Want to know the latest news on digital world in Australia? Here are five newsflashes you might find interesting.
1. Do you want to know the cost when Facebook crashes? It’s worst than just not being able to cross-post your Instagram pics. So many people now use Facebook to log into multiple sites that when it goes down – twice this week, including 40 mins this morning – there’s a huge domino effect. With so many businesses integrated with Facebook, that means a hit to the bottom line. Dynatrace has crunched the numbers, calculating that a 0.5 second increase in loading times can mean a revenue hit of 11%.
2. Uber is going legit, at least in Canberra. The ACT government announced today that it will legalise the ride-sharing app from October 30 as UberX prepares to hit the national capital, becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to tackle the issue head on. And listening to taxi industry concerns, licence fees will drop from $20,000 to just $5000 over the next two years. That’s a very different tack to the London approach, where the city has essentially declared war on the Uber.
3. Netflix bingers, the moment you’ve been waiting for has arrived. It’s called the Netflix Switch, a DIY box that lets you dim the lights, switch off the phone and order takeaway as you settle in for a movie marathon. Netflix has helpfully produced a video for what’s essentially a Dick Smith electronics kit (ask a Boomer) for Millennials.
4. All you’ve ever wanted to know about Atlassian, the cheat sheet. The epic version is well worth a read. However, here are 24 great quotes from co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar that provide an insight into the thinking behind the Australian tech success story ahead of its US IPO, which looks set to value the business at $3 billion.
5. Manly, the Sydney seaside suburb that attracts around 8 million visitors annually, has installed Microsoft monitoring software in its CCTV cameras to keep an eye out for dodgy parkers and send in the rangers to book everyone. Be careful, the Big Brother is watching you.