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Daily Tech News 26 March 2023

Top Story

• TikTok users are retarded and so is the tech press that reports on the issue. (Tech Crunch)
  

  Still, TikTokers point to the distinction between sharing data with a private Chinese company and the Chinese government.

  None. The difference is none. All Chinese internet companies are entirely under the thumb of the Chinese intelligence agencies.

  For its part, TikTok has tried to appease U.S. officials with a plan called Project Texas, a $1.5 billion undertaking that will move U.S. users' data to Oracle servers.

  Which simply proves that TikTok is acting in bad faith. The company has claimed for years that US user data is held separate from and inaccessible to Chinese operations, but all of TikTok's internal tools have backdoors to allow China to spy on foreign users. (BuzzFeed)
  
  Look, if you want to be a pawn of a genocidal communist dictatorship, don't take half-measures, move to North Korea. It's a free country.
  
  To enter, not to leave. You can only leave in a box.

Tech News

• Proxmox VE might poop itself when daylight savings kicks in. (Proxmox)
  
  This can't happen all the time or it would have been caught and fixed years ago, but several users from the UK reported it right as daylight savings started there.
  
  Always configure Linux/Unix systems to run root as UTC. You can set timezones in individual user accounts and applications, but leave root alone.
  
  
  
• A comparison of three hobbyist PCB services. (lcamtuf's thing)
  
  I'd like to see a bigger review of these services; I'll see if I can find one. Basically you can send these companies a design and get back circuit boards - in as little as 24 hours if you're willing to pay. Some will also assemble the entire circuit for you, though again that costs money.
  
  
  
• Panera Bread will use your palm print for membership verification and payment. (CBS)
  
  Which means they have to have your palm print and your payment details on file.
  
  I'd list all the ways in which this will go horribly wrong but then I'd need a bigger blog.
  
  
  
• After a petition signed by 30,000 Amazon workers demanding the right to work from home, Amazon says it would be happy to lay them all off if they don't quit whining and get their lazy asses into the office. (NY Post)
  
  I work from home, but that started because I was working twelve hours a day and couldn't continue doing that if I spent two hours commuting each day as well. It worked so well that the company eventually closed its physical office and set everyone to work from home.
  
  But these people are just idiots.

  "I'm collapsing here. I 'm sorry I feel like a total failure," one Amazon staffer wrote, according to Insider. "Come in and work. Do as you're told."
  
  "I'm crying as my family prepares a meal."

  On second thoughts, you're right. Don't bother coming into the office. We'll send you your severance details.
  
  
  

• I nearly bought a Framework Laptop but the battery on the 1340P was 10% smaller than the one on the 1360P and a new battery would cost a whole $69. (The Verge)
  
  Now there is a point here: There is almost no difference between the 1340P and 1360P (or the previous generation's 1240P and 1260P) and no reason to spend the extra $320, except that the 1360P Framework 13 comes with a slightly larger battery.
  
  The reason for that is that Framework already has large orders for the smaller, older battery and needs to put them somewhere or pay a lot of money to cancel the order, and the 1340P as the latest low-end model is the obvious victim of choice.
  
  But on the eleventh hand, just buy the AMD version. Better in every way and all AMD models come with the new battery.
  
  I'm planning to plunk down $100 to pre-order it. Ships some time in Q3, and I doubt something better will show up before then.

Framework Video of the Day

Now that Linus has his channel back (one of his staff opened a PDF that wasn't a PDF) he's taken a look at the new Framework 16. A prototype, since it won't ship until late this year, but he was an early investor in Framework and has one of the biggest hardware review sites around, so he gets early access.



This video shows off the modular design: Six swappable I/O modules - they're all USB-C internally but can switch between USB, HDMI, DisplayPort, Ethernet, audio, micro SD, or storage - up to 1TB each. A swappable PCIe module for a graphics card or other device.
And six swappable input modules. The keyboard, trackpad, and the inch or so of empty space to either side of each are all removable and replaceable without even needing a screwdriver - they clip in place with magnets. (The screen bezel is also magnetic.)

Which is great but still leaves the model I want - the Framework 13 - without the Four Essential Keys.


Disclaimer: You can't always get what you want, unless you have a Digi-Key account, a surface-mount reflow workstation, and a very steady hand.