# In This Issue

- Tim Cook shows Donald Trump around their new Mac Pro factory in Austin Texas

- Google tweaks targeting options for political ads

- Mike Cannon-Brooke and Andrew Forrest want to export Australian sunlight to Singapore

- Bloomberg survey of Tesla Model 3 owners finds incredible customer satisfaction

- Cheap refurbished S4 & S3 Apple Watches, Logitech Harmony 350 Universal Remote, TP-Link HS110 wi-fi smart plug, lifetime Plex subscription, $500 off any iPhone at JB Hi-Fi, Withings Body Cardio Weight Scale, Seagate Ironwolf 8TB HDD, Acer Predator X34P 34" gaming monitor

# News

#### Tim Cook shows Donald Trump around their new Mac Pro factory in Austin Texas

Donald Trump was shown around Apple/Flex's refurbished Mac Pro factory in Texas by Tim Cook today. 500 people work there assembling the computers using parts imported from all around the world. Here's a video of Timmy showing Donny the fancy new machine and here's Donald Trump's version of the same event. Apple also announced they're going to build a US$1b campus in Austin where 5,000 people will work in 2022 and has capacity for up to 15,000 as Apple's Texas base grows. It's kinda weird seeing Tim Cook and Apple playing along with Donald Trump's photo opportunities to show how Great America is Again. Apple loves being the progressive poster child of Silicon Valley, yet we have their CEO engaging willingly with the Trump administration. The Verge has a neat article about Tim & Donald's convenient relationship.

#### Google tweaks targeting options for political ads

Google has decided that it's going to "limit audience targeting for election ads to age, gender and general location at a postal code level" and won't allow "false claims about election results or the eligibility of political candidates based on age or birthplace" on their advertising platform. These new policies will be enforced in the UK within a week (their election is on the 12th of December), across the EU by the end of 2019 and worldwide Jan 6th 2020. Google says they're doing this due to "recent concerns and debates about political advertising, and the importance of shared trust in the democratic process, we want to improve voters' confidence in the political ads they may see on our ad platforms". Better than nothing, I guess.

#### Mike Cannon-Brooke and Andrew Forrest want to export Australian sunlight to Singapore

Mike Cannon-Brooke and Andrew Forrest (former CEO of Fortescue Metals) have lead an investment round for a company called SunCable who have a plan to build the world's largest solar farm in the Northern Territory (10GW - over 3 million solar panels), alongside the world's biggest battery (22GWh - approx 1.5 billion iPhones) and sell the electricity generated to Singapore via high voltage direct current cable network. It'll cost over $20b to build. HVDC already happens in Europe and China to share the geographical benefits of their regions - no reason why Australia can't do the same. It's exciting to finally see some sort of action to export Australia's abundant renewable energy resources. We've got way more sun and wind than we need for our own purposes, why not see if our neighbors will buy it?

# Not News

#### Bloomberg survey of Tesla Model 3 owners finds incredible customer satisfaction

I was lucky enough to drive a Tesla Model 3 for a full day on Monday (thanks Jonathan!) and have been contorting and twisting my financial situation all week to see if I can afford one (its unlikely, but maybe?). The Model 3 was way better than I expected and according to Bloomberg's survey of over 5,000 Model 3 owners, I'm not alone in thinking that. Their survey found 99.6% of owners agree that their car is a "pleasure to drive". In almost every category, Model 3 owners really, really love their car. Even build quality is no longer an issue now as after 2 years of production quality control has improved dramatically. According to the survey, newer owners of the Model 3 are reporting orders of magnitude less defects than initial buyers.

# Bargains

- Refurbished S4 & S3 Apple Watches starting at $249 at Beyond the Box

- Aldi will be selling the Logitech Harmony 350 Universal Remote for $30 next week

- TP-Link HS110 wi-fi smart plug with energy monitoring (i.e: see how much power a device is using) - $29.60 from Amazon AU

- 25% off lifetime Plex subscription - $120, was $160

- $500 off any iPhone at JB Hi-Fi if you go on a Telstra 60GB/m 12m contract

- Withings Body Cardio Weight Scale - $110 at Costco

- Seagate Ironwolf 8TB 3.5" SATA HDD - $287.20 from Futu Online's eBay store

- Acer Predator X34P 34" curved IPS G-Sync gaming monitor - $847.20 on ftc_Computers eBay store

🎶 E-Talking - Soulwax

😁 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.​