Plus: Turn your optical mouse into a digital camera ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

December 08, 2025 | Read online
# Netflix eats Hollywood, Meta cuts metaverse and 8 years wasted on crypto Plus: Turn your optical mouse into a digital camera
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Edition 2467
"computer monitors for waste disposal and recycling" (Flickr: jesssimons49)
# The News
### Netflix’s Warner Bros purchase is tech eating Hollywood
Netflix has surprised everyone by buying Warner Bros late last week (Guardian). After a long courtship by Trump-aligned Paramount, the streaming-first company swooped in with a $125 BILLION bid (requiring an $88B bridging loan according to FT) for Warner Bros Discovery (Netflix). Netflix spruiked its acquisition of legacy IP like Harry Potter and Friends. The deal has immediately prompted calls for antitrust action but Trump has posted surprisingly warmly about the deal (CNBC).
The Sizzle: If you want a sense for why there’s a lot of apprehension about Netflix in particular buying one of the most storied studios in Hollywood history, have a look at this quote from the announcement that caught a lot of people’s eyes.
My favourite in the franchise was the sequel CA2ABLANCA
Netflix has a reputation in the industry for not giving a shit about cinema and television as an art form, and instead viewing everything as content that exists to fight churn (for more details about Netflix’s ruthless approach, read this excellent essay). Like, you know it’s bad when the headlines after an acquisition are like “Is Netflix Trying to Buy Warner Bros. or Kill It?”
The truth is, whoever bought Warner Bros was always going to be criticised for their role in the consolidation of a limping industry. It hurts that little bit more when the person buying you out doesn’t actually care about what you do. They just want to strip you for parts.
Further reading: The Inside Story of How Netflix Won the Warner Bros. Auction (Bloomberg, $)
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Meta’s friendship with metaverse is over, now AI is my best friend
Meta is reportedly cutting spending into its namesake — the metaverse — by as much as 30% as the company pours everything into AI (BBC). After it had lost more than $105B over the past few years, Mark Zuckerberg has told his Reality Labs division that it needs to go further than the company-wide mandate to cut 10% of their budgets (Bloomberg, $). The company said it is funnelling that investment into AI glasses and wearables, something that still hasn’t really taken off but, compared to Meta Horizon and the Quest headsets, I guess they’re a runaway success. Maybe the real metaverse was the friend we made along the way… (Also if you have any Meta metaverse gear, please let me know!)
Relatedly: Meta buys AI pendant start-up Limitless to expand hardware push (FT,$)
Crazy to think that this picture predates ChatGPT… and the Metaverse still pretty much looks like this
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Guy realises he wasted 8 years of his life in crypto
I came across this essay I Wasted 8 Years of My Life in Crypto which I thought was uncharacteristically honest. The author, an angel investor, says he was sucked in by the cryptolibertarian ideal of cryptocurrencies, but recently realised “it’s just speculation and a gambling hyper-system that’s really just a mirror of what the economy is now.” It echoed a similar bit from Bloomberg’s excellent money explainer guy Matt Levine last week:
With mainstream financial institutions increasingly getting into bed with crypto, with prediction markets, sometimes with both at the same time, it really does feel like everything is just a casino now.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Teen social media ban coverage Australians look to VPNs to get around social media ban as how-to guides and ads target them (Crikey, $) What teens are losing in the social media ban, in their own words (Crikey, $) Teens prepping for the social media ban consider the unthinkable: phone calls (Australian Financial Review, $) How Australia became the testing ground for a social media ban for young people (The Guardian) The UK tech firm profiting from Australia’s social media restrictions (Australian Financial Review, $) EV sales are growing in Australia, thanks to BYD, Kia and Chinese newcomers (The Driven) Elon Musk loves what this Australian guy has to say (Australian Financial Review, $) Melbourne startup Akula Tech lays off 70% of staff ahead of satellite launch (SmartCompany, $) Consequences of the 3G Shut Down | Dirt Report (YouTube)
Rest of the world:
X cuts off the European Commission’s ad account (The Verge) AI Slop Is Ruining Reddit for Everyone (Wired, $) OpenAI denies rolling out ads on ChatGPT paid plans (BleepingComputer) Have I Been Flocked? (HaveIBeenFlocked) I failed to recreate the 1996 Space Jam Website with Claude (j0nah.com) Tiny Core Linux (Tiny Core Linux)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Turn your optical mouse into a digital camera
This rocks so hard. Redditor u/Dycus posted to r/electronics about building a digital camera out of an optical mouse, complete with a screen! It shoots at 30×30 pixels, can store 48 photos in 32kB FRAM and can even lock and unlock exposure. Good use for the 6 dusty mice sitting in a box in your house somewhere!
The camera loves you baby, you’re a star (I think?)
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
TP-Link Tapo C200 Pan/Tilt Wi-Fi Camera - $27 at Amazon AU (Down from $49) Oontz Pro by Cambridge Soundworks Bluetooth Speaker - $46 at Gizmoo (Down from $115) Earfun Free Pro 3 Hi Res ANC True Wireless Earbuds - $60 at Earspan via eBay Anker Prime Charger (100W, 3 Ports, GaN) - $75.99 at AnkerDirect via Amazon AU Blink 5 Camera Security System - $132 at Amazon AU Aqara Smart Door Lock B50 Black - $141 at Techry Shark FlexBreeze Fan with Misting Attachment FA225 WHANZ (White) - $149 at Myer Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 / Pro 2 Mini Bone Conduction Sports Bluetooth Headphones - $209 at Horizon Store LG 65" Oled B5 AI UHD 4K Smart TV (2025) - $2075 at Appliance Central LG G5 65” OLED Tv - $2676 at LG
Computing
Portable Micro-ATX Case with Carry Handle - $79 at G-One PowerColor Reaper Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB GPU - $549 at PC Case Gear Asus Prime Radeon RX 9070 16GB OC Graphics Card - $779 at PC Case Gear Synology DiskStation DS425+ 4-Bay 3.5" Diskless NAS - $798 at Mwave (with $60 Voucher)
Mobile
Belong Mobile Starter Kits with 100GB data - $20 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $45) Samsung Galaxy A16 4G/LTE 128GB/4GB Black - $169 at Officeworks REDMAGIC 11 Pro 144Hz Gaming Phone (16GB RAM+512GB ROM) Silver/Black - $1359 at REDMAGIC Direct Amazon AU (Down from $1599) Honor Magic V5 512GB - All Colours - $2599 at Harvey Norman (with Bonus Pad 10 & Watch 4 via Redemption)
# The End
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