Plus: The quest to save iPod click wheel games ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

September 09, 2025 | Read online
# P*rn and AI websites to check age, popular code hijacked and stair robots Plus: The quest to save iPod click wheel games
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Edition 2414
"iPod Nano" (Flickr: Komod867)
Hi all! So much tech news today. What a blessing! Have a great day — CW
# The News
### Australia to require p*rn and AI websites to get users to prove their age
P*rn websites will need to check user’s ages and restrict access under new rules from the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant (Crikey, $). This is one of the “compliance measures” as part of six industry codes registered today which have been written by Australia’s tech industry and approved by Inman Grant (eSafety). These regulations will also require AI chatbot makers to check users ages so they can stop children from talking about sex and suicide with bots (ABC News). Much like the teen social media ban, the actual methods are unspecified but we can assume it will include things like facial scans and uploading ID. These rules kick in on March 9, and providers face multi-million dollar fines for failing to comply.
The Sizzle: Well, it was the worst kept secret in Australian tech policy that this was coming, but I think it’s still worth taking a moment. We are officially at the end of an era of the age-blind internet. It is now Australian government policy that many of the world’s most popular services and platforms have to restrict users based on country-level decisions about what content you should be allowed to see. Before we even get to all the challenges of implementation — and we will get to that, don’t worry — both fans and opponents will admit it’s an enormous change.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Malware put into coding package with billions of weekly downloads
Hackers have slipped malware into popular coding packages that are downloaded billions of times a week (Bleeping Computer). The accounts of Javascript npm package maintainer Josh Junon were hacked after he got phished in a campaign that targeted a bunch of maintainers. Once inside, they put malicious code that will intercept and hijack browser traffic into the packages which will re-route crypto transfers into the hackers’ accounts.
The Sizzle: These supply-side attacks are a good reminder of how the most sophisticated, complex systems are still usually reliant on some guy. In this case, one bloke clicked the wrong email and, as a result, an untold amount of people were exposed to malware. Not much any of us can do about that!
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Robots are getting their own robots
Robot makers have a new approach to conquering stairs: they’re building robots to carry the other robots. Both Eufy (Verge) and Dreame (CNET) have released new robots that carry your robo-vacuum from floor-to-floor.
verge 2M followers |
View more on Instagram
The Sizzle: I am soooo close to pulling the trigger on a robovacuum. They’re getting pretty cheap — like the one in yesterday’s Bargain section. But as part of this, I’d essentially accepted that it would be limited to a single floor. Kudos to the eggheads who managed to pitch their bosses on building a moon lander-cum-robo spider creation as a solution to stairs but I can’t help but wonder whether it’s still probably cheaper to buy a vacuum for each level than these monstrosities.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Government falsely blames AI for FOI surge (Information Age) ‘We can do it for under $100m’: Start-up joins race to build local ChatGPT (The Australian Financial Review, $) Finance leaves GovAI door ajar to sovereign models (InnovationAus, $) Australia’s richest families plot country’s tech reboot at private summit (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) BYD's smallest and potentially lowest-cost electric SUV gets approved for Australian sale (The Driven) Apple Podcasts adds proper chapter support (James Cridland) Signal introduces free and paid backup plans for your chats (TechCrunch) Plex suffers security incident exposing user data and urging password resets (NERDS) X, WhatsApp, YouTube and other social media platforms go dark in Turkey, and VPN usage spikes (TechRadar) Nepal lifts social media ban that sparked deadly Gen Z protests (CNN) Google admits the open web is in ‘rapid decline’ (The Verge) OpenAI Backs AI-Made Animated Feature Film (The Wall Street Journal, $) Anthropic Judge Blasts Copyright Pact as ‘Nowhere Close to Done’ (Bloomberg Law, $) I Hate My AI Friend (WIRED, $) YouTube views are down. Don't panic! (Jeff Geerling) Please bro we’re so close to AGI…. (Reddit)
996 = 9am to 9pm, 6 days a week
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### The quest to save iPod click wheel games
Remember the click wheel games that came on some of the iPod models? Apple’s FairPlay DRM made it near impossible to preserve and play the 54 titles released for iPods over the years — until now. It was a long and difficult process according to Apple Insider, but the iPod Click Wheel Games Preservation Project has managed to compile each of the games in once place. You still need to have an actual iPod to play but, if you do, I’d love to hear if you take this for a spin.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electronics & electrical
AKG N5 Hybrid TWS Noise Cancelling Earbuds - $139 at JB Hi-Fi / Amazon AU (Down from $349) Flashforge Adventurer 5M 3D Printer - $319 at Flashforge 3D Printer eBay (Down from $399) Samyang F1.8 UMC II Camera Lens for Fuji X APS-C, 75 mm Focal Length - $429 at Amazon DE via AU Sony WH-1000XM6 Headphones - $609 at MyDeal via Everyday Market Apple Watch Series 10 [GPS + Cellular, 42mm] Slate Titanium Case with Black Sport Band - $878 at Amazon TCL 75" C6K QD-Mini LED TV - $1399 at Costco (Membership Required) (Down from $2249) Samsung TV at Samsung EPP Samsung 65" S85F 4K OLED TV for $1649 Samsung 65" S90F 4K OLED Smart AI TV for $2149 Samsung 75" Neo QLED QN900F 8K Samsung Vision AI Smart TV (QA75QN900FWXXY) - $3149 at Samsung EPP
Computing
Razer Kishi V2 USB C - Gaming Controller for iPhone and Android - Black - $81.18 at Amazon AU SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless Gaming Headset - $147 at Amazon JP via AU HP Laserjet Wireless Mono Laser Multi-Function Printer - $164 at Amazon AU AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU - $211 at Amazon UK via AU Lexar NM790 4TB SSD Gen4 NVMe M.2 with Heatsink - $381 at Amazon US via AU MSI 15.6" Thin Laptop i7-12650H 8GB/512GB RTX2050 - $799 at Costco (Down from $1300) Dell UltraSharp U4025QW 40in WUHD 5K 120Hz IPS Curved with Speakers - $2149 at Umart
Mobile
Kogan Prepaid Mobile: 365 days 200GB including new plans or recharge - $149 at Kogan Refurbished Samsung Galaxy at Phonebot S22 256GB for $329 S22+ 256GB for $379
# The End
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