I don't know if anyone really cares in the same way there's an Apple event, but Samsung had an event last night. The core of the announcement was the Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3, which as you can probably tell by their names are folding phones. The Fold opens and closes like a book, the Flip opens and closes like an old school flip phone. They both go on sale here September 10th. Samsung also released the Galaxy Watch 4. It's got an impressive array of health related sensors, with Samsung claiming it'll measure "skeletal muscle mass, basal metabolic rate, body water, and body fat percentage" as well as blood pressure, heart rate and ECG. Oh Samsung Buds2 were announced too but I know nobody cares about them.
According to The Guardian, people are going around NSW, VIC & QLD using fake check-in apps. People (mostly conspiracy theorists) are grabbing this app via links spread in Telegram groups, which pretends to check in to venues so that people can enter a premises "without arguing with the business owner". The app works the same way (point camera at QR code, enter name & phone number) so you blend in with the sheep and generates a screen with a big tick, that at first glance looks pretty much identical to the official check-in apps and would certainly fool anyone asking if you checked in, but no data is sent to the government. Cheeky buggers.
A 65-year old keyboard warrior from Paddington has been arrested by NSW Police for "allegedly making online threats to harm NSW Police horses". The cops are saying this guy posted comments on news websites saying he's gonna hurt their horsies and it upset them soooo much that they charged him with "four counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offense, which carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment under the Criminal Code Act" and the judge refused him bail! What an absolute slap in the face to anyone with a legitimate stalker or harasser who has gone to the police begging for help only for them to say it's too difficult or there's not enough evidence.
Popular password manager 1Password has a new app in beta and people are cranky about it. First beef is that the only way to get it is to be a subscriber as standalone licenses are going away and not eligible for upgrades. Second issue is that the new version no longer supports standalone vaults, i.e: you gotta use 1Password's online storage to keep your passwords in - no more using Dropbox or OneDrive or whatever to sync. Finally, the new app is now based on Electron, a framework truns web-apps into desktop apps so the developer doesn't need to write a unique native version of the app for various platforms, which sounds good but usually give sub-optimal results versus a native app. I'm probably gonna keep using 1Password, but I'll be cranky about it.
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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.