heretic's linkblog of fun

around the traps

2026-02-22T16:39:00.002+11:00

'Dog in driver's seat' of ute on Tasmanian beach sparks call for witnesses - ABC News: Police said witnesses "reported a white Mitsubishi Triton was being driven on the beach, with a dog in the driver's seat and a man in the passenger seat".
How AI assistance impacts the formation of coding skills Anthropic: Productivity benefits may come at the cost of skills necessary to validate AI-written code if junior engineers' skill development has been stunted by using AI in the first place. (it's that using a forklift at the gym thing)
Terry Pratchett's novels may have held clues to his dementia a decade before diagnosis, our new study suggests: Across Pratchett's later novels, there was a clear and statistically significant decline in the diversity of adjectives he used. The richness of descriptive language gradually narrowed. This was not something a reader would necessarily notice, nor did it reflect a sudden deterioration in quality. Instead, it was a subtle, progressive change detectable only through detailed linguistic analysis. GNU Terry Pratchett.
Australia in danger of becoming an 'artless country' as enrolments in creative courses collapse | Australian education | The Guardian: The research pointed to the former Morrison government's job-ready graduate scheme as directly relating to the decline. Implemented in 2021, that scheme substantially increased the cost of arts and creative courses to cheapen Stem courses. Under the widely panned policy, the cost of creative arts degree programs for students rose by 19%, while arts, society and culture degrees rose by 116%. Before Morrison gutted creative courses at uni, Tony Abbott gutted creative courses at TAFE. Never mind how much money Australia makes from industries like film and fashion.
Ireland's basic income for the arts scheme becomes permanent | Ireland | The Guardian: The pilot, for which 2,000 artists were randomly selected from 8,000 applicants, lowered the likelihood of artists experiencing enforced deprivation and reduced their levels of anxiety and reliance on supplementary income, a study found. The scheme recouped more than its net cost of %u20AC72m through increases in arts-related expenditure, productivity gains and reduced reliance on other welfare payments. Once again a variation on the theme of "UBIs work".
The AI Vampire. This was an unusually hard post to… | by Steve Yegge | Feb, 2026 | Medium: Let's not quibble about the exact productivity boost from AI. The boost amount isn't what this post is about. It just needs to be higher than about 2x for the vampire effect to kick in. We'll use 10x because it's a number people throw around.
How Generative and Agentic AI Shift Concern from Technical Debt to Cognitive Debt: But what can teams do concretely as AI and agents become more prevalent? First, they may need to recognize that velocity without understanding is not sustainable.
Training your replacement | Go Make Things: But if the people so aggressively pushing AI as a revolutionary technology that will completely change how we work are right… why the fuck are they so eager to accelerate development of the tool that will put them out of work? That future makes sense in a world where we then have lots of free time to enjoy leisure and pursue our passions. That's not the world we live in.
Graffiti and the right to urban space - ABC listen

around the traps

2026-01-23T00:14:00.001+11:00

Victoria pedestrian deaths: Highest toll in 17 years sparks SUV safety concerns: The number of pedestrians killed in Victoria in 2025 is at a 17-year-high, with concerns the growing dominance of large SUVs and utes is reversing years of road safety gains.
Matt Gurney: 'We will never fucking trust you again': America has blown 80 years of accumulated goodwill and trust among its allies, our American moderator was told.
Landslide; a ghost story: I'm writing this post to talk about what is happening to the way we know things. All this year, as I have chewed my way along the edges of this almost unfathomable problem, what happened in Valdez came to feel less like a metaphor and more like a model. That's how I'll work with it here. Not because the circumstances of megathrust earthquakes in fjords are literally the same as the societal problem of collective derangement, but because the model gives me new ways to take the problem apart and see how the pieces interact.
Is there any legal justification for the US attack on Venezuela? | Venezuela | The Guardian: The UN security council can impose sanctions on countries in an attempt to maintain peace. These can include trade restrictions, arms embargos and travel bans. However, five members of the council – the US, China, Russia, the UK and France – have a veto on this, meaning any action taken against the US is unlikely to come into force. Like many things, the UN is basically an honour system. Nothing can actually be enforced if the big players don't want to follow the "rules".
Push for QVB's colourful glass to be made clear for more 'visibility' into stores - ABC News. Simple solution here: retailers who don't like the QVB shouldn't try to rent space in the QVB.
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns – The Irish Times: Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) risks becoming a speculative bubble unless its use spreads beyond big tech companies and wealthy economies. Mr Nadella on Tuesday said that the long-term success of the fast-developing technology would depend on it being used by a broad range of industries as well as on uptake outside of the developed world. 'Risks' doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

2025 mix tape

2025-12-31T21:11:00.000+11:00

2025 Mix Tape playlist on YouTube

2025 Mix Tape playlist on Tidal

Tracklist with some mild background notes:

Adriano Celentano - Prisencolinensinainciusol. No deep meaning, it's just an interesting musical artifact. For the uninitiated, it's gibberish written to demonstrate what American English sounds like to people who don't speak it.
Fleetwood Mac - Tusk. Have been gaining an appreciation for just how batshit crazy a lot of Fleetwood Mac's songs actually are when you listen properly.
New Order - Crystal. Saw New Order live on the forecourt at the Sydney Opera House. Not bad for my last gig in Sydney.
New Order - Blue Monday
Hilltop Hoods - The Gift ft. Marlon (new release)
VNV Nation - Silence Speaks (new release)
Hannes Bieger - Marine Drive. Just a really nicely produced track that got on high rotation.
Orbital & Tilda Swinton - Deepest. Both a fantastic track and absolutely hilarious (to me at least) - pisstake meditation, old raver jokes and show tunes... why not?
Tinlicker x Robert Miles - Children. Not sure how I hadn't run into this remix before, but it's a great homage to the original.
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Different. Popped up in some video short, and subsequently lived in my head for weeks.
XTC - Dear God. Don't recall what brought this to mind, but it's always worth revisiting.
Tom Waits - Chicago. It's a song about moving to a new city. Played while driving to Melbourne.
Nine Inch Nails - As Alive As You Need Me To Be (new release)
Karnivool - Aozora (new release)
Skunkhour - Up To Our Necks In It. First gig in Melbourne was going to see Skunkhour's "Up To Our Necks In It (For 30 Years) Tour" at the Corner Hotel. A great gig and I got to meet Del and Aya after the show.

around the traps

2025-12-25T22:59:00.000+11:00

OnlyFans 'sugar daddy' and his wife embroiled in $61 million tax mischief - ABC News. The OnlyFans bit make a salacious headline but the real story is According to its Federal Court claim, the ATO paid out more than $30 million before turning off the tap last August [...] Solicitor Bruce Peters, who is acting for Mr Kinnest and the family companies, says if the allegations are true, he is "dumbfounded the ATO let this fly for a business when an average taxpayer gets hauled over the coals".
A poodle is a dog | The Saturday Paper: Ryan’s bill is part of a suite of transparency reforms before the parliament. None are from the major parties. Hers would stop ministers and senior staff from working as lobbyists for three years after they leave politics. It would reveal who lobbyists meet and force ministers to publish their diaries. The reforms are simple and effective and will not pass.
How Elon Musk lined up a potential trillion-dollar payday as Tesla shareholders approve deal - ABC News: In order to receive the full award, Tesla's market capitalisation would need to increase by approximately $US7.5 trillion by 2035 — up from $US1 trillion currently. That's alongside other thresholds — for example, Musk would need to deliver one million commercially operable robotaxis and one million AI bots.
Executives Are Adopting AI at Higher Rates Than Employees, Study Says - Business Insider
Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa: The magic is this: You're not buying a $1,200 solar system. You're replacing $3-5/week kerosene spending with a $0.21/day solar subscription (so with $1.5 per week half the price of kerosene) that's cheaper AND gives you better light, phone charging, radio, and no respiratory disease.
Barnaby Joyce joins One Nation as sitting MP with promise of future Senate ticket | One Nation | The Guardian: There had been speculation Joyce would eventually replace the 71-year-old Hanson as One Nation leader although neither had confirmed a succession plan was in place. Top shelf foreshadowing there.
Outrage and legal threats: Trump justice department slammed after limited Epstein files release | Jeffrey Epstein | The Guardian: Donald Trump's justice department was hit with legal threats and scathing outrage after authorities released a limited, heavily redacted trove of Jeffrey Epstein files in an apparent violation of the law mandating the near-complete disclosure of these documents by Friday.
Backing up Spotify - Anna's Blog. They have literally made a copy of most of Spotify, and the post includes some interesting analysis of the metadata.
: The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has promised tougher action against organisations such as neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network that have previously evaded criminal consequences.
Anthony Albanese recommends changes to parliamentarians' travel rules - ABC News: travel would be limited to between Canberra and the MP's electorate, or a senator's home state, with some exceptions for ministers and other senior politicians like the opposition leader. Mr Albanese said, under the new recommendations, the spouse or partner of a senior politician would be able to take taxpayer-funded travel to and from destinations outside Canberra provided they were specifically invited to an event. That event must also be directly linked to the portfolio or parliamentary work of their senior political spouse.

around the traps

2025-10-21T23:57:00.004+11:00

Maru the Cat, Once the Most Viewed Animal on YouTube, Dies at 18 :(
AI boom is unsustainable unless tech spending goes 'parabolic,' Deutsche Bank warns | Fortune: The current AI boom is not sustainable, a Deutsche Bank research note warned this morning, because tech spending won't “remain parabolic.” AI capex is now so massive it is keeping the U.S. out of recession, the bank said. Separately, Bain & Co. estimate there will be an $800 billion shortfall in the revenues needed to fund the demand for AI computing power.
Deus ex nihilo: Physicists call this decoherence. Economists call it a market crash. Sam Altman will call it Tuesday.
Dense Discovery – Issue 358 / The feed no longer surprises but sedates
Deloitte to pay back some of $440,000 to Australian government after report found riddled with errors | news.com.au — Australia's leading news site for latest headlines: One of the world's “big four” consulting firms will refund the Australian government part of a $440,000 fee after admitting it used artificial intelligence to help produce a report riddled with errors.
NSW to buy back private Northern Beaches hospital for $190m | New South Wales | The Guardian: The NSW government will spend $190m to buy back the Northern Beaches hospital and integrate it into the public hospital system, ending a decade-long experiment in private ownership of a major Sydney hospital.

around the traps

2025-06-06T18:51:00.002+10:00

When it comes to professional sport and gambling sponsors, one Australian state tops the scorecard - ABC News: the NRL had the most teams sponsored by gambling companies across any sporting code — 10 out of 16
April 2025 - by Liam Callaghan - Maroon Observer: Last year and early this year, the lazy tropes trotted out by Badel and co gave us to understand that Maguire was going to [be] a hardass, a disciplinarian, that was going to fix the Backstreet Broncos Boys and turn them into real men. Given the evidence to date, either that was at best, a mischaracterisation, and at worst, mislaid toxic masculinity.
Labor's landslide victory obscures a disturbing trend for the major parties - ABC News: there is a strong chance that the combined independent and minor party vote will beat one of the major parties for the first time in seven decades The count isn't finished so it may not be this election, but the trend shows it's just a matter of time unless the major parties can start winning voters back from minor parties and independents.
A quieter place: Sound designer Eddie Gandelman on composing a future that allows us to hear ourselves think - DesignObserver: Barcode scanners like this one have medium and high pitch settings at 3,250 and 4,200 hertz, respectively. Higher-frequency sounds, often classified as those starting at 2,000 hertz, can activate the sympathetic nervous system. Our fight or flight response kicks in, and our body braces for danger: Our heart rate increases, blood vessels constrict, and stress hormones like cortisol flood the bloodstream. All to price-check a stalk of broccoli.
Nationals call it quits on decades-long coalition with Liberals - ABC News: Mr Littleproud said he was hopeful the two parties would be able to come to a new agreement before the next federal election in three years. It would be very surprising if they did not re-form the Coalition for the next election. ....aaaaand the split lasted four days: Outraged Liberals say short-lived Coalition split has 'shredded' David Littleproud's leadership | Australian politics | The Guardian
'Bulky new neighbour': Norwegian man wakes to find cargo ship in his backyard - ABC News. Cue "you can't park there mate" jokes.
Expert calls Musk's 'Doge' involvement 'one of the greatest brand destructions' | Elon Musk | The Guardian: Galloway said Trump's billionaire businessman adviser alienated the customer base of his electrical vehicle manufacturer Tesla – one of his most important holdings – while aligning himself with a president whose allies aren't interested in the kinds of cars the company makes. [...] Toward the end of April, Tesla was reporting a 71% dip in profits
Elon Musk backed Donald Trump seconds after an assassination attempt. Now their relationship has turned ugly - ABC News. Those two busting up is probably the least-surprising thing to ever happen in the history of US politics.

around the traps

2025-04-23T21:39:00.001+10:00

The Future is More Stuff: Our economy has become a treadmill of consumption. Work more to buy more stuff, which wears out or becomes obsolete quicker than ever before, necessitating more work to buy more stuff.
The most important intelligence sharing network in the west is being ruined by America - here's how | The Independent: Using a commercial messaging system rather than a government-encrypted communications system is dumb enough. Doing so using personal telephones is unforgivable. Doing both in Moscow, as it would appear Witkoff did, is downright incompetent. [...] The truth is that Five Eyes under Donald Trump’s first presidency was already severely strained by what some members of the group saw as dangerous incompetence in handling secrets by the Oval Office.
Australian election policy tracker | The Conversation - quite well done.
Life in the tower: Who controls Seattle's drawbridges? | The Seattle Times
Saying 'Thank You', 'Please' to ChatGPT? It's costing OpenAI 'millions of dollars', says Sam Altman | Mint: A recent comment by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed that user politeness contributes to “tens of millions of dollars” in electricity costs, due to the computational effort involved in generating those extra conversational responses. Everything done with AI requires a lot of power and water. Doesn't matter if it was "important" or not.
Can Australia still afford the pub, our coffee addiction or Friday night takeaway? - ABC News: The core problem (detailed in the article) is that costs have gone up much more than wages; so the middle class is shrinking - which is a euphemistic way of saying many people are now simply poor.
Apparently Magpies and Crows Are Using "Anti-Bird Spikes" to Make Their Nests | Audubon: Even if the use of the spikes is simply urban adaptation at play, neither Hiemstra nor McGowan are convinced it's good for the corvids.
Sydney residents shaken awake by early morning earthquake in NSW Hunter Valley | New South Wales | The Guardian. That was a very weird way to wake up.

around the traps

2025-03-24T23:18:00.004+11:00

Peter Dutton denies having access to sensitive information as Labor questions personal investments | Peter Dutton | The Guardian: on 23 January 2009 [...] Dutton bought shares in Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Westpac Bank. All three companies reported record lows on this day. On 24 January, the Rudd government announced the Australian Business Investment Partnership. This stimulus package was never introduced as it was opposed in parliament, but did move markets in the short term. It's incredible that this story just slid past.
Elon Musk's foray into politics met with protest that's hurting Tesla worldwide - ABC News: he now is caught in a pincer movement — between an increasingly hostile customer base, and a sudden lift in competition from Chinese and European rivals. ...and investors are not happy: Early Tesla investor calls for Elon Musk to resign amid stock slump | Mashable: It's gotten so bad that one of Tesla's earliest investors has called for Musk to step down. Ross Gerber said in an interview with Sky News that Musk's role in the U.S. government — notably the (extremely) divisive Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — and close ties to President Donald Trump have damaged Tesla. ...and meanwhile the panels are falling off Cybertrucks because they're glued on with glue that doesn't work: Elon Musk's Cybertrucks suffer another setback in the US. Will we ever see them in Australia? - ABC News: This thin stainless steel strip, known as a "cant rail assembly", sits between the windshield and the roof on both sides. It's bound to the truck with a structural adhesive. But there are concerns this glue can essentially be broken down by cold and hot weather.
How the political debate over an antisemitic caravan bomb hoax consumed parliament - ABC News: "Almost immediately, experienced investigators within the joint counterterrorism team believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorist plot, essentially a criminal con job," AFP Deputy Commissioner National Security Krissy Barrett says.
Volkswagen reintroducing physical controls for vital functions | Autocar: physical buttons for the five most important functions – the volume, the heating on each side of the car, the fans and the hazard light
The Unbelievable Scale of AI's Pirated-Books Problem - The Atlantic: Meta employees turned their attention to Library Genesis, or LibGen, one of the largest of the pirated libraries that circulate online. It currently contains more than 7.5 million books and 81 million research papers. Eventually, the team at Meta got permission from “MZ”—an apparent reference to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg—to download and use the data set. This act, along with other information outlined and quoted here, recently became a matter of public record when some of Meta’s internal communications were unsealed as part of a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought against the company by Sarah Silverman, Junot Díaz, and other authors of books in LibGen.
U.S. to reduce capabilities of new jet purchased by allies: President Donald Trump has announced that any new U.S. F-47 fighter jets sold to allied nations will be deliberately downgraded by 10%, citing potential future changes in alliances. I'm not an expert but it seems weird to consider buying jets off a guy who is already talking about shooting them down.
...and because you're going to want the link: SRL - Survival Research Labs

around the traps

2025-02-23T22:25:00.001+11:00

Mastodon's CEO and creator is handing control to a new nonprofit organization - The Verge: Decentralized social network Mastodon has announced plans to transfer its ownership to a new nonprofit entity. Ownership of Mastodon will move away from the control of CEO Eugen Rochko, in contrast to the power exerted by other social media CEOs like Meta cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk.
OpenAI has evidence that its models helped train China's DeepSeek | The Verge: OpenAI told the Financial Times that it found evidence linking DeepSeek to the use of distillation — a common technique developers use to train AI models by extracting data from larger, more capable ones. It's an efficient way to train smaller models at a fraction of the more than $100 million that OpenAI spent to train GPT-4. While developers can use OpenAI's API to integrate its AI with their own applications, distilling the outputs to build rival models is a violation of OpenAI's terms of service. OpenAI has not provided details of the evidence it found. The situation is rich with irony. After all, it was OpenAI that made huge leaps with its GPT model by sucking down the entirety of the written web without consent.
Walgreens digital door experiment was a $200 million disaster... also it's highly debatable that they 'looked cool'.
The Console Wars Are Over And Nobody Really Won
Thousands of Australian pets may soon have 'useless' microchips. It's a symptom of a bigger problem
Streaming giant Amazon axes Neighbours just two years after picking up the show - ABC News
James Bond producers give Amazon full creative control of 007 | James Bond | The Guardian... well, shit. I hope they got a worthy pay day at least.
How to draw an orange %u2022 Buttondown: Being told we cannot draw is the first step to telling people that no, they are not as competent as they believe themselves to be. Once you can convince a human being they cannot draw, you can convince them of mostly anything. Someone is benefitting from making you believe you are incompetent and it is not you.
'You can't ban compassion': helping stray cats is illegal in much of Australia – but for some, it's worth the risk | Cats | The Guardian: Rand, who is running alternative cat management trials in Queensland with a permit, argues hardline approaches fail to address the socioeconomic aspects contributing to the stray cat population, such as pet abandonment or loss due to housing instability, rental restrictions or containment challenges, and the cost of mandatory desexing, registration and microchipping. They also unfairly penalise people for basic compassion, she says.

around the traps

2025-01-09T22:28:00.002+11:00

The Ghosts in the Machine, by Liz Pelly: This treatment of music as nothing but background sounds—as interchangeable tracks of generic, vibe-tagged playlist fodder—is at the heart of how music has been devalued in the streaming era.
Humphrey's world: how the Samuel Smith beer baron built Britain's strangest pub chain | Food & drink industry | The Guardian: Over time, Smith's preferences seem to have grown increasingly tyrannical. In November 2019, he shuttered the Cow and Calf outside Sheffield after he was informed it would be unable to produce a chocolate fondant, his favourite dessert. ... It isn’t just that Humphrey wants to build and run his properties and pubs exactly as he pleases. For decades, he has also been waging, through his company, a multi-front war against local planners, preventing councils, individuals and other companies from developing their land and properties.
Ants prove superior to humans in group problem-solving maze experiment: Unsurprisingly, the cognitive abilities of humans gave them an edge in the individual challenge, in which they resorted to calculated, strategic planning, easily outperforming the ants. In the group challenge, however, the picture was completely different, especially for the larger groups. Not only did groups of ants perform better than individual ants, but in some cases they did better than humans. Groups of ants acted together in a calculated and strategic manner, exhibiting collective memory that helped them persist in a particular direction of motion and avoid repeated mistakes. Humans, on the contrary, failed to significantly improve their performance when acting in groups. When communication between group members was restricted to resemble that of ants, their performance even dropped compared to that of individuals
He was a church official who criticized Trump. He says Christianity is in crisis : NPR: It was the result of having multiple pastors tell me, essentially, the same story about quoting the Sermon on the Mount, parenthetically, in their preaching — "turn the other cheek" — [and] to have someone come up after to say, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?" And what was alarming to me is that in most of these scenarios, when the pastor would say, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ," the response would not be, "I apologize." The response would be, "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore. That's weak." And when we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus himself are seen as subversive to us, then we're in a crisis.
Australian bosses on notice as 'deliberate' wage theft becomes a crime - ABC News [Fair Work] will have to prove that the employer intentionally avoided paying a worker appropriate wages and penalties, superannuation or other entitlements. ... [An employment lawyer consulted for the article] thinks Fair Work will only go after particularly "egregious" or high-profile examples of intentional wage theft with its new powers. ... Fair Work is also giving cover to employers who self-report possible wage theft. So Fair Work explicitly says they're not targeting honest mistakes, and employers who think they've made honest mistakes can engage with Fair Work to fix it. Employers will only be in trouble for intentional wage theft. We cross now for comment: "We feel these new laws are an overreach," the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's chief of policy and advocacy, David Alexander, said in a statement.
Washington Post cartoonist resigns after cartoon satirising newspaper's owner Jeff Bezos and Trump rejected - ABC News
'Trolling free-for-all': Australian politicians and experts criticise Meta for ditching factchecking | Australian politics | The Guardian: Zuckerberg has recently sought to repair a tumultuous relationship with Trump – who once threatened Zuckerberg that he would “spend the rest of his life in prison” if he interfered with the 2024 election. Zuckerberg visited Trump after his election win in November and oversaw a US$1m Meta donation to Trump's inauguration fund.

2024 mix tape

2024-12-31T22:18:00.005+11:00

YouTube playlist: 2024 Mix Tape on YouTube.

There's aslo a Tidal playlist... minus Themata, which is still annoyingly missing from the platform: 2024 Mix Tape on Tidal.

Tracklist, and background if you're curious:

YES - Owner of a Lonely Heart. Learning about music production and buying a proper audio interface to drive my headphones gave me a new level of appreciation for a lot of songs - and not always the "obvious" kind of songs. The production on this track is a great example - much more going on than I'd ever have been able to hear listening to it on average 1980s gear.
Supertramp - The Logical Song. Another track I loved as a kid but came back with fresh ears.
Tycho Brahe - Free (2024 Tour Version). Tycho cut this together after their crazy experience opening for The Human League's whole tour. I caught up with them a couple of times, doing a couple of airport runs and catching them at The Enmore. Fun moment getting a shout out during the Enmore gig (for running the website). I mean... web geeks do not usually get a cheer at The Enmore :)
DJ Misjah - Access (Original Mix). It was kinda this or putting something from Paul Van Dyk's Out There And Back on the list again. Classics that keep on giving.
MEUTE - Hypnose (Future Edit). Got onto a huge kick going through Meute's catalogue... who knew that a techno marching band could be a thing, let alone this damn good?
Karnivool - Themata. First of two "cancelled by COVID" gigs that I ticked off this year. They had to cancel a tour celebrating their Sound Awake album, eventually playing it as a live-streamed gig - which was good, but even while I watched it I longed to be standing shoulder to shoulder with my mates belting out the words. I'm not sure I have ever *longed* for a musical experience quite as deeply. Finally this year it happened.
Iron Maiden - The Writing On The Wall. The other cancelled-by-COVID gig was Iron Maiden so I was stoked to finally see the Irons again. With the lads not getting younger, I don't expect they can keep touring a hell of a lot longer - was worried this tour wouldn't happen when Nicko had his stroke. With good reason I suppose as he retired from touring a few months later. Glad I could see Nicko play one last time.
Fatboy Slim - Role Model. Fatboy Slim dropped a new track and it's just fun.
After Cooking - A Name I Don't Know. Playing techno on old pots, broken cymbals and a PVC pipe tubulum... because why not? Turns out anything sounds good with enough reverb and delay ;)
PPK - ResuRection (Space Club Mix) (2001). This classic popped up in a rolling playlist and I realised while I know the track incredibly well, it doesn't appear in my MP3 collection, itunes, etc. Extra geeky fact: the main theme is taken from a soviet movie soundtrack from 1979.
Underworld - denver luna. New album from Underworld is an absolute banger. We were meant to catch them at the Opera House again but got sick, unfortunately. Have to just console myself with memories of last time; and absolutely smashing the album.
The Cure - Drone:Nodrone. New album by The Cure, and it's really good.
Choirboys - Run to Paradise. This one is probably the surprise track (to me as well) which sneaks onto the list after a slightly odd night, out for a beer with a mate and ending up in a sort of lock-in at a brewery. The owner and his mates were kicking on and playing a bunch of Aussie rock classics. This track ended up stuck in my head for weeks.

around the traps

2024-12-13T19:04:00.002+11:00

The Bookseller - News - Penguin Random House underscores copyright protection in AI rebuff: The world's biggest trade publisher has changed the wording on its copyright pages to help protect authors' intellectual property from being used to train large language models (LLMs) and other artificial intelligence (AI) tools
Employee Experience - some workplace relationship advice: Unexpressed expectations are often pre-meditated resentments. That is, I expect you to do something that you don't know I want you to do, but I'll be resentful if you don't do it
NSW Housing Minister Rose Jackson underestimates Sydney rent prices - ABC News: Ms Jackson said you could find two-bedroom apartments in Sydney for "a couple of hundred bucks". Meanwhile for people who live on the planet earth, the median price for a two-bedder in Sydney is $720/week.
The Internet is Shrinking: The web was born as digital democracy: raw, open, infinite. A universe where anyone could build, create, and connect without permission. Now we're all just tenants in Big Tech's digital dystopia.
Social Media Respond Health Insurance CEO Murder With Little Sympathy: Across social media, the response to the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO was contemptuous of the industry he represented
The Great Bedrock Clog Heist: How a small outdoor footwear company lost 5,000 pairs of shoes and found itself entangled in an international crime saga
Australia, PNG unveil deal for Papua New Guinea team to enter NRL in 2028 - ABC News. The increasingly inaccurately named National Rugby League adds a third country.
Dutton's nuclear plan a 'heroic', cherrypicked 'recipe for higher energy bills', experts say - ABC News: Some of the nation's top energy analysts have criticised the Coalition's nuclear plan, saying it will be more expensive, burn more carbon, result in a smaller economy and be more disruptive than Peter Dutton claims.

around the traps

2024-09-22T00:12:00.001+10:00

Microsoft says it's okay to steal content published on the web | Windows Central: "With respect to content that is already on the open web, the social contract of that content since the 90s has been that it is fair use. Anyone can copy it, recreate with it, reproduce with it. That has been freeware, if you like. That's been the understanding," said Suleyman. Many creators do not agree with this take.
What the Athletes Will Be Eating at the Paris 2024 Olympics - Eater: each delegation has rooms in the village to create their own things. The Australian delegation, they literally turned a space into a coffee shop and brought a barista. *sniff* I'm so proud.
Elon Musk's X under pressure from regulators over data harvesting for Grok AI | X | The Guardian: The UK and Irish data watchdogs said they have contacted X over the apparent attempt to gain user consent for data harvesting without them knowing about it.
Preliminary Notes on the Delvish Dialect, by Bruce Sterling | by Bruce Sterling | Jul, 2024 | Medium
Musk's X sues Unilever, Mars and CVS over 'massive advertiser boycott' | X | The Guardian. He's at a loss to know why advertisers aren't flocking to his platform. He's tried literally telling them to 'go fuck themselves', he's tried suing them, what more can he do?
Disney terms prevent allergy death lawsuit, Disney says - BBC News: Disney World is arguing a man cannot sue it over the death of his wife because of terms he signed up to in a free trial of Disney.
Paul Graham and the Cult of the Founder - by Dave Karpf: Aaron was, in a sense, my generation's equivalent of Woz. It isn't a perfect analogy. But as archtypes go, it fits well enough. They don't even try to produce Aarons anymore. Everyone is trying to be Sam frickin' Altman now. [...] A small, cloistered elite of not-especially-bright billionaires have decided that they are very, very special, and that the problem with society these days is that people keep treating them like everyone else.
Startup Says It'll Use Huge Space Mirror to Sell Sunlight During Nighttime. Offered without comment.

around the traps

2024-06-04T23:18:00.000+10:00

The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet afloat: The reason websites continue to load, bank transfers go through, and civilization persists is because of the thousand or so people living aboard 20-some ships stationed around the world, who race to fix each cable as soon as it breaks. [...] “The main issue for me in the industry has to do with hyperscalers coming in and saying we need to reduce costs every year,” said Wilkie, the chair of the ACMA, using the industry term for tech giants like Google and Meta. “We’d all like to have maintenance cheaper, but the cost of running a ship doesn’t actually change much from year to year. It goes up, actually. So there has been a severe lack of investment in new ships.”
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek surprised by how much laying off 1,500 employees negatively affected the streaming giant's operations: In December, Spotify culled 1,500 jobs, equivalent to 17% of employees, as part of an aggressive efficiency drive as the group strived for profitability. ... the footprint left behind by those employees was bigger than Ek and his executives anticipated. ... Ek didn't elaborate on what aspects of operations were most affected by the layoffs.
Tesla Cybertruck bricked after car wash, claims user %u2022 The Register: There's also the owner who took his Cybertruck off-roading, and broke it, leaving many wondering what Tesla's latest and greatest can actually do. Musk once touted the Cybertruck as "literally bulletproof" but whether it's even waterproof seems open to some debate.
How beavers help prevent megafires, restore scorched wildlands: River segments hosting beaver-created dams fared far better during and after megafires than riverscapes without beaver activity, leaving pockets of intact habitat crucial for wildlife, and protecting waterways from runaway erosion, a study published in The Geological Society of America in January found.
Raw Milk Enthusiasts Demand Milk Infected With H5N1. Not parody.
I stumbled upon LLM Kryptonite and no one wants to fix it %u2022 The Register: Despite my best efforts to hand this flaming bag of Kryptonite on to someone who could do something about it, this is where matters remain as of this writing. No one wants to hear about it.
British PM Rishi Sunak announces plan to bring back mandatory national service - ABC News. British politics being very normal.
AEC warns it doesn't have power to deter AI-generated political misinformation at next election | Australian politics | The Guardian. They didn't have the power to deal with a purple sign, so they certainly can't deal with deepfake misinformation campaigns.
A landmark multi-year global partnership with News Corp | OpenAI. Unless OpenAI is striking deals with a huge range of media companies, this is a really bad idea.
Funny numbers mean success for the NRL: When the NRL’s “official attendance” came through in March, it showed: 40,746. [...] The Las Vegas Raiders recently released a Q1 report for the city’s stadium authority [which showed the NRL's opening round] was attended by 31,927 people.

around the traps

2024-04-14T18:19:00.001+10:00

Microsoft warns Russian hackers still trying to break into its systems | Reuters: Given Microsoft's vast customer network, it is not surprising it is being targeted, said Jerome Segura, principal threat researcher at the cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes' Threatdown Labs. He added it was unnerving that the attack was still underway despite Microsoft's efforts to thwart access.
Coalition steps up calls to ban TikTok over links to China - ABC News: The Australian government last year banned the use of TikTok on government devices, but Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the government had no current plans for a nationwide ban. Ms Rowland stopped short of ruling out such a ban in the future, saying the government would follow the advice of its own security agencies.
New AI paint colors: I trained a neural net from scratch on lists of colors I could find online, and with no prior training on English or any language (and therefore no idea what paint colors were) it managed to reproduce some of the letter combinations in the originals. But it lacked the context to know not to generate colors like these
AFL admits players who have illicit drugs in their system have been pulled from games | AFL | The Guardian: The AFL has confirmed players who test positive to internal club drug tests have been pulled from match day lists as part of its illicit drugs policy, arguing the approach is in the players' best interests.
Australian supermarket instant coffee taste test: the worst is 'what we'll drink during the apocalypse' | Coffee | The Guardian: It was so un-coffee-like some of us were convinced something had been added to give it a different aroma and flavour but, to our surprise, like all the coffees we tasted this is 100% coffee.
Peter Dutton doubles down on comparing pro-Palestine protest and Port Arthur massacre responses - ABC News. For one brief moment the nation united as it looked at Dutton and said "that man is a pillock".
Defeated CEOs are now conceding hybrid working is here to stay—a year after 62% said they expected a full-time return to office by 2026: KPMG surveyed U.S. CEOs of companies turning over at least $500 million and found that just one-third expect a full return to the office in the next three years. So it's official: Leaders who believe that office workers will be back at their desks five days a week in the near future are now in the small minority. It's a complete 360 on their stance last year, when 62% of CEOs surveyed predicted that working from home would end by 2026.

around the traps

2024-03-03T22:51:00.000+11:00

Sydney's Powerhouse Musuem to shut its doors for repairs amid backlash closure is 'unjustified' - ABC News: Dr Sharp, who also directed London's Science Museum for five years, said he doubted the Powerhouse would reopen in 2027 as promised — given the government has not released a refurbishment plan and the museum has been closed before planning approvals have been given, and a construction contract signed. [...] The arts minister has pledged $250 million for the museum's renovations — half the amount originally promised by the previous state government. But less than $120 million in expenditure has been allocated for the project over four years to 2026-27 in the latest state budget.
The Engineer/Manager Pendulum – charity.wtf: The best frontline eng managers in the world are the ones that are never more than 2-3 years removed from hands-on work, full time down in the trenches. The best individual contributors are the ones who have done time in management. And the best technical leaders in the world are often the ones who do both. Back and forth. Like a pendulum.
Employers could face criminal penalties for contacting employees out of hours after right-to-disconnect laws pass - ABC News: The second tranche of the government's industrial relations reform passed the upper house on Thursday afternoon, giving workers the right to ignore out-of-hours calls and emails, without being penalised.
Cybertruck Owners Say They're Already Rusting: "I think as long as you don't drive it in the rain, or get it wet, it will be fine," wrote one [Cybertruck owner].
Grotesque Enhanced Games removes brain barrier in quest to get running | Drugs in sport | The Guardian: The founder of the Enhanceds is someone called Aron Ping D'Souza, American tech entrepreneur, personality-capitalist and one of those business people whose rhetorical style involves boasting about their own extreme, brutal, gamechanging honesty, even while spouting the most unbelievable horseshit.
Which big employers have the largest and smallest gender pay gaps? New data reveals all - ABC News
Elon Musk sues ChatGPT maker OpenAI, CEO Sam Altman for allegedly 'perverting' mission for profit - ABC News: Mr Musk is suing over breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unfair business practices. Those claims are unlikely to succeed in court, but that might not be the point for Mr Musk, who is getting his take and personal story on the record

around the traps

2024-01-19T22:49:00.001+11:00

Google agrees to settle Chrome incognito mode class action lawsuit | Ars Technica: Google has indicated that it is ready to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 over its Chrome browser's Incognito mode. Arising in the Northern District of California, the lawsuit accused Google of continuing to "track, collect, and identify [users'] browsing data in real time" even when they had opened a new Incognito window.
A national crackdown on disposable vapes begins today. How will it work? - ABC News. Vape not-exactly-a-ban has started. I hope it works, and I will not miss the stink of cherry-mint fart any more than I miss the smell of stale cigarettes.
Morrison government failed to give Howard-era national security cabinet papers to national archives | Cabinet papers | The Guardian. As is so common with the Morrison government... whether it was incompetence or malice, the result is the same.
RTO Policies Don't Improve Employee Performance or Company Value: Ma compared each firm's financial performance on the stock market before and after implementing return-to-office mandates and found no significant change in either the financial performance or the stock market value. [...] "We found that return-to-office mandates are more common among firms with poor stock performance and stock returns," Ma said
Should government step in to help Australians quit their big car habit? - ABC News: Australians didn't just wake up and decide they wanted bigger cars, rather "our tax system makes it attractive to do so".
'Impossible' to create AI tools like ChatGPT without copyrighted material, OpenAI says | OpenAI | The Guardian: The developer OpenAI has said it would be impossible to create tools like its groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT without access to copyrighted material ...what they mean is it's impossible if they have to pay for that copyrighted material.
Woolworths and Big W Australia Day decision prompts Peter Dutton to call for boycott - ABC News. I mean. Do we start with the fact they just aren't stocking stuff that wasn't selling? Or do we talk about how Dutton and his cronies lose their shit when other people call for boycotts? Or just once again observe Dutton has the imagination of a potato?
How the humble stink bug helped Australia miss a major EV milestone | Australia news | The Guardian: ship carrying a bunch of EVs was turned around due to the detection of stinkbugs. The organisation estimates invasive alien species in Australia cost about $25bn each year in agricultural losses and pest management. ...so hopefully people won't whinge too much about a few cars being delayed.
Lego worth thousands of dollars seized as police arrest alleged Melbourne drug trafficker | Victoria | The Guardian. When you have an expensive habit, and also sell drugs.
End of an era, as Tom Scott stops doing weekly videos.

2023 mix tape

2024-01-01T13:32:00.036+11:00

It's that time again with the annual playlist...

Caro Emerald - The Ghost Of You. Know this one from its use in The Peripheral, and although I watched it a while earlier for some reason this track bubbled back up later.
The HU - This Is Mongol. The Hu and Alice In Chains, what's not to like? :)
VNV Nation - Wait. New single that I played to death.
Up Down Jumper - Boris Brejcha. Came up on a random discovery list in Tidal and got thoroughly stuck in my head.
Anyma & Chris Avantgarde - Eternity. This track was all over social media with its inseparable visuals, but what really impressed me was how they adapted it to a long, narrow venue (clearly not what they'd designed it for). Bit odd to end up on a music playlist because of the lightshow, but it is what it is!

Next three are from an absolutely massive gig, Regurgitator's "Unit" show which was really a mini festival. It was my first gig since Tool, pre-covid! Also it was like a time machine back to Brisvegas in the late nineties, in the very best way.

Butterfingers - Get Up Outta The Dirt
Custard - Girls Like That
Regurgitator - Polyester Girl

Back to the randomness..

Armin van Buuren - Computers Take Over The World. Another one that came up on Tidal, at a time when everyone was talking about AI taking over everything AND I was learning to make music. Also it's very tongue in cheek, self-referential humour for music producers. Bit of a gimme for me, then.
Underworld - and the colour red. Underworld released another amazing track. That's it, that's all they need to do...
VNV Nation - Invictus. Double-dipping VNV as this one got stuck in my head after the album came out.

Big run to the finish with three gigs that happened in the space of about two weeks, which were all amazing in their own ways, so I'm double-dipping all three.

G. Love & Special Sauce was a total wildcard, suggested by a mate. It lead to an improbable night of running into another mate at the venue; and shenanigans ensued that were Very Inner West.

G. Love & Special Sauce - Blues Music
G. Love & Special Sauce - Cold Beverage

Devo's Freedom Of Choice album was one of the first cassettes I had, after my sister dubbed a copy for me. Pretty sure the tape had Scritti Politti on the other side. She was also showing me stuff I might like on VHS-recorded episodes of MTV and Rage - I remember Tears For Fears, The Cure, and lots of totally bonkers Devo film clips.

Somehow though I never quite made it to a Devo gig, nor saw them at a festivale, etc. So when they announced it was their last tour, it had to happen... and it didn't disappoint. They were just as unapologetically weird as I'd hoped.

Devo - Freedom Of Choice
Devo - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Followed that up just a few days later with Kraftwerk, which was just amazing. To be able to go see the urtext of electronic music felt like a privilege to me.

Kraftwerk - Metal on Metal
Kraftwerk - Tour de France (Etape 2)

While it's not on YouTube, honourable mention to Tycho's release of Tasty (Special Edition)... finally you too can enjoy the Banned By The BBC mix of Tainted/Who ;) Not to take away from all the awesome new tracks Tycho have released this year, it's just that Tainted/Who has a very special history.

around the traps

2023-12-28T17:53:00.004+11:00

There are headlines, and then there's Henry Kissinger, War Criminal Beloved by America’s Ruling Class, Finally Dies
Australia makes world-first decision to ban engineered stone following surge in silicosis cases - ABC News: Australia has become the first country to announce a ban on engineered stone following a surge in workers developing the lung disease silicosis.
Entire Wests Tigers administration ousted as former NSW premier returns to embattled NRL club | Wests Tigers | The Guardian: NRL club Wests Tigers have overhauled their entire administration following an independent review into the club, bringing in former New South Wales premier Barry O'Farrell as interim chair and ex-Souths boss Shane Richardson as interim chief executive. Yikes.
Kingsmill the kingmaker: Triple J veteran who shaped Australia's music tastes for decades departs ABC | Australian music | The Guardian: However much you liked or hated his musical taste, at least Kingsmill was a real human being. There are now far fewer niches for tastemakers and cultural intermediaries. Your Spotify feed is programmed by a ghostly algorithm, while the power to launch new artists has been passed to TikTok. As robot playlists and major label tie-ups move inexorably towards the commanding heights of the music economy, it may be that we come to look on Kingsmill's time at Triple J with nostalgia.
The 10 Most Hated Fonts of All Time | WDD. Mostly good but over-used fonts. Plus a couple that were always simply crap.
St Vincent’s Hospital to be insolvent by April | The Saturday Paper: The SVHA group has $3.6 billion in assets and almost $400 million in cash and cash equivalents at hand, although this is apparently not to be spent to rescue its failing public operation. For those not familiar, this is a situation where the public and private hospitals are literally next door. One rolling in cash, the other broke. You could not get a clearer illustration of why maintaining two entire hospital systems in parallel is ludicrous.
Facebook Is Being Overrun With Stolen, AI-Generated Images That People Think Are Real: In many ways, this is a tale as old as time: people lie and steal content online in exchange for likes, influence and money all the time. But the spread of this type of content on Facebook over the last several months has shown that the once-prophesized future where cheap, AI-generated trash content floods out the hard work of real humans is already here, and is already taking over Facebook. It also shows Facebook is doing essentially nothing to help its users decipher real content from AI-generated content masquerading as real content, and that huge masses of Facebook users are completely unprepared for our AI-generated future.
The New York Times is suing Microsoft and OpenAI for billions. Here's what it claims their AI bots are up to - ABC News. It's quite a list, including claims ChatGPT attributed made-up stories to the NYT.
Clue in the windscreen may be key in legal challenge to Queensland's AI traffic fine system | Queensland | The Guardian: Visible in the car's windscreen is what appears to be a reflection of Trueman's upside-down numberplate. Hard to imagine how a reflections of the car's own number plate could be on the windscreen.

around the traps

2023-11-27T22:39:00.001+11:00

Erik Wernquist - Short Film: "One Revolution Per Minute" - have to agree with the creator that in reality, most people would find the whole thing nauseating. Interesting thought experiment though.
People who watched Sky News more likely to have voted no in referendum, survey finds | Indigenous voice to parliament | The Guardian. You don't fucken say? Who could have seen that coming...
Experts say east coast humpback whale population has reached record numbers, as tourism booms - ABC News: "We know that population has reached 40,000 or more," Wally Franklin from the Oceania Project said. "We believe the numbers are now getting close to what we call carrying capacity, when the number of whales born equals the number of whales that die of natural causes each year."
This new data poisoning tool lets artists fight back against generative AI | MIT Technology Review: Poisoned data samples can manipulate models into learning, for example, that images of hats are cakes, and images of handbags are toasters. The poisoned data is very difficult to remove, as it requires tech companies to painstakingly find and delete each corrupted sample.
In the Office Auto-Reply Emails for a Hybrid Work Schedule - McSweeney's Internet Tendency
Microsoft hires former OpenAI CEO Sam Altman | OpenAI | The Guardian: At the end of a dramatic weekend of boardroom drama, the non-profit board of the San Francisco-based OpenAI has installed Emmett Shear, the co-founder of video streaming site Twitch, as the company's third CEO in three days, according to multiple reports. A week later the drama was still going on. Silicon Valley would never have run out of material, honestly.
Australian supermarket vanilla ice-cream taste test: the best tub is from Aldi (so is the worst) | Australian food and drink | The Guardian. Interesting even if only for the discussion of just how much air gets whipped into ice cream.
Australians most vulnerable to COVID-19 are the least vaccinated. Here's how the government's responding - ABC News. Spoiler alert: they're doing absolutely fucking nothing, and blaming the aged care sector.
Australian housing wealth is meaningless, destructive and fundamentally changing our society | Alan Kohler | The Guardian: It will be impossible to return the price of housing to something less destructive – preferably to what it was when my parents and I bought our first houses – without purging the idea that housing is a means to create wealth as opposed to simply a place to live.

around the traps

2023-09-28T15:30:00.001+10:00

Buyers of Bored Ape NFTs sue after digital apes turn out to be bad investment | Ars Technica. It's almost art.
Aussie electro-mod Datsun 1200 ute - 730kg of rapid brilliance - EV Central. EV swaps are definitely part of the future for car culture. Those who say it will never happen are very silly. It'd be like saying LS swaps wouldn't catch on. People like to keep old cars running, and they like to do things that are different. EV swaps tick a lot of boxes.
Wind-Powered Cargo Ship Could Save 3 Tons Of Fuel A Day (more accurately "wind-assisted")
The charts that show how Australia's rental market got so broken - ABC News: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something different to happen. Are we talking about madness, or the Australian property market?
Scientists strengthen concrete by 30 percent with used coffee grounds: a team of researchers from RMIT University in Australia have discovered [pyrolized coffee grounds] can be used as a silica substitute in the concrete production process that, in the proper proportions, yields a significantly stronger chemical bond than sand alone
Why do cats love tuna so much? Scientists may finally know | Science | AAAS: umami appears to be the primary flavor cats seek out. That's no surprise for an obligate carnivore. But the team also found these cat receptors are uniquely tuned to molecules found at high concentrations in tuna, revealing why our feline friends seem to prefer this delicacy over all others.
'The Reacher' is Tesla's solution to left-hand drive in the UK | 7NEWS. Honestly thought this was a joke when I first saw it, but... seems to be real?! Oh and the solution for Australia...? Just not going to sell them here at all: Confirmed: Updated Tesla Model S, Model X not coming to Australia - Drive.
Tim Gurner: Property tycoon got his start with help from boss, grandfather: Anyone with half a memory will know Timbo has form. He became a pre-pandemic meme in property circles as the “Avocado Toast Guy”, suggesting that people priced out of the property market should simply eat less brunch. ... The next time Timbo chunters on about any aspect of economic policy, or about the current predicament of employer-employee relationships, he should be forced to staple to his forehead how he really “made it”. Lord knows there's enough room.
The Incredible Saga Of The Lost Antarctic Volkswagen Beetles | Jalopnik

around the traps

2023-08-17T22:51:00.000+10:00

FOGO system 'overwhelmed' by plastics as industry urges public to get behind rollout - ABC News. The RedCycle debacle probably hasn't helped with general levels of engagement with recycling. Food scraps also suffer because the little caddy bins are poorly designed so they sweat a lot; and the compostable bags tear incredibly easily when they get wet. So unless you empty and clean the bin daily (or close to daily) it turns into a disgusting mess... so if you get busy or sick and fall behind you're just tempted to stop using it. It really does reduce the amount of general waste you have though.
What is happening to gas in Victoria and will the rest of the country follow suit? - ABC News. I've no doubt there will be pushback, but ultimately gas stoves make absolutely no sense. Bad for your health, expensive, smelly, dangerous. Gas was better than crappy old electric stoves, but isn't better than modern induction stoves which are fast and responsive. Gas should only be retained as a portable or backup solution, including BBQs.
Will rebranding Twitter give Elon Musk the X factor? I wouldn't bank on it | John Naughton | The Guardian: As usual, the close to 150 million-strong legion of Musk worshippers think that this is further evidence of their hero's genius. More detached observers wonder what he's been smoking.
Fight brews on AI copyright law, as unions say big tech must pay to train AI, while Google, Microsoft ask for exemptions - ABC News
ABC exiting Twitter: Australia's national broadcaster shuts down almost all accounts on Elon Musk's X | Twitter | The Guardian: The ABC is shutting down almost all of its official accounts on Twitter – now known as X under Elon Musk's ownership – citing “toxic interactions”, cost and better interaction with ABC content on other social media platforms.
Brisbane heritage tugboat The Forceful to be turned into scrap metal as museum's last hopes dashed - ABC News. That's sad. As a kid I once spent an afternoon on the Forceful including helping the stokers. I kind of assumed she'd be on the river forever, one way or another.
This is Henson Park - League - Inside Sport: There's no rugby league experience quite like a Newtown Jets home game. The big stadiums will never be able to match the charm, passion and community spirit of a place like Henson, a beacon of suburban footy. Although written in 2018 I'm pleased to say this piece still perfectly describes what it is like attending a game at Henson Park.
14 surprising and bizarre photos from oilfield workers reveal what crude oil actually looks like when it comes out of the ground | Business Insider. Definitely not what I expected.
Donald Trump has been indicted for a fourth time. Here's what's different about the case in Georgia - ABC News

around the traps

2023-07-29T18:55:00.000+10:00

The Orchestra of All Things: Sampling Your Environment | Ableton. Notionally a music production post, but also a generally interesting write up about field recording.
Robodebt royal commission findings revealed, individuals referred for criminal prosecution - ABC News: Unnamed individuals will be referred for criminal and civil prosecution after a royal commission handed down its report into the unlawful Robodebt scheme on Friday.
Californians Stop Self Driving Cars With Traffic Cones
Patients given aripiprazole 'should be told of gambling addiction risks' | Drugs | The Guardian: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said pathological gambling and other impulse control disorders were “a well-recognised side-effect of aripiprazole”, which are listed as side-effects in the patient information leaflet.
Kevin Mitnick Obituary - Las Vegas, NV. Vale Kevin Mitnick. A tumultuous but all too short life. Demonised hacker turned white hat, he inspired so many to be curious and even to go into security as a career.
Meet Lilli, the High-end German Call Girl Who Became Barbie
Tesla's secret team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints. They rigged the cars to show optimistic range during test drives: The company decided about a decade ago, for marketing purposes, to write algorithms for its range meter that would show drivers “rosy” projections for the distance it could travel on a full battery [...] Then, when the battery fell below 50% of its maximum charge, the algorithm would show drivers more realistic projections for their remaining driving range. Then they set up a whole team to stop owners from bringing cars in thinking they were defective because they never got that range: Tesla created the Las Vegas “Diversion Team” to handle only range cases [...] The office atmosphere at times resembled that of a telemarketing boiler room. A supervisor had purchased the metallophone – a xylophone with metal keys – that employees struck to celebrate appointment cancellations.

around the traps

2023-06-25T18:37:00.005+10:00

Is Elon Musk creating a utopian city? The hellish, heavenly history of company towns | Housing | The Guardian
Plastic-eating backyard fungi discovery boosts hopes for a solution to the recycling crisis - ABC News: Professor Abbas said he was "very confident" the technology could be scaled up to process thousands of tonnes of plastic a year, because the same techniques were already being used in different fields.
Canary Wharf: Spectacular photos of skyscraper rediscovered - BBC News
'Is that satire?': Outrage as Peter V'landys describes NRL as 'wagering content' | Gambling | The Guardian. No surprise that the horse gambling hack sees football purely as a vehicle for gambling.
Orcas have sunk 3 boats in Europe and appear to be teaching others to do the same. But why? | Live Science
If this is the best we can hope for, why do we even bother? - The Shot: In Australia’s infantile political theatre, approving a new coal mine and being sad about it is considered a victory for the environment, better and more progressive than approving a new coal mine while gloating about it and/or crash tackling a small child into the dirt. ... We need to constantly ask ourselves where power really lies in Australia, because the Government doesn’t appear to be the answer.
Enhanced Games: audacious plan for sporting event without drug testing | Drugs in sport | The Guardian - something like this seems inevitable, but the promoter's rhetoric is bullshit. Anti-doping agencies aren't anti-science, they are anti-cheating. People aren't doping to advance humanity, they're doping to win by breaking the rules of their sport. People who had past accolades stripped for drugs were cheating and knew it - they're not unsung heroes, they're just cheats. Go nuts with the doped-up olympics - but don't come in with bullshit arguments.
Cat bibs trialled by Eurobodalla council to stop pets killing native wildlife - ABC News: [Cats] live four times longer on average if they are kept inside ...pretty good argument on its own, TBH.

around the traps

2023-04-07T17:57:00.001+10:00

What's going on with the 'fake' mobile game ads on TikTok? | Eurogamer.net: And so of course these ads are relentlessly A/B tested to just get that install. Whatever works. Over time and through rigorous testing, some mobile game marketers found that it's more effective to present your game as a runner or a puzzler than tell people what the game actually is.
What we've learnt from nine weeks of Robodebt royal commission hearings - ABC News. TLDR: many people knew it was wrong, many people had opportunities to stop it, nobody stopped it, and the entire toxic disaster was framed with a two-word slogan from Scott Morrison. Being punitive was more important than any other aspect - including the truth or human life.
Australia's leading harness racing stable, Yole Racing, at centre of cheating allegations - ABC News: What Riley is describing is what's known as “team driving”, and it's prohibited in the racing code. The driver said he was concerned races may have been “fixed” for betting purposes. [...] RSPCA Tasmania CEO, Jan Davis, said while she was not happy with the condition more than 150 horses were kept in at the Yole Racing stable — she was limited by the state’s animal welfare legislation.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns vows not to work with Mark Latham, urges Liberals to do the same - ABC News: Mr Minns said he would not support Mr Latham if he requested to chair a committee or special assignment inside of the Legislative Council. Unlikely to come up, since Latham doesn't do much more than tweet drivel.
Peter Dutton says he 'accepts responsibility' for Aston by-election loss - ABC News: During the campaign, Mr Dutton said the result would be a "verdict on the leaders, no doubt about that". He conceded to ABC's Insiders that he had failed his own test. [...] Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull this morning rebuked the Liberal leader on Twitter, noting the party had seen success in Victoria in 2016, when it won Chisholm with moderate candidate Julia Banks. "Jeez Peter — just tell the truth. Victoria is a small-l liberal state and the Liberal Party egged on by the Murdoch media has moved further and further to the right," Mr Turnbull wrote.
The Herkimer Battle Jitney Lives, and the New Owner Plans a Full Restoration | Hemmings. A mostly-forgotten movie prop that seems more popular than the movie it's from...
Former Indigenous affairs minister Ken Wyatt quits Liberals over party's voice opposition | Ken Wyatt | The Guardian: After the Albanese government revealed the wording of the referendum question, Wyatt publicly urged Dutton to back the creation of the voice, warning not doing so could add to the perceptions the Liberals were a “racist party”.
Investigation launched into whether AFP tried to 'pervert the course of justice' in Brittany Higgins case | Australia news | The Guardian: In an email seen by Guardian Australia, ACLEI's executive director of operations, Peter Ratcliffe, confirms the agency is investigating whether “AFP members attempted to pervert the course of justice by pressuring Ms Brittany Higgins not to proceed with the matter”.
I was hoping Andrew Huang would do a behind-the-scenes for his 'space' video series...
Mark Rober talking about the very-cool Zipline drones.