Plus: Have you heard the Kylie Minogue song about being a font? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

March 26, 2025 | Read online
# Budget tech snoozefest, Trump scares away US cloud customers and everyone gets pwned... even Troy Hunt Plus: Have you heard the Kylie Minogue song about being a font?
Issue 2299 - Wednesday 26 March 2025
# The News
### Federal budget tech snoozefest
Last night’s federal budget was a bit of a snoozefest when it came to tech. I did a wrap at Crikey ($) but TLDR there was no new money for boosting the tech industry here or even new approaches to tech regulation. AI and quantum computing weren’t mentioned (SmartCompany). “Cyber” was included just six times — all in relation to old spending (CyberDaily). ITNews did a full list of tech projects, with the big ones being upgrades to existing government tech infrastructure like My Health Record, ASIC’s business register and NDIA’s systems. Australia’s tech industry and civic society groups are bummed by the lack of any cash, naturally. It’s surprising there was so little given the domestic struggles with R&D funding, a push for more sovereign tech capability and — given the direction some countries are headed — the sense that if Australia wants to do real regulation on things like AI, it’s probably going to have to do a lot of this work itself.
### You will one day get pwned whether you’re Troy Hunt or a US national security advisor
On a long enough timeline, the rate of not being pwned drops to zero. It doesn’t matter if you’re Australia’s best known cybersecurity guy HaveIBeenPwned’s Troy Hunt who admitted yesterday that his Mailchimp account got phished when he woke up bleary eyed in London (Troy Hunt). Apparently, 16,000 emails were on the list, including people who had unsubscribed? Weird choice by Mailchimp to keep those. It also even happens to people like US national security advisor Michael Waltz who seemingly accidentally added a journalist to a Signal group chat that was used to co-ordinate Houthi targets in Yemen (The Atlantic). If you haven’t read the piece, I really, really recommend it. The moral of the story? The weakest links in most systems are humans, and that the best way to protect something is to make it so that humans can’t expose it — whether it’s communicating war plans over protected systems or not keeping lists of people who don’t want to be contacted anymore.
### Trump is making companies want to move away from US cloud providers
It’s early, but there’s signs suggesting that people outside of the US are looking to reduce their reliance on US-based companies because of waves hand everything that’s happening over there. European cloud-based companies say they’ve seen an increase in customers asking about transferring away from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, all American-based providers who power a lot of the internet (WIRED, $). While there’s been some push for Australian government to do the same — at least a physically located cloud run by a US company (InnovationAus, $) — the federal government has actually fairly recently chosen not to require Digital ID data to be held in Australia, for example (InnovationAus, $). Meanwhile, things like India dropping its digital ad tax shows just how much power the US holds and is increasingly willing to wield for its own short term gain (Reuters).
#### Leftovers
‘No consent’: Australian authors ‘livid’ that Meta may have used their books to train AI (The Guardian Australia) Australian firms overestimate cyber defences, survey reveals (Security Brief Australia) Australians can now use Apple AirPods Pro as hearing aids – but experts warn they’re not for everyone (The Guardian Australia) Older Viewers Fuel YouTube Move to No. 1 Among TV Distributors in February (Hollywood Reporter) Apple announces WWDC 2025 for June 9; iOS 19 and more expected (9to5Mac) Game Informer has officially returned (The Verge) Apple barred from Google antitrust trial, putting $20 billion search deal on the line (Ars Technica) Napster has been bought for $207 to “be used for marketing in the metaverse” (CNBC) ‘Over 1 Million’ People Wanted a Cybertruck. Where Are They? (Wired, $) If you try to kill somebody, don't throw your iPad in the river afterwards (Apple Insider)
# Oh, Also
### Have you heard the Kylie Minogue song about being a font?
The world is full of such pleasant surprises. Like today, I discovered that Kylie Minogue sang on a famous Japanese techno artist’s song from the perspective of a font, German Bold Italic (YouTube). This information comes from a blog post from a Berlin-based font studio (Dinamo) about the song and the font, which was released along with the track in 1997. And if you’d like to download the font it’s available here on an archived version of Kylie’s old website (Wayback Machine).
[HD] GBI (German Bold Italic) - Kylie Minogue & Towa Tei
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Squishmallows Plush Bluetooth Headphones - $7.50 at Kmart Tri-Head Book Reading Light at Glocusent - $13.59 via Amazon AU Anker 10000mAh 30W Power Bank, USB-C Fast Charging - $29.99 at AnkerDirect AU via Amazon AU WUBEN E1 Rechargeable Magnetic Selfie Flashlight 300 Lumens - $39.99 at Newlight Amazon AU Bargainpop Portable Wi-Fi Mini Projector - $49.99 at Bargainpop AU via Amazon AU Reolink RLC-833A 4K 8MP PoE Security Camera AU Stock - $105 at Reolink Official AliExpress Apple AirPods Pro 2 with Magsafe Case (USB-C) - $319 at Hub by Triforce SIRUI SVM-165 Carbon Fibre Monopod - $345 at SIRUI JAPAN via Amazon AU BLUETTI AC180 Portable Power Station 1800W 1152Wh - $996 at BLUETTI Ecovacs Deebot T30S Robot Vacuum - $1099 at Costco Online (Membership Required)
Computing
70% Off Acasis Video Capture Card at Mostly Melbourne HDMI to USB 2.0 (1080p) for $14.99 HDMI to USB-C for $32.99 AMD Ryzen 7 5700X CPU - $133 at TaiYuan Store AliExpress Lifetime Plex Pass A$159 - $159 at Plex WD Elements 20TB External Desktop Hard Drive - $679 at Amazon AU Gaming PCs at TechFast i5-12400F, RTX 4060 ITX for $688 R7-7800X3D, RTX 5070 Ti, B650 WiFi, 32GB 6000, 750G PSU for $2748 Asus TUF Gaming F16 Laptop at Centrecom FX607VU (i7/RTX 4050) for $1499 Ryzen 7 / RTX 4060 for $1499
Mobile
Calmspace: Sleep Sounds & Relaxation - Free 1 Year Premium Access on iOS/Android - Free Hanman 2 in 1 Detachable Wallet Case for iPhone 16 Pro Max - $9.99 at soka SAMSUNG GALAXY Phones at Phonex AU GALAXY A05s for $240 GALAXY A16 for $270 GALAXY A25 for $325 Boost Mobile 290GB 12-Month Expiry Prepaid SIM with $65 Cashback - $255 at TopCashback AU Apple iPhone 12 Mini 5G 64GB Like New $319 (Refurb) - $319 at Phonebot
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🗣️ 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.
## 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