Good morning, hope you’re keeping well. We’ve got some tech news if you’re interested.
1. NBN Co gets $2.4 billion
In the lead-up to the federal election, the now-government promised to give NBN Co some cash to help its rollout of a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) network refurb. Well, the government has come through with its pledge and the company rolling out the National Broadband Network can get more of its FTTP to FTTN transition done. The new investment will enable an additional 1.5 million homes and businesses currently served by FTTN to upgrade to FTTP. It follows from Tuesday’s announcement more homes were getting upgrades.
Today we announced additional suburbs where 300,000 premises will become eligible for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) upgrades. https://t.co/kRrsHz3Wfx pic.twitter.com/c0dGVmRlWw
— nbn® Australia (@NBN_Australia) October 18, 2022
2. Medibank data breach is bad, actually
Medibank last week revealed it had suffered a ‘cyber incident’ but as of yesterday, new info was released that showed how bad the incident actually was. Medibank said it has received messages from a group that “wishes to negotiate with the company regarding their alleged removal of customer data”. Hackers, meanwhile, say they’ve obtained data from the health insurance company and have threatened to release the private medical information of high-profile Australians if a ransom isn’t paid.
3. Uber to further monetise your trips
It seems Uber just isn’t content with letting users travel in peace and awkward silence during their point-to-point trips. The ride-hailing company now plans to advertise to users at every point of a trip from the moment you open the app. These ads will potentially appear on multiple screens, blasting consumers with new products with the same subtlety as a clown following the car on a kid-sized tricycle trying to get your attention through the car window.
Toot toot beep beep
— Uber (@Uber) October 19, 2022
4. Apple workers walk out
Workers at Apple stores in Australia went on strike for an hour and according to Business Insider, are refusing to repair AirPods or handle deliveries in a dispute over pay and conditions. The Retail and Fast Food Workers’ Union announced that workers had walked off the job at two stores in Brisbane and one in Newcastle. The action follows the failure to reach an agreement over a pay deal that would have included a real-terms wage cut and the prospect of some staff working 60-hour weeks without overtime pay.
5. A BoM-med name change
The other day, The Australian Bureau of Meteorology declared it no longer wanted to be called the BoM and instead it wanted to adopt the moniker used by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation – The Bureau. But its attempt to be taken more seriously turns out to have been a little bit more costly than we first thought. As per the ABC, the rebrand set the weather agency back a cool $220,000-plus. All that and they didn’t even sort out their social media handles before going live with the news.
BONUS ITEM: Real-life snakes on a plane? A nope noodle made its way onto a flight headed for Newark.
Hisssseee you tomorrow. (sorry)