### Issue 1883 - Friday 7th July, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Threads kicks off with 50 million users in one day, annoys Elon enough to sue them already
- NBN complaining that ISPs move users around speed tiers too often
- France deploys new law to remotely access devices to record location, camera and mic
- Bionic Reading app might help dyslexic people digest written information
- Friday Forum Update
- Cheap Amazon Echo Pop, Show 8, Fire STick 4K Max, Kindle Paperwhite, Ring cameras, Samsung microSD, various SSDs

## The News

### Threads kicks off with 50 million users in one day, annoys Elon enough to sue them already

Meta's Threads app already has over 95 million posts, generated by over 50 million users in the first 24 and a bit hours. It's the most popular free app in the iOS App Store right now (2 is MyGov, 3 is Temu). Not bad for what is essentially a beta, but also kinda low considering the 1b+ users of Meta's products and considering you can't use it on the web and if you want to delete your Threads account you gotta nuke your Instagram account too. It's enough however, to piss off Elon Musk and that's what really matters. He's got his fancy lawyer to send a sad pathetic letter to Meta, claiming they've "engaged in systemic, willful, and unlawful misappropriation of Twitter's trade secrets and other intellectual property" by employing "dozens" of former Twitter employees. Employees Elon fired mercilessly are now working against him to make a better version of the dog shit Elon's turned Twitter into. Mmmmm, delicious irony against the person that deserves it the most.

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### NBN complaining that ISPs move users around speed tiers too often

NBN is having a sook that ISPs who put users on higher speed tiers for free as a promotion to incentivise them to pay more for faster internet, something NBN has been pushing ISPs to do, are creating problems with their demand planning and revenue projections. Because users "yo-to between tiers" (i.e: 50 to 100) whenever an ISP starts and ends a promotion, NBN is "unable to distinguish why customers are moving up to higher tiers - whether the move is genuine, and the customer is paying more for a faster service; or whether the move is algorithmic, temporary and comes with only marginal extra revenue for NBN Co". How about dropping the goddamn speed tiers and allowing Australians to use the damn network to its maximum capabilities? That'll fix the problem.

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### France deploys new law to remotely access devices to record location, camera and mic

Things have been popping off in France lately (yet another instance of cops being cops and killing a teenager from a minority group) and as a result, they've passed a hardcore digital surveillance law. It covers "laptops, cars and other connected objects as well as phones" and allows for "geolocation of suspects in crimes punishable by at least five years behind bars". More troubling is a provision that allows devices to be "remotely activated to record sound and images of people suspected of terror offences, as well as delinquency and organised crime". Fuck knows how they're remotely enabling the cameras and mics in people's smartphones, but I'm sure it's possible with some state level malware shit, probably exploiting vulnerabilities in the embedded computers inside devices with shitty firmware nobody has access to.

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## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Bionic Reading app might help dyslexic people digest written information

Bionic Reading is an app & browser extension its creators describe as "a reading system that supports the reading flow". It changes the font on websites so that "the most concise parts of words are highlighted. This guides the eye over the text and the brain remembers previously learned words more quickly". People with dyslexia or ADHD sometimes find that changing the words in text in this manner helps them concentrate and actually read the entire thing they're trying to ingest, rather than tune out after a few seconds. Doesn't do much for me, but some of you may find it useful.

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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.

- warkolm is after a software package that'll help them catalog their precious belongings for insurance purposes
- ajbeardy is having issues with iCloud Photos where some albums are not syncing between iPhones and Macs
- I made a post breaking down The Sizzle's income and expenses for the 2022-2023 financial year
- Mitty kicked off a thread to discuss Threads, the new social media app from Meta & Instagram
- This thread about the ASD's essential eight assessment course has gathered some interest from the business IT folk

## Bargains

- Amazon Echo Pop - $29 from Amazon
- Echo Show 8 - $99 from Amazon
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max - $49 from Amazon
- Kindle Paperwhite - $174 from Amazon
- Ring Indoor Cam - $49 from Amazon
- Ring Video Doorbell - $99 from Amazon
- Samsung PRO Endurance 256GB microSD (V30) - $36.88 from Amazon USA
- Samsung 980 PRO 2TB PCIe SSD - $167.07 from Amazon USA
- Sabrent 2TB Rocket PCIe SSD - $196.39 from Amazon USA
- WD Black SN850X PCIe SSD - $110.33

## Image Of The Day

Keep Your Apple Running - The Common Person's Repair Guide - 1985. Written By: Allan Dunn. Illustrated By: Tony Vaught (Jongleur / Internet Archive)

## The End

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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.