# The Sizzle

### Issue 447 - Tuesday, 1st August 2017

- ISPs kick back at NBN's comments that they suck, ACMA intervenes
- HBO got hacked, Game of Thrones leaks imminent
- Reddit gets heaps of cash from investors to build a new website
- Niantic's first meatspace Pokemon gathering was so bad, they cancelled the rest
- Tesla's factory works still want a union because their jobs are injuring them

- Dell XPS 15 review
- Digital natives is a bullshit concept
- Learn about HDD SMART info

NEWS

ISPs kick back at NBN's comments that they suck, ACMA intervenes
Yesterday's rant from Bill Morrow has caused a bit of a shitstorm around the ISP industry. First up Telstra came out and said "mate, go fuck yourself", then Vodafone (who remember, Bill Morrow used to be the CEO of before he went to NBN) said that CVC should cost 50% less than what it does now because the NBN is the most expensive wholesale network in all the countries (of which there are many) it operates in. Now the telecommunications minister has popped his head out from a lobbyist's arse and declared ACMA will use its regulatory powers to force 21 ISPs to hand over a range of data to try find the truth. As if it won't be spun out of all proportion by ACMA as to cover the government's arse anyways. Bevan Slattery cut through the bullshit on the AUSNOG mailing list and gave an ISPs view on why the NBN sucks so hard.
Discuss

HBO got hacked, Game of Thrones leaks imminent
HBO got hacked. Cyber baddies apparently have forthcoming episodes and scripts of HBO's crown jewels, the gold egg laying goose and the money printing machine that is Game of Thrones. Some other shows nobody cares about like Ballers and Room 104 were also part of this cyber-incident. HBO hasn't said anything beyond the usual "we're gonna hunt these filthy crims down like the dogs they are and put their heads on a stick". I expect those eps to be held for at least a million dollar ransom, that if not paid, will go straight up on channel BitTorrent.
Discuss

Reddit gets heaps of cash from investors to build a new website
Reddit has raised a further $200m in VC funding from I assume, a brain damaged individual who isn't in full control of his or her mental facilities. That makes Reddit "worth" US$1.8b. Fucken hell. Reddit plans to using this money to build a new website. Reddit's latest CEO, Steve Huffman, said that "we want Reddit to be more visually appealing, so when new users come to Reddit they have a better sense of what’s there, what it’s for" - they could save a lot of money and just put up a big picture of Donald Trump fucking the USA on the Reddit homepage. Anyways, I'm sure the totally non-opinionated, very rational and extremely forgiving audience over at Reddit will be more than happy with the UI of their favourite website changing. They love that sort of thing.
Discuss

Niantic's first meatspace Pokemon gathering was so bad, they cancelled the rest
Niantic are the people responsible for the unstoppable gaming force that is Pokemon Go. To spice things up a bit for Pokemon Go players, Niantic decided to have a get together where you can meet other gamers in meatspace and collect rare Pokemon or something. The first one happened in Chicago last week, with 20,000 people attending. Stupidly, Niantic didn't set up a wi-fi network for it, so because so many people were in the one spot using heavy amounts of mobile data, the cell network crapped out, resulting in no Pokemon able to be caught and breaking the hearts of those loyal and dedicated Pokemon hunters. As a result, the rest of the scheduled events around the world have been cancelled until they can figure out to get a wi-fi networking going.
Discuss

Tesla's factory works still want a union because their jobs are injuring them
Employees on the factory floor at Tesla's Fremont factory haven't given up trying to form a union, despite Elon Musk's best efforts to avoid it happening. The people making the just announced Model 3 are desperate for proper safety equipment to reduce workplace injuries. A letter sent from the employees to the Tesla board asks "Tesla to inform employees of the risks associated with working at the factory, make safety audits readily available, and allow Fremont workers to have a voice in the company’s safety plan." I don't think Elon Musk or even the Tesla board are deliberately wanting to screw over the employees there, but if employees are making a fuss over safety issues, still, after all this time, something is very wrong.
Discuss

COOL SHIT

Mini cool shit because I'm late
I'm running very late for an appointment this arvo because I had to spend the morning fucking around with a flat tyre on my car, so I'm just going to throw these three links at you and you do the rest:

- Anandtech's review of the latest iteration of Dell's XPS15 is good and they think the XPS15 is good too.
- The concept of digital natives is bullshit, kids these days are hopeless with computers actually.
- Backblaze explains what all that SMART info data HDDs spit out represents and how to interpret it.

Discuss

Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!)
--Anthony

The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon. Join us on Slack and chat with other Sizzle subscribers. Know someone who could use a bit of Sizzle in their life? Buy them a gift subscription!