Honor, the Chinese smartphone brand formerly owned by Huawei, launched the V40, its first device since being sold off. CNBC reports: Huawei sold Honor, its budget smartphone brand, in November to a consortium of buyers in China, as a way to help the unit survive in the face of U.S. sanctions. In 2019, Huawei was put on a U.S. export blacklist…
Tag: survive
Robert Cringley Predicted ‘The Death of IT’ in 2020. Was He Right?
Yesterday long-time tech pundit Robert Cringley reviewed the predictions he’d made at the beginning of last year. “Having done this for over 20 years, historically I’m correct abut 70 percent of the time, but this year could be a disappointment given that I’m pretty sure I didn’t predict 370,000 deaths and an economy in free-fall. “We’ll just have to see whether…
The long decline of Arctic sea ice
Forty years of satellite data show that 2020 was just the latest in a decades-long decline of Arctic sea ice. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/decline-of-arctic-sea-ice-1979-2019…
Are primordial black holes really giant gravitinos?
New research proposes that the first black holes came from clumps of gravitinos, exotic, hypothetical particles that managed to survive the first chaotic years of the Big Bang. Source: https://www.livescience.com/primordial-black-holes-giant-gravitinos
Hostile space weather might not be all bad for exoplanet life
A new study from Northwestern University shows that solar flares – space weather – might not always be as dangerous for life on exoplanets as typically thought. In fact, it might even help astronomers discover alien life on distant worlds. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/hostile-space-weather-might-not-be-all-bad-for-exoplanet-life…
Flash Is About To Die, But Classic Flash Games Will Live On
Fast Company’s technology editor harrymcc writes:
After years of growing technical irrelevance and security concerns, the Flash browser plug-in will reach the end of the road on January 12 when Adobe blocks its ability to display content. The web will survive just fine. But there’s a huge library of old Flash games — some of them quirky, interesting, and worth preserving. Over…
How the Comics Industry Avoided a 2020 Implosion
While publishers and stores feared COVID-19 would be an extinction-level threat, the industry has proved more resilient than thought. From a report: In March, when COVID-19 hit the comic industry in earnest, many retailers and publishers feared it would be an apocalyptic event for the business. Stay-at-home orders shuttered stores, and shipments of new product ceased for several months when Diamond…
Crypto’s Big Rupture Is Coming In 2021
An anonymous reader shares an opinion piece from CoinDesk, written by Ryan Zurrer. Zurrer is founder of Dialectic AG, an alternative-assets focused multi-family office. Previously, he was a Director at the Web3 Foundation and led the investment team at Polychain Capital, pioneering the SAFT as a legitimate investment instrument. From the report: Crypto is set to bifurcate and we will begin…
Wildfire Smoke Is Loaded With Microbes. Is That Dangerous?
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: If you’re unfortunate enough to breathe wildfire smoke, you’re getting a lungful of charred plant material, noxious gases, and — if the fire tore through human structures — incinerated synthetic materials. All across the board, it’s bad stuff, proven to be a severe detriment to human health, particularly for those with respiratory conditions…
World’s biggest iceberg on collision course with South Georgia Island
Antarctic iceberg A-68A has drifted menacingly close to a remote island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The giant iceberg could strike land this month. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/biggest-iceberg-a68a-nears-south-georgia-island-dec2020…