Quick notes: State actors | Annus Horribilis...

• Big Tech is like a state actor now: Google, Facebook and Twitter should be treated as state actors under existing legal doctrines. A threat to our sovereignty.
  
  - Govt open to launching Indian app store, develop our own tech platforms.

India has the market size to do a serious Android fork, with a mobile OS and App Store controlled by neither Apple nor Google.

Xiaomi, KaiOS, Cyanogen, and the history of Chinese Android forks show there is a path here. https://t.co/DxB6VY6xul

— balajis.com (@balajis) January 11, 2021




• Chinese vaccine is 50% effective: China’s effort to boost its image by providing Covid-19 vaccines to the developing world suffered a setback after one of its leading inoculation candidates turned out to be 50% effective in late-stage trials in Brazil, significantly lower than earlier results showed.



• Will 2021 be China’s annus horribilis? Has Beijing succeeded in intimidating India with its brazen info warfare? Absolutely not. Has Mr Xi’s prestige been enhanced after Ladakh? Certainly not. Instead, it showed the PLA’s limitations facing a determined adversary.
  
  Economically too, Beijing lost a lot, especially with India (and several other countries) banning a number of Chinese apps and the decision to not award big contracts to China. One could add many issues to the list. All this makes me think 2021 will an “annus horribilis” for China and its new Great Helmsman. It would only be justice. -Claude Arpi



• Signal and Telegram downloads surge: WhatsApp collects account registration information such as your phone number, transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others, including businesses when using the service, and mobile device information.
  
  - Elon Musk discloses funding Signal, says will 'donate more'



• Zero-dairy way to preserve native Indian cow breeds: Beejom doubles up as an animal sanctuary for native Indian cow breeds by trailing the focus away from dairy farming and towards an economy around cow dung and cow urine instead.




• Big Tech is tracking you: Hidden map on your phone shows everywhere you’ve been and the photos you took there



• Robot uses UV-C Light to fight Covid in schools, offices: Adibot is programmed to disinfect rooms on its own. UV light is proven to kill bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19, but it’s also harmful to human eyes and skin, potentially causing skin cancer or cataracts.