Plus: Forget Siri, Apple has made an even BIGGER mistake ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

June 13, 2025 | Read online
# YouTube price spike, period tracking apps and AI-powered barbies Plus: Forget Siri, Apple has made an even BIGGER mistake
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Edition 2352
Flickr: smj_crash
# The News
### It’s getting real expensive for families to put YouTube on the dinner table
The price of YouTube Premium Family is increasing to a frankly absurd $40 a month, the second increase in just 18 months. People on places like the Sizzle Forum, Slack and OzBargain all report getting told that they’re going to be slugged nearly $500 a year (!!!) to avoid ads, download videos and have background play on YouTube for up to six family members. It’s really hard to stomach this price considering this is nearly twice the November 2023 price of $23/month. I just looked up the Netflix and Spotify subscriptions, and the comparable cost would be $50 a month for family plans of both so… I guess that’s just how much these things cost these days? So much for cord-cutting being cheaper.
Funny way to thank me
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Period tracking apps are a data gold mine
The use of menstrual tracking software has hit an all-time high at the same time as governments and police around the world are trying to access app data, a new report has found (MCTD). The UK’s Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy — yes, Minderoo as in Australian rich guy Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Minderoo — put out the report The High Stakes of Tracking Menstruation which points out all the reasons that leaving development and research about period tracking software to the private sector is a really bad idea. It suggests ideas like having publicly-owned apps and ensuring that period tracking data is considered medical data legally so that it gets the same protections. Until then, there are options like drip which actually look — sorry for the sledge — surprisingly beautiful for an open source app that locally stores all data.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### An AI-powered Barbie… what could go wrong?
Barbie-maker Mattel is going to launch its first “AI-powered product” this year after inking a deal with — who else — OpenAI (Reuters). We don’t know any of the details yet but it’s fair to say that even mentioning “Barbie” and “AI” in the same sentence has people thinking about all the ways this could be very creepy. US tech journalist Casey Newton cited two previous examples of software-powered dolls — one Barbie and one Barbie-like doll called My Friend Cayla — that were made and withdrawn after fears about surveillance (Platformer, $). For me, the bigger issue is my deep fear about how AI companies are making products designed to make people reliant, even addicted to them. Now think about that except when it’s a young, developing kid playing with their Barbie. Scary.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
With six months until the teen social media ban, Australia still hasn’t figured out how it’ll work (Crikey, $) The ASX has flogged off its stake in Digital Asset Holdings, which it invested in as part of its disastrous attempt to build a blockchain-based replacement for its CHESS system (Rohan Pearce) Australia has ‘no alternative’ but to embrace AI and seek to be a world leader in the field, industry and science minister says (The Guardian Australia) The Northern Beaches Women's Shelter hones focus on tech-enabled abuse (ITNews) Paws and effect: US government vaccine site muzzled by AI furry content (Cyber Daily AU) Taking Action Against ‘Nudify’ Apps (Meta) Anker is recalling over 1.1 million power banks due to fire and burn risks (The Verge) Waymo rides cost more than Uber or Lyft — and people are paying anyway (TechCrunch) Canva to job candidates: Thou shalt use AI during interviews (The Register) Apple’s 10 Biggest Challenges, From AI to Tariffs (Bloomberg, $) Apple Targets Spring 2026 for Release of Delayed Siri AI Upgrade (Bloomberg, $) Apple’s Spin on the Personalized Siri Apple Intelligence Reset (Daring Fireball) My Mac Contacted 63 Different Apple Owned Domains in One Hour - While Not is Use (App Addict) Inside a Dark Adtech Empire Fed by Fake CAPTCHAs (KrebsonSecurity) Google says Android Open Source Project not being ‘discontinued’ amidst Pixel change impacting custom ROMs (9to5Google) Microsoft’s new Copilot Vision can ‘see’ your apps on Windows (The Verge) US-backed Israeli company’s spyware used to target European journalists, Citizen Lab finds (AP) Brazil's Supreme Court justices agree to make social media companies liable for user content (Reuters)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Forget Siri, Apple has made an even bigger mistake
As previously mentioned, the reaction to Apple’s announcements at WWDC this week ranged from “seems ok” to “disappointing”. But amid all the focus on AI and Liquid Glass etc., we missed one enormous change. They flipped the Finder face. 512 Pixels’s Stephen Hackett has a good post noticing the change, and tracking it through its history.
“I know I am going to sound old and fussy, but Apple needs to roll this back,” Hackett wrote. Completely agree
Unholy
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
Inateck Electronics Organizer - $29.99 at Inateck Amazon AU Huawei Wearables at Amazon AU & JB Hi-Fi Band 9 for $64 FIT 3 for $199 Watch GT 5 for $299 Watch GT 5 Pro Titanium Black for $499 Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus White - $159 at Bunnings Rode NTH-100 Closed Back Headphones - $160 at Camera House eBay Samsung Soundbars at Samsung EPP HW-Q800F for $604 HW-Q930F for $879 HW-Q990F for $1099 Insta360 X5 8K 360 Action Camera - $805.50 at Sydney Mobiles eBay Sennheiser HD 800S Headphones - $1599 at Sennheiser eBay
Computing
Rock 4 Model C Plus - $39 at Jaycar 8BitDo Retro Mechanical Keyboards (Fami or N Edition) - $89.95 at JB Hi-Fi PREDATOR Hermes DDR5 32GB Kit (2x16GB) 6400MHz CL32-39-39-102 White - $151 at Smarthomestore eBay Google Nest Wi-Fi 5 Mesh Router System (3 Pack) - $199 at Mobileciti via eBay MSI PRO Z890-P Wi-Fi LGA1851 ATX Desktop Motherboard - $259 at PLE Computers Apple AirPods Pro 2 with Magsafe Case (USB-C) - $339 at Big W AOOSTAR WTR PRO 4 Bay NAS (N150, 4x 3.5", 1x NVMe, 2x2.5G, HDMI/DP/USB-C) - A$419 at China Box AliExpress Alienware 34" WQHD (3440 x 1440) 180Hz 1ms Curved Gaming Monitor AW3425DWM - $499 at Amazon AU Palit GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Dual 8GB GDDR6 Graphics Card - $500 at Smarthomestoreau eBay TerraMaster NAS at Amazon AU F4-423 (Intel N5105, 4GB RAM) for $559 F4-424 Max (Intel i5-1235U, 8GB RAM) for $1200 BYO GPU Gaming PC at GALAPOWER ZOTAC Gaming Zone for $599 7500F 32GB 1TB 750W for $699 7800X3D for $1099 Samsung Odyssey 32" G7 G70D 4KUHD 144Hz LCD - $699 at Samsung Store TP-Link Deco BE65 BE11000 Mesh Wi-Fi 7 Router (3-Pack) - $759 at Futu Online eBay Sapphire Radeon NITRO+ RX 9070 XT GAMING OC 16GB Video Card - $1359 at Smarthomestoreau eBay Samsung 32" Odyssey OLED G8 G81SF 4K 240Hz Gaming Monitor - $1399 at Samsung Dell Precision 5820 Workstation Xeon W-2235, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe, RTX 3090 - $1710 at ACT Networks.
Mobiles
amaysim starter pack with 60GB Data, Unlimited National Call & Text - $12 at Coles 12-Month Prepaid Mobile Plans at Officeworks Lebara 260GB for $169 Vodafone 320GB for $199 Optus 300GB for $250 Get a Gift Card on a 24 month plans $550 JB Gift Card on a $79 plan $1000 Gift Card on a $89 plan Samsung Galaxy S25 Series at Samsung EPP S25 256GB for $979 S25+ 256GB for $1189 S25 Ultra 256GB for $1504
# The End
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