Using Wi-Fi as ... a motion detector? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 01, 2025 | Read online
# AI GDP boost and social cost, what is an Xbox and a 2025 cassette player Using Wi-Fi as ... a motion detector?
Edition 2364
Flickr: beth-latynina
A small reminder for Pocket users: you have one week to migrate your bookmarks before it shuts down. Don’t lose all those long reads you ignore while scrolling through TikTok!
# The News
### AI will help productivity. It’s a shame what it’s doing to reality
Government senior figures are promising “light-touch” AI regulation (AFR, $) as an OpenAI exec visits Australia with a prediction that the tech will make our economy $115 billion bigger (AFR, $). Sure! I mean, these numbers are all made up but we’re seeing everyone from teachers (TechSpot) to adult performers (The Verge) starting to use the technology. One thing that these reports never consider is the social cost of this technology — like the impact of losing the ability to tell what’s real. In May, four of the YouTube’s top 10 channels featured AI in every video (Sherwood News). And at the same time that Reddit is selling data to AI companies, its platform is being flooded with fake AI content to target users or, increasingly, the AI bots ingesting it (9to5Mac). I reckon there’ll be a big desire for online spaces quarantined from AI content. Until then, let me share a few tips for spotting fake online content:
Written: The em dash, “—”, used to be a telltale sign that either content was written by ChatGPT or a tortured journalist, but the latest tip is AI loves “isn’t just x — it’s y” (X dot com). Music: Garbage Day’s Ryan Broderick says “A typical bass line in most music repeats to create a groove, AI basslines tend to meander and never repeat.” Video: This handy video suggests looking at things like video length (AI video tends to be quite short), teeth (ChatGPT still struggles) and for general continuity/video logic.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### When an Xbox isn’t really an Xbox
For those who don’t pay much attention to gaming, you probably figure a Xbox is a console that plays Xbox games. And, increasingly, you’d be wrong! Recently, Microsoft put out a third-party Xbox VR headset (Xbox) and a handheld (Xbox) that can play some sub-section of Xbox games but aren’t really Xboxes. A founding Xbox team member has even called Microsoft's desire to produce Xbox consoles “dead” (Shortcut). So while the Xbox CEO said last year there will be future Xbox consoles (Rolling Stone) it looks like Microsoft is positioning Xbox to become “the Windows for gaming, but not Windows”.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Cassette players are so back
The Verge alerted me to a new product by Maxell — the once-well known cassette brand — which brings the cassette player into 2025. The suitably inscrutably named MXCP-P100 has Bluetooth, USB-C charging and a rechargeable battery but, sadly, is only available in Japan now for about $140 bucks. I have no reason to buy this but… I can’t pretend like I’m not tempted! I’d love to hear what older tech you think is ready for a facelift?
I can’t help myself, there’s just something so satisfying about a device that does one thing well
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
“As more people have begun using large language models including ChatGPT and Google Gemini, their concern about the risks of the technology have actually increased.” (Guardian Australia) Australia’s controversial New Vehicle Efficiency Standard credit and debit system begins today (TechAU) Palmer Luckey's Anduril splashes $50 million on facilities as it expands in Australia (Capital Brief, $) McKinsey enlisted to help Services Aus with AI ‘building blocks’ (InnovationAus, $) Exetel dumps complex plans, replaces with a single, simple 500/50Mbps plan for A$80pm (TechAU) Introduction to connected vehicles (Australian Cyber Security Centre) Audit Lessons: Governance of Data (Australian National Audit Office) Hundreds of Brother printer models have security flaw that can't be patched (Engadget) DeepSeek faces ban from Apple, Google app stores in Germany (IT News) Apple Weighs Using Anthropic or OpenAI to Power Siri in Major Reversal (Bloomberg, archived) Privacy-focused app maker Proton sues Apple over alleged anticompetitive practices and fees (TechCrunch) Android 16 review: Post-hype (Ars Technica) Why You Should Care About This War Over the Future of Money (Engadget) Windows seemingly lost 400 million users in the past three years (Tom’s Hardware) Microsoft warns of Windows update delays due to wrong timestamp (Bleeping Computer) Microsoft Authenticator is ending support for passwords (The Verge) AI is Anti-Human (and assorted qualifications) (njump.me) "You cannot, should not, run Win95 directly on new hardware". IdeaPad L340 from 2019 (Reddit)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Using Wi-Fi as … a motion detector?
A US telco support article was circulating social media today because it outlines how its Wi-Fi routers can function as motion detectors (Xfinity). As it turns out, there’s actually a growing number of products that work by analysing Wi-Fi signals to pick up disruptions that indicate movement (MIT Technology Review). The reason it’s not used more is that Wi-Fi is less reliable and has worse definition than cheapo motion sensors, but very cool to know that it could be used that way (although it does open up some uncomfortable possibilities of ways companies can get more data).
There are apparently some promising uses for this in health tech
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
LISEN 240W USB-C to USB-C Cable 2m 2-Pack - Black/White - $10.19 at Lisen Space Amazon AU TP-Link Tapo C212 Pan/Tilt Smart Security Wi-Fi/Wired Camera - $39 at Amazon AU 3 or more TP-Link VIGI 5MP Turret Security Camera Vigi C350 (4mm) - $44.25 per camera at Amazon AU Amazon Fire TV Stick at Amazon AU 4K for $59 4K Max for $69 Nothing Ear 2024 Wireless Earbuds - $186 at Amazon Germany via Amazon AU Tecmojo 12ru Wall Mount Network Cabinet (White) - $195 at Amazon AU Amazon Kindle Scribe 2024 model Includes Premium Pen (16 GB) - $449 at Amazon AU eufy Security Solocam S220 with Homebase (4 Pack) - $749 at JB Hi-Fi Samsung 65" The Frame Pro 4K QLED TV - $2453 at Appliances Sales via Big W Marketplace
Computing
1 year of Jetbrain products for free SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO microSDXC Card with Adapter - $39 at Amazon AU HyperX Pulsefire Haste 2 Wired Gaming Mouse - $49 at Amazon AU Refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab A T307 (2020) (8.4, 32GB, Grey, Wi-Fi) - $99 at Perfect Preowned LG 27" QHD 180Hz VA Curved Gaming Monitor - $239 at The Good Guys PowerColor Radeon Hellhound RX 9070 XT 16GB Graphics Card - $1199 at PC Case Gear HP Victus 16” 144Hz i5-14450HX 32GB RAM 1TB SSD Nvidia RTX 4060 - $1399 at HP Official Store eBay Apple Mac Studio M2 Max with 32GB RAM & 512GB SSD - $1895 at JB Hi-Fi Palit GeForce RTX 5090 GameRock OC 32GB GDDR7 RGB LED Graphics Card - $4399 at Shopping Express
### Mobile
Belong Mobile Starter Pack (unlimited calls and texts, 160gig data) - $25 at Coles Refurbished iPhone 13 Pro 256GB - $629 at Green Gadgets (Refurbished)
# The End
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