Plus: Why does IPv6 traffic drop and spike every week? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 17, 2026 | Read online
# EVs so hot right now, social media ban tech trial ignored privacy warning and Defence's new AI crush Plus: Why does IPv6 traffic drop and spike every week?
Edition 2544
"2010 computer monitor in water 4815380583" by Remko van Dokkum from Amsterdam, The Netherlands is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: Chris Bowen, EVs, Canva, Amazon, Claude, OpenAI and IPv6. Plus, deals on Audio Technica headphones, Sony TVs and LG monitors.
# The News
### EVs are so hot right now. Should we care that it's because of the price of fuel?
Suddenly, there's a lot of love for EVs. Chris Bowen is out talking about how EVs are saving 15 million litres of fuel a week, reducing our reliance on fuel reserves (AFR, $) and hitting record shares of new car sales (The Driven). He's also spruiking electric trucks, as the federal government is reportedly working with the states to fix the interstate road standards issue affecting them (SMH, $).
The Sizzle: A new survey says about half of people considering buying an EV are doing it to save on fuel, with about two-fifths also saying they want to do it for environmental reasons (The Driven). There's been a long debate in the climate movement about whether it's worth leaning into cost savings to get people to do green things because, well, what happens when you want people to consider the environment when things cost more? Shouldn't you instead focus on convincing them to do things for the environment? But personally, I'm a pragmatist on these things. It doesn't matter why people do the right thing as long as they do it. If a blocked Strait of Hormuz gets people to make the decision that helps us overall — I'll take it!
P.S. I've previously Sizzled about the government's plan to cut back on the EV subsidy in next month's budget. It's not looking like a great idea at the moment! Will be one to watch.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Teen social media ban trial ignored privacy watchdog's warnings that it was overstating how it protected people's privacy
As age verification rolls out everywhere despite its flaws (The Verge), I reported today that the privacy watchdog raised concerns that Australia's teen social media ban tech trial was overstating how the technology protects people's privacy (Crikey, $). Emails show that the OAIC told the people behind the trial that their report was using Australian legal terms but didn't assess them against those legal standards or even do technical testing of the technologies, like facial analysis. The trial's organisers ignored many of those concerns and still published the report that was used to justify plowing ahead with the ban.
Related reading: Europe’s Online Age Verification App Is Here (WIRED, $)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### AI is the new toy in Australia's massive Defence spending toybox
Artificial intelligence companies are big winners in the federal government's new plans to splurge more money on defence over the next decade (InnovationAus, $). After only being mentioned once in the 2024 Defence strategy, the new National Defence Strategy says that AI is one of six priorities for innovation, alongside things like long-range fires and high-energy lasers (hell yeah) (Defence). The new plan commits another $50b+ over the next 10 years, with more money also going to cyber and space (InnovationAus, $). Interestingly, CyberDaily notes that cyber is less prominent this time around. Either way, it's all great news for defence contractors!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Australian federal court warns lawyers over AI (The Guardian) Canva AI 2 update brings prompt-based editing availability (The Verge) Fair Work looks into fuel reimbursement at Amazon, Australia Post, and Wesfarmers (SmartCompany) Explainer: Why the Australian game dev scene is complicated (Infinite Lives) Anthropic briefed critical infrastructure providers on AI threat but didn't discuss Mythos (Capital Brief, $)
Rest of World:
U.S. to Create High-Tech Manufacturing Zone in Philippines (WSJ, $) Google, Pentagon discuss classified AI deal, The Information reports (Reuters, $) Anthropic announces Claude Opus 4.7 for cybersecurity (The Verge) OpenAI debuts GPT Rosalind, a new limited access model for life sciences, and broader Codex plugin on GitHub (VentureBeat) The AI compute crisis of 2026 (Tom Tunguz)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Why does IPv6 traffic drop and spike at the same time every week?
This week, Google says the amount of IPv6 traffic tipped over to 50% for the first time (Google). What caught my eye in this announcement was the seemingly steady routine of IPv6 traffic ticking up and down every week. As it turns out, other people noticed this pattern and say it's because traffic from businesses — which are more likely to be on legacy IPv4 — drops over the weekend as people log off and go home!
I hope all of you get to log off from IPv4 and onto IPv6 early this afternoon.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Audio Technica ATH-DSR9BT Wireless Over-Ear Headphones (Black) - $299 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $899) Samsung HW-S800D Ultra Slim Soundbar - $555 at Appliance Central (Down from $999) Sony Bravia 65 Inch X90L XR Full Array LED 4K Google TV XR65X90L - $1399 at Costco (Down from $2499) TCL 75" C8K 4K UHD Premium QD-Mini LED TV - $2177 at JB Hi-Fi
Computing
Canon PIXMA TR8660A Inkjet Multifunction Printer - $189 at Amazon (Down from $249) Z-Edge UG34 34" Ultrawide 2K Curved Gaming Monitor 165Hz, 21:9 Aspect Ratio - $299 at Amazon LG UltraGear 27GR93U-B 27" 144Hz 4K IPS Gaming Monitor - $499 at Scorptec & Centre Com Samsung Odyssey G6 G60SF 27" QHD QD-OLED 500Hz G-Sync Gaming Monitor - $998 at Centre Com Philips Evnia 34” QD OLED 175Hz Gaming Monitor - $999 at JB Hi-Fi
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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