Mentioned in today’s edition: OpenAI, Services Australia, Nvidia, Palantir, Roblox, EV chargers, Kingston and Camp Dogs. Plus, deals on Logitech iPad cases, Dreame robot vacuums and Lyca Mobile plans.

The News

Post-Robodebt, Government agencies still aren't explaining how they're automating decision-making

None — zero, zip, nada — of Australian government agencies are properly explaining how they're using machines to make decisions for them, according to a privacy watchdog sweep (OAIC). The Office of the Information Commissioner published a report looking at the transparency of departments and government bodies and their use of automated decision-making (ADM), a term that includes everything from tax calculators to Robodebt. Of 23 authorised to use ADM, 10 didn't mention it on their websites (although it's not known if 9 of those are using it) and just four specified that they use it to make decisions. The OAIC said all 23 failed to give any practical details on its use. 

The Sizzle: The OAIC's report is quite cautious so let me pop off: this is so emblematic of everything wrong with privacy law. Yes, the government is meeting its bare minimum legal requirements. Some agencies are better than others (notably, Services Australia is named as having some of the best, although not perfect, behaviours). But none of it passes the "can I, an idiot, read your website and actually understand what's actually going on?". Like with the story about Gabrielle and the data requests earlier this week, it's not a coincidence that all these systems and organisations are fundamentally opposed to letting people understand them. It's a choice that most Australians are just resigned to accepting. 

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Sony is getting out of the TV game (but you'll still see Bravia around)

Sony is giving up on making TVs, according to its announcement of a "strategic partnership" (corporate speak for surrender) to TCL (Verge). The Japanese company will give 51% of a company containing its spun off home entertainment business to the Chinese manufacturer. The new venture will still produce Sony Bravia TVs, but it sounds like Sony's contribution will be sharing its tech know-how and branding while TCL does all the heavy lifting.  

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Hiding likes doesn't seem to make people engage with riskier content

Does changing your social media likes from public to private change what you like on the platform? A interesting pre-print paper suggests that, counterintuitively, maybe not (arxiv)? Researchers used X's decision to hide its likes tab as a natural experiment to track how posts from high risk (i.e. OnlyFans creators, extremists, etc) and low risk (like celebs) accounts performed before and after. They found that liking behaviour barely changed but, according to a survey they also ran with some X users, people did feel better about liking the red hot stuff once it was hidden. 

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Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of World:

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Oh, Also

What if you could add a turbocharger to a wood burn barrel?

If you've never had the pleasure of using a wood burn barrel, it's pretty much what it says on the box: a barrel used to burn wood (or other) waste. It's also, as it turns out, fundamentally the same as a jet engine, as demonstrated by Aussie YouTube channel Camp Dogs. In a bonkers 2022 video, that I saw shared by @whitequark@treehouse.systems on Mastodon, they weld a turbocharger from a diesel engine onto a barrel to see just how hot and intense they can make it burn. And, well, you can see for yourself how it goes.

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Bargains

Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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