Thomas Ricker

Deputy Editor

Thomas RickerJul 8, 2024

Thousands strike at Samsung.

Just days after it reported a 15x increase in operating profit, over 6,500 workers are taking part in a three-day walkout at Samsung Electronics over pay and conditions. According to the FT:

The labor unrest is a new challenge for a company with an anti-labor reputation. Its union membership has sharply increased since chair Lee Jae-yong declared an end to the company’s no-unions policy in 2020.

Workers are threatening a five-day strike next week if demands are not met.

Samsung Electronics hit by unprecedented 3-day strike

[FinancialTimes]

Electric bikepacking: lessons learned over four days and 250 miles

E-bikes open up cycling sports to more people, and not just the cheaters.

Thomas RickerJul 6, 2024

Thomas RickerJul 5, 2024

Someone already bought Samsung’s Galaxy Buds3 Pro.

They won’t even be announced until next week, but this Redditor says they walked into a US Walmart, paid $250, and walked out with the Apple look-a-likes.

Verdict: the controls are the same as the AirPods Pro, but the new Galaxy Buds are more comfortable with better sound and ANC than the first gen Pros. We’ll see after they become official on July 10th.

1/3Image: Reddit user Plastic_Development1

Thomas RickerJul 5, 2024

Samsung’s 15x increase in profits.

Just saying “AI” is good for business but it’s even better if you make chips, especially for Samsung after suffering a major slump in 2023. Here’s Reuters with the year-on-year comparison:

The world’s largest memory chip, smartphone and TV maker estimated its operating profit rose to 10.4 trillion won ($7.54 billion) in the quarter ended June 30, from 670 billion won a year earlier.

Samsung Electronics Announces Earnings Guidance for Second Quarter 2024

[SamsungNewsroom]

Thomas RickerJul 3, 2024

Japan finally quits the floppy.

“We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28!” said Japan’s Digital Minister Taro Kono to Reuters for its report:

Japan’s government has finally eliminated the use of floppy disks in all its systems, two decades since their heyday, reaching a long-awaited milestone in a campaign to modernize the bureaucracy.

Back in 2019, the US finally stopped using 8-inch floppy disks to coordinate the country’s nuclear forces.

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks

[Reuters]

DJI expands into e-bikes and drive systems

Thomas RickerJul 3, 2024

Thomas RickerJul 2, 2024

DJI is getting into e-bikes.

That’s what the drone company’s official Instagram account seems to be teasing under a new Amflow Bikes brand, built around a DJI Avinox mid-drive motor. A formal announcement is scheduled for Wednesday, July 3rd at 3AM ET — that’s 9AM CET in Germany just as the Eurobike show kicks off tomorrow.

Thomas RickerJun 26, 2024

If it’s free, then you are the product.

That’s the ol’ internet axiom that ran through my head as I read this New York Times roundup of T&C changes that have quietly occurred over the last year, coinciding with the need to feed the hungry AI machines with more and more data. The piece does a good job of showing the before and after language using images like this one for Google:

Google’s updated terms.

Image: New York Times

Thomas RickerJun 26, 2024

Teen sextortion.

Casey Newton shines a light on the increasingly common social media scam that primarily targets teen boys in his most recent Platformer newsletter:

But when a terrifying scam comes along that has led to at least 20 confirmed deaths in the past two years, a whole stack of investigations can’t seem to get a conversation going. [...] Perhaps the surgeon general, instead of his new ham-fisted campaign against every risk that social media presents, could warn parents about this one.

Snap tackles the teen sextortion problem

[Platformer]