Bezos straps in for space trip

The National Broadband Network has suggested the first major overhaul to how its pricing is structured for resellers, with the existing price structure an eternal point of argument due to the Connectivity Virtual Circuit (CVC) charge which puts excess charges for data consumption onto resellers with no real association to the cost of providing the service. So NBN has tabled a new proposed pricing scheme that removes CVC while increasing base charges, with indexed increases in charges at rates above annual inflation. That's a big catch, and major telcos are cautiously considering the proposal, with the clear concern that a new method of enforcing the same or greater pricing is still far from ideal.https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-offers-to-axe-cvc-in-exchange-for-yearly-price-hikes-565579Turning to the pandemic, the system for giving Australians a verification of their COVID-19 vaccinations is now at the ready, with word the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) will be updated as part of every Australian's myGov account and linked with Medicare, with a COVID vaccination certificate available from next week once people have received their second shot. All healthcare providers will be required to upload vaccination data into the system from July onward within 10 days of vaccination taking place.https://www.zdnet.com/article/covid-19-vaccine-digital-certificate-coming-this-week-for-australians/In global tax news with big implications for the tech industry's use of clever accounting to dodge paying taxes, the G7 nations have agreed to a minimum corporate tax rate of 15% to build consistency and, with consistency, reduce the incentives to apply complex practices to offshore revenues based on spurious loopholes over where the IP of a company resides.https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-06/g7-agrees-to-tax-multinationals-more/100193646Apple has kicked off its second virtual WWDC early this morning with a keynote video event featuring all the big new software updates users and developers should expect when iOS 15, watchOS 8 and macOS Monterey launch later this year. Last year was a major overhaul of the basics, and this year sees a lot of new features big and small spread out across iPhones, iPads and Macs. FaceTime is getting one of the smoothest systems we've seen for syncing music or videos remotely, and you will also now be able to schedule a FaceTime call and share it with Android and Windows friends. AirPods will be able to read notifications, Spatial Audio is coming to AirPods while watching your Apple TV, Siri will be arriving in third-party devices, iCloud is getting VPN and Hide My Email features for free and support for your custom domains for the first time. And in privacy updates Mail will now block tracking pixels and Safari will hide IP addresses to make it even harder for you to be tracked without your consent. Loads more we'll unpack on this week's Byteside podcast (yes, it's back this week).In a dazzling display of optimism, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has announced he intends to be aboard the first ever crewed flight to space for his space company Blue Origin. The sub-orbital New Shepard flight is set to take off on July 20, and as mentioned in the previous line this is the first EVER crewed flight for the spacecraft, making it an incredibly dangerous endeavour. SpaceX has been sending crews to the ISS multiple times now and even Elon Musk still hasn't decided to take a joyride. And he's crazy.https://www.cnet.com/news/jeff-bezos-will-fly-on-blue-origins-first-crewed-rocket-to-space/In gaming, Dungeons & Dragons has revealed the first details of the next campaign adventure setting, The Wild Beyond The WitchLight, which brings players into the Feywild for the first time in the current 5th Edition of the game. We don't know much yet, but the cover suggests a circus setting that probably has some dark hidden secrets behind the scenes. They have said it will feature a story suitable for ...

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More from Bits: daily tech news bulletin

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  9. 04:53Bezos straps in for space tripJun 08, 2021
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