Plus: Tesla's chair vs. the Northern Beaches Council planning committee ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 23, 2025 | Read online
# Ship tracking appreciation, Telstra's bad week and the AIPod Shuffle Plus: Tesla's chair vs. the Northern Beaches Council planning committee
Flickr: dogwelder
Issue 2338 - Friday 23 May 2025
It’s Friday! Wanted to finish off the week with a lighter Sizzle so I hope you enjoy the edition and your weekend ❤️ .
# The News
### Ship tracking and bookmark saving are relics of the old internet
Ship stuck! Cargo vessel NCL Salten ran aground in central Norway and ended up in someone’s backyard (The Guardian). Sizzler Justin shared a link to the Slack for a live marine traffic watcher (Marine Traffic). Sitting here, watching the little dot, presumably with thousands of other people simultaneously, reminded me of a simpler time on the internet with websites and public data. At the same time, I read news that Pocket, the link bookmarking app that was acquired by Mozilla in 2017, is shuttering because the organisation says people’s “browsing habits and online needs” have changed (Mozilla). The idea that an app could do something simple and useful, without being built around an algorithmic recommendation system or social features, feels like a relic of the past.
A metaphor for the state of the open web? You decide
### Telstra’s expensive week
Telstra is finishing up its tough week by facing a backlash over its hiked internet and mobile prices. As flagged by andyb in the Sizzle forum, most post-paid mobile and fixed line internet plans are going up by $3-5 a month (Telstra), although it is reducing its 100/40 ‘premium’ plan from $140 to $125 (SmartCompany). And as Sizzler Dave Hall pointed out, this comes a year after the telco moved away from tying its plan prices to CPI which would have meant smaller increases (Telstra). Price increases are a part of life, but it’s becoming increasingly hard to justify being a Telstra post-paid mobile customer when the gap between it and other telcos in terms of quality and service is not that significant. While we’re on ISPs, Starlink has been “formally warned” after failing to give Australia’s comms regulator a report of complaints — four times! (ACMA).
### Will your next phone be the AIpod Shuffle?
We’ve gotten some details about the Sam Altman-Jony Ive AI device that will come out of the $10 billion purchase of io (a device startup founded by Ive that’s separate to his LoveFrom firm, which I mistakenly said was acquired yesterday). Altman told OpenAI employees it won’t be a phone or glasses but another device that’ll sit on a desk or in your pocket (WSJ, $). A trust industry analyst said his research suggests it’ll be a bit larger than the dearly departed Humane Pin and similar to the iPod shuffle, have microphones and cameras but no screen, and is expected to ship by 2027 (X). Meanwhile, Apple is eyeing releasing some AI glasses as soon as next year but has ditched the “camera watch” idea (Bloomberg, $). I am excited! I wanna see some cool new gadgets! I’d love to hear from you if you are loving any non-phone/computer device, or whether you reckon you’d use any of these things. I personally like this Hacker News commenter’s ideal form factor:
I’m sold
#### Leftovers
Guidance on securing data used in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) systems (Australian Cyber Security Centre) Prioritising child safety in the age of AI: AI experts push for tougher child safeguards in era of emerging tech (Australia’s SaferAI for Children Coalition) Expert advisers question AI testing at Services Aus (InnovationAus, $) Airwallex secures one of the country’s biggest funding rounds ever (AFR, $) Massive Airwallex cash exposes VC herding (AFR, $) AEMC draws up electricity rules for data centres in AI boom (ITNews) Canva, Atlassian employees flock to unions amid AI job fears (AFR, $) Google’s new AI Mode could crush small business visibility (SmartCompany) Google has a big AI advantage: it already knows everything about you (The Verge) Introducing Claude 4 (Anthropic) Musk’s DOGE used Meta’s Llama 2—not Grok—for gov’t slashing, report says (Ars Technica) Exclusive: OnlyFans owner in talks to sell to investor group at about $8 billion value, sources say (Reuters) Sorry, grads: Entry-level tech jobs are getting wiped out (San Francisco Standard) Microsoft blocks emails that contain ‘Palestine’ after employee protests (The Verge) WhatsApp 'audio hangouts' are now open to group chats of any size (Engadget) U.S. Spy Agencies Are Getting a One-Stop Shop to Buy Your Most Sensitive Personal Data (The Intercept) Mysterious Database of 184 Million Records Exposes Vast Array of Login Credentials (WIRED, $) Fujifilm unveil the new “X Half” camera, inspired by half-frame cameras (EFTM) Bluesky will begin verifying ‘notable’ users (TechCrunch) Home Assistant deprecates the "core" and "supervised" installation modes (LWN) Apartment living to get worse in 5 years as 6 GHz Wi-Fi nears ‘exhaustion’ (The Register)
# Oh, Also
### Tesla chair’s biggest challenge yet: Australian local council planning
Robyn Denholm has taken on a lot of challenges. As a former Telstra exec, the chair of Tesla (meaning she’s Elon Musk’s boss) and the federal government’s R&D system review, Denholm has a lot on her plate. And now she’s taken on the challenge of defeating the Northern Beaches Council planning committee (Crikey, $). I discovered Denholm has been in a stoush with the council over her plans to build a inclinator — one of those beach lift things — up to her five-storey Whale Beach house. Just goes to show nothing is more powerful than local planners. (PS: I want to do more reporting on Denholm. Know anything about her? Send me a message, confidentiality guaranteed!)
This is my Godzilla vs King Kong
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
Edifier MR4 Studio Monitor Speakers (White or Black) - $88 at Centre Com eBay DJI Neo Mini Drone with 4K UHD Camera (Controller-Free) - $254 at DJI eBay Store DJI Osmo Action 4 Standard Combo at Sydney Mobiles eBay - $294 at Sydney Mobiles eBay Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Over-Ear Headphones - $296 at Sennheiser eBay DJI Osmo Action 4 Combos at DJI Official AU eBay Standard Combo for $299 Adventure Combo for $459 Sony Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Headphones Black WH-1000XM4B - $319 at Costco Amazfit T-Rex 3 Outdoor Smart Watch - $327 at Mobileciti DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo Plus (DJI RC 2) - $1376 at Mobileciti eBay TCL 65" 65C7K Premium QD-Mini LED 4K Google TV - $1480 at Appliance Central TCL 85" C7K Premium 4K QD-Mini LED Google TV (2025) - $2556 at Appliances Online Samsung 83" OLED S90D TV - $3633 at Samsung Partner Portal LG 83" C4 4K UHD OLED Evo Smart TV & Bonus $488.80 Gift Card - $4888 at Harvey Norman
Computing
Razer Cobra Lightweight Wired Gaming Mouse - $48 at Amazon AU FL Studio Fruity Edition - $79 at Image‑Line Dell 5510 i5 10310u 1.70GHz 16GB 256GB 15.6" Win 11 (Used) - $259 at BNEACTTRADER eBay HP Probook 430 G8 13.3" FHD Laptop i5-1135G7 16GB Ram 256GB SSD Win11p (Used) - $424 at Max Direct eBay Dell Laptop Latitude 7420 Core i5 14" Touchscreen 16GB RAM 512GB (Refurbished) - $551 at Ecofurb Gaming PCs at TechFast ITX i3-12100F, RTX 4060 for $688 ITX i5-12400F, RTX 4060 for $718 i5-12400F, RTX 4060 Ti, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD for $948 Gaming PCs at Nebula PC Ryzen 5 7500F, RX 7800 XT, 32GB 6000MHz CL32 RAM, 1TB G4 M.2, 650W PSU for $1498 7800X3D for $1898
Mobile
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 512GB - $1899 at BatchBuy
# The End
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