### Issue 1577 - Wednesday 30th March, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Tech related stuff in the 2022 federal budget
- Telstra CEO Andy Penn to resign 1st Sep, CFO Vicki Brady to take over
- Nvidia's RTX 3090 Ti is the new fastest gaming graphics card
- Why does Australia have so few EVs to choose from compared to the US and Europe?
- Cheap Sennheiser earbuds, Kayo gift cards, Nintendo Switch, Limbo for Switch, Age of Empires 2, Ring doorbell

## The News

### Tech related stuff in the 2022 federal budget

Federal government's budget went out last night and there's some juicy tech related stuff in there.

- $811m for telcos to fill mobile blackspots in regional, rural and peri-urban Australia. This is on top of $610m this government has already spent improving coverage in areas telcos find unprofitable.
- The Technology Investment Boost will allow businesses with less than $50m in turnover to "deduct a bonus 20% of the cost of business expenses and depreciating assets that support digital uptake". Stuff like "cloud computing, eInvoicing, cybersecurity and web design".
- $1.16b will be spent over 15 years on a National Space Mission for Earth Observation. The cash will be used together with the private sector so Australia can design, build and operate four new earth observation satellites.
- The Digital Transformation Office had its funding cut. The DTA "will have total resourcing of $524.9 million next financial year, significantly less than the $584.8 million estimated for the current financial year".
- A whopping $10b for the Australian Signals Directorate for something it's calling the REDSPICE package - " resilience, effects, defence, space, intelligence, cyber and enablers". They plan for the ASD to double in size with 1900 new staff over the next decade.

### Telstra CEO Andy Penn to resign 1st Sep, CFO Vicki Brady to take over

Telstra CEO Andy Penn is retiring and CFO Vicki Brady will take over as the boss of Australia's biggest telco on September 1st. In the ASX announcement, Telstra said that "Andy has led Telstra during a period of significant change and will be known for his courage in setting a bold ambition through the T22 strategy to deliver a transformed experience for customers, shareholders and employees". The new CEO's job will be navigating the T25 strategy without losing investors money and making the most of NBN's eventual privatisation. God speed.

### Nvidia's RTX 3090 Ti is the new fastest gaming graphics card

The Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti is now on sale (kinda, stock still arriving in Australia). This large chongus of a graphics card is the RTX 3090 juiced up. A result of that increased performance is way more power consumption - 450W stock TDP. Many OEMs are even selling them watercooled from the factory (was this a thing on previous GPUs?) as air cooling one of these things is a big ask and out of the question if you plan on overclocking. The MSRP for the RTX 3090 Ti is US$1999, but initial stock locally is in the $3300 to $3600 range at PLE for example. Perfect for your next YOLO build. $10k gaming rig, who gives a fuck, enjoy it mate.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Why does Australia have so few EVs to choose from compared to the US and Europe?

The Guardian has a succinct and accurate article explaining why Australia has so few electric cars to choose from, despite heavy interest in them from drivers. The "majority of EVs are instead flowing to countries that require car manufacturers to sell them in order to meet fuel efficiency standards and CO2 emission reduction schemes. The UK has banned the sale of all new petrol-run cars by 2030, in South Korea the date is 2025". Australia is "the only country in the OECD not to have fuel efficiency standards for CO2" and hasn't "adopted the Euro 6 noxious emission standards on fuel quality, which was applied to all new cars sold in the EU more than six years ago". Australia - stuck with our thumb up our arses, again.

## Bargains

- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds - $299 from Amazon
- 10% off Kayo gift cards via Amazon
- Nintendo Switch OLED console (white) - $449 from Amazon
- Limbo for Nintendo Switch - $1.50 from the Nintendo eShop
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition for PC - $9.18 from Humble Bundle
- Ring Video Doorbell 4 (2021 Release) with Ring Chime - $318 from Amazon

## The End

📻 Total - Killing Joke

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