Plus: They put a snake in your URL bar ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

September 29, 2025 | Read online
# Digital IDs, EV owners take over after bankruptcy and big tech's circular billions Plus: They put a snake in your URL bar
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Edition 2428
"new computer (1 of 6)" (Flickr: lawrx)
# The News
### Government digital IDs are becoming the norm
The United Kingdom will make digital IDs compulsory for workers as more countries roll out the schemes (The Guardian). Prime minister Keir Starmer framed the June 2029 deadline for the digital ID work requirement as about making it “tougher to work illegally in this country” — vomit — but also spruiked the benefits of making it easier for citizens to prove their identity (Gov dot uk). 1.6 million people have signed a petition opposing the plan (Guardian). Meanwhile, the Swiss also voted to introduce a digital, voluntary version of its existing physical government ID card (The Guardian).
The Sizzle: This digital ID stuff sends some people crazy for dumb reasons but also does raise legit concerns about its potential misuse. But I think digital ID schemes can be better than the status quo — if they’re done right.
We live in the worst of both worlds at the moment. Every time I go into a pub, rent a car, apply for a share-house, sign up for an internet plan, open a bank account, get a passport, I have to hand over 100 points of ID. We already live in a surveillance state cobbled together by private companies. I personally would like a more transparent tech-enabled scheme that allows me to prove my identity without handing all this stuff over. A digital ID scheme can work so that it vouches for some information — “yes, this person is over 18, no I’m not going to give you their date of birth” — without handing all my info all over. I do fear what an authoritarian government could do with this. But what about everything dystopian that’s happening to me right now? (What do you think? Let me know!)
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### When an EV maker went bankrupt, its owners picked up the slack
Owners of a collapsed EV carmaker’s vehicles have banded together to provide support for their cars (The Verge). Earlier this year, Fisker collapsed into bankruptcy, leaving the 11,000 vehicles it had delivered without any support (The Verge). Owners feared that if anything happened to their vehicle, they’d be completely bricked without the carmaker’s support (Business Insider).
More than 4,000 of the vehicle’s owners are paying US$550 each year to the non-profit Fisker Owners Association to get access to software updates and new hardware for their cars. It’s developed a third-party mobile app that restores some of the car’s basic features including climate control, and it’s about to release a new device that will give the cars new features like wireless carplay and keyless entry. It’s a reminder that we don’t just have to depend on these companies to make technology work for us.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Big techs are in a circle, passing around billions to each other
There’s been a flood of big tech companies investing billions of dollars into each other in quite a circular fashion that’s raising some eyebrows. Last week, Nvidia announced it would invest “as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI” (Bloomberg, $). Earlier in the month, OpenAI committed US$300 billion to buying cloud services from Oracle (Bloomberg, $), which is a major customer of Nvidia. Nvidia, also, tipped US$5 billion into Intel (Bloomberg, $).
| anthony restaino @anthonycr.bsky.social |
Replying to @edzitron.com
ah shit, I had swapped lambda and coreweave around to make the diagram more sane and forgot to move the super micro funding arrow from coreweave to lambda. fixed
2:40 PM • Sep 23, 2025
402 Likes 104 Reposts | 20 Replies
The Sizzle: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman last month said the following: Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes” (CNBC).
But there’s another reason why there’s so much money is being splashed around: Nvidia literally has too much money (WSJ, gift link). Even if you believe that AI companies are overvalued and that they’re spending too much money for how much the market is worth, a key part is that this money is “well-capitalized hyperscalers – firms like Microsoft and Alphabet Inc. — rather than from risky debt” (Bloomberg, $). So, we’re probably due a market correction but the people who’ve been funding all this development are Rich Guys who won’t go under if everything goes to shit… I think.
Anyway, here’s a good article reminding us what happened during the 2000s dot com bubble (Fortune).
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Court orders $343,500 penalty for posting deepfakes of Australian women (eSafety Commissioner) Qld’s AI cameras failed to make ethical checks (Cyber Daily) ‘Clearly unacceptable’: Optus hit with fresh Triple Zero outage (The Sydney Morning Herald, $) Telco regulator probing Optus failure had its own IT crash (Australian Financial Review, $) One in five Sydney homes now sell without being listed online (Australian Financial Review, $) Tesla goes all in on FSD, ends Enhanced Auto Pilot option in Australia (The Driven)
Rest of the world:
Apple’s ChatGPT-Style Chatbot App Deserves a Public Release (Bloomberg, $) U.S. rejects international AI oversight at U.N. General Assembly (NBC News) Denmark temporarily bans civil drones after more sightings (DW) How JD Vance helped Trump get his TikTok deal, despite political risks (Washington Post) Small Data (topicpartition.io) Why I’m not rushing to take sides in the RubyGems fiasco (justin.searls.co) The stripper who ushered in the modern subscription-based internet (The Hustle) I had to accuse Gemini of Orc racism. (Reddit) This is the last straw NBN (Reddit) ChatGPT users are freaking out again after another update. (Reddit)
Who wants a REAL gaming chair?
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### They put a snake in your URL bar
URL bars do a lot these days. Not only do they take you to websites, search the internet for you, but now they can be a gaming console: someone has hacked together a website that lets you play Snake from your address bar, complete with score. Perfect for playing a relaxing game while your managers think you’re hard at work (or maybe that you’re a weirdo for staring at a blank web page).
Please don’t judge my chocolate brown Chrome theme
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & electronics
15% off Coupon at LG 20% cashback at the Good Guys Autentik Bluetooth Speaker (IPX4, FM Radio, Memory Card Slot, 3H Playtime) at Mobileskin - $15 at Mobileskin (down from $39.95) JBL Wave Buds - $30 at Officeworks (down from $50 Meross Smart Presence Sensor with Light Sensor (Matter Compatible) at Shuzu-AU Amazon AU - $48.99 at Shuzu-AU Amazon AU Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 at Google Store - $246 at Google Store Microsoft Surface Pro Flex Keyboard - Black with Bold keyset at Microsoft - $309.95 at Microsoft Dyson Ontrac Headphones at Dyson - $349 at Dyson (Down from $799) Google Pixel Watch 3 at Google Store WiFi 41mm for $371 WiFi 45mm for $432 LTE 41mm for $541 LTE 45mm for $632 Oura Ring 4 (Black/Silver) at JBHifi - $453 at JBHifi Sonos Sub Mini at The Good Guys - $549 at The Good Guys Roborock Saros 10 Robot Vacuum and Mop at Roborock AU Official Amazon - $1998 at Roborock AU Official Amazon Samsung The Premiere LPU7D 4K Laser projector at Samsung government partner store - $2499 at Samsung government partner store
Computing
TP-Link Archer BE400 BE6500 Dual-Band Wi-Fi 7 Router at JB Hi-Fi Business - $220.71 at JB Hi-Fi Business (Down from $299) Google Pixel Tablet at Google Store 128GB for $569 256GB for $669 128GB + Speaker Stand for $599 256GB + Speaker Stand for $699 TP-Link Archer GE800 BE19000 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router at Computer Alliance - $899 at Computer Alliance MSI RTX 5070Ti GAMING SHADOW 3X OC Graphics Card at Gamer Tech - $1405 at Gamer Tech (Down from $1449) 7500f + RTX 5070 Gaming PC at G-ONE Computer - $1699 at G-ONE Computer Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 Laptop: Intel Ultra 7 155U, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD at Lenovo Outlet - $1899 at Lenovo Outlet (Down from $3739).
Mobile
Google Pixel 9a at Google Store 128GB for $649 256GB for $799 Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 12GB RAM/128GB Storage at Samsung EDU - $679.20 at Samsung EDU Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 128GB at amaysim - $769 at amaysim (Down from $1099) Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold 256GB on JB Hi-Fi Mobile 24-Month Plan at JB Hi-Fi - $89/Month at JB Hi-Fi Samsung Galaxy S25 FE at Samsung - $999 at Samsung Google Pixel 9 Pro at Telstra 128GB for $999 256GB for $1149
# The End
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