X has begun "testing a new program (Not-a-Bot) in New Zealand and the Philippines" where "new, unverified accounts will be required to sign up for a $1 annual subscription to be able to post and interact with other posts. Within this test, existing users are not affected". Musk reckons this $1/yr fee is "the only way to fight bots without blocking real users" and while it "won't stop bots completely", "it will be 1000X harder to manipulate the platform". Considering the desperate situation X is in, I don't blame them for trying this out. Will it actually decrease bot activity? Elon will never be honest with the results of this experiment so we will never know.
VicTrack and Xerox came up with a nifty system called FiBridge that uses "fibre optic sensing" to check if bridges are safe. It was so promising that the state government and Xerox set up a joint partnership in 2021 called Eloque to sell it to governments around the world. Sounds cool, but there's one problem - it didn't fucken work. The Victorian Auditor-General's Office found that the department of transport "did not conduct sufficient due diligence before investing. It also did not specify its requirements before Eloque started to install FiBridge on state-owned assets". The CEO of Eloque was also the CEO of VicTrack (who own the bridges these sensors would be installed on), creating a "lack of transparency around his governance and management responsibilities and led to conflicts of interest".
There's now a Parliamentary Friendship Group on Tech and Innovation that will "provide a forum for industry and parliamentarians on productivity-enhancing technologies like artificial intelligence, as well as run briefings and events on the latest research and development trends, as well as economic and investment trends". It will be co-chaired by Labor MP Jerome Laxale, Liberal MP Aaron Violi, and Independent MP Allegra Spender. Their first meeting was an event co-hosted by the Technology Council of Australia (TCA) and the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and reps from Atlassian, Accenture, Cochlear, Google, Harrison.AI, SEEK, and Xero attended. What a nice little package for all the lobbyists hanging around Canberra.
A group photo of the speakers and organisers of One More Thing's 2013 conference at ACMI, Melbourne. That's me kneeling in the front left. (One More Thing)
📻 I'm Not Like Everybody Else (Mono Mix) - The Kinks
😎 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.
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.