Plus: How does the Nintendo Switch 2 taste? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 06, 2025 | Read online
# Musk vs. Trump, Apple hits out at Aussie 'EU' rules and a non-klepto AI model Plus: How does the Nintendo Switch 2 taste?
Edition 2348
Flickr: hcftwayne
Apologies for the late edition today, Sizzlers. I was juggling a kid who was supposed to go to daycare with everything else! Have a great weekend.
# The News
### Elon Musk vs Donald Trump is the fight we’ve all been waiting for
Wake up! The girls are fighting. After Elon Musk began dissing the Big Beautiful Bill, the world’s richest man and the world’s most powerful man Donald Trump are now in a full-on brawl using their individual social media platforms to throw punches at each other (The Verge). When Trump threatened to cancel Musk’s government contracts, Musk responded by saying SpaceX will stop building the Dragon spaceship which is used to fly people and cargo to the International Space Station. Musk also alleged Trump is in the Epstein Files (but strangely didn’t mention his own dining with Epstein). Beyond the drama and the politics, there are seismic consequences for a Trump-Musk split given how many of Elon’s businesses interact or even depend on the US government. My prediction: The two will kiss and make up because Trump is weirdly accepting of former foes and, no matter how much they hate each other, they hate the other side more.
I’ve had this picture in the holster this entire year
### Apple doesn’t want Australia to get the EU-style freedoms
Apple wants Australians to stay locked down in its walled garden where device owners can only install approved apps and pay a 30% fee on in-app purchases for the highest grossing apps (The Guardian). That’s the message from Apple in response to Australia’s proposed competition rules which could force side-loading and links to outside payment options in Apple’s App Store. Apple says that this “EU-style” competition regime would make users less safe, threaten their privacy, and stop innovation (Information Age). This comes as Apple is appealing the EU order to open up its tech to outside developers (Reuters). Also interesting to note: iOS 18, promoted for introducing Apple’s new AI features, has had a below-average adoption rate (Apple Insider). It’s hard not to feel that Apple’s position as the GOAT is under serious threat from the simultaneous forces of regulation and lack of cool new things.
### Turns out you can build an AI model without stealing everything ever
A group of researchers has created a generative AI model trained on completely ethically sourced data that they claim is comparable in performance with recent other offerings (Washington Post). Academics from a handful of colleges said it was a pain but they were ultimately able to source 8 terabytes of public domain information from places like the US Library of Congress. This model, they claim, is about as good as Meta’s similarly sized 2023 Llama — not exactly state of the art but also not terrible either. This proof-of-concept reveals how bullshit the AI industry’s claim that they have to steal the whole world’s data without permission or compensation for their own benefit. The truth is, it’s easier to do that, and they’re betting that no one powerful will call them on their bluff.
#### Leftovers
Why insurers feed members’ data to AI models (Information Age) Tech giants' indirect emissions rose 150 percent in three years (IT News) Discord CTO says he’s “constantly bringing up enshittification” during meetings (Ars Technica) China’s rare earth restrictions halt first auto industry production lines (The Verge) Researchers uncover possible iPhone spyware campaign inside U.S. (Axios) Apple’s leaked 45W MagSafe charger is first to support Qi2.2 (The Verge) ICANN fee price hike by 11% (ICANN) This is a 2c increase FYI The Oversight Board says Meta isn't doing enough to fight celeb deepfake scams (Engadget) How we’re responding to The New York Times’ data demands in order to protect user privacy (OpenAI) OpenAI takes down covert operations tied to China and other countries (NPR) Microsoft's AI Weather Model Is More Accurate, Less Expensive Than Traditional Forecasting (Extreme Tech) Cellebrite acquires iPhone virtualization firm Corellium for $200M (Apple Insider) Ross Ulbricht Got a $31 Million Donation From a Dark Web Dealer, Crypto Tracers Suspect (WIRED, $) Twitter's new encrypted DMs aren't better than the old ones (mjg59’s journal) I Think I’m Done Thinking About genAI For Now (Glyph’s blog)
# Oh, Also
### How does the Nintendo Switch 2 taste?
The Nintendo Switch 2 is out, and the question on everyone’s lips — literally — is: what does it taste like? Thankfully, the good people at the Verge have done real journalism and put it to the test. (Don’t worry, Nintendo says its products aren’t harmful to taste)
Taste test: Switch 2 vs. Switch vs. 3DS vs DS, which cart tastes best?
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
2-Pack 100W 2m USB Type-C Cables - $10.15 at INIU via Amazon AU One Beat Power Board Surge Protected 8-Outlet 4-USB, 2m Extension 900J - $29.99 at Amazon AU HPM Handy Man Powerboard and Extension Lead - Value Pack - $59 at Bunnings Google Pixel Buds Pro - Coral Colour - $129 at Kogan Kensington SD5750T Thunderbolt 4 Dual 4K Dock - $139 at Horizon Store OnePlus Watch 3 - $361 at AliExpress Insta360 Bundles at Insta360 Store Insta360 Ace Standard Bundle for $321.99 Insta360 Ace Pro Standard Bundle for $436.99 Ecovacs Deebot Neo 2.0 Plus Robot Vacuum Cleaner With Auto Empty Station - $499 at ALDI Special Buys
Computing
MSI B760M BOMBER Wi-Fi LGA1700 mATX Motherboard - $159 at I Gaming Computer Razer Kiyo Pro - USB Streaming Camera - $159 at Amazon AU Western Digital Red Plus 3.5" Hard Drive 10TB - $308 at Amazon US via AU Elgato Prompter – Teleprompter with Built-in Screen - $338 at Amazon Seagate 28TB Expansion Desktop External Hard Drive - $588 at QuickDealStore via Amazon US Apple iPad Mini (7th Gen) 128GB Wi-Fi Blue - $712 at Heybattery via Kogan (Import) Gaming PC: Ryzen 5 7500F, RX 9060 XT 16GB, B650M Wi-Fi Mobo, 32GB 6000MHz RAM, 1TB Gen4 M.2 SSD - $1318 at Nebula PC PCs at Evatech 7500F/4060Ti for $1499 9600X/5060Ti 16GB for $1839 7800X3D/5070Ti for $2899 Gaming PC: AMD Ryzen 7 7700, AMD RX 9070 XT, B650M Mobo, 32GB 6000MHz RAM, 1TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD - $2199 at TechFast
Mobile
Mate Communicate 4G 15GB SIM Only Plan with $25 cashback - $25 at TopCashback AU Amaysim unlimited talk/text 120GB 28-Day Prepaid Mobile Plan - $35 at amaysim Boost Mobile Prepaid SIM Kit 365-Day 290GB - $245 at Lucky Mobile Motorola Edge 60 Fusion plus $150 giftcard - $699 at Harvey Norman Google Pixel 9 Pro XL 128GB - $1277 at The Good Guys
# The End
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