cgWerks

This is no different than the USA, Canada, China, etc. The power/censorship just manifests differently (and whether Apple agrees with it or not).

Apple is going to have to decide if they actually stand for anything, or if they just hold their finger to the wind or consider consequences, to decide what they stand for.jeffharris said:

Russia can interfere in US elections, but Apple can't allow a Navalny app? 

Wow. 

Everyone can interfere with US elections, so long as the outcome is as intended.

viclauyyc said:
This is how Russia think. 

And it seems, most on the 'Western' political left, these days. (player should start at 28:10, but for some reason maybe the embed doesn't?)

MisterKit said:

One reason I’ll stay with Mini 5 is the 3.5mm line output. It’s an old beaten down argument but bluetooth audio has latency which does not work for precise monitoring. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

Hmm... hadn't thought of that. Are there USB-C to 3.5mm adapters for audio? Yeah, as much as I like my AirPods Pro, it SHOULD NOT be assumed most people will want to use them, let alone needing to. There are many things for which wireless audio isn't a good fit (like GarageBand).

lkrupp said:
Raise your hand if you would like to see this kind of caring government here in the U.S. I know some of you do.

I'm part way through this... looks like big pieces of the groundwork are being established:
https://congressionaldish.com/cd-237-hunting-domestic-terrorists/

sdw2001 said:
Socialism is authoritarianism.

You kind of beat me to it. It's the kind of thing that looks good (to some) on paper, but goes badly wrong in practice. The theoretical version doesn't account for human nature. That's also where Capitalism goes off the rails, though, but *should* be easier to keep in check via regulation (if you have a non-corporatocracy to make and enforce them).

waveparticle said:
China stole the ideas from US!  American universities are abandoning SAT scores. Rockwell High School in SF is admitting new students without the merit system. Some California legislatures try to pass laws ordering UC Universities admitting students based on racial quota not GPAs. LOL

There has to be some method to better measure merit than SAT scores, while racial quotas are the polar opposite.

GeorgeBMac said:
That all sounds like ideology rather than reality that is likely (I think) based on two misconceptions:

1)  That all government is autocratic.  Autocratic is when only a few have a say.  Here we elect -- and fire -- our government.

2)  That socialism is 100% socialism where everything is controlled by government or nothing is. 

But, in the end you come around when you admit that "they" are capitalist with socialist programs -- in other words, a mix of both -- which is pretty much where the whole world is headed.  That is, countries are realizing that neither pure capitalism works well just as pure socialism doesnt' work well either.   But, the right mix of both is the best.

I get what you're saying (and probably agree to a good extent), but there is a huge difference between socialism and social programs. That misunderstanding and knee-jerk reaction to the latter is a big part of the USA's problem.

I also don't think the reality is that we elect and fire our government anymore. That has become more an 'in theory' thing which doesn't match the reality. We have (or at least used to) have that ability, but in reality it hasn't worked out well. Most of Congress have been there election after election after election, doing the same self-interested (and not representing the people) stuff, over and over again.

GeorgeBMac said:
But, giving kids one test a semester has the same basic weakness as the SATs:  

--  If the kid has a bad day it can impact the rest of his life.

It isn't even about having a bad day, necessarily. Certain types of testing highly favor certain types of people, and aren't a very good indicator of capability.
It is kind of a conundrum. If you don't have an exam of some kind, it is really hard to motivate people to work hard and prepare, but if you base too much off the results, you rule out a lot of highly qualified people.

jcs2305 said:
Also let's be honest if you possess or are sharing this type of disgusting content and are stupid enough to trust any cloud storage not just that offered by Apple you should be caught. That also goes for any photos we deem "private" or may be "explicit" get the shit out of the cloud! Period..

...

I don't like that Apple is doing this don't get me wrong, but if it used in the an appropriate way to help with cracking down on explicit underage images being passed from one sicko to another it sits a bit better with me.

I don't think you'll find any who will disagree (or admit it) with that. The problem is how it could be abused that is creating the fuss, not stopping CSAM.

This is a bit akin to backdoors to encryption to fight terrorism. It isn't a matter of if it will be abused, just when and to what extent. It always is.

GeorgeBMac said:
One is ending a 20 year war with a country and its rulers who never did us any harm --and before anymore Americans have to die needlessly.

Sorry to go further OT, but I don't think the issue is ending it... Trump was trying to do that as well (so, it would seem both sides of the political equation - aside from the bi-partisan neocon warmongers - are in agreement). I think the problem is how it is being done. The 'conspiracy theory' camp has some compelling evidence this is what was wanted to happen. But, even if not, a lot of money was funneled to protecting and transporting poppies and not really training the Afghans in any effective way. Ultimately, I guess the buck stops at Biden, but I doubt this was his plan and that he messed up (as is being portrayed). This was too organized of chaos for that.

Seeing as so many are focused on 'saving the world' from impending 'environmental disaster' we should probably all be avoiding this wireless (energy wasting) future.

That said, if this is well made, it looks like a clever, well priced, and well thought out solution to making an iPhone more useful on the desk, while charging it. Some of the other solutions might be nice for multiple devices, but are kind of big, clunky, etc. for a small desk.