### Issue 2142 - Wednesday 31st July, 2024

## In Today's Issue

- Yet another creepy AI thingy for lonely people
- Kids Online Safety Act passes US Senate, let's see how it does in the House of Reps
- ANCAP to take a look at annoying lane keep assist features in Aussie cars
- Three things I saw on Aliexpress
- Cheap Apple TV+, Moto G84 phone, Logitech keyboard, CyberPower powerboard, SanDisk Endurance microSD

## The News

### Yet another creepy AI thingy for lonely people

Friend is an "AI companion Avi Schiffmann has been building, and it lives in a pendant hung around his neck" according to The Verge. They describe it as "an AI friend that can go with you anywhere, experience things with you, and just be there with you all the time", with Schiffmann adding "it's also super intelligent, it's a great brainstorming buddy. You can talk to it about relationships, things like that". The promo video looks like a bastard child pisstake of The Curse and Her, but no, it's real and something you can pay $155 for. You talk to it and it responds as a message on your phone. I kinda feel sorry for anyone that wants this. You'd have to be very lonely.

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### Kids Online Safety Act passes US Senate, let's see how it does in the House of Reps

The US Senate passed the much maligned Kids Online Safety Act last night. If you're unfamiliar, it's a US law that "would require social media platforms to reduce online dangers by changing their design or opting out of algorithm based recommendation systems" and creates a "duty of care" for apps and platforms used by kids. It all sounds nice on the surface, but as the ACLU explains, the law is "defined so broadly that platforms are likely to censor content that could prove objectionable to the government, which could include anything from sexual health resources to information about gender identity, or how to get help for an eating disorder". It'll likely do more harm to kids by making it hard for them to get reliable information about things they're naturally curious about. The law still has to pass the US House of Representatives.

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### ANCAP to take a look at annoying lane keep assist features in Aussie cars

ANCAP put out a press release last week saying that they have "embarked on a new research project designed to intentionally capture the steering force, intervention timing, and correction severity of Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) on vehicles already star rated". This is due to "feedback ANCAP has received from consumers concerned that the safety systems fitted to their new cars are providing an adverse driver experience", which if you've driven a modern car with LKA & ELK, won't surprise you at all. Some are great, most are simply annoying, but a couple of implementations are downright dangerous.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Three things I saw on Aliexpress

- A DIY smartwatch featuring an ESP32 and e-paper screen, basically the total opposite of an Apple Watch. You can run your own code on it so it can do whatever you like. In the comments someone made it look like a Pip-Boy from Fallout.
- Need a dual monitor setup for your portable rig but don't want to lug around two separate displays? Check out HGFRTEE 15.6" portable monitor for laptop screen extender dual monitor stackable 360-degree folding stacked triple display (aka two montors with a hinge and built-in stand).
- This little dingus is designed to prop up your big hefty graphics card when mounted upright so it doesn't rip itself out of the PCI Express socket. Unscrew the bottom until the correct height is achieved and off you go. $1.54 is a small price to pay for peace of mind.

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## Bargains

- Subscribe or gift at least one sub to any streamer on Twitch until August 19 and receive 3 free months of Apple TV+
- Motorola Moto G84 5G smartphone - $283 from Mobileciti's eBay store
- Logitech MX Keys S Advanced wireless keyboard - $159 + delivery from Umart (possible OW price beat)
- CyberPower 8-Port Surge Protector with 2x USB Charging Ports - $25 + delivery at Centrecom (possible OW price beat)
- SanDisk High Endurance 256GB microSD - $30 + delivery from Centrecom

## Image Of The Day

Future Sex was a 1990s magazine based in San Francisco and published by Kundalini Publishing. The magazine was glossy with four-color printing and featured articles, interviews, reviews, erotica, and erotic photography celebrating the zeitgeist of technological revolution, body modification, sexual liberation, and the mainstreaming of sexual proclivities previously considered taboo—from bondage to fetishes to "teledildonics." (Famicoman / Internet Archive)

## The End

📻 Radiohead - Myxomatosis

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