Plus: could you wife be the world's greatest Tetris player? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

May 05, 2025 | Read online
# Post-election tech demands, chatbot psychosis and trial threatens Firefox and Chrome Plus: could you wife be the world's greatest Tetris player?
Issue 2324 - Monday 6 May 2025
I thought I was going to be the only one but great to hear from Deane and Brendan who are both also anti-one time email password camp. William — a self-described “authentication nerd” and author of the webauthn rust library — reckons that we aren’t going passwordless anytime soon and shared a very interesting blog he wrote about the failings of passkey adoption (Blackhats). Always love to hear from you all!
# The News
### Election in the rear mirror
The election is over and by now you’ve all seen the result. The tech industry has chalked up the result as a “mandate for bold ambition” (InnovationAus, $) and called for Albo et al. to get on with a its R&D review, a proper national AI plan and to keep that domestic production money flowing. In terms of the digital campaign, Labor really pumped money into digital ads in the last few days (The Guardian Australia) and I wrote a piece about how I think this was the ‘YouTube’ election (Crikey, $). I didn’t see that much online shenanigans but I was interested to see this piece about a pro-Russian fake news site trying to “poison” AI chatbots (ABC News). There’s nothing to suggest that it was successful, but harnessing the AI companies’ harvesting of all the internet to poison their answers is very interesting!
### People are relying on AI for ‘finding purpose’ and, sometimes, becoming psychotic?
People are suffering from psychosis egged on — and perhaps facilitated — by ChatGPT and other AI chatbots (Rolling Stone). There’s quite a bit in there, including how some people think ChatGPT’s conjured characters seem to persist in the platform even after being reset, so definitely worth a read. This stuff is obviously worst case scenario, but I think there’s some real reckoning coming about people’s use of AI chatbots and how we should expect the technology to respond. A recent survey found that the top use of generative AI had changed since last year from “generating ideas” to “therapy, companionship”, followed by “organizing my life” and “finding purpose” (Harvard Business Review). How’s this going to change things? Don’t know, but definitely something we should investigate as Google rolls them out to children (The Verge).
### Google trial could kill Chrome and Firefox
Firefox could go out of business if Google can’t pay it to make its search the browser default, Mozilla exec said (The Verge). CFO Eric Muhlheim made the comments as a Google witness in the US court case deciding how to deal with its ruling that the tech company is an illegal monopoly. If the court bans Google from paying Mozilla, that would mean losing 85% of Firefox’s revenue, which makes up 90% of Mozilla’s overall income. Another outcome is forcing Google to sell Chrome. The Vergecast smartly pointed out that these two “remedies” could kill off two of the most popular browsers (The Verge) and, as I’ve said before, we really don’t have that many options already (The Sizzle)
#### Leftovers
Australia’s home affairs department has let staff use Signal since Covid lockdowns, documents show (The Guardian Australia) I ditched the NBN and found a faster and cheaper alternative (The Australian, $) Atlassian’s AI plans fail to stop $15b value plunge (Australian Financial Review) Eight Aussie students recognised by Apple in their WWDC Student Challenge – Three from the SAME SCHOOL! (EFTM) Mr. Deepfakes, the Biggest Deepfake Porn Site on the Internet, Says It’s Shutting Down for Good (404 Media) Tesla sales plunge again in April, down stunning 75 pct over year before (The Driven) GTA 6 has been delayed until May 2026 (EFTM) TikTok fined 530 million euros by EU regulator over data protection (Reuters) ‘Dangerous nonsense’: AI-authored books about ADHD for sale on Amazon (The Guardian) Sam Altman’s eye-scanning project launches cryptocurrency in the US (The Verge) Musk gets his Texas wish. SpaceX launch site is approved as the new city of Starbase (AP) Mark Zuckerberg just declared war on the entire advertising industry (The Verge) Trump administration proposes cutting $491M from CISA budget (Cyber Scoop) The Signal Clone the Trump Admin Uses Was Hacked (Micah Flee)
# Oh, Also
### Have you ever discovered that your wife is the best in the world at Tetris?
Over the weekend, I came across this incredible 2007 Boston Globe article by a journalist who took his wife along to see a teen’s Tetris world record attempt (Boston Globe). She ends up breaking the record herself. I think we can all learn a lesson about marriage from this: always believe your wife is the best in the world at everything ❤️.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
1.2m HDMI 2.0 Cable - $2 at SONIQ UGREEN FineTrack Tag (Compatible with Apple Find My) - $18.89 at UGREEN via Amazon AU Dreame Mova M1 Robot Vacuum and Mop Combo (4500Pa Suction, LiDAR) + Free Accessory Kit - $129.99 at Dreame Amazon AU Audio-Technica ATH-S300BTBK Noise Cancelling Wireless Headphone - $149 at The Good Guys Canon Selphy CP1500 Photo Printer - $158 at Harvey Norman / Amazon AU (Back Order at Amazon AU) Kings 24Ah 12.8V LiFePO4 60W USB-C Power Pack - $159 at 4WD Supa Centre eBay SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless Gaming Headset - $167.51 at Amazon Germany via AU Bose SoundLink Speaker at Mobilexpress AU Flex Chilled Lilac for $189 Revolve+ II Bluetooth® Speaker for $445 Dreame U20 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, 120AW Suction Stick Vacuum - $199 at Dreame Official via Amazon AU Dreame D10s Robot Vacuum Cleaner and Mop - $228.99 at Dreame Official AU via Amazon AU Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 (All Colours) - $246 at Harvey Norman Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe 4TB SSD - $450 at eBay Australia Google Pixel Watch 3 45mm - $468 at Harvey Norman Apple Watch Series 10 GPS 46mm (International Version, Grey Import) - $583.99 at TechintheBasket
Computing
AOC 23.8" FHD IPS 100Hz 1ms Adaptive-sync Monitor - $86 at Centrecom Microsoft 365 Family - 1 Year Subscription (Digital Code) - $126.65 at Amazon Media AU Apple Products at The Good Guys (In-Store Only with Targeted $30 Voucher) Apple AirPods 4 for $159 iPad 11" A16 128GB Wi-Fi for $469 Kinstone Android Tablet FHD IPS 10.3" 4G 6GB/128GB 7500mAh - $149 at Phonebot (New) Asus DSL-AX82U AX5400 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 VDSL2 Modem Router - $339 at PCD International Samsung 990 PRO PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe 4TB SSD - $450 at cheaperretail eBay Australia Apple iPad 11" A16 128GB Wi-Fi - $489 at Officeworks Apple iPad Mini 8.3" A17 Pro 128GB Wi-Fi - $687 at Officeworks TerraMaster F4-424 Pro NAS (i3-n305, 32GB RAM) - $879 at TerraMaster via Amazon AU Gaming PC: RTX 4060 Ti GPU, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD at TechFast Ryzen 5 5500 for $898 Ryzen 5 5600 for $948 Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 14" AMD AI 350, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 2.8k 120hz OLED - $1529 ($1279 with Cashback) at Lenovo AU Microsoft Surface Pro 11: X Plus, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD - $1647 at Officeworks
Mobile
Vodafone 75GB 28-Day Prepaid Starter Pack - $10 at Vodafone Telstra Pre-Paid 5G SIM Kit - $19 at Officeworks Vodafone Apple iPhone 16 128GB with 100GB $39 monthly plan - $82.70/month at Vodafone on a 24 month deal. Vodafone 12 Months 220GB $250 Prepaid Starter Kit - $179 at Vodafone Boost Mobile Prepaid SIM Kit 365-Day 290GB - $230 at Lucky Mobile Apple iPad Mini 8.3" A17 Pro 128GB Wi-Fi - $687 at Officeworks Apple iPhone 16 Pro at Officeworks 128GB for $1529 256GB for $1729 512GB for $2069
# The End
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