Plus: How to get ChatGPT to give you a free Windows 10 key ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

July 11, 2025 | Read online
# Bluesky is age verifying, AI in schools and what Sizzlers are saying Plus: How to get ChatGPT to give you a free Windows 10 key
Edition 2372
"Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building, Texas A&M University" (Flickr: tamuresearch)
# The News
### Bluesky is going to start age-gating features until you verify your age
Bluesky will soon restrict UK users from seeing adult content and using DMs unless they’ve verified their age (Bsky). The platform is introducing the rules in response to the UK’s Online Safety Act and will use Epic Games infrastructure to let people do face scans, use a credit card or upload ID to prove their age (Engadget).
The Sizzle: We’re going to see a lot more of this! As far as things go, I think age-gating adult content and DMs is a less worse option than age-gating the whole platform. Still, there’s going to be a lot of people pissed off that it’ll be harder to do normal things online without taking some pretty intrusive steps. Pay attention to what gets declared “adult content” because overzealous platforms are incentivised overly limit access to things like sexual education content because they only care about avoiding being fined.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Teachers are not happy about Big Tech’s AI classroom push
A open letter from teachers has criticised the use of generative AI in teaching as a “threat to student learning and wellbeing” (OpenLetter dot earth). The letter, which includes a lot of Australian signatories, says that there’s a “massive push to position these productions as essential to students’ future livelihoods” despite a lack of evidence that it helps. Meanwhile, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic have pledged millions of dollars to train hundreds of thousands of teachers to use AI in teaching (CNN).
The Sizzle: One of the most under-covered stories in tech is how Big Tech has truly infiltrated Australian (and many other countries’) classrooms. Even before we start to conceive about the role AI should play in education — a big discussion — we also should be be really wary of companies pushing their products into our schools. Hear me out: what if we funded education so they didn’t need corporate interests to pick up the bill?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### What Sizzlers (and Cam) have been saying
As much requested, a few highlights from the Slack and Forum this week
The Hawk on the enduring value of forums. gtch on Doordash’s expensive technical problem. Meski on being a Qantas hack victims after not using an account for two decades. jpwarren’s creative solution to wealth inequality. Mkeating with a delightfully visceral response to a horny bug.
And just to update: interview went well yesterday! It airs in November, so there’s nothing to show until then but I spoke with redacted well-known ABC host for like 90 minutes, so I’m sure they’ll end up with 10-15 good seconds they could use.
I actually took two jumpers to have a choice, but ended up ditching a yellow one.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia is quietly introducing 'unprecedented' age checks for search engines like Google (ABC News) Antisemitism envoy praises Elon Musk’s X for using AI to ‘root out hate’ (Crikey, $) In Nov last year, I reported that an encrypted messaging app Sessions was forced to move offshore after the AFP visited… I got emails around Sessions, including that the AFP wanted to keep an eye on them because of "their stated commitment to privacy". (Josh Taylor) Latest eSafety research reveals social media use is widespread among kids – and so are the harms (eSafety) Telegram is suggesting the eSafety Commissioner sent its demands for information to the wrong postal and email addresses and it never received them. (LinkedIn) These art collectors have lost $250k on NFTs. They still love them (AFR, $) CBA using facial recognition logins to verify disputed payments (IT News) Australia takes another step toward a central bank digital currency (IT News) Work begins on IoT labelling scheme to boost awareness (InnovationAus, $) Hyundai’s potential next electric SUV spotted testing in Sydney (The Driven) AI-generated child sexual abuse videos surging online, watchdog says (The Guardian) Apple Plans New MacBook Pro, iPhone 17e and iPads by Early 2026 (Bloomberg) Samsung says its trifold phone should launch ‘this year’ (The Verge) Grok 4 is live — Elon Musk introduces 'smartest AI' and addresses antisemitic posts (Toms Guide) Cops’ favorite AI tool automatically deletes evidence of when AI was used (Ars Technica) YouTube’s ‘Trending’ section is about to disappear (The Verge) At last, a use case for AI agents with sky-high ROI: Stealing crypto (The Register) Swedish bodyguards reveal PM’s location on fitness app (Politico) Kagi’s news app: Kite (Kagi) One day you turned off XP for the last time and didn't even notice (Reddit)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### How to get ChatGPT to give you a free Windows 10 key
Researchers have found a new game to play with ChatGPT: ask it to imagine a string of numbers so you try guess it. Here’s the fun bit: if you can’t guess it, you tell the bot that you give up and it’ll give you a free, working Windows 10 serial number (0din dot ai). Giving up at a guessing game is a new method of jailbreaking AI because it predicts that it’s supposed to tell you the number it was “thinking” of. The trick is you get to tell it what type of number it should think of — Windows 10 keys, credit card numbers, etc.
If you ask Grok, though, it just gives me the number 1488?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
Meross Mini Smart Plug with Energy Monitor 2-Pack - $29.59 at Shuzu-AU via Amazon AU Charmast 22.5W Power Bank, 20000mAh Built-in 4 Cables - $32.49 at Charmast AU via Amazon AU Ottocast Mini Express Wireless Carplay+Android Auto Adapter - $43.45 at ottocast-officialstore via ebay AU TP-Link Tapo D210 2K 3MP Battery Video Doorbell Camera Wireless with Chime - $75.05 at Amazon AU Earfun Air Pro 4 Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds - $89.99 at Earfun AU Amazon AU Yamaha AG01 Live Streaming USB Microphone at Amazon AU Black for $99 White for $100 eufy 30m Permanent Outdoor Lights E22 with 60 Triple-LED Lights - $118 at Harvey Norman TP-Link Tapo Smart Battery Video Doorbell, Home Security System, 2K 5MP (Tapo D230S1) - $123 at Amazon AU Reolink Duo 2 PoE Outdoor Security IP Camera with 180° FoV by Dual-Lens - $157 at Reolink Amazon AU Reolink Altas PT Ultra ColorX 4K Camera with Solar Panel - $240 at Reolink via Amazon AU DJI Osmo Action 4 Standard Combo - $254 at The Good Guy Sony WH-1000XM5 SA Noise Cancelling Headphones (Black) - $379 at Sony AU Sennheiser HD 660S2 Wired Open Headphones - $500 at Amazon AU Samsung Galaxy Ring Titanium Black - $519 at JB Hi-Fi Samsung Soundbar at Samsung EPP HW-QS700F for $496 HW-Q800F for $546 HW-Q930F for $794 HW-Q990F for $992 Garmin Instinct 3, 45mm, Amoled, Black - $592 at Amazon DE via AU Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni Bundle - $649 at Ecovacs AU Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Heat Robotic Vacuum and Mop - $799 at Dreame Official AU via Amazon AU Clarity 5K Touch 27" Monitor with USB-C Power Delivery and Touchscreen - $1500 at Alogic Australia TCL 98" P7K QLED 4K UHD Google TV 2025 + TCL S55H Soundbar & Wireless Sub - $3355 at JB Hi-Fi
Computing
Logitech MX Keys S Wireless Keyboard (Pale Grey) - $120 at Amazon AU Patriot Viper Venom DDR5 32GB (2x 16GB) 6000MHz - PVV532G600C36K - $138 at Amazon AU Corsair K65 Plus Wireless 75% RGB Hot-Swap Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - COD Ed - $152 at eBay GL.iNet Flint 2 (GL-MT6000) - $186.48 at GL.iNet Amazon AU Mercusys MR47BE BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $195 at Amazon AU Klevv 48GB (2x24GB) 6000MT/s CL30-36-36-76 DDR5 EXPO HYNX A-DIE - $209 at Umart Samsung 4TB T7 Touch Portable SSD (Black) - $339 at The Good Guys AMD Ryzen 9 5950X CPU - $400 at Amazon Germany via AU Apple iPad at Phonebot 7th Gen 128GB Wifi Cellular for $249 (Refurb) 9th Gen 256GB Wifi Cellular for $399 (Refurb) Lenovo ThinkPad 13 Yoga G3 21B6S04500 13.3"/Intel i3-1215U/8GB(non-upgradeable)/256GB SSD/Win 11 Pro - $599 at JB Hi-Fi
Mobile
Samsung Galaxy A16 4G 4GB/128GB & Bonus $20 StoreCash - $167.45 at The Good Guys Galaxy Watch8 Classic - $321 at Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra - $569 at Samsung
# The End
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