Plus: how many yurts are in Mongolia? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 19, 2025 | Read online
# AI layoffs aren't what you think, reusing old phones and facial age analysis data Plus: how many yurts are in Mongolia?
Edition 2356
Flickr: SDASM archive
# The News
### Big Tech lays off staff for AI, but not for the reason you might think
Microsoft is the latest tech giant to cut thousands of staff supposedly as a result of AI (Reuters). It joins Amazon (WSJ, $), Google (Reuters) and Microsoft (Reuters) — that’s not a typo, this is the second round of cuts in a month — as Big Tech companies who’ve announced or forecasted redundancies in the past month or so. Previous Sizzles have covered the disappearing early career and grad jobs, but this is different. Part of me suspects that AI is a convenient excuse to cut staff without admitting to over-hiring. But don’t ignore these sentences popping up in articles: “Microsoft has planned a capital expenditure of $80 billion this fiscal year, with most of it aimed at expanding data centers to ease capacity bottlenecks for AI services.” Jobs are going because of AI. Not because Microsoft Copilot is making the sales calls, but because everyone in Silicon Valley needs all the money they can get their hands on to shovel into the AI furnace.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### What are you doing with your old phones?
A Canadian software engineer wrote a fun blog about how he turned his iPhone 8 into a solar-powered, locally-run OCR tool (Terminal Bytes). It’s a delightful little walkthrough that inspired me because, well, I personally act like the distracted boyfriend meme whenever I upgrade to a new phone even though the old one still works well. I have an iPhone 13 Pro that sits on my desk that I use to show notifications for email accounts that I only care about when working, has a burner eSIM and is used as an incredibly overpowered microphone when I need to record a conversation — but now I’m scheming about other ways to use it. I would love to hear how you use your old phones!
Now this is a hobby
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Facial analysis won’t stop teens from getting on social media
Sorry to write on it two days in a row but friend of the Sizzle Ange Lavoipierre has got her hands on the data from the government’s age assurance tech trial and, surprise surprise, it’s got problems (ABC News). Facial analysis, touted as one of the most promising tech to figure out someone’s age, came out as just 85% accurate within an 18 month range. Other methods “struggle with the same accuracy issues”, the report says. This gets at the really big question that will drastically change how the teen social media ban plays out: how strictly will the government expect the platforms to enforce the teen social media ban? Is the government happy for one in six kids — that’s like 4-5 kids in every class — to bypass the teen social media ban? Because that’s a situation where both pro-ban and anti-ban people won’t be happy.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
auDA’s 2026-30 strategy document released (auDA) The gaping cybersecurity hole in non-Tesla public EV charging facilities (The Driven) Targeted advertising & the Children's Online Privacy Code (Reset Tech Australia) Defence initiates testing $30m in anti-drone tech for troops (InnovationAus, $) NFC is getting a range boost (The Verge) Austrian government agrees on plan to allow monitoring of secure messaging (Reuters) Iran’s internet connectivity has plummeted (IODA) New US visa rules will force foreign students to unlock social media profiles (Guardian) DOJ seizes record $225 million in crypto tied to global ‘pig butchering’ scams (CNBC) First Proof Websites Are Tracking You Via Browser Fingerprinting (Texas A&M University) Amazon Kuiper second satellite launch postponed by ULA due to rocket booster issue (CNBC) Logitech's latest keyboard and mouse combo is wired, quiet, and suspiciously sensible (The Register) Google's AI-powered Search Live feature is here to further cannibalize the internet (Engadget) ‘Kid-pilled’ Sam Altman ‘constantly’ asked ChatGPT questions about his newborn (TechCrunch) Microsoft prepared to walk away from high-stakes OpenAI talks (FT, $) YouTube is plugging Veo 3 AI videos directly into Shorts (The Verge) These popular TP-Link routers could be facing some serious security threats - find out if you're affected (TechRadar) Apple has finally killed the Hackintosh – and my DIY Mac dreams have died with it (TechRadar) The Best Slushie Machines for Frozen Margaritas and Slurpees at Home (WIRED, $)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### How many yurts are there in Mongolia?
I’m sure this has been bugging you but I was not aware that there was limited data on how the number of yurts — the little, sturdy tent-like structures — in Mongolia. But thankfully, a man, Monroe Clinton, was inspired by a history podcast to figure out the answer by building a machine learning algorithm on Google Maps data (Monroe Clinton). I won’t spoil the answer for you but it was worthwhile reading how he did it. May this inspire you to find and solve your own Mongolian yurt mystery.
How many yurts can YOU spot
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electronics & electrical
NOVOO RG68 67W USB-C GaN Charger (White) - $25.19 at Mbest-AU via Amazon AU SMARTMI Air Purifiers at Forge Electrical Air Purifier C1 for $99 Jya Fjord for $179 Jya Fjord Pro for $249 GL.inet GL-BE3600 (Slate 7) Portable Travel Router - $203 at GL.inet Store via Amazon AU GoPro HERO11 Black Mini Action Cam - $289 at Kogan eBay EKO 65" 4K Ultra HD Google TV with built in Chromecast - $499 at BIG W Narwal Freo X Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop - $999 at Costco FujiFilm X-HF1 Black Mirrorless Camera - $1079 at Camera House eBay Sony SEL70350G APS-C E-Mount 70-350mm F4.5-6.3 G OSS Zoom Lens - $1099 at Sony Australia DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo - $1359 at D1 Store Sony FE 16mm F1.8 G Full Frame Ultra Wide Prime Lens - $1399 at Sony Australia, JB Hifi LG 65" C5 4K OLED EVO AI Smart TV - $2995 at Harvey Norman Valerion VisionMaster Pro 2 4K RGB Triple Laser Projector - $3649 at Vividstorm Australia LG 77" OLED EVO G5 AI UHD 4K Smart TV (pre-order) - $5680 at Videopro
Computing
SanDisk 256GB Extreme microSDXC Memory Card with Adapter - $30.97 at Amazon US via AU Samsung 512GB EVO Select microSD Memory Card + Adapter - $49.73 at Amazon US via AU Dell E2425HS 24" 1920x1080 Monitor - $99 at Dell AU Outlet Gigabyte B650M AM5 mATX Gaming Wi-Fi Motherboard - $125 at MetroCom via Amazon AU Kogan 27" Full HD (1920 x 1080) 200Hz 1ms IPS Frameless FreeSync Gaming Monitor - $149 at Kogan Asus TUF Gaming AX6000 (TUF-AX6000) Router - $245 at Amazon AU NZXT N7 B650E - $343 at AMAZON Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE 10.9" Wi-Fi 128GB - $374 at JB Hi-Fi Seagate 26TB Expansion Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive - $428 at B&H Photo Video LG 35WN75CN 35" VA 3440 x 1440 21:9 Ultrawide Curved Monitor with USB-C - $399 at Amazon Au Palit GeForce RTX 5060 Dual 8GB GDDR7 Graphics Card - $479 at smarthomestoreau eBay Lenovo 14" IdeaPad Slim 5 Laptop: AI QC XPlus 16GB, 512GB SSD Copilot + PC - $947 at Amazon Dell Latitude 14 Laptop (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) at Dell AU Outlet (As New) 5440 (i5-1350P) for $1249 5455 (SD X Plus) for $1279 Gaming PCs at TechFast R5-7500F, RTX 5070, 32GB RAM, 1TB NVME for $1388 R7-7800X3D, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB RAM, 1TB NVME for $2388 Inno3D X3 GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB Graphics Card - $1392 at MegaBuy Apple MacBook Air M3 Grey at JB Hi-Fi 13" (24GB/512GB) for $1592 15" (24GB/512GB) for $1796 MSI Prestige 16 AI+ Evo B2VMG-035AU Ultra 9 288V 32GB RAM 2TB SSD 16” 4K OLED 1.5kg - $2397 at Officeworks
Mobile
Optus 365-Day Prepaid 300GB Starter Kit with $150 cashback - $275 at Cashrewards Boost Mobile $300 Prepaid SIM Starter Kit 12-Month (290GB) - $240 at Auditech_online eBay Motorola Edge 50 Neo 12GB RAM/256GB Storage plus bonus $50 HN gift card - $348 at Harvey Norman 15% off Google Pixel 9 Range at JB Hifi Pixel 9 128GB for $838 Pixel 9 Pro 5G 128GB for $1059 256GB for $1187
# The End
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