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Charlotte Henry

Charlotte is a media junkie, covering how Apple is not just a revolutionary tech firm, but a revolutionary media firm for TMO. She is based in London, and writes and broadcasts for various outlets.

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Articles by Charlotte Henry

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No, But Really, Don't Use Hydrogen Peroxide Disinfectants to Clean Apple Products

Charlotte Henry ·

Apple has updated a support document, reminding users not to clean their products Hydrogen Peroxide disinfectants, MacRumors spotted. This includes using things likes Lysol, although there are alternative solutions that are safe to use.

Apple has confirmed it is okay to use a 75% ethyl alcohol wipe to disinfect products…Apple says to avoid getting moisture in any opening when disinfecting products, and warns against submerging an Apple product in any cleaning agents, as liquid damage is not covered by Apple’s standard warranty.

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Jason Sudeikis on *That* Sweatshirt Supporting Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka

Charlotte Henry ·

At the recent premiere for Ted Lasso season two, the star’s show, Jason Sudeikis, wore an eye-catching sweatshirt (pictured above, alongside Tim Cook). It bore the words ‘Jadon & Marcus & Bukayo’ – the names of the three England players who suffered a deluge of racist abuse after missing penalties in the European Championship final. He told British Vogue how it all came about.

Sudeikis’s appearance at the Ted Lasso premiere underlined the fact that the groundswell of support for Saka, Rashford and Sancho extended well beyond the UK.  The actor had the top made himself, he tells British Vogue. “The idea struck me the day before our show’s premiere,” says Sudeikis. “I just felt it was necessary to use the platform of our big, fancy ‘worldwide premiere’ to try and personify our show’s support of those three young men,” he says. “Which is why I chose to put their three first names on the sweatshirt. The names their parents gave them.”

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iPod Click Wheel Arrived on This Day in 2004

Charlotte Henry ·

The iPod was already a pretty big deal by the time the fourth generation of the music player was released. And then the Click Wheel was introduced. As Cult of Mac noted, the control mechanism was already in place on the mini version.

The biggest addition was the same Click Wheel that Apple introduced with the iPod mini earlier in 2004. Rather than featuring a physical scroll wheel with separate buttons surrounding it, the iPod Click Wheel combined all the device’s controls. The new solid-state, touch-sensitive scroll wheel sat flush with the face of the iPod. The fourth-gen iPod brought other small improvements, too. For instance, it was the first full-size iPod that could be charged via USB 2.0. This signaled Apple’s move away from the award-winning FireWire technology that had been a key part of the company’s “digital hub” strategy of the late 1990s.

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WhatsApp Content Moderator - ‘I Sold My Soul.’

Charlotte Henry ·

WhatsApp content moderators have to review some of the most disturbing content floating around the internet. Time spoke to some of them about the lack of support and their allegations of pay discrimination.

Content moderators working at Accenture for WhatsApp are entitled to 30 minutes of “wellness” breaks per eight-hour shift, employees say, as well as one-on-one access once a month to “wellness coaches” provided by the company. They also undergo training to prepare them for the kinds of content they are expected to look at on the job. But even Accenture acknowledges that the help these resources provide is limited. Moderators working on a Facebook contract for Accenture in Europe were required to sign a document in January 2020 acknowledging “that the wellness coach is not a medical doctor and cannot diagnose or treat mental health disorders.” TIME viewed a copy of the document, which was first reported by the Financial Times. It requires employees to acknowledge that “the weCare Program [wellness] services, standing alone, may not be able to prevent my work from affecting my mental health.” It also notes that the work “could even lead to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.” (Facebook told the Financial Times it did not review or approve the document, and was not aware of it.)

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Apple Employees Angry as Getting Approval to Work From Home Gets Harder

Charlotte Henry ·

The row over Apple employees returning to the office continues. The Verge reported that staff members feel it is becoming increasingly difficult to get approval to work from home, with some with medical conditions particularly concerned.

One employee said they were currently on an Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation that allowed them to work from home, but were told that accommodation would be denied when the company went back to the office. “I will be out of a job in September,” they wrote in Slack. Apple typically gives employees 30 days to find a new job within the company if their current team denies a medical accommodation. But one worker said in Slack that there weren’t any open remote positions. Some employees say they were told only people with documented medical conditions would be approved for permanent remote work. But the form that Apple employees use to request such an accommodation asks them to release their medical records to the company, which made some people uncomfortable.

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Latest iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8 Betas Allow System Update Installations With Just 500 MB of Available Storage

Charlotte Henry ·

The latest beta versions of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8 are out now. As 9to5 Mac spotted, they allow system updates to be installed with under 500 MB of storage available.

In the release notes for the latest build of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8, which can be found on the Apple Developer website, the company says that today’s updates fix an issue that could prevent users from installing system updates with low available storage on the device. Here’s what Apple says: “Software Update: Resolved in watchOS 8/iOS 15 beta 3: You can now update your device using Software Update if less than 500 MB of storage is available. (78474912)” There aren’t many details about what has been changed or how this will work since some updates actually come in large files, but the release notes claim that system updates can now be installed on the iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch even when “less than 500 MB of storage is available.”

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Netflix Moving Into Games is a New Challenge For Apple

Charlotte Henry ·

Netflix announced the hiring of Mike Verdu as vice president of game development, on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported. The potential move into this new area increases the competition between the streamer and Apple, with its Arcade service.

Video games give Netflix another way to lure new customers and also offer something none of its direct competitors currently provides. Walt Disney Co., AT&T Inc.’s WarnerMedia and Amazon.com Inc. all have access to live sports, but they don’t have gaming within their main video services. Ultimately, the move may make it easier for Netflix to justify price increases in coming years. Games also serve the purpose of helping market existing shows. Many of the largest tech companies do sell gaming options in addition to their video services. Apple Inc. has a platform called Arcade for games — as well as a TV+ service for original video projects. But it charges extra for the gaming.

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Is Jason Sudeikis Actually Like Ted Lasso?

Charlotte Henry ·

Jason Sudeikis (pictured above) is the August cover star for GQ. In the accompanying feature, he reflects on “landing like an Avenger” following upset in his personal life and his time on SNL. He also reveals how his castmates think he is similar to Ted Lasso.

After a while, every time he tried to wave off Ted, fellow castmates or old friends of his would correct him to say: “No.” They’d say: “No, that is you. That is you. That’s not the best version of you.” It’s not you on mushrooms, it’s not you hanging off a boat, it’s just…you. One of Sudeikis’s friends, Marcus Mumford, who composed the music for the show, told me, “He is quite like Ted in lots of ways. He has a sort of burning optimism, but also a vulnerability, about him that I really admire.” Hearing people say this, over and over again, Sudeikis said, “brought me to a very emotional space where, you know, a healthy dose of self-love was allowed to expand through my being and made me…”