According to a report from the government Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in February, just 12% of Australians aged 18-24 accessed the news via news websites on the open web. In comparison, a pretty substantial 46% of Australian's in that age bracket accessed news via closed social
The Verge to introduce a paywall this week.
According to Semafor, Vox Media's technology website The Verge is going behind a paywall. Some content will remain free:
Beginning this week, the Verge will charge $7/month or $50/year for comprehensive access to the site as well as the already-paywalled newsletters Command Line and Notepad.
Some content and the publication’s homepage, which was redesigned in 2022 to resemble a social feed, will remain free. The Verge is Vox Media’s third major subscription push behind New York and Vox, which launched a membership program earlier this year.
Everything old is new again at Vox Media, which will also be introducing an app for its publication New York Magazine, focused on digital NY Mag subscribers:
It will be the magazine’s second crack at a mobile app; New York first launched an iPhone app in 2016.
Australia’s world-first under-16 year old social media ban has become law, via Sydney Morning Herald: As expected, Albanese gained Coalition support for the social media package, given Dutton called for the age limit in June, but the debate was marked by warnings from the Greens and crossbenchers, as well
The ABC wants younger viewers, listeners and readers. But when the effort will begin is yet to be seen. While cultural change at any organisation takes time, it feels like we hear a similar sentiment at the ABC every year with little change. At its 2025 Upfronts, where a new
Let's unbox the 30th Anniversary DualSense, in Sony's trademark PlayStation 1 gray colourway.
Steam Autumn Sale kicks off next week.
I’ve been poolside testing the Steam Deck OLED this week for Gloss. Definitely going to be tempted by some of these games going on sale starting November 27 (November 28 in Australia). The sale will end December 4 (December 5 in Australia).
According to new study, Tesla has highest rate of driver fatalities in the US.
This is despite the study also assuring readers that Tesla vehicles aren’t specifically unsafe and the company isn’t shipping “design flaws”. The higher statistic could be as simple as a Tesla feature, like the controversial “Full Self Driving”, giving drivers a false sense of security. The US National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration is investigating FSD’s safety, for now at least.
The study from iSeeCars analyses data from the U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). Via Road & Track:
The study was conducted on model year 2018–2022 vehicles, and focused on crashes between 2017 and 2022 that resulted in occupant fatalities. Tesla vehicles have a fatal crash rate of 5.6 per billion miles driven, according to the study; Kia is second with a rate of 5.5, and Buick rounds out the top three with a 4.8 rate. The average fatal crash rate for all cars in the United States is 2.8 per billion vehicle miles driven.
It’ll be exciting to see how Elon Musk brings this kind of efficiency to the US government. He should probably get cracking on improving FSD if he’s still worried about birth rates declining.
My guilty pleasure is old TV idents from other countries.
Twitter user @IdentsEveryHour is really one of the only reasons I still use Twitter. I love watching TV station identification graphics from other countries:
Pakapaka - 2020 - Argentina pic.twitter.com/fbWkPHswhA
— Idents Posted Randomly (@IdentEveryHour) November 10, 2024
Adult Swim - 2022 - USA pic.twitter.com/bZkwFGWR0r
— Idents Posted Randomly (@IdentEveryHour) November 10, 2024
M6 Boutique - 2006 - France pic.twitter.com/nrJo9A4qQ9
— Idents Posted Randomly (@IdentEveryHour) November 10, 2024
Saudi Arabia TV2 - 1992 - Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/PYemFJ26EY
— Idents Posted Randomly (@IdentEveryHour) November 10, 2024
ABC - 1983 - Australia pic.twitter.com/fyjawAIkWf
— Idents Posted Randomly (@IdentEveryHour) June 2, 2023
According to a report from the government Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) in February, just 12% of Australians aged 18-24 accessed the news via news websites on the open web. In comparison, a pretty substantial 46% of Australian's in that age bracket accessed news via closed social
Limited edition white Steam Deck launching next week in Australia.
Australia really is finally part of Valve's hardware plan. The company's not only launching a normal lineup of Steam Deck models on November 19, but also a Limited Edition White model with 1TB of storage. Via Valve:
Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White has all the same specs as the Steam Deck OLED 1TB model, but in white and grey (and it comes with an exclusive white carrying case).
In a move that'll surely put Valve's servers to the test, the model will be launching at the same time as the Steam Deck's general Australian availability, Tuesday November 19 at 10am AEDT (Sydney time). And it's apparently a one-time option, so when models sell out for the extra $50 compared to the normal Black model, they're gone for good.
Shipping hardware is hard! And sometimes it's hard to guage the scale of an issue. Just look at early shipments of Amazon's new Kindle Colorsoft, many of which had a "yellow band of discoloration" at the bottom of their screens. Amazon announced it was
Valve has announced exactly when the Steam Deck will be made available in Australia. The company will start selling the handheld console-like PC on November 19 at 10am AEDT (Sydney time). Pricing starts at AU$649 for the 256GB LCD model, with the 512GB OLED model priced at AU$899.
As reported by TechCrunch, the Mozilla Foundation has sacked 30% of staff, including the closure of its open-web advocacy division. It's interesting timing for the news, which will likely be overshadowed by a big news event happening in the US at the moment. Mozilla Foundation lays off 30%