulbs, luminaires and accessories, plus a good app and comprehensive integration to other smart systems. On the other hand, Ikea’s Tradfri is more basic but with the important benefit of being cheap and widely available in Ikea’s stores. Continue reading How To Use Ikea Tradfri Bulbs with Philips Hue → PROOF THAT ALL HDMI CABLES ARE CREATED EQUAL An experiment with HDMI cables is being touted as showing definitive proof that expensive HDMI cables perform no better than cheaper competitors. Posted to Expert Reviews, the study compared HDMI cables – from relatively cheap (just a few dollars) to painfully expensive (a couple hundred dollars). What sets this experiment apart is the thoroughness employed Continue reading Proof That

GEEK NEWS CENTRAL

OpenSUSE has dropped an update to its Linux distro, Leap 15.3, eleven months after the previous release. This new release includes updates to the desktop environments KDE, Gnome, Xfce and Sway; new packages for education, research and health; artificial intelligence packages; improvements to containers and virtualisation.. The team at OpenSUSE has been working hard behind the scenes as well. ABOUT - GEEK NEWS CENTRAL About Todd Cochrane Podcast Launched Early October 4, 2004 (One of the 1st 50 Podcasts) 2021 – 1500 Plus Episodes Has the distinction of having GoDaddy as a sponsor since June 2005 He wrote the book on podcasting. Well, at least the first: “Podcasting: The Do-It-Yourself Guide.” He is the founder of the People’s Choice Continue reading About →

PODCAST NETWORK

Geek News Central works with a number of podcasters on a tight and integral basis. Please check out their shows and subscribe. JEFF BEZOS TO BE AN ASTRONAUT #1532 6 hours ago · Jeff Bezos is going to risk life and limb and strap himself into a rocket and go on a joyride to space to earn his Astronaut wings. Stepping down as CEO as of July 5th will allow him the opportunity to travel to space with 5 others including his brother. I would suspect his insurance company will SWATCH LAUNCHES SPACE COLLECTION Swatch has launched a five-watch space collection inspired by NASA and the exploration of space. On sale today in Swatch stores and from 8 June on-line, the watches feature the famous “worm” NASA logo. These are going to be hot. The collection consists of two different model sets. The first set of three watches are Continue reading Swatch Launches Space Collection → OPENSUSE DROPS LEAP 15.3 OpenSUSE has dropped an update to its Linux distro, Leap 15.3, eleven months after the previous release. This new release includes updates to the desktop environments KDE, Gnome, Xfce and Sway; new packages for education, research and health; artificial intelligence packages; improvements to containers and virtualisation. The team at OpenSUSE has been working hard behind Continue

PODCAST INSIDER

The Ambies are considered to be one of the first major awards shows for podcasting and kicked off this past weekend. Guesting on the podcast this week, Barry Kantz from the team discusses multiple podcasting awards shows and interview techniques.

GNC WEEK IN REVIEW

This week, Samsung unpacks again with products, Apple breaks records again in its earnings, and yes returns in Las Vegas - Show Notes: Samsung's Galaxy Book range Apple Q2 CES returns to Las Vegas Alphabet

Q1

AMAZON PRIME DAY APPROACHES, WARM UP YOUR WALLET Very few people don’t shop at Amazon at least occasionally. Some perhaps more than they should – or more than the significant other wishes. Good news, Amazon Pime Day is coming. You have a little time to make up your mind, the announcement just came out but the big moment takes place over two days Continue reading Amazon Prime Day approaches, warm up your wallet → PODCAST HELP DESK™ One thing you can always say about how podcasting works, it's always changing. The last couple of weeks it seems that there is a sort of shift in how it works on basic levels.

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* GNC Week in Review TESLA DELIVERS 1156 VENTILATORS #1439 -------------------------

April 16, 2020

Podcast

Kirk

-------------------------

Telsa

today announced they had shipped 1156 ventilators to hospitals around the country. This is the American spirit we love and we will see more companies delivering much need medical gear and supplies to health care workers around the country. I hope you will consider a monthly insider donation and or a one-time annual

donation.

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------------------------- FACEBOOK WILL REMOVE HARMFUL MISINFORMATION ABOUT COVID-19 -------------------------

April 16, 2020

Facebook

covid-19

, Facebook

JenThorpe

-------------------------

Facebook announced

that they

are limiting misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook has directed over 2 billion people to resources from the WHO and other health authorities through their COVID-19 Information Center and pop-ups on Facebook and Instagram with over 350 million people clicking through

to learn more.

The goal appears to be to prevent the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. To me, it makes sense to do this because some of the misinformation being spread around about this virus is dangerous. Facebook says that they have removed thousands of pieces of misinformation that could cause harm. Two examples of that misinformation are: drinking bleach cures the virus (it doesn’t), and physical distancing is ineffective at preventing the disease from spreading (in reality, physical distancing works very well). > We’re going to start showing messages in News Feed to people who > have liked, reacted, or commented on harmful misinformation about > COVID-19 that we have since removed. These messages will connect > people to COVID-19 myths debunked by the WHO

>

> including ones we’ve removed from our platform for leading to > imminent physical harm. We want to connect people who may have > interacted with harmful misinformation about the virus with the > truth from authoritative sources in case they see or hear these > claims again off of Facebook. People will start seeing these > messages in the coming weeks. To help people find the facts about COVID-19, Facebook has enlisted the help of over 60 fact-checking organizations that review and rate content in more than 50 languages around the world. Facebook added eight new fact-checking partners since the beginning of March, including MyGoPen in Taiwan, the AFP and dpa in the Netherlands, Reuters in the UK, and others.

The Guardian

clarifies that Facebook’s new policy applies only to misinformation that Facebook considers likely to contribute to “imminent physical harm”, such as claims about “cures” or statements that physical distancing is not effective. However, Facebook is not taking down other misinformation about COVID-19, such as conspiracy theories about the virus’s origins. In my opinion, people who go online and attempt to convince frightened people to drink bleach should be held accountable for their actions. Removing harmful misinformation like that is a good start, but Facebook should also take away the accounts of the people who are spreading harmful misinformation during a pandemic.

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------------------------- APPLE ANNOUNCED SECOND-GENERATION IPHONE SE -------------------------

April 16, 2020

Apple

Apple

, iPhone SE

JenThorpe

-------------------------

Apple announced

the second-generation iPhone SE, a powerful new iPhone featuring a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, paired with Touch ID for industry-leading security. It will be available for pre-order beginning Friday, April 17, starting at just $399 (US), and comes in three colors: black, white, and (PRODUCT)RED. > iPhone SE is powered by the Apple-designed A13 Bionic, the fastest > chip in a smartphone, to handle the most demanding tasks. iPhone SE > also features the best single-camera system ever in an iPhone, which > unlocks the benefits of computational photography including Portrait > mode, and is designed to withstand the elements with dust and water

> resistance.

The 4.7-inch Retina HD display with True Tone adjusts the white balance to match the ambient light for a more natural, paper-like viewing experience. The vibrant wide color gamut Retina HD display offers incredible color accuracy, and supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 playback. iPhone SE uses Haptic Touch for Quick Actions – such as animating Live Photos, previewing messages, rearranging apps and more – as well as contextual menus. The iPhone SE also features the Home button, designed with sapphire crystal to be durable and to protect the sensor, and a steel ring to detect a user’s fingerprint for Touch ID. Personally, I like having Touch ID on my iPhone 6, and would want my next phone to have it, too. The coolest thing about the iPhone SE is the A13 Bionic (which was released with iPhone 11 and iPhone 13). It is the fastest chip ever in a smartphone and provides unparalleled performance for every task iPhone SE handles. Apple says it is perfect for photography, gaming and augmented reality experiences. I have three games that I play on my iPhone, and I’m interested in seeing how the iPhone SE handles Pokémon GO. Apple says the A13 Bionic enables great battery life for iPhone SE, which means gamers will be able to play longer without having to stop and recharge their

phone.

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------------------------- PENTAGON WATCHDOG SAYS WHITE HOUSE DIDN’T INFLUENCE DECISION ON

JEDI

-------------------------

April 15, 2020

amazon

amazon

, Department of Defense

, JEDI

, Microsoft

JenThorpe

------------------------- The Defense Department’s inspector general found that the White House “doesn’t appear to have influenced” the decision on which company to award the JEDI contract to, CNBC reported. According to CNBC, the inspector general noted in the report that it had limited cooperation from White House officials throughout its review, and could not complete its assessment of allegations of

ethical misconduct.

Bloomberg

reported that the 317-page report issued by the DoD’s inspector general’s office found that giving the JEDI contract to a single company – Microsoft – rather than dividing it among competitors was “consistent with applicable acquisition standards.” Bloomberg also said that the report stated that the White House had limited cooperation with the inquiry. According to Bloomberg, the inspector general said the assertion of a “presidential communications privilege” resulted in the Defense Department general counsel instructing officials “not to answer questions about potential communication between White House and DoD officials about

JEDI.”

Here’s some background for those who haven’t been following along: Microsoft was selected over Amazon for the JEDI contract in October of 2019. JEDI stands for “Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure”. The contract, from the Department of Defense, could be worth over $10 billion over a decade. In November of 2019, Amazon filed a notice that it will formally protest the decision on JEDI. In February of 2020, a spokesperson for Amazon Web Services told CNBC (to paraphrase) that Amazon felt the President should not be allowed to use the budget of the DoD “to pursue his own personal and political ends”. A few days later, a federal judge put a temporary

block

on the JEDI cloud contract. In March of 2020, Amazon asked a federal court to require the Pentagon to broaden its scope of a reevaluation of its decision to award Microsoft the JEDI contract. Overall, I don’t see how Amazon can come out ahead on this situation at this point. I’m also confused about why a company with _so much money_ is concerned about a contract that could be worth over $10 billion dollars over a decade.

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------------------------- ONEPLUS 8 HANDS-ON REVIEW -------------------------

April 14, 2020

Android

, review

, smartphone

Android

, OnePlus

, review

, smartphone

Andrew

-------------------------

T

rue

to form, OnePlus has announced its spring line up of smartphones, the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. Fortunately, I was sent a pair of review handsets and in this article, I’ll be going over the 8. While rumours still abound about a third lower level phone, the 8 remains the entry point into OnePlus’ range. I think it will be very popular as it shares many of the characteristics of its big brother but at a lower price. Let’s take a look…but first a word of warning. It’s really hard to write two completely different reviews for two very similar phones, so I’m going to admit right up front that some of the paragraphs are completely lifted from the review of the 8 Pro only with the detail changed for the 8. Sorry.

The

8 comes in rectangular box, bathed in the usual OnePlus red. Inside the box, the phone comes initially clothed in a slightly opaque covering. Once unwrapped, the frosted glass Glacial Green on the back becomes apparent. It’s lovely, both to look at and hold. There’s a slight matte texture to the rear glass so it’s not super slippy to hold (unlike my 6T), but you’re going need a case, and OnePlus kindly includes a transparent bumper case in the box too. In terms of colours, the Pro will offer two colour options in the UK. Onyx Black which will have 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, and Glacial Green with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. A third colour, Interstellar Glow, will not available in the UK. I know the rear looks blue in the photos but that’s the way the back reflects light under different conditions. Physically, the phone is 160.2 x 72.9 x 8.0 mm and weighs in at 180 g, so it’s slightly shorter and lighter than the 8 Pro, but these dimensions are very much in-line with previous generations of the phone, like the 6T. However, it’s a bigger screen for the same body size. Returning to the physical characteristics, it follows a similar layout to most OnePlus phones. USB-C 3.1 port on the bottom, volume controls on the left, power button on the right, alert slider on the right above power, cameras on the back. The SIM tray is at the bottom next to the USB port and supports two SIMS that are inserted back-to-back. A SIM ejection tool is included. There’s no audio socket and there hasn’t been for a couple of generations.

For

the screen, the 8 has a lovely 90 Hz “fluid display”. It’s very fast, it’s clear and the colours look great. With a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels and a screen size of 6.34″/6.55″, it comes out as 402 ppi. I can’t see the dots unless I look really close. The screen has rounded edges, hence the two measurements for size. It’s an AMOLED screen with 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on top keeping it safe. Like the 8 Pro, the screen has the curved edges, but I think the curves are sharper on the 8, making it more like a traditional flat screen. There’s an in-display fingerprint sensor which is impressively fast – it’s noticeably quicker than the one on my 6T. Under the hood, and just like the 8 Pro, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU, paired with an Adreno 650 GPU. The RAM is LPDDR4 and storage is courtesy of UFS 3.0 at either 128 GB or 256 GB. 5G is provided by the X55 chipset and WiFi 6 is supported. Performance-wise, after three runs GeekBench 5 gave average scores of 915 single-core and 3385 multi-core which comfortably beat last year’s 7T. Bizarrely, the 8’s GeekBench 5 score actually beats the 8 Pro.  I

don’t know why.

Unlike

the 7 and 7T, the 8 doesn’t have a teardrop camera and instead has a discreet hole-punch 16 MP camera in the top left of the screen. Round the back, the 8 has three other cameras; a 2 MP macro camera, a 16 MP ultrawide with a 116 degree field of view and a 48 MP main camera. The front camera and main camera all use Sony sensors. The cameras do stick out the back by a couple of millimetres, so a case of some kind is going to be essential to avoid scratching. The camera app itself has been improved to take advantage of the cameras automatically and will sometimes suggest that a photo would be better taken in a different mode. If you want _bokeh_, the portrait mode does a good job blurring the background. The macro camera’s good fun and you can play with your children to capture some of those ever-popular mini-beasts. I was really impressed by the level of magnification that was possible with the 48 MP camera and the colours are good and true

to life.

The two photos below were taken from the same spot at nearly the same time. The upper one is the ultrawide and middle one is the main camera without any magnification, and the lower one is the main camera with

2x magnification.

Unlike the 8 Pro, there’s no funky colour filter camera, but there are still some effects available within the app. Here’s my shed in “black and white”. Astute readers will notice that it’s been painted (cf 8 Pro review). Inside the phone is a 4500 mAh battery which is only 10 mAh smaller than the 8 Pro. Hmm, I think there might be a little shenanigans there to make sure that the top-end phone has the bigger battery. In what I think of as ordinary use, I got the best part of two days out of a charge, but yes, game playing is still energy expensive. For charging, OnePlus’ Warp Charge 30T delivers 30W of power and will charge the 8 from 1% to 50% in 22 minutes – I’ve actually tested this and it’s true. A Warp Charge 30 charger and cable come in the box with the 8, so there’s nothing extra to buy.

The

other new feature relates to battery longevity. The perceived wisdom is that keeping lithium-ion batteries at 100% is not optimal and that overtime the capacity of the battery degrades. The 8 now has a feature (undoubtedly powered by AI) where the phone uses behaviour patterns to predict when 100% charge is needed and to charge to hit the target. For example, if you plug the 8 in at night just before going to bed, it won’t start charging until say, 0530, knowing that you usually grab the phone while having breakfast at 0700. Based on Android 10, OxygenOS has seen a few improvements here and there but retains its closeness to stock Android that is very much part of its appeal. The most obvious of these is dynamic backgrounds which swirl and morph when the phone is turned on or you swipe between launcher pages. It’s really fun. For lovers of dark modes, OnePlus has developed a new mode theme from the ground up. I’m not generally a dark mode user, but what I did see during testing looked good: I

could be a convert.

Games play really well on the 8. I tried out Call of Duty, X-Plane and Galaxy on Fire for starters and they’re all great. The 8 includes “gaming mode” and “fnatic mode” which lets you tailor the gaming experience by devoting resources and blocking notifications when you’re in the zone, as it were. It’s a super smooth

experience.

The only downside I’ve discovered to the 8 is with the pre-installed screen protector. First, it’s not as well installed as it is on the 8 Pro. On the Pro, I had to look really hard to find the edges of the screen protector; it’s just about seamless and there’s no cut-out for the camera. Whereas on the 8, it’s quite obvious, particularly round the hole-punch camera. And secondly, the screen protector on the 8 seems to be a perfect dust magnet! I didn’t have this problem with the 8 Pro and it’s very annoying.

Pricing-wise…

ONEPLUS 8

8 GB / 128 GB – US$699 / GB£599 12 GB / 256 GB – US$799 / GB£699 The OnePlus 8 series will be available SIM-free from OnePlus.com, John Lewis and Amazon from 0900 on 21 April, with all John Lewis purchases also coming with Bullets Wireless 2 headphones while stock lasts. Overall, this is a seriously good phone at a good price and very much continues the progression of the standard OnePlus phones. It’s a premium-feeling phone, it looks fabulous, there’s no skimping on the performance and everything else like the screen and the cameras are within spitting distance of the 8 Pro. You get 5G, WiFi 6, fast charging and OxygenOS. Frankly, if it was my money and the choice was between an 8 at £599 and an 8 Pro at £799, I think I’d buy the 8 and keep the £200 change. _Thanks to OnePlus for supplying the 8 for review._

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------------------------- ONEPLUS 8 PRO HANDS-ON REVIEW -------------------------

April 14, 2020

Android

, review

, smartphone

Android

, OnePlus

, review

, smartphone

Andrew

-------------------------

OnePlus

typically announces new models in the spring and the autumn, and despite Covid-19 this year is no different with the launch today (14th April)  of the OnePlus 8 and the flagship 8 Pro. Fortunately, I was sent a pair of review handsets and in this article, I’ll be going over the flagship edition, the 8 Pro. As will be seen shortly, the Pro has a couple of new features that bring OnePlus back to the top of its game. Let’s take a look.

The

8 Pro comes in rectangular box, bathed in the usual OnePlus red. Inside the box, the phone comes initially clothed in a slightly opaque covering. Once unwrapped, the frosted glass Glacial Green on the back becomes apparent. It’s lovely, both to look at and hold. There’s a slight matte texture to the rear glass so it’s not super slippy to hold (unlike my 6T), but you’re going need a case, and OnePlus kindly includes a transparent bumper case in the box too. In terms of colours, the Pro will offer two colour options in the UK. Onyx Black which will have 8 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, and Glacial Green with 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage. A third colour, Ultramarine Blue, will not available in the UK. I know the rear looks blue in the photos but that’s the way the back reflects light under different conditions. Physically, the phone is 165.3 x 74.4 x 8.5 mm and weighs in at 199 g, so it’s slightly taller than you might expect but this is reflected in the screen’s 19.8-to-9 aspect ration. More on the screen in a minute… Returning to the physical characteristics, it follows a similar layout to most OnePlus phones. USB-C port on the bottom, volume controls on the left, power button on the right, alert slider (yay!) on the right above power, cameras on the back. The SIM tray is at the bottom next to the USB port and supports two SIMS that are inserted back-to-back. A SIM ejection tool is included. There’s no audio socket and there hasn’t been for a couple of generations, but in an OnePlus first, the 8 Pro comes with an IP68 rating, meaning it will withstand water ingress at 1.5 m for 30 minutes. Perfect in case you have a little accident (but I didn’t test this).

For

the screen, the 8 Pro has a gorgeous 120 Hz “fluid display” which scored the Best Smartphone Display accolade from DisplayMate, getting top scores in ten different areas. I can’t comment on that level of detail other than to say it’s pretty impressive. It’s very fast, it’s clear and the colours look fantastic. With a resolution of 3168 x 1440 pixels and a screen size of 6.55″/6.78″, it comes out as 513ppi. I can’t see the dots. The screen has rounded edges, hence the two measurements for size. It’s an AMOLED screen with 3D Corning Gorilla Glass on top keeping it safe. The display supports HDR giving blacker blacks and whiter whites, and the colour accuracy has been improved too with 10-bit colour representation. There’s an in-display fingerprint sensor which is impressively fast – it’s noticeably quicker than the one on my 6T. Under the hood, there’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU, paired with an Adreno 650 GPU. The RAM is LPDDR5 which is both faster (30%) and more energy-efficient (20%) than the previous generation. Storage is courtesy of UFS 3.0 at either 128 GB or 256 GB, though there are couple of new tricks to improve performance. 5G is courtesy of the X55 chipset and WiFi 6 is supported. Performance-wise, after three runs GeekBench 5 gave average scores of 893 single-core and 3302 multi-core which comfortably beat last year’s 7T.

Unlike

previous the previous two Pros, the 8 doesn’t have a pop-up selfie camera and instead has a discreet hole-punch 16 MP camera in the top left of the screen. Round the back, the 8 Pro has four other cameras; a 8 MP 3x telephoto with OIS, a 48 MP ultrawide with a nearly 120 degree field of view, a 48 MP main camera and a 5 MP colour filter camera. The front camera, the ultrawide and main camera all use Sony sensors. The cameras do stick out the back by a couple of millimetres, so a case of some kind is going to be essential. The camera app itself has been improved to take advantage of the cameras automatically and will sometimes suggest that a photo would be better taken in a different mode. If you want _bokeh_, the portrait mode does a good job blurring the background. I was really impressed by the level of magnification that was possible – I took a photograph of a horse and could zoom in on my PC to see the individual eyelashes round her eyes. For video, the 8 Pro uses both OIS and EIS together for smooth video, and a technology called 3-HDR which enhances lighting in video. It’s impressive especially when there’s a strong backlight. The two photos below were taken from the same spot at nearly the same time. The upper one is the ultrawide, the middle is the main camera and lower one is the telephoto. The colour filter camera lets you do funky things with the colours. I haven’t quite figured out all the settings but here’s my shed. Yes, it’s in need of paint, but the one on the left is colour enriched and on the right, it’s erm, different. Perfect for standing

out on Instagram.

And in big (but pre-announced) news, the 8 Pro will support wireless charging. The Warp Charge 30 Wireless delivers 30W of power and will charge the 8 Pro from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes. I wasn’t able to test this as wireless chargers weren’t provided, but wired charging worked as specified, boosting the battery by 50% in 23 minutes. The wireless charging conforms to the Qi standard for 5W and 10W charging: I was able to use an old Zens wireless charger successfully on the 8 Pro but it does charge much more slowly! A Warp Charge 30 charger and cable come in the box with the 8 Pro.

Inside

the phone is a 4510 mAh battery which gives absolutely oodles of power. In what I think of as ordinary use, I got the best part of two days out of a charge, but yes, game playing is still energy expensive. The other new feature relates to battery longevity. The perceived wisdom is that keeping lithium-ion batteries at 100% is not optimal and that overtime the capacity of the battery degrades. The 8 Pro now has a feature (undoubtedly powered by AI) where the phone uses behaviour patterns to predict when 100% charge is needed and to charge to hit the target. For example, if you plug the 8 Pro in at night just before going to bed, it won’t start charging until say, 0530, knowing that you usually grab the phone while having breakfast at

0700.

Based on Android 10, OxygenOS has seen a few improvements here and there but retains its closeness to stock Android that is very much part of its appeal. The most obvious of these is dynamic backgrounds which swirl and morph when the phone is turned on or you swipe between launcher pages. It’s really fun. There’s also motion estimate and motion compensation (MEMC) to smooth video playback on the 120 Hz screen. It’s intended to interpolate frames, and reduce motion blur and ghosting, when watching films and videos recorded at lower frame rates. The feature can be turned off, but Netflix looked and sounded

great.

Games play really well on the 8 Pro. I tried out Call of Duty, X-Plane and Galaxy on Fire for starters and they’re all great. The 8 Pro includes “gaming mode” and “fnatic mode” which lets you tailor the gaming experience by devoting resources and blocking notifications when you’re in the zone, as it were. It’s a super smooth experience. In addition, Google Stadia is coming to the One Plus 8 Pro and other OnePlus phones.

Pricing-wise…

ONEPLUS 8 PRO

8 GB / 128 GB – US$899 / GB£799 12 GB / 256 GB – US$999 / GB£899 The OnePlus 8 series will be available SIM-free from OnePlus.com, John Lewis and Amazon from 0900 on 21 April, with all John Lewis purchases also coming with Bullets Wireless 2 headphones while stock lasts. Overall, this is a flagship phone with premium materials and high-end features. The feel in the hand is lovely, the cameras are impressive, the display is gorgeous. And the new features like 5G, IP68 and wireless charging are all very welcome. I’m not going to pretend the 8 Pro is cheap, because it’s not, but you are buying a great phone. _Thanks to OnePlus for supplying the 8 Pro for review._

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------------------------- SUPREME COURT TO GO VIRTUAL #1438 -------------------------

April 13, 2020

Podcast

Kirk

-------------------------

Do

you want to listen to Supreme Court arguments? Well, you’re going to get your chance and the court is going all virtual the first week of May in what will be unprecedented where they will hear arguments remotely. Times are changing and one will wonder how many of these changes will become permanent fixtures in the world. I also talk a little bit about the hostility on Facebook and other mediums. Plus the considerable overreach of state officials. I hope you will consider a monthly insider donation and or a one-time annual

donation.

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