### Issue 1953 - Monday 16th October, 2023

I'm back! Brisbane was lovely but I'm glad to be home. Thanks Sam and Raj for keeping the news flowing while I was sweating my arse off up north.

## In Today's Issue

- Twitter/X fined by eSafety Commissioner
- Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition
- QLD passes mandatory data breach notification law
- Comcast rolls out 2gbit up & down DOCSIS 4.0 to HFC users in USA
- Cheap 4TB NVMe SSD, Boost Mobile SIM, Lenovo tablet, LANdu & SXSW tickets, Officeworks gift cards, refurb iPhone SE, refurb HP mini PC, refurb Thinkpad T495s, Samsung Galaxy Watch5, Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Anker boombox

## The News

### Twitter/X fined by eSafety Commissioner

The eSafety commissioner has issued Twitter/X with a $610,500 fine for non-compliance with eSafety's request for answers regarding "the time it takes the platform to respond to reports of child sexual exploitation; the measures it has in place to detect child sexual exploitation in livestreams; and the tools and technologies it uses to detect child sexual exploitation material", as well as failing to "adequately answer questions relating to the number of safety and public policy staff still employed at Twitter/X following the October 2022 acquisition and subsequent job cuts". Now we play the waiting game to see if Elon pays up. If I was him I wouldn't bother.

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### Microsoft completes Activision Blizzard acquisition

Looks like Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard is complete. They've even released a trailer to announce the deal getting done. As Arstechnica notes, "with this all-cash acquisition, Microsoft is now the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony". I guess Microsoft's promises of giving access to Activision Blizzard games to GeForce Now and Ubisoft+, and signing 10-year deals with Sony and Nintendo to ensure they get access to the Call of Duty franchise were enough for regulators to approve the acquisition. The absurdly good value for money Game Pass will get Activision Blizzard titles in 2024.

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### QLD passes mandatory data breach notification law

Queensland joins NSW in creating a mandatory data breach notification scheme for government agencies. From the article - "if a Queensland government agency suspects it has been breached, it must 'take all reasonable' containment steps, and will generally have up to 30 days to assess the incident, although it can extend the assessment period via a written notice. There are also a series of exemptions, under Division 3, to issuing notifications; these include if notifying could 'compromise or worsen the agency's cyber security; or lead to further data breaches of the agency'. Agencies will need to keep a 'register' of breaches and publish a 'data breach policy'."

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Comcast rolls out 2gbit up & down DOCSIS 4.0 to HFC users in USA

This might be of interest for the poor souls burdened with NBN HFC - Comcast in the USA is the first ISP in the world to roll out DOCSIS 4.0 on its coaxial cable network. While DOCSIS 4.0 is supposedly capable of 10 Gbps down and 6 Gbps up, Comcast will be offering its customers 2 Gbps up and down. This is exciting as it means theoretically, NBN could do the same here. Fuck, even 1 Gbps symmetrical will be greatly appreciated. The paltry 50 Mbit they offer now is so frustratingly slow. I don't think NBN will get much network upgrade love beyond replacing FTTN/FTTC with FTTP on demand, but it's nice to dream that HFC and FTTP will get their own upgrades sooner rather than later.

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## Bargains

- Team Group MP34 4TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD - $249 from Centrecom
- Boost Mobile 365-day SIM with 260GB data, unlimited calls & SMS - $240 from Auditech
- Lenovo 11.5" Tab P11 2nd-gen 6GB RAM, 128GB storage - $399 at JB Hi-Fi
- LANdu LAN Gaming Event (2nd December, Ravenhall VIC) - $12/$16/$24
- 15% off $100 and $200 Celebration gift cards (can redeem at Officeworks) at Coles later this week
- Refurb iPhone SE 2020 64GB - $229 from Coles
- Refurb HP EliteDesk 800 G2 Mini PC (i5-6500T, 8GB RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD) - $104.99 from Bufferstock
- Refurb Lenovo Thinkpad T495s (Ryzen 5 Pro 3500, 16GB RAM, 256GB NVMe SSD, touch screen) - $399.99 from Bufferstock
- Samsung Galaxy Watch5 40mm - $220 from Samsung
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Switch - $59.25 from Catch + delivery
- Anker Soundcore Motion Boom Outdoor Speaker - $109.99 from Amazon
- SXSW Sydney Free Expo Day Pass (Oct 18-21) or 50% off festival entry price

## Image Of The Day

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Microsoft founder Bill Gates (C) and his wife Melinda Gates (L), who have donated billions of dollars globally to promote health and fight poverty, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House November 22, 2016 in Washington, DC. Obama presented the medal to 19 living and two posthumous pioneers in science, sports, public service, human rights, politics and the arts. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

## The End

📻 Repeater - Fugazi

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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.