Australian Tech

In short:

Around 75,000 battery storage systems were installed last year, up 47 per cent from 2023.

Current modelling estimates the payback time on a battery system at around eight years for a typical household.

What's next?

A wide range of experts, including a former RBA deputy governor, are calling for the federal government to introduce household battery subsidies to encourage uptake.

Got a family member coming from overseas to stay. He wants to know if theres a well priced 'pay as you go' Sim available. He's very price conscious.

Does anyone have a recommendation they think we should look at?

*His handset apparently cant take an eSim though.

In short:

An Australian start-up has launched the "first commercialised biological computer" made of human brain cells at a conference in Barcelona.

The team behind it believe it could be used as a type of simple biological AI, but others are cautious about the technology's potential.

What's next?

Researchers in this space highlight the potential ethical ramifications, but say the current systems are too primitive to feel or understand.

A $1 million fine imposed by Australia's online safety regulator is "unfair and disproportionate", according to online messaging platform Telegram.

In March 2024, eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant gave Telegram, WhatsApp, Google, Reddit and X legally enforceable transparency reporting notices.

The notices required each platform to answer questions about measures they had in place to tackle terrorist and extremist material on their sites.

Telegram and Reddit were also specifically asked about the measures they were taking to combat child sexual abuse material, a topic other services had already been asked about in previous reporting notices.

All other platforms engaged by the May 2024 deadline, but Telegram provided a response five months later and was in turn fined $957,780. (emphasis added)

Video here (11m55s): https://youtube.com/watch?v=4rR57tXdOHQ

In short:

Australian researchers have detected more than 20 mysterious signals in space using new technology developed by CSIRO.

The technology, CRACO, examines trillions of pixels it receives by telescope to identify anomalies.

The study results have been published in the peer-reviewed Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

archive.org

In short:

A dedicated artificial intelligence (AI) act should be created that can regulate the most high-risk technologies, a bipartisan committee has agreed.

It also accused tech giants of stealing from Australian creators, and urged the government to develop a scheme to ensure fair remuneration when creative work is used by AI tools.

What's next?

The federal government is developing a model to address high-risk AI technology.

The move came after employees working for OPTF were approached by the Victoria police and Australian federal police over several months including via help chat messages, letters and phone calls. Victoria police also visited the apartment of an employee late last year, asking questions about the app and its encrypted messaging, the company says.

Under anti-terrorism laws passed in 2018, law enforcement can issue notices requiring developers to assist with an investigation. This can include technical assistance which could require companies to build capability for law enforcement to break the encryption used in their services.

But the powers have rarely been used. And if they had, neither the AFP or the services targeted can divulge what an organisation has been ordered to do.

The office of the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, was approached for comment.

The Greens digital rights spokesperson, Senator David Shoebridge, said it was a problem if Australia had policies hostile to end-to-end encryption while privacy law was failing to protect people’s personal information.

He said the AFP approaching Session employees was “seriously troubling”.

“Are police now taking the view that just trying to protect your privacy makes you potentially guilty?

“We need a sovereign tech industry that delivers safe and secure products for local users and to make this happen the industry is telling us they urgently need an effective suite of privacy and data laws.”

Good to see this getting some coverage in mainstream outlets, and by the Greens.

Did the image need to be a spooky-scary guy, though?

Slightly old news (the announcement was made on 9 Oct) but I figured it's still worth posting so people can check out some Australian-made games.

There are several sources covering the same report with differing slants - I'd say this is one of the more negative pieces.

See also:

• Digital Transformation Agency: the reports themselves
• Digital Transformation Agency: Evaluation of whole-of-government trial into generative AI: Now available
• ACS Information Age: Govt flags 'challenges' of Microsoft Copilot AI trial
• The Decoder: Australian government pilots Microsoft Copilot with mixed results
• ARN: DTA trial of Microsoft Copilot flags integration, data permission issues

Was looking on the Telstra page teaching customers about the benefits of 5G and found this gem.

Session, the encrypted messaging app known for its commitment to privacy and decentralization, announced a change of base from Australia to Switzerland.

[...]

The move to Switzerland follows a tense period in Australia, where law enforcement scrutiny of encrypted apps like Session has intensified. According to a report by 404 Media, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers visited the home of a Session employee last year, inquiring about the app’s operations and one of its users. This incident, along with Australia’s new surveillance laws, pushed Session to relocate.

See also:

• **[login-walled] 404 Media:** Encrypted chat app ‘Session’ leaves Australia after visit from police (archived link)
• Bruce Schneier: Australia threatens to force companies to break encryption (from September)

In short:

Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Matthew Bailes has won the 2024 Prime Minister's Prize for Science.

He was recognised for his work in discovering fast radio bursts with colleagues Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin.

Professor Bailes now leads the OzGrav centre to coordinate Australia's research into gravitational wave science.

If your provider is unable to verify VoLTE support for your device, it may be blocked from Australian networks from the 1st of November 2024.

cross-posted from: https://sopuli.xyz/post/17129254

The federal government is encouraging more people to use artificial intelligence. But this blind hype dismisses the harms caused by the new technology.

The Australian government this week released voluntary artificial intelligence (AI) safety standards, alongside a proposals paper calling for greater regulation of the use of the fast-growing technology in high-risk situations.

The take-home message from federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, was:

We need more people to use AI and to do that we need to build trust.

But why exactly do people need to trust this technology? And why exactly do more people need to use it?