5G conspiracy theories are getting so bad they’re a risk to Australia reaping the benefits of 5G
Facebook to compensate 11,000+ moderators that developed mental health issues via their work
Google announces the end of Play Music, tells everyone to start using YouTube Music instead
Basic home network security tips that most people can easily comply with
Cheap Sandisk 400GB microSD, Google Nest Camera IQ, NBA 2K20, Crucial SSDs
The government kicked off a seemingly uncontroversial report into Australia's 5G rollout late last year (what can 5G do, how should it be deployed, how will it help the economy, etc.) and as is usual for these types of reports, asked for input from the community about their thoughts on the topic of 5G. One of the main findings of the report that nobody would have predicted when the report began, was the vast amounts of misinformation out there about perceived health issues associated with 5G networks. The misinformation is so bad, that without more educational campaigns this conspiracy theory nonsense could actually hamper uptake of 5G and result in Australia missing out on the economic benefits 5G can bring. Nice one Facebook fuckwits.
Speaking of Facebook, they've agreed to settle a class action with 11,250 moderators. Facebook will pay US$52m "to compensate them for mental health issues developed on the job". This lawsuit began in 2018 when Selena Scola sued Facebook, "alleging that she developed PTSD after being placed in a role that required her to regularly view photos and images of rape, murder, and suicide" and that "Facebook had failed to provide them with a safe workspace". The suit then turned into a class action as thousands of Facebook moderators said they experienced the same and want Facebook to be responsible for what they went through. Can you imagine the horrors these people saw? $52m feels like Facebook getting off extremely lightly.
Start carving the headstone for Google Play Music's burial plot in the graveyard of things Google got bored with, as they've announced the service will be shut down "later this year". Google provided this information as part of an announcement to let us know that YouTube Music will let you import your own media files into that service. Existing Google Play Music users will be able to transfer their libraries over the YouTube Music soon. I personally really liked Google Play Music and found it the best of all the music streaming platforms, even more so if you had an Android device, had a Chromecast and/or used Android Auto. RIP to a good one.
Daniel Miessler has a simple guide outlining things you can do to make sure you don't get fucked over by some bored teen or indiscriminate organised crime gang. At a bare minimum all your devices (router, NAS, smart things, etc) should have non-default passwords that are strong and have the latest software updates. Just doing those two things alone will save a lot of heartache. Taking it a step further, enabling two-factor auth, using Cloudflare's 1.1.1.2 (which has additional botnet/malware protection) and if you have the skills, placing your risky devices (mostly IoT stuff) onto a seperate network. There's further steps if you wanna get really fancy (setting up intrusion detection, creating a device inventory, etc.) but that's entering bored nerd territory imho.
Sandisk 400GB microSD card (perfect for the Nintendo Switch or your laptop's card reader slot) - $85.95 at Shopping Square
Google Nest Camera IQ - $299 at Officeworks, JB & The Good Guys
NBA 2K20 is on sale for the Xbox One ($4.49) on Microsoft's website and PS4 ($7.55) on the PS Store
Various Crucial SSDs (P1 NVMe M.2, MX500 SATA) on sale at Shopping Square
🎶 Just a Boy (feat. Lydia Grant) - Duosseudo, Lydia Grant
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