Chinese cryptocurrency miners aren't fazed by the nationwide ban on the activity. The country currently contributes the second-most hash rates after the USA. Is legislation enough to curb mining?
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We have fairly few launches this week but the ones we do have are quite interesting. The first is a resupply mission to the Chinese Space Station and the other will see more Starlink sats orbited.
In this week's recap of everything that happened in the Microsoft-verse, we have some juicy news items related to Windows 3D Movie Maker from 1995, a leaked Outlook client, and some Defender woes.
China has ordered government offices to replace foreign-branded PCs and associated operating systems with alternatives that can be locally maintained. This includes dumping Windows in favor of Linux.
Foxconn is ceasing operations of its two factories near Shanghai, China after a rise in onsite Covid-19 cases. It has been more than a month since Shanghai was placed under a strict lockdown.
Chinese semiconductor industry has slowed down by 4.2% following Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai. The output has shrunk for the first time after Q1 2019 due to low demand and strict preventive measures.
We have three satellite launches this week, two will happen in China while SpaceX will carry out the other one for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office on a classified satellite mission.
Intel and Micron CEOs have urged the US Government for granting subsidies under the CHIPS Act. Intel's previously announced plans, however, depend on whether the government grants this or not.
Join us as we recap an exciting week in the Microsoft-verse full of Windows Easter eggs, news about cybersecurity incidents involving Lapsus$ and others, and gaming news including DirectStorage.
A Chinese government agency has temporarily suspended Microsoft Bing's auto-suggestions in the region for reasons currently unknown. Exactly the same thing happened back in December 2021 too.
This week, SpaceX is set to launch a Falcon 9 carrying more than 45 Starlink satellites into orbit to strengthen the Starlink internet network. OneWeb has also stopped launches from Baikonur.
All "cryptocurrency transactions" are now illegal in China, ruled the country's Supreme Court. The broad nature of the ruling suggests investing or trading in crypto tokens could be criminal.
We've got yet another quiet week coming up with just two launches taking place. China and Rocket Lab will be launching a host of satellites designed for various tasks. Both will launch on Sunday.
The UK is delaying one of its goals to remove Huawei equipment from 5G networks. Operators now have until July 2023 to cut Huawei equipment usage down to 35%, instead of January 2023.
Xiaomi's products have received certification from TRUSTe showing that they work in compliance with the EU's GDPR which guarantees strong privacy protections for people in the economic bloc.
China could catch up with industry leaders in semiconductor technology in around 10 years, according to an analyst from IDC. The country can currently produce 14- to 16-nanometre chips.
Planning on purchasing a Samsung SSD in the near future? An increase in price may have you second guessing your next SSD manufacturer as Samsung is reportedly considering increasing SSD costs.
There are no launches slated for the upcoming week, however, there are a number of videos in the recap section. The James Webb Space Telescope is also continuing to race ahead to its destination.
Xiaomi has unveiled its Xiaomi 12 Series. The devices will launch in China alongside the Xiaomi 12X on December 31. The firm didn't state this, but the Xiaomi 12 Series should launch elsewhere too.
Reports from Mainland China claim that the Chinese government has blocked the global version of Steam and its associated Community page in the country. That said, the exact issue is currently unknown.
Following a ban on Bitcoin mining in China earlier this year, it seems that the network has fully recovered which is a testament to the cryptocurrency's resiliency. The U.S. now has the most miners.

TWIRL 43: Anticipation builds for James Webb Space Telescope but it's not launching just yet [Update]
It's due to be a quiet week in rocket launches in the week beginning December 13th. We should see anticipation build, however, for the JWST telescope which is due to launch the week after.
Didi Chuxing has said it will de-list from the New York Stock Exchange and will instead list in Hong Kong. Chinese tech firms have faced pressure to take these measures from Chinese regulators.
Xiaomi is going to build a car factory in Beijing. It will output 300,000 electric vehicles per year when running at capacity and should begin operations in 2024, based on previous comments.
The US Department of Commerce has added eight more Chinese tech firms to its Entity List that bars these firms from conduction of any trade with the US without an approval from the government.
This week should be interesting for space launches as SpaceX gets NASA's DART probe off the ground. Next year, DART will impact an asteroid satellite known as Dimorphos in an Earth defence test.
SpaceX will once again attempt to launch the Crew-3 Dragon mission up to the International Space Station. It has attempted to do so several times but bad weather has alwayscaused delays.
Chinese tech giant Tencent has revealed that it has a long-term plan for semiconductor chip manufacturing. The company has also reportedly developed three chips till now and plans to develop more.
Yahoo has announced that it is exiting from China as a result of an increasingly challenging operating environment. Yahoo joins Epic Games' Fortnite and LinkedIn to mark their exits from China.
Epic Games has decided to shut down its dedicated version of Fortnite in China. The company has not revealed an official reason for the move but it could be related to China's strict gaming laws.
This week we have a handful of launches to look forward to. The most notable is the Crew-3 Dragon which will take four astronauts up to the International Space Station following a delay.
Apple is being sued by Chinese students for failure to include a charger with an iPhone. They say that the USB-C to Lightning cable provided doesn't work as advertised by Apple and want compensation.
With a significantly more challenging environment to operate and greater compliance requirements in China, LinkedIn is sunsetting its localized version of its app from the East Asian country.
This week there are a number of notable rocket launches. William Shatner will experience space, more taikonauts are going to the CSS and NASA is launching Lucy to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has put out a statement that it will try not to leak sensitive data as part of complying with a request from the US for greater transparency.
Microsoft has published its annual Digital Defense Report, highlighting that nation-state actors from Russia pose the biggest threat to foreign governments, such as the United States.
The People's Bank of China has clarified that trading cryptocurrencies inside the country is illegal. As its argument, the PBOC said cryptos are dangerous because people can lose their assets.
Next week plans to be quite exciting for rocket launches as China will be expanding its space station with the Tianzhou 3 cargo craft. It will give taikonauts more room to store items.
This week should be interesting for space launches. On Thursday, the Inspiration4 mission will launch on a Falcon 9. The crew of four will orbit the Earth for several days before returning.
This week will see China launch several satellites into space. They will perform tasks such as monitoring greenhouse gas emissions, radio and TV transmissions, and secret military work.