### Issue 1500 - Wednesday 24th November, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Apple suing NSO Group for violating iCloud terms of service
- NASA launching asteroid destroying rocket, for real, not a joke
- eSafety Commissioner busted appearing on anti-porn podcast
- Perth to Oman fibre cable almost done, NZ to Antarctica cable planned
- Day 3 of Black Friday/Cyber Monday bargains, relentless

## The News

### Apple suing NSO Group for violating iCloud terms of service and wants them banned from using Apple stuff forever

Apple is suing NSO Group for abusing vulnerabilities in iOS for state surveillance and putting Apple's users at risk. Specifically, they're claiming that NSO Group's FORCEDENTRY exploit, which used Apple IDs and iCloud to carry out attacks, violated Apple's terms of service which probably has something in it that says using iCloud for state sponsored hacking isn't allowed. Apple wants "a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services, or devices". Fuck knows if it'll achieve much, but at the very least it's a nice piece of symbolism to demonstrate Apple's privacy credentials for when they do another own-goal like the kiddie porn scanner stunt.

### NASA launching asteroid destroying rocket, for real, not a joke

I shit you not, NASA is testing an asteroid missile called DART - Double Asteroid Redirection Test. Weather permitting, they're gonna launch a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and "will attempt to collide with Dimorphos, a small 'moonlet' of a larger asteroid named Didymos. DART will strike Dimorphos at a rate a little greater than 6.6 km/s, aiming to slightly alter the trajectory of the asteroid". I had no idea this was a serious thing NASA would spend time on. Probably a good idea as I never expected to live through a pandemic so living through the possibility of a giant asteroid colliding with Earth isn't out of the question!

### eSafety Commissioner busted appearing on anti-porn podcast

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant was recently on a podcast hosted by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) to talk about the Australian eSafety Office's work. NCOSE might sound noble, but they've historically been behind anti-pornography, anti-LGBTQI+ education and other "won't somebody think of the children!!" crusades in the Anglosphere. The eSafety Commissioner will have broad powers to decide what Australians can and can't see on the internet, so it's worrying to see her align with prudish censorship zealots like NCOSE and thanks to an FOI request (by a Sizzle subscriber, hello again Eliza!), we now know that the eSafety Commissioner's team didn't even bother checking the views of NCOSE before appearing on the podcast.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Perth to Oman fibre cable almost done, NZ to Antarctica cable planned

Submarine cable fans (yes all 3 of us) will be excited to know about two new projects. Perth is gonna be hooked up directly to Muscat in Oman with the Oman Australia Cable (OAC) via Equinix's PE2 and MC1 data centres. It'll give Australia a new low latency path to Europe and adds redundancy for Australia's comms links to Europe, which mostly go via the Strait of Malacca - a busy shipping channel prone to damaging cables. Meanwhile, the USA's National Science Foundation is seriously looking into the costs and logistics to run fibre to McMurdo Station in Antarctica via New Zealand. Antarctica is the only continent not spoiled by always connected high-speed internet. Would be a game changer for research and education if the NSF figures out how to do it.

## Bargains

- Dell XPS gaming PCs (i7-1170 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, RTX3060Ti/RTX3060/GTX1660Ti GPU) - $1699/$1599/$1499 from Dell's eBay store
- Creative Pebble V3 USB speakers - $49.95 from Creative
- Bose QC45 noise cancelling headphones - $399 from Amazon
- Refurbished iPhone 8 64GB - $259 from Coles
- Seagate 2.5" portable USB HDDs 2TB/4TB/5TB - $69/$119/$154 from Amazon
- Samsung T7 portable SSD 1TB - $147 from Amazon
- Buy Apple stuff from Apple's online store and get various levels of Apple gift cards
- Boost 12m pre-paid SIM with 260gb data - $250 from Boost
- Dell S2721QS 27" 4K monitor - $289 from Dell's eBay store
- Garmin Fenix 6 Pro fitness smart watch - $573.99 from Amazon AU
- 3-pack (10Ah, 5Ah & 3Ah) of Laser USB powerbanks - $24.99 from Laser
- Samsung Tab S7 FE 64GB tablet - $699 from Big W
- 20% off a bunch of Autodesk software like AutoCAD, Fusion 360 & Maya
- Sandisk Ultra 1TB microSD card - $199 from Shopping Square
- LEGO 71374 Super Mario Nintendo Entertainment System - $274.95 from Hobby Warehouse
- 30-day free trial of Paramount+ (normally just a 7-day trial) using the code OASIS
- 10x Shelly 1 wi-fi home automation devices - $130 from Smart Guys
- Withings BPM Connect wireless blood pressure monitor - $98 from Amazon
- Elgato Stream Deck MK1 - $179 + delivery from Scorptec
- Anker PowerPort Speed PD 5 USB charger - $44.99 from Amazon
- Withings Body scale or Body + Composition scale - $58/$105 from Amazon
- Viofo A119 V3 dashcam - $116.17 from Amazon
- Viofo A129 Plus Duo dashcam - $177.37 from Amazon

## The End

📻 Too Many Rappers - Beastie Boys, Nas

😎 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.