On this week's Speaking in Tech, Melissa (@solutiongeek) and Peter (@PeterSmallbone) talk about some proposed redundances at IBM; HP Inc sunsetting 'free ink for life'; new limits on storage in Google Photos; robots changing hard drives in Alibaba's data centres; China's president reportedly blocking a tech IPO; WeChat's owner Tencent reporting a bumper set of figures; PayPal getting further into the cryptocurrency game; the rise of the Parler social media platform; and more!  00:00  Lockdown is back (did it ever really go away?) 02:49  Some IBMers may be facing a blue Christmas 08:11  HP Inc sinks the free ink 12:39  Photos in Google are about to lose their gloss 22:54  We. Are. The. Robots. 25:50  China's president no-gos an IPO 30:03  Tencent's making a lot more than ten cents 31:57  PayPal goes crypto 35:59  Step into my Parler 42:41  Birthdays and conferences  @speakingintech