Skip to content

Bits: The Byteside Blog

Recent Posts

Google

Google dropped its 2024 search trends and while there's no surprises when it comes to elections, sport, and celebrities there's a few fun memes lurking high in these charts. Very demure, very mindful.

Overall: US election, Olympics medal tally, Euros, Liam Payne, Taylor Swift, Connections, Copa America, T20 World Cup, Ticketek marketplace, Wheelchair tennis Paralympics
Recipes: Jamie Oliver air fryer, Cucumber salad, Pornstar martini, Olympics chocolate muffins, Oatzempic, Bitter melon, Crumbl cookie, Plant based, Colcannon, Salt tea

My fave surprise is seeing colcannon on the recipe list. A delicious way to make mashed potato a whole lot more delish courtesy of the Irish. When my Mammy busts it out it's always a hit.

Plus a quiet little appearance of "What flavour is the Grimace Shake?" I've tried it and I still don't know...

Also shout out to the 'How to' top ten for having some gems and some worrying signs... #2 was an Infinite Craft question, #5 and #7 were very manosphere related, and #10 was "How to turn off Meta AI" reminding us once again that most normal people don't find the AI being thrust into our apps and services particularly useful.

Home

Petbarn's first ever app has an AI to answer your pet dilemmas

A clever use of generative AI to give you easy answers to pet questions based on a knowledge base of expert advice.

Photograph of a cute dog with heterochromia looking at the camera intently on a yellow background.
Shopping

Byteside gift guide 2024: fun, weird, wonderful, nerdy gift ideas

Lets skip the obvious and explore some clever ideas, shall we?

A pink gift box with gold ribbon photographed from above, with little golden heart glitter all over.
Google

Google Pixel 9 series: what a leap forward... but wait for the 10 if you can

Google has achieved 100% 'flagship' credentials with the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is the place to spend your money on Android... but the missing feature that should arrive in 2025 is worth waiting for.

Woman smiles as she takes a selfie on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and she can see herself in the second screen while using the ph
Home

Oclean X Ultra S is a very clever portable electric toothbrush

App-enabled smart brushing is great, but even if you never use the app this is an excellent brush for regular travellers who want to teeth.

The Oclean X Ultra S toothbrush with the iOS app open on a phone showing brushing information.
Art & Culture

Blunt instruments won't solve the social media challenge

Parents are absent from the picture as politicians skip science to enact bad laws that create some nice feelings but do nothing to solve real problems.

A person, face out of frame, is clutching their smartphone as they look toward its screen and type.
Politics

Labor premiers and federal leaders are sure buying into some solid moral panic on social media and its impact on teens. I'm well on the record as no fan of Facebook, but when it comes to how to write policy we want evidence-based decisions. And one of the world's leading researchers on social media, who also happens to be based here in Australia, shares some choice words about last week's summit over at Crikey.

Inside the moral panic at Australia’s ‘first of its kind’ summit about kids on social media
‘The science is settled,’ the SA premier touted. Meanwhile, experts raised concerns offstage in private breakout discussions.

Art & Culture

11 great panels to hit at PAX Aus 2024

So many panels, so little time. Here's a few highlights to fit in your schedule at this year's PAX in Melbourne.

Photo of a crowd in a large theatre, seated in a blue lit darkened room.
Sport

Sennheiser Momentum Sport review: seriously smart earbuds

With added heart rate tracking in these earbuds, Sennheiser makes them far more valuable for the money if that's a feature that hits your fitness needs.

Two pairs of Sennheiser earbuds in cases for comparison.
Games

Druidic Dualities: Bringing the Cenarion family to Warcraft Rumble

The Warcraft Rumble team explains what goes into planning a whole new faction for the mobile strategy game.

A group of five characters: Onu and Moonkin left, Cenarius centre, Ancient and Brightwing right.
Technology

DJI Power 500 review: sneaky power for tech nerd camping trips

A beautifully designed power station with plenty of power to keep your devices running for extended stays away from home.

The DJI Power 500 power station sitting on grass.
Sport

Shokz OpenRun Pro: the ideal sports headphone experience

Earbuds are doing transparency modes well these days, but nothing does full awareness of the world around you better than bone conduction.

Cyclist checks a car over his shoulder. You can see he's wearing Shokz headphones.
Technology

Espresso displays: hitting the sweet spot for portable displays

The Australian startup has designed top quality hardware that is perfect for those who really want two screens wherever they may work.

A laptop and Espresso display on a busy wooden table.
Sonos

Sonos Ace: excellent headphones for Sonos devotees

For a debut set of headphones, Sonos has leapt to the top-tier consumer range alongside Sony. If you own a Sonos soundbar, it's a particularly attractive option.

White Sonos Ace headphones with carry case and cable accessories on a white background.
Technology

HTC Vive XR Elite: How far have we come?

HTC's latest is another big leap forward for VR fans, but why is it still not enough for everyone else?

The VR headset and pair of controllers floating on a white background.
Games

Exploding Kittens makes offline games for terminally online families

Making games is hard, but the Exploding Kittens company is nailing simple rules with super fun concepts that give great reasons for spending time together around the table.

Exploding Kittens makes offline games for terminally online families
Games

Catan Nationals are underway: There's events all around Australia this winter for hardcore Settlers of Catan players to prove their stuff. Winners will meet at the National Championships in Canberra later in the year to fight for a place at World Championships next year. All the details here.

Players think carefully around a Catan board with many more games spread into the distance behind them.
Home

Projectors get smart and simple: Checking out the new Hisense laser projector range shows just how much easier owning a projector gets these days. With two short throw options, PX2-Pro and PL1H, to suit subtle differences in needs plus a long range option, the C1, the way they run and the features they offer make for a fast trip from unboxing to watching whatever you want.

Crispy colours, Dolby Atmos (both pictures and audio), Game Modes for gamers, and full smart TV features so all your streaming apps are built in and you can be having a good time without plugging any other devices into this one (but of course you can if you want to)? It's a good time to explore projection if it's never been on your radar before.

Sonos

Long-awaited Sonos headphones arrive in June

The multiroom speaker specialists have finally announced the one thing missing from the line up: headphones to Sonos everywhere you go.

Australian fashion designer Pip Edwards wears white Sonos Ace headphones standing by a house door looking ready to g
Technology

6TB portable drives are now a thing: Western Digital just bumped its 2.5-inch drives up to a new record 6TB storage. Just wild how much fits into such a small package now. This is popping up across their portable drive range now, fro My Passport to game drives to G-DRIVE rugged options. A WD My Passport 6TB drive is just $299. They'll also have the WD_BLACK drive for adding 6TB of storage to game consoles. It's TBC on pricing.