Courts in the USA have upheld a law forcing TikTok's owner Bytedance to sell TikTok to a US-based company. Bytedance sued the government a while ago, saying it was "an unconstitutional infringement on free speech", but the court didn't buy the argument. The judges decided that "the First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States. Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary's ability to gather data on people in the United States". I reckon in a few weeks we will see an announcement that TikTok's US operations have been purchased by one of Trump's mates for an undisclosed sum.
A Senate inquiry into Australian rightwing extremist movements has recommended "the Australian government considers introducing legislation that would enable Australian law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access encrypted communications if there is a well-founded threat to national security and a warrant has been issued by a judicial officer to access those communications". I thought Aussie spooks already have this power via The Assistance and Access Act 2018?? The inquiry also wants "research into violent extremism in the online environment, including on: social media platforms; gaming platforms; and gaming-adjacent platforms" to examine how those platforms "may be used by extremist actors to spread propaganda and recruit members, particularly in relation to young people".
Neerav Bhatt's got a nice story about Alchemy Charge over on the Solar Quotes blog. It's a practical and cheap way to get EV charging going anywhere, but in particular, apartment buildings. The product itself is essentially a bog standard 10A 3-pin power outlet with a power meter and wi-fi or a 4G modem built-in that monitors how much power is used so it can be billed/reimbursed back to the owner. The reason it's so practical is that it doesn't need a lot of power (just 10A) versus 30A or more on a "normal" EV charger, which most apartment building car parks aren't capable of, a problem that compounds should multiple people want a 30A car charger. Yeah, it'll take longer to charge, but topping up each night should be more than adequate for most apartment dwellers.
Go behind the scenes at Apple, as they showcase their state-of-the-art Audio Lab, where Genelec monitors are helping to develop the world’s first endtoend hearing health experience. (Apple)
📻 Radiohead - Polyethylene (Parts 1 & 2) - Remastered
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