### Issue 2085 - Friday 10th May, 2024

## In Today's Issue

- Yet another government inquiry into social media
- StackOverflow users revolt over OpenAI partnership
- Tesla under investigation for misleading investors over perennial FSD lies
- Tech dorks could lean a lot from Steve Albini's approach to music production
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Telstra & Catch pre-paid SIM, 5TB portable HDD, Dell 27" gaming monitor, JB Hi-Fi Perks discount, Nissan LEAF, DJI RS 3 Mini gimbal

## The News

### Yet another government inquiry into social media

Yeehaw, we're getting a "Joint Parliamentary Select Committee into the influence and impacts of social media on Australian society". The Committee will look at Meta's decision to refuse to be extorted by the news media industry, the "important role of Australian journalism" (lol) and a look at "the algorithms, recommender systems and corporate decision making of digital platforms" without any access to the code of those algorithms. The Committee also leaves some space for whatever pet peeve politicians have with social media at the time so they can get a clip of them grilling some Asia Pacific regional executive lackey to post on TikTok and Facebook. Yeah, investigate the social media companies again for like the 4th time in under a decade, then threaten them with a new law that gives you God mode powers but never use it because deep down you know you need social media's reach so the proletariat knows you funded yet another road upgrade that'll be congested a few weeks after it opens or gave the local footy club money for a new pie warmer. I'm so tired.

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### StackOverflow users revolt over OpenAI partnership

People pissed off with StackOverflow's decision to hand over all their knowledge to OpenAI's insatiable LLM tried to take matters into their own hands and delete or modify their contributions - much like what happened over on Reddit a few months ago. StackOverflow seems to give even less of a fuck than Reddit about community cohesion, restoring posts against the user's wishes and then suspending their accounts. Kathy Reid explains over on Mastodon exactly how I also feel about this trend of tech companies handing over free human generated information to LLM ghouls. Perhaps technically and legally StackOverflow "owns" those posts due to the licence users agreed to when submitting them, but goddamn, what a gross and total misunderstanding of consent and an abuse of the good will of humanity. As Kathy says, "programmers now join artists and copywriters, whose works have been snaffled up to create #GenAI solutions". Don't let these fuckwits steal our humanity from us to line their pockets!

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### Tesla under investigation for misleading investors over perennial FSD lies

Tesla is again facing a US government investigation, this time for "securities or wire fraud by misleading investors and consumers about its electric vehicles' self-driving capabilities". We all know Full Self Driving is a party trick at best, a widowmaker at worst, and Tesla even told the Californian DMV it is only an SAE Level 2 system, but that hasn't stopped Elon spouting absolute bullshit about FSD for years so he can juice the stock price to a level beyond any semblance of reality. The US DoJ and SEC have finally woken up to this scam and I hope they're reaching out to any whistleblowers who hopefully, have more integrity than Musk and don't turn a blind eye to protect their share options.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Tech dorks could lean a lot from Steve Albini's approach to music production

Legendary recording engineer Steve Albini died suddenly yesterday think Albini's experience with the music industry has parallels that easily apply to the technology industry, as they are both areas rife with bullshit. His 1993 essay, "The Problem with Music" starts off with the mental image of "a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit", while "a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed" and just gets better the longer the essay goes. As I read it for the first time in about a decade, all I could think of is the startup scene and nodding my head, recognising the same tactics employed by both groups of shysters. Even the bits about recording audio could be replaced with the latest fad or buzzword we've all come across while just trying to do our work.

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## 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.

- The_Hawk is after a cheap IP-enabled KVM
- andyb wants a way to monitor app data usage on their Mac
- Fruitality needs a VHS-C camera/playback device so they can digitise some old camcorder tapes
- wezm asks which tech YouTubers we enjoy watching
- ajbeardy is having difficulty getting connecting to a Windows box running Remote Desktop from their Mac

## Bargains

- Telstra pre-paid 6m SIM with 110GB data, unlimited calls & SMS - $130 from Telstra
- WD Elements SE 5TB external 2.5" HDD - $148.75 from Centrecom
- Catch Connect (Optus MVNO) 365-day SIM with unlimited calls, 60GB/120GB/200GB of data - $99/$119/$150 from Catch
- Dell G2724D 27" 2560x1440 165Hz IPS G-Sync monitor - $399 at JB Hi-Fi
- $30 off a $300 or more spend at JB Hi-Fi for perks members
- Nissan LEAF electric car 39kWh/59kWh battery versions - $39,990 or $49,990 drive away from Nissan
- DJI RS 3 Mini Gimbal - $409 from Amazon

## Image Of The Day

This manual was supplied with the 1987 Macintosh ED, also known as the 512Ke. (machut / The Internet Archive)

## The End

📻 Kerosene - Big Black

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## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land

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.