34 minutes ago, Walker88 said:

parler had been hosted by Amazon's AWS platform. They were just kicked off for allowing too much incitement of violence, and now need to find another host.

This is very good news. It means the app will be offline on every device, and for a while so. Moving an app to a new host takes time, especially if it’s poorly coded (from what we know, Parler isn’t a heavily funded tech company that would attract lots of good developers and architects). At least Inauguration Day should be safe. 
 

Worth to note how some of those Republicans who announced with big mouths they would leave Twitter and go to Parler are now crawling back. 

10 hours ago, jackinthebox said:

That maybe means that the thai App MorChana doesn't use Bluetooth Low Energy  (BLE)? With the Corona-App here in Germany you can leave Bluetooth enabled all the time (something I haven't done before) and I don't see it using a big amount of battery power.

As you correctly pointed out, the German app uses BLE. To be very correct, it’s actually not the German app developers who did this, but Apple and Google, who developed the underlying contact tracing framework which is available on every iOS and Android device. This framework is available to everyone, so the Thai government could use it as well. 

The reason for using BLE is data privacy. It enables contact tracing without ever having to share any location data or other personal information with the government (or any other third party). It all stays on your phone and only the phone user gets a notification in case he came in contact with someone who updated his app with “tested positive”. 
 

The only downside of this approach is that older devices don’t have BLE chips, so the German app (and I believe any app that implements the Apple/Google framework) only runs on c. 80-90% of smartphones currently. 
 

1 hour ago, placeholder said:

Actually, speech is a lot less free in Europe than in the USA. As an example, Holocaust Denial is a crime in Germany. And hate speech is a crime in many nations in Europe.

Neither of that means that speech isn’t free in those countries. If you post child porn on your website you face punishment; if you publicly accuse your neighbor of being a pedophile you’ll face punishment; if you shout “there’s a bomb” in a crowded airport you’ll face punishment. But none of that means that speech isn’t free. Who came up with the stupid idea that freedom of speech means anyone and everyone can just say what he likes without being subject to rules and laws? 
 

On 1/9/2021 at 10:38 PM, GrandPapillon said:

they force you to agree if you want to use their service.

Yeah, same as the bank forced me to agree to 3% interest rate if I wanted to get a loan.
 

1 hour ago, Jeffr2 said:

Hope this isn't a repeat, but Apple said it will remove Parler from it's store if it doesn't take down the BS.  They've got 24 hours to do so.

1 hour ago, Salerno said:

 

Removed from Playstore, Apple will no doubt do so soon.

If true, certainly the right thing to do and a good move. Still leaves them the web version, unfortunately. 

30 minutes ago, Estrada said:

Pfizer already confirmed that their vaccine is just as effective on the British and South African variants of COVID-19.

They specifically said they didn’t test this South African variant (only a different one) and that they cannot guarantee their vaccine will work against that one (or whatever other variant may exist or emerge that wasn’t tested). 
 

See here (highlights by me):
 

“So we’ve now tested 16 different mutations, and none of them have really had any significant impact. That’s the good news,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the 17th won’t.”

The study still does not address a worrisome mutation in the South African variant, called the E484K mutation.

(https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pfizer-vaccine/pfizer-biontech-vaccine-appears-effective-against-mutation-in-new-coronavirus-variants-study-idUKKBN29D0DX)

23 minutes ago, NightSky said:

Its been discussed by medical advisors that the vaccines can be altered easily to accommodate a resistant mutation if required. 

Any source for the claim that that’s the case for every mutation that could emerge? If I’m not mistaken, Pfizer and Biontech recently tested their vaccine against 16 mutations and it still worked. But they said that’s no guarantee it’ll be the case for the 17th mutation as well. And this South African one was not included in the test.  
 

28 minutes ago, sungod said:

 This fella cant even remember his own argument! ????

What was my own argument that you think I cannot remember? 

1 minute ago, ourmanflint said:

There are no international borders between London and Glasgow

I know, but how is that any relevant?
 

I’m wondering if Facebook & Co. can be held liable for not acting fast enough. It’s their obligation to remove not only child porn and ISIS propaganda but likewise domestic terrorist propaganda and defamation. 

21 minutes ago, Jeffr2 said:

This proves that what the president says, and his enablers and social media amplify, really does effect weak minded individuals.  This video kinda proves it.  Stunning how clueless some are.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/01/07/trump-capitol-riots-proud-vf-orig.cnn/video/playlists/congress-affirms-president-elect-biden-win/

Read some of the comments on his latest Tweets. It’s mind-boggling. 
 

I don’t think you can reach these people anymore. It would be a mistake if Biden tried to reach out to them. Like trying to make your Alzheimer grandpa remember your names and put on his pants. I hope the new administration tries to tackle the root cases of what we are seeing today — social injustice, lack of education, no punishment of desinformation, fake news and hate speech, etc.