Technology

Facebook has reportedly upheld a ban on many organizations in Myanmar that have joined forces to resist the military coup that occurred back in February, according to Rest of World. The bans were put in place back in 2019, when organizations like the Arakan Army, and many of its allies, were classified as terrorist organizations by the democratically-elected government. Things have changed in Myanmar since then. After the military coup and government takeover by the Tatmadaw (carried out after an election which the military claims was fraudulent), the political situation has become extremely complex. There is, however, one thing that is seemingly clear: the Arakan Army is no longer classified as a terrorist organization, either by the current military-led government, or by the elected gove...

This week brought some unexpected bargains by way of an eBay sitewide code that can knock up to $100 off a pricey purchase, such as a 4K TV, as well as an excellent Humble Bundle with 100 percent of proceeds going toward COVID-19 relief in India and Brazil. There are more, including a day-long sale on AT&T-locked Microsoft Surface Duo phones and more, so take a spin through this dispatch to see what we thought stood out from the rest in deals world this week. Microsoft’s Surface Duo is just $600 at Woot We featured a popular deal on the Surface Duo earlier this week, which had the foldable phone selling for $690. That was a great promotion, especially because it was for the version that worked on Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T. That deal is over now, but Woot is picking it back up and ...

Ireland’s High Court has dismissed Facebook’s bid to block a European Union privacy regulation — created by the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) — that could interrupt the flow of data from the EU to the US, The Wall Street Journal reports. Facebook first appealed the order in part because it claimed the Commission and the EU’s other privacy regulators were moving too quickly and hadn’t given the company appropriate time to respond. Facebook also told The Verge the IDPC’s privacy order “would have damaging consequences for the European economy.” Irish officials clearly didn’t share the same concerns. The IDPC originally created the new privacy order because Facebook and other international companies often store EU residents’ data on US servers, potentially exposing them to additiona...

If you want a space gray Apple accessory, such as a Magic Mouse, Keyboard, or Trackpad, now is the time to get one because they’re being discontinued. On Apple’s store page, they’re currently for sale but with a “while supplies last” message (via MacRumors). Apple confirmed to The Verge that it will no longer sell the space gray accessories after stock runs out, but the silver variants will still be available. The message is the same one that appeared on the iMac Pro before it was listed as “out of stock” for good. Now that Apple’s space gray desktop isn’t around, it seems that the company’s decided to stop making the space gray accessories. It’s a bit odd, given that Apple kept the color around when it introduced the M1 MacBooks, where external mice and keyboards might still be in demand....

Massively popular game creation tool Roblox is now a massively popular experience creation tool Roblox, possibly in response to the ongoing Epic v. Apple trial. Roblox allows a variety of user-created projects on its platform, and until earlier this week, these were all grouped under a tab called “Games” on Roblox’s website. Roblox creators could create and manage “games” through an editor, and individual games had a user limit called “max players.” That’s all changed now. The “Games” tab now reads “Discover” on the web, although it still points to an address of “roblox.com/games.” Developers can create and manage “experiences,” and experiences have “max people” allowed. The word “game” has been replaced by “experience” across nearly the entire Roblox website, and the iOS and Android apps ...

As part of iOS 14.5, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency forces developers to ask permission for something they used to be able to do for free: track iOS users. Today, Twitter is joining the ranks of other developers and adding a prompt that asks users to enable tracking on iOS (via MacRumors). Twitter’s main justification for listening to its request is straightforward — having the feature enabled allows it to serve “better” ads. The company includes a link to settings so you can make those changes, but read Twitter’s explanation before you decide: Keep ads relevant to you by allowing Twitter to track data from other companies on this device, like apps you use and websites you visit. The company also includes a link to a support post in the Twitter help center which explains why it has to a...

Ireland’s health service, the HSE, shut down all of its IT systems on Friday following a “significant” ransomware attack which has disrupted COVID-19 testing and other patient services, the BBC reports. The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program does not appear to have been affected. A government official tells news station RTE that an international cyber criminal group is responsible for the attack. “This is not espionage. It was an international attack, but this is just a cyber criminal gang looking for money,” says Minister of State for Public Procurement and eGovernment Ossian Smyth. Micheál Martin, the country’s Taoiseach (prime minister), says Ireland will not be paying any ransom. According to the Financial Times, the government received a ransom demand to be paid in bitcoin. The at...

Venmo has a major privacy flaw that’s been well-known for years: there’s no way to keep your list of Venmo contacts private. That means you can see the contact list of any user on the platform, a flaw that’s so large that BuzzFeed News was able to track down President Joe Biden’s Venmo account in less than 10 minutes. BuzzFeed News didn’t just find the president, though; the publication also discovered accounts for many people in Biden’s inner circle, and, because of the nature of this flaw, all of their contacts as well: BuzzFeed News found nearly a dozen Biden family members and mapped out a social web that encompasses not only the first family, but a wide network of people around them, including the president’s children, grandchildren, senior White House officials, and all of their cont...

If you’re hoping to turn a dollar on that extremely explicit hentai you picked up in college, you won’t be selling it on eBay. As first noticed by Adult Video News, eBay is banning the sale of most sexually explicit materials starting June 15, 2021. Everyone has a different definition of what constitutes “sexually explicit” and eBay’s is extremely PG. While the policy is confusing in that it appears to conflate nudity and sexually explicit content, it carefully defines nudity as “showing any part of male or female genitalia, anus, or female breasts where the areola or nipple is visible.” It goes on to say that those same bits don’t get a pass if they’re covered by see-through material or confined by tight clothing. The policy also classifies “people engaged in sexual contact or activity” a...

Tonight, China attempted to land a pair of robots on the surface of Mars, making a daring bid to become the second country to land and operate a rover on the Red Planet. The Tianwen-1 spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since February, ejected a rover and lander bundled together for a seven-minute plunge through the thin Martian atmosphere. By now, China should know whether its mission was a success or failure, as enough time has now elapsed since its decent to send a signal back to Earth — but there’s been no official word on its fate, and may not be for hours yet, according to experts tracking China’s space program. The mission marks China’s first independent trek to Mars, about 200 million miles away from Earth. Only NASA has successfully managed to land and operate rovers on the p...

A new batch of leaked images shows what could become Samsung’s least expensive 5G phone yet: the Galaxy A22 5G. The Galaxy A32 5G currently holds that title at an already low $279. The images come from 91mobiles and match up with previous leaks hinting that the phone might be on its way with a 200,000 KRW price (~$180), though it may be only destined for India and parts of Asia in the immediate future. The leaked images show two variants — 5G and 4G versions — with two slightly varied sets of specs. The 5G model will allegedly have a 6.4-inch LCD and a rear triple-camera array (probably a 48-megapixel main / macro / depth sensor combo). A MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset looks likely, thanks to a previous Geekbench leak, plus a substantial 6GB of RAM. The 4G model includes one additional rea...

BuzzFeed News has published a great story that looks at the cultural phenomenon that was on display when that picture of a mile-long Starbucks order (which included over 18 pumps of flavor) went viral earlier this month. It explores both the phenomenon of people ordering more customizations when using apps (something I know I’ve fallen prey to myself, though nowhere close to the extent displayed in the photo), as well as the world of TikTok Starbucks influencers. Wait, what? Starbucks influencers? If you, like me, had never heard of this corner of the internet, be prepared to read about TikTok teens and even some Starbucks employees on the platform coming up with drink recipes that can become so popular that some employees estimate they take up 20 percent of orders they fill in a shift. Th...