### Issue 1884 - Monday 10th July, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- ACCC to dig deeper into the shady data broker business
- Buying an Apple Vision Pro requires head scans to ensure a proper fit
- ChatGPT's usage drops & Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta
- The giant LED sphere in Las Vegas is goddamn cool
- Cheap Steam Deck, Kindles, PS5, SSDs, Edifier speakers, Roblox gift cards, Paramount+, refurb Dell monitor, Blaupunkt 85" TV, Echo Dot, Lenovo gaming mousepad, Kogan Mobile, Seagate 16TB HDD, Hollyland wireless mic, Protonmail

## The News

### ACCC to dig deeper into the shady data broker business

As part of its 5-year inquiry into digital platform services, the ACCC has published a basic report regarding the business practices of data brokers - those shady motherfuckers that take data collected by one company and sell it to other companies. The report explains the major players in Australia (CoreLogic, Equifax, Experian, Illion, LiveRAmp, Nielsen, Oracle, PropTrack & Quantium), how they collect data, what products they offer and potential harms to consumers. The ACCC will now conduct a deeper investigation into the data broker industry that'll feature in its next installment of the digital platform services inquiry to the treasurer. Dunno if much will change any time soon, but at least someone's taking a look at this very opaque part of the internet.

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### Buying an Apple Vision Pro requires head scans to ensure a proper fit

Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg is running a story that buying an Apple Vision Pro headset will be a bit of a pain in the arse when it hits a limited selection of US Apple stores later this year. Not just low stock levels, but it'll be a slow and "hands-on" process. There will be special areas in Apple Stores where you make an appointment to attend a fitting session and if needed, provide your prescription if you're a glasses wearer. A "physical machine" will scan a person's head to ensure the light seal and head band fitment is perfect. Doesn't sound like the Vision Pro headset will be a thing you can just wander into JB Hi-Fi or Harvey Norman, grab off the shelf and take home. Also means it's gonna be really tough to get one from the USA when it first launches.

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### ChatGPT's usage drops & Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta

Data firm Similarweb has discovered that "ChatGPT's mobile and desktop traffic worldwide decreased by nearly 10% from May to June" and Sensor Tower reckons ChatGPT's app downloads "have been steadily dipping since they peaked in early June". Nobody knows what's causing it for sure (students taking summer holidays in the northern hemisphere is one argument), but it's a sign that the buzz of AI is tempering. Meanwhile, comedian Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI and Meta, claiming their AI systems were "trained on illegally-acquired datasets containing their works, which they say were acquired from 'shadow library' websites like Bibliotik, Library Genesis, Z-Library, and others". Just another lawsuit for the pile. When are we gonna get a ruling on one of these??

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The giant LED sphere in Las Vegas is goddamn cool

Have you seen the Las Vegas Sphere? Part of the Venetian resort, it's the world's largest spherical building and the world's largest and highest resolution LED screen. At night it comes alive with images displayed on the screen that seriously look like someone's photoshopped them into an otherwise bland Las Vegas skyscape. It can display the moon, a basketball, a USA flag & fireworks theme for Independence Day, an eyeball, or anything a creative person can think of! Some of its first events will be a Darren Arronofsky movie in August and a series of U2 concerts starting late September that'll happen inside its 18,000 seat auditorium. Each seat has haptic technology built in, with the interior containing a 16K wraparound LED and 164,000 speakers. The Sphere cost US$2.3b to build and they're make another one in London. I want to visit this monstrosity!

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## Bargains

- Valve Steam Deck 256GB - $899 from Kogan
- Amazon Kindle (2022) - $139 from Amazon
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite 16GB (11th-gen) - $187 from Amazon
- PlayStation 5 Console (disc version) - $699 at JB Hi-Fi (can stack with discounted gift cards)
- No Man's Sky Beyond for PS4 - $9 at EB Games
- Samsung 870 EVO 2TB SATA 2.5" SSD - $166.95 from Amazon USA
- Silicon Power UD90 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD - $290.05 from Amazon Japan
- Edifier R1280DBs active bookshelf speakers - $149.24 from Amazon
- 15% off Roblox gift cards from Amazon
- Paramount+ video streaming service - $4.49/m for the first 2 months
- Refurb Dell U2722D 27" 2560x1440 monitor - $359 from Dell
- Blaupunkt 85" 4K TV - $995 from JB Hi-Fi
- Amazon Echo Dot 3rd-gen - $19 from Amazon
- Lenovo Legion Gaming Speed Mouse Pad XL - $15 delivered from Lenovo
- Kogan Mobile (TPG/Vodafone) 365-day SIM with 500GB data, unlimited calls & SMS plus a free Samsung Galaxy A04s smartphone - $300 from Kogan
- Seagate ST16000NM000J 18TB SATA 3.5 HDD - $455 + delivery from mWave
- Hollyland Lark M1 Wireless Lavalier 2 Mic Kit - $165 from Amazon
- Proton Mail Plus or Proton Unlimited 2 year subscription (new subs only) - $120/$283 from Proton

## Image Of The Day

User manual for Touchfone TF400 land line telephone (cat k / Internet Archive)

## The End

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