Plus: I think this is the unintentionally funniest subreddit ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 27, 2026 | Read online
# Wikipedia bans AI slop, Trump's Anthropic blacklisting stopped and farewell Trifold! Plus: I think this is the unintentionally funniest subreddit
Edition 2531
"WFHR 2025 event in Anambra Network 06" by Ngostary2k is licensed under CC0
Mentioned in today’s edition: Wikipedia, Anthropic, the Samsung TriFold, ACMA, YouTube, PwC, Donald Trump, Liquid Glass and Windows. Plus, deals on DJI Osmo cameras, HP Omen laptops and Xiaomi Poco phones.
# The News
### Wikipedia doesn't want your AI slop writing, cheers!
The editors behind Wikipedia have decided on a rule outlawing AI-written contributions in all but a few circumstances (Verge). After months of debate, editors agreed on a short policy forbidding the use of LLMs to write or re-write articles (Wiki). The rationale is that LLMs tend to break Wikipedia's rules including — but not limited to — making shit up. The policy did leave some wiggle room for basic copy checks and limited translation, but is meant to address the slew of sloppy contributions being made to our most precious online resource.
The Sizzle: This is close to my heart because my other love, Crikey, has just withdrawn an article that was written by a contributor who admitted later to using AI in the process (Crikey). It's getting harder to tell what's AI writing from form alone. Yes, the computers (and those prompting them to try not to sound like computers) know about the em-dashes and the "it's not X -- it's Y" giveaways. That doesn't mean AI is writing as well as a human can — it literally can't experience or know anything — it's just getting harder to easily tell.
The obvious problem with Wikipedia's policy raised in its Talk page — as was raised with Crikey's — is how the fuck do you enforce this rule? The unsatisfying conclusion I've come to is that you can never know for sure, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. The only thing we can do is try to critique every contribution on its own merits, and use the process of peer review to stop slop slipping through. We might never know if The_Wiki_Pervert is using AI to write edits, is being paid to troll, or is secretly a dog on the internet trying to vandalise the Cat page, but we don't need to know in order to judge (and remove) their shitty edit. The only bulwark against AI slop is people, working together, and caring about things.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The Trump administration's Anthropic blacklisting delayed and looks like it'll get tossed
The Trump administration is flopping so hard in its legal defense of blacklisting Anthropic that a court has temporarily blocked the formal move (CNBC). In the latest twist of this case, a federal judge has granted an injunction to Anthropic that legally stops the US Department of Defense forcing companies to stop using its products because it's a threat to national security. While the actual verdict on whether it was unlawful may be months away, the fact that a judge blocked it temporarily is a strong sign that the US government's claim is likely to lose.
Nothing in the governing statute supports the Orwellian notion that an American company may be branded a potential adversary and saboteur of the U.S. for expressing disagreement with the government.”
said the judge, which — even to my untrained legal eye — seems to be a bad sign for US government’s chances
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Goodbye to the Trifold, we barely barely barely knew thee
Only a few months after release, Samsung has officially iced its frankly weird 3x foldable phone, the Galaxy Z TriFold.
The company wouldn't give the Verge a review unit when it first came out — not a huge sign of confidence — and the outlet's reviewer was only able to get their hands on one by buying it from "Taiwan" (probably China) after it was discontinued (The Verge). They said the AU$4,500~ phone was essentially too big and heavy to be a good mobile phone but, once unfolded, nerfed by still being limited to a phone's capabilities.
And despite all evidence to the contrary, doesn’t the Galaxy TriFold call to you? Should… I?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Labor split over renewed push for AI to be able to harvest Australian art (SMH, $) ACMA has rejected the telco industry's proposed "consumer protections" code and now will write its own (Cyber Daily) hell yeah Law firms investigate possible Australian cases after US jury finds Meta and YouTube designed addictive products (The Guardian) Apple calls in PwC to resolve Australian payroll blunder (The Australian Financial Review, $) NextDC ices $500m bond deal after pricing disappoints (The Australian Financial Review, $)
Rest of World:
Apple plans to open up Siri to rival AI assistants beyond ChatGPT in iOS 27 (Bloomberg, $) The Wall Street Journal's editorial board has hit out at the Meta/Google court cases, calling them "shake down" lol (The Wall Street Journal, $) Google heard how much you all loved Liquid Glass and so it's proud to announce that Android 17 Beta 3 will have more background blur (9to5Google) Apple discontinues the Mac Pro (9to5Mac)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### A tribute to the unintentionally funniest subreddit, r/antivirus
One of the funniest places on the internet is r/antivirus. The subreddit is filled with panicked posts from poor people who, thankfully, are typically freaked out by things that either aren't viruses or are pretty easily solved.
Here are some good recent posts:
I have installed a file called "lust goddess" after accidentally pressing a pop up ad on my laptop The poster who shared a screenshot of their grandmother's Windows computer's start-up processes which included "VIRUS101RatPayload" "What the hell is this", accompanied by a picture of Windows showing an app with some Chinese characters (that seems to just be a PC glitch)
also shout out to the real life version of the guy in the zombie movie who’s like “oh it’s only a flesh wound” after being bitten
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - $599 at Amazon (Down from $849) Eufy E28 Omni Robotic Vacuum & Mop - $995 at Harvey Norman (Down from $1990) TCL C7K QD Mini LED TV 2025 at Retravision 65" 65C7K for $1199 (Down from $1499) 75" 75C7K for $1499 (Down from $1799) [Box Damaged] Sony Alpha A6700 APS-C Camera - $1599 at Sony Australia eBay (Down from $2449)
Computing
Toshiba Dynabook Portege X30l-J 13.3" Touch i7 1185G7 32GB RAM 512GB (Used) - $499 at UN Tech MSI Claw A8 BZ2EM-011AU 8" Ryzen Z2 24GB/1TB + Super Bundle - $1439 at Computer Alliance (Down from $1589) HP Omen Transcend 14 Inch Gaming Laptop (Core™ Ultra 7 255h, 5060, 32GB Ram, 1 TB SSD) - $2374 at HP
Mobile
Xiaomi Poco X8 Pro 8/512GB + Free Xiaomi 33W Magnetic 10000 mAh Power Bank - $599 at Xiaomi AU Motorola Signature (256GB, 12GB RAM) Global Version - eBay for $882
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans. Also by Aussies for Aussies — so all prices are in dollarydoos, of course.
🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!
💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.
🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.
🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.
## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land
The Sizzle is created on Gadigal 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.
Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 The Sizzle PO Box 351 Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340, Australia
Powered by beehiiv
Terms of Service