### Issue 1381 - Monday 7th June, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- NSW police using Azure AI & ML platform on murder and assault investigations
- G7 comes to an agreement to set a 15% minimum global tax rate aimed at mega tech company profits
- Facebook, FBI, Bitcoin, W3C & more Facebook news
- An explanation for why Waymo hasn't expanded beyond a small part of Phoenix
- Cheap Apple TV, Bose headphones, Far Cry 4 PS4, JB & Good Guys gift cards, Lenovo Smart Clock, Anko gaming mice, Nintendo eShop gift cards, Edifier speakers, M1 iMac & iPads

## The News

### NSW police using Azure AI & ML platform on murder and assault investigations

Microsoft has let loose that NSW police are using its Azure "AI/ML-infused Insights policing platform". According to a case study it released, NSW police used Azure to get highlights out of "14,000 pieces of CCTV as part of a murder and assault investigation", recognise objects and vehicles (e.g: "such as a backpack, or a tie, or type of shoes a person of interest might be wearing"). overlay all this evidence on a map, build a timeline of events for persons of interest, transcribe interviews and even help in the "preparation of the brief of evidence for Courts". Don't worry though, Microsoft said "the system has been designed with ethics front and centre, and in consultation with privacy experts with a particular focus on avoiding bias". Oh good.

### G7 comes to an agreement to set a 15% minimum global tax rate aimed at mega tech company profits

The G7 economic group (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA) have agreed in principle to a "global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to avoid countries undercutting each other", aimed to curb the legal tax minimisation of companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft. There's no actual laws, but the aim is to "make companies pay more tax in the countries where they are selling their products or services, rather than wherever they end up declaring their profits" and set "a global minimum tax rate so as to avoid countries undercutting each other with low tax rates". The full G7 communique can be read here. The concept will be floated at the G20 conference (which Australia is part of) in Rome later this year.

### Facebook, FBI, Bitcoin, W3C & more Facebook news

- The UK & EU are gonna investigate Facebook potentially abusing its market power in the online dating and classified ads industries. They reckon the data Facebook collects for ads and re-purposes for other products is an illegal advantage. Nothing makes me happier than a Big Tech company getting investigated by the government.
- The FBI subpoenaed USA Today for the IP addresses and phone numbers of everyone who accessed a specific article during a 35 minute time period. USA today told em to get fucked and the FBI eventually dropped it, but man, the audacity of even asking for this.
- Facebook decided to keep Trump banned for 2 years, effective from the initial suspension on January 7th 2021. Facebook will only let him back on if the "risk to public safety has receded" and with a "a strict set of rapidly escalating sanctions" if Trump keeps up his bullshit.
- El Salvador is gonna make Bitcoin legal tender. They will be partnering with Strike, a "digital wallet company" to implement "technologies like Liquid and satellite infrastructure" to make Bitcoin easier to use. 70% of El Salvadorians don't have a bank account and 20% of their GDP is from migrants sending money back home.
- W3C has a new WebExtensions Community Group that brings together Google, Apple, Mozilla, and Microsoft with the aim to "make extension creation easier for developers by specifying a consistent model and common core of functionality, APIs, and permissions". Hopefully they don't hobble it so cool extensions that do stuff they don't like (i.e: ad blocking) aren't rendered impossible to develop.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### An explanation for why Waymo hasn't expanded beyond a small part of Phoenix

Waymo's been buzzing its robotaxis around a small part of Phoenix and picking up members of the general public for months now - but why hasn't it at least expanded to similarly bland suburbs? Timothy Lee at Arstechnica has a few guesses at what's impeding Waymo's growth. The most convincing argument put forward is that operating in places where its easy to drive isn't worth it as those people have cars already - because it's easy to drive. Dense cities where ride sharing is profitable are a prick to drive in (so people pay others to do it for them) also happen to be the worst place for a robocar right now. Waymo has more or less mastered those easy scenarios so expansion is a waste of time because they won't learn anything new and won't make a buck due to the market for rides there.

## Bargains

- Apple TV 32GB 4K (2017) - $165.60 from The Good Guy's eBay store
- Bose Quietcomfort 35 II - $259.20 from Mobileciti's eBay store
- Far Cry 4 - $9.99 on the Playstation Store
- 10% off JB Hi-Fi & The Good Guys gift cards at Coles
- Lenovo Smart Clock Essential - $58 each or $99 for two at Officeworks
- Anko gaming mouse with programmable RGB lights - $10 at Kmart
- 10% off Nintendo eShop gift cards at Big W
- Edifier R1000T4 active bookshelf speakers - $59 from Amazon
- New M1 iMac and M1 iPad Pro are 10% off at Wireless1's eBay store

## The End

📻 Rattlesnake - St. Vincent

😎 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.​