### Issue 2026 - Wednesday 14th February, 2024

## In Today's Issue

- iMessage won't be impacted by EU's DMA & USA FTC might look into Beeper Mini saga
- Anti-doxxing legislation rushed after names of people in a WhatsApp group made public
- Free ESXi is gone, Playdate in stock, Boost Mobile has eSIMs, Kagi gets Wolfram Alpha, Tesla adds 3rd party chagers to map
- 404 Media growing nicely after 6 months doing the indie tech news thing
- Cheap HDDs, Bluetti portable battery, Creality Ender filament printer, Zoom PodTrack P4, refurb HP laptop, Logitech MX mech keyboard, Flickr Pro

## The News

### iMessage won't be impacted by EU's DMA & USA FTC might look into Beeper Mini saga

Apple managed to convince the European Commission that iMessage is not a gatekeeper and won't be regulated under the Digital Markets Act. This means it does not need to be made interoperable with other messaging services and Apple doesn't need to make changes to the service like Meta has to do with WhatsApp for example. Apple will still implement RCS into the Messages app on the iPhone and that's happening world-wide, not just in Europe. Meanwhile in the USA, the FCC is considering investigating if Apple violated "Part 14 rules" (a law regarding access to communications services for people with disabilities) in blocking Beeper Mini from operating and allowing iMessage on non-Apple devices. I hope they dig around and produce a report, that would be a fascinating read.

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### Anti-doxxing legislation rushed after names of people in a WhatsApp group made public

The federal government is hastily cooking up "anti-doxxing" laws as a response to the "names, images, professions and social media accounts" of 600 people in a pro-Israel WhatsApp group made public by pro-Palestine activists and anti-Zionists Jews. We don't know what the legislation will look like exactly, but the Prime Minister has "asked the Attorney-General to bring forward legislation in response to the Privacy Act review, including laws that deal with so-called doxxing, which is basically the malicious publication of private information online". The Chair of EFA said they are "wary about any attempts to criminalise doxxing" and that it is already "unlawful to use a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence", but "what we lack — as survivors of family violence and stalking know only too well — is law enforcement with the will to exercise the powers they already have".

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### Free ESXi is gone, Playdate in stock, Boost Mobile has eSIMs, Kagi gets Wolfram Alpha, Tesla adds 3rd party chagers to map

- Broadcom, the new owners of VMware, have ditched the free version of the popular ESXi hypervisor. This sucks and makes life harder for hobbyists/self-learners to get familiar with VMware's products.
- The cute little Playdate handheld gaming console from Panic is now in stock and ready to buy without a pre-order. You can visit their online store, plonk down US$220 and get it shipped to you within 1-2 weeks.
- Boost Mobile now supports eSIM. Just download the new Boost Mobile app to your phone and you can port your number across or get a new number connected immediately.
- Kagi has added Wolfram Alpha to its results, so things like "calculations, unit conversions, and time" are vastly improved. One less reason to use Google.
- Tesla added non-Tesla charging stations to in-car navigation for Australia. Chargefox, Evie Networks, BP Pulse and others can now be included in trip planning and battery pre-conditioning.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### 404 Media growing nicely after 6 months doing the indie tech news thing

There's a nice story about 404 Media on Neiman Lab and how the scrappy media startup is "profitable". It's a loose definition of profitable - they made back their US$1,000 "investment" and refused to disclose 404 Media's total revenue - but I'm glad they're on a positive track after 6 months. This is a great quote from Sam Cole, one of the co-founders, "owning our own work, and being beholden to no one but our readers and colleagues — as opposed to say, investors, venture capitalists, or out-of-touch executives — feels like the future". I really like 404 Media and what they're doing and wish more journalists would get together with their mates and do something similar. It'd be much more difficult in Australia with a smaller audience, but it would be cool to give it a crack anyways.

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## Bargains

- Used WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB/18TB 3.5" HDDs - $239/$299 from Metrocom
- Bluetti EB3A 600W/268Wh portable battery - $373 from Outbax's eBay store
- Creality Ender-3 V3 KE Filament Printer - $429 at Jaycar
- Zoom PodTrak P4 Recorder - $188.27 from Amazon Japan
- Refurb HP EliteBook 830 G5 (i5-8350U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p) - $269 from CorporatePC
- Logitech MX Mechanical Mini Wireless Illuminated USB-C Keyboard - $149 from Amazon
- Flickr Pro 2 year subscription - $176 for new customers

## Image Of The Day

Intel polysilicon die collage. Most of the CPUs, SoCs and some Hubs from Intel, produced since 1992, resized in relative area to each other. (Ivan Musachev / Flickr)

## The End

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