Automatic Mobile Location to be enabled for Australian emergency calls in June
The Catholic Church gets Microsoft and IBM to sign Rome Call for AI Ethics
Jack Dorsey facing pressure to quit as CEO of Twitter by activist investor
Waze/Google beacons installed in Sydney’s Westconnex tunnel
Cheap Ubiquiti Dream Machine, Ffalcon 65" TV, Aldi 58" QLED TV, 10% off Mind Games Melb CBD store
Starting in June, if you call 000 from a smartphone it'll automatically send your GPS co-ordinates to emergency services via Automatic Mobile Location. This feature has been supported in Android since July 2016 and iOS since March 2018 and in 17 countries - now Australia is getting it. According to Wikipedia, "AML automatically turns on Wi-Fi and location services on the handset, collects and computes location data, then sends an SMS to the emergency services containing the caller's location, before turning location services and Wi-Fi off again". The European Emergency Number Association has heaps of info about how this standard works. As someone who has had to call 000 a few times in their life, this will be very handy.
Following on from last week's Papal musings that we should tone down online sledging, the Vatican has teamed up with Microsoft and IBM to sign the Rome Call for AI Ethics - a plan to develop a framework for dealing with AI in that's "inclusive, have the good of humankind at its core, and care for the planet with a highly sustainable approach". The Rome Call also recommends that when implementing AI "people should be aware if they are interacting with a machine, that AI-based technology should be used for empowerment not exploitation, and that AI should be employed in protection of the planet". All very good things I agree with and I did not expect the Catholic Church to be saying them.
People "familiar with the matter" reckon the Elliott Management Corp hedge fund has been buying up Twitter shares and trying to oust CEO Jack Dorsey. It's nominated four board members and if it gets its way, would hav enough board seats to get a new CEO installed. According to those insiders, Twitter investors are pissed off with Dorsey dividing his time between Square (where he is also CEO) and Twiter, plus the fact "Twitter has failed to come up with innovative new products" leaving the market open to rivals like TikTok. Oh and this "takeover" is a little spicier because the hedge fund boss is a bit of a Trump lover or something. It all sounds like an episode of Succession to me.
New road tunnels recently opened in Sydney as part of Westconnex have had Waze Beacons installed - yeah, Waze as in the navigation app with a little sperm dude as their logo. I didn't even know these were a thing, let alone being used in Sydney. According to Google's website, you can order these Bluetooth beacons for free if you're a road operator and install them in tunnels to aid driver navigation as GPS signals don't reach. I assume they also give traffic density info to Waze/Google Maps as well. There's heaps of documentation about the beacons on the Waze Partner website. Anyone know if they're used elsewhere in Australia?
Ubiquiti Dream Machine - $466.65 from Wireless1
Mind Games Melbourne CBD store closing down, minimum 10% off store wide
Ffalcon 65” 4K TV - $598 at JB Hi-Fi
Bauhn 58” 4K QLED TV - $699 at Aldi March 14th
🎶 Heavy Metal Machine - Smashing Pumpkins
😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.
The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.