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The Litany-of-Problems Edition Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Apple's Nightmare Before Christmas: Supply Chain Crisis Delays Gift Deliveries, by Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li, Nikkei Asia

For the first time in more than a decade, iPhone and iPad assembly was halted for several days due to supply chain constraints and restrictions on the use of power in China, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation told Nikkei.

[...]

Apple and its suppliers have faced a litany of problems. The monthslong lockdown in Vietnam affected iPhone camera module production from Sharp, as Nikkei previously reported, which dragged out the timeline for final product assembly. COVID-19 disruptions in Malaysia weighed on production of many electronic components and chips; the Southeast Asian country plays a pivotal role in chip packaging and testing -- the final step of making chips. Unexpected restrictions on industrial power use in China piled on further misery.

The Vice President Should Not Be Using Bluetooth Headphones, by Corin Faife, The Verge

As security researchers were quick to point out, Bluetooth has a number of well-documented vulnerabilities that could be exploited if a bad actor wanted to hack, say, the second most powerful person in the US government.

Stuff

Initial Time Machine Backup Failures Increasingly Being Reported By Mac Users, by Tim Hardwick, MacRumors

While some users are complaining of different issues with Time Machine on different Macs and versions of macOS that are hard to replicate, one common complaint in particular has surfaced regarding Time Machine backups not completing for M1 Mac users running Monterey 12.0.1 or Big Sur 11.6.1.

Eve Room Adds Thread Radio To Improve HomePod Support And Responsiveness Over Wi-Fi, by Bradley Chambers, 9to5Mac

At a high-level, Thread excels as it is a purpose-made mesh networking protocol for HomeKit and smart home platforms with direct peer-to-peer communication and is self-maintaining and self-healing.

Notes

Apple CEO Tim Cook 'Secretly' Signed $275 Billion Deal With China In 2016, by Hartley Charlton, MacRumors

Apple CEO Tim Cook “secretly” signed an agreement worth more than $275 billion with Chinese officials, promising that Apple would help to develop China’s economy and technological capabilities, The Information reports.

[...]

Cook set out to use a “memorandum of understanding” between Apple and a powerful Chinese government agency called the National Development and Reform Commission to formally agree to a number of concessions in return for regulatory exemptions.

Bottom of the Page

Looking back at the year of 2021, I find my choice of books to read tend towards escapism. These past two years are probably not the best of years for almost everyone. Year #1 was not good for the stressed-up me, so that's probably why year #2 saw me watching more sitcoms as well reading more fictions that have nothing to do whatsoever with the end of world.

In alphabetical order, here are my favorite fictional reads this year.

The Cat and The City, by Nick Bradley.
Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr.
The Hidden Palace, by Helene Wecker.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab.
Monogamy, by Sue Miller.
Small Pleasures, by Clare Chambers.

Looking back at my fictional universe this year, there was war, death, and a possibly devasting train crash. However, there was also life and its little happiness sprinkled here and there.

I hope these books may inspire you to find your next good read.

~

Thanks for reading.