Plus: Who does the online bushfire mapping? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

January 19, 2026 | Read online
# ChatGPT ads, our 'forgotten' data right and is crypto buttoning up or doubling down? Plus: Who does the online bushfire mapping?
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Edition 2483
"Exampleofdigitalhoarding cluttereddesktop001" by Wikissed is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: stablecoins, Starlink, Australia's privacy principles, Squarespace, ACCC and Microslop. Plus, deals on Google Pixel Watches, Logitech racing wheels and Optus prepaid plans.
# The News
### ChatGPT getting ads is an admission that we aren't getting an AI super intelligence any time soon
After Sam Altman once declared advertising as "a last resort", OpenAI has now confirmed that ChatGPT will soon get ads (Mashable). The company posted a blog explaining how it'll introduce advertising into its free and cheap tier subscriptions. TL;DR: it'll be like Facebook: advertisements inserted into ChatGPT conversations, targeted but advertisers can't see actual conversation contents, and the chatbot's answers won't be influenced by ads.
thank you for offering to buy me a single ingredient as I plan a meal clearly sometime in advance
The Sizzle: Beyond the normal gripes about ads, I think this signals an important change in OpenAI (and the official end of the artificial general intelligence hype). This is OpenAI desperately trying to find any money and an admission that, no, most 800m ChatGPT users aren't about to subscribe. In the long-term, this is an acknowledgement that OpenAI doesn't think it's just around the corner from building digital god. Because, if you were just about to unleash Skynet, why would you waste time serving Squarespace or Koala mattresses?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Has crypto buttoned up or doubled down? ¿Por qué no los dos?
One of the big questions about the future of the crypto industry is whether it would professionalise and become a normal part of the financial system, or continue to be the Wild Wild West of money. On one hand, Chainalysis estimated that $25 billion was lost to crypto scams in 2025 (Cyber Daily). Meanwhile, 53% of new crypto tokens launched since 2021 — and 86% last year (!) — are dormant (CoinDesk). On the other hand, about $49 TRILLION was exchanged in stablecoins last year (Bloomberg, $) and Bitcoin ETFs are getting more popular (Bloomberg, $). So, uh, maybe the answer to the opening question is, both?
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Australians have the right to access their personal data, but organisations aren't too friendly about it
Late last year, I wrote about how an ex-charity sector data scientist had investigated how they used third party commercial data profiling services and found out that most do, but few clearly tell their supporters about it (Crikey). She used a little-known right under Australia's privacy principles that allows any person to ask any organisation for their personal data. Unsurprisingly, she found that the charities generally were not very forthcoming, sometimes denied they had data (only to later say they had it) and treated her with a lot of hostility (Crikey, $)
Here's some Sizzle homework: go email the privacy officer of any business or organisation that you deal with regularly, like a bank, telco, etc and ask them for all the information they have about you (cite APP12). Then, tell me what you find out. I'm going to do a few today!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Elon Musk's Starlink has just appointed an Australian federal lobbying firm, Barton Deakin 👀 Government’s social ban numbers include deleted, duplicate accounts (Australian Financial Review, $) One in 10 teens seeking mental health support from headspace cite social media ban as an issue (Crikey, $) ACCC pushes Labor on powers to go after Apple, Google app stores (Australian Financial Review, $) yesssss let's gooooo Want a safe car? Crash tests say you should go electric (The Driven)
Rest of World:
Really looks like the UK is going to do an Australia-style social media ban (Guardian) Musk Seeks Up to $134 Billion Damages From OpenAI, Microsoft (Bloomberg, $) Hard drive prices have surged by an average of 46% since September — iconic 24TB Seagate BarraCuda now $500 as AI claims another victim (Tom's Hardware) great America Is Slow-Walking Into a Polymarket Disaster (MSN) Malware Peddlers Are Now Hijacking Snap Publisher Domains (Alan Pope's blog) OpenAI’s Sora 2 Started Off Scorching Hot. Things Have Slowed Down Since. (Sherwood News) Prominent PR firm accused of commissioning favourable changes to Wikipedia pages (The Guardian) Texas Police Invested Millions in a Shadowy Phone-Tracking Software (The Texas Observer) A Website To Destroy All Websites (Henry.codes) An extension that converts Microsoft to Microslop (GitHub)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Who does the online bushfire mapping?
I'd never really thought about how the online bushfire mapping sausage is made before I read this nice piece from ABC News.
nice, low stress job
Turns out satellite mapping is usually later in the process, and that it usually begins with ground observers with GPS walking around fires (now that's a job I'm not envious of), as well as infrared scans and footage taken by aircraft. This is ingested by people who manually map the fire out. Pretty cool!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Novoo 100w Gan III USB-C Charger with 1m Cable - $39.49 at Mbest via Amazon AU (21% off) Beats Pill Red - $149 at Officeworks (Down from $249.95 - $100 savings) Google Pixel Watch 4 at Google Store (25% off) Wi-Fi 41mm for $434 Wi-Fi 45mm for $512 LTE 41mm for $604 LTE 45mm for $682 Zappi EV Charger - $999 at GoRunSolar (Down from $1400 - $400 savings)
Computing
12 Months Free Microsoft 365 Premium & LinkedIn Premium Career for Students Dell 27 Plus QHD 144Hz (VRR) Monitor S2725DSM - $247 at Dell AU (Down from $349.80 - >$100 savings) Kogan Infinity 40" Curved Ultrawide WUHD 5K2K Monitor - $574 at Kogan (Down from $1149.99 - 50% off) Logitech G PRO Racing Wheel for PC - $998 at The Gamesmen (45% off RRP)
Mobile
Free iOS Lifetime Subscription for Room Planner: LiDAR & 3D Ruler Optus Flex Plus 140GB 186 Days Prepaid SIM and $100 Gift Card - $130 at Finder
# The End
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