### Issue 2145 - Monday 5th August, 2024

Before I get to today's news, I want to pay tribute to Geordie Guy, who passed away suddenly on Thursday night in his sleep. I didn't know him personally and only interacted with him via public social media posts, but he was a long term Sizzle subscriber and it always made me happy whenever I saw him share something I wrote. I knew that if Geordie liked it enough to share it, it was probably pretty good. To die so unexpectedly was a shock for me and probably for a few of you Sizzle subscribers that also knew him via social media. It feels very odd knowing that one of the best to ever post will never post again. My corner of the internet feels much emptier without Geordie in it.

## In Today's Issue

- OpenAI has a way to detect ChatGPT text but isn't making it public
- 5,000 NSW RFS vehicles to get Starlink internet connectivity
- Ampol gets $100m to install EV chargers, Intel's stock price lowest in over 20 years, Apple & Google stop showing out of touch ads
- The Weekly Cybers is a good Australian technology email newsletter
- Cheap Nintendo Switch Online, Crealtiy Ender 3D printer, Elgato Stream Deck Mini, Anker power bank, VCR head cleaner kit

## The News

### OpenAI has a way to detect ChatGPT text but isn't making it public

The Wall Street Journal reckons OpenAI has the ability to "watermark" text ChatGPT generates and developed a tool that would make it "99.9% effective" at detecting slabs of AI-generated text. According to the WSJ, marking AI content as AI content has "been a persistent source of tension", with one of the main reasons for not doing so the results of a "survey the company conducted of loyal ChatGPT users found nearly a third would be turned off by the anticheating technology", despite another OpenAI commissioned survey that found "people worldwide supported the idea of an AI detection tool by a margin of four to one".

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### 5,000 NSW RFS vehicles to get Starlink internet connectivity

5,000 NSW Rural Fire Services vehicles are going to be fitted out with Starlink equipment over the next three years as part of its "vehicle as a node" project. This will allow "the use of radios, mobile phones, and other handheld devices anywhere and at any time - even in remote areas or if communication infrastructure has been damaged during a disaster", provides "an important backup to communication systems and location-finding technology already in use", and gives crews "the capability to live stream video of fires from anywhere in the state, providing command centres with the latest intelligence about an incident".

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### Ampol gets $100m to install EV chargers, Intel's stock price lowest in over 20 years, Apple & Google stop showing out of touch ads

- Ampol secured $100m of investment from the CEFC to install "electric vehicle charging and green hydrogen refueling infrastructure, the installation of solar PV, and the development of alternative energy sources such as biofuels and sustainable aviation fuel". Wonder if it's possible to see the terms of the investment anywhere considering my tax money largely funds the CEFC?
- Intel's stock price shat the bed this weekend, plummeting 26% in a single day to the lowest price in almost 20 years. Looks like the market didn't appreciate Intel's mass layoffs, product problems, no more dividends and nothing on the short-medium term horizon that'll see Intel back on top of the semiconductor market.
- Apple's latest "Underdogs" upset Thailand, depicting the country as "low-tech and underdeveloped", so Apple pulled it from the internet. Meanwhile, Google pulled an ad designed to promote Gemini, showing it assisting a father write their kid a letter to Olympic hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, but instead reminded everyone why AI assisted writing sucks.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The Weekly Cybers is a good Australian technology email newsletter

If you like The Sizzle and you like The Crux email newsletters, you'll probably also like Stilgherrian's email newsletter, The Weekly Cybers. There's a bit of cross-over between what I write about and what Stil covers, but there's also a lot I don't care about that Stil does and you might too. It's free and once a week so why not sign up and see what ya think. Any other Aussie tech-ish related newsletters worth checking out? Let us know on the Sizzle forums, there's a link right under this sentence!

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## Bargains

- Sign up for a 12 month Nintendo Switch Online subscription, get 2 extra months for free
- Creality Ender 3 V3 SE 3D printer - $249 from Jaycar
- Elgato Stream Deck Mini - $94 from Amazon
- Anker 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K) 140W - $147.95 from Anker
- VHS VCR Head Cleaner Kit with Cleaning Fluid - $14.95 from Selby via Amazon

## Image Of The Day

Collection of posters on communications (National Library of Australia)

## The End

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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.