Seth Godin wrote about the 10x lesson on finding the power contributor we all look for.

The reason that there are so few 10x contributors isn’t that we lack innate talent. It’s that our systems and our self-talk seduce us into believing that repeating 1x work to exhaustion is a safer path.

The impact of distractions is often under appreciated. Small distractions accumulate and wipe off hours each day if you allow them to intrude. Discipline isn’t easy but the few that are able to minimise distractions would soar above those who can’t.

Forbes reported that they broke into a bunch of Android phones with a 3D-printed head.

We tested four of the hottest handsets running Google’s operating systems and Apple’s iPhone to see how easy it’d be to break into them. We did it with a 3D-printed head. All of the Androids opened with the fake. Apple’s phone, however, was impenetrable.

FaceID is so understated and under-appreciated.

TechCrunch reported that TikTok surpassed Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat & YouTube in downloads last month.

According to data from app intelligence firm Sensor Tower, TikTok’s installs were higher than those of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube in the U.S. last month.

It surpassed the four other apps in terms of daily downloads on September 29, with 29.7 percent the downloads from this cohort of apps, the firm says.

It’s unsurprising given it’s meteoric rise in China early this year. It is an addictive platform that does very well to maximise user interaction while minimising effort needed to generate content.

John Gruber wrote on Apple CEO Tim Cook is calling for Bloomberg to retract its Chinese spy chip story.

Read their statement closely — they’re not saying their story is true or that Apple and Tim Cook are wrong. All they say is they spent a year on the story and spoke to 17 sources multiple times.

And the bottom half of BuzzFeed’s story is even more damning than the top — no one in the security community has been able to verify anything in Bloomberg’s story. Anything at all. And no other news publication has backed the story. Bloomberg is all alone on this.

This is going to be a huge blow to Bloomberg’s credibility.

The Verge reported that Google will start charging Android device makers a fee for using its apps in Europe.

There is one other key change happening here. In the past, Google required that companies building phones or tablets that included the Play Store only build phones and tablets that included the Play Store — they couldn’t make other devices with a forked version of Android. Now, that’ll be allowed. So if Samsung wants to ship both the regular Galaxy S9 with Google’s Play Store and some whackadoo Galaxy phone that runs, say, Amazon’s Fire OS, it can now do that in Europe.

This is the real reason for charging Android device makers licensing fees for using Play Store and Google apps.

TechNode reported that JD.com launches express delivery service with WeChat mini-program.

The e-commerce platform’s logistics subsidiary has offered supply chain and logistics services for retailers since launching in 2017. However, the latest news marks the company’s first foray into the field of express delivery in China. The service is currently available for individual customers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, although the company plans to eventually expand across the country.

A WeChat mini-program named “JD Express” (京东快递) currently offers mostly standard options for shipping packages, with a couple exceptions.

I’ve been using this service for a while. Usually I just get the JD delivery guy to ship items when he drops off my purchases. It’s not publicised much. I got to know about it only because the delivery guy mentioned it during one of our chats. JD delivery guys are very friendly and go the extra mile to provide a great service experience, so the guys servicing my area have become acquaintances.