Telstra has been fined $50m by the ACCC for selling people multiple phone contracts they clearly and obviously couldn't afford. The ACCC said that "sales staff at five licensed Telstra-branded stores signed up 108 Indigenous consumers to multiple post-paid mobile contracts which they did not understand and could not afford between January 2016 to August 2018", with ACCC boss Rod Sims saying "this is huge, this is right off the scale in terms of behaviour we have taken to court in relation to telecommunications". Telstra staff "manipulated credit assessments, so consumers who otherwise may have failed its credit assessment could enter into post-paid mobile contracts". I knew phone contract sales is full of crooks, but this is next level.
According to an annual review of NSW's IT systems, it was found that "there is no plan in place to recover some key IT systems and infrastructure that support critical agency functions" for 19% of all NSW government IT systems. Even worse is that 43% of NSW government agencies have "not developed and tested their disaster recovery plans". It probably doesn't help that NSW has no government direction to force agencies to have business continuity and disaster recovery plans. Probably not news to anyone working in IT, but it's still disturbing we rely on these systems for so much and it's just left hanging in the wind.
The ACCC's attempt to get Google and Facebook to pay Australian media companies for the privilege of linking to their content has been updated to include the ABC and SBS. They were left out initially because the government hates them, with the excuse they're tax-payer funded so don't deserve the money, but the government also wants the law to get passed in Parliament soon, so they gave in and added the ABC and SBS in with the hope it makes the law more palatable. This truly is one of those "Everyone Sucks Here" scenarios. Australian media companies are trash and Google and Facebook are well, Google and Facebook! Have you seen Google's sad attempts to get the public on their side? Fuck me dead, it is awful.
As someone who relentlessly upgrades a vast array of technological devices but is also a cheapskate, I begrudgingly deal with the weirdos on Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree and eBay to cut my losses. It can be a huge time-sink and for those with more money than time, disposing of old, but still very nice tech gear is a pain in the fucking arse. Gadgets accumulate because it's too good for e-waste but also not worth the hassle of dealing with the proletariat. It would be good to donate this stuff but I haven't found a good list of reputable places that accept tech devices and give them to those who need it (not recycle or resell it). May I propose to you then, that donating this stuff is an option? I'd personally rather it go to a charity that will give it to someone who needs it, rather than simply re-selling it, but what you do with your stuff is up to you.
📻 A Drug Against War - KMFDM
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