Plus: a tech answer to public transport inspectors ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

April 29, 2025 | Read online
# Europe blackout hits tech, stop DRMing gadgets and the power of the group chat Plus: a tech answer to public transport inspectors
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Issue 2320 - Tuesday 29 April 2025
# The News
### Europe’s blackout hits tech and dickheads are already blaming renewables
Tens of millions of people were without power for hours as blackouts hit Portugal, Spain and other parts of Europe (ABC News). Train networks were shut down, banks closed, flights grounded and even YouTube was affected (TechCrunch) although mobile networks were generally fine due to back-up power sources.
Energy demand from Spain’s grid operator. Generally not a great sign when line go down like this
The blackout’s cause is still unknown but Spain’s grid operator has blamed grid oscillation which is when the system can’t handle energy sources coming on and going off (Bluesky). This lack of clarity, of course, hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from blaming renewables including Australia’s homegrown dingbat Senator Matt Canavan (RenewEconomy). I don’t know about you, but I reckon having a home battery would have been pretty useful in a blackout!
Lisbon Subway in darkness (WIRED)
### Manufacturers: if you don’t do closed source DRM, I won’t have to hack your device
Also on Europe: Google is killing support for its early smart thermostats and withdrawing completely from Europe, citing “a variety of hardware and software requirements” that make it difficult to build products (The Verge). Owners won’t be able to control them remotely starting October and the company has no plans to open source the products’ software. It reminded me of a YouTuber who recently bought a DJI camera that can only be used if you download an app (YouTube). It’s these kinds of products that drive me insane! This is only ever going to end in shitty experiences for users because companies have no incentive to keep supporting them. That’s why I think it’s reasonable to be sympathetic to DRM removal software which just got removed from GitHub because of a OnlyFans complaint (TorrentFreak) or Wii homebrew software using stolen Nintendo code (The Verge). Can you blame people for ensuring they can use the devices they bought into their own hands?
I thought I bought a camera, but no! DJI sold me a LICENSE to use their camera 🤦‍♂️
### The group chat is an underrated source of influence
A big piece dropped over the weekend about a Signal group chat containing 300 of the most significant people in Silicon Valley (Semafor). There’s heaps of interesting tidbits about it — about how some of the pro-Trump members saw it as a way to shift the other members over to their side of politics — but I mostly share this because there’s been a lot of talk about "social media filter bubbles”, but much less about the effects of the subterranean online communities that have popped up in Signal, WhatsApp and iMessage. I reckon group chats that expose you to people’s thoughts, day and night no matter where you are, influence how people think. And clearly, they’re being used to co-ordinate how elites shape public opinion. We know Australian politicians and public servants love disappearing messaging apps (ABC News) — I’d love to know who they’re texting with.
'“Tucker Carlson left the group”
#### Leftovers
Illegal betting website Polymarket paying TikTokers to promote election gambling (Crikey, $) Ford unveils pricing for electric and plug in Ford Transit vans, due in Australia this year (The Driven) Case against Queensland social media influencer accused of torturing baby 'complex', court hears (ABC News) Qantas boots up wi-fi on international routes, flights to Singapore and Hong Kong first in line (The Australian, $) Aussie authors launch bid to close the book on AI theft (AAP) OpenAI Adds Shopping to ChatGPT in a Challenge to Google (WIRED, $) Amazon launches first Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Starlink (Reuters) Wall Street Banks Sell Final Slug of Elon Musk’s X Debt (WSJ, $) Alibaba unveils Qwen 3, a family of ‘hybrid’ AI reasoning models (TechCrunch) Apple revenue could actually benefit from China tariff war (Apple Insider) America's Electric Vehicle Sales Have Jumped 10.6% Compared to 2024 (East Bay Times) Watching o3 guess a photo’s location is surreal, dystopian and wildly entertaining (Simon Willison) I tried the magnetic mouse with its own folding USB-C charge cable (The Verge) Russian regulators are trying to seize assets from the developers of World of Tanks (Engadget) Neurotech companies are selling your brain data, senators warn (The Verge) 23andMe requiring potential bidders to affirm they will uphold data privacy (SeekingAlpha) Poop Drones Are Keeping Sewers Running So Humans Don’t Have to (WIRED, $) New APNIC director general steps up to steer the internet for 4 billion users (The Register) Milwaukee police consider trade: 2.5 million mugshots for free facial recognition access (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
# Oh, Also
### A tech answer to public transport inspectors
I’ve been mean to my Victorian neighbours in the past so I come to you with a peace offering: a University of Melbourne computer science student has developed an app to crowdsource the location of Myki inspectors (Information Age). PtvAlert allows people to share alerts for delays, animal and custom events like “inspectors”. It is, unfortunately, only available on iPhone at the moment (Apple).
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Verbatim My Finder Bluetooth Tracker - $19 at Kmart UGREEN 65W Gan II Charger - $34.99 at UGREEN via Amazon AU Urban Surge 100W PD Charger with Dual USB-C & USB-A Ports - $39.95 at Pop Phones Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro - $239 at MyDeal Kindle Scribe 2024 16GB with Premium Pen - $527 at Officeworks DJI Neo Motion Fly More Combo (Backorder) - $755 at Videopro TCL 85" C7K Premium QD-MiniLED TV (2025) - $2830 at Appliances Online
Computing
GL.iNet WiFi 6 Travel Routers at GL.iNet Amazon AU GL-MT3000 Beryl AX for $103.38 GL-AXT1800 Slate AX for $147 27" LG 27MS500 FHD 100hz IPS Monitor - $139 at ALDI Special Buys Intel Core i5-12600KF CPU - $197 at Amazon US via AU Seagate Barracuda Pro ST14000DM001 14TB SATA Hard Drive (Refurbished) - $286 at East Digital Dell Latitude 7420 Laptop i7-1165G7 RAM 16GB SSD 512GB Touch Win11p Carbon Fiber (Refurbished) - $480 at Bufferstock Gaming PCs at TechFast Intel Core i3-12100F | RTX 4060 ITX Gaming PC for $658 AMD Ryzen 7 7700 | RTX 5080 Gaming PC for $2998 AMD Ryzen 7 7700 | RTX 5090 Gaming PC for $5999 Gigabyte Radeon RX 9070 XT GAMING OC 16GB GDDR6 (eBay Plus) - $1245 at smarthomestoreau eBay
Mobile
Prepaid SIM Starter Pack at Coles In-Store amaysim 28-Day 50GB for $10 Lebara 30-Day 130GB for $14 BDI 4GX Routers at BDI Tech MyDeal 4GX AC w/ B28 or Super Hybrid w/ VOIP for $60 4GX/Plus Wi-Fi 6 Wireless Router With VoLTE for $64 Motorola Moto G35 5G 4GB/128GB with Vodafone $35 Prepaid Starter Kit (Locked to Vodafone) - $149 at Vodafone iPhone 16 128GB - Ultramarine - $1199 at BIG W
# The End
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