Hi all, just a small note: I’m going to India on the 23rd for my brother-in-law’s wedding! The plan right now is to do the Sizzle while I’m there for a week and a half. I’m going to figure out the exact details over the next few days, but I’m aiming to just deliver the newsletter as normal — CW

The News

AI is being trained by gig workers on less than minimum wage

Underpaid gig workers are training the AI models belonging to the world’s most valuable companies (Algorithm Watch). Outlier — a company owned by Scale AI which just got AU$22 billion from Mark Zuckerberg — pays contract workers, sometimes with high-level expertise, to rate model results so the companies can improve them. This new investigation shows Outlier often pays these workers below minimum wage because of its low starting wage, not paying for compulsory training and inadequate time limit for tasks that often take longer.

The Sizzle: I was reading Edward Ongweso Jr’s takedown of a celebration of Uber over the weekend, which argues that Uber has only approached profitability by underpaying staff, jacking up costs and wrecking regulations around the world. He argued that Silicon Valley keeps using “innovation” as an excuse to cover up anti-worker behaviour. What hope should we have that AI won’t destroy worker conditions for everyone if the very workers who are building it right now are being treated like shit?

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Aussies helping to bring back the Commodore 64

Two Aussies are involved in an effort to revive the Commodore 64 (SMH, $). Australian YouTuber Peri Fractic — real name Christian Simpson — and Leo Nigro are among a number of Commodore enthusiasts and former workers who have taken over the company and now are taking orders for the Commodore 64 Ultimate (Commodore). The new device “isn’t a software emulator”, will work with “10,000+ original games” but also lets you use modern screens/Wi-Fi, and can be pre-ordered now for $462.

The Sizzle: Looks fun! It’s definitely a way to cash in on nostalgia, but hey — why not?

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Europe gets its first search index

Non-profit European search engine Ecosia has launched its own search index (Ecosia). Sold as a “sovereign, privacy-first search infrastructure for Europe”, its STAAN — standing for Search Trusted API Access Network — is a new addition to the vanishingly few number of search indexes, and the even smaller number of those from outside of the US.

The Sizzle: I wasn’t really familiar with Ecosia before! Up until now, it was dependent on Microsoft Bing’s index which limits how much it could differentiate itself. Considering that all the major search indexes are either from the US or, um, other complicated countries (i.e. Russia’s Yandex and China’s Baidu), it seems like offering an EU-first alternative is a pretty smart idea, especially as people feel increasingly uncomfortable with US tech domination.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Leftovers

Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Oh, Also

Make pixel art (and fight pixel wars) all over the world

The buzzy internet craze right now is wplace, a website that combines Google Maps with pixel art. Here’s how it works: every thirty seconds, you can place a single pixel anywhere on a world map. And so can everyone else. (This will seem very familiar to anyone who used Reddit’s r/Place on April Fool’s Day).

So, working with other people — or perhaps against them — you can make little bits of fun art in places.

So, if you have a few minutes, go check out your house, work, or other landmarks to see what’s happening. And maybe join in!

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & Electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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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.