### Issue 1674 - Thursday 18th August, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- A lack of kids studying STEM is gonna turn our economy into a dumpster fire
- Public EV charging is a dumpster fire of broken stations and communication errors
- Reproductive health apps are a dumpster fire of data insecurity
- Right to Repair is cool and all, but gimme Right to Salvage too
- Cheap TTArtisan camera lens, DJI Mini 3 Pro, iPad Air (4th-gen), Intel NUC laptop, RX6600 GPU, refurb Sony earbuds, 20cm Lightning cables, Polk Audio soundbar & sub, Jabra earbuds, Seagate 8TB HDD, Motorola burner phones, Civ 6 Platinum, Lenovo webcam

## The News

### A lack of kids studying STEM is gonna turn our economy into a dumpster fire

In the lead up to the government's Jobs and Skills Summit next month, CSIRO chief executive Dr Larry Marshall reckons giving kids more STEM skills "should be a national mission". He told Innovation Australia that "we've got to grow the next generation to have those STEM skills, otherwise they won't be able to do the things we need them to do to invent a better future". That's a sobering thought. Australia has always had "brain drain", without our best and brightest leaving for the USA or UK for bigger opportunities that simply don't exist here, but the situation is getting so bad that we're not even going to have a brain to drain unless something major is done to train them, let alone keep them here.

### Public EV charging is a dumpster fire of broken stations and communication errors

JD Power has published the results of its annual Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study and unfortunately, public charging still sucks. "One out of every five respondents ended up not charging their vehicle after locating a public charger. And of those who didn't charge, 72 percent indicated that it was due to the station malfunctioning or being out of service". I know this is a US-based survey but I can tell you the situation is just as bad in Australia, with the exact same problems. As much as I loathe Elon Musk and have a love/hate relationship with my mid-life crisis Model 3, it's honestly the Supercharger network's size and reliability keeping me as a Tesla owner.

### Reproductive health apps are a dumpster fire of data insecurity

Mozilla has run their privacy focused eyes across the growing market of reproductive health apps and found the majority of them "did not provide clear guidelines on what data could be shared with law enforcement" and one of them "did not even have a privacy policy". Along with no clear info on how, who and when they share data, Mozilla found that the 10 apps they looked at allow weak passwords to secure data, claim to use AI but don't explain how it works and collect way too much information than is necessary to do their job (i.e: asking about "work experience, education, hobbies, and interests"). It's sad to see such carelessness from these apps considering the very sensitive data they handle. A total lack of respect for their users.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Right to Repair is cool and all, but gimme Right to Salvage too

Dr. Ian Cutress riffs on the Right to Salvage in the latest issue of his newsletter, blasting Apple for the DRM on components in their products. "If a repairer has a device that is dead but has a working screen, and another device that just has a broken screen, the screen can't be transplanted from the dead device into the repairable device. The repairer has to buy a new screen from Apple, and it has to be reprogrammed or remotely activated". Apple might talk a big game about their environmental policies, but shit like this makes them look like total hypocrites. I can't think of a better way to be more sustainable than to re-use working bits from other phones instead of the byzantine process Apple has now.

## Bargains

There's an Afterpay sale on eBay at the moment. Pay with Afterpay and get 15% off "Eligible Items" when using the code AFPAYDAY.

- TTArtisan 35mm f/1.4 manual focus lens for various mounts - $89.75
- DJI Mini 3 Pro Drone with RC Remote - $1148.99
- Apple iPad Air (4th Gen) Wi-Fi 64GB - $589.90
- Intel NUC M15 laptop (i7-1165G7, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) - $1050
- ASUS Radeon RX 6600 8GB - $322.15
- Refurb Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds - $194.65

Non-Afterpay deals:

- 4-pack of 20cm Lightning cables that can be used as a keyring - $12.63 from Amazon
- Polk Audio Signa S4 Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer - $489 from WestCoast Hi-Fi
- Jabra Elite 85T earbuds - $161.10 from The Good Guys
- Seagate IronWolf 8TB 3.5" HDD - $261.45 from Futu Online's eBay store
- Motorola Moto E7 64GB/4GB or E7 Power 32GB/2GB smartphones (locked to Voda) - $40/$19 from Woolworths
- Civilization VI: Platinum Edition - $20.96 on Steam
- Lenovo 300 FHD Webcam - $29 from Amazon

## The End

📻 O Yeah - End Of Fashion

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## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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.