### Issue 1570 - Monday 20th March, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Government wants to give ACMA powers to regulate online disinformation
- Brazil bans Telegram, telcos need to block it and Google/Apple need to remove it from App Store
- Some old news for a slow day
- Linux is now available for Apple Silicon Macs
- Cheap Logitech G703 mouse, Foxtel Go Ultimate, Foxtel Now Box, Surface Pro 8, Razer Kiyo webcam, Dell MSA20 monitor arm, refurb DJI Mavic Air 2 Fly More combo, Battlefield 4 Premium, Command & Conquer Remastered

## The News

### Government wants to give ACMA powers to regulate online disinformation

Oh look, another attempt at social media regulation from the Australian government! The Communications Minister dropped a press release this morning that the government will introduce "legislation this year to combat harmful disinformation and misinformation online". If the government is re-elected, ACMA will work with "major digital platforms to develop a voluntary code of conduct for disinformation and news quality" and be given powers to "register and enforce industry codes or make industry standards". This is all based off an ACMA report on the topic.

### Brazil bans Telegram, telcos need to block it and Google/Apple need to remove it from App Store

Brazil has decided to ban Telegram. The judge making this decision is doing so because "the app had not fully responded to previous orders to remove the accounts of a prominent supporter of President Jair Bolsonaro. That supporter is being investigated for spreading disinformation and threatening Supreme Court judges". The order made by the judge requires "internet and cell-service providers to make Telegram unusable in the country and directed Apple and Google to remove the app from their mobile app stores". They've got 5 days to comply. Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, said they never responded because "we had an issue with emails going between our telegram.org corporate addresses and the Brazilian Supreme Court". Oops.

### Some old news for a slow day

- I'm pretty sure I've covered this before, but .au domains are going live on Thursday. You'll be able to get a domain name that ends in .au but without a .com or .net - for example, I could buy thesizzle.au if I like.
- Porsche has confirmed it is going to turn its 718 range of cars (better known as the Cayman and Boxster) into an electric vehicle by 2025. Not an option alongside a petrol motor, but pure electric. The writing is on the wall now.
- Full IMAX movies (1570 film!) are fucking awesome, so I am delighted to learn that they're developing a next generation film camera. The new beast will be "be quieter, with a series of new features added to enhance usability".
- A group of anti-5G wignuts and crazies set fire to a Telstra phone tower in Mullumbimby. This sucks at the best of times, but the pain is exacerbated as the area is already struggling with communications due to the severe floods.
- The Lapsus$ hacking group has claimed another scalp - Ubisoft. Dunno what was pilfered exactly, but it was significant enough for a "company-wide password reset". Lapsus$ stole significant data from Nvidia and Samsung recently.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Linux is now available for Apple Silicon Macs

An alpha release of Asahi Linux is now live for people to install on their Apple Silicon Macs. The Asahi Linux team have done a great job figuring out the boot process and hardware setup for these Macs (which they've outlined in great detail here - great read if you want to know what makes an Apple Silicon Mac tick) and progress on driver support for all the components is on its way. A few things still don't work (built-in cameras, Bluetooth, sleep mode, CPU deep idle, GPU acceleration, DisplayPort output and more) but the core system is there. The flexibility of Linux with the raw power of these Apple Silicon CPUs is quite exciting.

## Bargains

- Logitech G703 Lightspeed wireless mouse - $78.36 from Amazon
- Foxtel Go Ultimate - $49/m from Foxtel
- Foxtel Now Box (C027) - $29.99 from Kogan
- Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (i5-1135G7, 18GB RAM, 256GB SSD) & bonus $150 gift card - $1,648 from Harvey Norman
- Razer Kiyo webcam - $79 from Amazon
- Dell MSA20 single monitor arm - $161.21 from Dell
- Refurb DJI Mavic Air 2 Fly More Combo - $1399 + delivery from Kogan
- Battlefield 4 Premium Edition - $12.48 on Steam
- Command & Conquer Remastered Collection - $10.48 on Steam

## The End

📻 Devotion - Horror My Friend

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