Param Sharma has been caught on video a few times sitting in the back seat of a Tesla whilst it drives him around San Francisco and even recieved fines from police for doing so. On Monday he got busted again, but this time the police impounded his car and he spent the night in jail. Unfortunately, as soon as he got out he purchased another Tesla and couldn't help himself but return to the back and trick Autopilot into driving him around. Apprently he feels safer in the back seat and believes that "Elon Musk really knows what he's doing". The interviews he has given to a local TV station is simultaneously hilarious and scary. Clearly the bloke is mentally ill.
US Senator Ron Wyden reckons the Department of Defense is going around buying internet metadata from whoever is selling it and compiling it into massive databases for the purposes of warrantless surveillance of US citizens. He found this out by asking the DoD to give him info about what data they purchase and how they use it. The replies (and lack of replies) he received lead him to believe that netflow and DNS data are getting hoarded and used against Americans without a warrant. Unfortunately the details aren't public due to various security clearances, but the Senator is concerned enough that he's told the media about his assumptions.
Google got slapped with a 100m euro fine in Italy for not letting Enel (state owned power company) use Android Auto to display the location of their electric vehicle chargers - a feature Google added to Maps around the same time. In the time between Enel complaining and the Italian Competition Authority deciding on the complaint, Google since changed its policy on the types of apps that can use Android Auto and Enel's app was allowed. There's a good chance that if Enel's deep pockets didn't push this complaint through, Google may never have made those changes to open up Android Auto a little.
Albert Fox Cahn and Eva Galperin, both US digital rights experts, argue that Apple's measures to stop AirTags being used by creeps to stalk people without their permission are weak. First of all, it takes 72 hours for the AirTag to make a noise (which isn't very loud at 60db) when seperated from its owner, which is plenty of time for nefarious stuff to happen. They also argue that Apple should release an Android app that alerts people to nearby unfamiliar AirTags so that non-Apple users can tell if they're near an AirTag that's potentially tracking them. It sucks we can't have nice things because of stalkers abusing them.
📻 Dripping - Blonde Redhead
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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.