### Issue 1269 - Friday 11th December, 2020

## In Today's Issue

- Visa and Mastercard won't process PornHub transactions
- Cydia sues Apple, wants alternative app stores for iOS devices
- Apple turns a blind eye, again, to Chinese labour violations
- The Xbox Series S/X are excellent, easy to set up emulation devices
- Cheap external USB-C NVMe SSD enclosure, Sony headunit, Kingston SSD, JBL Link soundbar & subwoofer, 20% off digiDIRECT sale, Dell 4K monitor, 15 free Epic games over the holidays, Sennheiser wireless in-ear headphones, Coles Mobile 12m SIM

## The News

### Visa and Mastercard won't process PornHub transactions

Visa and Mastercard have cut off PornHub from using their networks, due to the recent New York Times story highlighting the total lack of moderation regarding the types of videos randos are allowed to upload. It's a big impact on PornHub's business and the sex workers using the platform to earn a living. It's fair enough that Visa or MC don't want to be part of anything remotely connected to kiddie porn, but it's a very lightweight move considering the main source of the world's child porn is Facebook. Cutting off PornHub is easy because "ewww, adult content" but cutting off Facebook would actually make a difference. The big brains in Menlo Park would come up with a solution so fucking fast if it got in the way of people paying for ads on Facebook.

### Cydia sues Apple, wants alternative app stores for iOS devices

Rememebr Cydia? It was (and still is) an alternative app store for jailbroken iOS devices that has joined Epic in suing Apple, claiming that Apple has an anti-competitive on iOS app distribution and that this is an abuse of their market power. Apple, as usual, claims it doesn't have a monopoly and has strong competition from Google's Android operating system. That's true, but misses the point. Apple has a monopoly on distributing software on its own devices! Cydia doesn't like that and reckons there should be multiple app stores so developers can choose which one to sell their apps through. Personally, I would love some alternatives to Apple's App Store - it's an opportunity for a much higher level of curation (hand-picked apps), improved profitability for developers (5% cut instead of 15%/30%!) and more innovation (better dev tools, paid app upgrades, simpler subscription implementations, etc.).

### Apple turns a blind eye, again, to Chinese labour violations

Poor factory working conditions are the infected, festering boil on the arse of Apple's 2 trillion dollar empire that many of us are guilty of pretending doesn't exist - even Apple themselves. They acknowledge in a leaked internal report that their "surprise and delight business model" (brb just wiping the vomit off my mouth) makes it difficult for their suppliers to abide by China's labour laws where temporary workers can only be 10% of a factory's workforce. Apple turned a blind eye to this practice and only slapped suppliers on the wrist if it looked like local authorities would enforce the law. Apple could just smooth out production, or alter their business model so it fits with the laws, but nah, fuck it, they need to "surprise and delight"!

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The Xbox Series S/X are excellent, easy to set up emulation devices

Thanks to Pete for sharing with me this video of how to turn an Xbox Series S into a retro gaming beast with fuck all effort. Thanks to the fact the Xbox is really just a locked down Windows PC and runs Universal Windows Platform apps, RetroArch runs natively with no need to hack your device. It takes advantage of a developer mode to let you install apps on your Xbox legitimately. Performance is great as the Xbox is pretty powerful in the first place. Pretty much all the Nintendo consoles except the Switch, every Sega console and even the PlayStation 1 are all good to go with RetroArch on the Xbox. Oh and the Xbox Series S is also a pretty sweet media player and modern game console too.

## Bargains

- M.2 PCIe NVMe USB-C SSD enclosure - $34.99 from Amazon
- Sony XAV-AX5000 Apple Carplay & Android Auto headunit - $449 at Supercheap Auto
- Kingston A2000 M.2 NVMe 1TB SSD - $139 from Centrecom
- JBL Link soundbar with Android TV built-in - $299 at Big W
- JBL Link 10" wireless subwoofer - $100 from JBL
- 20% off digiDIRECT's eBay store, good time to buy some camera or pro audio gear
- Dell S2721Q 27" 4K monitor - $324.84 from Dell
- Epic's Holiday Sale starts on the 18th of December, 15 free games up for grabs
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless (v1) in-ear headphones - $99.95 from Sennheiser's eBay store
- Coles Mobile 365-day, 120GB, unlimited calls & SMS, Optus MVNO - $120 from Coles

## The End

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