Plus: The US government launched a AI chatbot that recommends the best food to put up your bum ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

February 11, 2026 | Read online
# Why does no one like Bitcoin any more, Telstra's 'AI' cuts and the Trump Phone exists Plus: The US government launched a AI chatbot that recommends the best food to put up your bum
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Edition 2499
"Wikimedia Foundation Servers 2015-41" by VGrigas (WMF) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
After yesterday's Microsoft Oreo story, I had a few suggestions for some Sizzle biscuit/confectionery/snack-related emojis. So, I will! Send me an email if you have any ideas and we'll put it to a vote.
Mentioned in today’s edition: Cryptocurrency, Palantir, Discord, Claude Opus 4.6, REA Group, KPMG and IBM. Plus, deals on Adobe subscriptions, Samsung Galaxy smartphones and Kogan monitors.
# The News
### Bitcoin is down bad and no one can figure out why
After a glorious year-ish of gains, Bitcoin prices have absolutely cratered and people aren't really sure why (Bloomberg). After peaking at US$124,000 last year, the cryptocurrency's price fell to a low of US$60,000 last week — the lowest number since October 2024, just before Trump won the election. This latest crypto winter is materially impacting the legit faces of the industry. Publicly traded Coinbase is getting killed on the market (Investing) and Kraken fired its CFO before its IPO — typically not a sign of confidence (Coindesk).
weeeeeee
The Sizzle: Why is Bitcoin down? Is it because:
the Trump administration is struggling to get through its crypto-friendly reforms as promised (Reuters)? It's not actually "digital gold" that's safe during world turmoil but just a tech-y asset? crypto is so yesterday and all the money (and computer chips) are going to AI (Coindesk?) the most recent Epstein file dump makes it clear that the sex trafficker was instrumental in popularising it (Guardian)? or all of the above?
Probably a bit of everything but fundamentally I really believe that Bitcoin is just a failed currency. No one uses it to buy or sell (legal) things. And if it's an asset based on nothing, then its price has no floor. It's been close to twenty years since Bitcoin was invented and its main function is still "we invented a thing to get around financial regulations" and that's why it's mostly used for speculation, moving a bit of money between countries (stablecoins etc), and crime. The reason I keep writing about this is because people in powerful positions were telling us this was the future of finance!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Telstra joint venture with consulting firm lays off 200 people, cites AI
Telstra and Accenture have sprinkled the magic "AI" word over firing 200 people so their roles can be off-shored (Guardian). Last night, the telco and consulting company announced that 209 jobs would be cut so that they can use "Accenture’s global capabilities, advanced AI expertise and specialist hub in India to deliver Telstra’s data and AI roadmap more quickly". Hmm. Customer service does seem like one of those industries where AI is having an impact, but, gee, I wonder how much mentioned AI is to give your offshoring a high-tech sheen.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### The. Trump. Phone. Is. Real. It. Really. Exists
I have been devouring all the of the Verge's reporting on the Trump Phone which was scheduled for release last August but blatantly did not exist beyond some sketchy renders. Until now.
LFG
A Verge journalist did a long interview with one of the "executives" at "Liberty Mobile" who flashed a "Trump Phone". Some notes: 1. This is not the US-made, Trump Phone that was promised. 2. It's apparently coming very soon. 3. It actually looks OK specs-wise and seems to run vanilla Android. 4. The phone's cameras are ... unevenly spaced.
Is it bad that I really, really want one?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Can Australia build one of the world’s largest data centres? (The Conversation) this is a great visual article Future Fund defends $100m Palantir investment at Senate estimates (Crikey, $) FIIG Securities faces $2.5m fine following 2023 cyber attack (Cyber Daily) REA Group unveils AI-powered property search tool to tap into the tech-savvy demographic (The Australian, $) the future of this is ChatGPT hallucinating a rental ‘High stakes’: Katy Gallagher won’t risk an APS AI failure (InnovationAus) PsiQuantum leadership overhaul as CEO Jeremy O'Brien taps Victor Peng (The Australian, $) Gaming, screens and safety: What parents really need to know (IGEA)
Rest of World:
UK watchdog stops short of imposing EU-style rules on Apple and Google (Financial Times, $) Jury told Meta, Google designed platforms to fuel addiction (Tech Xplore) Cool graphic on how many EU companies depend on US tech (The European Correspondent, $) Discord will age verify the 'vast majority' of users through inference (The Verge) Wanted to share this because I think initial reporting overegged how many people would need to provide their ID or scan their face. KPMG pushed its accountant to cut fees because it says audits are cheaper now because of AI (Financial Times, $) Do you think KPMG is offering discounts on its services because of AI? Nearly half of xAI's founding team has now left the company (TechCrunch) @grok is this good? Google’s new tool helps you remove non-consensual explicit images from Search (Engadget) Kalshi and the Rise of Macro Markets (NBER) I hate prediction markets (gambling) but for balance, apparently they are creating good data How I cut my Google Search dependence in half (Hister.org) Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 spends $20K trying to write a C compiler that almost works (The Register) IBM Made A Sound Card? Who Knew! (Hackaday)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### The US government has an AI chatbot that will recommend the best food to put up your bum
Continuing on the heavy US theme of this Sizzle, I couldn't resist clicking on 404 Media's article about RFK's new government-run food website that has a chatbot which will advise you about which food is best to go in your bum.
thank you RFKAi
You know, in one sense, I'm surprised that someone like anti-vaccine, anti-science guy RFK would go for AI. But then I realised: a magic box that will tell you whatever you want to hear is like the ideal source of information for a guy like him.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Laser Smart Home Devices at Laserco.com.au Laser Smart Wi-Fi Alarm for $10 (Down from $29) PIR Motion Sensor for $14.95 (Down from $24) Smart Deadbolt Lock for $179 (Down from $249) Belkin BoostUp Charge Pro Dual USB-C 65W GaN Wall Charger - $29.95 at Mobileskin (Down from $79) Zemismart Zigbee Switch with Display (4 Gangs) - $44.10 at Zemismart eufy Video Doorbell E340 - $245 at Forge Electrical (Down from $349) RØDE Wireless PRO Wireless Microphone System - $388 at Camera Warehouse Eufy Robot Vacuum 3-in-1 E20 - $399 at Bunnings Warehouse
Computing
Adobe Yearly Subs: Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign - $24.99/Month at Adobe (Down from $54.99/Month) UGREEN Revodok Pro 207 Docking Station, 7-in-1 Dock - $39.99 at Amazon (Down from $59.99) Biwin Black Opal NV3500 512GB PCIe Gen 3 M.2 SSD - $74 at Centre Com (Down from $119) Verbatim Blu-Ray BD-R XL 100GB Blank Disc 20-Pack + Patches - $107 at Amazon (Down from ~$160) Arctic Freezer III 420mm - $159 at Amazon (Down from $249) Lenovo Xiaoxin Pad Pro 2025 (12.7" 3K 144Hz, 8GB/128GB) - $256 at AliExpress Asus XG16AHPE ROG Strix 15.6" Full HD IPS 144Hz Portable Gaming Monitor - $269 at Centre Com (Down from $648.95) Corsair SF1000 (2024) SFX 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply - $287 at Amazon (Down from $388) Lenovo Legion Y700 2025 (8.8" 165Hz, 12GB/256GB) - $382 at AliExpress Kogan 49" QD-OLED Dual QHD (5120 x 1440) 144Hz Curved Ultrawide Monitor - $999 at Kogan (Down from $1399)
Mobile
Free $100 Voucher for an an Eligible Samsung Galaxy Z or S Series Smartphone (Excluding FE Series) Apple iPhone 17 5G 256GB Unused, 0 Cycle Count, Activated Units (Open Box) - $1249 at Phonebot (Down from ~$1599)
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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