### Issue 1991 - Friday 8th December, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Rollout of end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger by default starts now
- Government burning $17m of tax payer money on 5 AI Adopt centres across Australia
- RIP Internode, new game from House House, adult babies & diaperl lovers kicked off Patreon
- Miserable people make the internet miserable
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap refurb Sony headphones, refurb Lenovo micro PC, PlayStation 5 Slim, Hisense 4K short throw projector, Denon AVR

## The News

### Rollout of end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger by default starts now

The day law enforcement feared has finally arrived - Facebook Messenger is now end-to-end encrypted by default. This sucks for them as it's one of the most popular messaging services in the world and people love using it for crimes. They could simply demand Meta send them chat logs between suspects and Meta had to hand it over, even if the evidence that a user could be a suspect is flimsy as hell. That can't happen now as Meta legitimately can't see what's in these messages as Messenger is now using "the Signal Protocol, and our own novel Labyrinth Protocol". It'll take "months" to implement across its 1 billion users, but it's coming and will be turned on by default. Group chats and Instagram messages will come "later".

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### Government burning $17m of tax payer money on 5 AI Adopt centres across Australia

Ed Husic, the Minister for Industry and Science, has announced the Responsible Artificial Intelligence Adopt Program. It'll spend $17m to "establish up to five AI Adopt centres across Australia", "aimed at establishing a front door for SMEs looking to explore responsible and safe adoption and usage of AI". These centers will "Showcase the innovative capabilities that AI can unlock", "provide guidance on how to adopt AI responsibly and efficiently" and "provide specialist training to help develop specific skills to effectively manage AI". They're handing out the money via grants worth $3m-$5m each that'll subsidise up to 50% of whatever AI-education brainfart you can think of. More details on these AI Adopt Centres are on the Business.gov.au website.

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### RIP Internode, new game from House House, adult babies & diaperl lovers kicked off Patreon

- Pour one out for a true OG as TPG has killed off the Internode and Westnet ISP branding. Starting early next year those customers will be shunted to iiNet, one of the few remaining TPG brands (iiNet, Vodafone and TPG are it I think?). As a long time Internode customer before TPG snapped them up, this is a little sad, but the "ISP for nerds" baton passed on to Aussie Broadband and Launtel a long time ago.
- I've been wondering what House House would do after the immense success and critical acclaim of Untitled Goose Game and now we have an answer - Big Walk - "a cooperative online walker-talker". Looks and sounds beautifully Australian, so despite not knowing what the fuck is going on in this game, I'm looking forward to it in 2025 just as much as GTA6. According to the press kit, Big Walk will be PC only at launch.
- Patreon has banned "adult baby/diaper lover" content, claiming that "Patreon has zero tolerance for the sexualization of children or teenagers", despite no minors or the sexualisation of minors involved. I am 100% not into "adult baby/diaper lover" and really don't care if it goes away entirely, but it's not illegal. Patreon is probably doing this just to be on the safe side when it comes to incredibly prudish credit card processors. I stand in solidarity with my adult baby/diaper lover comrades.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Miserable people make the internet miserable

Kevin Munger makes the argument that Facebook and the wider internet sucks because people suck. "Millions of Americans are miserable. The internet has 'gotten worse' because Americans are not ok. Near-universal internet access means that there are immiserated, lonely people spending many hours a day online. The breakdown in the social fabric, climbing 'prime-age' unemployment and high rates of addiction and mental illness manifest themselves in our mutually-constructed online spaces. There is a misery that wants to make itself known - to inflict itself on the world - that social media enables. We are reaping what we've sown; the interconnectedness enabled by the internet and the gains from open communication/cooperation cannot succeed while so many are left behind". It's a depressing read.

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## 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.

- superhighfives shared with us a gorgeous interactive music video they made, it's amazing, go watch it and the blog post about how they made it!
- apenning wants to know what everyone's most unexpected favourite tech product is - theirs is a Level Lock+ smart lock
- merganser got a nice new turntable and is after tips for finding well priced new release vinyl
- mattd wants a PS VR2 but doesn't wanna pay full price for it
- I'm selling an 18TB HDD and a Fractal Design Meshify 2 XL PC case at the moment and have a bunch of other gear coming up for sale as I clear out my study

## Bargains

- Refurbished Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones - $233.22 from Sony's eBay store
- PlayStation 5 Slim - $735.92 from Dick Smith's eBay store
- Refurbished Lenovo ThinkCentre M720Q micro PC (i7-8700T, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) - $299 from Metrocom's eBay store
- Hisense PL1H short throw 4K projector - $2135 + delivery from Videopro
- Denon AVR-S670H AV receiver - $630 from Home Audio Sales' eBay store

## Image Of The Day

Zen & the art of the Macintosh: discoveries on the path to computer enlightment (Sketch the Cow / The Internet Archive)

## The End

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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.