### Issue 1280 - Monday 11th January, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Trump and his buddies are getting deplatformed all across the internet
- Rain, hail or pandemic, the CES show must go on
- Apple and Hyundai sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G
- Discourse has a version of their forum software designed specifically for teamwork
- Cheap Tascam 4-track audio recorder, Logitech MX Vertical mouse, Dell 4K monitor, LEGO ISS, Cyberpunk 2077 for PC

## The News

### Trump and his buddies are getting deplatformed all across the internet

Soon as Trump got back on Twitter and let loose with some tweets, Twitter made the ban of Trump, along with heaps of MAGA dorks permanent, invoking their Glorification of Violence Policy as justification. With their "freedom of speech" impinged, they ran to Parler, a no-holds barred version of Twitter. Apple, Google and Amazon Web Services quickly snuffed Parler out, banning the app from mobile app stores and banishing their code from their servers. Parler is now having trouble finding someone to host their hate machine. Reddit finally tore down the toxic /r/DonaldTrump. Stripe joined in the fun too, refusing to accept payments for any Trump's website here he begs supporters for money.

### Rain, hail or pandemic, the CES show must go on

CES 2021 has begun today, but with no expo going on in the real world the announcements have been "virtual". Here's some early announcements ahead of the full slate of crap you'll forget about in a few weeks:

- Lenovo's decided smart glasses will be a thing in 2021, announcing the ThinkReality A3 - "the most advanced and versatile enterprise smart glasses in the market". They operate tethered to a PC or smartphone and are pretty much Lenovo's version of Google Glass.
- HP has an all new range of forgettable laptops that nobody chooses to buy, with HP's only sales coming from IT departments forcing them onto unsuspecting staff as part of some package deal with HP servers.
- Loads and loads of TVs as usual, from Samsung, LG, Hisense and Sony. Deeper blacks, better contrast, higher brightness, more even backlighting, etc. etc. Samsung put a solar panel in one of their TV remotes, wow.
- Kensington is first to release a Thunderbolt 4 dock, the SD5700T. TB4 is pretty similar to TB3, but supports dual 4K @ 60Hz monitor output. This dock will also do 90W power delivery and has all the other stuff you expect from a good Thunderbolt dock (though personally, it's a bit light on USB ports).

### Apple and Hyundai sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G

I'm not a fan of mentioning rumours here, but this one is so juicy and so many of you told me about it, that I figure what the hell - Apple and Hyundai are apparently in discussions to collaborate on a battery technology suitable for electric cars. A Hyundai spokesperson made the mistake of talking to CNBC, saying discussions are "at its early stage" and that "nothing has been decided". Whipsering a single thing to the media before they do is a rookie mistake when dealing with Apple, sorry Hyundai. Apple making a car really is a rumour that will not die, filling the empty minds of Apple fanboys for almost a decade. I think they legitimately are interested in something to do with cars, but what form that will take (a full-on Apple branded vehicle, a collaboration on a particular model, an Apple sensor suite sold to OEMs, etc) is anyone's guess.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Discourse has a version of their forum software designed specifically for teamwork

The developers of Discourse noticed people use it for things that aren't exactly what you'd think of as a "forum" and have released Discourse for Teams - a version of Discourse designed for, err, teams. I reckon it's great for a remote working collaboration setup. Use Slack or Teams or whatever chat bullshit thing you've got going on for live stuff you wanna discuss rapidly, but pair it up with Discourse for discussions that aren't so urgent and require a more thought out, less time sensitive approach. I personally find a forum way easier to catch up on than Slack conversations spread across channels. You can even do stuff like assign tasks and embed calendars into Discourse via all its first party plugins specifically designed for teamwork. I'm a happy loner here at The Sizzle, but if I had to collaborate with others, Discourse for Teams would be right at the centre of it all.

## Bargains

- Tascam 60DMK2 4-track portable audio recorder - $287.69 from Amazon
- Logitech MX Vertical mouse - $118.15 from digiDIRECT
- Dell S2721Q 4K monitor - $324.84 from Dell
- LEGO Ideas International Space Station (21321) - $79 plus shipping from Toys R Us
- Cyberpunk 2077 for PC via GOG - $47.19 from CDKeys.com

## The End

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