Issue 2256 - Thursday 23 January, 2025

In Today’s Issue

The News

Distracted boyfriend meme with new phones (boring) and other wearables (interesting)

As comprehensively leaked ahead of time, Samsung’s big Galaxy Unpacked event features the new Galaxy S25s (Forbes) with some iterative Google Gemini integration that will be rolled out to other Android phones (The Verge). What actually piqued my interest is some of the other hardware planned or coming out. Samsung has an upcoming VR headset (TechRadar) but also, reportedly, a set of AR glasses (Bloomberg, $) and … a set of earbuds with a camera inside (TechRadar)? Apparently it’s not alone with Meta and Apple (TechRadar) also thinking about the camera-equipped earphones. Meta’s also following up its surprisingly popular Ray-Ban glasses with some new AR glasses including a sports-focused collaboration with Oakley. I’m bored of phones! Give me a new form factor! I’ve always thought that AirPods was an underrated foray into AR and want to see Apple do more with it (although with small cameras comes big privacy questions (Forbes)).

[scary voice]: The IoT doorbell from hell

An intruder made their way into an Australian family’s home network and had access to their computers and TVs through a Chinese-made Dahua smart doorbell, according to firm CyberCX (Information Age). CyberCX spokesperson and former Australian government cyber bigwig Alastair MacGibbon said this shows how cheap Chinese-made tech puts people at risk from both general intruders to Chinese government surveillance because of the nationality of the manufacturer. I feel very mixed about this stuff because on one hand, I think the average punter should be primarily worried about random hackers and not the CCP when it comes to cybersecurity. Case in point: a recently discovered large botnet targeting internet-connected cameras and routers. (TechRadar). Or another botnet variant discovered two weeks before evocatively called “gayfemboy”.

But at the same time, let’s not just treat any alarm-ringing (no pun intended I swear) about Chinese potential influence as ridiculous. I had a good email back-and-forth with Sizzler Christian who said that China has a “bit of history of meddling outside their own country”. That is an understatement.

Big tech caught between the EU and US

Amid the Trump tech realignment, Meta, X, YouTube and others have just signed onto an EU anti-hate speech code of conduct (ITnews). Similar to Australia’s online safety codes, these voluntary regulations include relatively minor policies like allowing NFPs to monitor how the companies respond to hate speech reports, a requirement to explain how they are proactively detecting hate speech and to provide more info about their operations. The real question is how these companies respond if — or probably, when — the EU, Australia or other countries decides to use their big sticks. As you might remember, Zuck is now openly begging Trump to defend US tech companies from EU fines (Politico). And now Trump has raised the idea of doubling taxes on foreign nationals and companies if their home countries do something like Australia’s plans to levy new taxes to pay for news (AFR, $). You have to admit, it’s a great bit.

Oh, Also

What happens if you only eat meat? (Hint: “ooze”)

It’s not strictly tech, more science-y, but I had to share: science journal JAMA Cardiol wrote about the curious case of a man who started literally oozing cholesterol from his hands, elbows and the soles of his feet.

It didn’t take doctors long to realise the culprit was the patient’s decision to eat an entirely carnivore diet comprising hamburgers (with “additional fat incorporated into them”), butter, cheese for the previous eight months.

I appreciated the deadpan way the ArsTechnica journo wrote it up: “Meanwhile, his total cholesterol level exceeded 1,000 mg/dL. For context, an optimal total cholesterol level is under 200 mg/dL, while 240 mg/dL is considered the threshold for 'high.' Cardiologists noted that prior to going on his fatty diet, his cholesterol had been between 210 mg/dL to 300 mg/dL.” Hmm… seems bad.

Apparently the world’s greasiest man also lost weight (I mean, obviously, you can’t eat most foods) but gained energy and “mental clarity”. I get all that for the small price of exuding what looks like the grime left at the bottom of a pan after cooking enough bacon to feed a family? Where do I sign up.

Bargains

The End

😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday afternoon. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.

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The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.