Issue 1498 - Monday 22nd November, 2021

Hello non-paying subscribers! I thought I'd send everyone today's issue and give you a taste of the huge range of bargains on offer today. Each issue of The Sizzle is likely to be full of bargains all week thanks to early Black Friday sales - so if you want to save hundreds of bucks off tech, just pay $50 for a subscription to The Sizzle now and you won't miss out on a sale. It'll save you money in the long run by not paying full price for your next gadget purchase!

In Today's Issue

The News

El Salvador to create Bitcoin City cryptocurrency haven powered by a volcano

El Salvador's president has taken his enthusiasm for cryptocurrency to a new level (BTC is already legal tender there), announcing Bitcoin City - a literal city near the Conchagua volcano that will provide energy for Bitcoin mining and the city itself, which will be "laid out in a circle (like a coin) and in the city center will be a plaza that will be host to a huge bitcoin symbol" - oh and the city will have "no income, property, capital gains or payroll taxes" and be funded by sovereign Bitcoin bonds. You need to watch a video of this announcement, it's hilarious/amazing/scary depending on your worldview. I assume large amounts of cocaine were involved.

Rockstar admits the GTA remasters suck and vow to release fixes

Good thing I didn't rush out and purchase a copy of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition, as Rockstar has admitted it sucks in a blog post on its website. The remastered games are "did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect". Eurogamer has a story about what's stuffed in the remastered titles (poor frame rates, warped character models, changes to colours, weird reflections, bizarre AI-based upscaling errors) and it sounds like a total shitshow. It's a shame Rockstar didn't take this opportunity to go back to the original source for these games and make a true port. Rockstar said they'll release a bunch of updates to try fix it.

Netflix price goes up, MediaTek's fancy SoC, Adele gets Spotify to change UI, one of the "traitorous eight" passes away, EA & FIFA argue over naming rights

Something I Saw On The Internet

Microsoft keeps making user hostile decisions with Edge browser

Microsoft is acting like a total dickhead with its new Edge browser. Last week they thoroughly disabled all the methods a 3rd party app called EdgeDeflector used to bypass Windows 11's forced opening of webpages in Edge, even if set a different default browser. There's no depth Microsoft won't plumb to get you to use Edge. Now in a preview version of Edge, they're testing the addition of buy now pay later service Zip directly into the browser whenever you are prompted for a credit card number on a form. This, plus the whole Microsoft Rewards points and built-in coupons thing that already exists in Edge is such a gross look for a company the massive size of Microsoft.

Bargains

Amazon's kicked off their Black Friday sale early, so there's shitloads of cheap gear. Please use the affiliate link if possible so I can get some of Amazon's crumbs (that I will probably go and spend at Amazon...)

The End

📻 Duality - Slipknot

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

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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.