Plus: Woolworth's voice AI assistant will no longer ramble about its mother ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

February 27, 2026 | Read online
# ⚠️ THIS IS AN EMERGENCY AUSALERT ⚠️, Google's Gemini API mess and the Sizzler Say Plus: Woolworth's voice AI assistant will no longer ramble about its mother
Edition 2511
"Yamaha KUVT2" by Bushido Senshi is licensed under CC BY 4.0
Folks, have an incredible weekend!
Mentioned in today’s edition: AusAlert, Telstra, Gemini, Daniela Amodei, macOS, Netflix, WiseTech and Android. Plus, deals on Thrustmaster racing wheels, Apple Watches and Samsung Galaxy phones.
# The News
### WOOOP WOOP ⚠️ THIS IS AN EMERGENCY AUSALERT ⚠️ WOOP WOOP
150 days from today, all of our phones will cry out at once in a test of the federal government's new alert system (ABC News). Starting in October, Australia will have a new mobile phone-based national alert system called AusAlert (AusAlert). The alert will force anything with a SIM card to make a loud alarm sound, overriding any do not disturb mode, and show an alert. The system can target these alerts down to a 160 metre radius for local alerts. Some lucky local areas will get a test of the alert system in June.
The Sizzle: AusAlert was scheduled to be rolled out a full two years ago but, hey, better late than never. I actually got a little thrill reading about this. It's not exactly the sexiest thing in the world but I imagine it takes an incredible amount of design to implement something like this -- and, given Australia's propensity for natural disasters, I'm glad to have it. Let's just hope they don't overuse it, like in South Korea (StackExchange).
Two tangentially related stories: Telstra is sunsetting its legacy ADSL services, per CommunicationsDay, and one analyst firm is predicting that smartphone sales will decrease 13% in 2026!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Google just exposed thousands of people's Gemini API keys
In one of the silliest things I can remember recently, Google has essentially convinced thousands of people to expose access to their Gemini Google Cloud accounts (TruffleSecurity). Apparently Google previously advised people that it's fine to share their Google Cloud API keys publicly because it was limited to uses like identifying projects for billing... Then, when Gemini came along, Google set it up to work from those existing API keys. This had the side effect of exposing what's happening in that Gemini instance or letting people whack some usage on there — not great if you published this key online!
It's kinda like if Visa gave you a prepaid debit card with a limit to give away as a present, and then after the fact decided to convert it into a credit card without telling you. Not great!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The Sizzler Say: what LinkedIn knows about you, worst bit of macOS and ICT manager pay
Did you know you can find out what LinkedIn has inferred about you? Here's James in the Slack sharing what he found There's been some movement in the post your vintage AV/TV thread on the forum Timo on Slack has nominated the worst bit of macOS Brett emailed saying it's not a surprise that ICT manager salaries are falling: "It’s such a SMB role, and they just see it as a cost centre, not a value-add. Add to that that every time you advertise for an IT role, there are hundreds of applicants so there is obviously an oversupply, and we know what that does to salaries..." Who has recommendations for what to do in San Fran? Let shermozzle on the forum know Sizzler funwithstuff shared on the forum that he has written a book called AI for Creative Production
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
CBA probes $1b in suspected fraudulent home loans, calls in police (Australian Financial Review, $) They reckon AI was used to forge docs... AI to blame as WiseTech cuts 2000 jobs (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) I missed this earlier in the week but hmm!! Hey, countries mulling a teen social media ban: Australia doesn't know if ours is working yet (Crikey, $) Five Eyes nations release emergency directive over critical and exploited Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN controller vulnerability (Cyber Daily) AFR interviewed Anthropic co-founder Daniela Amodei Australia inks five-year Microsoft cloud & AI deal (Security Brief Australia) Chatbots can't hug: Research warns of unethical socialisation of AI (Cyber Daily) Apple adds loads of data to Melbourne on Apple Maps ahead of the Formula One Grand Prix (EFTM) Allied Gaming going into administration (Reddit)
Rest of World:
Tomorrow, our time, is the Trump admin's deadline for Anthropic to drop its red lines. We'll see what happens but for now: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pushes back on Pentagon's Hegseth (AP News) Netflix ditches deal for Warner Bros. Discovery after Paramount’s offer is deemed superior (CNBC) A VC and some big-name programmers are trying to solve open source's funding problem permanently (TechCrunch) Google to test changes to search results as EU fine looms (Reuters, $) Open letter (Keep Android Open)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Woolworths will stop its voice AI assistant from rambling about its "mother"
Didn't expect that I would be writing about it this week: read this Sizzle story about the interesting "personality" quirks of Woolworths’ voice AI assistant...
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Oontz Solo by Cambridge Soundworks Bluetooth Speaker - $21.93 at Gizmoo (Down from $42.99) Dreame D30 Ultra Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and Mop - $749 at Amazon
Computing
Samsung 32” Odyssey G55C QHD Curved Gaming Monitor - $249 at Samsung (Down from $409) Thrustmaster T300 RS GT Force Feedback Racing Wheel - $459 at Amazon (Down from $699) ASUS ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi Motherboard - $505 at Amazon (Down from $823) Samsung Odyssey G7 G70D 32" UHD IPS 144Hz G-Sync Gaming Monitor - $599 at Centre Com (Down from $899) TP-Link Deco BE65 3-Pack BE11000 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi 7 System ($710.50 eBay Plus) - $747 at PcLive Computers eBay (Down from $1166) XFX Swift AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GDDR6 Graphics Card - $934 at Good Games Pavilion eBay (Down from $1209) Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra 256GB - $1274 at Samsung
Mobile
Apple Watch Series 11 GPS 46mm - Black - $579 at Officeworks (Down from $899) Xiaomi 15T Pro 12GB | 512GB 5G - $979 at Becextech AU (Down from $1399) Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 256GB (New Customer Must Add Plan from $30/28-Day) - $1599 at amaysim (Down from $2198)
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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