Apple suing company selling VMs of iOS to security researchers
IKEA is taking smart home gear seriously
Elon Musk still wants to “Nuke Mars”
Reminiscing about Encarta because I’m an old man
Cheap Apple Watches, AirPods, Intel NUCs, Samsung SSD, Logitech Harmony Elite remote, Google Play gift cards, Doom, Telstra 50GB/m plan
Apple is suing a company called Corellium for creating a platform where security researchers pay them for access to virtual machines of various Apple devices and iOS versions. The aim of which is to poke around at for holes in older versions that are currently no longer provided by Apple to download on to a live device. Apple doesn't like this, saying that "Corellium has copied the operating system, graphical user interface and other aspects of the devices without permission" and that Corellium "encourages its users to sell any discovered information on the open market to the highest bidder" instead of telling Apple.
IKEA has realised people like their homes to be "smart" and have decided to cash in on that fact properly, creating a new "IKEA Home Smart" business unit that joins its other business units like Lighting, Living Room & Workspace, Textiles, Kitchen and Dining, and others. Expect heaps more IKEA smart house stuff coming soon I guess. Of all the smart home shit I see around the joint, IKEA's is always good value, relatively easy to use and well supported. I wish they'd release them in Australia at a faster pace though, it sucks reading about things that go on sale in the US or EU that we can't buy for months later, or ever.
SpaceX has started selling t-shirts emblazoned with "Nuke Mars" on it, after Elon Musk went on a Twitter rant about he thinks sending nuclear weapons on a rocket, aimed at Mars' poles, is a good idea. The theory is that CO2 locked away in that ice would be released and over time would form an atmosphere more hospitable to human occupation. Studies have said that there isn't enough CO2 in that ice to do anything useful to outweigh the risk and effort of sending goddamn nuclear weapons to another planet, but Elon wants to do it anyways. If you'd like a stupid t-shirt to feed Elon's ego, click here.
Scott Hanselman fell into a nostalgia hole about Microsoft Encarta and I enjoyed it. For the younger readers, Encarta was basically Wikipedia on a CD or DVD, curated by Microsoft. That's right, between 1993 and 2009, Microsoft had a whole division of its company doing research and writing articles for a digital encyclopedia. Anyway, Scott whipped out a DVD with the final version of Encarta on it and to his surprise, it worked perfectly fine on Windows 10 and at 4K resolution. I spent so much time in Encarta as a kid, the interactive atlas in Encarta 1996 was so engaging.
More eBay Plus member only deals using the code PANTHER:
Apple Watch S4, 44mm space grey with black sports band - $526.15
Apple Watch S4 Cellular, 44mm space grey with black sports band - $653.65
AirPods with wireless charging case - $259.25
Intel NUC BOXNUC8I5BEH (i5-8259U) - $449.65
Intel NUC BOXNUC8I3BEH (i3-8190U) - $361.25
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD - $143.65 ($121.65 after cashback)
Logitech Harmony Elite universal remote - $293.25
Non-eBay bargains:
10% off Google Play gift cards at Coles starting Wednesday
Doom for PC, on Steam (if you haven't already got it) - $6.79 from CD Keys
Telstra $45/m 12m contract with 50GB data & $200 JB Hi-Fi gift card
🎶 Permanent Daylight - Radiohead
😁 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.