### Issue 1595 - Thursday 28th April, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Elon Musk comments on Twitter employees & loses SEC court case while Tesla shares slide
- If re-elected the Coalition might do something about loot-boxes in video games
- Apple starts a limited self-service repair program in the USA
- Belkin has plans to release wireless power products based on Wi-Charge this year
- Cheap Nintendo Switch, Metal Gear Solid V, refurb Dell laptop & mini PC, Spec Ops: The Line, Sony wireless earbuds, 9th-gen iPad, Xiaomi Zigbee IoT kit

## The News

### Elon Musk comments on Twitter employees & loses SEC court case while Tesla shares slide

Elon Musk's been talking shit about Twitter employees on Twitter, taking potshots at Vijaya Gadde (Twitter's legal, public policy, trust, and safety lead) and Jim Baker (Twitter's deputy general counsel), despite the sale agreement with Twitter saying he can't do that. On the same day, a court has upheld the agreement Elon and the SEC had to pre-approve his tweets and for the SEC to investigate if the agreement is being adhered to. To rub further salt in the wound, Tesla's shares have taken a huge spanking (12% drop - approx US$126b of value) as Tesla shareholders worry about "upcoming stock sales by Musk and the possibility he is becoming distracted by the Twitter venture".

### If re-elected the Coalition might do something about loot-boxes in video games

The Coalition said if they're re-elected, they're gonna spruce up Australia's classification code - years after a review took place while they were in government. The main aim is to set a minimum rating (like Mature (M) or similar) on games with "loot boxes", the insidious video game mechanism that lets children pay money for random in-game items that is really just gambling in disguise. They also want to "address content that sexualises children or depicts suicide or violence against women". Don't get too excited, as we have an election to get through and let's be honest, this topic isn't exactly a high priority should there be a government change.

### Apple starts a limited self-service repair program in the USA

Apple's self service repair program has kicked off in the US. Americans can order parts for the iPhone 12, 13 and 3rd-gen SE from an online store, along with a tool kit (battery & display presses, heated display removal unit, shit like that) you can rent for US$49 for a week if you don't have the tools already. For Australians, the biggest benefit is that there's now PDFs service manuals available to download for some iPhones. It's a slow start and appears to be the bare minimum Apple could do, but it's better than nothing. iFixit are upset about all the DRM on the parts. No scavenging parts from a busted phone to install them in another phone or 3rd party parts allowed - something taken for granted in the automotive space.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Belkin has plans to release wireless power products based on Wi-Charge this year

Belkin is gearing up to sell true wireless charging products based on the Wi-Charge standard. This tech sends electricity over infrared beams. You connect a transmitter into a power outlet somewhere in the room and gadgets (lamps, security cameras, air sensors etc - a max of 1W over ~12m) receive this infrared beam of electricity and can operate without needing to be plugged into anything. Belkin hasn't said what products exactly they're going to release, but plans to sell stuff using Wi-Charge later this year. Sounds too good to be true, there's gotta be a catch. Low efficiency, super expensive, something like that???

## Bargains

- Nintendo Switch console (OLED version) - $435.71 from The Games Men's eBay store
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience - $4.99 on the PlayStation store
- Refurbished Dell Latitude 7490 laptop (i5-8350U, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p 14" screen) - $535.49 from Bufferstock's eBay store
- Refurbished Dell Optiplex 3020M Mini (i5-4590T, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) - $169 + delivery from FuseTech
- Spec Ops: The Line - $9.99 on Xbox Marketplace
- Sony WF-1000XM4 noise cancelling earbuds - $299 from Amazon
- Apple iPad 256GB Wi-Fi (9th-gen) - $643.08 from Computer Alliance's eBay store
- Xiaomi Aqara M1S Zigbee 3.0 Hub, Water Leak Sensor, Motion Sensor, Temp/Humidity Sensor - $80 from Hekka

## The End

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