### Issue 1275 - Monday 4th January, 2021

The Sizzle is back after a 2 week break. Damn that was nice, I didn't open my RSS reader once! Let's get 2021 started.

## In Today's Issue

- Flash's dead, baby. Flash's dead
- Apple taking a hit in court case against Corellium
- SolarWinds hack worse than first feared
- Can't get enough of me? Check out my blog
- Cheap iPhone 12 mini, Logitech laser presenter remote, Age of Empires, 1Password, Elgato Key Lights, JBL Link Music smart speaker, Cities Skylines, Wolfenstein The Old Blood & Amaysim 12m SIM

## The News

### Flash's dead, baby. Flash's dead

We all knew that Adobe was killing off Flash at 11:59pm on December 31st 2020 - they gave us like 4 years of warning - but just so you know, Flash is now dead, like properly dead. Shit, Adobe are even recommending you uninstall it and will actively block content running on Jan 12th. Now that it's been abandoned, leaving Flash on your computer is just asking for trouble because no security patches are gonna come out to fix any security flaws! Luckily I haven't seen any Flash-related stuff on the internet for a while now so it's no big loss day to day. All those Flash games and experiences will live on in emulators now.

### Apple taking a hit in court case against Corellium

Apple's court case against Corellium has progressed further. They claimed that Corellium's iOS virtual machines, designed for testing software, infringed on their copyright, but the judge reckons Corellium's product is fair use, with "several changes to iOS and incorporates its own code to create a product that serves a transformative purpose". Eat shit Apple! But the claim that Corellium circumvent's Apple's DRM (illegal under the God forsaken DMCA) isn't so cut and dry, so the judge is taking more time to decide that part of Apple's complaint. Life would be easier for so many iOS developers if spinning up a virtual iOS device wasn't frowned upon by Apple.

### SolarWinds hack worse than first feared

Looks like the SolarWinds hack drama has grown wider and deeper over the break. Microsoft has found "attempted activities beyond just the presence of malicious SolarWinds code in our environment" and "discovered one account had been used to view source code in a number of source code repositories". It's arguable what damage someone could do with a static snapshot of Microsoft's code, but it ain't gonna make life easier, that's for sure. The New York Times has added a bit more detail to the whole SolarWinds thing too, painting the picture that all the US government departments set up to monitor this kinda thing, absolutely did not know that practically every government agency worth a damn was getting hacked.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Can't get enough of me? Check out my blog

Did you know I have a blog (technically it's a forum, that only I'm a member of and I use it as a blog)? Most of the posts are trying solve a problem by talking to myself. Which colour laser printer should I buy? What's it like to run Plex on a Raspberry Pi 4? Is it worth buying a new fancy camera or sticking with what I've got? What's cheaper to run, a hyrbid Corolla or a fully electric Nissan LEAF? You can literally read the cogs turning in my head as I answer my own questions! Hopefully I get the time/motivation to write more stuff that isn't The Sizzle in 2021.

## Bargains

- iPhone 12 mini - $1199 at Officeworks
- Logitech R500 laser presentation remote - $17 at Big W (if you can find stock)
- Age of Empires Definitive Collection for PC - $29.95 on Steam
- 25% off a yearly subscription to 1Password
- Elgato Key Light or Key Light Air - $228/$158 at EB Games
- JBL Link Music smart speaker with Google Assistant - $69 at JB Hi-Fi
- Cities: Skylines - $15 on the Nintendo Switch eShop
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood for Xbox - $11.98 from the Microsoft Store
- Amaysim 365-day SIM (Optus MVNO), 120GB data & unlimited calls/SMS - $145 from Amaysim

## The End

📻 the ground below (feat. Royal Blood) [Royal Jewels Mix] - Run The Jewels, Royal Blood

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

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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.​