Plus: They put a SNES in a SHOE ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 27, 2025 | Read online
# EU under 16 social media ban, Kagi browser and X not paying its bills Plus: They put a SNES in a SHOE
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Edition 2459
"Atari 520STM 08" (Flickr: TPau65)
# The News
### EU’s 16+ social media minimum age policy ain’t as extreme as Australia’s
European politicians support restricting access to social media platforms and AI chatbots for under 16s unless their parents OK it (POLITICO). The suggestion was part of a non-binding report passed by European Parliament which, as a fun twist, makes the tech company CEOs personally liable if their platforms don’t protect kids online. The push behind this is to harmonise the EU’s various national rules, and would set a firm minimum age of 13 — codifying existing industry standards. It would also ban addictive design features and gambling-like elements (Reuters).
Also: EU states back away from forcing Big Tech to detect and remove child pornography
The Sizzle: Even as other countries “follow” our example, Australia’s social media restrictions for young people remain the most extreme in the world. Other countries doing similar things are allowing younger kids to use social media if their parents consent and aren’t setting minimum ages as high as 16. Plus, the fact that the EU is going to ban those addictive design elements is good!
I’m so sorry to keep covering this so much but I think this is such an obvious case of bad lawmaking around technology (and if you’re over it, it’s pretty much over in like two weeks). My critique of Australia’s law isn’t because I think social media companies should do whatever they want, it’s because the law that we’ve ended up with is a missed opportunity to do something that would work much better.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Kagi launches its own version of a browser
Alternative search company Kagi’s browser Orion has officially launched for Mac. Much like Kagi, Orion’s selling points are that it is privacy-focused and free of a lot of the other bullshit that has infected competitors (9to5Mac). It is a WebKit browser, but looks like a pretty lean version of Safari and has tab/browser syncing but doesn’t transmit that data to Kagi. Plus it does a few other cool things around customising how web pages display with a ‘focus mode’ and ‘page tweak’ features. It’s free, but does have a paid version for early access to new features.
I know there’s quite a few Kagi-head Sizzlers out there so would be curious to hear if you’ve tried it out.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Elon Musk’s X is a deadbeat that didn’t pay its lobby group bills
Elon Musk’s X got turfed from an Australian tech lobby group because it didn’t pay its fees (Information Age). DIGI, which has members like Apple, Meta, Google, TikTok and plays a big role in drafting Australia’s online safety codes, suspended X earlier this year for failing to pay its fees. In response, X says that it has now coughed up and should be reinstated — but DIGI hasn’t confirmed that it will be reinstated.
People might remember a previous stoush between X and DIGI when it was sanctioned for failing to meet the group’s own rules on misinformation (Crikey, $). But now, every platform doesn’t give a shit about that so I guess it’s not a problem anymore.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Optus blames 'significant' outage in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula on vandalism (ABC News) AI deals must be done for energy, says Ted O’Brien (The Australian, $) Twitch and Kick will ban kids under 16. YouTube, Reddit and X still won’t say (Crikey, $) ATA asks fed gov to make triple zero “compliant” device list public (iTnews) Australian data centre approvals lag two years behind Asia (Financial Review, $) eSafety action prevents services ‘nudifying’ Australian school children (eSafety Commissioner) Australian-made bidirectional (V2X) EV charger hits the market (The Driven)
Rest of the world:
Spiking memory prices mean that it is once again a horrible time to build a PC (Ars Technica) AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet — And Thanksgiving Dinner (Bloomberg, $) Indie developers have a new sales pitch: ‘AI free’ (The Verge) Don’t Download Apps (Caleb's Blog)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### They put a SNES in a SHOE
This one is pretty much what it says on the box: a designer has crammed a playable “SNES” into a pair of Air Max 90s (Instagram).
just what we were all waiting for!
It’s not a real SNES, just a Raspberry Pi Zero W that’s inside the sneaker’s tongue. But it does have 30 minutes of battery life and an HDMI port so I guess it’ll do (Engadget).
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Casio SA-50 32 Mini-Keys Keyboard - $76.50 at Amazon UK via AU DDPAI Z60 Pro 4K Dash Cam - $115 at DDPAI Overseas AliExpress Apple AirPods 4 - $159 at Kmart Samsung Galaxy Watch6 44mm LTE SM-R945F - Graphite - $174 at Mobileciti eBay Reolink TrackMix WiFi, 4K PTZ Wi-Fi 6 Dual-Lens Security Camera - $209 at Reolink AU (Down from $299.99) Kogan 55" QLED 4K 144Hz Smart AI Google TV - Q98G - $529 at Kogan eBay Reolink 4K Professional NVR With 8 x P334 Dome Cameras - $749 at Costco Hisense 75" Q6QAU Qled 4K Smart TV 2025 - $971 at The Good Guys Samsung 55" S90F QD-OLED 4K Vision AI Smart TV (2025) - $1599 at Appliance Central TCL 85" C6K QD Mini LED Google TV 2025 - $1681 at The Good Guys Sony 85" Bravia 7 4K Mini-LED Google TV - $3881 at JB Hifi
Computing
5% Cashback on $250 to $2000 JB Hi-Fi Gift Cards 20% cashback on Lenovo, capped at $250 per order Logitech G502 Hero Gaming Mouse - $39.90 at EB Games eBay Usenet Block 12000GB - $53 at Bulknews.eu Unraid Licences - US$39.20 at Unraid Razer Deathadder V3 Hyperspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse Black - $89.04 at Razer AU via eBay AMD Ryzen 5 9600X CPU - $280 at yeahmagicflagship Store AliExpress Apple iPad 9th Gen 10.2-inch 256GB Wi-Fi + Cellular (Space Grey) - $339 at The Bargain Supplier eBay (Refurb) HP FC0576AU Laptop 15.6" 1080p / 45% NTSC / 250n, AMD Ryzen 5 5625U, 16GB DDR4-3200, 256GB SSD - $616 at HP Lenovo 14" IdeaPad Flex 5 Core i5 8/512GB 2-in-1 Laptop - $797 at Officeworks
Mobile
AllTrails+ 1 Year Subscription - $7.12 at Alltrails Boost Mobile 365-Day Plan - $220 at Costco (Down from $300) Motorola Edge 50 Fusion 5G (256GB/12GB, 6.7") - $259 at Sydney Mobiles eBay Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 256GB and Free Music Frame - $1189 at Samsung Education Store (Down from $1699)
# The End
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