Plus: I couldn’t emulate Windows XP in a browser, so here’s Windows 95 instead ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 14, 2025 | Read online
# Apple's robot Siri, UK age check impact and force Big Tech open Plus: I couldn’t emulate Windows XP in a browser, so here’s Windows 95 instead
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Edition 2396
"National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda MD (NNMC) 1977 - Blood pressures are taken automatically with an Arteriosonde machine" (Flickr: navymedicine)
# The News
### Apple plans to win the AI race with Robot Siri and smart home gear
Apple is set to launch a robot Siri, a home iPad and other smart home gear as its way of getting back into the AI game (Bloomberg, archived). The Apple Oracle Mark Gurman says that Apple is targeting 2027 to release a bunch of new devices with the plan of “owning the home”. These include an iPad on a robot arm that can “reposition itself to follow users in a room”, a stripped down, arm-less version of the home iPad device, security cameras and a smart lock that will unlock using Face ID.
The Sizzle: Some of this stuff seems like a no-brainer. I’m a baby Apple HomeKit user with only a few smart lightbulbs, and even I’ve looked to see if there are compatible security cameras. I’m sure the Home iPad and Robot Siri will sell like hotcakes because there’s already a clear use case even if there’s no improvement over the existing capabilities of Dumb Siri. Whether they become a true smash hit will depend if Apple can do what Amazon has struggled with Alexa Plus: make an AI vocal assistant that is as dependable as Dumb Siri but has the ability of a ChatGPT-like Smart Siri.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### UK age check law looks like it’s driven people to dodgier adult websites
Visits to major p*rn websites dropped by half in the UK after the companies introduced the legally-mandated age check measures (Guardian). Social media websites which introduced the same measures didn’t see a dip.
The Sizzle: I actually think this is incredibly damning. The fact that major p*rn traffic dropped while social media didn’t suggests that a lot of people are now going to non-compliant adult websites. Think about it: there’s no real competition to major social media platforms because of the network effects. When it comes to p*rn, there are a LOT of options. This should worry people because, say what you want about some of the dodgy behaviour of major adult websites, the more obscure ones are probably even worse.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Opening up Big Tech’s black box is a no brainer
The Albanese government is considering whether AI companies should be forced to reveal their model training data as part of enforcing copyright (AFR, $). Attorney-General Michelle Rowland is mulling this policy, after senior members of the government also indicated that it’s not too keen on giving AI companies a carve-out for copyright law for training despite the tech lobby acting like we’re falling behind (Guardian).
The Sizzle: Some of the low hanging fruit for Australian tech regulation is forcing transparency. Silicon Valley has an upper hand in public debate about tech policy because their services are black boxes, opaque to the rest of us. I know it’s complicated by trade secrets and the nature of technology itself, but I think the first step in any regulation should be making sure everyone understands what the fuck is actually happening online.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Influencers wage ‘ground war’ with Australian government over social media ban, documents reveal (The Guardian) Labor warned of ‘emerging misinformation and AI threats’ in confidential federal election review (The Guardian) Australian EV sales hit record in June quarter, account for 22 pct of medium SUV segment (The Driven) Amazon Haul launches in Australia, curating trending under-$25 products from social media (SmartCompany) Russia is trying to crack down on messengers like WhatsApp and Telegram. It’s not working (Associated Press) US embeds trackers in AI chip shipments to catch diversions to China, sources say (Reuters) Instagram is developing a feature that helps users find shared interests (TechCrunch) The Looming Social Crisis of AI Friends and Chatbot Therapists (derekthompson.org) These are the jobs most likely to be replaced by artificial intelligence (The Independent) Some doctors got worse at detecting cancer after relying on AI (The Verge) UK expands what police can do with facial recognition tech (The Register) Fairphone Gen 6 Review: A Phone for the Future (Wired, $) How unraveling two Pentagon projects may result in a costly 'do-over' (Reuters) Pebble Time 2 - Design Reveal (ericmigi.com) Tesla Diner Drops Most Menu Options, Cuts Hours (Jalopnik) I’ll tell you who didn’t need to deal with games being taken offline by their developers (r/PCMasterRace)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
###
Originally I was going to share this Windows XP running in a web browser with you. But then I realised, it’s not an actual emulation.
You’re not fooling anyone. You make me sick
Here at the Sizzle HQ, we have standards. We don’t accept pretenders. Only the best for my Sizzlers. So, in lieu, here is Windows 95 actually being emulated in a browser.
Ahh now doesn’t that feel better?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
60% of everything on Amazon Haul Tech goods clearance at Kmart Wired Earphones for $0.75 Magnetic Phone Holder for $4 BT Gaming Controller for $9 Outdoor RGB Lantern Speaker for $12.50 20% Off Home Music System at Audioengine A2+ Home Music System w/ Bluetooth for $359.20 (Down from $449) S8 Powered Subwoofer for $623.20 (Down from $779) HD6 Home Music System w/ Bluetooth aptX-HD for $799.20 (Down from $999) 2-Pack 100W 2m USB Type-C Cables - $10.11 at INIU via Amazon AU Aiwa 10,000mAh Power Bank Magnetic Wireless Charger, Pink - $14.95 at Jaycar 2-Pack UGREEN 20W 2-Port 1C1A GaN Charger at UGREEN via Amazon AU Charger only for $19.99 Charger with 1.5m 60W USB-C to C Cable for $26.99 Quntis 20.1" Monitor Light Bar - $77.60 at Quntis (Down from $97) Cuckoo 6-Cup Rice Cooker (CR-0632f) - $99.98 at Costco, Casuarina Ticwatch Pro at Mobvoi via Amazon AU Ticwatch Pro 5 for $150 Ticwatch Pro 5 Enduro for $170 Dyson WashG1 Wet Floor Cleaner (Ultra Blue/Matte Black) - $450 at Dyson eBay (Box Damaged) Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 47mm Bluetooth + LTE - $529 at Amazon AU DJI Osmo 360 Standard Combo - $645 at digiDirect eBay TCL 65 Inch C6K QD-Mini LED 4K TV - $949 at Costco Dyson V15s Detect Submarine Complete Vacuum - $1099 at Dyson (Down from $1649) Rcac 7kw Hisense - $1099 at Appliance Central (Down from $1279)
Computing
Apple Online & Education Store: 7% (until 4pm AEST), 8% (4pm-10pm AEST) at Cashrewards 30% off Selected Tech at Verbatim CalDigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 Docking Station – Space Grey (Refurbished) - $189 at Macfixit Seagate Exos NM000C at East Digital (Recertified) 22TB for $461 24TB for $469 26TB for $516 28TB for $561 Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fiber with 4x 2.5G PoE Switch, 10G SFP+ - $471 at Digilifeonline eBay Galax GeForce RTX5070 12GB Graphics Card - $814 at Centre Com eBay PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper 16GB Graphics Card - $1049 at MetroCom eBay PowerColor Radeon Hellhound RX 9070 XT 16GB Graphics Card - $1101 at Centre Com eBay Intel i5‑12400f + RTX 4060 Gaming PC - $1149 at GoneComputer Apple MacBook Air 13" (M4 Chip) 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1447 at Amazon AU (Price Beat to $1374 at Officeworks) Gaming PC: R7 7700, 32GB RAM, 1TB M.2 +US$20 SteamCard at Nebula PC RX 9070 for $1748 RX 9070 XT for $1948 RTX 5070 Ti for $2148 MacBook Air 15" (M4 Chip) 24GB RAM, 512GB SSD - $2397 at Harvey Norman (Price Beat to $2277 at Officeworks) (Down from $2699) Gaming PC: White, 5080 Aero, 9800X3D, B850, 32GB, 2TB, 850W G, Zoria Cooler, WIN11 - $3895 at UMKLOGIX
Mobile
$10 Cashback When Purchasing Any Prepaid Plan at Boost Mobile amaysim Starter Packs at Woolworths SIM Only for $1 $30 Starter Pack for $10 $40 Starter Pack for $15 $150 Starter Pack for $109 Motorola Moto G55 5G 4GB RAM/128GB - $189 at Amazon AU Samsung Galaxy S25 at Samsung Australia 256GB for $999 512GB for $1199
# The End
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