# In This Issue

- Richard Stallman got cancelled

- Victorian driver licences to be sucked in to the “National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution”

- NBN still fiddling around the edges with new pricing tiers

- iPhone 11 & iPhone 11 Pro review embargo dropped, everyone likes the cameras

- Cheap iTunes, Foscam C1 camera, Xiaomi Mi Band 4, Death Stranding PS4, Tenda Nova MW3 mesh wi-fi, Ryzen 7 3800X CPU

# News

#### Richard Stallman got cancelled

Richard Stallman has resigned as president of the Free Software Foundation and from his position in MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He said he quit MIT "due to pressure on MIT and me over a series of misunderstandings and mischaracterizations" and hasn't commented on why he quit the Free Software Foundation. Why did he resign? Because he's been defending child sex trafficker Jefferey Epstein and some other smooth brain shit about the age of consent and what is rape and what isn't - stuff nobody gives a shit about a computer scientist's opinion on at the best of times, let alone when they're as warped as his.

#### Victorian driver licences to be sucked in to the “National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution”

Good news fellow Victorians! All our driver licences are gonna be the first sucked into the federal government's new mandatory opt-in (no opt-out!) national facial recognition database. The National Driver Licence Facial Recognition Solution (NDLFRS) is exactly what you think it is - a massive collection of everyone's face that any government department can tap in to and check to see if you are who you say you are. Initially it's limited to just VicRoads and Victoria Police, but the plan is to eventually have it wide open to any government agency. The government reckons this database will "lead to a crackdown on identity fraud, specifically drivers using multiple licences". Maybe it will, but damn it's a high price (both financially and morally) for such a narrow band of issues.

#### NBN still fiddling around the edges with new pricing tiers

NBN's released another consultation paper asking for feedback on its latest brainfart regarding end user speeds & wholesale pricing. To get retail prices down, NBN is proposing to sell ISPs new cheaper wholesale plans with lower upload speeds. NBN also wants to bring back the 12 Mbps and 25 Mbps speed tiers (probably as a compromise for all the poor fucks on FTTN that can't achieve 50 Mbps) and offer a 1000/50 plan with a wholesale price of $80 (which might end up retailing for ~$150-$200/m). Connectivity virtual circuit (CVC) charges are the number one thing ISPs want removed, but NBN said they're going absolutely nowhere.

# Not News

#### iPhone 11 & iPhone 11 Pro review embargo dropped, everyone likes the cameras

First reviews of the new iPhones are out and the consensus seems to be that Apple has really lifted their camera game. Night mode works as advertised and is as good or better than the Pixel 3 and is superior to the Samsung Note 10. The Pixel 4 is coming in mid-October, but it at least seems Apple won't be blown out of the water regarding camera quality like they were with the previous generation iPhones. Halide has an in-depth post about the new iPhone's cameras. Other than the camera, there's not much to talk about. Reviewers recommend getting the non-Pro unless you want that third camera as there's very little practical difference between the Pro and non-Pro besides the camera.

# Bargains

- 15% off iTunes at Officeworks (also at Aldi until Sept 24th)

- Foscam C1 720p security camera - $59 at MSY (or $49 for the version without night vision)

- Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 4 - $48 delivered (AU stock) from the official Mi eBay store

- Pre-order Death Stranding for the PS4 from Amazon AU for $68

- Tenda Nova MW3 mesh wi-fi (3x 802.11ac nodes) - $103.20 delivered from Techmall eBay

- AMD Ryzen 7 3800X CPU - $500 from Futu Online's eBay store

🎶 Daria - Cake

😁 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers.

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.​