### Issue 1835 - Monday 1st May, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- ACCC reckons Meta is the social media king in Australia and will stay that way for a long time
- EU wants all AI models to disclose and detail their use of copyrighted content
- Victor Dominello gets plum digital job, Microsoft to focus on Surface-branded peripherals, Intel lost heaps of money last quarter
- Bluesky is yet another Twitter replacement
- Cheap iPad, PS5, Timezone credits, Sendle/Aus Post labels, AirPods, Crucial SSD, Return to Money Island, Tetris Effect, Anbernic handheld game console, Nokia G22 smartphone, Boost Mobile, Tenda Nova 4pk mesh wi-fi

## The News

### ACCC reckons Meta is the social media king in Australia and will stay that way for a long time

The sixth interim report of the Digital Platform Services inquiry by the ACCC was released on Friday and it doesn't contain any new recommendations. What it does note however, is that Meta still has "substantial market power", there have been "no material entry or expansion" by any alternatives to Meta since 2019 and that it does not expect any new competitors to Meta in the short or medium term. You might be thinking, what about TikTok? The ACCC reckons it is not an "effective alternative" because so many of its users are under the age of 25 and has a "high degree of product differentiation". Facebook isn't going anywhere, unfortunately.

### EU wants all AI models to disclose and detail their use of copyrighted content

The EU is discussing an AI Act in an attempt to regulate this growing technology that could have severe impacts on society if left unchecked. One part of the legislation is requiring "companies deploying generative Al tools, such as ChatGPT ... to disclose any copyrighted material used to develop their systems" and "make publicly available a summary disclose the use of training data protected under copyright law". Good. It's not even about money really. It's about being able to say no to these data suckers, not having things I create participate in their bullshit and having some form of recourse if they ignore me.

### Victor Dominello gets plum digital job, Microsoft to focus on Surface-branded peripherals, Intel lost heaps of money last quarter

- NSW's former digital government minister and one of the champions of Service NSW's digital transformation, Victor Dominello, has landed a gig as "Director of a new initiative from UNSW Sydney and the University of Technology Sydney - the Trustworthy Digital Society Hub, designed to lead research and insights in citizen-centred digital platforms".
- Microsoft is shitcanning its peripheral division (i.e: mice, keyboards, webcams, etc) to focus on "higher-end" Surface branded gear instead. Bit of a shame as I liked Microsoft's hardware. Usually well priced, not crap and easy to find at most stores. Hopefully the popular ergonomic keyboards continue on as a Surface product.
- Intel lost more money the last quarter than it ever has in the history of the company, losing US$2.8b compared to a $8.1b profit this time last year. The core problem (besides TSMC & Samsung, MBAs taking over an engineering company, general failure to capitalise on any market that isn't CPUs) is that there's simply less demand for computers post-pandemic.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Bluesky is yet another Twitter replacement

Jack Dorsey's attempt at Twitter 2.0, Bluesky has been getting a bit of buzz lately now that "famous" Twitter users like Dril and AOC are on it and a smartphone app is now available. I was lucky enough to get an invite to the beta (thanks Dana!) and it looks almost identical to Twitter and works practically the same way but with a few rough edges, hence, the beta. Underlying it is something called AT Protocol feels to me like Mastodon's ActivityPub, an official W3C standard, just slightly tweaked. Hopefully they manage to interconnect the two somehow. Personally, I still like Mastodon. I like the fact it hasn't got quote tweets, system-wide search and that there's no algorithm determining what I see. Little posts in chronological order from people I follow - what more do I want? Techdirt has a nice blog post outlining alternatives that have popped up in the 6 months since Musk took over Twitter.

## Bargains

- iPad 9th Gen (2021) Wi-Fi 64GB Silver - $447 from Officeworks
- PlayStation 5 Disc Edition God of War Ragnarok Bundle - $749 from EB Games eBay store
- Double load credits at Timezone on the 6th May (load $60, get $120 or load $100, get $200 credit)
- 50% off Sendle/Aus Post labels until the end of May when selling on eBay
- Apple AirPods (2nd Generation) with Charging Case - $178 from Amazon
- Crucial P3 1TB PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD - $70.87 from Amazon Germany
- Return to Monkey Island for PC - $25.16 on Steam
- Tetris Effect: Connected for PC - $28.47 on Steam
- Anbernic RG35XX 3.5" Handheld Game Console - $82 from Geekbuying
- Nokia G22 128GB smartphone with bonus clear case & bluetooth speaker - $197 from JB Hi-Fi
- Boost Mobile $200 Prepaid SIM Starter Pack - $170 from Boost
- Tenda Nova MW6 AC1200 mesh wi-fi 4pk - $140 + delivery from Shopping Square

## Image Of The Day

Bob Pierce Computer Services, Victoria Mill, Ingham, North Queensland. CSR Photography Project Collection - Bicentennial Gift of CSR Limited 1988 (Art Gallery NSW)

## The End

📻 Apartment for Two - Hard-Ons

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.

👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.

💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the customer portal.

🎁 Make someone's day and buy them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.

📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.

🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!

💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.

## 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.