### Issue 1947 - Friday 6th October, 2023

I'm taking next week off from The Sizzle! Taking my place will be old mate Raj Deut and someone new to writing The Sizzle, Samantha Floreani. I'll be back on the 16th of October.

This will also be the last issue I write before the referendum on the 14th of October. Australians will be asked:

"A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?"

I've already voted YES via a postal vote and it was a super easy decision for me. The culture that was here first, that had their land stolen and have had an overall tough time in the 235+ years since, are still worse off than the rest of us.

This isn't open to interpretation:

- National Indigenous Australians Agency - only 52% are employed
- Australian Bureau of Statistics - only 32.3% finish Year 12 or equivalent
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - life expectancy for males is only 71.6 years and 75.6 years for females
- The Conversation's FactCheck - "Noel Pearson's statement that Indigenous Australians are 'the most incarcerated people on the planet Earth' is correct, based on the best available international data"

It all adds up to a national disgrace and continuing with the status quo won't help. I lose absolutely nothing if first nations people get an officially recognised body to voice their concerns to government. They could gain so much from it - so vote yes.

## In Today's Issue

- UK to investigate if AWS, Azure & Google Cloud are anti-competitive
- New version of Teams is a bit less shit
- Binge finally gets 4K & Sony launches new PlayStation movie service
- HP's not a laptop portable desktop PC, Google Japan's wacky keycap hat, SkiFree easter egg in Surface laptop setup
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap M1 Pro MacBook Pro, DJI Mini 4, Anker Bluetooth speaker, Ultimate gift cards, Beyerdynamic SteelSeries & Bowers Wilkins headphones, Boost Mobile SIM, Paramound Plus, USB sharing switch

## The News

### UK to investigate if AWS, Azure & Google Cloud are anti-competitive

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority is gonna investigate AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, after Ofcom "identified a number of features in the supply of cloud services that make it more difficult for customers to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers". In particular, high egress fees that make getting data out of these platforms super expensive, discounts "which may incentivise customers to use only one cloud provider" and technical barriers that make it tough to switch. The egress fees of AWS have always shit me to no end. If I want to pull data out of an S3 bucket so I can move it elsewhere or retrieve a backup, it's a whopping 14c/GB. I can get international roaming data on my iPhone cheaper than that! God speed to the CMA.

⬆ Share or Discuss

### New version of Teams is a bit less shit

Teams got a new update and it should suck less, which going by the continual complaints I hear from the poor souls forced to use Microsoft's collaboration app, is a very low hurdle to jump. According to Microsoft it's twice as fast, uses half the memory and takes up 70% less disk space. The improvements come due to ditching Electron and using Microsoft's in house "Edge WebView2 technology" and "moved to the React JavaScript library". It also comes with Copilot, allowing stuff like summaries of long threads, meetings and action items. Microsoft's been working on this version since March, but its now available for all users on Mac & Windows.

⬆ Share or Discuss

### Binge finally gets 4K & Sony launches new PlayStation movie service

I'm sure unrelated to its inevitable loss of HBO content when Max launches in Australia, Binge has announced 4K streaming support. Not all content is 4K and you need to be on the Standard or Premium plans to get it, but it's better than nothing and about bloody time. Meanwhile, Sony has a new video service launching in Australia - Sony Pictures Core. It's only available on the PS4/PS5 and lets you rent or buy videos, but PS Plus members get a rotating selection of 100 movies to watch as part of their subscription. Sony Pictures Core also has bonus content for many titles (like on a DVD/Blu-Ray), IMAX Enhanced support and according to FlatpanelsHD, if it's like the previous Bravia Core service Sony Pictures Core is based on, supports up to 80mbit/s bitrates, just like a Blu-Ray disc.

⬆ Share or Discuss

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### HP's not a laptop portable desktop PC, Google Japan's wacky keycap hat, SkiFree easter egg in Surface laptop setup

- HP has an all-in-one desktop computer that's designed to be portable. It's not really a giant laptop as it doesn't have a built-in keyboard, but the Envy Move does have a battery (4-ish hours), a carry handle, a side pocket for a keyboard and a retractable stand.
- The madlads at Google Japan have made a hat in the shape of a keyboard keycap that when you press down, clicks and connects over Bluetooth to your computer or smartphone. It'll even detect which way the hat is facing and change the character sent depending on the angle. Delightful.
- Remember SkiFree? A fun little game released in the early 90s as part of the Microsoft Entertainment Pack 3 for Windows 3.0. The Verge noticed that during setting up their new Surface Laptop Studio 2, the Windows 11 installer "prompts you to play the modern version of its SkiFree game while you wait for updates to be applied".

⬆ Share or Discuss

## Friday Forum Update

Here's five interesting discussions over on The Sizzle's paid subscriber forum for you to enjoy over the weekend. If you are not a paid subscriber but want to get involved, visit https://thesizzle.com.au/payme to get onboard.

- jeanetienne's father has terabytes of photos created over decades that they want to archive and keep safe indefinitely
- tessier-ashpool cracked the shits with Google's piss poor management of Workspace & personal accounts
- andyb made a nifty website to compare various credit cards and their rewards programs and does so without affiliate links
- I'm going to be in Brisbane for a week and want to know what a nerd like me should see and do while in Australia's 3rd largest city
- Katzy's doing a renovation and wants advice on how to wall mount a TV and soundbar so there's absolutely no cables visible

## Bargains

- Refurbished Apple MacBook Pro 2021 (M1 Pro SoC, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - $2099 from JB Hi-Fi
- DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo - $1,529.10 from D1Store
- Anker Soundcore Motion+ Bluetooth Speaker - $107 from Amazon
- 20x EDR points on Ultimate gift cards (Good Guys, JB, Officeworks, EB Games, Timezone & more) at Woolworths next week
- Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X or DT 700 Pro X headphones - $319 + delivery from Mwave
- SteelSeries Arctis Nova 7 Wireless Gaming Headset - $276.69 from Amazon
- Boost Mobile (Telstra MVNO) 365-day SIM with 365GB data, unlimited calls & SMS, full Telstra network 5G - $265 via Cashrewards
- Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones - $399 from David Jones
- 1 month free trial of Paramount Plus (normally 7 days)
- UGREEN USB 3.0 Sharing Switch - $33.74 from Amazon

## Image Of The Day

Microsoft's new Zune music player is shown in brown, black and white at RCS Electronics in New York City 14 November 2006. "Zune is either going to take off like a rocket or it is not going to go anyplace," analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley told AFP "There is no middle ground. It is different enough that it could surprise Apple." Each Zune has a 30-gigabyte media player and is priced at 250 USD, on par with an iPod with an equal amount of memory space. Music for the devices will be sold on the Internet at Zune Marketplace in a manner similar to the exclusive mating of iPod and Apple's online iTunes shop. (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

## The End

📻 El Rodeo - Kyuss

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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.