### Issue 1621 - Friday 3rd June, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Cruise gets permission to operate robotaxis commercially in San Francisco
- NBN starts FTTC to FTTP upgrades for 160,000 premises in NSW, VIC & SA
- New York on the edge of passing a law to ban cryptocurrency mining
- The brains behind Let's Encrypt has a plan to unleash over 400m IPv4 addresses
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Xiaomi temp & humidity sensors, AirPods Max, 34" HP & LG monitors, Ugreen 2.5" HDD enclosures, DJI Osmo 5 gimbal, Anker noise cancelling headphones

## The News

### Cruise gets permission to operate robotaxis commercially in San Francisco

Cruise has been granted a permit by the Californian government to operate a fleet of 30 robotaxis commercially without a supervising driver. The licence states that "Cruise will be operating its passenger service at a maximum speed of 30mph between the hours of 10pm to 6am on select streets in San Francisco". This is very different to Waymo's operations in Phoenix which also ferries around paying customers in a robotaxi, as San Francisco's streets are crazy and the weather varied compared to Phoenix's wide cookie cutter avenues and stable climate. I'd love to have a ride in one of these things, can tell kids in 30 years time I was one of the first passengers!

### NBN starts FTTC to FTTP upgrades for 160,000 premises in NSW, VIC & SA

Good news for people stuck on fibre to the curb who want access to 250mbit or 1000mbit plans - NBN has announced that 160,000 premises across VIC, NSW & SA can now apply to upgrade to FTTP. You need to be connected to a participating provider (Aussie, Launtel, Superloop are all there) and you need to remain on a 100mbit or faster plan for ast leat 12 months. If you downgrade the speed you'll be stung $200 - which honestly still a bargain. A list of the suburbs in NSW, VIC & SA currently eligible is in this NBN press release. Up to 1.5 million FTTC premises across Australia will be eligible for an FTTP upgrade by the end of 2023. You'd be a fool not to take advantage of this upgrade.

### New York on the edge of passing a law to ban cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency miners have flocked to New York state, an area blessed with relatively cheap electricity thanks to hydroelectricity and nuclear power. Unfortunately, they're creating such a burden on the local power supply that gas powered peaking units are fired up to support the grid. Miners are also reviving abandoned or failing coal power plants to secure a steady supply of electricity. NY is so concerned that they're debating a law that'll "put a two-year moratorium on mining that uses proof of work". Of course, cryptocurrency lobbyists are "influencing" weak and gullible politicians to vote against the law, citing jobs for poor areas. Fuck cryptocurrency.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### The brains behind Let's Encrypt has a plan to unleash over 400m IPv4 addresses

IPv4 addresses are running out and when things become scarce they go up in price, which is exactly what's happening with the cost of an IPv4 address lately. Seth Schoen, founder of the very awesome Let's Encrypt, has a plan to bring the price down - and it's not simply transitioning to IPv6. He's come up with the IPv4 Unicast Extensions Project to unleash huge chunks of the reserved IPs that arguably, don't need to be reserved. Doing so would unleash over 400,000,000 new IPv4 addresses for use on the internet. If it makes renting a VPS cheaper (a large portion of the cost is the IPv4 address), I'm all for it.

## 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.

- toothbrush is heading off to Europe soon and wants to know what the best value travel debit/credit card is these days
- I've been scrounging around for extra cash and asked if there's any good side hustles for nerds
- dannyshaw asks for people's opinions on UniFi networking gear or any alternatives they recommend instead
- andyb has kept us posted on their journey getting a Cochlear hearing implant
- One of the very first forum threads, a little guide on how to avoid paying RRP for tech items, was bumped recently

## Bargains

Thermomeclear

- Sign up for a $79/m 300GB 24m Telstra contract at The Good Guys and get a free 75" Hisense TV
- Xiaomi Mijia Bluetooth temp & humidity sensor 3 pack - $20 from Hekka
- Apple AirPods Max (pink only) - $589.68 from Sydney Mobiles eBay store
- HP 34" X34 monitor - $552.55 from Allphones eBay store
- LG Ultragear 34GN850-B 34" monitor - $1099 from Amazon
- UGREEN 2.5" SATA drive enclosure with USB-C 3.1 Gen2 - $15.74 from Amazon
- DJI Osmo Mobile 5 gimbal - $174.46 from Allphones eBay store
- Anker Life Q30 Hybrid ANC headphones - $109.99 from Amazon

## The End

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