### Issue 1984 - Wednesday 29th November, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- VIC EV tax to be refunded, plus minimum reliability & usability standards for EV chargers
- Plex upsets everyone by turning on Week in Review & Discover Together features by default
- FTA networks get a "prominence framework" designed so their apps are easier to find on Aussie TVs
- Bendigo's electronic health record is copping some extremely bad user feedback
- Cheap Zoom, Rode & Behringer audio gear, Bose earbuds, Xbox controller, Monitor Audio speakers, Pixels & iPhones, 77" LG OLED TV, Amazon Echo Pop, Maxell cassette tapes, Sony party speaker

## The News

### VIC EV tax to be refunded, plus minimum reliability & usability standards for EV chargers

Good news for Victorians like me who paid the EV road usage tax last year and the year before - confirmation that what we paid due to an unconstitutional law is getting refunded and there will be interested add on. Don't have a date or how the interest will be calculated (this article reckons the treasurer said it could several months to identify who is owed money), but I'm happy to get my ~$1,500 back soon. I'm also happy that federal and state governments are going to add provisions such as a 98% uptime standard, multiple ports, the switch to a common payment system and more CCS plugs to future EV charger grants. The linked article is a bit thin on other details (like which grants will this apply to?) and simply quotes a "spokesperson" for the energy minister, but it's nice to see them at least contemplating a minimum set of standards for public EV charging in Australia.

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### Plex upsets everyone by turning on Week in Review & Discover Together features by default

Plex has suddenly turned on "week in review" emails for all users the last week, telling all the people they are friends with on Plex what you and other friends have watched. They also enabled a new "Discover Together" feature that shows what all your friends are watching. Cute ideas by a product manager looking to score some points, but why did they think turning this stuff on by default was a good idea?! You need to opt out and for many people who don't keep up with Plex's product announcements, it comes too late when their watching habits (apparently people keep porn in their Plex library? lol amateurs) are exposed without their implied consent. Plex was good but it's diverging so far from what 99% of people use it for in a sad attempt to be "legitimate" and achieve big returns on the US$50m investors flushed into it in 2021.

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### FTA networks get a "prominence framework" designed so their apps are easier to find on Aussie TVs

Federal government has introduced a "new prominence framework" as part of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Prominence and Anti-siphoning) Bill 2023, that will "ensure consumers can easily find and access free television broadcasting services and broadcasting video-on-demand services on connected television devices" - i.e: the free to air networks whinged that people are watching Netflix and Amazon Prime instead of their slop and reckon its because there's a Netflix or Amazon button a set top box remote or because the Netflix app is listed before their apps on smart TVs. The practical result of this law is "manufacturers of connected television devices will have to meet minimum prominence requirements for new devices supplied to the Australian market" - dunno what this means exactly, the government will release more detail in early 2024.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Bendigo's electronic health record is copping some extremely bad user feedback

Electronic health records are generally a good thing, but only if they're done properly and Bendigo Health's electronics health record system is such a pile of shit that staff want to leave because of it and even worse, it's hurting patients. One respondent to the internal survey said that it "causes moral distress on a near daily basis". A nurse said that "I have reduced my hours at Bendigo Health and am seriously considering my future here". Another nurse said the system is "misleading the nursing staff to actual dosages prescribed, leading to many and multiple drug errors that have significantly affected patients". A doctor commented "it is not easy to use, learn, or to maintain, and it does nothing to enhance the clinical experience". Another commented that they "feel like a guinea pig being constantly and systematically bullied and harassed by a computer". Look, maybe these people are all noobs that can't computer, but whoever made this system needs to remember computers are supposed to serve us, not the other way around.

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## Bargains

- Zoom M2 microphone recorder or PodTrack P7 portable multitrack recorder - $199/$449 from Videoguys
- Behringer UMC404HD or UMC22 audio interface - $143.21/$80.77 from Amazon UK
- Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II - $299 from Amazon
- Xbox Wireless Controller (Electric Volt) - $63.96 from The Gamesmen's eBay store
- Monitor Audio Monitor 100 Bookshelf Speakers (pair) - $214 from Space Hi-Fi
- Google Pixel 6a or iPhone SE (2022) 64GB/128GB - $399/$519/$599 with any pre-paid SIM purchase from Amaysim
- LG OLED77C3PSA 77" 4K OLED TV - $4,443.15 + $55 delivery (or pickup) from The Good Guys eBay store
- Amazon Echo Pop - $29 from Amazon
- Maxell UR-90 audio cassettes 5-pack - $18.53 from Amazon USA
- Sony SRS-XV800 wireless party speaker - $595 from Amazon
- RODE XCM-50 Professional Condenser Cardioid USB Microphone - $99 + delivery from Mwave

## Image Of The Day

IBM cryptographer Christian Cachin humorously demonstrates how easy it is to erase data from a hard disk. Cachin is working on a number of European projects to make storing, securing and deleting data in the cloud easier and more robust. (IBM Research / Flickr)

## 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.