Coffee Briefing, December 11, 2020 – Technicity GTA recap, Salesforce news, plus more

Students are opting out of virtual universities, a new EU right to repair law requires technology to last for a decade, and the latest 2021 tech trends you need to keep a close eye on.

Crypto boom pushes Coinbase to go public, get ready for a tech titan royal rumble, and how to deal with Zoom fatigue.

There’s a lot of chatter about France’s new repairability index, a story about a surgeon’s Zoom call in the middle of surgery turns heads, and the comments of SolarWinds’ CEO

We check in on ITWC’s latest MapleSEC satellite series event, the Supreme Court of Canada says no to big telcos’ cries for a pricing appeal, and President Biden signs another exec order, this one tackling the global chip shortage.

Fry’s Electronics says goodbye, the U.S. and its allies are reportedly looking to build a China-free tech supply chain, and new USPS trucks are coming soon to replace the ones that are old and a fire-risk.

Facebook will restore news pages in Australia as tensions requiring publishers to pay for content continue, Apple is taking back the smartphone crown, and CEOs are shifting priorities through COVID curveballs.

Researchers discover 30,000 Apple Macs have been infected with mysterious malware, Trudeau and Biden are set to meet virtually today, and we find out why Youtube has been blocking chess videos.

Robinhood gets grilled over its position during the Gamestop fiasco, Canada issues warning to Facebook after the tech giant bans news on its platform in Australia, and Instacart’s anti-fraud policy causes headaches with its workers.

The Canadian Revenue Agency says online accounts were locked because of an “external threat”, Facebook picks the nuclear option and bans news on its platform in Australia, and Uber takes down the UberCheats app.

It’s raining bitcoin, New York is suing Amazon over concerns about health standards at the tech giant’s warehouses, and Shopify continues to ride the small business wave.

Password manager LastPass will be removing functionality from its free tier subscription, an over-reliance on planning tools can reduce productivity, and Clubhouse’s voice-only chat rooms are capturing the attention of millions.

Canada is partnering with Huawei on a long-term project leaving some critics stunned, Netflix is is eyeing Toronto and Vancouver for its new outpost, and Reddit has become the unofficial unemployment hotline.

Farmers are having to hack their own tractors just to keep it running, a new study suggests Bitcoin uses more electricity annually than the whole of Argentina, and frustration swells over Uber Eats’ pay system.

Salesforce cancels the 9-5 workweek, Twitter experiments with subscription models, and the lawyer with the kitty filter becomes an internet sensation.

Facebook toughens up on COVID-19 false claims, the digital currency Dogecoin is skyrocketing, and we take a look at an AI that shows which ads motivated people to buy products.