Issue 1800 - Tuesday 7th March, 2023

In Today's Issue

The News

People that invested in cryptocurrency via SMSFs probably aren't doing well

According to a Reuters investigation of ATO data there is $1.4b of cryptocurrency assets in various self-managed super funds in Australia. It's a small percentage of the overall SMSF pie ($880b), but Reuters and Liam Shorte, a financial planner that specialises in SMSFs, reckon as the price of Bitcoin collapsed last year, many of those who set up an SMSF during COVID due to being bored at home and chucked their retirement savings into crypto at the peak of its hype, may have lost around 40% (on average - some more, some less) of their money. There's a good chance those losses will never be recouped, let alone make a profit.

Twitter broke again, Musk walks around HQ with two bodyguards at all times

Twitter shit the bed again overnight, this time simply showing an error message, "your current API plan does not include access to this endpoint" whenever you visited the website. Presumably the implementation of the paid API feature didn't go well. Elon's response was "the code stack is extremely brittle for no good reason. Will ultimately need a complete rewrite". Mmhmmm. Meanwhile, the BBC has spoken to a bunch of Twitter employees (anonymously - these people don't want to lose their jobs) about the shitshow that is Musk's Twitter. Apparently Elon walks around the joint with "at least two bodyguards" at all times, even to take a piss. Extremely healthy workplace dynamic.

Atlassian sacks 5% of workforce, Cities Skylines 2 announced, Edge gets AI video enhancer

Something I Saw On The Internet

China is very efficient at running disinformation campaigns on the internet

This article from 2021 by the New York Times gives a bit of insight as to how the Chinese government "taps private businesses to generate content on demand, draw followers, track critics and provide other services for information campaigns" on "international platforms like Facebook and Twitter, which the Chinese government blocks at home". Shanghai police's "Public Opinion Technology Services Project" just puts out a tender and businesses respond to it with proof how many accounts they've got, how long their accounts survive before getting banned and how many followers they can gain. We all know this stuff is happening, but to see it detailed like it's a tender for constructing a new road or installing sprinklers in the local park is weird.

Bargains

Image Of The Day

Sophie Wilson, CBE FRS FREng, designed the Acorn System 1, coding the operating system in binary before designing and implementing Acorn Assembler, Acorn MOS, and BASIC. She and Steve Furber designed and implemented the prototype of the BBC Microcomputer — she designed the operating system and designed and implemented BBC BASIC for a succession of processors. She and Furber also co-designed the ARM processor powering Acorn's computers during the 1990s and virtually every mobile phone and tablet in the world nowadays — more than 180 billion sales of ARM-powered chips to date. She co-designed the ARM3, ARM610, and ARM700 processors and ARM7500FE single-chip computer; created Acorn Replay multimedia software; and developed the Firepath SIMD LIW processor and then co-founded Element 14 to exploit it for ADSL. She studied computer science and mathematics at Cambridge University and has an honorary doctorate of science from the university. (National Academy of Engineering)

The End

📻 Be Stiff - DEVO

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.

👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the customer portal.

🎁 Make someone's day and buy them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.

📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.

🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!

💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.

Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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.