I've always been transparent and honest with everything Sizzle related, so I won't sugar coat this - after four years and 900 issues of daily emails, I can feel The Sizzle slowly turning into a burden instead of a joy. That's a sign for me to change shit up.

Starting from today, instead of five news items in each issue, there will be three. Instead of three non-news links, there will be one plus a separate bargains section.

This is small change, but a concentrated Sizzle means you're still kept up to date on important tech news whilst also freeing up more of my day to do other things (both Sizzle and non-Sizzle related) and keep the burnout at bay.

Thanks for continuing to throw down your $5 a month to read The Sizzle and as always, my inbox is open for anything you'd like to discuss!

In This Issue

News

Trump relaxes Huawei trade ban & Morrison gets an anti-terrorism on social media statement at G20 meeting

The annual G20 meeting just wrapped up in Osaka and there's been a few interesting tech related developments out of it. Donald Trump realised that the US sells heaps of tech to Huawei and said he'll allow US companies supply Huawei with gear again, effectively reversing the national security ban. Scott Morrison managed to arrange a consensus statement from the other G20 countries saying that they expect tech companies to lift their efforts in preventing "terrorist and violent extremism conducive to terrorism content from being streamed, uploaded, or re-uploaded".

Starlink internet satellite constellation testing moves to next phase

Three of the sixty satellites SpaceX put into orbit to form the test bed for its Starlink constellation have lost communications and will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere soon. I don't know if that's good or bad, but SpaceX are happy with it and will soon start testing video streaming and online gaming over Starlink, to get a better idea on the real-world latency customers can expect once all 12,000 satellites go live. Experts are still worried about the space junk problem though, as if the current failure rate holds up (~5%), that's 600 dud satellites that could interfere with the existing 2,000 circling Earth.

Government to introduce new “online crisis event” laws forcing Aussie ISPs to block content

A taskforce to develop laws to prevent another Christchurch massacre getting streamed live on the internet has produced a report outlining what it wants. The taskforce included Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Telstra, Vodafone, TPG and Optus who together with the government, came to a consensus position that they will agree to block content the government tells them to during "online crisis events" - basically anything happening in real-time that's terrorism or "extreme violent material" will be immediately blocked by Australian ISPs. The laws are still muddy, but expect more talk about em during the next session of Parliament.

Not News

A profile of the person responsible for the horror that is 8chan

Ever wondered who the gormless individual that started the Internet's most notorious garbage fire, 8chan, is? That burden belongs to Fredrick Brennan, a dude with osteogenesis imperfecta who as a teen was pissed off about his situation so he took to ranting about eugenics on 4chan. He grew so vile that 4chan and all the other chans had enough of him, so fueled by spite, made 8chan. Gamergate happened at the same time, so all those fuckwits joined up, making 8chan an instant hit that gave us wonderful memories such as shooting sprees, conspiracy theories and President Trump.

Bargains

🎶 Turning the Screws - Gerling

😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.

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.​