### Issue 1496 - Thursday 18th November, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Apple announces parts ordering and service manual access for plebs
- Federal government funding a quantum computing hub, strategy, committee and prospectus
- Quentin Tarantino debases himself with Pulp Fiction NFT, Miramax sues him
- Microsoft's game boss wants more "legal emulation" to preserve videogame history
- Cheap Bose TV speaker, PS Plus sub, Cyperpunk 2077 for PS4, Dell gaming laptop, Samsung portable SSD, Kindle Paperwhite, Echo Dot (3rd-gen), Firestick 4K Max, The Last of Us for PS4, Rode VideoMic GO, SONIQ warehouse sale

## The News

### Apple announces parts ordering and service manual access for plebs

Apple's said they're gonna launch a "Self Service Repair" program next year. Regular punters like you and I will be able to order parts for the iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and M1-based Macs direct from Apple, as well as access service manuals for those products. The Self Service Repair program will be US only at first, but will exapand to other countries throughout 2022. Seems like the main reason Apple did this is because of a shareholder resolution from September that had to be acted on by today or the SEC gets involved. I'll save judgement until there's more details on what you can actually repair and what the parts cost.

### Federal government funding a quantum computing hub, strategy, committee and prospectus

Hey look, Australia's getting a Quantum Commercialisation Hub, National Quantum Strategy, a National Committee on Quantum and a quantum technologies prospectus, thanks to $111m of federal government funding spread out over the next 10 years. Announcing the funding, our Prime Minister said "Australia is already a global leader in several aspects of quantum technology" and the cash is all about "capitalising on our competitive advantage and taking our research to the world". There's bugger all details about what the money will be spent on, but hey, the government got an announcement and that's what really matters.

### Quentin Tarantino debases himself with Pulp Fiction NFT, Miramax sues him

It pains me to say this, but Quentin Tarantino has turned "high-resolution scans from his original handwritten screenplay of Pulp Fiction, plus a drawing inspired by some element of the scene" info NFTs. Miramax is not happy about it and is suing him because they reckon their contract with Quentin regarding Pulp Fiction, which carves out "interactive games, live performances, and other ancillary media" for Quentin, doesn't include NFTs of the screenplay. Miramax is also shitty that "Tarantino's conduct may mislead other creators into believing they have the right to exploit Miramax films through NFTs and other emerging technologies, when in fact Miramax holds those rights for its films".

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Microsoft's game boss wants more "legal emulation" to preserve videogame history

Phil Spencer, Microsoft's boss of Xbox/gaming, did an interview with Axios (in a horribly formatted article) where he states the game industry needs a way of preserving its history and that, he reckons, should be "legal emulation". This is basically finding a way to work around lazy/greedy/uninterested rights holders that don't make their titles available for emulation, so users have to resort to illegally downloading ROMs or whatever - something Nintendo in particular loves suing people for. The easy solution would be a total overhaul of copyright, making all games public domain after 20 years. Fucked if I know how that helps cloud-based games that rely on servers being online for anything to work.

## Bargains

- Bose TV speaker - $297 at Amazon (affiliate link)
- PlayStation Plus 12m subscription - $53.30 from Sony
- Cyberpunk 2077 for PS4 - $29 from Amazon (affiliate link)
- Dell G15 5515 Gaming Laptop (Ryzen 5 5600H, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, RTX 3050) - $979 from Dell's eBay store (affiliate link)
- 500GB Samsung T5 portable SSD - $88 at Officeworks
- Kindle Paperwhite, Echo Dot (3rd-gen), Firestick 4K Max, The Last of Us for PS4 - $169/$19/$59/$19 at JB Hi-Fi
- Rode VideoMic GO - $69 from Amazon (affiliate link)
- SONIQ warehouse clearance sale (Braeside, VIC) - lots of cheap crap that I'd only bother going for if you live nearby

## The End

📻 Natalie - Kills Birds

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

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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.