Plus: This is just Google search ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 20, 2025 | Read online
# People don't like training their replacements, cloud security worries and web bot traffic Plus: This is just Google search
Edition 2357
Flickr: orsorama
# The News
### People don’t love that platforms are training their AI replacements
This week, people uploading content to the world’s most popular video and video editing apps were confronted with the reality that they’re training their replacements. YouTube creators (CNBC) and users of the wildly popular short video editing app CapCut (Mashable) were both upset by new T&C’s or product releases that show how each company is training AI on their content. For cynical internet people — not my sweet Sizzlers, of course — it’s tempting to roll your eyes and say well, duh, if you upload your content to someone else’s computer, it ain’t yours anymore. Except how the fuck was the average person who uploaded a clip of their music in 2007 supposed to know it will be used 20 years later by one of the most powerful companies to replace you. This isn’t a crazy hypothetical: Spotify already makes some music in-house to save on royalties (Harper’s). You can only imagine how some tech execs are salivating at the thought of generating content that keeps you on their platform without the baggage of “paying people for art”.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### If you use a cloud ‘security’ product, you’re the one being surveilled
I’ve always been a bit anti-personal surveillance products like home video cameras. There’s definitely cases in which they can be necessary but, to me, they seem to create opportunities for misuse (sharing footage of people unnecessarily, for example). 404 Media has been doing lots of great reporting on one such company, Flock. Their latest story is how US police are illegally sharing the data they’ve accessed from the company to carry out the country’s immigration raids (404 Media). Continuing the theme of “who owns your data”, it’s crazy to me how many people use cloud-based surveillance tools in their own house! Do you guys have any locally-run security products? Let me know.
Love to pay for the honour of creating a spy in my house that will be used against vulnerable people
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### This stat shows how web traffic is becoming overwhelmingly bots
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince shared some fascinating stats on the changing balance in web traffic of real people looking at websites versus robots (Axios):
Imagine where it’s going to be six months from now!
The previous story was about putting your content on other people’s platforms, but this shit happens even if you’re not. If these trends continue, I really fear we’re seeing the end of the open web as we know it. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to write more about what I think could be coming next.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
VPNs and naughty parents: Teen social media trial isn’t testing some ways kids will get around the ban (Crikey, $) Technology to enforce teen social media ban is ‘effective’, trial says. But this is at odds with other evidence (The Conversation) Multilingual AI chatbot being developed for Aussie emergency departments (Cyber Daily AU) ASD signs $70 million AWS cloud contract (IT News) Palmer Luckey’s defence startup Anduril is on an Australian hiring spree (Capital Brief, $) Trump Adviser David Sacks Says China Adept at Evading Chip Curbs (Bloomberg, $) Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions face a reality check after launch (FT, archived link) SpaceX Starship rocket explodes in latest setback to Musk's Mars mission (ABC News) Honda successfully launched and landed its own reusable rocket (The Verge) The Fairphone 6 leaks ahead of its rumored late June launch (Engadget) macOS Tahoe Beta Drops FireWire Support (MacRumours) Hands-On: How Apple’s New Speech APIs Outpace Whisper for Lightning-Fast Transcription (MacStories) Steam Beta finally enables Proton on Linux fully, making Linux gaming simple (GamingonLinux) Is it really FOSS? (isitreallyfoss.com) The Seven Deadly UX Sins of the Fediverse Web Experience (To Fix) (Tim Chambers)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### This is just Google search
Continuing this week’s theme of de-enshittification, I came across a new, working version of a stripped back Google, udm14.com, with no ads, AI answers, knowledge panels or even Google branding. It might sound familiar because there was a similar one circulated last year that no longer works, but gee, it feels almost calming to use this. Or, if you’re sick of their shit, privacy-focused, paid search engine Kagi is just about to start offering free accounts for a limited, but decent, amount of searches (Mastodon).
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Remax Mini 10000mAh Wireless Power Bank with USB C - $26.99 at Remax Au eBay Motorola Moto Tag Bluetooth Tracker at Harvey Norman 1-Pack for $40 4-Pack for $138 TP-Link Tapo C410 2K 3MP Solar Security Camera - $67 at The Good Guys Apple AirTag MX542ZP/A (4-Pack) - $104 at Techciti eBay Philips Hue Play - White and Colour Ambiance Smart LED Bar Light - Black - 2-Pack - $129 at Amazon AU Ninja Air Fryer Pro XL 6.2L - $140 at Amazon AU eufy E22 Permanent Outdoor Lights at JB Hi-Fi 15m for $135 30m for $223 Sonos Era 100 - $229 at Costco Casio CT-S410 Casiotone Digital Keyboard - $279 at Belfield Music eBay DJI Osmo Action 4 Standard Combo - $295 at Sydney Mobiles eBay Store Ubiquiti Unifi G6 Turret 4K Poe Camera - $384 at BITSmart Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber Streakwave for $530 Centre Com for $559 Sennheiser IE 600 - $639 at Sennheiser Australia eBay PWM Mantis Hybrid Analog Synthesiser - $999 at Store DJ DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo (RC 2) - $1258 at The Good Guys eBay
Computing
KeepLink 8-Port PoE Gigabit Network Switch w/ 2x Uplink Ports - AU Plug - $37.42 at KeepLink Store AliExpress Tenda RX2L Pro AX1500 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 6 Router - $54.99 at Tenda Technology via Amazon AU Orico Y20 1TB 2.5" SATA SSD - $67.49 at ORICO G.O.A.T via Amazon AU NetGear Nighthawk RAX50 AX5400 6-Stream Wi-Fi 6 Router - $99 at Officeworks ALLDOCUBE iPlay 60 Pro 11 Inch Tablet - $195 at ALLDOCUBE AU Amazon AU Samsung T7 2TB USB Portable SSD - $229 at Amazon AU & Bing Lee Dell Latitude 5420 i5 1135G7, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Win11 (refurbished) - $319 at Australian Computer Traders Samsung 32" Odyssey G50D 180Hz IPS QHD Gaming Monitor - $349 at Samsung LG UltraGear 27" OLED 480Hz QHD Gaming Monitor - $1199 at LG Yoga Slim 7i Gen10 14" Aura Edition OLED 120Hz, Intel Ultra 7 258V, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD - $1852 at Lenovo AU Netgear Orbi 970 Series BE27000 RBE972S Quad-band WiFi 7 Mesh (2-Pack) - $1999 at Centrecom ZOTAC Gaming GeForce RTX 5090 Solid OC 32GB GDDR7 - White - $4899 at PLE Computers
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans.
🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!
💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.
🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.
🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.
## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land
The Sizzle is created on Gadigal 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.
Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 The Sizzle PO Box 351 Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340, Australia
Powered by beehiiv
Terms of Service