### Issue 1474 - Monday 18th October, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Netflix and Apple sacked staff for pointing out their mega-corp hypocrisy
- WhatsApp cloud backups are now end-to-end encrypted, but not by default
- Canon sued for blocking scanner and fax functions if printer has no ink
- I want a TotalPhase Advanced Cable Tester
- Cheap TCL 75" TV, Sennheiser HD800S, Coles Mobile SIM, eero 6, Logitech MX Anywhere, ThinkPad X1 Carbon, 16TB Seagate HDD, Cyberpunk 2077 for PC, Civ 6 Anthology

## The News

### Netflix and Apple sacked staff for pointing out their mega-corp hypocrisy

Netflix is in hot water for letting Dave Chappelle say offensive stuff about transsexual people, which upset a group of trans employees who were going to stage a protest. Netflix sacked the leader of that group. Apple fired Janneke Parrish who was arguing that Apple's culture of secrecy not only discourages product leaks, but also "discouraged workers from coming forward about issues like sexual harassment and wage disparities". Both employees were fired on a technicality (leaked Netflix metrics, deleting an app off a company smartphone), but reading between the lines, they simply made these big companies uncomfortable and that is unacceptable.

### WhatsApp cloud backups are now end-to-end encrypted, but not by default

Good news for WhatsApp users - backups are now end-to-end encrypted. Previously if you had WhatsApp and wanted your messages backed up automatically to iCloud or Google Drive, you had to take the risk that all those conversations would end up in plain-text, in the cloud, ready for a government or law enforcement agency to go sniffing for it and taking all your chats out of context. Just because I call that guy "Drug Dealer Dave" doesn't mean I buy drugs from him! Now you can backup your WhatsApp conversations to iCloud or Google Drive and set "a password of your choice or a 64-digit encryption key that only you know".

### Canon sued for blocking scanner and fax functions if printer has no ink

An American person, perhaps a hero, by the name of David Leacraft has launched a class action lawsuit against Canon USA because his Pixma MG6320 "would refuse to scan or fax documents if the printer ran out of ink". It isn't a user error or a little oopsie by Canon, they've been telling users this for a while and even say that "there is no workaround for this" on their support forums. What an absolute crock of shit from Canon. It's obvious Canon is doing this because they sell the hardware for sweet fuck all then try claw back a profit via overpriced ink. Good luck David.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### I want a TotalPhase Advanced Cable Tester

Say what you will about Linus Tech Tips and their never ending thirst for Content, they get access to some of the coolest shit due to the YouTube's channel's immense size. One such thing is a TotalPhase Advanced Cable Tester. It's a US$15,000 box that you plug both ends of a cable into and it tells you if that cable works properly and meets whatever standard it's supposed to achieve. HDMI, Thunderbolt, Lightning, USB, DisplayPort - it tests them all. I wonder if there's a business opportunity here where you buy the box and all the various modules, test a shitload of cables and make cash off Amazon affiliate links to known good cables. Maybe you'd call it goodcables.com.au?

## Bargains

- TCL 75X10 75" 4K QLED Android TV - $1644 from Appliances Online
- Sennheiser HD800S headphones - $1,499 from Addicted to Audio
- Coles Mobile 365-day SIM with 60GB data and 10,000 FlyBuys points - $95 at Coles
- Amazon eero 6 mesh wi-fi 3-pack - $324 from Amazon
- Logitech MX Anywhere 3 Wireless Mouse - $99 from Amazon
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 with i5-1145G7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Ubuntu - $1673.10 from Lenovo
- Seagate Exos X16 16TB Enterprise HDD - $462 from Newegg
- Cyberpunk 2077 via GOG for PC - $35.69 from CD Keys
- Civilization VI Anthology - $57.85 on Steam

## The End

📻 Night Tryst - Narrow Head

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

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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.​