Big news in fintech world - Square will be purchasing all of Afterpay's stock for US$39b, effectively owning the business and subsuming it into Square. In a press release Square said they "plan to integrate Afterpay into its existing Seller and Cash App business units, enable even the smallest of merchants to offer BNPL at checkout, give Afterpay consumers the ability to manage their installment payments directly in Cash App, and give Cash App customers the ability to discover merchants and BNPL offers directly within the app". Afterpay and the entire Buy Now Pay Later concept they came up with is so deceptively simple, you gotta hand it to them for finding such a smooth way to flout responsibly lending laws around the globe.
Sky News Australia has been booted off YouTube for 7 days - the first strike under YouTube's three-strikes policy. A YouTube spokesperson told Gizmodo that "we have clear and established COVID-19 medical misinformation policies based on local and global health authority guidance, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 misinformation. We apply our policies equally for everyone regardless of uploader and, in accordance with these policies and our long-standing strikes system, removed videos from and issued a strike to Sky News Australia's channel". As many others have pointed out, it's bizarre that YouTube has taken stronger action on Sky for pushing this shit out, yet government regulator ACMA lets Sky keep spreading nonsense unchecked on free to air TV.
The Victorian Big Battery (210x Tesla Megapacks 300 MW/450 MWh) just outside Geelong caught fire on Friday morning and as of Sunday afternoon is still burning. The best way to put out a lithium battery fire is apparently just to let it burn to use up the energy in the battery and spray it with water to keep it cool as to prevent the fire getting worse. Luckily due to how the battery packs are designed only two modules are damaged and air quality has been fine according to EPA monitoring thanks to high winds dispersing the fumes. Don't know what caused it but I'm sure there will be a report in the coming months.
There is an 8K rip of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Opening Ceremony floating around private BitTorrent trackers according to TorrentFreak. It's 135GB and while the source isn't mentioned, it was broadcast by Japan's NHK via their satellite 8K channel so I assume a Japanese hero captured it somehow in its native format, as the torrent contains extra HDR data and 22.2 Dolby Atmos surround sound. It's also on usenet if you're that way inclined. A copy somehow ended up on my computer (Russian/Chinese hackers got me again!), so I can confirm it looks and sounds bloody amazing.
📻 Lockdodwn Blues - Iceage
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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.