### Issue 2155 - Monday 19th August, 2024

## In Today's Issue

- Epic Game Store is on iOS now, but in the EU only
- Google pushes Pixel influencers too far with latest contract
- RIP CrowdTangle, Threads gets new stuff, OpenAI disrupts Iranian influence operation
- Tesla's new Powerwall is great, but expensive
- Cheap Seagate 16TB HDD, Ryzen 7500F CPU, Timezone credit, GameSir smartphone game controller, Anbernic handheld game console, Satechi 165W USB-C charger, Spotify Premium, Firewatch for PlayStation

## The News

### Epic Game Store is on iOS now, but in the EU only

Epic finally has their wish - the Epic Game Store is now on iOS (in the EU only). Right now it just has three games, Fortnite, Rocket League Sideswipe, and Fall Guys, but yeah, it's now a thing. Epic still has to adhere to Apple's archaic rules for 3rd party app stores, and still has to have their apps notarised by Apple. Epic also said they plan to release these games on other non-Apple App Stores, like AltStore PAL, which recently dropped the annual subscription fee thanks to a sponsorship/grant from Epic. It sucks that the rest of us can't have alternative app stores on iOS, kinda jealous of our European friends.

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### Google pushes Pixel influencers too far with latest contract

It should be common knowledge that you can't trust influencers online to be independent of the companies that feed them gear to "review", but Google's latest drop of Pixel 9 phones to the social media puppets explicitly said they're "not allowed to feature Pixel products alongside competitors, and those who showed a preference for competing phones risked being kicked out of the program". If they did do any sort of fair comparison or decide that they liked a different phone to the Pixel, they would be kicked out of the "Team Pixel" program. Not long after this happened Google told The Verge that "we missed the mark with this new language that appeared in the #TeamPixel form yesterday, and it has been removed". The fact they were even comfortable trying to do this just shows how corrupt the entire tech influencer scene is.

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### RIP CrowdTangle, Threads gets new stuff, OpenAI disrupts Iranian influence operation

- Meta shut down CrowdTangle last week. It was a tool used by various organisations to track what's popular on Facebook and who's spreading that content, exposing the garbage on that platform, which is probably why Meta nuked it and replaced with with an inferior alternative.
- Meta's Threads is getting some useful new features for creators and businesses. More analytics, the ability to save up to 100 draft posts and scheduled posting. This is on top of other recent announcements like a multi-pane desktop view and a public API.
- OpenAI says they've "banned accounts linked to an Iranian influence operation using ChatGPT to generate content focused on multiple topics, including the U.S. presidential campaign". Nobody interacted with this content according to OpenAI, so no big deal, please use our LLM responsibly.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Tesla's new Powerwall is great, but expensive

Tesla's got a new residential Powerwall battery. Version 3 of the big hunk of lithium now uses more robust LFP cells storing up to 13.5kWh of energy, has a built-in 20kW solar inverter with 3x MPPTs (so you plug the panels directly into the Powerall) and can discharge at a max of 11kW compared to 5kW in the previous model. If you don't already have solar and want a battery to go with your new solar setup, the Powerwall 3 is hard to beat, even if it does cost more than ever at $13,600 plus installation. Tesla is also planning "Energy Expansions" for the new Powerwall, so if you want more than 13.5kWh you can slap these expansions together. Dunno how much or when, but they're coming.

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## Bargains

- 2x Seagate Exos ST16000NM001G 16TB 3.5" HDD - $518 from East Digital
- AMD Ryzen 5 7500F CPU - $185 from Aliexpress
- Double load credits at Timezone on August 24th
- GameSir G8 Galileo Mobile Controller - $80 from Aliexpress
- Anbernic RG35XXSP Flip Game Console - $84.79 from Anbernic's eBay store
- Satechi 165W USB-C 4-Port PD GaN Charger - $135.20 from Amazon
- 3 months free Spotify Premium (new subscribers only)
- Firewatch for PlayStation - $4.49 on the PlayStation Store

## Image Of The Day

Computer centre, John Holland Constructions, Melbourne, Victoria 1977 [picture] / Wolfgang Sievers (National Library of Australia)

## The End

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