tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-165028182026-04-17T20:40:24.731+10:00Net TravellerAbout technology, travel and lifestyle, by Tom Worthington.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.comBlogger5822125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-53311510086940184162026-03-11T13:45:00.000+11:002026-03-11T13:45:29.925+11:00Kuranda Scenic RailwayGreetings from the Kuranda Scenic Railway, near Cairns in Queensland. Originally built for mining, it passes waterfalls and views down the mountains to the coast. These two photos were taken from the train at the same location, on from the left window, the other the right.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-7835622075290867322026-03-07T07:45:00.006+11:002026-03-08T13:02:20.443+11:00Tilt Train into Tropic ThunderRoma Street railway station Brisbane Greetings from the Spirit of Queensland train, at Mackay, Queensland. We left Brisbane yesterday afternoon and traveled through the night, past flooded fields. There is Tropical Low 30U in our path ahead and it is unlikely we will reach our destination of Cairns (lows do not get the romantic names of cyclones). This tilt train is comfortable and well Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-54052730725578837792026-02-25T11:29:00.009+11:002026-02-25T11:50:48.035+11:00Australian Internet Domain Names Licensing ReviewGreetings from the .au Licensing Rules Review consultation in Canberra.
auDA is a not for profit organization with a legislated license to
administer Internet domain names which end in .au auDA
will be holding face to face consultations in Brisbane, Sydney &
Melbourne, with online consultations as well. auDA is keen to get input.
I offered to help by coming up with controversial Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-42428652300391891122026-02-05T18:02:00.006+11:002026-02-05T19:09:06.913+11:00Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagementGreetings from the launch of the USSC report Australia-Taiwan relations: Policy options and priorities for engagement . This is a timely report, given the uncertain geopolitical situation in our part of the world. This afternoon I drafted my presentation for Australian Defense Tech Hackathon, which starts tomorrow. In my presentation I make the point that senior military people look at Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-23205683893970114172025-11-20T08:17:00.005+11:002025-11-20T08:23:50.447+11:00Despatch Australian Made World's Largest Battery Ship to Türkiye as Climate Talks VenueThis is to suggest the Australian Government borrow Hull 096 from Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat and send it to Türkiye as a venue for climate change negotiations. The world’s largest battery powered ship, which can carry 2,100 passengers is being completed for service in South America. The vessel could be temporarily renamed "Australia". This would send a message to the world that Australia is Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-39436695167037997652025-11-14T02:22:00.003+11:002025-11-14T02:25:18.775+11:00Voices of SingaporeUp to now I have not been impressed with Google AI. It seemed to just paraphrase the top search hit. But this afternoon wanting something to go to in Singapore I was frustrated by a lack of useful web hits so asked AI. This had several interesting results the first of which was an Autumn Concert for Lovely Moon at Voices of Singapore. This was an eclectic mix on European, Chinese and Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-51697855933574346272025-11-04T19:05:00.004+11:002025-11-05T22:09:19.878+11:00History of Singapore Coffee ShopsGreetings from the Foochow Coffee Restaurant & Bar Merchants Association Singapore free muesuim on Singapore coffee shops. You need to go into the building foyer and up to the 4th floor and through the doors. Staff turned on the lights and gave a detailed talk. Or just wander around. Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-74924502461441912922025-10-22T09:43:00.005+11:002025-10-22T09:43:21.339+11:00Charging for Electric TrucksWindrose electric prime mover, Photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY 20 October 2025In Australian cities there are now chargers at major box retailer's car-parks and shopping centers. There are also small chargers on electricity poles in inner city streets. This week I saw a Windrose electric prime mover at an interstate highway service station, charging at the regular car chargers. Unfortunately, it Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-39294218949564771432025-09-11T16:06:00.003+10:002025-09-11T16:08:08.638+10:00Designing Large Drone Weapons Systems in AustraliaGhost Shark submarines at announcement, Photo by Anduril 9 September 2025The Australian Government yesterday announced it will spend $1.7bn on a fleet of several dozen Ghost Shark submarines. These will be uncrewed, and made in Sydney by US company Anduril. This received limited media coverage as most of the capabilities and some of the purposes of the submarines are classified. I was asked to Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-571938651978605022025-09-06T10:56:00.002+10:002025-09-06T11:08:06.242+10:00Using an Android Phone as a Desktop ComputerEquipment to turn phone into a desktop computer, Photo by Tom Worthington, CC-BY, 6 September 2025After years of trying, yesterday I was finally able to plug my generic Android phone into a monitor, keyboard and mouse, to turn it into a desktop computer. This was with a Unihertz Atom L phone running Android 11, a second hand Dell D6000s Usb-C Docking Station and an unbranded USB-A To Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-64984482386933228642025-08-20T13:24:00.005+10:002025-08-21T09:04:28.199+10:00Fearless Women in fiction and reality Greetings from the Canberra Bowling Club, where I am attending an author talk by Catherine McCullagh. The event is hosted by Fearless Women for book week. Catherine writes alternate history novels about strong women around WWII. I am not sure why I am here. I received an invitation via LinkedIn, but not sure who from. While a fan of alternate history war stories but who knows that?The Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-85607772467509406962025-08-15T17:48:00.011+10:002025-08-21T17:46:05.511+10:00Voice data wireless modem for a return of the home phoneTP-Link TL-MR6500v, N300 4G LTE Telephony Wi-Fi RouterMy home wireless internet service has been working very reliably. However, after being rushed to hospital in an ambulance recently, I thought it might be useful to have a home phone. In an emergency I don't want to hunt around to find a phone and hope it works. So I connected my home wired phone to a 4G modem. I could not find a single Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-39812077285181833822025-07-25T18:56:00.010+10:002025-07-26T09:42:49.342+10:00User Group Alive and Well in Sydney Greetings from the Sydney Linux User Group (SLUG) meeting at Google Sydney. I haven't been to a Slug meeting for years. It is good to see nothing has changed. The same pizza and soda, the same talk topic made entirely of acronyms and attendees who look like extras from Big Bang Theory.Slug talks are very technical and practical. This is about advanced software which anyone can use. Tonight was onTom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-86528115270463765452025-07-14T10:19:00.006+10:002025-07-14T10:19:38.471+10:00HIR, a play about what? Yesterday I attended HIR at the New Theatre in Newtown, Sydney. This is a confronting work about a dysfunctional family. An abused wife takes revenge on her husband, a daughter in transition and a son back from war wondering what happened to the family he left. This is not Broadway Bound, being confronting. All performances are good, as is the set, but it is hard work for the audience, withTom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-29804082833634433172025-06-04T08:51:00.006+10:002025-06-04T09:22:52.435+10:00Google AI Gives Wrong Size Conversion for ShoesI wanted to convert a shoe size from european to US. So I typed "eu38 shoe size us mens" into Google search. The AI result was: "A EU 38 shoe size for men in the US is typically a size 7 or 7.5. Some sources might list it as 7.5". There was a small image of a chart from Bespoke Unit, next to the text. When enlarged this indicated a EU 38 was a US 6. However, the Wikipedia's "European Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-33325592795195944892025-05-24T21:25:00.003+10:002025-05-24T21:27:45.172+10:00Everyone looks familiar at the Sydney Writer's Festival Just been to one free and one paid session at the Sydney Writer's Festival. The wine was expensive and seats few at the bar. It had the atmosphere of "Shut up and write", with budding authors tapping away at laptops.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-70145917312883659912025-05-11T20:48:00.002+10:002025-05-11T20:48:22.529+10:00Turned on to the Vibrator PlayOn a whim today, I went along to the matinee of "In the next room, or the Vibrator Play" at the New Theatre in Sydney. The play, witten in 2009 by Sarah Ruhl was surprisingly thought provoking, as well as very amusing. It is set in victorian era USA. A progressive physician is using the newly invented electric vibrator to treat nervous conditions, while failing to pay attention to his young wife.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-44057580205099919442025-04-27T11:36:00.007+10:002025-04-27T11:41:04.269+10:00Sofa Upgrade Seventeen Years OnSeventeen years ago, I purchased a Delta modular sofa from King Furniture in Annandale, Sydney. Recently I found a module for this system at Vinnies. It needed cleaning, but the biggest problem was no legs. So I looked online and found that while the Delta has gone through several upgrades, parts were still available. As I was in Sydney, I went back to the same store I had ordered from 17 Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-69760687722129352482025-04-19T15:58:00.004+10:002025-04-19T16:08:34.168+10:00More help points for Sydney Central Station?"This is to suggest installing more help points in Sydney Central Station. Last week I was descending on an escalator from platform 21, when I saw someone fall backwards on the up escalator. They were being dragged up feet first, with arms flailing, as they attempted to get up. I was worried they may be injured, so ran down and pressed the emergency stop button. I looked around but could see no Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-15008654447404309402025-03-20T18:41:00.009+11:002025-03-20T18:50:00.297+11:00Refurbished Dell Latitude E7290 for Teaching with LinuxMy Dell Latitude E7270 laptop had developed the disconcerting habit of blanking out the external HDMI signal at random. This 12.5" laptop was a premium product in 2016 but after four years of intensive use in my hands (second hand), it needed replacing. Perhaps I could have had the unit repaired, but the simplest option was to buy a newer model, the E7290, refurbished from the sameTom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-80666346393886861542025-01-24T11:21:00.005+11:002026-02-24T08:14:40.224+11:00Canberra Health System Second First Hand ExperienceA few weeks ago I put something in a bin, turned, took a step and my head hit something very hard. I screamed in pain, had a sensation of falling backwards, then the next thing I knew I was lying on my back looking up at someone. They asked "Are you okay?". It was a question I did not know the answer to. I took a few seconds to check I was not bleeding, & my limbs were working. I then slowly Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-57154683528023987152024-12-15T16:20:00.001+11:002024-12-15T16:23:22.902+11:00Shakespeare in a LoopNew Theatre' last performance of Shakespeare in Love, yesterday was life imitating art imitating life. One plot twist hinges on a character losing their voice and having someone step in. But at the start we were told someone really had lost their voice and the director was stepping in. They did an admirable job.Some of the best laughs were when the sound system made strange noises and the cast Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-75143849041172095672024-12-01T15:23:00.009+11:002024-12-01T16:10:11.133+11:00Inner Melbourne Medicare Urgent Care Clinic Worked Well With No ChargeA week after I had a minor health problem looked at by a Canberra Health Walk-in Centre, I had a recurrence and needed more treatment. I was visiting another city on Saturday night. Not knowing what else to do I went to the emergency department of the relevant specialist public hospital, where I had been treated 40 years before. I was promptly seen by a triage nurse who took a few details. About Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-86771486759280344382024-11-22T16:55:00.001+11:002024-11-22T16:56:54.632+11:00Canberra Health Walk-in Centre Worked Well and is FreeI needed a minor health problem looked at and my doctor was busy, so I went to one of Canberra Health's five Walk-in Centres. Normally I would have gone to one in Belconnen, but the website showed they had five people waiting for treatment, so I went to Dickson, which had only two. The Dickson Center looks like any large medical practice. The difference is the lack of paperwork, the speed, Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-31180490429443011662024-11-08T22:52:00.001+11:002024-11-08T22:52:11.163+11:00Printing at the Singapore Writer's Festival Greetings from the Singapore Writer's Festival. In the foyer outside the official opening there are artists helping delegates print their own stencil onto reclaimed fabric.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0