Google I/O kicked off for 2021 overnight and the main keynote announceable is a public beta of Android 12, complete with a refreshed design language Google is calling Material You. At first this new look will appear on Pixel devices, but will eventually roll out across Google's entire ecosystem. I have poor taste and wouldn't know good design if it hit me in the face, but I reckon Material You looks very nice. Also announced was Samsung and Google merging WearOS and Tizen to create "Wear", a unified platform for smartwatches and shit like that. The Verge has a nice summary of other interesting stuff Google announced (Project Starline looks awesome). You can check out the full keynote and watch all the conference talks on the Google I/O website.
RIP to Windows 10X, as Microsoft has confirmed their attempt at a clean sheet version of Windows to compete with ChromeOS is no longer a thing. Instead they'll be "leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company". Bummer, I was looking forward to seeing what Microsoft could do unshackled from its 25 year Windows legacy, particularly on the Surface Neo and the new crop of ARM SoCs. We will have to make do with the next update to Windows 10 (approx ETA October) coming with new system icons and a "sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows".
Australia's Air Force is getting a Space Division early next year, with the government planning to spend $7b over the next decade funding it. We've already got an Australian Space Agency, who exists to help the private sector build businesses leveraging space technologies (rocket launches, satellites, etc) but now the ADF has a special little section for them to fuck around with gear in space. The Chief of the Air Force said in the press release that "Defence will need capabilities that directly contribute to outcomes in Space as a contested domain, however this does not mean that Defence encourages the militarisation of Space". The leader of Space Division is Air Vice-Marshal Cath Roberts and she reckons space is the "ultimate high-ground".
Cryptocurrency dorks have found a new way to strangle supply of computer components! This time it's storage, both HDDs and SSDs thanks to Bram Cohen's (that's Mr. BitTorrent) latest creation, Chia. From Chia's website, "Users of the Chia blockchain will 'seed' unused space on their hard-disk drive by installing software which stores a collection of cryptographic numbers on the disk into 'plots'. These users are called 'farmers'. When the blockchain broadcasts a challenge for the next block, farmers can scan their plots to see if they have the hash that is closest to the challenge. A farmer's probability of winning a block is the percentage of the total space that a farmer has compared to the entire network". That's why if you're trying to find HDDs bigger than 8TB, they're either out of stock of cost a bomb.
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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.