Plus: Now you can use AI to automate wiping your hard-drive ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

December 05, 2025 | Read online
# What is happening with Windows, poop cam controversy and the Sizzler Say Plus: Now you can use AI to automate wiping your hard-drive
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Edition 2466
"2020_02_27_HS-PHI_Interoffice_Collaboration_Experiment_Week2-13" (Flickr: NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory)
# The News
### What the hell is happening with Windows?
People have barely transitioned from Windows 10 to 11 since many of the versions of the older OS lost support (The Register). One of the contributing factors is probably that Windows 11 is filled with errors that Microsoft keeps having to fix (Neowin). Another is that Microsoft is hyping that its new Copilot laptops are “computers you can talk to” but, actually, its AI assistants are embarrassingly bad according to this great Verge review. Perhaps relatedly, Microsoft staff are reportedly lowering their AI products sales targets, a claim that the company denies (Reuters).
The Sizzle: Microsoft is going all-in on AI, but in a way that’s not very good. Regardless of the technology itself, there’s no denying that Microsoft’s newest products and changes simply do not work. My guess is that they’re thinking: we want to win the AI game and there’s no future in Windows. We’re a cross-platform services company that does Azure and Teams and Copilot and bla bla bla.
That’s fine, I guess, I’m not an MBA so I’ll leave the business strategy to the eggheads. It’s just such a shame that none of these companies have any pride in their work any more. Like aren’t you embarrassed? Just a little bit? To be one of the most valuable companies in the world, still run the dominant computer OS, and… just put out something that is fundamentally bad that your own customers don’t care for.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Turns out the poop camera isn’t secure
Earlier this year, I shared a link about a smart camera that goes in your toilet bowl and “analyses the images to advise you on your gut health” (TechCrunch). At the time, people were told that the data was end-to-end encrypted. Anyway, security researcher Simon Fondrie-Teitler published a blog this week that revealed that this “end-to-end encryption” was “simply HTTPS encryption” and with some encryption on their servers. As it turns out the manufacturer Kohler can see your poo pics and said it may even use them to train its AI models or to give to third-parties. Hmm.
rear end to end encryption
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### The Sizzler Say: VPNs types, smart meter strava nightmare, and a horticulturalist’s laugh
After I wrote about VPNs earlier in the week, Joel wrote a great email to point out that it’s worth separating out business VPNs (for connecting to work networks), personal Tailscale-like networks, and even simple stripped down VPN that route your traffic through something like AWS. This distinction matters both for public perception and because it shows the challenge of trying to distinguish between these purposes if you try to regulate VPNs in any way. Gareth and Anthony went back and forth on the forum about why there’s such a focus on facial recognition tech. dzastin shared a horror story about a smart meter installation in a strata complex on Slack. A Sizzle horticulturalist had a laugh on the forum about one part of yesterday’s rare plants YouTube video.
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.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
One player’s case against the world’s biggest crypto casino (ABC News) Critical vulnerability in React Server Components (CVE-2025-55182) (Australian Cyber Security Centre) Google rolls out increased protection for Australians from rising scam threats (iTWire) OpenAI, NextDC Plan to Develop Large-Scale Data Center in Sydney (Bloomberg, $) Alexa, we asked you what this year? Taylor Swift again? (EFTM) Vodafone Reveals Just How Much Aussies Talk, Text and Tap in 2025 (EFTM) eSafety publishes guidance ahead of new codes coming into force to protect Australian kids from harmful content (eSafety Commissioner) This plan is bereft of real ambition for Australian industry (InnovationAus, $)
Rest of the world:
Wikipedia seeks more AI licensing deals similar to Google tie-up, co-founder Wales says (Reuters, $) Meta’s Zuckerberg Plans Deep Cuts for Metaverse Efforts (Bloomberg, $) Russia shutters FaceTime as it tightens control over apps & communication (AppleInsider) EU’s Top Court Just Made It Literally Impossible To Run A User-Generated Content Platform Legally (Techdirt) ChatGPT hyped up violent stalker who believed he was “God’s assassin,” DOJ says (Ars Technica)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Now you can use AI to automate wiping your harddrive
When Google launched Gemini a few weeks back, it also released an AI-powered IDE called Antigravity for all your vibe-coding needs. One task that it will take off your hands? Deleting the contents of one of your drives. You really need to watch the video to see how the person finds out.
Google Antigravity’s Turbo mode erased my drive partition?! Really, the ‘smartest’ AI? [Video Proof]
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Vtech Kidizoom Smartwatch - $39 at Amazon AU Kogan 100” Double Tripod Projector Screen with Stand - $79.99 at Kogan Skullcandy Method 360 ANC True Wireless Earphones - $139 at Skullcandy Australia Aqara Hub M3 - $207 at Bing Lee eBay Mida Adjustable Portable EV Charger | 32A 7kw 1phase | Type 2 - $250 at UPF Insta360 X4 8K 360° Action Camera Black - $499 at Mobileciti via Everyday Market
Computing
Lenovo 13.2% Cashback Thermalright Frozen Infinity 360 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler - $84 at Gone Computer Ubiquiti UniFi Express 7 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $339 at Pclive via eBay Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router 7 (Wi-Fi 7 Tri-Band) - $459 at Device Deal
Mobile
2GB Data SIM Plan - $4.95/mo at Crazytel 1/2 Price Prepaid 30 Day Starter Pack at Everyday Mobile 4G 22GB for $12.50 30GB + 30GB Bonus for $15 50GB + 50GB for $17.50 Google Pixel 9a 128GB Obsidian - $597 at Officeworks, JB, Good Guys, HN (Down from $849)
# The End
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