Elon Musk now owns 9.2% of Twitter and is its largest shareholder - more than the 2.3% owned by Jack Dorsey and valued at around US$3.7b. Musk hasn't said why he's dropped a few lazy billions into the social network (old mate's overall wealth is estimated at around US$270b), but he has "criticized the company in recent weeks for failing in his view to adhere to free speech principles, and he has argued that users should be allowed to choose the algorithms that select the tweets they see, or build their own, instead of relying on Twitter to curate posts" - so, maybe he will have a sook about that and Twitter's management might have to listen because he's the largest shareholder?
Epic is going to have to wait a while to have its day in court with Apple in Australia, with the Federal Court delaying the trial until March 2024. The judge explains that "he wanted to push back the Epic-Apple trial date to align with the Epic-Google one as the larger time gap could give rise to practical and procedural problems such as forcing the federal court to undergo a trial on the same issue on different evidence" - which makes sense. The Epic v Apple case was set for November 2022 and both parties in the Epic v Google case said they won't be ready until late-2023/early-2024. Fuck knows what will happen overseas by then, particularly the impact of the EU's Digital Markets Act on what Google and Apple do with their App Stores.
I've never been a big fan, but many people, even my dear wife really love the Monkey Island series of video games. They are very excited as there's a new installment of their beloved game coming some time in 2022, titled Return to Monkey Island and made by its original creator, Ron Gilbert. He posted a long rant to his blog in 2013 listing all the reasons why he wouldn't make a new Monkey Island, but it's 2022 and here we are, watching a trailer for a new Monkey Island. Dunno what platforms it will be on (Windows for sure, maybe some consoles?), or the exact date (2022 is it) or even what it is about (the trailer is very brief). Either way, it's a nice surprise.
My Instagram feed has had a slow uptick in people jumping on a plane and leaving this oversized island now that COVID is more or less business as usual. If you're one of those lucky people, check out eSIMdb. It's a list of providers that allow you to purchase an eSIM service without needing a physical SIM card. Perfect for setting up just before you head off, or even in the airport on wi-fi when you arrive. Select a country and you'll see providers sorted by your choice of data quota, SIM validity and price. Very cool.
📻 Spin the Black Circle - Pearl Jam
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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.