### Issue 1441 - Tuesday 31st August, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- NBN's new corporate plan lacks forward projections and says its aim now is to "operate commercially"
- China further restricts the hours kids can play online video games
- Apple takes over classic streaming music service punters loved, immediately shuts it down
- Elizabeth Holmes, Google's chat app graveyard, Toyota's robocar failure, SA EV grants, WA satellite success
- Cheap Sennheiser headphones & gaming headset, 10% off JB Hi-Fi gift cards, Audioengine A1 speakers, Facebook Portal, Apple Pencil (2nd-gen)

## The News

### NBN's new corporate plan lacks forward projections and says its aim now is to "operate commercially"

NBN's 2022 corporate plan is now available. Unlike previous years, this one hasn't got any forward projections for stuff like revenue, earnings, net profit and capex because "since commencing activity in local and global debt capital markets, the company has come under a new suite of obligations and limitations" that limit it to disclosing "only historical information and limited forecast information". Also in the corporate plan is a new statement of expectation from the government, which instructs the NBN to focus on "operating commercially" - which reading between the lines is fattening up the pig for privatisation. A PDF of the corporate plan (and previous plans) is on the NBN website.

### China further restricts the hours kids can play online video games

China is going even harder on limiting the time kids can play online games. Previously people under 18 could only play 90 minutes a day and three hours on public holidays. Now Chinese kids will only be allowed online gaming access between 8pm to 9pm on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays - that's it. Tencent (one of the biggest game publishers in China) has a "used a combination of technologies, automatically booting off players after a certain period of time and using real-name registration and facial-recognition technology to limit game play for minors", so this stuff is certainly enforced.

### Apple takes over classic streaming music service punters loved, immediately shuts it down

I've never heard of it, but Apple has acquired Primephonic - a streaming service for classical music. Apple plans to use Primephonic's experience to bring "great new classical features to Apple Music" and one day "a dedicated classical experience that will truly be the best in the world". Stiff shit if you're enjoying Primephonic's service now though, as Apple will take it offline on September 7 but isn't going to launch its "dedicated classical music experience" until "the near future". Couldn't they have kept it running until the solution for classical music fans was ready? Apple is giving Primephonic customers 6 months free Apple Music, but I assume if these people wanted Apple Music, they'd already be using it and Apple wouldn't need to purchase Primephonic.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Elizabeth Holmes, Google's chat app graveyard, Toyota's robocar failure, SA EV grants, WA satellite success

- Elizabeth Holmes (you know, the ringleader of the Theranos fiasco) is set to go on criminal trial tomorrow. Said trial will probably go for 3-4 months and should provide a never ending stream of content for a slow news day.
- Arstechnica has an overview of Google's sad messaging app efforts over the last 15 years. I knew there was heaps, but fuck there's like 24 variants of chat/messaging platforms Google has chew up and spat out. Google Talk from 2005 was great and standards based - they should have just kept developing that!
- Toyota has stopped operating a fleet of autonomous shuttles servicing the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo, after hitting a blind athlete at around 1-2km/h. Weird thing is the shuttle was under manual control, hahah. Maybe if it was in robo-mode, it wouldn't have hit anyone?
- South Australia is planning $3000 rebates for new electric vehicle purchases. They're also going to introduce road usage fees for EV drivers like in VIC, but like NSW, won't be introducing them until 2027 or when EVs account for 30% of new car sales in the state.
- Western Australia recently launched its first satellite. Binar-1 (a test-bed for future satellites) was developed at Curtin Uni and last week was sent to the ISS via a SpaceX rocket, where it was deployed successfully. More info about the long term Binar project can be found here.

## Bargains

- Sennheiser HD 350BT headphones - $99 on Amazon for Prime members only
- Sennheiser GSP670 gaming headset - $249 at JB Hi-Fi
- 10% off "Him" gift cards (which can be used at JB Hi-Fi) at Target, but in-store only (sorry Sydney & VIC)
- Audioengine A1 wireless speakers - $279 from Amazon
- 60% off the entire range of Facebook Portal devices (e.g: Portal TV is $129)
- Apple Pencil (2nd Gen) - $169 at JB Hi-Fi if you use Zip Pay

## 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.​