NHTSA to begin its 12th investigation into a Tesla crashing whilst on Autopilot
New bug in iOS 13.3 allows kids to circumvent Screen Time settings
Government to spend $9m telling people 5G won’t melt your brain
This box set of computer related educational comics is cool
Cheap Boost 12m SIM, PS4 Pro, PS4 games, Xbox One X, Samsung T5 external SSD, Kindle Paperwhite, Sony wireless headphones, Yamaha soundbar, Chromecast 3, GoPro Hero 8, FetchTV mighty, Google Nest Wi-Fi
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating yet another crash involving Tesla's Autopilot feature. This time it's because a Model 3 rear ended a parked police car in Connecticut. The police car had its lights on blocking a highway lane behind a broken down car and the Tesla just rammed into it at almost full speed. The driver was "checking on his dog in the back seat" at the time of the crash. Seems like nobody was hurt, but the fact Autopilot did nothing in this scenario is what's led the NHTSA to do its 12th investigation into Autopilot. That’s a lot of investigations into a single feature.
iOS 13.3 is out and about and whilst it fixes some bugs, it's introduced a new one! A new feature in iOS 13.3 is the ability for parents to whitelist phone contacts for their kids to interact with, designed to prevent pedos chatting up kiddies. Sounds handy, but if "contacts are not set to sync with iCloud by default, texts or calls from unknown numbers present children with the option to add the number as a new contact. Once that step has been taken, they can communicate freely with the contact". Oh and if the kid has an Apple Watch, they can ask Siri on the watch to text or call any number they like and Siri will do it on the connected iPhone. I think that's not so much a bug, but a glaring oversight.
A few weeks after the telcos (mainly Telstra) had a whinge to the government that they're facing community resistance around 5G base stations installs because of bullshit around the health impacts of the new technology, the government announces they’re going to spend $9m to build "public confidence" in 5G. Part of me hates the fact these multi-billion dollar telcos are getting a handout from the government when they could chip in a few lazy mil, but they do pay a fucktonne in spectrum licensing fees, so yeah. The government is also giving the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) some money to do extra research into electromagnetic energy emissions - not that the anti-5G crowd will believe ARPANSA's research, but still
You probably can't order it now and get it in time for Christmas, but Julia Evan's delightful zines about basic Linux/computer functions are now in a box set! I've mentioned the zines before, but it's great to have them all in the one spot. Such a nice way to learn what is a very dull and dry topic - but very useful if you want a career in computers (or need to learn some basic Linux stuff). That's all I have for today because I spent too long at a friend's place this morning (thanks for the coffee Charlie!) and now I have to go pick up my wife from work and if I don't she will be pissed off. I don't want to piss off my wife. How would you like it if someone said they'd pick you up and they're 30 minutes late because they're poor at managing their time? You'd be pissed off, wouldn't ya? Fucken oath you would.
Boost 12m pre-paid SIM with 80GB of data - $135 at Coles
PlayStation 4 Pro console 1TB - $369 from Target
Shitloads of cheap PS4 games at JB Hi-Fi (Last of Us remastered, No Man’s Sky, Detroit: Become Human, etc)
Xbox One X 1TB with a game (there’s a few to choose from) - $399.20 from Microsoft’s eBay store
Samsung T5 500GB external SSD - $114.92 from Microsoft's eBay store
The Good Guy’s eBay store has cheap stuff:
Kindle Paperwhite 8GB - $135.20
Yamaha YAS-108B soundbar - $135.20
Google Chromecast 3 - $39.20
GoPro HERO8 Black - $436
Fetch TV M616T Mighty PVR - $279
Google Nest Wi-Fi 3 pack (the new ones without Ethernet) - $439.20
Know someone that would enjoy The Sizzle? Buy them a gift subscription for just $5 for a single month or if you’re feeling generous, $50 for an entire year!
🎶 Regular John - Queens of the Stone Age
😁 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.