NEWS
Heaps of sites using HTTPS are stuffed at the moment
Websites using HTTPS have been suffering issues today thanks to GlobalSign's decision to revoke some of its intermediary certs. During the process of revoking the certs, some cross-signed root certs were trashed accidentally, meaning the chain of trust was broken, causing web browsers to chuck a hissy fit. To add insult to injury, various caching mechanisms (either on a CDN, or on a user's device) mean the updates to the certificates are taking a while to flow through. What a mess. By the way, if you need a refresher on how the certificate system works, check this out.
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The DTO is now the DTA and is in charge of more fed govt ICT
The Digital Transformation Office, the organisation the government created to drag itself into the 21st century, has been beefed up and re-branded as the Digital Transformation Agency. Described in the article as a "super-agency" it'll be responsible for ICT procurement in the federal government and the roll-out of major ICT projects. I don't know how effective the DTO was to warrant this change and I have no idea if something like the DTA is a good idea or not. All I know, is that there will be fuck ups and money pissed away, because that is what governments do when they touch ICT projects.
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The Hyperloop gets a step closer to reality thanks to some Dubai cash
The Hyperloop One projects has taken a big step forward, managing to convince the DP World, the operator of Dubai's Jebel Ali port, to invest $50m to build a full scale test track for the transportation system in Nevada. DP World is interested in building a Hyperloop system to go from the portside operations to a more inland container storage area. If anywhere is suitable for an ostentatious and experimental transport system, it's Dubai. Hyperloop One expects the full scale test track to be completed mid 2017.
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Twitter to stream the Melbourne Cup
Twitter has been having some decent success with live streaming some NFL games this season on their website. They reckon streaming live sport will be good for them, so they decided to do a deal with the Victorian Racing Club to stream the Melbourne Cup worldwide. This'll be the first non-US live streaming partnership Twitter has made. I kinda like this - I've caught a few NFL games on Twitter and it's a decent way to watch considering it's free. If you're a proper fan, you'd probably wanna watch the game on a big TV and in better quality though.
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VMWare and Amazon, once enemies, now partners
Big news in enterprise software land today, with once rivals VMware and Amazon, launching a cloud service that runs on Amazon's Web Services. All of VMWare's infrastructure stuff (vSphere, VSAN, etc.) will all run on AWS and integrate with Amazon's other services like S3, Route 53 and so on. VMWare is touting it as the perfect solution for companies who want some stuff on-premises and some stuff in the cloud. It'll be in an invite only beta until mid-2017.
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COOL SHIT
The Dash & Apple saga drags on, now involves the bloke's mum
If you've been following the drama surrounding the Dash app (read some previous Sizzles to catch up), there's a new twist. Someone on Mac Rumours did a bit of digging, found that his website hosted loads of those crapware apps and he totally knew about them. Now Bogdan has said in a chat with iMore that those shit apps are his Mum's fault and she did all the bad stuff. Whatever dude., nobody likes you now, you burnt that bridge, it's gone.
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People are busting for Tesla Powerwalls since that big SA blackout
After SA's state wide blackout, Tesla Powerwall installers have had a "30 times" increase in people contacting them about getting batteries hooked up to their house. People, apparently, are getting a bit pissed off with the reliability of the grid and the costs involved in being hooked up to it. I've certainly noticed moving from a Melbourne suburb to a semi-country town, that the power is noticeably less reliable. Usually it's just a few minutes, but it's a few minutes every 2-3 months, which kinda sucks. Doesn't suck enough for me to drop $10k on some batteries to go with my 6kW of solar (I really should have got a hybrid inverter), but I can see why someone with more cash than me would want to.
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Mechanical keyboards are cool now because I have one
I spent some time this week writing a story for PC & Tech Authority about mechanical keyboards. This inspired me to finally buying one (Logitech G610 with Cherry Brown switches) and after just two days of use, I can declare that I love the motherfucking thing. It's so much nicer to type on than any keyboard I've ever used and my fingertips aren't as sore as they were before after a long typing session. I'm not just saying that because I spent $120 on the thing either, it really is nicer. Wired has a piece on mechanical keyboards and the struggle of keyboard manufacturers to keep up with demand!
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Here endeth the sizzle (until Monday!)
--Anthony
The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Today's subject line is from Hullabaloo, by Regurgitator. Like The Sizzle? Tell your friends!