Daily Tech News 26 April 2022

• Elon Musk bought Twitter. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  
  For a lefty rag, a not entirely terrible article.
  
  
  
• Elon Musk bought Twitter: Here's five things he needs to take care of. (The Guardian)
  
  1. Fire everyone.
  2. Edut buten.
  
  
  
• Elon Musk bought Twitter: The neurosyphilitic communist canary in the free speech coal mine is having a stroke. (Mashable)
  
  Aww, they look so sad. Can I troll them just a little?
  
  
  
• Elon Musk bought Twitter: Free speech experts worried about the prospect of free speech. (SBS)

  "For him to say he's doing this for free speech is just a fallacy. It's just wrong. This is not about free speech, if it were there would be a completely different approach needed," said Professor Katherine Gelber, Orwell Professor of Political Science at the University of Queensland.

  
  
• Elon Musk bought Twitter: Sadly he will not immediately begin cleaning house with flame and sword. (Daily Mail)
  
  The deal could take up to six months to finalise - requiring a shareholder vote that won't take place until May 25 at the earliest - and there are no layoffs planned "at this time".
  
  Whatever you think of the Daily Mail, this is one of the most detailed articles I've seen so far - they've rolled all their previous content on the takeover bid into one huge thread.
  
  
  

• The EU has unveiled its plan for the largest ever ban of "dangerous chemicals". (The Guardian)
  
  Allegedly including PVC plastics and all flame retardants, the ban could hit a quarter of all chemical production in Europe.
  
  Which sounds great until an apartment building burns down and turns two hundred voters into so much illicit bacon.
  
  
  
• The crypto industry - which is awash with money - can't find enough lawyers. (WSJ)
  
  Call me crazy but I somehow think there's a solution to this problem.
  
  
  
• Social networks will be required to publish and explain their content recommendation algorithms under the EU's new Digital Services Act. (The Verge)
  
  It's not all good news, but at least it makes life progressively more difficult the larger a social platform is, which correlates closely with those most needing a kick in the teeth:

  The DSA will, like the DMA, distinguish between tech companies of different sizes, placing greater obligations on bigger companies. The largest firms — those with at least 45 million users in the EU, like Meta and Google — will face the most scrutiny. These tech companies have lobbied hard to water down the requirements in the DSA, particularly those concerning targeted advertising and handing over data to outside researchers.

  
  
• Speaking of making life difficult the lockdowns in China are leading to a growing shortage of laptop components. (Tom's Hardware)
  
  Fortunately inflation has taken a bite out of discretionary spending and laptop sales are down 10% over last year, so the component shortage hasn't immediately cleared the shelves of stock.
  
  
  
• Just following pre-orders.
  

  I genuinely believe this is a dumb FSB officer being told to get 3 SIMs.

  — Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) April 25, 2022

  
  

posted by Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

| Access Comments