### Issue 2061 - Friday 5th April, 2024

## In Today's Issue

- Fire Resuce Victoria still haven't put out its 2022 cyberattack dumpster fire
- Apple's privacy controls are confusing and opaque
- US lottery promo generates lewd images of players thanks to AI
- Koba insurance are taking the piss when they take your data
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Fire TV Stick, DJI drone, Cygnett USB charger, Lenovo e-ink tablet, Ultimate Him gift cards, PS5 console, BeyerDynamic headphones

## The News

### Fire Resuce Victoria still haven't put out its 2022 cyberattack dumpster fire

A briefing document prepared by Fire Rescue Victoria for the emergency services minister has been leaked and it paints a pathetic picture of the organisation's inability to recover after a cyberattack in 2022. We still don't know specifics about the attack, but whatever it was, it caused FRV to drop "more than 10 percentage points off its target of reaching 90% of structure fires within 7.7 minutes". The government and FRV maintain that "community safety has not been compromised" but the brief says that talking point "may be viewed as at odds with the decline in response time performance". FRV has also spent $20m "outsourcing its response to the cyberattack to consultants" yet "15 months after the cyberattack it still does not have full functionality". An absolute shitshow and a shining example of how the government and public service are institutionally incapable of doing computer stuff.

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### Apple's privacy controls are confusing and opaque

A study by researchers at Aalto university in Finland looked at the privacy settings of Apple's default apps - Safari, Siri, Family Sharing, iMessage, FaceTime, Location Services, Find My and Touch ID - and found that participants in the research "weren't able to prevent any of the apps from sharing their data with other applications or the service provider". The researchers also discovered the "online instructions for restricting data access are very complex and confusing, and the steps required are scattered in different places. There's no clear direction on whether to go to the app settings, the central settings – or even both". Oh and good luck learning what Apple does with all that data, the researchers couldn't figure it out either.

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### US lottery promo generates lewd images of players thanks to AI

Another day, another case of AI doing something very dumb. This time it's the Washington Lottery in the USA who ran a promotion to "Test Drive A Win", allowing lottery players to "digitally throw a dart at a dartboard featuring dream vacations you can pay for with the money you win in the lottery. Depending on where the dart lands, you can either upload a headshot or take one on your phone to upload, and the AI superimposes your image into the vacation spot". One woman tried this out and the image the AI system generated had her face on an "almost completely nude" body. This is Fresh in our Memories level of corporate marketing.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Koba insurance are taking the piss when they take your data

Got an email today from Koba Insurance who reckon they can give me "a smarter digital experience, including trip tracking, proactive car care monitoring and connected services" (whatever the fuck that means) in return for giving them permission to connect to my car via Tesla's API. Curious as to the discount I might get for giving Koba unfettered access to how fast I drive, where the car is parked, what times I travel and where I go down to 5 meters of accuracy, I filled in the quote form - $3,537 a year! That's double what I pay now and I don't have to relinquish any data at all from my car to the insurer. You'd have to be out of your goddamn mind to give up all that privacy to an insurance company and not even get a reach around on price as a thank you.

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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.

- rossp revived an old thread about disconnecting your home from the gas network and going all electric
- Also in revived discussions, there's been a few additions to the Aliexpress Good Stuff Thread recently
- I am dipping my toe into Home Assistant again because my new reverse cycle ducted air conditioner only has a single thermometer
- Travestyau let us western Victorians know about a new Ballarat tech meetup that I am looking forward to attending
- andyrb started a thread about technology that pisses them off, with AAMI's dumb AI bot being the first example

## Bargains

- Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max - $69 from Amazon
- DJI Air 3 4K Drone Fly More Combo (DJI RC 2) - $1879 from JB Hi-Fi
- Cygnett PowerMaxx 100W Multi Port GaN Wall Charger - $59 at Officeworks
- Lenovo Smart Paper 10.3" E-Ink Paper Tablet - $347 at Officeworks
- 1,000 bonus Flybuys points on various gift cards (Netflix, Google Play, Ultimate Him) at Coles next week
- PlayStation 5 Console (Slim) - $616.80 from Kogan's eBay store
- BeyerDynamic DT 990 Open Back Dynamic Headphones - $199 from BeyerDynamic Australia

## Image Of The Day

Fantasy currency, One Hundred and One Binary / Mega Bucks, paper, issued by School of Business and Technology, Macarthur Institute of Higher Education, Milperra, New South Wales, Australia, 1988-1989 (Powerhouse Museum)

## 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.