### Issue 1613 - Tuesday 24th May, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- AMD formally announces Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, launching in Spring
- ACCC worried that NBN's proposed wholesale plan will increase pricing
- Clearview AI fined, Broadcom might buy VMware, Starlink goes mobile
- The Rodecaster Pro II is pretty cool
- Cheap Eufy smart scale, Dell monitor, Samsung SSD, Plex Pass, Atomos Ninja, Boost Mobile, Switch Sports, Razer iPhone game controller, PS5 controller, Yubico Security Key

## The News

### AMD formally announces Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, launching in Spring

AMD's dropped info about desktop Zen 4/Ryzen 7000-series CPUs this morning. AMD reckons the 16 core Ryzen 7000 is 15% faster than the current 16 core 5950X. There's a new AM5 socket, PCIe 5.0 for even faster SSDs and Zen 4 will only support DDR5 RAM, unlike Intel's choice to support the cheaper (but slower) DDR4 and DDR5 on their latest CPUs. All the Ryzen 7000 CPUs will have built-in graphics based on RDNA2 but don't expect much gaming wise. There's a range of new chipsets too. Unfortunately the only info about when you can buy a Ryen 7000 CPU is "fall", so some time between the 1st of September and the 30th of November. No pricing either.

### ACCC worried that NBN's proposed wholesale plan will increase pricing

The ACCC has released its take on the NBN's proposed Special Access Undertaking and it reckons that if NBN had its way, internet pricing would increase rapidly. Based on the ACCC's modelling, the cost of a 50mbit plan would cost as much as the 100mbit plan "within only a few years" due to the NBN's brain fart of removing CVC on 100mbit+ speed tiers, but adding yearly CPI plus 3% increases. The ACCC reckons this move would "force households and businesses to purchase high speed inclusions at a price that does not represent fair value to them based on their requirements" and adding fuel to my observation that the NBN has made internet access in Australia way too expensive for what you get.

### Clearview AI fined, Broadcom might buy VMware, Starlink goes mobile

- That creepy facial recognition app, Clearview AI, has been ordered by the UK Information Commissioner's Office to pay a 7.5 million pound fine for using people's social media photos without their permission.
- Dell only spun off VMware in November and already Broadcom is sniffing around to buy it for US$50b - a 25% premium on its current market cap and one of the biggest ever tech acquisitions.
- Starlink has launched a mobile option for its satellite internet service, allowing those without a fixed address to use a de-prioritised (i.e: slower) service anywhere there's signal for an extra US$25/m.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The Rodecaster Pro II is pretty cool

I really liked the Rodecaster Pro. It's an audio mixer that's a piece of piss to use, sounds great, has nifty features designed for podcasting (like automatic mix-minus and Bluetooth input for telephone callers) didn't cost a fortune and is designed *and* manufactured in Australia. I thought it was pretty good already but Rode's got a new version, the Rodecaster Pro II. It got rid of two of the faders, but made the controls way more customisable so it can manipulate video kinda like an Elgato Streamdeck, making it a nifty all in one unit for Twitch streamers. This video from Rode explains all the new stuff. It's a little pricier ($1079), but kinda makes me want to start a podcast again.

## Bargains

- eufy Smart Scale C1 - $29.95 from AZAU
- Dell S2721DGF 2560x1440 165Hz 27" monitor - $409 from Dell's eBay store
- Samsung T5 500GB portable SSD - $75 from Officeworks
- Plex Pass Lifetime - $127.99 from Plex
- Atomos Ninja V 4K HDMI recording monitor - $639.92 from Amazon USA
- Boost Mobile $300 SIM - $216 from auditech's eBay store
- Nintendo Switch Sports - $52 from the Gamesmen's eBay store
- Razer Kishi universal gaming controller for iPhone - $58.15 from Razer's eBay store
- Sony PS5 DualSense Controllers & various Playstation 4 Hits games - $79/$10ea from Big W
- Yubico Security Key - $34 from Futu Online's eBay store

## The End

📻 Salad Days - Minor Threat

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