Plus: This tool isn't quite YouTube Premium but it’s a lot cheaper ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 16, 2025 | Read online
# Amazon's $20b data centre pledge, a $5,500 keyboard and Bunning EV chargers Plus: This tool isn't quite YouTube Premium but it’s a lot cheaper
Edition 2353
Flickr: SDASMarchives
Just a quick hello to the new Sizzlers who’ve signed up! Enjoy the edition, let me know if you have any questions/feedback, and check out the subscriber-only Slack server and forum if that’s your jam - CW
# The News
### Amazon’s Aussie $20b pledge sounds like a lot, but we have NFI what it entails
Silicon Valley’s global data centre splurge has come to Australia with Amazon pledging to spend $20 billion on local data centres by 2029 (Reuters). Anthony Albanese was in Seattle for the announcement with scant details beyond “big number, good”. As IT News’ Ry Crozier wrote, it isn’t “clear if any of the spending was on new data centre campuses, regions or local zones” (IT News). For context, AWS pledged $13b for the next five years of Aussie cloud computing in 2023 (Guardian). I asked around to get a sense for why Amazon might do this here, and what I heard was 1. They’re doing it everywhere and 2. Australia is one of the nations that hasn’t been slapped with the US chip ban so that means they can get those yummy GPUs to power the compute hungry generative AI boom.
PS: “[Deals like Australia’s AWS pledge] won't solely make or break Australia's climate commitments, but it definitely adds another ankle weight on a runner who's already struggling.” (Sizzler Ketan Joshi on LinkedIn)
| Anthony Albanese @AlboMP |
We’re taking advantage of the AI revolution - the Australian way. Amazon Web Services’ $20 billion investment in data centres in Australia will set us up for the future, boosting our economy and productivity. This is a huge vote of confidence in the Australian economy.
10:17 PM • Jun 14, 2025
932 Likes 160 Retweets
904 Replies
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Do you fear or respect the $5,500 keyboard?
The Verge has a review and a long-read on the production of the AU$5,500 Seneca mechanical keyboard which are both worth checking out. Why spend a 2011 i30-amount of money on something that does the same thing as an (also 2011) $6 Logitech G105? The Seneca is understated but apparently gorgeous to type with, with luxuries like a custom-designed stabiliser mechanism that is “hideously expensive to produce and both time consuming and fiddly to assemble.” I’m a Magic Keyboard guy but I’m thinking about making the plunge. I would love to hear from you if you’re a mechanical keyboard person!
Does this arouse you? Or does it disgust you? This is a test
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Charging your EV at Bunnings while you pick up tools you’ll use once
Bunnings has installed EV chargers at 14 of its stores and will roll out a couple more over the next few weeks (The Driven). It’s putting in 22kW, 50kW and 12kW chargers, available on the various apps. This is one of those small signs that are bullish about the increasing uptake of EVs: away from the culture war bullshit, major retailers are seeing the demand and also making it easier (and normal) to ditch the ICE. Another thing I had missed is that a tax break for some hybrid electric vehicles had expired earlier this year, with sales plummeting after the fringe benefit tax exemption finished at the end of March (SMH, $).
| electrify_this 102K followers |
electrify_this
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Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Sydney team develop AI model to identify thoughts from brainwaves (ABC News) Exclusive: Deakin Medical Centre hit by alleged Global ransomware attack with Patient scan results, psychiatric assessments, and healthcare plans are part of a dataset published on the darknet. (CyberDailyAU) Immutable’s revenues are shrouded in a Cayman Islands mystery (AFR, archived) Australia’s information commissioner has put out an issues paper for the development of the Children’s Online Privacy Code (OAIC) Age assurance: a perspective by International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC Australia) Facial recognition error sees woman accused of theft (BBC) NZ retailers adopt FRT to fight retail crime following privacy commissioner report (Biometric Update) Here come the glassholes, part II (FT, archived) The Army’s Newest Recruits: Tech Execs From Meta, OpenAI and More (WSJ, $) Apple’s Upgrades to CarPlay, iPad and Vision Pro Outshine Liquid Glass (Bloomberg, $) From Skeuomorphic to Liquid Glass: Apple's Strategic Bet on the Post-Touch Future (omc345 Substack) Mac mini Service Program for No Power Issue (Apple) Google Messages link and image share bug crashes the beta app (9to5Google) How Did Samsung Make This Phone SO Thin? Galaxy S25 Edge Teardown! (iFixit YouTube) Meta's Llama 3.1 can recall 42 percent of the first Harry Potter book (Understanding AI) Revealed: Thousands of UK university students caught cheating using AI (Guardian) Using computers more freely and safely (Kartik Agaram) Trump Seeks to Register His Name for Mobile Phone Service (Bloomberg, $)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### It’s not quite YouTube premium but it’s a lot cheaper
After I wrote about YouTube premium’s price spike last week, I thought this was a nifty little tool: SkipCut is a YouTube video viewer that runs in browser. It’s got no ads, recommendations or autoplay, but does support things like playlists and can run in the background. I’ve had a quick look and seems like there’s nothing too sus about it! You can either drop YouTube links into the website or just replace “youtube” in the URL with “skipcut”. Enjoy!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Sorry for long list from over the weekend! I’ve cut out bad/expired/sketchy deals but there’s a lot of good stuff in there.
Electrical & electronics
Edifier W820NB Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling - $44.99 at Sixale Australia eBay AU BlueAnt X3D Portable 20W Bluetooth Speaker - $64.99 at MyDeal Gravitech eufy Security Indoor Cam E220 - $79 at JB Hi-Fi Truthear HEXA IEM - $89.59 at SHENZHENAUDIO AU STORE Amazon AU Godox iT30Pro Flash - $95.20 at digiDirect Apple AirPods 3 with MagSafe Charging Case (refurbished) - $129 at EXYON eBay AU Letshuoer S12 IEM 14.8mm Planar Magnetic Driver Wired Earphones (4.4mm Connector, Silver) - $159 at Amazon UK UGREEN 300W USB C Charger, Nexode 5 Ports GaN III PD 3.1 140W (max per port) - $170 at UGREEN Group via Amazon AU Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones - $211 at Amazon AU Aqara Smart Door Lock U300 - $269 at Aqara Australia Sony WH-1000XM5 Noise Cancelling Headphones - $285 at Amazon AU Kogan SmarterHome LX16 Robot Vacuum Cleaner and Mop w/ Auto Empty Dock - $299 at Kogan eufy Security E340 Floodlight Camera - $299 at JB Hi-Fi Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro - $469 at Amazon AU ADAM Audio T5V 2-Way 5" Nearfield Active Studio Monitors (Pair) - $479 at StoreDJ, DJ City, Mannys Garmin vivoactive® 6, GPS Smartwatch, Slate with Black Band - $477 at Amazon AU Sonos Sub Mini (Black) - $500 at Premier HiFi BLUETTI AC70 1,000W 768Wh - $610 at BLUETTI Ecovacs Deebot at Harvey Norman N20 Pro Plus for $698 T50 Pro Omni for $1298 Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2) 51mm DLC Sapphire - $896 at Amazon Business DJI Mini 4 Pro Fly More Combo - $1463 at The Good Guys Commercial Samsung 65" S85F OLED 4K Smart AI TV (2025) - $1979 at Samsung EPP
Computing
Lenovo: 15% Cashback Antec C7 & C8 E-ATX PC Cases - $139 at I Gaming Computer ASUS RT-AXE7800 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 6E Router - $299 at Amazon AU / Centre Com Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 i7-1065G7 16GB Ram 256GB SSD 13.3" Win 11 (used) - $348 at ACT eBay Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 12.4" touch Intel i5-1035G1 16GB 256GB SSD W11P (used) - $375 at Max Direct eBay ASUS RT-BE88U Wi-Fi 7 Router - $364 at Amazon AU Kogan 49" QD-OLED Dual QHD (5120 x 1440) 144Hz Curved Ultrawide Monitor - $1049 at Kogan Alienware AW3225QF 32" 4K 240hz QD-OLED Gaming Monitor - $1333 at Dell Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 Copilot+ PC 13.8" Snapdragon X Plus/16GB/512GB) + Arc Mouse + $400 statement credit from AmEx - $1635 at Microsoft Store Gaming PCs at Nebula PC RTX 5070 Ti for $2648 R7 9800X3D, RTX 5080 16GB, B650M Mobo, 32GB 6000MHz RAM, 1TB G4 M.2 for $3148
Mobile
Vodafone Oppo A60 5G 4GB RAM/128GB Storage + $35 Prepaid Starter Kit - $147 at Bing Lee eBay Nokia XR20 5G (128GB/6GB) - $174 at Mobileciti eBay Kogan Mobile Prepaid Plan Extra Large 365 Days Flex 500GB - $189 at Kogan Optus 300GB 365-Day Prepaid SIM Starter Kit - $219 at Woolworths Apple iPad Mini 5th Gen (2019) 7.9" A12 64GB Wifi+Cellular (refurbished) - $241 at greengadgets Optus 365 Day Prepaid SIM 300GB Data - $275 at Cashback
# The End
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