### Issue 1344 - Thursday 15th April, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- EU looks set to introduce significant laws restricting the use of AI
- Australians were responsible for helping the FBI bust in to the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone
- Coinbase's very successful IPO has cryptocurrency fans excited
- Rode's new software mixer app & OBS integrating Nvidia's RTX voice
- Cheap Uniden UHF radios, Samsung SSD, Untitled Goose Game, DJI Mavic Mini, Catch Connect & Vodafone SIMs, 10% off Macs at The Good Guys, Kmart Switch controllers, refurb Sony headphones, Dell 24" monitor

## The News

### EU looks set to introduce significant laws restricting the use of AI

In what was probably a tactical leak from the EU, they're gonna ban a whole heap of artifical intelligence applications. The definiations of prohibited uses of AI are open to interpretation, but some examples of AI it seeks to outlaw include, "systems which establish priority in the dispatching of emergency services, systems determining access to or assigning people to educational institutes, recruitment algorithms, those that evaluate credit worthiness, those for making individual risk assessments, crime-predicting algorithms". Good. All those things are horrible. The EU is rumoured to be making an official announcement next week.

### Australians were responsible for helping the FBI bust in to the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone

Remembner the shitshow surrounding unlocking the San Bernardino terrorist's iPhone back in 2015/2016? It's a long story (Wikipedia has a good summary) but ultimately the FBI's claims the iPhone was unbreakable so Apple had to give them a backdoor was bullshit and the FBI managed to get in to the iPhone anyways. How they got in to the relatively secure iPhone 5C remained a mystery - until today. According to The Washington Post, Australian company Azimuth Security did the deed, using a chain of exploits that allowed them to bypass security features like wiping the device after 10 incorrect passcode guesses.

### Coinbase's very successful IPO has cryptocurrency fans excited

Certain people (you know who you are) are very excited about Coinbase's IPO going off like a frog in a sock overnight. The cryptocurrency trading platform went public, with the share price starting at US$250 a pop, spiking to a peak of $429, then settling on $328 on market close. That's a wild ride and far exceeded most people's expectations. The cryptocurrency boosters are absolutely loving it as they see the market's enthusiasm for Coinbase as validation of cryptocurrency, comparing Coinbase's listing to AOL or Netscape mainstreaming the internet back in the good old days.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Rode's new software mixer app & OBS integrating Nvidia's RTX voice

Here's some news for people that publish audio related content to the internet. Rode's new Connect app looks like a really easy way to turn your laptop into a mixer with support for remote guests via Zoom or Skype and external audio sources (e.g: music). This is usually a bit of a pain in the arse and requires multiple apps, but Rode chucked it all into one. Bit of a bummer it only supports the NT-USB Mini mics, but they're good mics anyways. If you've got a semi-recent Nvidia graphics card (even the GTX units are supported now) and use OBS to stream your antics, it now has Nvidia's crazy RTX Voice feature built-in to reduce background noise. There's never been a better time to create some content!

## Bargains

- 3-pack Uniden UH35-3 mini UHF radios - $49 from The Good Guys's eBay store
- Samsung 870 EVO 2.5" 2TB SATA SSD - $234.15 after cashback from Futu Online's eBay store
- Untitled Goose Game for PS4 - $19.46 from the PlayStation Store
- DJI Mavic Mini Fly More Combo (if you can find stock) - $469 at The Good Guys
- Catch Connect (Optus MVNO) 365-day SIM with 60GB of data & unlimited calls/SMS - $89 from Catch
- 10% off Macs at The Good Guys (get Officeworks to price match for an extra 5% off)
- Vodafone $30/$40/$50 Prepaid Plus Starter Packs - $6/$8/$10 from Vodafone
- Anko wired controller for Nintendo Switch - $10 at Kmart
- Refurbished Sony WH-1000XM4 wireless noise cancelling headphones - $279 from Sony's eBay store
- Dell UltraSharp U2415 24" 1920x1200 (16:10) monitor - $289 from Dell Outlet

## The End

📻 Stare At The Sun - Ringo Deathstarr

😎 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.​