### Issue 1521 - Friday 7th January, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- ITC confirms that Google infringed Sonos patents, has 60 days to fix it
- Mozilla stops taking cryptocurrency donations after people remind them crypto sucks
- Some news that happened over the break
- Tree Style Tab is one of my favourite Firefox extensions
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Qi charger & pen holder, Rapoo USB mouse, Xiaomi & Romross powerbanks, Poco F3 5G smartphone, Catch Connect SIM

## The News

### ITC confirms that Google infringed Sonos patents, has 60 days to fix it

Sonos took Google to the International Trade Commission last year to stop Google importing devices like Pixel phones, Chromecasts and smart speakers that Sonos claims infringes on its patents. The ITC has now finalised a ruling agreeing with Sonos, so unless Google settles with Sonos or removes features from those devices in the next 60 days, they can't be imported into the USA. The features in question are "synchronizing multiple devices over a network" and "setting up a playback device (such as a Wi-Fi speaker) for communication over the network" along with "adjusting volume of devices over a local area network".

### Mozilla stops taking cryptocurrency donations after people remind them crypto sucks

Mozilla decided to remind people that they accept cryptocurrency donations a few days ago, upsetting people like Jamie Zawinski, one of the Mozilla originals. Mozilla has now decided to stop taking cryptocurrency donations, explaining in a series of tweets that while "decentralized web technology continues to be an important area for us to explore", they "are reviewing if and how our current policy on crypto donations fits with our climate goals". I remember when accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment was cool and trendy. Now it's a sign you're out of touch and ignorant of cryptocurrency's side effects.

### Some news that happened over the break

- A decent portion of LastPass users got warnings that their master passwords were used on an unrecognised device, leading people to believe their unique password was compromised. LastPass reckons the emails were triggered in error. I've never trusted LastPass, something about them feels off.
- Marco Buschmann, the newly appointed German justice minister wants to roll back all their data retention laws. He argues that the practice "violates fundamental rights" and if "communications will be stored without cause, then no one will feel free anymore". Feels weird to see an elected minister in a democratic country say this, but I like it.
- China has widened the use of e-CNY, a digital version of their currency, in time for the Winter Olympics. The e-CNY isn't cryptocurrency and doesn't have a blockchain, it's more like WeChat Pay or even PayPal. I like the concept if it means no/very small transaction fees due to being government run.
- On-premises Exchange 2016 and 2019 servers shit the bed on New Years Day due to a "Y2K22 bug" in its malware-scanning engine. It stores dates as a 32-bit integer, which maxes out at 2147483647. The 1st of Jan 2022 is 2201010001 - a bigger number than the 32-bit integer variable can handle. You'd think Microsoft would be better than that.
- Leaked internal Amazon memos show that they know the vast majority of Alexa owners only use it to "play music, or set the timer while they cook, or turn on the lights" and "15% to 25% of new Alexa users were no longer active in their second week with the device". Most people simply don't find Alexa that useful.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Tree Style Tab is one of my favourite Firefox extensions

I write for a living, which means I read fuckloads of websites for a living, which then means I have like 5,000 tabs going in my web browser during the processing of crafting an article or an issue of The Sizzle (5,000 might be a slight exaggeration). A plug-in I've found handy to help me keep track of all those tabs is Tree Style Tab. Like it says in the name, it's a sidebar that gives you a hierarchical view of the tabs you've been opening, with the source at the top. When you've got dozens of tabs open, this style of view is damn useful. Tree Style Tab even has its own extensions that make it even more useful! I like Tree Style Tab Mouse Wheel, TST Indent Line and TST Tab Search.

## Friday Forum Update

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.

- The_Hawk kicked off a love session about Ventoy, a bootable USB stick for all your ISOs
- chendo wants a nice electric scooter and wants to know what others reckon about them
- evilalpaca is helping their father in-law manage their passwords and wishes there was something user friendly
- joshuawithers has a broken TV, so needs a new one that'll look nice but also not cost a fortune
- Wallamba started a thread to discuss the new Matrix Resurrections movie, which personally, I found awful and tacky

## Bargains

- iDigital 10W wireless Qi chager & pen holder/storage box - $20 at The Reject Shop
- Rapoo N1600 1000dpi USB mouse - $9.74 from Amazon
- Xiaomi 10,000mAh powerbank - $27.50 from Hekka.com
- POCO F3 5G smartphone (6GB/128GB) - $375 from Banggood
- ROMOSS SW20PS+ 20,000mAh powerbank - $31.49 from Amazon
- Catch Connect 365-day SIM (unlimited calls/SMS, 85GB data) - $89 from Catch

## The End

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