The News

The Hague is shifting to open source because they think impending Trump sanctions will lock them out of Office

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is ditching Microsoft Office for an open source European alternative over fears about its reliance on tech companies under the control of the Trump administration (Euractiv). The Court told a German newspaper that it is transitioning to German-run OpenDesk software. The ICC’s Registrar had a fairly ominous quote about the move:

Those “circumstances” are a reference to reports that the US government is considering putting sanctions on the entire ICC (Reuters) — somewhat of an issue because apparently 90% of the Court’s systems rely on US technology providers who would face criminal prosecution if they don’t cut the ICC off (FT, $). Earlier this year, the ICC’s chief prosecutor was locked out of his Microsoft Office email because of US sanctions, following the Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP).

The Sizzle: Talking about a widespread shift to open source software is so exciting to a small portion of us that it’s become a meme. (Although I do have a good feeling that 2026 will be the year of Linux on the desktop). But I think this, closely intertwined with ideas about digital sovereignty, has graduated from being almost like a hobby or pet project to being a serious consideration for any big organisation now that most major tech companies are domiciled in a place under the authoritarian regime.

It’s almost too crazy to think about because of how wide-ranging the consequences are if you entertain — No, we’re going to be fine using Google and Microsoft and Apple etc. — but once you do, it becomes daunting as a systemic weakness for many of the most powerful institutions in the world.

The other side: Australia’s digital Snowy Hydro moment is here (ASPI’s The Strategist) 

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

I’m getting Apple Shortcuts-pilled

You know that odd-looking app icon with the two overlapping squares that turned up in iOS16 called “Shortcuts”? For those not familiar, this is a purportedly “simple” app that allows you to automate certain things on your iPhone or other Apple device.

When it was first announced in 2022, I tried dicking around in it but I found it too finicky and quickly forgot about it. Then, this week, I listened to the Verge’s podcast interview with Shortcuts guru Stephen Robles who completely inspired me to get back into it.

A few days later, I’m completely Shortcuts-pilled. It is still very finicky and pretty unintuitive, but once you get the hang of it, there’s a bunch of stuff that you can do that is very handy. One that I set up this week was to help with interviewing people was to create a shortcut that records audio and immediately names and uploads it to Otter for transcription.

Here are a few others that I saw people share that might inspire you:

This is your homework! Go and mess around in Shortcuts — or for Android, I hear Tasker can do a lot of this too — and let me know if you come up with any! (Also a pro-tip from Robles is that AI chatbots like ChatGPT are very good for helping you design Shortcuts if you can’t figure it out).

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

The Sizzle Say on e-bikes, robot guys in your home, hidden police messages and the 1% club

As always, if you wanna get involved (or even be able to read what’s on Slack) you can join the Slack server and forum via these links. Also fun admin update: the Slack now has a channel that gets an update every time there’s a post in the forums

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

Australia:

Rest of the world:

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

Meta was caught downloading p***. But it has a, err, explanation

As part of the cascading lawsuits over Meta’s mass theft of IP to train its AI, TechSpot is reporting that Mark Zuckerberg’s company is being sued by the adult entertainment company behind series like Tushy, Blacked and Deeper. (Never heard of them? Neither). The company, Strike 3, is asking for more than $500 million in damages.

Among Meta’s defences to the suit is the claim that the small number of adult videos — just 22 per IP address per year! — means that this was downloaded for personal use and not for commercial reasons. It’s probably the first time that someone has tried to get out of trouble after being caught downloading p*** by saying, actually, honey, it’s for pleasure, not business.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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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.