Plus: Why does Microsoft Teams have an Oreo emoji? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

February 10, 2026 | Read online
# Discord wants everyone to prove their age, Ferrari's Apple Car and the teen social media ban's mystery number Plus: Why does Microsoft Teams have an Oreo emoji?
Edition 2498
"Health and wellbeing" by Momo Loïc is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: Jony Ive, Roblox, Discord, TSMC, YouTube Music, MrBeast, BoM and Oreo emojis. Plus, deals on Nothing earbuds, Garmin watches and Logitech mice.
# The News
### Discord will treat everyone like teens until proven otherwise
Discord will make every user prove their age or have their accounts placed under teen-specific restrictions (Discord). This has already rolled out in Australia, so not a change for us, but now is going global. Discord's teen accounts can't get into age-restricted servers, and other safety settings will be turned on by default (although they can be turned off by the user). Meanwhile, Roblox has been given a "please explain" by both the Communications Minister and eSafety Commissioner about more reports of child grooming on the platform (ABC News).
The Sizzle: We've already got these rules in Australia so we can attest to the fact that it's not like the sky has fallen (although as you probably remember, I reported that 68,000 Australians were caught up in Discord's breach of age check data so this stuff comes with big privacy risks). What I think is interesting is how some of these measures feel like "safety theatre". Like sensitive content filters that can be turned off or having a separate inbox for adult messages. Maybe it has some impact at the edges but doesn't feel like it will drastically protect kids. Even on Roblox, which has taken more steps than most other services, is still accused of being filled with child predators.
So what is the answer? I'm sure Roblox and Discord can do more, but, like, specifically what? How do you run a service for young people at a global scale and deal with this stuff, particularly without massively impacting the privacy of everyone else too? I'd love to hear thoughts, I'm definitely going to do some more reporting. Until then, we're all going to be teens:
bro, we are teens
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The Ferrari EV is the Apple Car we didn’t get
hmmmmm
Ferrari has given the first look inside its first ever EV to the world and it's a glimpse into what the Apple Car might have looked like (Engadget). The Luce's interiors were designed by ex-Apple designer Jony Ive's firm LoveFrom and Australian designer Marc Newson (News dot com dot au). It's a huge W for the "cars should have buttons and dials" crew, but the displays are touchscreen as well. I'm not really a car guy so would love to hear your reviews of the look but one cool little thing I noticed: the key fob clicks into the centre and has an e-ink screen that changes the colour of the background, which is pretty cute (Ferrari).
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The teen social media ban's mystery number: 4.7 million
After a $20 million campaign promoting the scheme (a number I just found out), the government said last month that its teen social media ban is a success because it saw that 4.7 million accounts were taken down (PM dot gov dot au). Meta, owner of Facebook, IG, Threads, said it removed 550,000 accounts (ABC News). Snapchat ditto with 410,000 (Guardian).
So, my maths says you've still got 3.7 million-ish accounts unaccounted for. Of the remaining, TikTok and YouTube would be a big number, but it's still difficult to see how it all stacks up — something that politicians are struggling with, too . The Department of Communications said only the eSafety Commissioner knows, and she's up at Estimates this afternoon... 👀
Related: Survey reveals mixed reactions to Australia’s under-16 social media ban (Mi3)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Australian businesses have doubled the amount of money they plan to spend on data centres in six months, going from $23b to $52b, per Deloitte (SMH, $) Great news! BoM is going to spend even more money on its website design (iTnews) “From a trickle to a real market:” Government urged to retain FBT exemption for EVs (The Driven) Missing, buried and vague: Govt’s AI statements fall short (InnovationAus, $) Firmus seals US$10bn Blackstone deal to fund Australian ‘AI factories’ (AFR, $) A lot of money riding on this new Aussie company’s data centres!
Rest of World:
TSMC to make advanced AI semiconductors in Japan in boost for its chipmaking ambitions (AP News) Google enshitifies YouTube Music by putting lyrics behind paywall (Ars Technica) OpenAI's ChatGPT ads start from today (The Verge) Crypto.com Founder Buys AI.com for Record $70 Million (CoinDesk) leading bubble indicator AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It (Harvard Business Review, $) This is actually a really interesting article about how people are using AI. I might even write about it tomorrow, but definitely worth a read/not just AI promo. MrBeast Acquires Teen Banking App Step (The Verge) Alphabet Mandates Banks for Rare 100-Year Sterling Bond (Bloomberg, $) This is one for the finance nerds but TLDR: Google has taken the VERY rare step of offering a 100 year IOU to investors. The last tech company to do this was Motorola in 1997 (and look how they're going). Upcycling An iPad Into A Touchscreen Display For Your PC (Hackaday) Post by @leigh@lgbtqia.space (Aus.social)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Plus: Why does Microsoft Teams have an Oreo emoji?
One of the running themes of the Sizzle has been "doesn't Microsoft have any shame?". I've received yet more confirmation that, no, it doesn't: someone in a Discord found that Microsoft Teams has in-built Oreo emojis.
if you send this to me at work i’m calling HR
As it turns out, this is a hangover from 2022 sponcon which included a 15-minute "thinvite" (???) which was a type of calendar event that would play a video of puppies (Microsoft). I'm legitimately lost for words.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Edifier K800 USB Headset with Microphone - $29 at Scorptec (Down from $129) Belkin BoostUp Charge Pro Dual USB-C 65W GaN Wall Charger - $29.95 at Mobileskin (Down from $64.95) Nothing Ear (a) at AliExpress Yellow for $71.56 (Down from $169) Black/White for $74.24 (Down from $169) Apple AirTag 4-Pack - $121 at Centre Com (Down from $165) Reolink TrackFlex Floodlight WiFi, 4K 360° View Dual-Lens PTZ Wired Camera - $305 at Reolink AU (Down from $399.99) Edifier S1000MKII 2.0 Active Bookshelf Bluetooth Speakers - $329 at Centre Com (Down from $449) Mileseey TR20 Pro Thermal Camera - $338 at AliExpress (Down from $450) RØDE Wireless PRO Wireless Microphone System - $388 at Camera Warehouse (Down from $599) Creality CR-Scan Ferret Pro 3D Scanner - $539 at Creality Store AU (Down from $669) Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 Sapphire Edition 47mm Carbon Grey DLC Titanium with Black Band - $849 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $1,699)
Computing
Logitech Peripherals at Amazon MX Anywhere 3S Mouse for $84.15 (Down from $139.95) MX Vertical Advanced Mouse for $99.46 (Down from $169) Keys Mini Minimalist Keyboard - $101 at Amazon (Down from $179.95) Verbatim Blu-Ray BD-R XL 100GB Blank Disc 20-Pack - $107 at Amazon (Down from $220) Kogan 49" QD-OLED Dual QHD 144Hz Curved Ultrawide Monitor - $999 at Kogan (Down from $1,499) Apple MacBook Pro 14” M3 16GB/1TB - $2,559 at Amazon (Down from $2,999)
Mobile
Boost Mobile 365GB 12-Month Prepaid SIM with $80 cashback - $315 at TopCashback AU (Down from $365)
# The End
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