Curated Commons // Edition 54
Thank you for subscribing and welcome to the 54th edition of Curated Commons. Let’s dive right in ($ indicates potential paywall).
From China, with control
Lithuania suggests throwing out your phone if it is made by a Chinese manufacturer. Not that it won’t help, but lest your forget, that’s just one of the many parties interested in what you (can) do on that 4-6 inches of glass! - Read here
Lithuania's Defense Ministry recommended that consumers avoid buying Chinese mobile phones and advised people to throw away the ones they have now after a government report found the devices had built-in censorship capabilities.
Flagship phones sold in Europe by China's smartphone giant Xiaomi Corp have a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as "Free Tibet", "Long live Taiwan independence" or "democracy movement", Lithuania's state-run cybersecurity body said on Tuesday.
The capability in Xiaomi's Mi 10T 5G phone software had been turned off for the "European Union region", but can be turned on remotely at any time, the Defence Ministry's National Cyber Security Centre said in the report.
"Our recommendation is to not buy new Chinese phones, and to get rid of those already purchased as fast as reasonably possible,"
The NSA & CIA agree - online advertising sucks!
You now have an additional justification for why you use ad blockers. Even the US intelligence community considers them dangerous and recommends usage! - Read here
On a related note, this is a good read on the Internet’s original sin.
The origins of India IT Services industry
This is a good read on the history of the Indian IT Services industry, an industry that defined and continues to define generations. - Read here
Vaccination, against odds
Tip of the hat to the terrific healthcare workers who are playing a yeoman role in hopefully bringing an end to the pandemic!
Download a celebrity, without the drama
A social media influencer created by an AI-system apparently has landed over 100 sponsorships in South Korea. And the drivers are quite different for different people- Read here
Baek Seung Yeop, CEO of Sidus Studio X that created 'Rozy,' the newly rising blue-chip in the advertisement industry, explained, "These days, celebrities are sometimes withdrawn from dramas that they have been filming because of school violence scandals or bullying controversies. However, virtual humans have zero scandals to worry about."
'Rozy' is a virtual human that was created Sidus Studio X last year in August. Her age will forever be 22, and she has been keeping an active presence online as a real human since December of last year
Engineers be engineers!
Engineers have figured out how to cook 3D-printed chicken with lasers. - Read here
Kids these days!
…apparently don’t know anything about file folders, directories! - Read here
Apparently, saying no doesn’t work, even with apps!
Color me surprised! - Read here ($)
When you ‘Ask app not to track,’ some iPhone apps keep snooping anyway
Robot armies are coming
The US army is training robots to work together in teams. - Read here
In 2021, ransomware spares none - including the food supply chain
Precision farming has made its way across markets in recent years, but the greater adoption of tech also means an opportunity for bad actors - Read here.
Remote work needs greater trust to succeed
Companies that proclaim to go all remote, but start relying on intrusive surveillance tech to figure out if your employees are working or not, you are better off without remote policies! - Read here ($)
We need cleaner batteries
Good long read on the need for cleaner battery tech if we are to go all EV in the future. - Read here ($)
"Solving the climate problem requires solving the battery problem, and solving the battery problem requires solving the cobalt problem."
Is there no such thing as an at-scale online community?
The (social) Internet is, at its most basic, a messy group of humans that need algorithms and moderators to keep at killing each other online! Or so it feels sometimes. - Read here
Facebook Grew Marketplace to 1 Billion Users. Now Scammers Are Using It to Target People Around the World.
Are we ready to truly see the universe?
Later this year, NASA plans to launch a telescope that’s 100 times as powerful as the Hubble. What will we see? - Read here
The cost of the gig economy
Good survey-driven reportage on gig workers across several countries. - Read here
Hard-hitting story on NYC delivery workers - Read here
Thoughtful accessible design that works
This is a very smart and thoughtful way to make computers more accessible. Microsoft released the Surface Adaptive Kit, a bunch of colored stickers that make it easier for people with vision and mobility challenges to use the computer. - Read here
Warehouse automation is on the rise
Labor shortage is driving companies to replace humans with robots in warehouses. And each time this happens, that’s a job that’s not coming back. - Read here ($)
Good read on one of Amazon’s flagship fulfillment centers where machines run the show - Read here ($)
More Interesting Links:
Apple is working on technology to help diagnose depression and cognitive decline - Read here ($)
#TIL there are advantages to volunteering when asked! Why Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly - Read here
Pinterest is still around, and recipe pins are now shoppable - Read here
Interesting approach on using fiber optic cables for vibration sensing - Read here
EU wants to enforce USB-C chargers for all phones. Not going to end well. - Read here
The UK has released its 10-year AI strategy - Read here
And finally, a lovely video to cap it off, icymi
Stay safe, and happy reading! And if you liked the newsletter, please do share on your social networks. My DMs on Twitter are always open for any feedback.