### Issue 1619 - Wednesday 1st June, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- New ministers for Industry, Science, Cyber Security & Communications sworn in
- Texas law stopping social media from banning users gets paused in Supreme Court
- Amazon removes in-app Kindle purchases on Android after Google noticed
- Find Wikipedia items near you that don't have photos
- Cheap Lenovo Smart Clock 2, $900 JB gift card with Telstra plan, LG 38" monitor, Razer USB mic, WD 5TB portable HDD, Amazon Echo Show 8, Herman Miller chairs, Dell 4K monitor

## The News

### New ministers for Industry, Science, Cyber Security & Communications sworn in

Australia's got a new ministry line-up. Industry and Science Minister - a job that was separated by the previous government and given to losers and underachievers like Melissa Price, Christian Porter and Karen Andrews that you wanted to keep away from the media because they're dribbling morons - is now the responsibility of Ed Husic, who seems to be semi-competent. Clare O'Neil is the Minister for Cyber Security and Michelle Rowland is the Communications Minister. Good luck everyone, don't fuck it up.

### Texas law stopping social media from banning users gets paused in Supreme Court

Texas' infamous HB20 law - the one that prohibits social media companies from moderating content based on a user's "viewpoint" - has been kicked the curb by the US Supreme Court, at least temporarily while a lower court hears the argument for and against HB20 in full. HB20 was introduced to counteract "a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas", but social media companies argue that being forced to certain keep "viewpoints" online is also a violation of their First Amendment rights. Good time to be a US constitutional lawyer.

### Amazon removes in-app Kindle purchases on Android after Google noticed

Amazon has removed the ability to buy book via the Kindle app on Android. Unlike on iOS, Amazon kept this functionality in their app for years, bypassing the in-app purchase scheme on Android with their own. Google turned a blind eye all this time, until now. I don't know how you can spin this as anything but anti-competitive. Google and Apple sell ebooks on their platforms and a direct competitor in Amazon, who also sell ebooks, can't do it on Apple's or Google's sites or else they'll get stung with a 15-30% extra cost that their competitors selling the exact same thing don't incur.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Find Wikipedia items near you that don't have photos

WikiShootMe is a little website that finds Wikipedia/Wikidata items near you that need photos. You browse around a map, look for the red dots and go take photos of the place. You can then upload the photos when you get home. Just be careful though, many of the dots are for businesses, so spend your time getting photos of other stuff first before giving free labour to businesses. An excellent way to give back to a valuable resource and get out of the house at the same time. Also a nice way to browse Wikipedia articles via a map.

## Bargains

- Lenovo Smart Clock 2 with wireless charging dock - $84 from Bing Lee
- $900 JB gift card when you sign up for a 300GB/m Telstra 24m contract for $79/m
- LG 38WN95C 38" ultrawide USB-C/TB3 3840x1600 monitor - $1759 from Amazon
- Razer Seiren Mini USB mic - $55.49 from Amazon
- Western Digital Elements 5TB portable HDD - $149 from Amazon
- Amazon Echo Show 8 (Second Gen) - $129 from Amazon
- Herman Miller Embody & Aeron office chairs - $1944/$1854 from Living Edge
- Dell S2721QS 27" 4K monitor - $298.30 from Dell

## The End

📻 Dirty Work - Steely Dan

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