### Issue 1635 - Friday 24th June, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Samsung pinged $14m for advertising waterproof phones that were not waterproof
- Italy bans Google Analytics because it stores data on users in the USA
- Instagram to implement AI face scanning to check if someone is over 18 years old
- GitHub's Copilot uses AI to write code based on comments and is surprisingly good
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Valve Complete Pack for PC, Tenda mesh wi-fi 4-pack, Catch Connect SIM, Amazon Echo devices, Sony headunits, Rode VideoMicro, iPad Air, 10% Apple cashback, AirTags 4-pack, refurb Dell laptop

## The News

### Samsung pinged $14m for advertising waterproof phones that were not waterproof

Samsung's copped a $14m fine from the Federal Court for "misleading consumers about the suitability of various Samsung Galaxy phones to be submerged in pool or sea water". We've all seen Samsung's ads where phones would fall in pools or in the ocean, only to be extracted from their liquid hell and used by a beautiful person as if nothing happened. Like most advertising, it's bullshit and Samsung admitted "that if the Galaxy phones were submerged in pool or sea water there was a material prospect the charging port would become corroded and stop working if the phone was charged while still wet". Suck shit Samsung.

### Italy bans Google Analytics because it stores data on users in the USA

Italy has banned the use of Google Analytics. By default Google Analytics collects IP addresses and sends that data to the USA where "US-based governmental and intelligence agencies may access the personal data being transferred without the required safeguard" - A big no-no in the EU's GDPR set of laws. The Italian Italian Data Protection Authority is giving all Italian websites a 90-day grace period to stop using Google Analytics (there doesn't seem to be a way to ensure the data collected stays in the EU) until they start doing ad-hoc inspections and crack some skulls. Italy isn't the only EU country with a beef against Google Analytics, Austria and France have the same issue.

### Instagram to implement AI face scanning to check if someone is over 18 years old

Meta is now getting Americans that try to "edit their date of birth on Instagram from under the age of 18 to 18 or over" to "verify their age using one of three options: upload their ID, record a video selfie or ask mutual friends to verify their age". They have a post explaining "how Meta uses AI to better understand people's ages on our platforms", justifying the use of AI face scanning because not everyone has government ID. I'll be shocked if there isn't a massive scandal involving this feature in the next few weeks. The social vouching feature is weird too - you ask 3 mutual followers over the age of 18 to promise you are also over 18 and Meta considers that as good as government ID. Hey kids, give me $5, follow me and my 2 other mates and we will vouch for ya!

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### GitHub's Copilot uses AI to write code based on comments and is surprisingly good

If you hang around programmers you've likely heard about GitHub's Copilot feature coming out of beta. It uses OpenAI to generate code for you. Write a comment explaining what you want and Copilot suggests code to make it happen. Check out this random demo I found on YouTube of Copilot assisting with making a website. It works, but professional programmers shouldn't be worried about their jobs, at least not as worried as professional writers (cough). There's an argument going around that GitHub/Microsoft is "stealing" open source code and making money off it by training the AI against open source code and not giving any attribution or sharing their own code.

## 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.

- _KO made used an Arduino to impersonate a keyboard and enter a password with a push of a button
- jurgen is experiencing difficulty schucking an external Western Digital HDD
- Kagenzo wants a beefy NAS/home server, got suggestions for them?
- The_Hawk is looking to get off Google Photos and get into self-hosting their photo library
- Jusrus wants a BTO M2 MacBook Air with 16GB of RAM and is wondering what the cheapest way to get one is

## Bargains

- Valve Complete Pack for PC - $19.08 on Steam
- Tenda Nova MW6 mesh wi-fi system 4 pack - $148.95 + delivery from Shopping Square
- Catch Connect 365 Day 200GB Mobile Plan - $150 from Catch
- Amazon Echo Dot 4th Gen, Echo, Echo Dot Clock - $49/$69/$69 from Big W's eBay store
- Sony XAV-AX5500 headunit - $561.75 from Autobarn
- Rode VideoMicro on-Camera Microphone - $61.62 from digiDirect's eBay store
- Apple iPad Air 5 (2022) Wi-Fi 64GB - $879 from David Jones (get Officeworks to price beat for an extra 5% discount)
- Apple & Apple Education Store 10% Cashback (capped at $100) via Cashrewards
- Apple AirTag 4-Pack - $136.50 from gg.tech365's eBay store
- Refurb Dell Latitude 7480 laptop (i5-6300U, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) - $224.40 from SMG-AU's eBay store

## The End

📻 I Rooted a Girl Who Rooted a Guy Who Rooted Girl Who Rooted a Guy Who Rooted a Girl Who Rooted Shane Crawford - TISM

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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.