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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 20 - 25 NOVEMBER, 2023
Hello and Welcome,
Meeting TODAY
2023/11/18 — 14:00-16:00 — November, Sat — Web Design
Meeting This Week
2023/11/21 — 10:00-12:00 — November, Tue — Tuesday Group
Meetings Next Week
NO MEETINGS
Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings
First Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting
First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group
Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming
Third Tuesday 10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group
Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design
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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.
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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The following meetings are in January, March and May 2024.
ASCCA News:Tech News:
Optus says a routine software upgrade caused a 14-hour network outage
See The Guardian article by Josh Taylor | Mon 13 Nov 2023 17.54 AEDT.
After criticism of its compensation offer of 200GB of free data, the telco will establish a complaints team for small businesses.
Optus Very Sorry
Optus says Wednesday's 14-hour outage resulted from a routine software upgrade that took Optus's network offline and forced staff to reboot services across the country physically.
It comes as the company moved to establish a dedicated complaints team for small businesses affected and said it would work to "resolve concerns" after criticism of the company's compensation offer.
A spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the cause of the outage was changing to routing information from an international peering network after a routine software upgrade at 4.05 am on Wednesday.
"These routing information changes propagated through multiple layers in our network and exceeded preset safety levels on key routers which could not handle these. This resulted in those routers disconnecting from the Optus IP Core network to protect themselves," a spokesperson said.
"The restoration required a large-scale team effort and, in some cases, required Optus to reconnect or reboot routers physically, requiring the dispatch of people across many sites in Australia. This is why restoration was progressive over the afternoon."
This explanation was in line with what experts had suggested caused the outage.
Time to switch from Optus? We've got Four mobile and NBN alternatives for you
See the TechRadar article by Jasmine Gearie published on 11 November 2023.
Switch from Optus?
You could get better coverage by changing providers and saving money too.
Are you looking to switch from Optus? If the Optus network outage on November 8 and you are ready to move on from the telco, we've found four alternatives for your mobile and internet needs.
Along with Optus' mobile and NBN customers, consumers using 'virtual' mobile providers on the Optus network could also not access phone and data services during the 13-hour-long outage. That includes Amaysim, Aussie Broadband, Coles Mobile and Moose Mobile customers.
The recommendations on this page are entirely off the Optus network, so our picks for mobile alternatives use the Telstra network (at a much lower price than Telstra). Our NBN picks either come in at a much lower cost than Optus; or offer some of the perks of Optus such as 4G backup.
FOUR ALTERNATIVES TO OPTUS
Best SIM-only Optus alternative
— Everyday Mobile — | 110 GB data (first three months, then 55 GB) | No lock-in contract | AU$ 40p/m.
Woolworths Mobile has rebranded as Everyday Mobile, and it uses parts of Telstra's 4G and 5G networks for its coverage. This 5G plan offers double data, so you'll get 110 GB each month for your first three months before it reverts to the standard inclusion of 55 GB. Any data you don't use goes into a data bank that holds up to 1000 GB (if you know you'll need more data, you'll find more double data 5G plans on the Everyday Mobile website).
Moreover, if you're an Everyday Rewards member, this plan also gets you 10% off at a Woolies shop once a month.
Total minimum cost is AU$ 40 | Total cost for first year: AU$ 480.
Best cheap SIM-only Optus alternative
— Boost Mobile — | 170 GB data | 365-day expiry | AU$ 195 for a 365-day renewal (usually AU$ 230 for 170 GB renewal).
If you're looking for the ultimate money-saving plan, our recommendation is this Boost Mobile 365-day prepaid option. It usually costs AU$ 230 for 170 GB to use over 12 months (equivalent to 14 GB per month), but if you pick up the SIM from eBay, you can snag it for just AU$ 195. That's a year's worth of mobile coverage for a bargain price. Boost Mobile is excellent because it uses the full Telstra network, with both 4G and 5G accessible. If you don't want to buy from eBay, you can pick it up from Boost Mobile for AU$ 230.
Total minimum cost is AU$ 195 (eBay) / AU$ 230 (Boost Mobile).
Best cheap NBN Optus alternative
— Flip — | NBN 50 | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$ 59p/m (first 6 months, then AU$ 69.90p/m).
If you want to switch to a more affordable plan, Flip's NBN plans are some of the cheapest in the market. This 50 Mbps option is our top pick for the best NBN plan, as it has a low introductory offer of AU$ 59 a month, which only increases up to AU$ 69.90 after your first six months. The plan promises a typical evening speed of 50 Mbps, the same speed offered by Optus, just at a much lower price.
Total minimum cost: AU$ 59 | Total cost for the first year: AU$ 773.40 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$ 838.80.
Optus NBN alternative with 4G backup
— Internode — | NBN 50 | Unlimited data | No lock-in contract | AU$ 59.99p/m (first 6 months, then AU$ 79.99p/m).
One of the perks of an Optus NBN plan is that its modem comes with 4G backup, keeping you connected if your fixed-line NBN connection suffers an outage. This feature would not have been useful during the nationwide network outage. If you want to switch to a provider offering 4G backup, we recommend either Internode or iiNet. Both providers use Vodafone's network for their 4G backup, but the maximum speed available is only 12 Mbps.
Total minimum cost: AU$ 59.99 | Total cost for the first year: AU$ 839.88 | Yearly cost after discount: AU$ 959.88.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
-- Want more options? Here are the best phone plans in Australia.
-- Time to switch? Telstra's popular NBN 50 plan now costs AU$ 100 monthly.
-- Need superfast NBN? This Superloop deal is the only one worth getting.
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max): maximum power, maximum price tag.
See the TechRadar article by Matt Hanson, last updated on 7 November 2023.
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max)
The most powerful MacBook ever.
TechRadar Verdict
The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) is the latest and greatest version of Apple's powerful prosumer laptop. With a choice of the new M3 Pro or M3 Max chips and support for up to 128 GB unified memory, this incredibly powerful laptop is ideal for heavy workloads, especially graphically intensive ones. With a boosted GPU coupled with macOS Sonoma's Game Mode, this is also the first MacBook we'd recommend as a gaming device. It won't be for everyone at this price, but it's an incredible bit of tech.
Pros
— Incredible performance
— Gaming on a MacBook is now a thing!
— Space Black is a welcome new colour option
Cons
— Very expensive
— Only nine months since the last version
TWO-MINUTE REVIEW
Apple's October reveal of the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) range was both unexpected timing and risky. We expected that Apple would bring out a successor to the M2-based MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) at some point, but only some Apple watchers thought it would happen a mere 10 months later.
It's a risky move for several reasons. For a start, it risks annoying people who bought the last MacBook Pro 16-inch — particularly the maxed-out M2 Max model — who will have thought they'd have some time before the costly laptop they just purchased was superseded. Trying to stay at the cutting edge of computing products is a ridiculous and expensive pastime. While the M3 Pro and M3 Max reveal don't suddenly make the M2 versions redundant, I can see why this might leave a bitter taste in many people's mouths.
It also risks making the whole M2 generation look like a misfire, which Apple is keen to move on from. While the leap from M1 to M2 wasn't giant, it didn't feel like a misfire — at least not until Apple launched not just the M3 at its October Scary Fast event but also the M3 Pro and M3 Max, along with replacements for 10-month-old laptops and a new iMac that completely skipped the M2 (you can also read our Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch M3 Max review, and our Apple iMac 24-inch (M3) review).
The good news is that with a starting price of $2,499 / £2,599 / AU$ 4,299, you're getting the performance upgrades of the M3 series for the same price at the previous generation started; well, that's good news for people who held off buying the M2 Pro or M2 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro, although it could be seen as yet another insult to anyone who did buy those laptops, especially if they did so only a few weeks ago.
As with previous models, you can choose a variety of configurations, including M3 Pro or M3 Max chips and up to 128 GB of unified memory — and you'll want to make sure you nail your options before you buy, as you can't upgrade the laptops afterwards. Of course, the better specs you go for, the more money this expensive laptop will cost.
Also, unlike the new 14-inch MacBook Pro, there isn't a more affordable option with the base M3 chip, so I can only recommend the MacBook Pro 16-inch to people with the budget and need for such a powerful machine.
If that's you, then this could be your new favourite laptop. It keeps the same best-in-class screen from previous models. It has a stunning 16.2-inch display with a sharp 3456 x 2234 resolution and Liquid Retina XDR tech, offering 1,600 nits of peak brightness for incredible vividness and dynamic contrast. The ProMotion tech also allows for 120 Hz refresh rates, which keeps the macOS operating system and any app you run (or website you scroll through) feeling fast, smooth and responsive.
A fantastic array of ports, including plenty of USB-Cs, an HDMI and memory card reader, gives professionals plenty of flexibility when using the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) when out and about.
Performance-wise, this is an impeccable workstation, with Apple building on the already impressive M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBooks. There wasn't a task the new 16-inch MacBook Pro couldn't handle during my testing, even when editing 4K footage with multiple 4K and 8K video files, and it also did an impressive job of running the latest games. With the new 16-inch MacBook Pro (and the 14-inch model), Apple might have just come out with the first gaming MacBook. No longer is its 'Pro' range of MacBooks all work and no play.
APPLE MACBOOK PRO 16-INCH (M3) REVIEW: PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Official release on November 7
Starts at $2,499 / £2,599 / AU$ 4,299
Same starting price as the previous model
The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3) was announced at Apple's Scary Fast event on October 30 and will be released on November 7, 2023. That makes it slightly over nine months since the last model was released on January 24, 2023.
The launch may well have set a record (and not a good one) for the shortness of lifespan for a new device, as the 16-inch MacBook Pros with M2 Pro and M2 Max chips were discontinued as soon as Apple announced the new M3 Pro and M3 Max versions. That's sure to annoy many people who only bought the latest and most powerful MacBook Pros less than a year ago.
You'd also be forgiven for wondering if this new MacBook Pro 16-inch will itself become outdated in just nine months. That seems unlikely, but I'd have said the same in January of this year — there was a gap of 14 months between the M1 Pro and M1 Max 16-inch MacBook Pros and the M2 versions. And, while the M2 and M1 models, are still supported by Apple if no longer sold by it, I wouldn't blame you for being cautious. Always having the latest model of a MacBook is going to be difficult — and expensive — at the best of times, but for a new model to be replaced in just nine months feels a bit cheeky. Would Apple attempt to do that with an iPhone?
At least Apple has kept the starting price of the new MacBook Pro 16-inch the same, at $2,499 / £2,599 / AU$ 4,299, which gets you a version with the M3 Pro chip, which comes with a 12-core CPU, 18-core GPU, 18 GB of unified memory and 512 GB SSD.
That means you're getting a big boost with the M3 Pro, plus more memory (the rather odd 18 GB compared to the M2 Pro model's 16 GB), for no additional cost. That's nice for people who had been weighing up the M2 Pro version until a few weeks ago, although it could be construed as another slap in the face for people who've bought the M2 Pro.
The good news, however, is that while Apple has stopped selling the M2 Pro and M2 Max MacBook Pro 16-inch models, other retailers are still selling them, and they will likely be quite keen to clear inventory to make way for the M3 generation. That means you may be able to pick up an M2 Pro or M2 Max model with a hefty price cut, especially during the upcoming Black Friday deals event — and because those laptops are less than a year old, you could get a still-excellent laptop for a bargain price.
You can also get the 16-inch model with the same M3 Pro chip, 36 GB of memory and 512 GB SSD for $2,899 / £2,999 / AU$ 4,899.
The next step comes with the more powerful M3 Max chip, which features a 14-core CPU, 30-core GPU, 36 GB unified memory and 1TB SSD for $3,499 / £3,599 / AU$ 5,999. Finally, you can get a model with the M3 Max with a 16-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 48 GB Unified Memory and 1TB of storage for $3,999 / $4,099 [ Probably means £4,099 — Ed. ] / AU$ 6,899.
You can also configure the new 16-inch MacBook Pro with 64 GB or 128 GB of memory and up to 8TB of SSD storage.
The fully-specced out version will set you back an immense $7,199 / ££7,299 / AU$ 11,699. If you're one of the few people who can a) afford this and b) need this kind of power, you'll need to allow for two to three weeks for it to be delivered.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro is undoubtedly a premium workstation laptop with the price tag to prove it. While this will put many people off, others who require powerful hardware for work may see this as a good investment — the lingering worry that Apple could drop a follow-up less than a year later notwithstanding.
Unlike the MacBook Pro 14-inch (M3), which launched alongside it, the 16-inch model isn't available in a more affordable version with the base M3 chip — this is the first time the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros have differed in terms of the range of processor options.
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If our Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max) review has you considering other options, here are two more laptops to consider...
Dell XPS 17
If you're after a Windows laptop that offers a large screen and plenty of power, then the Dell XPS 17 is a great alternative. It has a beautifully sleek design that makes the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max) look positively bloated, though it lacks the ports and pure power of Apple's workstation.
Check out our Dell XPS 17 (2022) review.
LG Gram 16
Love the idea of a large screen laptop, but balk at the… well, bulk, of the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max)? Then check out the LG Gram 16, an incredibly capable laptop that despite its large screen, weighs a fraction of what the MacBook Pro tips the scales at, making it a more portable choice.
Check out our LG Gram 16 (2022) review.
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Containers pile up after DP World Australia hit by network attack
See the iTWire article by Sam Varghese | Monday, 13 November, 2023, at 09:49 am.
A network attack has hit stevedore DP World Australia and has shut down its operations since 10 am on Friday.
The company, which the UAE owns, runs container terminals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
It handles about 40% of the cargo arriving in or leaving Australia.
The company could still allow ships to offload or pick up containers, but the trucks' IT systems to communicate with the stevedore needed to be operating.
About 30,000 containers were piled up on the docks over the weekend as they could not be loaded onto trucks for onward delivery.
DP World Australia has made no public statement about the incident. iTWire has contacted the company for comment.
Neither the Home Affairs department nor the national cyber security coordinator have made any public comment.
No ransomware group has as yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Fun Facts:
New 'AI Pin' Projects Images onto Your Palm
See the InfoPackets article by John Lister on November 13, 2023, at 03:11 pm EST.
Hand-Projector
Is it possible to replace a smartphone with an 'AI pin'? One manufacturer thinks so. The device works by using both the pin (worn on a shirt) and one's hand to navigate menus while viewing an image. Think of it like Star Trek, the Next Generation's badge intercom, but with more features.
The AI Pin from Humane is a weird device. One description uses the unlikely phrase "wearable projector," though it also includes other features commonly associated with smartphones.
It is about two inches square and weighs just under two ounces. It's mainly flat but has a tilted top with a camera and projector. It comprises two parts (the battery pack and computer), which stick together magnetically. The idea is to wear these either on the side of a shirt or lapel, so there's no need for a pin or clip, though pacemaker users might want to think twice. (Source: zdnet.com)
AI-Projector
Palm Based Controls
The best way to think of the device is as having some key features and components of a smartphone without the screen. When users need to see imagery, such as a message or email, they can project an image, for example, onto the palm of their hand. The idea is this is only for quick reading rather than extended viewing of images or videos.
When the projection is on a palm, the users can control the device with a dedicated user interface based on hand gestures. These include tilting the hand back and forth to move up and down menus, pinching the thumb and finger to select an option, and making a fist to return to the home screen.
The device can play audio through a speaker designed to be audible to the user without disturbing others. It also supports Bluetooth earphones. There's a built-in camera, with an accompanying light that warns people nearby when the device is recording or taking photos.
There's also support for voice commands, such as sending messages or asking questions, which an AI 'assistant' answers.
Monthly Subscription Required
The AI Pin costs $699 plus a $24 subscription to cover a cellular connection through T-Mobile. This includes a dedicated phone number for making and receiving voice calls (albeit without being able to hold the microphone near the mouth). (Source: ma.ne)
Whether it succeeds beyond the most dedicated tech collectors remains to be seen. If it works as described, it could be an adequate replacement for many smartphone tasks, with the significant exceptions of browsing websites and watching videos. For most users, those are important enough to justify the bulk of carrying a smartphone in a pocket or bag.
Comments
Limited use — Submitted by Dennis Faas on Mon, 13/11/2023 — 15:30.
Most people are like walking zombies in public, glued to their smartphones while typing back and forth with friends and family and browsing the Internet. This device would undoubtedly detract from that, so it has limited capabilities. I can see it being handy if you're in a place where you can't constantly reach into your pocket to grab the phone — like when you're underground cleaning a sewer, for example, or you need to be hands-free always. Paying $24 monthly for a separate subscription would also be painful unless you can tie it to your smartphone with Bluetooth.
Another invention seeks a use — Submitted by repete_14444 on Mon, 13/11/2023 — 21:11.
I partly agree with you, Dennis. People are glued to their smartphones for an average of 3 to 4 hours daily (depending on who you believe). If this replaced a smartphone, wouldn't people be looking at their palms instead? It would be better than reaching into a pocket or whatever to grab the phone, but a Bluetooth headset could take care of some of those needs and save one about $600 plus $24 a month. Also, projecting an image on my palm would probably be unreadable. It's a waste of money.
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