### 2074 - Wednesday 24th April, 2024

Today's Sizzle is brought to you from your favourite wedding celebrant, nerd, and now a Tasmanian, Josh Withers, written in a public bar in a cheap Canberra motel today because I like to keep things classy like that.

## In Today's Issue

- TikTok on the US chopping block
- iPad to finally get updated, and get a calculator app + Apple stuff
- Australian Cyber Security Centre likely abandoned its Twitter account
- NASA debugs Voyager 1 which is one light day away
- Free writing apps, Apple TV+, Spotify, and Velocity points + cheap flights to Asia, and the Lenovo e-ink tablet

## The News

### TikTok on the US chopping block

The United States of America has passed the legislation to ban TikTok if Chinese owner, Bytedance, doesn't sell within a year. I personally don't enjoy Tiktok, and I also don't enjoy the immense sharing of our personal metadata - and data - with a social network that's quite closely aligned with a foreign government like China (apparently Chinese people can just walk in to our air bases anyway so I don't know why they need a social app). But I also feel conflicted about the USA banning a massive competitor to the rest of the American-owned social networks. It'd be like Albo taking issue with how much the US gov knows about Australians through Meta and co so they ban them here and we're just left with WeAre8. Luckily, I don't have to choose, because the legislation - which is bundled up with Ukraine and Pacific aid measures (gotta keep those Pacific Islanders happy, and off the Chinese teat) - is sitting on Biden's desk waiting for ink.

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### iPad to finally get updated, and get a calculator app + Apple stuff

Taking its cues from the Apple Lisa which first included a built-in calculator app in 1983, the iPad is rumoured to be getting a calculator application, but don't let that stop you supporting indie developers. Also rumoured to be launched at the May 6th 10pm Perth, midnight eastern Australia, time Apple event is a new iPad Pro with OLED and an iPad Air I can confidently recommend my mother-in-law should buy. Keeping the Apple rumours flowing, they're talking about cancelling FineWoven cases after releasing the most recent batch which are probably slightly incrementally better than the current pile of FineRubbish. Apple's also just copped a 19% YoY drop in phone sales in China. Staying in Asia, don't believe the clickbait about the iPhone being banned by South Korean military for security reasons, it's because voice recording can't be limited by device management on an iPhone and the Korean Air Force is trying to limit people making those pesky mp3 files. three more links: the first is that Apple has released CoreNet, a library for training deep neural networks like LLMs; if you like the Sizzle you'll enjoy Casper Kessels long piece on Apple's risky bet with CarPlay 2; finally, in iOS 17.4 Apple introduced a new system called eligibilityd which works with countryd and the Apple ID system to decide where you physically are, so that it knows how to deal with you and your scumbag government regulating Apple shareholders to poverty and Adam Demasi write about the system.

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### Australian Cyber Security Centre likely abandoned its Twitter account

Nick, Sizzle subscriber and my friend who's a cybermall cop, pointed me towards the footer of the ASD's Australian Cyber Security Centre website - cyber.gov.au - with encouragement to tap the X link in the footer, here's a screenshot because it should get fixed soon. Luckily, the owner of X and the Prime Minister of Australia have communication channels open and things are moving along fine so I'm sure this will be cleared up by the social network formerly known as Twitter quick. Using my best detective skills, I think the ACSC abandoned its old Twitter account and an avid NRL Broncos fan changed their username to claim it. I've emailed ASD about it so the hyperlink might be all cleared up by the time you read this but I think we can all agree it's a strange time to be on the internet, with so many (arguably most smart people) abandoning Twitter, trusted sources leave their X usernames available for access by NRL fans, bad actors, or comedians.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### NASA debugs Voyager 1 which is one light day away

I'm fascinated by the longevity of digital or information technology systems. I actively try to keep written data in Markdown/plain text and images in high resolution JPEGs, just because I'd like my great great grandchildren to have a chance at accessing the data we're making in our family today. So when I learned that Voyager 1, launched 46 years ago, was being debugged and repaired remotely today from a light day away, which means you have a two day delay in feedback or response, I had to click that NASA link and I'm guessing you will too. Scientific American also expands on the story with context.

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## Bargains

- 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboard $139
- MonsterWriter Writing App Pro Licence for Free
- Lenovo Smart Paper 10.3" E-Ink Paper Tablet $347 on Amazon and art Officeworks
- China Southern Return Fare from Sydney or Melbourne to 5 Chinese Cities $532 - $597; All Nippon Airlines Tokyo return from Sydney: Economy Class $955, Business Class $2617; and QANTAS return to Seoul from Sydney/Brisbane/Melbourne under $900
- Free 1,000 Velocity Points When You Link Your Velocity and DiDi Accounts
- Samsung 55" Q60C QLED 4K TV $674.50
- 3 Months Free Apple TV+ (New & Returning Users) for Xbox Users
- 2 Months of Spotify Premium $0

## Image Of The Day

Brochure describing the Apple IIc (vintagetech / The Internet Archive)

## The End

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## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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.