Fancy a laugh this Friday arvo? The ALP comedy act during the Senate's brief discussion of the Online Safety Bill yesterday will leave you chuckling. They agreed with the Greens that it was rushed with no consideration for the 400+ pieces of feedback gathered during the consultation process. They agree that a single person (the eSafety Commissioner) will have too much power that can be used too broadly. Yet they joined the government in voting for it, with Senator Nita Green literally saying, I quote, "While Labor will be supporting this bill we're certainly not happy with how it is being delivered". Weak as piss, again, just like what happened with the Assistance and Access Bill.
Facebook is gonna chuck ads into Oculus Quest games. The first title to get the Zuck treatment is something called Blaston. Two other apps will get ads too, but Facebook hasn't said which ones. Facebook is promising that "raw images from Oculus headset cameras and weight or height information from Oculus Move fitness tracking" will "remain solely on users' devices" and has "no plans" to target ads based on movement data or recordings from its voice assistant. I guess this was inevitable. Showing ads is Facebook's reason to exist. It serves no other purpose but to show advertisments. Take away the ads and the whole thing collapses. Nobody would put up with Facebook's bullshit if it wasn't for the money.
I don't listen to many podcasts religiously, but one I enjoy popping in and out of is Darknet Diaries - "a podcast about hackers, breaches, shadow government activity, hacktivism, cybercrime, and all the things that dwell on the hidden parts of the network". A recent episode about The Pirate Bay is excellent. It's mostly an interview with Peter Sunde, going over the entire saga with about a decade of time since the bulk of the events. Even though I was around when it all happened, listening to it all distilled and laid out chronologically is a great reminder of how people thought of the internet back then. Now it would be naive to think that the free sharing of information and culture wouldn't go unchallenged by those who control that material.
📻 Blind Youth Industrial Park - Metz
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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.