In This Issue

News

European search engines annoyed with Google’s default option auction

As part of Google's punishment from the European Commission for doing anti-competitive stuff with Android, they have to prompt EU users on setup of their Android device to choose a default search engine. There's only space for 5 search engines in the list, so to make it "fair" Google is running an auction for search engines to buy a spot in that list. Ecosia, a search engine that "dedicates the bulk of its profits globally to planting trees" has gone to the media exposing this bullshit process that is anything but fair, saying only large companies that can afford to participate in the auction. Google is yet to respond.

Plex releases new Mac & PC app, discontinues Plex Media Player

Plex has an all-new version of its Mac & Windows apps, simply called "Plex". It's pretty much the same as the Android and iOS Plex apps and is a replacement for the Plex Media Player app that was designed to run on a TV as part of a HTPC setup. Plex has said that they're discontinuing Plex Media Player and won't be doing any more updates past January 30th, 2020. If you're using a PC or a Mac plugged in to your TV to run Plex, you might wanna start planning to use Plex on an Apple TV, Android TV, Xbox/Playstation or whatever instead, as the Plex app for Mac & Windows has a different UI that's not suitable for distance viewing/with a remote.

Amazon’s paying warehouse staff to respond to negative tweets about their work

It's common knowledge that Amazon's warehouse (aka Fulfillment Centre) employees get the short end of the US$1t company's stick when it comes to working conditions and it's a topic discussed often on Twitter. To combat what Amazon perceives as unfair commentary regarding its workplace practices, about a year ago they started an "FC ambassador" program where it pays warehouse workers to search Twitter and respond to negative comments. They have computers set up at their warehouse where they log in (on company time) and respond to people slagging Amazon with the "truth" about working at Amazon. This Bellingcat article has more info on the very Soviet-esque program.

Not News

Gamergate has way more to answer for than simply harassing women in the video game industry

The New York Times has a collection of op-eds chronicling Gamergate, providing a retrospective take on the damage it unleashed far beyond video games. If you've been living under a rock, Gamergate was (still is) "a leaderless harassment campaign to preserve white male internet culture, disguised as a referendum on journalism ethics and political correctness, which ran amok" that has grown into a general template for "how to wage a post-truth information war". It's worth a read to get an insight into how cooked the brains of some of these people are.

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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.​