### Issue 1962 - Friday 27th October, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Court documents confirm Google paid Apple US$18b in 2021 to remain default search engine
- SBF takes the stand in criminal trial, makes fool out of himself
- Hubbl is Foxtel's attempt to bring all the streaming services into one spot
- Oxide Computer Company formally announces their on-premises vertically integrated cloud computer
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap TP-Link smart plugs, Onkyo AV receiver, Myer gift cards, Doom Eternal, Alan Wake 2, Bose soundbar, Rodecaster Pro 2, 65W powerbank, Canon EOS R6 Mk2, Seagate SSD, Firewatch for PS4, LG 27" monitor, Magic of Science experiment kit, Samsung 75" TV, Blu-ray sale at JB

## The News

### Court documents confirm Google paid Apple US$18b in 2021 to remain default search engine

Google is still fighting the US government in court over anti-trust allegations regarding its search engine, and one of the core issues is how Google prevents competition by paying Apple vast sums of money to make sure nobody else gets the prize of being the default search engine on Apple devices. How much money Google was giving the world's richest company was unknown, but thanks to this trial we now know it's "around US$18b" as of 2021. According to an investigation by the New York Times, this figure is so high because Google is petrified of Apple deciding to make its own search engine, which they hinted at with Spotlight on iOS "showing users richer web results like those they could have found on Google".

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### SBF takes the stand in criminal trial, makes fool out of himself

I haven't been following the court case involved Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX very closely as it's relatively uninteresting finance nonsense, but it is coming to a close and SBF has taken the stand. The Verge's opening sentence of their summary of SBF's testimony sums it up nicely - "Sam Bankman-Fried is so fucked". His defense seems to center around blaming others, including his own lawyers, which lead the judge to clear out the jury to conduct "an odd evidentiary hearing to figure out exactly what Bankman-Fried wants to tell the jury — and how much of it going to be admissible". After reading the rest of the article, all I have to say is, yep, SBF got his arse handed to him by the government's lawyers and old mate is gonna rot in jail once the jury cop a load of this annoyingly aloof arsehat.

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### Hubbl is Foxtel's attempt to bring all the streaming services into one spot

Foxtel is taking another shot at trying to remain relevant, announcing Hubbl - yet another set top box. The aim of Hubbl is to "amalgamate free-to-air, subscription services, and streaming under one umbrella" and "eliminate the hassles viewers face when toggling between various streaming apps. It is engineered to converge different subscriptions and services into a singular, cohesive user experience". Inspired by UK's Sky Glass, there will also be a Hubbl Glass TV with this software built-in. No price or date, but it will launch "in the coming months". Perfect for the confused boomer in your life that finds using an Apple TV or an Amazon Fire TV too difficult.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Oxide Computer Company formally announces their on-premises vertically integrated cloud computer

Server nerds have probably heard of Oxide Computer Company. They've been working for years to build cloud computing services akin to AWS/Google Cloud/Azure but as something you can buy and run locally. It kinda reminds me more of Digital Ocean or Vultr, but instead of paying per hour/month, you plonk down a big pile of cash and get a full server rack delivered to you full of hardware, along with software that's similar in functionality to the cloud services out there. I bring it up today as they've announced an extra US$44m of funding, along with general availability of the Oxide Cloud Computer (i.e: you can contact their sales team and they have something to sell you). I don't know if Oxide's Cloud Computer is something people want, but it's certainly interesting.

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## 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.

- Josh wants to know how others with ADHD manage their computer use and deal with technology in general
- greyham is after a set of Christmas lights that have each LED "addressable" for fancy light shows
- netizen is keen for your tips and tricks for using Pages on the iPad with an Apple Pencil to replace paper note taking
- adamxweb has a very nice command line/Terminal setup and wants to see how others are personalising their command line interfaces
- shebloip drove their EV between Tweed Heads and Yamba and like me, wonders why there aren't more EV charging stations along that part of the M1

## Bargains

- TP-Link Tapo Mini Smart Plug (4-Pack) - $59 at JB Hi-Fi
- Onkyo TX-SR393 AV Receiver - $490.50 from RIO Sound and Vision
- 15% bonus load on $200 Myer gift cards at Giftcards.com.au
- Doom Eternal Deluxe Edition for PC - $21.98 via Fanatical
- Alan Wake II for PC - $63.04 via Green Man Gaming
- Bose Smart Soundbar 300 - $349 from Amazon
- RODECaster Pro II - $787.55 from youronlinemerchant's eBay store
- INIU 25Ah powerbank with 65W USB-C output - $72.67 from Amazon
- Canon EOS R6 Mark II with RF 24-105mm f/4L USM Lens - $5119 from Amazon
- Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD with heatsink - $201.44 from Amazon UK
- Firewatch for PS4 - $5.99 from the PlayStation Store
- LG UltraGear 27GN800-B 27" IPS 165Hz 2560x1440 monitor - $369 + delivery from PC Case Gear
- Magic of Science 75+ Experiment Kit - $15 + delivery from Professor Plums
- Samsung 75" QA75Q60CAWXXY QLED TV & bonus $500 gift card - $1995 from Betta Electrical
- 20% off movies & TV shows on DVD/Blu-Ray/4K Blu-Ray at JB Hi-Fi
- 2x 4K Blu-Rays for $32 at JB Hi-Fi

## Image Of The Day

The Y2K Emergency Pocketbook by ACP Computer Publications (Jongleur / Internet Archive)

## The End

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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.