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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 11 - 16 MARCH, 2024
Hello and Welcome,
Meetings This Week
2024/03/12 — 18:00-20:00 — March, Tue — Programming
2024/03/16 — 14:00-16:00 — March, Sat — Web Design
Meeting Next Week
2024/03/19 — 10:00-12:00 — April, Tue — Tuesday Group
Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings
First Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting
First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group
Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming
Third Tuesday 10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group
Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design
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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.
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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The next scheduled meetings are in May, July and September 2024.
ASCCA News:Tech News:
Facebook says there is no renewal of media deals in Australia
See the iTWire article by Sam Varghese | Friday, 01 March 2024, 20:00.
Media (Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
Facebook parent Meta has decided to pull the plug on Australian media deals it did three years ago. On Thursday, the company said it would deprecate Facebook News, a dedicated news tab, in April.
The company said Facebook News had been deprecated in the UK, France and Germany in 2023.
"People will still be able to view news on Facebook in feeds in these countries, and publishers will continue to have access to their Facebook accounts and Pages, where they can post their news article links and content," the company said.
"This update does not otherwise impact our existing agreements with Facebook News with news publishers in Australia, France and Germany until they expire."
Facebook signed deals with several companies in Australia in 2021 after first cutting off news feeds altogether until the Government agreed to its terms. Google took a quieter approach and signed a deal with some media firms.
The search giant did something similar in Canada late last year after the country introduced rules identical to those in Australia. However, Facebook again went nuclear, cutting off access to news feeds in August 2023 and not restoring them after the Canadian Government refused to play ball.
On Friday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones advised affected media firms that the government would do what it could under the legislation.
"We're not talking about some plucky little start-up. We're talking about one of the world's largest and most profitable companies," Jones said.
"It has a responsibility to ensure that it pays for the content that … has been used on its platform, and frankly, that it's making millions and millions of dollars out of it, and so the government is adamant it will be backing the code, and we'll be taking all of the actions that are available to us under the code."
The ministers said advice was being sought from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Treasury on what steps it could take.
The Meta statement added: "The number of people using Facebook News in Australia and the US has dropped by over 80% last year. We know people don't come to Facebook for news and political content — they connect with people and discover new opportunities, passions and interests.
"As we previously shared in 2023, news makes up less than 3% of what people worldwide see in their Facebook feed and is a small part of the Facebook experience for most people."
Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor said the Meta decision was disappointing but blamed the government for not acting after the events in Canada.
"This is a world-leading competition policy, and the government needs to use it. The warning signs were there, and the government ignored them. Labor has been all talk and no action," he added.
Australian Greens Media and Communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young called on the government to designate Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code. Designating a media company means the government can force it to negotiate with media companies.
"A big tech company like Meta cannot be allowed to bully users, journalists and democratically elected governments by deciding which laws of the land they will choose to comply with," Hanson-Young said.
"The News Media Bargaining Code was legislated to ensure that platforms like Facebook cannot profit off sharing news content without paying a fair price for it."
"The minister has the power to designate Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code, and with this announcement... this needs to happen immediately."
"The News Media Bargaining Code should also be strengthened to ensure that a diversity of publishers, especially independent media, are included in future platform deals."
Optus gears up for stronger 5G penetration indoors
See the iTWire article by Kenn Anthony Mendoza | Tuesday, 05 March, 2024, at 10:39.
Ericsson Radio Dot System to provide 5G connectivity indoors
Telecommunications company Optus announced it has tested the wideband multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System to provide 5G connectivity indoors for Australian enterprises.
Optus said customers will receive the same indoor mobile phone coverage with the same quality.
Following the trial at Optus Lab in Sydney, Optus plans to deploy the multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System at sporting venues, multi-story buildings, and shopping precincts across Australia.
It will also be used as a 5G capacity overlay in locations where Optus has already deployed legacy solutions such as shopping centres, food courts, airport lounge rooms, or stadium corporate rooms and will enable new immersive technologies such as XR and VR.
The Ericsson Radio Dot System supports the wideband 3.5GHz spectrum of all Australian mobile operators.
Optus said the system's advancement is that it features precise indoor positioning of people or objects inside multi-storey buildings, airports, and underground locations where traditional GPS and other satellite technologies lack precision.
"With Ericsson's multi-operator 5G Radio Dot system, Optus can support its consumer and enterprise customers across multiple venues to deliver a high-capacity 5G solution for both uplink and downlink and enhance 5G customer experience in indoor locations, enabling new emerging use cases such as XR/VR, and precise positioning," said Optus vice president access network strategy planning and quality Kent Wu.
"With the rapidly growing demands for data, coupled with the complexities of delivering the highest quality coverage in indoor environments, Optus can now easily deploy a solution that delivers indoor 5G coverage to support major enterprise customers, delivering high-capacity 5G indoor coverage on 3.5GHz spectrum, which is critical for indoor locations such as venues, sporting stadiums, and buildings," said Ericsson head of global customer unit Singtel Daniel Ode.
The first production implementation of the multi-operator Ericsson Radio Dot System is planned for 2024 in Optus' network in NSW.
NASA to use Nikon's HULC system for Artemis mission
See the iTWire article by Kenn Anthony Mendoza | Tuesday, 05 March, 2024, at 10:37.
NASA astronaut Jessica Wittner uses an early design of the Artemis lunar camera
to take photos during planetary geological field training
in Lanzarote, Spain.
European Space Agency / A. Romero
Japanese optics and photographic equipment manufacturer Nikon's Handheld Universal Lunar Camera (HULC) system will be used by NASA to support the agency's Artemis campaign under the Space Act agreement.
The Space Act agreement is a collaboration between NASA and Nikon to ensure the camera can survive lunar environments while developing a platform for image and video capture for the mission.
The Nikon Z 9, Nikon's mirrorless full-frame flagship, as implemented in the HULC system, will be the handheld camera for the upcoming Artemis III mission. The crew returning to the surface of the Moon will use it.
According to NASA, the goal of the Artemis III mission is to return humanity to the lunar surface and make history by sending the first humans to the lunar South Pole region.
It will also establish a foundation for long-term scientific lunar research and exploration. It may establish the Moon as a passageway for travel to Mars.
The Artemis III mission is scheduled to launch NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the agency's Orion spacecraft in September 2026.
The crew's historic expedition will be the first human landing on the lunar surface since 1972, and this mission will also mark the first time a woman will walk on the Moon.
During this 30-day mission, the crew will enter lunar orbit, after which two astronauts will land on the lunar surface in the lunar module (SpaceX's Starship Human Landing System).
After spending seven days on the lunar surface conducting research and multiple moonwalks, they will return to the Orion spacecraft to join the other two crew members and return to Earth.
Nikon's engineers are working closely with NASA to develop cameras that withstand harsh lunar conditions. One solution involves redesigning various circuits and control sequences within the camera to combat vast amounts of radiation.
Support will also be given for vacuum thermal testing, running various tests and simulations to help ensure that the camera maintains operational status at 383,000 kilometres (238,000 miles) away from Earth.
Additionally, astronauts will use the camera during extravehicular activities (EVA), instances when the crew is in space or on moonwalks.
NASA is developing a custom grip for astronauts so they can easily use Z 9 while wearing thick gloves in a spacesuit.
This includes standard controls such as shutter release, playback, and still/video capture switching.
This grip will connect to the camera via the 10-pin terminal, which will be usable with specialised custom firmware created for the cameras.
To protect the camera, lens, and housing during EVA, a special "thermal blanket" will be created by NASA, similar to those currently used during exterior spacewalks by International Space Station astronauts.
A selection of Nikkor Z lenses will also be used for the mission, and those actively used on the Moon will be modified to withstand the harsh lunar environment.
The camera's firmware will also be modified for this mission, including accounting for the different circuitry and expanding noise reduction to lower shutter speeds to account for the effects of the constant bombardment of cosmic radiation that the crew and gear encounter.
Additional changes have been made to the file naming sequence, and default settings and controls have been optimised for exterior missions.
The in-camera communication control was also updated to simplify the astronaut's workflow and reduce power consumption when sending images from space to Earth.
Additional modifications include shutter shield optimisation, enhanced *HDR functionality, and modified default settings for menu items.
*What Is HDR (High Dynamic Range)?
Move over 4K. HDR is a vital television feature that can vastly improve what you watch. Here's what you need to know about HDR, HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG.
High dynamic range (HDR) video is one of the most significant 4K TV feature bullet points. It can push video content past the (now outdated) limitations to which broadcast and other media standards have adhered for decades. It's impressive to see TVs that can handle it, but it can be a confusing technical feature thanks to several iterations, each with differences that aren't well-defined.
See the PCMag article to explain them to you.
Fun Facts:
Apple Updates 'Wet Phone Fix' Advice
See the InfoPackets article by John Lister on March 4, 2024, at 12:03 pm EST.
iPhone in Water
Apple has warned users not to dry an iPhone in a bag of rice. It says the famous "tip" won't repair water damage and could cause even more problems.
Numerous online guides have suggested the fix in cases where a phone is dropped into the water and stops working. They usually recommend putting the phone in a zip-lock bag with uncooked rice, the logic being that the rice will absorb moisture, eventually drying out even the inside.
Apple has now updated its official advice to include examples of what not to do:
1. — Don't use an external heat source or compressed air to dry your iPhone.
2. — Don't insert a foreign object, such as a cotton bud or a paper towel, into the connector.
3. — Don't put your iPhone in a bag of rice. Doing so could allow small particles of rice to damage your iPhone. (Source: apple.com)
Short Circuit Risk
In particular, the concern is particles entering the charging port. Whether it's fragments of rice dust or tiny strands of tissue, they could stop the charging process from working correctly. In the worst-case scenario, they could cause a short circuit that damages the phone's internal components.
Apple says that for most iPhones released from 2020 onwards, even an extended submersion shouldn't damage a phone. With all models, the advice for a wet phone is to tap the device to knock out any water gently, then leave it unplugged in a dry area for 30 minutes.
Patience Is Key
After this point, it's safe to plug the charger cable in. If the phone is still wet, it will display a warning message on the screen. In this case, users should leave the phone in a dry place with at least some airflow for up to a day to dry out.
When the moisture warning message displays, the phone should turn off charging for safety reasons. Apple advises against trying to find a way to bypass this as moisture could corrode pins on the charger cable or phone connector, causing permanent connectivity problems. (Source: standard.co.uk)
What's Your Opinion?
Have you ever dropped a phone in the water? How did you fix any damage? Do you buy Apple's warning that the rice bag approach could be risky?
Comments
Water probs — Submitted by dbrumley3077 on Mon, 04/03/2024 — 13:25.
This article was very informative and resolved, for me, the correct procedure to dry out a phone that has been submerged.
This has yet to happen to me, so I wondered what the differences would be depending on how long the phone was submerged.
Has this happened to anyone out there?
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