### Issue 2174 - Friday 13th September, 2024

What a week for tech related legislation in Australia! Banning kids from social media, a misinformation and disinformation law, a lukewarm Privacy Act, mandatory AI guardrails and today a scams framework.

Digital Rights Watch and Electronic Frontiers Australia will be working overtime to dissect these new laws, inform us of what's going on and represent us, the nerds of Australia, when governments ask for feedback. I gave $50 to each of them this arvo.

If you can do the same, visit https://efa.org.au/civicrm/contribute/transact and https://donate.digitalrightswatch.org.au/ to give these legends not only financial support, but also a little morale boost to let them know that we see them and appreciate their efforts.

## In Today's Issue

- Treasury introduces Scams Prevention Framework
- OpenAI's new o1-preview model "excels at math & coding"
- Plex throws the hardcore fans some delicious red meat
- Random September Apple Event tidbits
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, Telstra 24m phone plan, Terramaster NAS, Edifier speakers, Starlink, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, MSI Mini PC, Sony earbuds, DJI Osmo Pocket 3, Canon 100-500mm lens, Disney+

## The News

### Treasury introduces Scams Prevention Framework

Treasury took the covers off a Scams Prevention Framework that'll create Codes with mandatory obligations for "banks, telecommunication service providers, and a range of digital platform services related to social media, paid search engine advertising and direct messaging services". What those obligations will be are still up for discussion as part of developing the Codes, but an update to the Competition and Consumer Act will include penalties of up to $50m if companies breach their Code obligations. Also in the framework are internal and external dispute resolution schemes for scam complaints and a "coordinated intelligence sharing ecosystem". I hope it means social media platforms are forced to take more responsibility for the bullshit ads they profit from that are clearly scams. That would be a good start.

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### OpenAI's new o1-preview model "excels at math & coding"

OpenAI has made public a new model, o1-preview (previously code-named "Strawberry"). According to the blog post, "these models to spend more time thinking through problems before they respond, much like a person would" and OpenAI reckons this new model "excels in math and coding" and is "particularly useful if you're tackling complex problems in science, coding, math, and similar fields". o1 is slower than GPT-4o and can't browse the web or interpret files and images, but if you're using ChatGPT for code (which is 95% of what I use it for), o1-preview looks to be the new hot stuff. Right now it's limited to only 30 messages a week and just for GPT Plus subscribers or select API developers, a sign of how computationally expensive it is compared to GPT-4o.

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### Plex throws the hardcore fans some delicious red meat

Plex reminded us they exist with a blog post announcing a new app - Plex Photos for iOS and Android - "a focused experience to engage with your photo libraries stored on Plex Media Servers", inspired by the success of Plexamp (which I love). The other big announcement is an all new set of "Open APIs" for Plex Media Server so developers can get all weird with Plex and build things for nerds that want to do unconventional stuff. Plex also recently held a "fireside" chat on their forums. Some interesting bits - NFO support (iykyk) and a total rebuild of the "server management experience" for 2025 that'll "replace the bundled web client, and provide a much more extensible platform for giving server owners a bespoke experience for managing, curating, and understanding their server that will not only be available through your browser, but also on your mobile devices". Cool, nice to see Plex getting some love.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Random September Apple Event tidbits

Some stuff about the new iPhones and AirPods (which are available for pre-order tonight if you're keen) that you may have missed earlier in the week:

- All the new iPhones support 45W charging (15V @ 3A) via USB-C when using an appropriate charger. Perfect for charging on the go with a battery pack.
- The new iPhones also support Wi-Fi 7 (aka 802.11be), which has the main benefit of using huge chunks of the 6GHz for massive bandwidth and lower latency. With the right access point this is faster than gigabit ethernet.
- Loads of new Apple Watch bands too. Titanium Milanese Loop, a couple of Hermes fancy ones, and fresh colours for existing bands. All very nice, but I'll wait until they're $5 on AliExpress.
- The USA's FDA has approved the AirPods and their hearing aid functionality for people with a "mild to moderate hearing impairment". I thought it was a gimmick but if the FDA reckons it's okay maybe there's more to it than I assumed.
- Here's a little explainer on how the sleep apnea detection feature works even though the Apple Watch lacks the sensors/inputs for traditional detection. Seems very useful as a simple test to determine if you should seek further medical advice.

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## Friday Forum Update

Here's five interesting discussions over on The Sizzle's paid subscriber forum for you to enjoy over the weekend. If you are not a paid subscriber but want to get involved, visit https://thesizzle.com.au/payme to get onboard.

- lenjet's moving into a new house and wants recommendations and experiences on home alarm systems
- KathyReid's coffee machine broke, so they're after a new one that doesn't suck, ASAP
- motef has a large tax bill, wants tips on how to extract the most Qantas Frequent Flyer points out of the transaction
- gunzel likes buying music without DRM, preferably direct from the artist - is there anywhere besides Bandcamp to do that?
- LiamJM asks an age old question, which task management app do you recommend?

## Bargains

- Retroid Pocket 4 Pro Handheld Game Console - $279 from AliExpress
- Go on a $99/m 24m Telstra 300GB/m contract at The Good Guys and get a $1200 Good Guys gift card
- Terramaster F4-424 Pro NAS (i3-N305 CPU, 32GB RAM, 2x 2.5GbE ports, 4x 3.5" bays) - $894.99 from Amazon
- Edifier R1380DB active bookshelf speakers - $90 (free delivery VIC/SYD/ADL) from Centrecom
- Starlink Hardware Kit - $299 from Starlink
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra LTE 47mm - $899.98 from Costco
- MSI Cubi N ADL-007BAU Mini PC barebones kit (Intel N100 CPU) with $50 gift card and 1TB SSD via redemption - $259 from Umart/MSY
- Sony WF-1000XM5 Noise Cancelling Earphones - $320.88 from Amazon
- DJI Osmo Pocket 3 Standard Combo - $781.08 from D1Store
- Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM zoom lens - $3779.96 from Teds or Amazon
- 3 Months of Disney+ (new & eligible returning subscribers) - $13.99 for 1080p, $17.99 for 4K

## Image Of The Day

A double-exposed photograph showing Tesla in his Colorado Springs laboratory, ca. 1899. Tesla forced his “magnifying transmitter” to produce inefficient arcs by turning the machine rapidly on and off during the photoshoot for The Century Magazine (Public Domain Review)

## The End

📻 The Beatles - Yer Blues - Remastered 2009

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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.