### Issue 1498 - Monday 22nd November, 2021

Hello non-paying subscribers! I thought I'd send everyone today's issue and give you a taste of the huge range of bargains on offer today. Each issue of The Sizzle is likely to be full of bargains all week thanks to early Black Friday sales - so if you want to save hundreds of bucks off tech, just pay $50 for a subscription to The Sizzle now and you won't miss out on a sale. It'll save you money in the long run by not paying full price for your next gadget purchase!

## In Today's Issue

- El Salvador to create Bitcoin City cryptocurrency haven powered by a volcano
- Rockstar admits the GTA remasters suck and vow to release fixes
- Netflix price goes up, MediaTek's fancy SoC, Adele gets Spotify to change UI, one of the "traitorous eight" passes away, EA & FIFA argue over naming rights
- Microsoft keeps making user hostile decisions with Edge browser
- Way too many bargains to list here, whip out the credit card!

## The News

### El Salvador to create Bitcoin City cryptocurrency haven powered by a volcano

El Salvador's president has taken his enthusiasm for cryptocurrency to a new level (BTC is already legal tender there), announcing Bitcoin City - a literal city near the Conchagua volcano that will provide energy for Bitcoin mining and the city itself, which will be "laid out in a circle (like a coin) and in the city center will be a plaza that will be host to a huge bitcoin symbol" - oh and the city will have "no income, property, capital gains or payroll taxes" and be funded by sovereign Bitcoin bonds. You need to watch a video of this announcement, it's hilarious/amazing/scary depending on your worldview. I assume large amounts of cocaine were involved.

### Rockstar admits the GTA remasters suck and vow to release fixes

Good thing I didn't rush out and purchase a copy of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy — Definitive Edition, as Rockstar has admitted it sucks in a blog post on its website. The remastered games are "did not launch in a state that meets our own standards of quality, or the standards our fans have come to expect". Eurogamer has a story about what's stuffed in the remastered titles (poor frame rates, warped character models, changes to colours, weird reflections, bizarre AI-based upscaling errors) and it sounds like a total shitshow. It's a shame Rockstar didn't take this opportunity to go back to the original source for these games and make a true port. Rockstar said they'll release a bunch of updates to try fix it.

### Netflix price goes up, MediaTek's fancy SoC, Adele gets Spotify to change UI, one of the "traitorous eight" passes away, EA & FIFA argue over naming rights

- The price of Netflix in Australia is going up, again. The 4K plan will now cost $22.99 a month and the "standard" 1080p plan will go up to $16.99 a month. The SD shit-tier plan stays the same.
- MediaTek has announced the Dimensity 9000 SoC. Unlike its usual low-to-mid-range gear, the Dimensity 9000 will be the first SoC based on TSMC's brand spanking N4 process and be the first one using Armv9 in Q1 2022.
- Adele apparently forced Spotify to disable shuffle play for her new album, but all that really happened was a planned UI change to remove the little shuffle icon underneath the big green play button on an album.
- Jay Last - one of the "traitorous eight" that left Shockley Semiconductor to start Fairchild, that then had its employees leave to start companies like Intel and AMD, putting the silicon into Silicon Valley - passed away.
- EA and FIFA are in a "bitter dispute" over EA's continued use of the FIFA name. Their 10-year deal is expiring and FIFA wants more money, while EA wants to make NFTs and shit that FIFA wants for itself.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Microsoft keeps making user hostile decisions with Edge browser

Microsoft is acting like a total dickhead with its new Edge browser. Last week they thoroughly disabled all the methods a 3rd party app called EdgeDeflector used to bypass Windows 11's forced opening of webpages in Edge, even if set a different default browser. There's no depth Microsoft won't plumb to get you to use Edge. Now in a preview version of Edge, they're testing the addition of buy now pay later service Zip directly into the browser whenever you are prompted for a credit card number on a form. This, plus the whole Microsoft Rewards points and built-in coupons thing that already exists in Edge is such a gross look for a company the massive size of Microsoft.

## Bargains

- 15% off TCN HOME/TEENS/KIDS gift cards (usable at JB Hi-Fi & The Good Guys) at Coles on the 24th
- Google Nest Hub Max - $250 from Allphone's eBay store (affiliate link)
- Death Stranding for PC - $29.98 from Steam
- LG C1 65" OLED TV - $2995 at Betta Home Living
- 365-day ALDI Mobile SIM (Telstra MVNO) with 130GB data - $159 at ALDI
- 365-day Coles Mobile SIM (Optus MVNO) with 120GB data - $95 from Coles
- Crucial P1 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD - $110 from Shopping Express
- AFL Premiers 1996 North Melbourne DVD - $5 at JB Hi-Fi
- The Conbee II Zigbee USB - $52.50 + delivery from OZ Smart Things
- Python Programming O'Reilly eBook Bundles - $1.34/$13.48/$24.27 from Humble Bundle
- Diablo II: Resurrected or Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War for PC - $52.45/$49.95 from Battle.net
- Nintendo Switch Pro Controller - $79 at Big W
- 10% off Nintendo e-Shop gift cards at Big W (starts Nov 26th, in-store only)
- Ring Video Doorbell & Echo Show 5 (2nd Gen) bundle - $149 at Big W
- Nintendo Switch Console, Mario Kart 8 & 3 month Nintendo Online bundle - $369 at Kmart on the 25th of Nov
- 50% off Neural DSP guitar amp plugins
- $500 JB gift card with $69/m Telstra 12m plan with 80GB data (includes 5G), works out to $28/m

Amazon's kicked off their Black Friday sale early, so there's shitloads of cheap gear. Please use the affiliate link if possible so I can get some of Amazon's crumbs (that I will probably go and spend at Amazon...)

- BenQ ScreenBar E-Reading LED Task Lamp - $119.25 (affiliate link)
- Elgato Stream Deck XL - $335 (affiliate link)
- Kindle Oasis 8GB/32GB - $299/$339 (affiliate link)
- Edifier R2750DB active bookshelf speakers with Bluetooth - $189 (affiliate link)
- PlayStation 5 DualSense wireless controller - $79 (affiliate link)
- Romross 20,000mAh power bank with PD & QC - $26.24 (affiliate link)
- Eero 6 802.11ax mesh wi-fi 3-pack - $319 (affiliate link)
- Eero Pro 6 802.11ax tri-band mesh wi-fi 3-pack - $699 (affiliate link)
- Sony WH1000XM3 wireless headphones - $249 (affiliate link)
- North Bayou F100A monitor arm (3-9kg, USB 3.0 hub in base) - $59.96 (affiliate link)
- Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Controller Pair - $85 (affiliate link)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max - $59 (affiliate link)
- Kindle Paperwhite - $169 (affiliate link)
- Echo 4th-gen - $74 (affiliate link)
- Echo Dot 4th-gen - $39 (affiliate link)
- Echo Dot 3rd-gen - $19 (affiliate link)
- Echo Show 8 - $99 (affiliate link)
- Oculus Quest 2 128GB VR headset with bonus $100 Amazon credit - $479 (affiliate link)
- Elgato HD60 S+ HDMI USB capture device - $239 (affiliate link )
- SanDisk Extreme Pro SD Card 128GB - $39 (affiliate link)
- Jabra Elite 85t wireless earbuds - $199 (affiliate link)
- F1 2021 for PS4 & PS5 - $39 (affiliate link)
- 2nd-gen Apple Pencil - $169 (affiliate link)
- Apple Watch Series 3 GPS 38mm - $277 (affiliate link)

## The End

📻 Duality - Slipknot

😎 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.