Plus: A cool tool to automate smart home automations ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

February 09, 2026 | Read online
# Social media youth mental health trials, Super Bowl tech ads and Australia's nuclear testing detector Plus: A cool tool to automate smart home automations
Edition 2497
"Computer (magazine) - Dec 1975 Byte advert" by IEEE Computer Society is licensed under Public domain
# The News
### Social media companies face court for youth mental health claims
Social media companies are being put on trial over claims their software design choices have allegedly hurt children's mental health (Guardian). In a set of "bellwether" cases — i.e. cases that are testing claims that would apply to hundreds of other pending cases — companies like Meta, YouTube, TikTok and Snap are being accused of designing their platforms in ways that make users addicted, and lead to depression, eating disorders, even suicide. With one case set to go ahead this week, it is the first time these claims will face a jury trial in the US.
The Sizzle: One of the reasons that this has taken so long to end up in court is because social media companies have argued that the ill-effects suffered by social media users is caused by the content uploaded by other users. Tech platforms are typically not held legally responsible for user content under US or Australian law. But these new cases are arguing that harm is being caused by the design of the apps, i.e. features including likes counters, algorithmic amplification of extreme content, endless scroll, gamification features.
I think looking at the design of social media companies is an important distinction. I don't think connecting people to each other online — AKA social media — is inherently harmful. But some of the pokies-like features that keep users hooked? That's the stuff that we should be looking at closely (and regulating).
Related reading: European Union says video app TikTok must change ‘addictive’ design (Al Jazeera) and Attention Media ≠ Social Networks (Susam)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### AI and gambling companies dominate Super Bowl ads (which might mean we're at the top)
It's the Super Bowl today — right now — and the tech angle is that this year's highly sought-after $10m for 30 seconds halftime ads are dominated by AI (Hollywood Reporter) and prediction market cough gambling cough companies (Business Insider). Super Bowl advertisements are a funny thing because they're a sign of prestige — "look how much money we have" — but also, in the case of the dot com boom and crypto, they can be the sign of being at the peak of the bubble (Futurism)
Related reading: Washington Post had marketers review all the AI ads. Some were bad
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### How goannas are a problem for Australia's nuclear testing detector
Near Tennant Creek, smack bang in the middle-of-nowhere, Northern Territory, there's a 60-year-old ANU-managed "seismic and infrasound research station" that can detect nuclear tests happening anywhere in the world. Its director Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić just wrote a really nice article about the centre, what it does and how its existence deters nuclear weapons by making sure that no one can get away with testing it unnoticed. It's pretty neat that tech plays a role in peace. Also, this bit made me laugh:
"After one infrastructure reconstruction, we found two large goannas wrapped around a seismometer, having decided to spend their nights in the firm embrace of our equipment. You don't learn about this kind of challenge in Vienna's United Nations offices."
Hrvoje Tkalčić
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
I spoke to Fraser Tweedale, who's trying to get the MyGov code generator source code, about his challenge (Crikey, $) NBN ‘finish’ 14 years away in nation’s longest infrastructure build (The Australian, $) 'I've lost my friends': advocacy groups warn Australia's social media ban risks isolating kids with disabilities (The Guardian) Australia makes landmark decision that ‘prediction markets’ like Polymarket are gambling (Crikey, $) This is probably the final bit of a story that I've been following really closely! Real estate agents in Australia using apps that leave millions of lease documents at risk, digital researcher says (The Guardian) What’s the cheapest EV in Australia with a minimum 120 km range? (The Driven) AirDrop support will come to more Android devices in 2026 (EFTM) What I learned from my first summer with a Sigenergy home battery (GadgetGuy)
Rest of World:
Apple Prepares to Kick Off 2026 With the iPhone 17e, New iPads and Macs (Bloomberg, $) Apple Plans to Allow Outside Voice-Controlled AI Chatbots in CarPlay (Bloomberg, $) Google workers demand end to cloud services for ICE (BBC) Countries Across Europe Want To Ban Social Media for Minors (Gizmodo) Waymo admits that its autopilot is often just guys from the Philippines (TechSpot) I actually don't think this is bad. Seems kinda reassuring that there's people keeping watch in case the car needs help? Why Claude Cowork is a math problem Indian IT can’t solve (Rest of World) Linus Torvalds Confirms The Next Kernel Is Linux 7.0 (Phoronix)
aaaaaaaaaaaa
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### A cool tool to automate smart home automations
Have you gotten everything working in Home Assistant but can't be bothered setting up automations? Someone has built a little widget called Tara Assistant that watches how you use your smart home, drafts automations and recommends them — all done locally. It can also build automations based on your natural voice commands if you loop in a LLM.
I'm going to give it a go and tell you how it pans out!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Soundcore Motion 300 Portable Speaker - $82.99 at Soundcore Store (Down from $199.99 - 59% off) Nebula Capsule 3 projector - $699 at Amazon (50% off) Apple Watch (cellular) at Telstra Series 11 for $799 ($100 off) Ultra 3 for $1299 ($100 off) Ifi valkyrie portable dac amp - $2099 at Addicted to Audio (30% off - $900 Savings)
Computing
Free USD $50 Claude Pro and Claude Max Usage Credits Logitech Peripherals at Amazon Studio Series Mouse Pad for $9 MX Anywhere 3S Mouse for $84.15 (Down from $139.95) MX Vertical Advanced Mouse for $99.46 GameSir C2 Universal Arcade Fightstick - $89 at Centre Com Logitech MX Keys Mini Minimalist Wireless Illuminated Keyboard - $101 at Amazon Lenovo Tab 10.1" Wi-Fi 128GB + Clear Case - $178 at RetraVision Philips Evnia 2000 27" 144Hz QHD IPS Gaming Monitor - $179 at Centre Com Philips Evnia 27M2N3500PF 27" QHD Fast IPS 260Hz Adaptive-Sync Gaming Monitor - $189 at MSY or Umart Western Digital WD Red Plus 12TB 3.5" NAS HDD - $398 at Amazon Ubiquiti Unifi Dream Router 7 (Wi-Fi 7 Tri-Band) - $479 at Landmark Computers TP-Link Deco BE65-5G Router - $762 (Down from $1099) at Centre Com Gaming PC: R5 7500F, RTX 5060, 1TB Gen4 SSD, 240mm AIO, 32GB RAM, B650M PLUS WIFI, 650W Silver PSU - $1688 at Nebula PC Apple MacBook Pro 14” M5 16GB/1TB - $2,559 at Amazon Gaming PC at GalaPower AMD R7 9800X3D + RTX 5070 Ti for $3399 AMD R7 9850X3D, RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD for $3899
Mobile
Telstra Prepaid Sim Starter Kit - $13 at Telstra (down from $39)
# The End
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