Plus: Would you like to overstimulate yourself for fun? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 31, 2025 | Read online
# 2261. Tech's W and Ls, people have NFI about new privacy law and bush paper takes on Google Plus: Would you like to overstimulate yourself for fun?
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Issue 2261 - Friday 31 January, 2025
Folks, TGIF. You’ve all played a belter, have a great weekend.
# In Today’s Issue
Big Tech posts Ws and Ls Most people have NFI there’s new privacy rules Tiny bush paper takes on Google Would you like to overstimulate yourself? Deals including free Wordy language app, plus cheap SanDisk flash drive, Logitech gaming mouse, Google Nest Wi-Fi router, Kogan pre-paid SIM plans, Microsoft Surface Pro 11 PC, Hisense smart project and LG 77’’ OLED 4K TV.
# The News
### Big Tech posts Ws and Ls
It’s that time of year (quarter?) again when US tech companies post their earnings and the infallible logic of the stock market delivers a verdict on whether they’re so over/so back, depending on the results. Here’s the top line stuff for you:
Apple continues an incredible run by making more money, more profit off each unit and continuing to grow. A fall in iPhone sales and a big drop in China trade are some early red flags, but the company’s subscription business continues to scale up (CNBC). Meta promised to spend “hundreds of billions” on AI infrastructure but the market was still happy that the company says it will reduce its engineering costs using AI, i.e. by getting rid of those pesky humans who work there. (Bloomberg, $). Microsoft’s revenue and cloud computing growth are slowing, but don’t worry they’re still printing money (CNBC). Tesla’s share price might not show it but it had a tough year with falling sales and lower margins (The Guardian). Musk, as he often does, promised that robots and AI stuff were coming soon but the spiciest part was when an analyst asked: “Is this a car company? Almost no discussion of core auto business” (The Verge). Intel is still making money but would have a pretty grim future, having so far missed the AI hardware wave, if not for the fact that there are a lot of reasons to think the US government wants a US chip maker around (Yahoo!). Samsung’s profit is down because of lotsa R&D spend, however it’s still getting bigger (CNBC).
Do you care? Should I do this every quarter so you can stay across it? Or is money worthless, and the only currency worth a damn is the love in your heart? Let me know.
### Most people have NFI there’s new privacy rules
You could be forgiven for missing it but Australia has new strengthened privacy rules. They were one of the 30-odd bills passed in a day in Parliament at the very end of last year so most people have NFI about the new obligations probably (Mediaweek). What was passed wasn’t the full reform to the Privacy Act that the government originally agreed to, but it included stuff like allowing people to sue for serious invasions of privacy, criminalising doxxing and more (Law firm MinterEllison has a good guide to what passed). These changes give more tools to the still-relatively-new privacy commissioner Carly Kind who, in a charming lunch interview, recommended pushing back on retailers “who ask for endless amounts of personal information in exchange for goods” (AFR, $).
### Tiny bush paper takes on Google
A 152-year-old newspaper that primarily covers Hay, a town in central NSW, and its surroundings is taking on Google. The Riverina Grazier says it will file a class action over claims that Google’s advertising arm has been doing some anti-competitive behaviour. The paper’s editor and manager claims that the “remuneration to us from using Google’s services is a pittance” (The Riverina Grazier) and blames the company for using its market position to unfairly underpay publishers hosting their ads (Mumbrella). The class action, which is being run by Maurice Blackburn and is open for others to join, takes cues from similar cases in the US, UK and Canada. There’s not much to say more about this David vs. Goliath battle without info yet re: how they’re proving this claim, so I’ll hold judgement until we know more.
# Oh, Also
### Would you like to overstimulate yourself for fun?
Is the internet too chill for you right now? Try Stimulation Clicker (neal.fun). It’s a pretty simple game, I guess, that rewards a player’s clicks with upgrades that allow them to add new stimulating game features like the bouncing DVD logo, a chat window, a true crime podcast or, my favourite, a chicken. It’s a commentary on what it’s like to use the internet in 2025 but also I found it weirdly relaxing, which I’m guessing isn’t the point.
# Bargains
Wordy App - Learn English By Watching Movies & TV Shows - Lifetime Access - Free at Apple App Store SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go (USB Type-C & A) Flash Drive 128GB - $18.86 at Amazon Xiaomi Yeelight LED Lightstrip 1S 2m - $24.29 at Yeelight AU INIU 65W 20000mAh Power Bank - $55.99 at Amazon Logitech G502 HERO RGB Gaming Mouse - $59 at Umart SanDisk 256GB MicroSD Max Endurance - $74 at i-Tech Durgod K100 RGB Gateron 20T Magnetic Switch Mechanical Keyboard - $119 at Centre Com Google Nest Wi-Fi 5 Mesh Router System 2-Pack (1x Router & 1x Point) - $129.99 at Costco Kogan Prepaid 365 day SIM plans - 200GB $139, 300GB $169, 500GB $219 at Kogan Mobile Western Digital Blue SN580 2TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD - $146 at Centre Com EPOMAKER Galaxy100 1800 Aluminum Mechanical Keyboard with Numpad (USB-C/BT5.0/2.4G) - $154.69 at Amazon BLUETTI AC2A Portable Power Station 300W 204Wh - $199 at BLUETTI Kogan 43" LED 4K Smart Roku TV R95T - $319 at Kogan DJI Mavic 3 Classic with DJI Remote Controller - $1499 at digiDirect Roborock S8 Max Ultra Vacuum Cleaner - $1,499.99 at Costco Microsoft Surface Pro 11 Copilot+ PC 13" Snapdragon X Plus 10 Core/16GB/512GB - $1799 at JB Hi-Fi Hisense Laser Cinema PL1H 4K Ultra Short Throw Smart Projector - $1855 at BuySmarte Gaming PC- Ryzen 7 9800X3D 32GB 2TB RTX 5080 - $3,999 at GALAPOWER LG 77" OLED EVO G4 4K UHD Smart TV (2024) - $5495 at The Good Guys
# The End
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