### Issue 1307 - Thursday 18th February, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Facebook not here to fuck spiders, removes news outlet pages & blocks sharing of news URLs
- Chromebooks more popular than Macs thanks to COVID
- 5 news items that are important enough to be mentioned, but don't deserve an entire paragraph
- Cambridge Uni's Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index does what it says on the tin
- Cheap Chromecast Ultra, Sony Atmos soundbar, Metal Gear Solid V, Battlefield V, eBay Plus/Afterpay/discounted gift card discount triple play

## The News

### Facebook not here to fuck spiders, removes news outlet pages & blocks sharing of news URLs

Following through on its threat if the mandatory media bargaining law was passed, Facebook blocked Australian publishers from "sharing or posting any content on Facebook Pages", blocked links and posts from being viewed by Australians from international publishers (e.g: Reuters, New York Times, BBC) and blocked the ability for individual Australians to view or share news content worldwide. Unfortunately non-news pages, like the Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Health, various charities and others were accidentally hit with Facebook's ban. Google on the other hand, stitched up a deal with News Corp and is unlikely to carry out its threat of blocking us from using Search. Casey Newton has a good take on this, being American he takes a bit more of an outsider look than local media who all have skin in the game.

### Chromebooks more popular than Macs thanks to COVID

Chalk up yet another surprise thanks to COVID - Chromebooks taking a market share lead over Macs. Apple's computers are now relegated to third place. I couldn't determine if this is all time or active users, or simply 2020 shipments (I think it's 2020 shipments), but of all the computers sold in the world, units running Windows make up 80.5%, Chrome OS 10.8% and Macs 7.5%. According to the market intelligence firm IDC, the jump in Chromebook sales has been building for years, but the latest jump is due to an increase in schools handing them out to kids learning from home and workplaces wanting cheap, basic and easy to manage laptops for remote workers.

### 5 news items that are important enough to be mentioned, but don't deserve an entire paragraph

- Nintendo fans will be pleased to learn that the first big "Nintendo Direct" in almost two years took place this morning, with lots of new games for ya. No new console news, just heaps of games.
- Ford announced it will only sell electric vehicles (plug-in hybrids and full battery electrics) in Europe by 2030. Amazing what happens when a government sets a target with punishments for not meeting that target.
- Epic filed an antitrust complaint in the EU against Apple's App Store monopoly. The complaint itself is confidential at this time, but it suits the EU's current narrative that "gatekeepers to the digital market" need regulation.
- Los Angeles Police and Amazon have been working together to grab footage off thousands of Ring security devices to try and identify people protesting police brutality. It's way easier to ask/force Amazon for footage than each individual property owner.
- The ALP wants a "national ransomware strategy" because "ransomware is a jobs and investment destroyer at a time when the nation can least afford it". You can check out all the proposed countermeasures in their discussion paper.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Cambridge Uni's Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index does what it says on the tin

The University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance has created the Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. It tires as best as it can to measure how much electricity Bitcoin mining uses, which can then possibly measure how much CO2 mining Bitcoin is responsible for. As of mid-Feb 2021, the Bitcoin network is sucking down around 16 gigawatts. To put that into comparison, the entire Australian NEM is generating 21.5 gigawatts. I use the phrase "as best as they can" here as it's impossible to fully know exactly where a Bitcoin was mined and where the source of electricity used to mine that Bitcoin came from, but a rough guide is better than no guide.

## Bargains

- eBay Plus members can get 12% + 4% off lots of stuff on eBay from various big name stores (The Good Guys, EB, Microsoft, etc) using discounted "Choice" gift cards (that are valid on eBay) via Cashrewards.
- Refurbished Google Chromecast Ultra - $62 from Kogan
- Sony HT-G700 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X soundbar with subwoofer -$535 from Kogan/$539 from Amazon
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience for PS4 - $4.99 on the Playstation Store
- Battlefield V Definitive Edition for PC - $29.99 from Cdkeys

## The End

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