Plus: The origin story of B2B SaaS is a dream ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 07, 2025 | Read online
# Discord ID age check leak, eSafety gore video takedown and smart home reset Plus: The origin story of B2B SaaS is a dream
Edition 2433
"SOL Terminal" (Flickr: Niall Kennedy)
Hey! Hope you had a rejuvenating long weekend.
Just a quick plug for something that might interest Sizzlers: Burning Platforms, an Aussie podcast about tech and democracy that I’ve been on a couple of times, is doing a live show ‘How Can Democracy Survive AI’ in most Australian capital cities this month. I’m not being paid for this — just thought some of you might be interested in going along.
# The News
### Discord ID leak shows the danger of collecting data for age checks
Passports and driver’s licenses given to Discord to prove users’ ages have been leaked (The Verge). Late last week, Discord announced that one of its customer service providers had been hacked, exposing information and data from a “limited number of users” who had contacted Discord’s customer support and trust teams (Discord). Data exposed included government ID for users who had appealed Discord’s age determination, as well as other personally identifying information, including names, contact details and billing information.
eep
The Sizzle: Last week, I wrote at Crikey that one of the possible consequences of the bizarre, rushed teen social media process that’s left tech companies in the dark is that they might fuck it up and leak user data. As you can see, these aren’t hypotheticals! Even the biggest companies implementing these features on their own timelines can still fuck it up! Now imagine we make every social media platform from Facebook to BigFooty do it…
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### eSafety Commissioner orders geoblocking of Kirk assassination footage and other graphic videos
The eSafety Commissioner has formally requested that Elon Musk’s X and Meta geoblock videos of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, a brutal American murder made famous by right-wing influencers and a beheading (News dot com, archive link). Julie Inman Grant has sent removal notices over content that were assessed as “Refused Classification” by the Classification Board, meaning that they should not be legally hosted, shared or accessed in Australia, after first flagging the posts with the companies that the videos broke their own rules. Conveniently, the eSafety Commissioner’s office has also just put out research showing that “22% of 10-17 year olds have seen “extreme real-life violence online” (eSafety).
The Sizzle: I do not think it’s good that a regulator is using powers based on archaic ideas about traditional broadcast media to censor what I can see online. It should not be illegal for me to own or share a video of a very public figure’s death, even if it is distasteful.
The power behind the takedown notice relies on the traditional Classification System which was designed for televisions and movies, not the internet. I haven’t spoken to the eSafety Commissioner’s office, but based on their response to other outlets, it appears they’re using this power in this situation because they think platforms aren’t following their own rules around explicit content. I don’t have an issue about requiring major platforms to take steps to protect their users from gore (i.e. requiring them to blur it or whatever) — but using ill-fit regulation to force their hands is not the way.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Resetting the technology around your home is a great way to remember how much a lot of it sucks
A hard-reset of my home Wi-Fi router has been hanging on my To Do list for about a year. I had forgotten the password to the admin dashboard, so I couldn’t change any of the settings or add an extender I’d bought. Finally, I bit the bullet last night. It was a nightmare.
Here’s one of the six or so photos I took so I could have various URLs and default passwords at hand
What was supposed to be a 20 minute job ended up taking more than two hours before I gave up, dejected. Half of my house’s smart devices and the Wi-Fi extender still don’t work. My fingers hurt from typing in my Wi-Fi password using on-screen keyboards controlled by a TV remote. My eyes blurred as I scrolled through settings to choose the right WiFi network to connect to about a million times (apparently my Meross smart plugs only work on 2.4GHz but don’t actually say that anywhere).
As painful as this all was, it was a good reminder to be humbled by using seemingly basic consumer tech devices that are a huge pain in the ass to use. I think tech journalists should have to do a clean reinstall of their home set ups every 18-24 months, just so they can remember what it’s like.
(Have you had any recent run-ins that reminded you how un-user-friendly tech is? Let me know!)
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Deloitte to refund government after admitting AI errors in $440k report (AFR, $) lmaooooo NSW gov contractor uploaded Excel spreadsheet of flood victims' data to ChatGPT (iTnews) AI doctor assistant Heidi’s value soars after $100m investment (AFR, $) Tech giants push AI agenda as Amazon warns of two-tier economy (SmartCompany) Why new open banking limits could hurt Australian fintechs (SmartCompany) Telstra fined $1.8m penalty for dodgy Belong NBN speed cuts (ARN) Tesla and BYD lead as EV sales surge to record Australia share of 11.3 pct (The Driven)
Rest of the world:
Tech giants warn against banning under-16s from social media (Radio New Zealand) Introducing apps in ChatGPT (OpenAI) I’m going to write some more about this tomorrow but OpenAI is doing a LOT right now. iCEBlock Owner After Apple Removes App: 'We Are Determined to Fight This' (404 Media, $) App Stores, Device Makers Thrust into Age Verification Battle (Tech Policy Press) AppLovin Probed by SEC Over Data Collection Practices (Bloomberg, $) Microsoft: Running multiple Office apps causes Copilot issues (BleepingComputer) Smartphones could start losing their bundled USB-C cables, too (Android Authority) Nintendo seeking $4.5 million in damages from Switch piracy Reddit mod (Nintendo Everything) ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team (Wired, $) We’re excited to introduce gem.coop – a new server for gems in the Ruby ecosystem. (Gem dot coop) Why do LLMs freak out over the seahorse emoji? (vgel dot me) Linux developers are absolutely wild. (Reddit)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### The origin story of B2B SaaS is a dream
Shout out to friend of the Sizzle Jeremy Nadel who shared this with me: there’s a delightful Wikipedia article listing cultural works and discoveries that were inspired by a dream. Nestled between things like Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Niels Bohr’s discovery of the structure of the atom is …. Salesforce’s user interface. From Bloomberg:
I could see this app that looked like Amazon,” he says, “and it said ‘Contacts,’ ‘Accounts,’ ‘Opportunities,’ ‘Forecast Reports,’ as tabs. No one had ever built enterprise software quite like that before.”
Marc Benioff, founder of Salesforce
Funny that… most people I know who use Salesforce say its UX is a nightmare 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Am I right, fellas? Try the veal.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
Meross Smart Presence Sensor with Light Sensor (Matter Compatible) - $47.99 at Shuzu-AU Amazon AU Meross Mini Smart Plug with Energy Monitor 4-Pack - $49.99 at Shuzu-AU via Amazon AU Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max - $69 at Amazon AU BlueAnt X4 Portable Bluetooth Party Speaker - $79 at BlueAnt AU via Amazon AU Dyson Zone Air Purifying Wireless Over-Ear Headphones - $99 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $399) Sennheiser Headphones at Amazon AU 599 SE for $119 560S for $159 620S for $249 505 for $269 600 for $299 650 for $429 660S2 for $599 Philips 1000i Air Purifier - White - $139 at Amazon AU (Down from $229) Aqara U100 Smart Door Lock with E1 Kit - $199 at Bunnings (Down from $499.99) Roborock Q7T Plus Robot Vacuum & Mop - $399 at Roborock AU via Amazon AU Garmin Forerunner 955 Black (Non-Solar) - $549 at Amazon Roborock Qrevo L Robot Vacuum with Multifunctional Dock - $759 at Roborock via Amazon AU Dreame L20 Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop Cleaner - $759 at Dreame Official AU via Amazon AU Nikon Z6iii Full-Frame Mirrorless (Body Only) - $3167 at Amazon AU
Computing
Samsung PRO Endurance 128GB microSDXC UHS-I U3 Memory Card - $21.73 at Amazon US via AU Samsung Bar Plus USB Drive Titan Gray 256GB - $23.90 at Amazon US via AU TP-Link TL-WR3002X AX3000 Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Portable Travel Router - $89.82 at Amazon AU Asus RT-Ax59u (Ax4200) Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Extendable Router - $139 at Amazon AU Elgato Capture Cards at Amazon AU Hd60 X for $177.65 4K X for $279 TP-Link Archer BE550 BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $190 at Amazon JP Google Nest Wi-Fi Pro Mesh Wi-Fi 6E System White 3 Pack - $325 at Amazon AU ASUS RT-BE86U Dual-Band WiFi 7 Router - $399 at Amazon AU (Down from $549) NetGear Orbi 770 Series Wi-Fi 7 (RBE773) Router + 2 Satellite Extenders (3 Pack) - $731 at Amazon AU Gaming PC: RTX5060Ti 16G, B650M WiFi, R5 7500F, 32G 6000 C30 RGB D5, 1TB NVMe, 750W G PCIe5 - $1499 at Evatech ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 2025 (Intel Core U9 285H, Nvidia RTX 5070 8GB, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD) - $3999 at Amazon AU
Mobile
Boost Mobile 365GB Prepaid 12-Month SIM - $330 at TopCashback AU Apple iPhone at Costco iPhone Air 256GB for $1739 iPhone Air 512GB for $2129 iPhone Pro 17 512GB for $2319
# The End
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