# In This Issue

- Coronavirus related Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Game Developers Conference news

- The Pope says log off for Lent, disconnect from your phone and connect to the Gospel

- Australia’s getting some new LED cinema screens that are supposed to look awesome

- Five things that need only a sentence to explain

- Cheap 10-port USB charger, Logitech MX Anywhere 2S & Vertical ergo mice, Samsung S20 plan, Telstra prepaid SIM

# News

#### Coronavirus related Microsoft, Apple, Facebook and Game Developers Conference news

Lots of news about the coronavirus outbreak today. Microsoft has explained to investors that it won't meet this quarter's revenue forecast for its Windows & Surface divisions due to coronavirus. They don't say why exactly, just attributing the decline in revenue from activity in China slowing down and supply chains degrading. Tim Cook confirmed that Apple is facing similar outbreak related problems at a shareholder meeting last night, but didn't go into detail about what they're doing about it. Facebook has said it will "take steps to stop ads for products that refer to the coronavirus and create a sense of urgency, like implying a limited supply, or guaranteeing a cure or prevention" - aka the least they could do. The annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco is still going ahead though, despite large exhibitors like Sony, EA, Facebook and Kojima Productions pulling out.

#### The Pope says log off for Lent, disconnect from your phone and connect to the Gospel

His Holiness, Pontifex maximus, the big dog Pope Francis has urged Catholics to log off for Lent in his Ash Wednesday musings - "It is the time to turn off the television and open the Bible. It is the time to disconnect from your cell phone and connect to the Gospel". Amen my pious friend. "We live in an atmosphere polluted by too much verbal violence, too many offensive and harmful words, which are amplified by the internet" and that "today, people insult each other as if they were saying Good Day". Reuters mentions that Pope Francis has been getting sledged by "mostly anonymous anti-pope Twitter feeds" (lol) and that could be why he's going all digital detox on us. I've been a bad Catholic and already fucked up by eating meat for lunch today - maybe I'll make it up to Jesus by being nice online the next 39 days.

#### Australia’s getting some new LED cinema screens that are supposed to look awesome

Hoyts has refurbished a cinema in Sydney (Entertainment Quarter in Moore's Park) with a 14m diagonal 4K LED screen made by Samsung that you can go watch movies on now. It's not the biggest screen around (Hoyts' Docklands cinema has two 24m screens) but the advantage of using this setup over a projector is the massively improved brightness, colour accuracy and superior black levels compared to even the best projector. It's heaps of little LED panels that clip together to make a giant screen. Here's a little explainer video from Samsung and a video from a bloke who saw a Samsung demo at a cinema expo about two years ago. These aren't the first cinemas in the world using LED screens, but Hoyts Highpoint is getting one of these screens (albiet only 10m) in March and I can't wait to check it out.

# Not News

#### Five things that need only a sentence to explain

- A gashopon/capsule toy machine on a Japanese street that hands out random CPUs for 500 yen.

- Instagram if it was developed for Windows 95 looks beautiful.

- The US$450 optional castors for the new Mac Pro don't come with locks to prevent it rolling away.

- Some loose unit concocted a method accessing files on a 5.25" floppy drive via an Apple Watch.

- Miss the startup chime on your 2016 or newer Mac? Here's how to turn the glorious sound back on.

# Bargains

- 10-port USB charger with 19.2A of output across the 10 ports - $99 at Altronics

- Logitech MX Anywhere 2S wireless mouse - $59 at The Good Guys

- Logitech MX Vertical Advanced ergonomic mouse - $98 at Harvey Norman

- Samsung Galaxy S20 - $699 up front on a 12m $65/m contract at JB Hi-Fi

- Free Telstra SIM (no credit) from Telstra's online store

🎶 Go With The Flow - Queens of the Stone Age

😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.

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.​