### Issue 2239 - Tuesday 17th December, 2024

Apologies if you noticed any weird emails from The Sizzle the last 24 hours. I've been migrating all the Stripe & Chargebee stuff to Cam's Stripe & Beehiiv (what's with all the bee stuff for billing??) account and of course some stuff didn't go 100% perfectly - maybe 95% perfect, which is better than I expected! Nobody should be double billed but if you do end up with more than one Sizzle transaction on your card, please don't hesitate to get in touch and I can fix it ASAP. More info about the change and how to manage your account moving forward will come this week.

## In Today's Issue

- Apple & Google might have to block TikTok if it can't sell itself soon
- You might be entitled to compensation for Meta's Cambridge Analytica incident
- Roo-ver, EU's answer to Starlink, the NLA is now library.gov.au
- Look what they did to my boy
- Cheap Denon AVR, Surface 2 headphones, Cygnett USB powerbank, refurb iPhone SE, Google Play gift cards, SanDisk microSD, AirPods Max, EA Sports FC 25

## The News

### Apple & Google might have to block TikTok if it can't sell itself soon

Shit is about the get real for TikTok in the USA, with Reuters reporting that the "chair and top Democrat on a U.S. House of Representatives committee on China told the CEOs of Google-parent Alphabet and Apple on Friday they must be ready to remove TikTok from their U.S. app stores on Jan. 19". Meanwhile, TikTok is begging the Supreme Court to delay enforcing the law while they battle it out in court, with TikTok still pushing the freedom of speech angle, along with saying that a sale to a US-entity is "not legally, technologically or financially feasible — in part because a sale would most likely be blocked by Beijing". Reckon TikTok could get the same treatment here? Cook up a national security issue, force Bytedance to flog it to Nine or News Corp or whatever now that there's precedence for it over in the US?

⬆ Share or Discuss

### You might be entitled to compensation for Meta's Cambridge Analytica incident

The OAIC made Meta cough up $50m for Aussies that had their data caught up in that whole Cambridge Analytica mess. From the press release: "the Commissioner alleged that the personal information of some Australian Facebook users was disclosed to the This is Your Digital Life app in breach of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The information was exposed to the risk of disclosure to Cambridge Analytica and other third parties, and risked being used for political profiling purposes". If you meet the criteria laid out in the press release (had a Facebook account, present in Australia for more than 30 days, had the This is Your Digital Life app installed or a friend who did) you could get a bit of that $50m pot of cash.

⬆ Share or Discuss

### Roo-ver, EU's answer to Starlink, the NLA is now library.gov.au

- A bunch of Aussie companies and unis have got together and developed a lunar rover called Roo-ver that'll scurry around the Moon whenever NASA gets Artemis off the ground. You can learn more about the project on ELO2's website.
- Also in space news, the EU has confirmed it is building its own Starlink-esque LEO internet satellite constellation, IRIS2. They're starting off with 290 satellites and it'll be ready by 2030. There's also a Chinese one called Qianfan that's already launched.
- The National Library of Australia's domain name is now library.gov.au. It was nla.gov.au and stuff still re-directs from nla to library. They also have a new website. Exciting stuff for some people. I like the new Discover by format section. Ephemera is good.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Look what they did to my boy

Ed Zitron's had an extremely ranty 2024 while he investigates what the fuck happened to the tech industry. This latest post - Never Forgive Them - kinda sums up what he's been crapping on about. If your digital devices don't bring you the joy they used to, if you struggle to use the latest stuff when you didn't previously, it's not just you feeling that way and it's not your fault. It's the fault of the top end of this industry making things crap on purpose to milk every last cent out of us. Rot economy, enshittification, line must go up - it's all here.

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## Bargains

- Denon AVR-X1800H AVR - $884 from Amazon
- Microsoft Surface Headphones 2 - $107.07 from Australian Computer Trader's eBay store
- Cygnett ChargeUp Advance USB powerbank (19.2Ah, 100W USB-C output) - $56.25 from Cygnett
- Refurb Apple iPhone SE 2nd Gen (2020) 64GB - $169 from Coles
- 10% off Google Play gift cards at Woolworths
- SanDisk 256GB Extreme PRO microSDXC - $45 + delivery & surcharge from digiDirect
- Apple AirPods Max (Lightning) - $699 + delivery & surcharge from Umart (can get Officeworks to price beat)
- EA Sports FC 25 for Xbox/PlayStation - $35.10 at Big W

## Image Of The Day

Telecom Australia Annual Report 1985 (National Library of Australia)

## The End

📻 The Hives - Main Offender

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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.