My week of Monday 28 July to Sunday 3 August 2025 was the second in a row that included a lot of sleeping. Maybe it’s just the weather, but I don’t know. Anyway, I got a bunch of planning done, and recorded a podcast for the coming week.
Podcasts
- On Saturday, Snarky Platypus and I recorded an episode of Another Untitled Music Podcast, which will be posted very soon.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #79. Even more about Australia’s social media age restrictions including the actual rules, a little on the UK’s efforts, plenty of new legislation, and much, much more.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Media Appearances
- My 2017 ZDNet story Fear of downloadable guns becoming a reality was cited in the paper Leveraging memory forensics to investigate and detect illegal 3D printing activities. That’s an interesting investigative approach, and something certain ubernerds might enjoy reading about. The forensics, I mean, not my story,
Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Muskwatch
A diner. A fucking diner. A shitty diner. Oh, and other Musk things.
- Vanity Fair‘s headline summarises it: Elon Musk faces another rough week. “With ‘total chaos’ at his new restaurant, a landmark $240 million judgement against Tesla, and claims that his waste-cutting government agency cost taxpayers billions, the world’s richest man can’t seem to buy happiness.”
- Everything Eater editors ate at the Tesla Diner in Los Angeles. It’s amazing how much the tech bots will pay for food that’s nothing more than you can find at every strip mall diner across America.
- ‘From Startup Daily, “Elon Musk?s attempt to avoid a $610,500 Australian fine over Twitters failures to report on tackling child sexual abuse just tanked. Again.”
- From Futurism, “Elon Musk is furious that people are launching so many satellites, even though he’s personally responsible for 60 percent of all satellites currently in space.”
- Elon Musk gave Trump and the GOP $15M even as he was fighting with the president.
- And from ABC News, Why Donald Trump, Elon Musk and JD Vance want to ‘make America procreate again’ through pronatalism.
Some Interesting Links
- New Ze Frank! True Facts: How Crickets Became the Soundtrack to Everything.
- I’ve enjoyed a couple of stand-up sets by Melbourne comedians. Matt Stewart’s Best Man, and Dave Warneke’s Even Hotter in Real Life.
- Samuel L. Jackson Wants You to Eat Seaweed (and Back Wind Farms).
- The “citizen science” (ugh!) site iNaturalist actually fuels countless new discoveries. We have a group account at Bunjaree Cottages and here’s what we’ve seen.
- Given the chatter about triple j’s music countdown last weekend, this essay from 2009 is worth a read: The Curious Significance of Triple J.
- It’s not a complete playlist, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy Music Videos Directed By Russell Mulcahy (1977 – 1989).
The Week Ahead
NEW: On Thursday evening I’ll try to catch the Lowy Institute debate, How to defend Australia. Both Jennifer Parker and Sam Roggeveen are great value, but they have different views on defence strategy. Indeed, Sam was on The 9pm Edict podcast recently, The 9pm AUKUS and the Echidna with Sam Roggeveen.
Apart from that, I’ll just chug through the other items on my to-do list. I have nothing specific to tell you.
Further Ahead
- NEW: The 9pm Edict recording with Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson, authors of Conspiracy Nation, 14 August 2025. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEST on Tuesday 12 August. The finished episode will be posted the following week.
- UPDATED: Mandarin Live Webinar: Interview with Services Australia CEO David Hazlehurst, online, 14 August 2025. This now clashes with my podcast recording, so I’ll have to watch it later. But you’re still free to watch it live.
- TechLeaders 2025, Hunter Valley, 16?18 August 2025.
- A curious evening of drinks and nibbles to which you are not invited, Darlinghurst, Sydney, 29 August 2025.
- Sam Campbell: Window Sucker, Sydney, 31 October 2025.
[Photo: An Australian wood duck (Chenonetta jubata) in a bit of a flap ? hah! ? at Pennington Gardens in Adelaide on 28 June 2025.]