### Issue 1406 - Tuesday 13th July, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- COVIDSafe not used in current NSW outbreak
- Gmail to implement BIMI authenticated emails
- Kiwi Farms loses domain registrar, Elon Musk news, Super Mario 64 sells for US$1.5m, Android 12 fast game start, potential repairability labels on AU products
- Backblaze to use Dell servers instead of its Storage Pods for new EU datacentre
- Cheap 8BitDo arcade stick, Kingston 1TB NVMe SSD, Paper Mario: The Origami King for Switch, Seagate 2TB portable HDD

## The News

### COVIDSafe not used in current NSW outbreak

In news that'll shock nobody, COVIDSafe is still as useful as tits on a bull. NSW Health told Innovation Australia that "experience to date in NSW has shown that the COVIDSafe app may be most useful where case interviews have not been successful in identifying contacts. It has not been necessary to use the COVIDSafe app with any recent cases in NSW in 2021". It was also not used in Victoria's latest outbreak. All up over its 15 month lifespan, COVIDSafe only "identified 17 new close contacts that weren't already picked up by manual contact tracers". I haven't read anything lately about the success or uselessness of similar apps overseas, so I think the entire notion of smartphone based contact tracing is dead.

### Gmail to implement BIMI authenticated emails

Google has announced Gmail will start using the Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) standard. As The Verge explains, "the idea is that an organization's logo will show up in your inbox when they send you an email that's authenticated using the DMARC standard to help reduce the likelihood that you’ll open and act on an email posing as one from a legitimate source". Gmail users don't have to do anything to see the brand logos, it'll just happen. More information on the process is available on the BIMI working group's website. Maybe one day you'll see a logo attached to future issues of The Sizzle to verify you're getting legitimate tech news and not that garbage low quality gear cut with ads and sponsored content.

### Kiwi Farms loses domain registrar, Elon Musk news, Super Mario 64 sells for US$1.5m, Android 12 fast game start, potential repairability labels on AU products

- The internet's arsehole, aka Kiwi Farms, has been told to get the fuck out by its domain registrar Dreamhost. Good news, but Cloudflare stepped in to keep the domain name registered. Interesting decision by Cloudflare considering their stance on 8chan.
- Elon Musk found some loose change behind his couch and purchased a ticket on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. Meanwhile, Musk was in court trying to argue that Tesla's purchase of his failing cousin's SolarCity startup was not a conflict of interest.
- A sealed copy of Super Mario 64 sold for US$1,560,000 at auction on the weekend, smashing the record for most expensive video game purchase - which was set only a few days earlier for a sealed copy of The Legend of Zelda that sold for US$870,000. $60 25 years ago turned into $1.5m - roughly equivalent to a savings account with 50% p.a interest. Not bad.
- Android 12 is getting a new feature that'll allow games to start playing even if they haven't fully downloaded yet. Adding this feature (called Incremental FS) will be mandatory for all new games starting in August. Useful for countries where internet speeds suck I guess.
- The Productivity Commissioner let loose that they're considering a labelling system for new products to give consumers a hint as to how repairable and durable a product is. The idea is inspired by similar labels in France.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Backblaze to use Dell servers instead of its Storage Pods for new EU datacentre

Any nerd obsessed with data hoarding is probably familiar with Backblaze's Storage Pods - custom made rackmount server enclosures that aim to shove as many hard disks into a 4RU box as possible. After 12 years and 6 iterations of Storage Pods, they've decided to fill their new Amsterdam datacenter with Dell servers instead, arguing that the market has caught up with their needs and the case for rolling their own isn't as strong as it used to be. I look forward to reading more detailed analysis of how the Dells they chose compare to their homebrew boxes.

## Bargains

- 8BitDo Arcade Stick - $129.95 + delivery from Core Electronics
- Kingston NV1 1TB NVMe SSD - $124 delivered from Shopping Express (who also have 10% off Ubiquiti & Yubico gear)
- Paper Mario: The Origami King for Switch - $39 from Amazon
- Seagate 2TB portable HDD - $69 at Officeworks

## The End

📻 Los Angeles - Frank Black

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

💬 Did you know that The Sizzle has a Slack group? Join in and chat with other subscribers like you.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info? Visit the customer portal.

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.​