### Issue 1758 - Thursday 5th January, 2023

I'm back! Sure is weird typing "2023" in the date above. Hope you all had a nice break like I did. It's the longest break I've ever had from The Sizzle and while it was good, I did miss writing this stupid thing.

Mine consisted of lying on the couch either watching cricket, Mr. Inbetween or listening to the CDs I recently collected, with periods of eating too much and researching speakers to waste money on that I ultimately decided I can't afford.

Time to crack open my RSS reader and feast on the goo inside.

## In Today's Issue

- ACCC rejects Telstra & TPG network roaming deal
- Meta busted in EU for not adhering to GDPR, must get explicit permission to use user data
- Things that happened while I wasn't paying attention
- Dell's U3224KB 6K monitor is the display I've been waiting for
- Cheap Red Dead Redemption 2, Readly free trial, Seagate 4TB portable HDD, Mubi free trial, Synology DS420j, Conbee II Zigbee gateway, Mophie USB charger, Crucial 4TB SSD, Civ 6

## The News

### ACCC rejects Telstra & TPG network roaming deal

Just before Christmas, the ACCC knocked back Telstra and TPG's proposed mobile network sharing deal. Under the plan, "TPG would decommission or transfer its mobile sites in regional and urban fringe areas to Telstra. TPG would then acquire mobile network services from Telstra. TPG would give Telstra access to most of its regional spectrum". In the short-term it would be great for TPG customers as they get access to Telstra's mobile network outside of metro areas, but the ACCC reckons "the reduction in competition in the longer-term will likely lead to higher prices, less innovation and quality of service, and less competitive pressure to expand and improve networks". Unfortunately almost all the information the ACCC used to make its decision is redacted, so who knows if their assumptions on long term reduced network investment are legit?

### Meta busted in EU for not adhering to GDPR, must get explicit permission to use user data

A ruling by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has decreed that "Meta must allow users to have a version of all apps that does not use personal data for ads within three months", "ask users for consent to ads via a 'yes/no' option", allow users "to withdraw consent at any time and Meta may not limit the service if users choose to do so" - all in line with the EU's GDPR laws. Meta was also fined 390 million euros. GDPR activist group Noyb took Meta to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner over their lack of GDPR adherence back in 2018, but only now has the EDPB weighed in and forced Meta to actually play by the rules. I'm sure Meta will thrash and flail around, but explicit consent over data use really is just being polite and respectful. The fact Meta can't be bothered to do this just shows what a bunch of fuckwits they are.

### Things that happened while I wasn't paying attention

- John Carmack peaced out of Meta. Sounds like John was frustrated at Meta's lack of pace and progress despite the immense resources it has. Check out his "frank internal departure post for employees at Meta" for why he left at the bottom of the linked article.
- The much awaited review into the Privacy Act is now complete and has been submitted to the Attorney General. Dunno what's in it yet, but it will be considered by the government "over the summer" and a response to it along with the report itself will be released "in the first half of 2023".
- NBN was handed a new "statement of expectations" from the government, along with devising a new corporate plan. Dunno what's in it as I have better things to do on my holidays than read NBN documentation, but fingers crossed it means cheaper prices, faster speed tiers and more fiber in the ground.
- Amazon and the EU settled an anti-trust case regarding the unfair treatment of third party sellers. There was no fine, but Amazon must stop using non-public data to inform product launches or pricing, redesign the "buy box" so Amazon's deals don't get preference and let sellers use non-Amazon logistics and still be part of the Prime program.
- Epic and the USA's FTC came to a US$520m settlement for collecting personal information on Fortnight players aged under the age of 13 and using dark patterns that dupe players into "making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges without any parental involvement".
- Sam Bankman-Fried was released on a whopping US$250m bail while he awaits trail for fraud. He pleaded not guilty. A trial begins October 2nd, 2023. His co-conspirators Caroline Ellison and Zixiao "Gary" Wang rolled over and plead guilty to all their charges, providing full co-operation with the Southern District of New York. Suck shit SBF, no honor among thieves mate, this isn't a fucken movie.
- LastPass updated their public statement on a security incident from August 2022 where "some source code and technical information were stolen from our development environment", to add that "the threat actor was also able to copy a backup of customer vault data from the encrypted storage container". Everyone's passwords stolen! They're encrypted, but still not a good thing to have happen.
- Geohot quit his Twitter "internship" after failing to make any progress on fixing "Twitter's unusable broken search" and removing "that nondismissable login pop up after you scroll a little bit". Oh and Elon Musk is stepping down as CEO of Twitter "as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!". I'll do it. Make me the CEO of Twitter. Looks easy.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Dell's U3224KB 6K monitor is the display I've been waiting for

Dell has shown off the U3224KB 31.5-inch 6144×3456 resolution monitor at CES. It brings 200%/2x/Retina goodness but with more available desktop space than 4K and 5K monitors. The specs on the U3224KB are great too, featuring an IPS Black panel with a 2000:1 contrast ratio, 500nit brightness and 99% DCI-P3 gamut coverage. It's a Thunderbolt 4 monitor with 140W power delivery, 1x USB-C, 4x USB-A, 2.5GbE RJ45 and a front facing hub with 2x more USB-C ports and a USB-A port. There's even a 4K webcam and noise cancelling mics and a speaker built-in for video conferencing. The only things not to like are the rather corporate design, no mega bright HDR and 60Hz refresh rate. Doesn't bother me though, as long as the pricing isn't stupid (still TBA) I'm buying one as soon as Dell put it on sale in Q2 2023.

## Bargains

- Red Dead Redemption II for Xbox One - $20 from Amazon
- Free 2 month Trial Subscription to Readly (6,000+ magazines) - $11.99/m after the free trial
- Seagate One Touch 4TB portable HDD - $129 from Amazon
- Free 3 Months Mubi (indie movies) subscription
- Synology DS420j 4-Bay NAS - $355.50 from Computer Alliance
- Conbee II Zigbee USB Gateway - $55 from Smart Guys
- Mophie 120W 4-Port GaN USB charger - $69 from Wireless 1
- Crucial MX500 4TB 2.5" SATA SSD - $389 + delivery from CPL
- Civilisation 6 for Mac & PC - $8.99 on Steam

## Image Of The Day

MiniDiscs [Hacked] is a compilation of recordings by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, made while they were working on their 1997 album OK Computer. It comprises over 16 hours of demos, rehearsals, live performances and other material. The recordings, taken from MiniDiscs belonging to singer Thom Yorke, were not intended for release; after they leaked online in June 2019, Radiohead released them through the music sharing site Bandcamp for 18 days, with all proceeds going to the environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion. (Del-Uks / Flickr)

## The End

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