Musk flips on Tesla privatisation plans
Just two weeks after Elon Musk attracted the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when he tweeted his plans to take Tesla private, Tesla’s board has confirmed such a move will not happen. “Elon communicated to the Board that after having done this work and considered all factors, he believes the better path is to no longer pursue a transaction for taking Tesla private,” said Tesla’s board in a statement. In a separate statement, Musk explained that the process of privatisation “would be even more time-consuming and distracting than initially anticipated.”
Remote access scams on the rise
The ACCC is warning Australians to stay diligent online after revealing a recent spate of scams impersonating well-known businesses has cost the country millions. Known as remote access scams, scammers use the technique to gain access to computers and steal money or banking information using software such as TeamViewer. The ACCC said that there has already been 8,000 reported cases of such scams in Australia this year, with losses totalling $4.4 million – already surpassing figures from 2017. Telstra, NBN, Microsoft and the police are some of the organisations that scammers have attempted to leverage.
No jail time for 3D-printed gun “fanboy”
A 28-year-old NSW man who printed and attempted to sell 3D-printed weapons has avoided jail time and instead been handed a 12-month suspended sentence after a judge ruled he posed a low overall risk. Sicen Sun was arrested last year after police found both digital blueprints for guns and an illegally manufactured pistol in his possession. One of his guns was also found for sale on Facebook with a $1 million price tag. The judge explained that Sun did not reasonably expect the gun to be bought at such a price, but instead wanted to receive acknowledgement for his work. Sun has previously been described by his lawyers a “fanboy” and allegedly used the replica firearms as costume props.
Bitcoin now uses nearly 1% of world’s energy
According to testimony provided by Princeton computer scientist Arvind Narayanan to the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Bitcoin mining now takes up nearly 1% of the world’s total energy consumption, or about five gigawatts. Bitcoin mining is incredibly electricity intensive, with major mining operations located in China and around the world building massive dedicated systems to “win” the valuable currency.
Ecommerce boosts AusPost profits
Australia Post’s profit saw a 41 per cent boost to $134 million this year, thanks largely to the booming business for parcel deliveries. AusPost handles 82% of the nation’s ecommerce deliveries, and the volume of parcel deliveries increased by 11% in the last year, even as the number of letters declined by 10%.