# In This Issue

- Trump signs executive order demanding freedom of speech on social media

- NBN’s HFC network can’t cope with 1000mbit plans, is actually 750mbit with 990mbit “bursts”

- New Raspberry Pi with 8GB of RAM and Raspbian is now called Raspberry Pi OS

- New Plex feature, Canon & Fuji webcam apps, Linux Australia grants & PiBar

- Cheap Red Dead Redemption 2, Edifer speakers & headphones, eBay Plus Month, Tetris Effect, Polk Audio T50, Bose Soundbar 700, Optus SIM kit

# News

#### Trump signs executive order demanding freedom of speech on social media

Well, Donald went and did it - he signed an Executive Order on Preventing Online Censorship because Twitter fact-checked two of his tweets and as expected, it reads like the whinging of a salty troll that got told to shut up. The order is not much more than a rant with vague "the attorney general should make a law against this and the FTC should investigate it.. again!!" sounds, spending most of its time going on about free speech and how social media companies are censoring it (they aren't and courts have said multiple times they aren't), even calling out Twitter with examples of other politicians not being fact-checked. The full order is very weird and a scary insight as to how Trump and his buddies view social media as a "21st century equivalent of the public square". Wake me up if they decide to change Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and make social media companies liable for what their users say - that's when shit gets real.

#### NBN’s HFC network can’t cope with 1000mbit plans

NBN has given a few more details about the "Home Ultrafast" speeds on the HFC network. Unlike FTTP, where you actually get 1000mbit, on HFC only 7% of users will be able to sign up for those speeds. On top of that caveat, you only get 750mbit with a "potential burst" of up to 990Mbps "between 1 to 50 seconds at least once a day". We still don't know which 7% of the HFC network is enabled for the 750mbit/990mbit speeds, I guess you just sign up for a plan with your ISP and hope for the best? Speaking of ISPs and plans, Superloop got in on the 1000/50 action, but their plan 1TB sucks compared to Aussie Broadband's unlimited for the same price. What is pretty awesome though, is the 200/200 unlimited plan for $219/m. 200mbit upload! Good stuff on a decent network too.

#### New Raspberry Pi with 8GB of RAM and Raspbian is now called Raspberry Pi OS

The Raspberry Pi foundation made two little announcements last night. If RAM was the limiting factor on whatever you do on a Raspberry Pi, good news! The Pi 4 Model B now has an 8GB of RAM option. It costs about $130 and is on sale now at the usual joints. That makes disk I/O the weakest link now, even with the fastest microSD card (e.g: a A2 & V30 rated UHS card) speeds are limited to 50MB/sec and microSD cards have poor IOPS and latency compared to a real SSD. Anyway, the other announcement is the renaming of Raspbian to Raspberry Pi OS and a 64-bit version of said OS, which makes sense not only from a naming point of view, but for the fact you'll want a 64-bit OS to use all that RAM in the new unit.

# Not News

#### New Plex feature, Canon & Fuji webcam apps, Linux Australia grants & PiBar

- Plex added a Watch Together feature where you can invite friends to watch stuff on your Plex server simultaneously.

- Canon has released a Mac version of its EOS Webcam app that lets you use your fancy Canon camera as a webcam.

- Fujifilm has a use your nice camera as a webcam app too, but it's only for Windows at the moment.

- Linux Australia has $35,000 worth of grants on offer, with a focus on improving open source projects that can help people cope with COVID-19 restrictions.

- PiBar is a little menu bar app for your Mac that'll let you control and view your Pi-Hole setup. The icon makes me hungry.

# Bargains

- Red Dead Redemption 2 for XB1/PS4 - $38 from Amazon

- Edifer has an EOFY sale. The R1280DB speakers are $119.99 delivered.

- eBay Plus Month is happening as of June 1st, with cheap AirPods, Xiaomi Air Purifiers and Nintendo Switches on offer throughout the month.

- Tetris Effect on PC (compatible with VR headsets for a nice trip with the right pharmaceuticals) - $26.99 on the Epic Game Store

- Polk Audio T50 tower speakers - $382 for a pair from Amazon

- Bose Soundbar 700 - $839 from Amazon AU

- Optus $30 prepaid SIM kit - $9 also from Amazon

🎶 Sickness - Radioactivity

😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.

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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.​