CORONAVIRUS
Sonos explains how their new app will work handling older devices
Controversial TikTok moderation policies leaked
Popcorn Time returns, just in time for imminent mandatory social distancing
Cheap iOS games, refurb Dell 24" monitor, Dell 27" USB-C monitor, PS Plus 12m sub, Microsoft ergonomic desktop, Nokia 2.3 smartphone
Vodafone joined the other telcos in giving away extra bandwidth and free phone calls so everyone can stay in touch.
Bevan Slattery thinks bandwidth will get so tight in Australia soon, that streaming services should voluntarily downgrade quality to HD, then SD if needed.
Facebook is giving employees US$1,000 each and will receive “exceeds” ratings in their next performance reviews, unlocking bonuses for many of them.
Facebook deleted a bunch of legit news outlet’s posts about coronavirus in an attempt to prevent the bullshit posts. It’s a bug according to Facebook.
An engineer at Charter (big US telco) quit his job because their CEO refused to let them work from home even though they can absolutely work from home.
Tesla is keeping their factory in California going despite the county it’s in telling people to shut non-essential places of work down. Elon still reckons COVID-19 is no big deal.
UNESCO has some info for those having to now teach kids via the internet due to school/university closures.
Here’s what a bunch of Australian universities are cobbling together to enable remote working and off-site learning.
Sonos has announced a new app called Sonos S2 that'll come out in June and be the platform for the "next generation" of Sonos products. It'll split the Sonos product rage in two - legacy stuff will run in the current Sonos app, with current and future stuff running in the new app. Sonos claims splitting the old gear from the new gear will allow them to add extra features like higher resolution audio and "more connected and personal experiences" (but they didn't explain it beyond that). I also assume Sonos will be hoping users get frustrated at having to use two apps if they want to mix new and old gear and will buy new gear. This is a much better approach than their previous solution of "let us permanently disable your old perfectly working products, put them in the bin and get a 30% discount on new ones".
The Intercept got its hands on internal TikTok moderation guideline documents that spell out how they discriminate against certain users and actively filter out anti-Chinese stuff. Unlike other social networks, TikTok has massive amounts of moderators that flag stuff as benign as "videos showing rural poverty, slums, beer bellies, and crooked smiles" to make sure it doesn't get too popular. In an even greyer area, content that could be interpreted as "uglification or distortion of local or other countries' history" or "harming national honor" were straight up deleted and the users banned. The Chinese approach to social media moderation is veryyyy different to the American approach.
Years ago I was a big fan of Popcorn Time - an app that scours torrent sites and streams the latest movies and TV shows to you with no setup. It was like watching Netflix, but free and with content from every platform in the one spot. The holy grail of piracy! Its creators dropped the project when the heat got too strong from law enforcement and as a result, several dodgy clones popped up that were malware. Out of nowhere though and probably linked to coronavirus, the original version of Popcorn Time got a major update overnight. It looks legit (well, as legit as something like this can be) and works well. Whilst I don't want to go around condoning piracy, it's a fantastic glimpse at what a Spotify for video content would look like instead of each media company hoarding their content in a $10/m silo.
Alto's Odyssey, Alto's Adventure and Kingdom Rush are free on the iOS and macOS app stores.
Refurbished Dell UltraSharp U2415 24” 1920x1200 monitor (I have one hooked up to my iMac) - $189.99 delivered
Dell UltraSharp U2719DC 27” 2560x1440 monitor - $618.30 from be-start’s eBay store using the code PMID20
PlayStation Plus 12m subscription - $67.72 on Amazon AU
Microsoft Sculpt ergonomic keyboard & mouse combo - $105 at Officeworks
Nokia 2.3 Android One smartphone - $147.10 from Big W
🎶 Fucken Awesome - Spiderbait
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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.