Issue 1930 - Tuesday 12th September, 2023

In Today's Issue

The News

QLD's AI-powered seatbelt & phone detectors incorrectly fined 1,842 drivers

Those new AI-powered cameras that claim to detect if you're wearing a seat belt or using your phone whilst driving are undergoing an "urgent independent review" in Queensland after it "incorrectly issued double demerit points for 1,842 drivers between November 1, 2021 and August 31 this year", which lead to "626 drivers to have their licences incorrectly suspended, and 236 incorrectly served good behaviour periods". QLD's transport minister said "simply put, this should never have happened. I am very sorry to every person who has been impacted by this". The least they could do is have a human review each image attached to each fine before it gets sent to the driver.

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Alphabet & US government set argue if Google is a monopoly in 10-week trial

A 10-week trial between Alphabet and the US government starts tomorrow that'll try and decide if Alphabet's Google search engine has abused its market power by "illegally using partnerships with phone makers and internet browser companies to shut out rival search engines". We all know how it works - Google gives fat cheques to companies like Apple and Mozilla to make sure Google is the first choice in their browsers so any other search engine (even Bing and Microsoft's big bag of cash) simply can't match what Google is paying. They're also gonna debate if Google's mandating of bundling Google apps as a requirement for smartphone OEMs to get access to the Google Play store is legit. The EU tackled these issues years ago, will be interesting to see how the yanks handle it.

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Apple still can't escape Qualcomm, My Health Record to get pathology & radiology reports by default, Samsung stuffing AI chips to everything

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Something I Saw On The Internet

Windows to block 3rd party printer drivers by 2027

Microsoft appears to be killing off third party printer drivers in Windows. As of Windows 10 21H2, the operating system supports "Mopria compliant printer devices over network and USB interfaces via the Microsoft IPP Class Driver", which Microsoft says "removes the need for print device manufacturers to provide their own installers, drivers, utilities, and so on". Because of this, they are "announcing the end of servicing of the legacy v3 and v4 Windows printer drivers" which will be "staged over multiple years". By 2025, no printer drivers will be pushed via Windows Update and by 2027 "except for security-related fixes, third-party printer driver updates will no longer be allowed".

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Bargains

Image Of The Day

A floppy disk with a font that only contained the symbol that would replace Prince's name in 1993. Ironically it still says Prince on the floppy disk. (TEXT-MODE)

The End

📻 Bambi - prince

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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.