### Issue 1616 - Friday 27th May, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Broadcom buys VMware for US$61b
- NSW to build big robocar testing centre near Orange
- Plex resurrects HTPC app for Windows & Mac, Linux soon
- PimEyes, facial recognition for the masses
- Friday forum update
- Cheap Logitech keyboards and mice, Creative Pebble speakers, BioShock & Cities Skylines bundles, Paramount Plus, PS5 controllers

## The News

### Broadcom buys VMware for US$61b

VMware used to be owned by EMC, then Dell purchased EMC, then Dell spun off VMware into its own company in November 2021. Now Broadcom owns it, planning to spend US$61b to snap up all the VMware shares, making it one of the biggest tech mergers ever. Broadcom are generally known as bastards in the enterprise IT hardware sector. They love to buy commodity products and jack up the price, as explained by Serve The Home. Broadcom also owns Symantec, which it purchased in 2019 off NortonLifeLock. Broadcom's software group will now be called VMware, which includes Symantec and other "infrastructure and security software solutions". I'm sure it all makes sense in a Powerpoint presentation somewhere.

### NSW to build big robocar testing centre near Orange

NSW is gonna get a massive self-driving car testing site. The government is gonna spend $9.5m to build the "Future Mobility Testing and Research Centre" in the tiny town of Cudal's old airport, about 30 min away from Orange. It's pretty much a mini city with "simulated city scenarios, pedestrian interaction test zones and dynamic driverless vehicle test environments like rain, tunnels, and dirt roads". It'll help not develop not only robocar stuff, but test assistive features like "lane keep assist, and advanced autonomous braking systems" that will be mandatory on all new cars in 2023.

### Plex resurrects HTPC app for Windows & Mac, Linux soon

Plex has given some love to the desktop versions of its app to match the UI and features of the set-top box apps for Android/Apple TV and so on. Plex tried to kill this off a while ago, but "some folks spoke up in defense of their dialed-in mappings for their favorite controllers, others had a penchant for particular scalers, and some were just looking to squeeze the most out of an already-connected gaming rig". You still need a Plex Media Server for this new Plex HTPC app to talk to, but there's nothing stopping you running the server and the player on the same device if that's what you wanna do.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### PimEyes, facial recognition for the masses

PimEyes is a website that is basically ClearView AI, but available for anyone to use and doesn't scrape social media, probably because the T&C's of social media sites forbid it, not some moral judgement call as if there was morality involved this site wouldn't have been made in the first place. You upload a photo of someone and it scours the web to find images of that person. The New York Times debates the ethics of PimEyes, using its journalists as guinea pigs and interviewing the site's current owner. There's a free opt-out request form buried in the FAQ, that doesn't really work according to the NYT. It's all very creepy to me, I don't know who legitimately needs this kinda service.

## Friday Forum Update

Here's five interesting discussions over on The Sizzle's paid subscriber forum for you to enjoy over the weekend. If you are not a paid subscriber but want to get involved, visit https://thesizzle.com.au/payme to get onboard.

- taybenlor wants to automate the powering up and powering down of speakers hooked up over AirPlay
- andrew has dipped their toes into the wonderful world of Usenet and wants tips and tricks to get the most out of it
- coljac and I went on a bit of rant about public electric vehicle charging
- tuey can't decide between two medium sized monitors or one big monitor and needs someone to decide for them
- Seemos has a Bluetooth enabled stereo in their car that supports voice only, but wants to play music on it

## Bargains

- Logitech MX Keys wireless keyboard - $155 from Amazon
- Logitech MX Keys Mini wireless keyboard - $122 from Amazon
- Creative Pebble V3 USB/Bluetooth speakers - $49.95 from Creative
- BioShock: The Collection for PC - free from the Epic Games store
- Paramount Plus Annual Subscription - $44.95
- Cities: Skylines Colossal Collection - $28.73 from Humble Bundle
- PS5 DualSense Controller - $70.36 from The Gamesmens' eBay store
- Logitech MX Master 3 wireless mouse - $118.40 from digiDIRECT's eBay store

## The End

📻 Pastichio Medley - The Smashing Pumpkins

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

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## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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