 | Edition 2351 |
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Hello! |
As you will see, I’ve added a link to discuss each topic/Leftover section in the Sizzle Slack and Forum as part of my Spring Cleaning project. It doesn’t quite take you to the individual topic yet — mostly because I haven’t figured out a way to do it with my current automations — but should make it easier for any of you to chat about any of these. Enjoy! |
The News |
GitHub’s 1,000,000,000th repository milestone |
About six hours ago or so, Github’s one billionth repository — called ‘shit’ — was created (GitHub). It feels impossible now to imagine a world without it. It’s a miracle that a free-to-use, collaborative platform designed to help strangers work together to create, tinker and improve on new things in the open exists at all. The default being open is so powerful that sometimes people forget — like the Trump administration group who accidentally leaked their AI plans this week (The Register). As with all things good, greedy AI types are a real threat to GitHub continuing to exist. Don’t take it for granted. |
If you’re interested in a short history of the platform, check out Why Github Won (GitButler). |
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum. |
Nintendo Switch 2 is B I G |
Nintendo’s Switch 2 has almost certainly broken the record for the fastest selling console of all time, shipping 3.5 million consoles in four days (Polygon). Anecdotally I’ve heard that it’s not that hard to get one so it seems like Nintendo has also impressively managed to handle all the supply chain issues that have affected other console launches and the Trump tariff complications. Reviews like the Shortcut’s have been almost entirely positive, even if the Switch 2 is more iteration than re-invention. Have you picked up a Switch 2? I’d love to hear.
Also in gaming news: Hong Kong has banned Reversed Front: Bonfire, which lets players wage guerrilla warfare against the CCP, using national security laws to prohibit a video game for the first time (Engadget). |
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum. |
AI copyright machine gets sued for copyright and first AI agent exploit |
Two big foes, Disney and Universal, have teamed to sue AI image and video generation company Midjourney for being a “bottomless pit of plagiarism” (Axios). The copyright lawsuit (PDF) shows that the AI company blatantly trained on famous IP, that they made no effort to stop people from using their tools to recreate copyrighted material and — here’s the one that’s a no-no — even promoted Midjourney using this IP. Another AI story: researchers have found the first AI agent zero-day that turned Microsoft 365 Copilot against its user. The first of many to come, I expect (Fortune) |
P.S. Sizzler Adam emailed to make the point yesterday to say the reason that companies are pumping money into AI is because they are actually seeing real benefits from AI, even if consumer-facing products are lagging behind. |
 | I don’t really care about IP but it’s pretty brazen to allow your paid products to do this |
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Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum. |
Leftovers |
Generative AI and child safety: A convergence of innovation and exploitation (eSafety Commissioner blog) Aussie satellite shake-up as Vocus takes on Elon Musk’s Starlink (The Australian, $) Google just soft-launched nine cool Home app features (The Verge) Apple’s updated parental controls will require kids to get permission to text new numbers (The Verge) Social media use increases depression in preteens, not vice versa, researchers find (MedicalXpress) WhatsApp tells BBC it backs Apple in legal row with UK over user data (BBC) Musk’s threat to sue firms that don’t buy ads on X seems to have paid off (Ars Technica) Wikipedia Pauses AI-Generated Summaries After Editor Backlash (404 Media, $) Amazon is about to be flooded with AI-generated video ads (The Verge) How AI guided Ukraine’s drones to hit Russian airfields (FT, $) The Dia browser is a big bet on the web — and an even bigger bet on AI (The Verge) Firefox OS's story from a mozilla insider not working on the project (Journal de Ludovic Hirlimann) FreeBSD 14.3 Released With Network Driver Updates, OpenZFS Updated (Phoronix) Avoiding generative models is the rational and responsible thing to do (Baldur Bjarnason) The first big AI disaster is yet to happen (Sean Goedecke) Steve Jobs would have fired everyone (x dot com)
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Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum. |
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Oh, Also |
A fun, retro way to find exposed IoT devices |
Many of you will be familiar with Shodan — the internet service not the video game character — which allows people to search for devices connected to the internet. It’s already a cool enough tool, but then I discovered something even cooler: Shodan 2000, which publishes a stream of random servers (including unsecured IoT devices) using a retro, vaporwave interface. |
 | Is this hacking? Did I hack? |
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Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum. |
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Bargains |
Electrical & Electronics |
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Computing |
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Mobile |
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The End |
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius. |
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Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land |
The Sizzle is created on Gadigal 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. |