### Issue 1970 - Thursday 9th November, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Still no root cause for Optus outage but government to review what happened
- Details on Humane AI Pin leak to The Verge ahead of official release tomorrow
- Tritium decides to close Brisbane factory and cut costs
- a16z says they can't make money on AI if copyright respected, co-founder of Qualcomm gives SETI $200m, GTA 6 trailer coming in December, smartphone sales tank again
- Cheap wi-fi LED bulbs, Neural DSP plugins, Corsair mech keyboard, Panasonic DAB radio, refurb iPhone 11, Telstra 4G modem, Yamaha 5.1 pack, Boost Mobile SIM

## The News

### Still no root cause for Optus outage but government to review what happened

Optus is yet to make any new public statements regarding its total network collapse for over 8 hours yesterday, so we still don't have a root cause analysis. Matt Tett, "managing director of network analysis company Enex TestLab", speculates in the Guardian that "Optus are probably trying to pinpoint who is responsible and determine whether it is them or someone else" before giving a more detailed public statement. A Mastodon post by Rob Thomas outlines a theory that it was due to router upgrade gone wrong. Meanwhile, the Communications Minister announced a review of the incident, ACMA is looking into Optus' failure to comply with properly routing 000 calls, the Assistant Treasurer and Finance Minister wants Optus to compensate businesses and the Victorian government is "going to undertake its own review of both Optus' response and where we can see further improvements that can be made".

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### Details on Humane AI Pin leak to The Verge ahead of official release tomorrow

Remember that Humane AI Pin thing some ex-Apple people gave a TED talk about a few months ago? The Verge got its hands on some leaked documents ahead of its launch tomorrow. They summarise the Pin as a post-smartphone device that's a "US$699 wearable smartphone without a screen that has a US$24/m subscription fee and runs on a Humane-branded version of T-Mobile's network with access to AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI". There's a Snapdragon SoC, cameras, depth & motion sensors, a speaker and microphone and can connect to Bluetooth headphones. The mic isn't always on, you have to manually activate it somehow and a "Trust Light" blinks whenever the Pin is recording. We will learn more about this weird little device tomorrow.

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### Tritium decides to close Brisbane factory and cut costs

Following up on last week's news that Tritium, an Australian EV charger manufacturer that actually builds stuff in Australia, is running out of money and might shut down their Brisbane factory has formally announced it is shutting down the Brisbane factory. A team of around 200 people in R&D will remain in Brisbane, but there will be layoffs and cost cutting in the sales and admin side of the Australian located business. Manufacturing of EV chargers will now be centralised in Lebanon, Tennessee, where Tritium was kinda forced to build a factory because in order for their chargers to be eligible for very juicy US government incentives on offer to buyers, the chargers have to made in the USA. Smart move for the yanks, but sucks for us. The big question I have is where will politicians looking for a photo opportunities go now?

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### a16z says they can't make money on AI if copyright respected, co-founder of Qualcomm gives SETI $200m, GTA 6 trailer coming in December, smartphone sales tank again

- a16z said out loud that "imposing the cost of actual or potential copyright liability on the creators of AI models will either kill or significantly hamper their development". Well fuck, if the AI folk can't turn a buck because copyright laws get in the way, let's get rid of copyright! Do it you motherfuckers, I dare you.
- Franklin Antonio, a co-founder of Qualcomm, has bequeathed US$200m to the SETI Institute. That cash helps SETI "continue its pursuit of one of the biggest and most profound questions in all of science, a question as old as humanity itself – are we alone in the universe?"
- Sam Houser let loose via Rockstar's X account that they will drop a trailer for GTA VI in early December. Rumours reckon "the new game is expected to feature the series' first female protagonist" and will be "set in a fictionalised version of Miami, just like 2002's GTA: Vice City".
- Counterpoint Research says that smartphone shipments in the USA dropped 19% YoY for Q3 2023. One analyst reckons "improved durability with stronger build quality, less impressive upgrades among new smartphone releases, and an uncertain macroeconomic environment have all contributed to the malaise we are seeing in the US smartphone market". Can confirm - I'm still using an iPhone 13 Pro and I love buying new iPhones.

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## Bargains

- Mirabella Genio Wi-Fi Dimmable 9W 800lm RGB Smart Bulbs - $13 at Woolworths
- All of Neural's DSP plugins for various digital audio workstations (e.g: AU & VST) are 50% off in 8 days
- Corsair K60 RGB Pro wired mechanical keyboard - $78 from Harvey Norman
- Panasonic RC-D8GN-K DAB+ clock radio - $59 from The Good Guys or Amazon
- Refurbished iPhone 11 128GB - $459 from Coles Best Buys
- Telstra 4GX WiFi Plus Modem - $39 at Officeworks
- Yamaha 5.1ch home theatre pack (RXV385 receiver & speakers) - $1382 from West Cost Hi-Fi
- Boost Mobile 365-day SIM 170GB/260GB data & unlimited calls/SMS - $178/$240 from Lucky Mobile

## Image Of The Day

Digital PCR plate set up with RNA extracted from viruses in wastewater sludge (multiplexed with primer probes of SARS-CoV2, spiked BCoV, and PMMoV). Karie Holtermann & Payal Sarkar. City of San Jose Regional Wastewater Lab. 40X objective lens magnification. (2022 Nikon Photomicrography Competition)

## The End

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