Plus: How saliva is helping people beat video games faster ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

September 18, 2025 | Read online
# Kmart facial recognition banned, Tesla door handles and Meta's new glasses Plus: How saliva is helping people beat video games faster
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Edition 2421
"I/O_5" (Flickr: Copybreak)
I promised on Slack to break some news on whether I have chicken pox.
The answer is… probably not? I went to the doctor and they said it’s more likely I am currently afflicted with an enterovirus. I will share my swab results when I get ‘em.
# The News
### Kmart’s facial recognition use breached many Australians’ privacy for little purpose
Kmart’s use of facial recognition technology (RFT) to deal with refund fraud broke Australia’s privacy law because it was overkill for little actual benefit, the privacy commissioner said (OAIC). After three years of investigation, the full decision (PDF) came down to the idea that scanning the faces of everyone who came into the 28 stores with FRT between 2020-22 was overly invasive and not very effective at dealing with people trying to rip off Kmart’s refund program. Kmart is banned from using FRT for this purpose again and must apologise for doing so.
camwilson (@camwilson@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image Australia's privacy commissioner has again ruled against the use of facial recognition in retail, this time finding that K-mart's use of FRT for addressing refund fraud was unlawful.
mastodon.social/@camwilson/115222280031881259
The Sizzle: This is the second Australian privacy finding against FRT in retail, with the first being against Bunnings (which is currently going through an appeals process). But Kind emphasised that not all FRT use is banned. She wrote on LinkedIn that “each deployment will give rise to unique questions that require consideration under the Privacy Act”. Interestingly, Kind ended her blog by shading politicians for failing to pass a law that would address FRT specifically:
In the absence of parliamentary intervention to specifically authorise the use of FRT systems without consent, these are the kinds of considerations I will continue to bring to my application of the Privacy Act to these emerging technologies, on a case-by-case basis.
Australian privacy commissioner Carly Kind
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Tesla decides to redesign their door handles after linked deaths and investigations
Tesla will redesign its electric door handles that only work when the vehicle’s electrical system is operational (Engadget). A Bloomberg investigation linked several deaths and severe injuries to Tesla’s design choices for its doors, their handles and the backup manual releases. While it varies from model to model, no Tesla has a manual release that’s part of the electric door handle — and some models don’t even have any manual release for the rear doors. America’s car safety regulator says it’s investigating, citing how hard it is to find the release in high pressure situations like after a car crash (Engadget).
Can you see the manual release here?
The Sizzle: I don’t want to be overly negative about Tesla but I find many of their design decisions baffling, often choosing form over function. Part of Tesla’s initial appeal was bringing a Silicon Valley mentality to EVs. The obvious problem with this approach is that the consequences for something not working — an app versus a car glitching — are very different. And, it seems, deadly.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Google glasses walked so Meta’s new smart glasses could run
A wristband and tiny screen are the headline changes to Meta’s smart glasses, which have emerged as its most successful hardware product (NBC News). Meta’s annual hardware event launched its first pair of smart glasses with a display and a wristband that uses your gestures to interact with its system, upgrades to its older models, and — what you’ve all been waiting for — improved graphics in its metaverse product Horizon Worlds (Verge).
Meta Connect 2025: Opening Keynote
The Sizzle: Google glasses are back! Except this time, they’re way more normal-looking Ray-Bans? Also the rest of the world has become a panopticon so maybe we’ll be fine with it now. One thing I couldn’t help but notice is how Mark Zuckerberg spoke about using the wristband to type on the smart glasses without anyone knowing. Like with the camera on the glasses, it’s weird that a selling point is being able to covertly use these devices?
| Shacknews @shacknews.com |
LiveAI demo fails on the first prompt at Meta Connect 2025. #Meta#AI#LiveAI
12:34 AM • Sep 18, 2025
1.16K Likes 242 Reposts | 105 Replies
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Inside the battle to make AI giants pay for content (The Australian Financial Review, $) Australian ambition must include local AI models, says assistant minister Charlton (InnovationAus) Australian tech boss pushes for safer power bank tech (GadgetGuy) Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is now available in Australia & New Zealand (techAU) How Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn's content moderation policies are censoring abortion information online (Fortune, $) Microsoft Office 2016 and Office 2019 reach end of support next month (BleepingComputer) 'Liquid glass' is causing a disorientating optical illusion for some iPhone users (AppleInsider)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### How saliva is helping people beat video games faster
People will do crazy things to shave fractions off their time speed-running through video games. Including, as it turns out, licking their disc??? Here’s a YouTube video that explains how it works.
The Most Bizarre Speedrun Strategy Ever Found
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
JBL True Wireless Earbuds (ANC) - $49.99 at ALDI EarFun Air Pro 4 Wireless Earbuds - $89.96 at EarFun AU Amazon AU (Down from $143.35) Anker 737 Power Bank, 24000mAh 3-Port Laptop Portable Charger with 140W Output - $132 at Anker Direct via Amazon AU Q Acoustics Speakers at Addicted to Audio Q3010i for $219 Q3010i for $299 Q3030i, Q3060S for $399 QB12 for $749 Q3050i for $799 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Noise Cancelling Headphones Gen 2 - $595 at JB Hi-Fi Business Roborock Qrevo C Robotic Vacuum Cleaner - $849 at JB Hi-Fi LG 42 Inch EVO C5 4K UHD Smart TV - $1470 at ApplianceCentral Roborock Qrevo Edge Robotic Vacuum Cleaner - $1529 at JB Hi-Fi TCL 85" C8K QD-Mini LED UHD Google TV (2025) - $2800 at JB Hi-Fi
Computing
NetGear Nighthawk Be9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router - $349 (Down from $597) Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 14 OLED AMD Ryzen AI 5-340/24GB/512GB SSD Laptop - $998 at Harvey Norman AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D CPU - $1090 at MSY HP OmniBook 5 Flip 14" 2K 2-in-1 Laptop: Silver, Intel Core 7-150U, 16GB, 512GB - $1199 at JB Hi-Fi
Mobile
iPhone 16 Series on Clearance at JB Hi-Fi
# The End
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