### Issue 1946 - Thursday 5th October, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- New Pixel 8 smartphones, Pixel Watch 2 & Pixel Buds Pro
- Qantas Freight screwed the pooch on a nationwide system switch-over
- Google is allegedly tampering your search queries to get more ad revenue instead of accurate & impartial results
- The Sizzle is 8 years old today, happy birthday Sizzle
- Cheap Samsung TV, Homepod Mini, JBL speakers, Bose Bluetooth speaker, AGL & Telstra phone plans, various Pixel 8 pre-order offers

## The News

### New Pixel 8 smartphones, Pixel Watch 2 & Pixel Buds Pro

Google has a bunch of new phones, watches and accessories. The Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro were leaked heavily, but now we have official specs. They've got a "Tensor G3" custom SoC that allows Google to promise up to 7 years of firmware and security updates - one of the major gripes from nerds about Android phones. The other unexpected feature is a sensor that can "scan objects like beverages and surfaces to read their temperature" and Google is "applying to the FDA to allow its use for body temperature sensing". There's a new Pixel Watch 2 that's got more battery life, a faster SoC, better sensors and WearOS 4. Finally, an update to the Pixel Buds Pro that adds "Bluetooth Super Wideband" and "Google's Clear Calling feature" for better call quality. Always On has pricing and release dates for the new Google stuff. For existing Pixel users, Android 14 is out now.

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### Qantas Freight screwed the pooch on a nationwide system switch-over

Qantas has told the Australian Freight & Trade Alliance that its implementation of a "new, fully integrated cloud-based system" for managing freight "did not go as planned" on the 24th of September, which "required reverting several functions to manual processes" and created "significant backlogs across the key terminals of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane". The Sydney Morning Herald reckons there are reports of "coffins and human remains" left on the tarmac, along with customers complaining of "unrefrigerated fresh produce and pharmaceuticals" being ruined, but Qantas denies it. Dunno what the system is, how much it cost or how long they've been working on it, but when your fuck up appears in the newspaper, you know it's bad. My condolences to the nerds at Qantas Freight.

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### Google is allegedly tampering your search queries to get more ad revenue instead of accurate & impartial results

Megan Gray noticed a slide presented during the USA vs. Google trial that makes her believe "Google likely alters queries billions of times a day in trillions of different variations". For example, "you search for 'children's clothing' Google converts it, without your knowledge, to a search for 'NIKOLAI-brand kidswear', making a behind-the-scenes substitution of your actual query with a different query that just happens to generate more money for the company, and will generate results you weren't searching for at all. It's not possible for you to opt out of the substitution". The slide the author of this article saw isn't public and they only saw it briefly during a closed court room session, so they could be misinterpreting what they saw (it's not like Google's search algorithm is easy to understand), but hey, it's Google so we/I assume malice.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The Sizzle is 8 years old today, happy birthday Sizzle

Happy birthday to The Sizzle! Eight years ago I sent out the first issue and look at me now, still throwing shit at the wall and praying that something sticks. I regularly think about cancelling everyone's subscriptions, refunding the left over credit and doing something else with my life. I don't have to write The Sizzle every day, I can stop at any time, nobody dies if I stop writing, it's not important, who gives a shit about Google's new phones or that Qantas can't computer! Then I think about what I would do instead of The Sizzle and realise this is the best job in the world. Where else would I get paid ~$65k/year to talk shit about computers without anyone telling me what to do? It's a lovely coincidence that people happen to still like what I'm doing after all these years.

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## Bargains

- Samsung 85" CU8000 4K TV - $2195 at JB Hi-Fi
- Apple Homepod Mini Space Grey - $99 at Officeworks
- JBL Stage A130 bookshelf passive speakers (pair) - $398.05 from homeonlinesuperstore eBay store
- Anker 533 (PowerCore 30W) 10,000mAh Power Bank - $49.99 from Amazon
- Bose SoundLink Flex Bluetooth Portable Speaker - $122.55 from Amazon
- Get a $700 JB Hi-Fi gift card if you go on a $69/m 24m Telstra contract with 120GB/m of data at JB Hi-Fi
- AGL Mobile (Optus MVNO) 5GB/m plan for $5/m for the first 6 months if you are an AGL Energy customer
- Pre-order a Google Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro and get a free Pixel Watch 2 - $1199/$1699 from Telstra
- Trade in a smartphone and get $300 bonus credit towards a Pixel 8 at JB Hi-Fi
- Get $250/$400 store credit & a "limited edition Pixel Pouch" when you buy a Pixel 8/Pixel 8 Pro from the Google Store
- Google Pixel 8 Pro $0 up front on a 24m Optus 100GB $69/m plan at Harvey Norman
- Get a $550/$450 JB gift card when you buy a Pixel 8/8 Pro and a Pixel Watch 2 in the same transaction at JB Hi-Fi

## Image Of The Day

Dennis Fong poses with games featured on his service Ultimate Arena including Half Life Counter-Strike by Valve Corporation, Unreal Tournament, and Unreal Tournament 2003 by Epic Games at his office in Menlo Park, Calif., on August 25, 2003. Fong was the world's greatest Quake and Doom player. He was undefeated in tournaments through high school. He started a couple of companies aimed at gamers, but they didn't take off as expected. But he and his boss Mike Cassidy are at it again. They started Ultimate Arena, a company that lets gamers play top selling games in duels for money. The gamers can bet a certain limited amount of money in quick matches or enter longer tournaments. (Anne-Marie McReynolds/Digital First Media/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

## The End

📻 Will You Smile Again For Me - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead

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## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.