PetulantBandicoot

• In short: Two Russian-born Australians have been charged with spying offences, the first time the new laws have been used.

• The couple allegedly conspired to send sensitive Australian Defence Force material to Russian authorities.

• What's next? Police say further spying charges could be laid as Operation BURGAZADA continues.

🚔

That's extremely devastating.

I thought is was a bit chilly this morning, had to get the beanie out to keep my ears warm

Hello there. Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a Linux distro for grandparents? They are over 70 years old, with an old HP desktop and laptop running Windows 10. All they need is a Web browser, so no need for special software or wine to run Windows programs. Would preferably like something that is low maintenance so I don't have to be constant tech support for them (apart from the initial install and setup). Thanks for any suggestions.

Queensland households will get $1,000 off their electricity bills in 2024–25.

$1,000 will be automatically credited to eligible residential customer bills from 1 July 2024—there is no need to apply. Exact timing will depend on individual billing cycles.

To be eligible, residential customers must have an electricity account with their electricity retailer or embedded network provider on 1 July 2024 and be separately metered and charged for their own electricity consumption.

Seniors, pensioners and concession card holders could get even more through the Queensland Electricity Rebate - ($372)

My energy bill won't be entirely zero, but it will be pretty damn close.

Hi all, there is a new e-petition started by the guys at Stop Killing Games. This has been started, in no small part, thanks to Ubisoft making the game "The Crew" unplayable for all owners world wide.

Excerpt from their website:

An increasing number of videogames are sold as goods, but designed to be completely unplayable for everyone as soon as support ends. The legality of this practice is untested worldwide, and many governments do not have clear laws regarding these actions. It is our goal to have authorities examine this behavior and hopefully end it, as it is an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media.

Petition Request:

• Require software sold in Australia to remain in a functional state after the end of the product’s support period, continuing to operate without any intervention from the publisher.
• Require publishers selling additional features/assets for their software to leave said software in a functional state after the end of the product’s support period, so customers can continue to utilise features/assets they purchased without any intervention from the publisher.
• Establish that these requirements supercede software End-User License Agreements, as many such licenses attempt to strip customers’ right to ownership over their purchased goods, as guaranteed under schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010.

Obviously, if you own "The Crew", you can go right to ACCC or your states/territory consumer protection body to make a complaint. The website even has a guide to file a complaint to the ACCC.

Video from the guy who is starting the campaign: The largest campaign ever to stop publishers destroying games.

If you feel strongly enough on this issue, please go ahead and sign the petition. I think it would be great if the government could get their eyes on this and make some legislation around this so game publishers can't weasel their way out of us owning our purchased game software.

Just look at Valve, they were pretty much forced to make a refund policy for us.

The e-petition closes on the 20th of May at midnight. Thanks for your time 😀

First photo was the 9th of October 2023.

Second photo was the 15th of March 2024.

Still waiting to see if they return that soccer ball.

Ah yes, cause monopolies have never been bad for the customer (looks at supermarkets).