Plus: This homemade kiddie synth is TOOOOO CUTEEEEE ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

November 18, 2025 | Read online
# NBN eyes AI traffic charge, Samsung preinstalled bloatware and AI critic mistake Plus: This homemade kiddie synth is TOOOOO CUTEEEEE
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Edition 2462
"February 2011 Computer Handover" (Flickr: Spiritual Chords)
Hello! I have arrived in your inbox, this time with the help of the National Broadband Network.
Yesterday’s edition prompted some interesting questions about if I’ve thought about changing ISP (no but maybe I should) and if I could make a plain-text only version of the Sizzle permanent (I’ll look into it).
# The News
### NBN Co is thinking about charging for AI-related traffic
NBN Co is sizing up AI-related traffic as a new way of making money for the national network (ITNews). NBN Co’s Asif Khan made comments at a Cisco event about “monetising our investment” into its fibre network by charging extra for the growing amount of AI traffic. It’s unclear who would be paying in this suggestion — presumably the providers and not the users. If this sounds like deja vu, that’s because this was NBN Co’s abandoned 2019 plan to charge extra for traffic to Netflix and other streaming video platforms (ITNews).
The Sizzle: NBN Co has never seen a source of traffic that it hasn’t wanted to charge extra for. It ditched its 2019 “Netflix tax” idea soon after it floated it after widespread opposition to the idea of getting rid of net neutrality. My understanding is that one of the fundamental challenge is the technical problem of determining the nature of traffic — something that NBN says it can do with AI traffic thanks to Cisco’s technology if you believe what was said at the Cisco event.
Thanks to MMC who dropped this story in the Slack today.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Maybe phones shouldn’t come preinstalled with data harvesting bloatware, OK?
Samsung has been accused of selling phones to developing countries that have hard-to-remove invasive bloatware pre-installed (Android Authority). Earlier this year, credible Lebanon-based digital rights organisation SMEX released a report highlighting “the significant amount of data” collected by an application, AppCloud, that comes preinstalled on Samsung A and M series smartphones and is developed by an Israeli-based company. Because the app is built into the operating system by Samsung, it can only be removed with root access.
The Sizzle: Not entirely sure why this story has bubbled up this week but clearly the implication is that this is some kind of Israeli government op. As far as I can tell, there’s nothing concrete that suggests that AppCloud more than your standard, data-hungry bloatware that comes pre-installed on cheap Android devices… which is to say, it’s really bad! Samsung (and Google) should release a fix to make it easy for people to uninstall this shit ASAP.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### AI critic’s book may have overstated data centre water usage by 1000x and everyone is handling this very normally
There’s been a little bit of AI-critic related drama playing out over the past day or so: An US effective altruist Andy Masley wrote a newsletter criticising Karen Hao’s wildly popular book Empire of AI. He had a bunch of issues but the biggest was the claim that Hao miscalculated the water use of a data centre by 1000x — a claim that Hao appears to accept may be true, based on her response to the post (Hao’s reply). It was a very cordial interaction between the two, so, naturally, both AI boosters and critics are going crazy about it.
The Sizzle: Hao’s book is on my summer to-read list so I can’t give much of a take re: how much this impacts how we should think about the book. But, as a recent author, let me tell you something: an error like this is both my worst nightmare and something that is wayyyy more prevalent than you might suspect.
Fact-checking non-fiction books is a hugely time consuming, expensive and imperfect process. And that’s for the people that bother. Many books either receive a cursory fact-check by subeditors as they go through the editing process, or aren’t fact-checked at all. Clearly, Hao tried to check this error that appears to have arisen from a translation issue — and even that is more rigorous than many other authors.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
‘There will be deaths’: Youth workers are dreading the teen social media ban (Crikey, $) Here’s what the government is tracking to see if the teen social media ban is a success (Crikey, $) Australians report nearly $260M in losses as shopping scams surge (National Anti-Scam Centre) WA Police commissioner says most cybercrime is going untracked nationally (The Australian, $) Sydney resident died after triple-zero call didn't work on Samsung phone, TPG says (The Guardian) Major study finds widespread misuse of AI risks company security (The Australian, $) AFP translates cyber safety guide for kids into Tagalog (CyberDaily.au) Veteran cybersecurity academic Dr Jill Slay has been appointed by the federal government to lead an independent review of Australia’s critical infrastructure laws. (InnovationAus, $) DTA has released its ‘2025 implementation plan’ for the government’s digital transformation (Digital Transformation Agency) Here are the new guidelines for how telcos have to handle domestic, family and sexual violence (ACMA)
Rest of the world
Microsoft mitigated the largest cloud DDoS ever recorded, 15.7 Tbps attack (Security Affairs) Google is fighting a defamation claim from a conspiracy theory-promoting US MAGA influencer that Meta caved on (The Verge) Windows 11 to add an AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders, warns of security risk (Windows Latest) Game over: Europol storms gaming platforms in extremist content sweep (The Register) Oracle hit hard in Wall Street's tech selloff over its huge AI bet (Ars Technica) US spy satellites built by SpaceX send signals in the “wrong direction” (Ars Technica) xAI's Grok 4.1 rolls out with improved quality and speed for free (Bleeping Computer) OpenAI Board Member Calls Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein His 'Wing Man' in an Email (The Verge) NY Times Runs Defense For Social Media Bans, Buries Evidence They Don’t Work Until Paragraph 14 (Techdirt) After 3 months of NBN issues, a disconnected smart bulb was the culprit (Reddit)
Is this true? I would have no idea 😇
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### This homemade kiddie synth is TOOOOO CUTEEEEE
I saw this pop up on Hacker News and thought it is sooo cute. London-based software engineer Alastair Roberts built the sweetest step-sequencing synthesiser for his kid (bitsandpieces). Reminds me of the DIY music player that I shared earlier this year.
Alma - Synth Demo
Roberts has uploaded the design files in case you want to build one for yourself or — if you’re like me and know that embarking on this project means ending up with a bunch of bits stuck on your desk for the next year — has also made a callout for anyone who would be interested in buying one.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
TP-Link Tapo L630 Smart Wi-Fi Spotlight, Multicolour GU10 4-Pk - $31.56 at Amazon DE via AU UGREEN FineTrack Rechargeable Smart Tracker Tag 4 Pack- for $47.51 at Amazon Philips Hue Light Strip Plus 2m Base Kit - $59.98 at Amazon AU [eBay Plus] Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 (4 Pack) - $69 at Smart Home Store eBay Philips Hue Lily XL White and Colour Ambiance LED Smart Outdoor Spotlight - $135 at Amazon AU Amazon Fire TV Cube - $155 at Amazon AU (Down from $219) Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 Earbuds (Black Copper) - $174 at Sennheiser eBay TP-Link Tapo D230S1 Video Doorbell w/Hub (via Price Check Button) - $174 at The Good Guys Samsung Galaxy Watch8 40mm (LTE) (Telstra ID Required) - $374 at Telstra (down from $748) Xgimi Elfin Flip DLP FHD Projector - $499 at Costco (Down from $999) eufy Security Eufycam 3 S330 4K Wireless Home Security System (2-Pack) - $599 at Amazon AU (Down from $1099) Polk Audio Magnifi Max AX 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar & Wireless Subwoofer - $699 at Masimo Consumer via Kogan (Down from $1299) ECOVACS DEEBOT N30 Pro Omni Robotic Vac - $798 at JB Hi-Fi (Down from $1899) Garmin Fenix 7 Pro Sapphire Solar (47mm), Silver Titanium with Fog Gray Silicone Band - $799 at Amazon AU
Computing
Gigabyte GAMING 360 ICE AIO Liquid CPU Cooler - $59 at Mwave Wobkey Rainy 75 Wireless 2.4GHz Mechanical Keyboard at KBM Gadgets via Amazon AU Lite - Black for $160 Standard - Blue for $170 Standard - Silver for $170 Pro - Black for $191 Asus RT-AX59U AX4200 Dual Band Wi-Fi 6 Router - $129 at Amazon AU
Mobile
Telstra $13 Pre-Paid Mobile Plan 7-Day 3GB (+ 2GB Activation Bonus) - $1 at Telstra
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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