The 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy Discussion Paper is now public. In it is the idea of a specific Cyber Security Act, possibly taking the existing Security of Critical Infrastructure Act (the one where the government can take over private networks it deems critical infrastructure if they're under cyber attack) and among other things, widening the range of entities deemed critical. Meanwhile, the Victorian auditor-general has seen an increase in "IT control weaknesses", which are poor "access management, policies and procedures, audit logging and monitoring, and intrusion detection significantly", recommending councils adopt Essential Eight mitigation strategies - i.e: the bare minimum.
Tesla fans are cranky that the company has officially declared the "Full Self Driving" beta an "SAE Level 2 driver support feature" and that "the driver is responsible for operation of the vehicle whenever the feature is engaged and must constantly supervise the feature and intervene (e.g., steer, brake or accelerate) as needed to maintain safe operation of the vehicle". Tesla has also indefinitely suspended "new installs" of FSD (i.e: no more people can enroll to be in the beta, even if you've paid for it) at the request of the NHTSA, after the regulator found the FSD Beta has a habit of "traveling straight through an intersection while in a turn-only lane, entering a stop sign-controlled intersection without coming to a complete stop, or proceeding into an intersection during a steady yellow traffic signal without due caution".
The Communications Minister has sent a letter to Twitter's US-based head of trust and safety Ella Irwin, begging them to re-open an office in Australia so the government can boss it around. In the letter (which isn't public), the comms minister says an "Australian presence is important because government agencies need to engage quickly with Twitter representatives who understand the Australian context and can act on behalf of the company". Twitter just sacked 200 people and is bleeding money. Why the fuck would they open an office here just to get flogged and punished by the Australian government? Watching Twitter ignore the eSafety Commissioner and the Communications Minister is a beautiful sight. The only positive thing about Musk owning Twitter to be honest.
Nokia's G22 smartphone has been getting some buzz around the internet since its reveal a few days ago at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Its party trick is being "repairable", as they've collaborated with iFixit (Google and Samsung have done this too) to publish repair guides and sell affordable parts. Replacing the screen, charging port and battery are easy to do, without special tools or fucking around with heat guns and glue, unlike Samsung and Google. Thank you Nokia. Also at MWC is OnePlus and their ridiculous 45W liquid cooled smartphone. This contraption got featured on almost every tech blog I read, but if you read the articles they say that OnePlus has no plans to sell it commercially - it's just a prototype. If you actually need such a thing, Aliexpress has you covered.
Andy Grove, Robert Noyce, and Gordon Moore in 1978. The trio left Fairchild Semiconductor to start Intel in 1968. (Intel Free Press / Flickr)
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