The UK government today ordered domestic companies to stop buying equipment from Chinese vendor Huawei and to stop using its kit entirely by 2027. Huawei is suspected to be an arm of the Chinese government, breaking into western markets (and maybe its networks) by selling impossibly cheap equipment. The UK only recently approved more Huawei orders for its growing 5G system, but the Covid pandemic and China's virtual annexation of Hong Kong has clarifed matters.
UK bans Huawei purchases
PHOTO: Reuters, 2019
Google AI researcher Timnit Gebru fired after complaining of "aggressions and harassments"
Timnit Gebru, an AI ethics researcher at Google, was fired this week after sending an internal email complaining that marginalized voices at the company were being silenced. Google, for its part, claims that Gebru failed to follow Google's requirements for a paper submission and that she subsequently threatened to resign. Ms Gebru is a well-respected… READ THE REST
Modem noise spectrogram
Scotty H created this spectrographic animation of a classic dial-up modem's startup noise. Here's a breakdown, by Oona Räisänen, of what each section concerns: READ THE REST
Apple's head of security indicted in iPads-for-gun-licenses bribery case
Apple's Chief Security Officer Thomas Moyer was charged with bribery Tuesday after allegedly giving 200 iPads to local officials in exchange for concealed-carry gun licenses for Apple's security team. The Morgan Hill Times reports that others indicted included Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Undersheriff Rick Sung, Capt. James Jensen, and local businessman Harpreet Chadha, also… READ THE REST
This Starchive 1TB cloud storage account doesn't just hold your content – it curates it
The cloud is definitely growing up. A decade ago, you'd have been hard-pressed to find many comfortable with saving all of their documents, media, and other important files with a cloud service provider. Today, everyone is on board the cloud storage train. But, with growth comes maturity too. For many users, it's not enough to… READ THE REST
Get one of these space heaters to combat the cold of winter
With January here, it's easy to think that the worst of winter is over. Unfortunately, as recent years (like last year) have shown us, it can remain pretty steadily chilly all the way into April and May. If you've got central heating, you're going to be getting pretty sick of those bills by then. The… READ THE REST
Check out 23 vacuum deals that will clean up your 2021
It's likely that there's never been a New Year's resolution focused on vacuuming more. However, plenty of people want to clean up the clutter and tidy up their lives to start a new year. The investment in a quality vacuum and other cleaners can be a good way of ensuring that much-needed cleaning work gets… READ THE REST