### Issue 1776 - Wednesday 1st February, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- DoJ adds another investigation to Tesla's pile & some NSW Superchargers are open to all EVs now
- Audit of MyGov recommends a national ID system to be launched by late-2023
- The founders of Instagram have a new app that'll feed you web content via an algorithm
- That time 1,647 computers were kicked off the corporate network because nobody wanted to spend any money to replace them
- Bose QuietComfort II earbuds, Pixel 7, Lenovo IdeaPad 3, Kioxia SSD, SanDisk Endurance microSD, Red Dead Redemption 2

## The News

### DoJ adds another investigation to Tesla's pile & some NSW Superchargers are open to all EVs now

Tesla reported in a financial statement that the US Department of Justice is currently investigating its "full self-driving" feature. According to Reuters, "the DOJ investigation is primarily concerned with whether or not Tesla has misled the public and its investors about the reliability and capability of its autonomous tech". This is different to the long running and detailed NHTSA investigation of FSD that is "moving as quickly as we can" as of Jan 9th. Meanwhile, Tesla has begun a pilot program to open up Superchargers to non-Tesla vehicles in Australia. At the moment it's just a handful in regional NSW, hopefully it expands nationwide.

### Audit of MyGov recommends a national ID system to be launched by late-2023

An audit of MyGov has been released to the public and in among all the ways it is operating at well below its potential, there's a recommendation to hurry up and build a national digital ID system. The audit says by mid-2023 there should be legislation for a "a national digital identity system, the safe use of biometric matching, and a regulator with independent oversight", and by late-2023 "require all federal government digital services to use the Australian Government identity exchange". At face value this sounds good - a way to verify my ID online easily - but I get the feeling there's gonna be a lot of unintended consequences around access, security and privacy.

### The founders of Instagram have a new app that'll feed you web content via an algorithm

The co-founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, have a new app - Artifact. The Verge describes it as "a kind of TikTok for text" that "opens to a feed of popular articles chosen from a curated list of publishers ranging from leading news organizations like The New York Times to small-scale blogs about niche topics". You can "tap on articles that interest you, and Artifact will serve you similar posts and stories in the future, just as watching videos on TikTok’s For You page tunes its algorithm over time". Great, yet another algorithm telling me what I may or may not like. Fucken hell, would it kill ya to use some of that VC cash to pay some people with taste to unearth interesting things???

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### That time 1,647 computers were kicked off the corporate network because nobody wanted to spend any money to replace them

There's a sad/funny thread going around Mastodon live blogging the shitcanning of 1647 in-use, but uncompliant devices from a large unnamed company network because all layers of management passed the buck over 12 months. The devices were EOL, but got a 12 month extension from the vendor to delay their replacement, but in the 12 months that passed, the IT department and the bean counters more or less ignored the compliance team, nothing happened and the compliance team won. Almost 2000 users were unable to do their work as computers were unable to connect to any company resources totally unannounced or prepared for it.

## Bargains

- Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II - $365.45 from Amazon
- Google Pixel 7 128GB/256GB + 10% of the purchase price as Google Store Credit & 2TB Google One Plan - $799/$929 from the Google Store
- Lenovo IdeaPad 3 (Ryzen 5300U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p 15.6" display) - $544 at Harvey Norman
- Kioxia EXCERIA G2 1TB PCIe Gen 3 NVMe M.2 (2280) SSD - $107.04 or $192.67 for 2x from Amazon UK
- SanDisk High Endurance 256GB MicroSD - $39.95 + delivery from Shopping Square
- Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate for PC - $31.55 from Instant Gaming
- Red Dead Redemption 2 for PS4/XB1 - $29.95 from Amazon

## Image Of The Day

20/11/2019 - Donald Trump and Tim Cook toured the Apple Mac Pro production facility in Austin, Texas. The tour was supposed to highlight production on the new Mac Pro, but it quickly turned strange. During and after the visit, Trump said that he "opened" the facility. The problem, however, is that it actually opened in 2013, long before Trump became president. (Fortune)

## The End

📻 Mildred Pierce - Sonic Youth

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.

👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the customer portal.

📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.

🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!

💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.

## 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.