Plus: Did we take the Mac sleep light for granted? ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

February 26, 2026 | Read online
# YouTuber insider betting, Samsung sick new phone feature and Aussies love paying ransomware gangs Plus: Did we take the Mac sleep light for granted?
{{OPEN_TRACKING_PIXEL}}
Edition 2510
"Datasaab D22 på IT-ceum" by Ellinor Algin is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Mentioned in today’s edition: MrBeast, Galaxy S26, Kalshi, Nvidia, Electronic Arts, Meta, Claude, Airbnb and Mac sleep indicator lights. Plus, deals on Apple AirPods, Canon EOS cameras and ASUS ROG motherboards.
# The News
### MrBeast staff and politician caught insider betting on g̶a̶m̶b̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ 'prediction markets'
A MrBeast video editor and a political candidate are the first two people known to have received insider trading fines from a major definitely-not-gambling prediction market (Wall Street Journal, $). Kalshi disclosed that it had identified, fined and suspended the accounts of two users who had bet on markets that they had direct control over: the Republican candidate bet on himself, literally, and the YouTuber editor who wagered on MrBeast's video markets. It's usually legal to do insider betting unless it's on the stock market, but it's against Kalshi's rules. Relatedly, the company recently announced it was "expanding its surveillance and enforcement frameworks" which sounds ... interesting (CNBC).
The Sizzle: You can probably tell from the fact that I played a role in Polymarket being blocked in Australia that I'm not a huge fan of """"prediction markets"""". It disgusts me that this form of gambling has combined with crypto and retail trading, and is now swallowing everything financial (and digital).
One of the disturbing flow on effects is that it directly threatens the integrity of pretty much everything — from important stuff like politics, to enjoyable things like your favourite YouTuber's videos. It's also just so cynical: gambling on anything turns everything into an opportunity to enrich yourself with whatever privilege you have. I don't think it's a good thing for, like, society that there is a service that we can all see is incentivising anyone with any modicum of power to profit from the knowledge that only they have. Not to mention all the gambling problems from increasing access. Shut this shit down.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Samsung's new phones have one feature that sounds truly great
Samsung's new phones, the Galaxy S26 series, are pretty standard upgrades except for one cool new feature (Ars Technica). Its S26, + and Ultra look more or less the same as last year's phones, have a little bit more grunt under the hood, and are a fair bit more expensive than the previous generation — no doubt due in part to the AI-fuelled price jump in parts (Pickr). But what I’m excited for is the Ultra's so-called privacy display which uses some clever pixel work to stop people from reading your screen in a totally customisable way. The Verge has a good write-up of the feature -- pretty schmick!
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
### Australians absolutely love paying ransoms to hackers: data
Australian companies absolutely love paying off ransomware groups, new data has revealed (ITNews). You might remember that last year, Australia introduced mandatory reporting for ransomware payments for businesses with $3m+ turnover. Well, in the months since, close to 100 businesses have disclosed paying the piper. Adding in businesses under $3m and some probably non-compliance, we've learned that lofty ideas like "holding firm against bad actors" and "not feeding an ecosystem of attackers" are quickly discarded when you can just swipe the card and pretend that you were never hacked.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Leftovers
Australia:
Signs of psychosis seen in Australian users' interactions with AI chatbots, expert warns (The Guardian) Data centres should bring their own green power: Bowen (AFR, $) A Cisco report says that legacy tech is causing some big security problems for govtech (Government News) eSafety begins evaluation of Australia's world-first social media minimum age (eSafety Commissioner) If you give The Drifter just 20 minutes (Infinite Lives) I've actually said this before but this game looks so sick Airbnb is a bloody plague (Reddit)
Rest of World:
Nvidia rallies on robust earnings powered by AI investment boom (Financial Times, $) Ahead of $55 Billion Go-Private Deal, Electronic Arts Leads Video Game Publishers With Most Game Downloads in 2025 (Variety) Meta is restricting abortion info to minors and an exec warned them that doing e2ee on Messenger would thwart efforts to fight child abuse Anthropic weakens its safety pledge in the wake of the Pentagon's pressure campaign (Engadget) Hacker used Anthropic's Claude to steal sensitive Mexican data (Bloomberg, $) Never buy a .online domain (0xSid) Random number generator uses camera noise (Hackaday)
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Oh, Also
### Did we take the Mac sleep light for granted?
This is a beautiful little blog about all the attention to detail paid by Apple to its Mac sleep indicator lights (Unsung). It tracks the light's evolution on new devices over the years, including how Apple even made sure that the lights on devices connected by its proprietary display connector would sync its pulsing. It was killed off in the mid-2010s but even reading about it gave me a full body soothing feeling. Bring back indicators, buttons and switches, I say.
Discuss in Slack or Forum.
# Bargains
Electronics
Airpods Pro 2 With MagSafe Case USB-C APPLE - $289 at COSTCO (Down from $379) Apple Watch Series 11 GPS + Cellular 46mm - Black (Sport Band M/L) - $729 at Officeworks (Down from $899) ~ $170 savings Canon EOS R6 Mark III Mirrorless Camera Body Only + Bonus LP-E6P Battery - $3476 at Amazon (Qualifies via 19% off resulting in >$800 savings)
Computing
ASUS ROG Strix X870-F Gaming WiFi Motherboard - $505 at Amazon (Down from $823) Samsung Odyssey G7 G70D 32" UHD IPS 144Hz G-Sync Gaming Monitor - $599 at Centre Com (Down from $899)
Mobile
eSIM Adapter - $15.96 at ChillaxSIM Samsung Galaxy S26 Range (Pre-Order) at Samsung Edu/EPP (25% off range) S26 for $1161 S26+ for $1386 S26 Ultra for $1649
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
🤖 We love robots at the Sizzle but this newsletter has always been and will always be written by humans for humans. Also by Aussies for Aussies — so all prices are in dollarydoos, of course.
🗣️ Have any feedback, a tip or just want to chat? Send me an email or Signal message. I promise to reply!
💬 Want to hang out with other Sizzlers? There’s a subscriber-only Slack server and forum if you want to procrastinate and chat about tech-related news.
🌐 The Sizzle is on Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn if you’re feeling social.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the Beehiiv customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and gift them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
💔 Don’t want this any more? I won’t take it personally. There’s a unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email or here’s a guide.
🦺 The Sizzle has been tested to meet and exceed ISO 3533 standards.
## Always Was, Always Will Be Aboriginal Land
The Sizzle is created on Gadigal land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.
Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 The Sizzle PO Box 351 Bacchus Marsh, VIC 3340, Australia
Powered by beehiiv
Terms of Service