Hey, tech aficionados! 👋

Caught wind of Julia? It's been the buzz of the tech world, and we're all in. This edition of Tech Creator isn't just news—it's a journey through the latest in tech, from the heart of the internet to the edges of the universe. 🌍✨

Let's dive right in—no waiting, no wasting time. 🚀

PS: Happy Digital Learning Day! (We bet you didn’t know this) 😜

Netflix is severing ties with Apple? 💔

Yes, you read it right. If you are someone who’s still paying for Netflix’s subscription using App Store billing, you need to update your payment method. 

Netflix is bidding goodbye to Apple’s App Store billing system. The report comes after Apple was punished with a €500 million fine in the Spotify lawsuit by European authorities. 

What’s the backstory 

Netflix had stopped its new and rejoining customers from signing up with App Store billing in 2018. But back then, it had allowed the existing Netflix subscribers who were paying for subscriptions via Apple to continue doing so. 

What’s up with Netflix?

Netflix has decided to move away from the App Store’s billing system once and for all. The move means Netflix no longer pays Apple a percentage of revenue for any of its subscribers. 

• Netflix has already started notifying subscribers who pay via Apple that they need to update their payment method if they want to continue accessing the streaming service. 

• It has also updated its support website to acknowledge the same: “Some Apple-billed members in select countries may be prompted to add a new payment method to continue their subscription.”

However, it doesn’t explicitly mention which countries the change applies to. The change has been made to the US support website currently. 

What does it mean for Apple?

Apple’s suppressive practices are attracting lawsuits and severing ties with its partners. Apple and the likes need to mend their ways and focus on winning a customer base via fair means otherwise billions in fines and bad repute await the tech giant. 

^{Sponsored by AWS}

Dive into the latest Innovation Ambassadors episode as we explore FOX Sports México's journey with AWS. Host Sara Armstrong talks with Israel Gomez (SVP at FOX Sports México), Elisa Escalante (Sr. Innovation Specialist at AWS), and Arturo Velasco (Sr. Solutions Architect at AWS) about creating a direct-to-consumer streaming platform.

Learn about their use of AWS media services to deliver live sports content, emphasizing experimentation and learning from customer feedback.

Catch the episode on your preferred podcast platform or YouTube 🎙️🎧

What’s new about Julia 1.10 🖥️

Yes, we were talking about this high-level, high-performance, and general-purpose programming language all along. 🤭😂

Julia is a favorite among programmers given its features such as multiple dispatch, metaprogramming, parallelism, and mathematical notation. It’s easy to learn, read, and write. It is fast, expressive, and powerful, which gives it a competitive advantage over Python, R, C++, and Java. 😯

But the programming language got its second update after 6 years – LWN.net. The first update and also Julia 1.0 programming language launch was in 2018. It was released as an open-source programming language for scientific, numeric, and mathematical computing meant for commercial customers.

What’s the update about?  

Version 1.10  brings quite a few improvements over the previous version: 

• Increase in speed and developer convenience

• Improvements in code precompilation and loading times. 

• Production of more useful syntax-error messages

• Provision of better source-code mapping 

• Better error messages

• Gives the ability to write more sophisticated debuggers and linters. 

What’s more?

Julia already provides Lisp-inspired metaprogramming and the ability to examine compiled representations of code in the REPL or in a "reactive notebook." It has an advanced type and dispatch system and a sophisticated, built-in package manager.

If you are a developer interested in reading more on the language, you can read Practical Julia: A Hands-On Introduction for Scientific Minds.  

Avast ordered to stop selling browsing data ⛔

Was it selling our data? We didn’t even know! 

Avast is a known name in security research and antivirus apps. It has offered Chrome extensions, mobile apps, and other privacy-focused tools for long. Now, the privacy provider has been accused of selling user browsing data to over 100 companies. 

What an irony!

Avast claimed it blocked ‘annoying tracking cookies that collect data on your browsing activities,’ and prevented web services from ‘tracking your online activity.’

Its privacy policy said the information it collects is always ‘anonymous and aggregate’ and its software would prevent hackers from making money from your searches. 

The reality was quite different

All this while Avast was collecting browser information of its users from 2014 to 2020 and selling it to over 100 companies via its now-shut entity Jumpshot. Avast then acquired the antivirus competitor Jumpshot in 2014 and rebranded it as an analytical seller. 

The data was far from anonymous. Jumpshot’s offerings included data like

• All Clicks Feed

• Search Plus Click Feed

• Transaction Feed

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) complaint showed how multiple companies purchased these feeds to pair them with company’s own data, down to an individual user basis. 

FTC verdict 

Under the proposed FTC order, Avast will have to bear a penalty of $16.5 million which will be used to provide customer redressal. Avast won't be allowed to sell future browsing data and will have to obtain express consent of the users from now on. 

They would also need to inform customers about prior data sales and implement a ‘comprehensive privacy program’ to address its previous wrongdoings. 

A mini tech news bulletin

• Husqvarna partners with Bethesda for 1993 Doom: Landscaping tech company Husqvarna has partnered with Bethesda to bring the original 1993 Doom to its $2,000+ robotic lawnmowers. The new version arrives in April. Users can play the shooter via the robo-mower’s built-in screen. (Link)

• Google’s $700M settlement Insufficient for Judge: US District judge James Donato called Alphabet Inc.’s $700 million settlement amount to states and customers as insufficient. Alphabet’s Google Play Store was accused of abusing its stature and taking as much as 30% cut of Google Play transactions. (Link) 

• Expedia reducing 1,500 roles: In the wake of slowing travel growth, the Seattle based firm is eliminating 1,500 job roles across the globe – that’s 9% of its workforce. The move comes after a leadership transition and a weaker-than-expected outlook for the present quarter. (Link)

• Geothermal startup Fervo gets $221M funding: Fervo Energy, a geothermal startup, is raising $221 million after the successful completion of its Nevada power plant. Fervo is attempting to tap heat from deep inside the Earth’s crust. (Link)

Meet Spaghetti Nebula 🍝

NASA’s Astronomy picture of the day is a treat to the eyes and another glimpse into our fascinating universe. 

Presenting to you Supernova Remnant Simeis 147 or Spaghetti Nebula as it is popularly called. The intricate, looping, and twisting filaments of supernova remnant give it the nickname. 

The supernova has an estimated age of about 40,000 years. This means light from this massive stellar explosion first reached the Earth when wooly mammoths roamed free. (Link)

More news you can use

• Read how much it costed Apple to make the $3,500 Vision Pro

• Sony tries to appease customers who will lose their digital libraries 

• What’s interesting in the revenge saga of the LockBit ransomware group?  

Tech Throwback: 27th February 

Supercomputer IBM 7950, also called the Harvest System, ceased to operate after 14 years on this day. The Harvest computer served the National Security Agency (NSA). It was designed for cryptanalysis by James H. Pomerene. 

That’s a wrap for today. Keep churning! See you on Monday! 👋