Shit has hit the fan over the Ukraine, but you probably already know that. The tech angle here is that there's probably gonna be a torrent of cyberattacks, both state sponsored and "patriotic" in nature. On the state sponsored side, NBC is reporting that "Biden has been presented with a menu of options for the U.S. to carry out massive cyberattacks designed to disrupt Russia's ability to sustain its military operations in Ukraine". I can imagine Joe staring at the cyberattack "menu" like a confused guy at Red Rooster staring at the board above the register, unsure what to eat. Do I want the cryptolocker or the spear phish today??? Meanwhile, Ukraine is actively asking hackers to form an underground resistance to Russia's bullshit.
Queensland is getting on the digital drivers licence train. Small-ish trials were run back in 2019, in Maryborough and Hervey Bay, but now the premier announced the ability to have your drivers licence, learner licences and marine licences on your smartphone to be available nationwide in 2023. An additional trial will kick off in Townsville "later this year" before the rest of the state getting a shot next year. Thales, Aliva and Code Heroes will be responsible for making it work. Interestingly, Queensland's implementation will meet International Mobile Driver Licence Standard ISO 18013-5, which Apple added Wallet support for recently. Come the fuck on Victoria, even the heat demented Queenslanders are ahead of us. Embarrassing.
Elon Musk is getting investigated by the SEC again. This time it's looking for evidence that Elon and his brother Kimbal (who is on Tesla's board of directors) conducted insider trading after selling shares a day after Elon's tweet asking his followers if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla, that resulted in a sharp fall in the share's price. It's illegal for board members to trade shares based on information that isn't public - so if there's proof that Elon was going to sell his shares anyways and Kimbal let his go before Elon let loose with the tweet, they're both in deep shit. Looks like all the hate-tweeting towards the SEC that Elon's been busy with the past two weeks is paying off.
Mike Elgan raises the concept of the situation in Ukraine being the "first" war played out on social media. People in the Middlde East would probably disagree, but this would be the first armed conflict that the west gives a shit about that's happening in the age of smartphones and social media. There's no government handing out intelligence as truth here like in previous wars (i.e: the Gulf War) and disinformation is rampant. Posts on Facebook from people on the ground, TikTok videos of missile attacks, tweets with images of tanks rolling by - what is deliberate psyops from governments, what is some bored kid taking the piss, what is genuine information? Welcome to the information age mate.
Here's five interesting discussions over on The Sizzle's paid subscriber forum for you to enjoy over the weekend. If you are not a paid subscriber but want to get involved, visit https://thesizzle.com.au/payme to get onboard.
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