It brings me great sadness to report that Anandtech has ceased publishing new content after 27 years of excellent computer hardware coverage. I grew up with Anandtech all those years and I'm fairly certain I gained more practical computer knowledge from Anandtech than I did from any class at TAFE or uni. It sucks seeing sites I respect drop like flies. If a publication like Anandtech couldn't make a buck with their quality output, the system is fucked and we need to take a long hard look at what's happened here. The good news is that publisher Future PLC will be keeping the site up indefinitely, so at least the content isn't lost to time and will also keep the forums going.
The Brazilians followed through on their threat to ban X if it doesn't appoint a legal representative. Anatel, what I think is their equivalent of ACMA, ordered ISPs to block X (how exactly I dunno, could be a basic DNS block or something more advanced) as well as telling Apple and Google to remove X from their Brazilian app stores. There's also fines for individuals using a VPN to access X. Their justification for not having a local representative is that last time they did, that person had all their bank accounts frozen and was at risk of jail, plus the judge's "illegal orders to censor his political opponents". Bluesky's loving it, gaining 1 million new users in 3 days.
Donald Trump has a book coming out soon where he says Mark Zuckerberg was "plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT", referencing a $420m donation Zuck made to fund election infrastructure (lol USA broken country where billionaire funds election infrastructure), then threatening that "we are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison — as will others who cheat in the 2024 Presidential Election". Getting ahead of this book's release is probably why Zuck wrote that random letter about how he regrets complying with White House suggestions to censor/limit some COVID-19 bullshit floating around Meta's platforms.
Did you know that I have a blog I mainly use it as a place to work through any nonsense going on in my head. Some of the recent posts I've made include why pre-paid eftpos & Visa gift cards are a great way to get heaps of Qantas frequent flyer points, how I set my Dad up with a smartphone running LineageOS and going into way too much detail (down to megapixels per dollar!) on a new monitor(s) purchase. The most popular posts of all time on my blog, if you haven't already checked them out, are how to set up an automated media piracy server, my experience with two (now three, ugh) failed EV charging startups and a now outdated post comparing the total cost of ownership between a Tesla Model 3 and Toyota Camry Hybrid. I really need to update that one.
EN.00702 Bionic Ear Prototype Components. Led by Professor Graeme Clark, an interdisciplinary team at the University of Melbourne undertook the research and development of the bionic ear in the 1970s. The first "gold box" prototype was implanted on 1st August 1978 by Professor Graeme Clark and Professor Brian Pyman on Rod Saunders, at the Eye & Ear Hospital. (The University of Melbourne Engineering and Information Technology Collection)
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