### Issue 1860 - Monday 5th June, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- US Air Force says that AI-drone killing human operator story is "anecdotal" and "taken out of context"
- Head of Trust & Safety quits Twitter probably because Elon is backing an anti-trans documentary
- ARENA & UTS reckon smart electric hot water systems with grid response make excellent batteries
- A reminder about the Garage Girls, Australia's WW2 code breakers that won us the war
- Cheap Battlefield 2042, Coles Mobile, Sony 24mm lens, Xboxes, Anker slim USB charger, Satechi 3-in-1 charging stand, Office 365 Family, Edifier speakers, KRK studio monitors, Lenovo Tab M10 Plus, Ultimate gift cards, Samsung T7 SSD, double load credits at Timezone, FIFA23, SK Hynix & PNY SSDs

## The News

### US Air Force says that AI-drone killing human operator story is "anecdotal" and "taken out of context"

You know that horrifying story about the US Air Force doing am AI-drone drone simulation that repeatedly killed its operator as it considered the operator an impediment to its mission success? That was bullshit according to the Air Force, who said they've "not conducted any such AI-drone simulations and remain committed to ethical and responsible use of AI technology. It appears the colonel's comments were taken out of context and were meant to be anecdotal". With the colonel himself admitting that he "misspoke" in his presentation and that it was a "hypothetical thought experiment" based on "plausible scenarios and likely outcomes rather than an actual USAF real-world simulation".

### Head of Trust & Safety quits Twitter probably because Elon is backing an anti-trans documentary

Yet another Head of Trust & Safety has quit Twitter. This time it's "former diehard Elon Musk fan Ella Irwin", who hasn't said why she resigned, but the timing of the resignation comes after Musk overturned a moderation decision relating to a controversial anti-transgender "documentary" called What is a Woman that Twitter and The Daily Wire had some sort of deal for Twitter to broadcast. The moderation team "flagged it for instances of misgendering", but Elon overruled it and apologised, saying it "was a mistake by many people at Twitter". Hosting and promoting hateful documentaries is now part of Twitter's business model. Cool.

### ARENA & UTS reckon smart electric hot water systems with grid response make excellent batteries

A report funded by ARENA and conducted by the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures has found "Australians could use household electric water heaters to store as much energy as over 2 million home batteries". This would be enabled by "smart" electric water heaters that "can be switched on and off in response to changes in electricity supply and demand across the grid", soaking up off-peak/excess renewable energy like a battery, but to heat water instead. The report concludes that "replacing gas with electric water heating would not only help us get to net-zero emissions sooner, it would save us money". Full report is on the UTS website if you're keen to learn more.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### A reminder about the Garage Girls, Australia's WW2 code breakers that won us the war

If WW2-era cryptography interests you, then you'll enjoy Breaking The Code: Cyber Secrets Revealed, a new ABC doco is available to watch on iView. A big chunk of it centers on the "Garage Girls", a group of young Australian women enlisted during WW2 to decode encrypted Japanese messages, who "helped the Allies kill Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the head of the Japanese Navy who oversaw the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941" and deciphered a cable from an "obviously horrified Japanese officer sent to Tokyo headquarters after the atomic bomb devastated Hiroshima in 1945". General MacArthur credited The Garage Girls with "shortening the war by two years".

## Bargains

- Battlefield 2042 (Base Game) for PC - $22.48 from the Epic Games store
- Coles Mobile 365-day SIM, 120GB data, unlimited calls & SMS to 15 countries - $119 from Coles
- Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM lens - $1,499 after Sony cashback from CameraPro
- Xbox Series S or Xbox Series X Forza & Horizon 5 Premium Edition - $399/$799 from Big W
- Anker 65W PowerPort Atom III Slim USB charger - $47.99 from Anker's eBay store
- Satechi 3-in-1 Magnetic Wireless Charging Stand - $52.50 from Amazon
- Microsoft 365 Office Family (6x users) 1 year digital license - $94.50 from SaveOnIT
- Edifier S3000PRO or Airpulse A100 speakers - $749.25/$599.99 from Edifier
- KRK Classic 5 studio monitor speaker - $139ea ($278 for pair) from Amazon
- Lenovo Tab M10 Plus (3rd Gen) - $239.20 from Lenovo's eBay store
- 10% off all Ultimate gift cards (Good Guys, JB, EB, Officeworks & more) at Coles
- Samsung T7 Portable SSD 500GB - $59 at Officeworks
- Double load credits at Timezone arcades Saturday 10th June to Monday 12th June
- FIFA23 for PS4/XB1/Switch - $24 at JB Hi-Fi
- SK Hynix Gold P31 2TB NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD - $194.99 from Amazon
- PNY CS2241 4TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD - $299 + shipping from Wireless1, Scorptec, BPC or PC Byte

## Image Of The Day

Steve Wozniak, creator of Apple's first computer, sits by the new Apple IIgs in Cupertino, Calif., on Sept. 16, 1986. (AP Photo/Steve Castillo)

## The End

📻 Umlaut - Custard

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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.