Plus: How cool is this DIY offline music player? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 30, 2025 | Read online
# Aussies don't trust AI, Trump stops tech tariff cost display and a new modular phone Plus: How cool is this DIY offline music player?
Issue 2321 - Wednesday 30 April 2025
A very special hello to Sizzler Justin who has been experiencing the Europe blackouts firsthand in Madrid. He told me that “things are VERY wonky here - iMessage/iCloud offline. Cell towers have been off since the boom at 12:30 yesterday.” — so sounds like everything is more disrupted than reported! Love to hear from him (and always love to hear from my Sizzlers ❤️ ).
# The News
### Aussies don’t trust AI and can you blame them?
Australians are the least optimistic people in the world about AI despite being early adopters, according to a new survey (News.com.au). As part of a global survey University of Melbourne and KPMG found that Australians are less trusting of AI, have less knowledge about it and less interest in finding out more about it than almost any nation’s people (KPMG). Why are Australians less trusting? Well, we don’t have a great track record of our institutions using tech well or ethically. Look at the way political parties are given privacy exemptions to spam people. I just reported on how the Liberal Party has been spamming a child’s email address that was only ever given to the Cancer Council (Crikey, $). What’s interesting — and buried in the reporting of the survey — is that Australians are still very trusting of tech regulation, with the three-quarters of people saying they want regulation. Turns out, we might not trust government to use tech well but that doesn’t mean we don’t want them to crack the whip on big tech.
### Tech is scared off displaying Trump’s tariff costs
Earlier this week, it seemed like ecommerce giants were going to make it clear just how much Trump’s tariffs were costing Americans. China’s Temu started displaying 145% “import charges” to US-based customers as they checked out which predictably startled their shoppers (CNBC). Amazon was set to follow suit (Punchbowl News) but then backflipped and rejected the idea (Reuters). Why the change of heart? Well, the White House publicly called displaying the tariff cost a “hostile and political act” and Trump called Bezos to express his “displeasure” (CNBC). So now the President of the US is personally intervening in private companies merely showing how much their new taxes cost. Anyway, here’s a good piece about how Trump’s tariffs are going to make access to technology harder for the poorest of us (WIRED, $).
Oof
### You can build Nothing’s new modular phone but probably not the iPhone
It’s so rare these days that we get a moment to talk about phones but how cool is Nothing’s second go at a modular phone (The Verge)? Their most recent go at it is faster, has a longer battery life, supports NFC and has an improved camera (Android Authority). Also, it just looks cool and I love being able to add accessories like camera lenses or a kickstand. And, most of all, it’s relatively cheap in Australia with entry level at $449 (WhistleOut). Speaking of building phones: here’s a cool interactive piece about just how hard it would be to build an iPhone in the US (FT, $).
#### Leftovers
Mixed results in latest telco customer complaint performance rankings (ACMA) Australian IVF screening start-up pulls Nasdaq IPO, blames US tariffs (AFR, $) Tesla expected to launch lower cost, no frills Model Y in coming months (The Driven) US: Only Teslas Exempt from New Auto Tariffs Thanks to 85% Domestic Content Rule (Fuel Arc) Waymo and Toyota Outline Strategic Partnership to Advance Autonomous Driving Deployment (Waymo) The BYD Dolphin review: Here’s what we’re missing out on in America [Ed’s note: but is available in Australia\ (Ars Technica) Generative AI isn't biting into wages, replacing workers, and isn't saving time, economists say (TechRadar) Duolingo will replace contract workers with AI (Engadget) Introducing the Meta AI App: A New Way to Access Your AI Assistant (Meta) WhatsApp Is Walking a Tightrope Between AI Features and Privacy (WIRED, $) Intel says it’s rolling out laptop GPU drivers with 10% to 25% better performance (Ars Technica) LG will shut down update servers for its Android smartphones on June 30 (9to5Google) Apple quietly launches 'Snapshot' artists, actors, and athletes discovery guide (Apple Insider) AirPlay security flaws could help hackers spread malware on your network (The Verge) Hello 0-Days, My Old Friend: A 2024 Zero-Day Exploitation Analysis (Google) Karnataka High Court Directs Union Govt To Take Steps For Blocking 'Proton Mail' In India (LiveLaw) Infosec pros tell Trump to quit bullying Chris Krebs – it's undermining security (The Register) EA lays off staff and cancels a Titanfall game (The Verge)
# Oh, Also
### How cool is this DIY offline music player?
I have a 20 month old kid who loves dancing to music. Her favourite song? APT (YouTube). One frustration I do have is that using YouTube on the TV or playing from my phone introduces a big distraction for both me and 👶. So when I saw this project I fell in love: this dad built his three year old a beautiful, offline music player (Mario Zechner). Not only is it cute as a button and very cool, but he painstakingly documented how he built it. It is soooo far beyond my capabilities — although I could imagine commercialising this in a way that would allow people to program their own cartridges — but I’ll be damned if it isn’t tempting to give it a go.
I mean, look at this!
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Belkin BoostCharge Pro 65W Dual USB-C Gan Wall Charger - $52.74 at digiDirect Soundcore by Anker Q20i Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling Headphones - $68.79 at AnkerDirect via Amazon AU TP-Link Tapo D210 2K 3MP Battery Video Doorbell Camera Wireless with Chime - $97 at Amazon AU Kindle Paperwhite 7" 12th Gen 16GB - $237 at The Good Guys Razer Nommo Pro 2.1 THX Speakers - $256 at Pbtech JBL Xtreme 4 Bluetooth speaker with replaceable battery pack Auracast PD adapter (Blue or Black) - $318 at Amazon AU Bambu Lab A1 3D Printer at Bambu Lab Store A1 with AMS Lite for $499 A1 with AMS plus 'free gift' for $749 DJI Neo Motion Fly More Combo - $755 at Videopro (Back Order)
Computing
14th i7 PC 1TB MSI PRO Machine - $1139 at JB Hi-Fi
Mobile
Microsoft 365 Family Subscription & 6TB Storage on iOS - $0.97/Month (after trial) at Microsoft via Turkish App Store Coles Mobile 140GB 12-Month Prepaid Starter Pack - $149 at Coles Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelling - $239 at Lakemba Shop
# The End
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