### Issue 1262 - Wednesday 2nd December, 2020

## In Today's Issue

- You can now rent Mac minis running macOS via AWS
- Salesforce is buying Slack for US$27b
- Facebook agrees to pay UK media to use its content
- Cultural and political threats to computer security are a thing
- Cheap Death Stranding for PS4, Battlefield 3 for PC, DJI Tello drone, LEGO Saturn V, 55" LG CX OLED, 15% off iTunes cards, 20% off Melbourne Museum membership

## The News

### You can now rent Mac minis running macOS via AWS

Amazon has made Mac Minis running macOS available to rent via AWS. The mac1.metal instances are available via EC2 and run on dedicated Intel-based Mac Minis (i7-8700B with 32GB RAM) starting at US$1.083 per hour (with a minimum 24-hour period) in a few regions, including Singapore (no Sydney). Apparently this recent development is due to a change in the software license agreement for macOS Big Sur specifically allowing "Leasing for Permitted Developer Services". Amazon plans to get in the M1/Apple Silicon Mac Mini soon. If you're wondering why you'd want a Mac mini via AWS - it's all about software development and testing environments.

### Salesforce is buying Slack for US$27b

Slack has officially announced that it will be acquired by Salesforce for US$27.7b. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said that "this is a match made in heaven. Together, Salesforce and Slack will shape the future of enterprise software and transform the way everyone works in the all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. I’m thrilled to welcome Slack to the Salesforce Ohana once the transaction closes". Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield said "personally, I believe this is the most strategic combination in the history of software, and I can't wait to get going". The most strategic combo in the history of software, wow! It's probably not a co-incidence that Microsoft let loose on a bunch of upcoming updates to the Calls feature in Teams like CarPlay support, saving recordings to OneDrive and transferring calls between mobile & desktop.

### Facebook agrees to pay UK media to use its content

Facebook is launching its curated News tab/feature in the UK next year, agreeing to pay British media outlets like "the Guardian, the Daily Mirror, the Independent, all the UK’s major regional news publishers, and magazines such as the Economist", "substantial cash sums". Facebook hasn't said how much it'll pay, but according to The Guardian, "some publishers are privately expecting to make millions of pounds a year from the multi-year deals they have signed with the social network". Interesting that UK news outlets managed to come to an agreement with Facebook, but Australian media had to get the ACCC to make a mandatory code of conduct.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Cultural and political threats to computer security are a thing

errbufferoverfl has an excellent article about cultural threats and risks when it comes to IT security. Normally infosec people look at patching software, setting up firewalls, restricting access and all that technical stuff for keeping a computer or network secure, but there's way more to keeping stuff secure than the physical stuff. The article looks at something called the "Political, Emotional, Psychological, Logistical (PEPL) threat model" for mapping out various things that can expose you. It's a totally different way of thinking about infosec risks than I would ever think of, and it makes a lot of sense. People and processes are just as easy (if not easier) to exploit than 1s and 0s.

## Bargains

- Death Stranding for PS4 - $24.95 from the PlayStation Store
- Battlefield 3 for PC is free if you have an Amazon Prime account
- DJI Ryze Tello drone - $120 from Amazon
- LEGO Ideas NASA Apollo Saturn V (92176) - $135.20 at Target
- LG CX 55" OLED55CXPTA OLED 4K TV - $2534 from Stan Cash
- 15% off iTunes cards via Rewards Gateway (requires membership via work/union or similar)
- 20% off Melbourne Museum membership for 2021

## The End

📻 Electric War - The Oh Sees

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

💬 Did you know that The Sizzle has a Slack group? Join in and chat with other subscribers like you.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info? Visit the customer portal.

🌐 Aussie Broadband is the best ISP in Australia. If it's good enough for Simon Hackett, it's good enough for us plebs! Sign up using my referral code (1001031) and we both get $50 credit.

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.​