# The Sizzle

### Issue 246 - Tuesday, 4th October 2016 - You Can Never Do Anything That’s Never Been Done Before

155 out of the 201 subscribers responded to the survey I sent last night. 48% said they like it how it is now, 44% said they're cool either way and only 8% liked my idea. Seems pretty obvious that you like what I'm doing and I shouldn't fuck with it. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

- So long Presto, it was nice while it lasted
- Google's Pixel smartphones have been leaked a day before the official unveiling
- Facebook makes a Gumtree
- 4chan is running out of cash
- Faraday Future orders loads of LG batteries

- New Mac scented candle
- Windows Server 2016 is out and about
- Video investigation of the quality of sapphire on an iPhone lens

NEWS

So long Presto, it was nice while it lasted
Foxtel has bought out 7's part of the Presto partnership and is consuming Presto's customers on December 1st into a revamped Foxtel Play offering. There seems to be a bunch of on-demand stuff as well as streaming Foxtel channels like sport and movies. It's not in HD though, so fuck that bullshit, who wants to watch SD content in 2016? If Foxtel could give me a $40/m sports package that offers 4K, I'd be all over that. I still don't know anyone who paid for Presto (I had a solid 18 months of free access via promo codes, hah), do you?
Discuss

Google's Pixel smartphones have been leaked a day before the official unveiling
The long rumoured Google Pixel and Pixel XL have been leaked a day before their official announcement by Canada's Bell, UK's Carphone Warehouse and Verizon in the USA. Looks like top of the line specs, with a bunch of pre-loaded Google apps. Seems to me that if you're deep in the Google ecosystem, this is the smartphone you want. Shit, even I'm tempted as 90% of all my shit is in or on Google. If you're keen, you can watch the official product launch at 3AM tomorrow morning.
Discuss

Facebook makes a Gumtree
Facebook seems to have noticed the popular Buy, Swap and Sell groups and decided to offer a more formal version of it called Marketplace, open to anyone in the UK, US, NZ and Australia. It's pretty much Gumtree, but on Facebook and only in the mobile app. I'm kinda tempted to re-join Facebook now as I love buying and selling stuff online. Massive audience too. I've got a few things I could list already, hmm.
Discuss

4chan is running out of cash
That most wretched hive of scum and villainy (and memes), 4chan, is running out of cash and can't support itself. The current owner of 4chan, Hiroyuki Nisimura has posted that the amount of revenue gained from ads on the site isn't enough to cover the costs of running the site. To spice things up a bit, Martin Shkreli has tweeted that he's interested in financially propping up the joint. He'll fit right in with the other fuckwits there, I guess.
Discuss

Faraday Future orders loads of LG batteries
Faraday Future, the electric car company that's yet to produce a car, has signed a US$2.4b deal with LG to buy batteries. Apparently FF has worked with LG to develop the best chemical composition for an EV battery pack. I'm surprised Faraday Future beat Hyundai/Kia to sign a big deal with LG (just like I'm surprised Toyota didn't do a deal with Panasonic before Tesla did). According to the math Electrek did in the article I linked to, $2.4b gets you enough 80kWh battery packs for about 200,000 vehicles. Looks like Faraday Future is going big right off the bat - whenever it is they decide to sell cars (2020? 2021?)
Discuss

COOL SHIT

New Mac scented candle
Makers of nice (but exxy) Apple related accessories, TwelveSouth, has probably taken their dedication to Cupertino a bit too far, releasing a "New Mac" scented candle. You know that intoxicating smell of a new Apple product - it's that, in a candle. I really want one. I think Derek from Try and Byte will get some in, so send him a tweet or an email if ya want 45-55 hours of New Mac scent. The "Quit Staring" t-shirt is fun too.
Discuss

Windows Server 2016 is out and about
Windows Server 2016 is out, having been released a few days ago and the ISOs now available to download. Arstechnica has taken a brief look at what's new in Server 2016. Windows Nano Server looks quite interesting. It's a very cut down version of Windows that's controlled pretty much via PowerShell or System Centre alone. If you make a living off this stuff, you probably (hopefully?) already know what's going down, but if you only have a passing interest in it, this overview is handy.
Discuss

Video investigation of the quality of sapphire on an iPhone lens
Apple states in their specs that the lens on the iPhone is made of out sapphire, which means it's very difficult to scratch. So this guy on YouTube (same bloke who set his iPhone 7 on fire to see what happens) has tested how scratch resistant the lens is and found that it's not quite not as scratch resistant as real sapphire. This leads him down a interesting rabbit hole involving electron microscopes and chemical analysis to find out what the hell the lens is actually made out of.
Discuss

Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!)
--Anthony

The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Today's subject line is from Birds, by Butthole Surfers. Like The Sizzle? Tell your friends!