Mentioned in today’s edition: DXC Technology, TikTok, Canva, Binance, Search Live, ShinyHunters, Attie and Superloop. Plus, deals on Dreame robot vacuums, Nothing phones and Apple iPhones.

The News

Not paying your IT staff usually ends up with a very expensive lesson

An Australian IT and cybersecurity firm used by major Australian banks and government agencies is taking the rare step of striking this week (AFR, $). Staff at DXC Technology — which works for CBA, Westpac, ANZ as well as the ATO, AEC and Attorney-General’s Department — will walk off the job for a few hours on Tuesday, then progress to a 24-hour strike on Thursday. This comes after 13 months of negotiations and, according to some staff, no pay rises in five years.

The Sizzle: I've been thinking a lot about how companies are treating their technology staff, particularly those working on support and security rather than the sexy development stuff. There's so much heat at the moment with AI that it seems a lot of companies have FOMO about not — I don't know — setting loose a million agents on all of their systems for ??? efficiencies ??? This breakneck speed of trying to expand what companies are doing is putting more stress on people whose job it is to make sure things Don't Fuck Up, and siphoning away resources that they need to Have Things Not Fuck Up. Sure, cybersecurity and support aren't the sexy stuff that gets the headlines (except in the Sizzle, of course), but I reckon there'll be plenty of companies who will find out the expensive way in the next few years that you don't want to skimp on this stuff.

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Why haven't we electrified trucking?

With spiking oil prices increasing the costs of trucking goods around the country, why aren't there more electric trucks? An interesting AFR article says the problem is inconsistent state laws make it harder. Electric trucks need heavy battery packs, which places more weight on the front axle of vehicles, but NSW, Victoria and Queensland have different axle weight limits, which means you can't simply drive the whole Melbourne-to-Brisbane freight corridor. 

Meanwhile, a new trucking company claims to have done the first all-electric intercity warehouse-to-customer trip between Sydney and Canberra (The Driven). 

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AI sexy fruit slop drama is so hot right now

One of the biggest viral hits of the last few weeks has been AI slop of fruit doing sexual things in a rip-off of the reality show Love Island (WSJ, gift link). Best typified by Fruit Love Island, there's been a raft of bizarre fruit-themed AI-created micro-dramas that are getting millions of views. Despite the cutesy graphics and names like "Mr Mike the Mango", the videos are pretty adult with everything from pretty steamy romance to darker stories featuring fruit-on-fruit abuse and violence (WIRED, $). 

_{When I was a kid we were promised hoverboards in the future. Instead we got this.}

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Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of World:

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Oh, Also

This ISP's chatbot is telling customers to file complaints against them to the ombudsman

It's been a bit of an ongoing meme on the r/NBN subreddit that provider Superloop's chatbot will agree with users that its standard 30 day notice period charge if they can't provide service is illegal under Australian consumer law (Reddit). Well, now, it seems that the company has fixed that pesky agreeable chatbot ... so, now, it tells you to file a complaint directly to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (Reddit)!

User CummingDownFromSpace (lol) followed the advice and had his fee waived. Which, as he noted, ends up costing Superloop a couple of hundred dollars in TIO fees + staffing. Great system, guys! 

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Bargains

Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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