Plus: Make pixel art (and fight pixel wars) all over the world ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 11, 2025 | Read online
# Underpaid AI workers, Aussies reviving Commodore 64 + EU search index Plus: Make pixel art (and fight pixel wars) all over the world
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Edition 2393
"I asked for the app to generate a map of Australian states and territories with a ‘r’ in them. To be fair, despite announcing itself as ChatGPT 5, I suspect this is still 4.5." (Bluesky: @nickrdmiller.bsky.social)
Hi all, just a small note: I’m going to India on the 23rd for my brother-in-law’s wedding! The plan right now is to do the Sizzle while I’m there for a week and a half. I’m going to figure out the exact details over the next few days, but I’m aiming to just deliver the newsletter as normal — CW
# The News
### AI is being trained by gig workers on less than minimum wage
Underpaid gig workers are training the AI models belonging to the world’s most valuable companies (Algorithm Watch). Outlier — a company owned by Scale AI which just got AU$22 billion from Mark Zuckerberg — pays contract workers, sometimes with high-level expertise, to rate model results so the companies can improve them. This new investigation shows Outlier often pays these workers below minimum wage because of its low starting wage, not paying for compulsory training and inadequate time limit for tasks that often take longer.
The Sizzle: I was reading Edward Ongweso Jr’s takedown of a celebration of Uber over the weekend, which argues that Uber has only approached profitability by underpaying staff, jacking up costs and wrecking regulations around the world. He argued that Silicon Valley keeps using “innovation” as an excuse to cover up anti-worker behaviour. What hope should we have that AI won’t destroy worker conditions for everyone if the very workers who are building it right now are being treated like shit?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Aussies helping to bring back the Commodore 64
Two Aussies are involved in an effort to revive the Commodore 64 (SMH, $). Australian YouTuber Peri Fractic — real name Christian Simpson — and Leo Nigro are among a number of Commodore enthusiasts and former workers who have taken over the company and now are taking orders for the Commodore 64 Ultimate (Commodore). The new device “isn’t a software emulator”, will work with “10,000+ original games” but also lets you use modern screens/Wi-Fi, and can be pre-ordered now for $462.
We're Bringing Back COMMODORE! • Let's Buy Commodore Part 2
The Sizzle: Looks fun! It’s definitely a way to cash in on nostalgia, but hey — why not?
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Europe gets its first search index
Non-profit European search engine Ecosia has launched its own search index (Ecosia). Sold as a “sovereign, privacy-first search infrastructure for Europe”, its STAAN — standing for Search Trusted API Access Network — is a new addition to the vanishingly few number of search indexes, and the even smaller number of those from outside of the US.
The Sizzle: I wasn’t really familiar with Ecosia before! Up until now, it was dependent on Microsoft Bing’s index which limits how much it could differentiate itself. Considering that all the major search indexes are either from the US or, um, other complicated countries (i.e. Russia’s Yandex and China’s Baidu), it seems like offering an EU-first alternative is a pretty smart idea, especially as people feel increasingly uncomfortable with US tech domination.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
I went on the Down Round podcast to talk about conspiracy theories, the crossover with ChatGPT psychosis, and more. Split in Albanese’s caucus as government moves to kill AI laws (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Australia’s video game industry has finally won tax relief – so where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? (The Guardian) Labor must act on AI laws now before the genie is out of the bottle (The Australian, $) News media bargaining code paid shareholders and debt (Mumbrella) The NBN is getting its biggest upgrade ever. Most people have no idea (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) YouTube closes gap on Netflix among Australian TV viewers (Australian Financial Review, $) Tesla opens Australia’s biggest charging site with 20 bays (The Driven) Nvidia and AMD to pay 15% of China chip sale revenues to US government (Financial Times, $) Apple Readies New ‘App Intents’ Voice Control Feature for Siri Apps (Bloomberg, $) The UK’s online safety act is a censorship law that the world is following. That’s a disaster for us all (The Guardian) The surprise deprecation of gpt-4o (Simon Willison's Weblog) Adult sites use malicious SVG files to rack up likes on Facebook (Ars Technica) How much energy does ChatGPT need? OpenAI won’t say (The Guardian) Trump’s Truth Social is using a chatbot maker he’s suing (The Washington Post, $) Mozilla under fire for Firefox AI bloat that blows up CPU and drains battery (Neowin) The Piece of Apple History Hiding in a Mac Font File (Spacebar) AOL will finally discontinue its dial-up Internet service after 34 years (TechSpot) “Tesla sent a Cybertruck owner a cease and desist for rapping about the truck, and then deactivated said truck on the side of the road until he signed it??” (Bluesky) My brother took apart my PC because he was mad at me... (Reddit) “A self-driving “#Robotaxi” by #Baidu’s Apollo Go fell into a roadside pit in #Chongqing on August 7.” (X)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### Make pixel art (and fight pixel wars) all over the world
The buzzy internet craze right now is wplace, a website that combines Google Maps with pixel art. Here’s how it works: every thirty seconds, you can place a single pixel anywhere on a world map. And so can everyone else. (This will seem very familiar to anyone who used Reddit’s r/Place on April Fool’s Day).
| Hxrmes @mitski_luvver |
Wplace is cooking in Sydney’s north
6:04 AM • Aug 10, 2025
4 Likes 0 Retweets
0 Replies
So, working with other people — or perhaps against them — you can make little bits of fun art in places.
| matt ★ @mattfoggies |
amazing things happening on wplace
11:26 PM • Aug 9, 2025
18.3K Likes 1.72K Retweets
67 Replies
So, if you have a few minutes, go check out your house, work, or other landmarks to see what’s happening. And maybe join in!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Up to 30% off Samsung selected TVs, mobiles & home appliances Otto Pastel ANC Over-Ear Bluetooth Headphones - $17 at Officeworks 2-Pack UGREEN FineTrack Smart Tag (Compatible with Apple Find My) - $33.38 at UGREEN via Amazon AU Bauhn Bluetooth Headphones - $39.99 at ALDI Apple AirTag at Amazon AU Single for $40 4-Pack for $135 Reolink PoE Switch (8 PoE Ports, 2 Gigabit Uplink Ports, 120W) - $84.99 at Reolink Official eBay Imou Cell Pro Security System Sale: e.g. 2 Wi-Fi Cameras + 1 Base Station - $129 at BPC Tech Motorola Moto Tag 4 Pack - $134 at Harvey Norman (Down from $179) Reolink RLC-1240A 12MP IK10 Vandal Proof Wide FOV Security Camera - $136 at Reolink AU TP-Link Tapo Smart Wireless Security Cameras 2 Pack with H200 Hub - $197 at Officeworks AKG N9 Hybrid Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones - $199 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $499) Samsung Q-Series Soundbar HW-Q600C/XY (2023) - $465 at Appliance Central (Down from $799) Eureka E20 Plus - $549 at Eureka AU Amazon AU Nintendo Switch 2 - $657 at EB Games IK Multimedia iLoud MTM MKII Studio Monitor Pair (with ARC Mic) - $1028 at Amazon UK via AU Roborock Saros 10R Robot Vacuum and Mop - $2499 at Roborock Amazon AU Audeze CRBN 2 Electrostatic - $5995 at headamp.com
Computing
3-Port HDMI KVM Docking Station (3 Devices, 100W PD, 4K 60Hz, HDMI 2.0) - $49 at Jaycar EPOMAKER HE68 Hall Effect Wired Keyboard - $84.14 at EPOMAKER AU via Amazon AU Flydigi Wireless Gaming Controller at Techyin Vader 4 Pro for $120 Apex 4 for $160 Revopoint Inspire 3D Scanner - $424 at Amazon AU Alienware 34in 240Hz QD-OLED Ultrawide Gaming Monitor AW3425DW - $1066 at Dell Sapphire PURE Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming OC 16GB Graphics Card - $1199 at JW Computers Inno3d GeForce RTX 5070 Ti X3 16GB Graphics Card - $1369 at MSY, Umart MacBook Pro at Emporium Electronics 14" M4 10/16Core CPU/GPU 16/512GB Space Black for $2199 M4 Pro 14/20 Core CPU/GPU 24GB/1TB for $3449
Mobile
Telstra Prepaid SIM Starter Kit 365 Days 165GB (Activated by 6 Oct for Bonus 135GB Data) - $297 at Telco Biz Traders Samsung Galaxy A35 5G 128GB Awesome Navy - $299 at Telstra (Down from $549)
# The End
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