Google is allowing "a small number of participating developers" to use an alternative payment system on the Play Store. Spotify is first and will use the default payment system alongside their own payment setup. Dunno what the financial details are of this "multiyear agreement". I assume it's different than the paltry 4% discount Google offer in South Korea, where they're forced by law to allow 3rd-party payments. The fact the announcement has come months before the feature (ETA is "the coming months") shows to me that Google is preempting government regulation and removing Spotify as ammunition for any government claims they're being unfair.
Instagram is bringing back the chronological feed. That's right - "a new Following tab shows users content from everyone that they follow in chronological order. A second Favorites tab shows users chronological content from 50 chosen accounts. The features are available as part of Instagram’s new update, rolling out today". This is minor news in the scheme of things, but I'm so glad it's happening I could not resist mentioning it here. A little victory for common sense. Take inspiration from my joy in this announcement Twitter!
Old mate Albo is adopting the Technology Council of Australia's "target of increasing the number of Australians employed in tech-related jobs by 340,000 to 1.2 million by the end of the decade". If the ALP get elected, they'll "work with the tech sector on an industry plan to strengthen existing technology companies, create an environment that builds new startups, and to grow the number of technology jobs in this country". The aim is an extra 340,000 jobs by the end of the decade, and will mostly be done by funding 20,000 extra uni places and adding tech courses to 465,000 fee-free TAFE places.
Free to air TV channels 7, 9 and 10 simulcast a telethon a few weeks ago to raise money for people impacted by the massive floods in NSW and QLD. Gough Lui took advantage of this rare event to compare how each network encodes their broadcasts. Normally this is tough as each channel shows different stuff at the same time which impacts the results, but because the exact same thing was sent across the 3 channels simultaneously a comparison is easier. Extremely niche nerd areas, but I love it. Gough's blog is full of gems like this.
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