Despite being down with a random virus on Wednesday, my week of Monday 20 to Sunday 26 October 2025 was remarkably productive. I produced one podcast, planned four others, and continued to assist with the property hunting. I also took photos of trains, one of which is included with this post.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Bongbong in the Region with Erin Cook, being an episode primarily about the Philippines but with lots of other topics too, including a preview of the ASEAN Summit which kicked off today with the arrival of the national leaders, recorded on 16 October and posted this Thursday. That sentence is too long.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #90. There’s that Amazon Web Services outage you may have noticed, Westpac forced to allow working from home, a new AI web browser, and 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 ever-popular photo of a trade union protest march in Sydney back in 2018 was used once again, this time to illustrate a story at Global News View, ICJ holds hearing on right to strike.
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.
Some Interesting Links
These have been a bit thin in recent weeks, so this week I’ve decided to make up for that.
- If you’re suffering from London plane trees this spring (Platanus x hispanica, but before 2019 often known as Platanus x acerifolia and other things), well, here’s some photos of what’s tearing your sinuses and throat apart. Scroll down.
- For 25 years now a bloke called Peter Cowell, who appointed himself an admiral, has been trying to get money for an international fleet of rescue ships for disaster relief. You’ll be shocked to hear it’s all fake.
- The Films That Made Star Wars, which describes itself as “A three-part look at the eclectic group of movies that helped provide the inspiration for Lucas’s space-opera saga”. It’s well-informed but concise, and I’m tempted to watch all the films it references in order.
- The Guardian has some wonderful photos from the new book Melbourne Heritage Interiors by Kristine Slawinski and Phil Campbell.
- “Is it a critical mineral or a Tolkien invention? Take the Guardian’s nerdiest quiz yet.” I got 8/10, and I’m happy with that.
- Duty
- “China’s Ministry of State Security deploys an AI anchor in full uniform to deliver national security warnings on social media.”
- “Today’s AI hype has echoes of a devastating technology boom and bust 100 years ago,” and by that they mean electricity.
- Please have an excellent fact sheet about kookaburras, one of a series from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance.
- Let Me Tell You a Story (Before the Ship Explodes, by Alasdair Beckett-King.
- An Observer’s Guide to Thai Politics, from Ken Lohatepanont. It was written back in May, and as always in Thailand a lot has happened since, but it’s still an excellent primer.
- Also from Ken, “On October 24, 2025, Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother passed away at the age of 93.”.
The Week Ahead
Monday is a client work day, at least in part. Tuesday is a shopping and errands day, although there may also be some client work.
On Wednesday evening I’m recording the twice-rescheduled episode of The 9pm Edict with Dr Alice Gorman and Rami Mandow about what’s happening in space. If you have a TRIGGER WORD or CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 11am AEDT this Wednesday 29 October — although to be fair we’re already looking at a packed show.
I’ll edit and post that episode on Thursday.
[Update 29 October 2025: No, the podcast will now be thrice-postponed for various reasons. Here is my substitute plan.]
On Thursday I’ll edit up a podcast based on material that Snarky Platypus and I recorded in Adelaide.
[Update 31 October 2025: No I won’t. Various events occurred which made this difficult. Nothing to worry about. It was just annoying.]
Friday is a busy day. I’m heading down to Sydney, and if all goes to plan that will include my first ride on a Sydney Trains Mariyung D-Set. En route I’ll write The Weekly Cybers newsletter as usual. Then there’s a health-related appointment in Darlinghurst and, in the evening, comedian Sam Campbell’s show Window Sucker at the Enmore Theatre, with various errands in between.
I’ll stay in Sydney overnight so I’m ready for the Saturday tasks.
On Saturday afternoon my good friend Snarky Platypus and I will record an episode of Another Untitled Music Podcast before I return to the Blue Mountains in the evening. And on Sunday I’ll edit and post that podcast.
Further Ahead
I’ve finally locked in a bunch of podcast recording sessions, as well as a couple of social events.
- RESCHEDULED: The 9pm Edict recording with Dr Alice Gorman and Rami Mandow, 5 November 2025. If you have a space-related TRIGGER WORD or CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please get it to me by 11am AEDT that day.
- NEW: auDA Webinar: ICANN84 debrief, online, 6 November 2025
- Frog ID Week, 7–16 November 2025.
- NEW: The 9pm Edict recording with freelance motoring journalist Peter Anderson, editor of The Redline, 12 November 2025. I’m not really into cars, so this will be an auto-industry-for-dummies overview I guess? If you’re a supporter with a TRIGGER WORD or CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT on 11 November.
- NEW: The 9pm Edict recording with infectious diseases physician and medtech nerd Dr Trent Yarwood, who’s been on the pod before, 18 November 2025. If you’re a supporter with a TRIGGER WORD or CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 10am AEDT that day.
- NEW: The 9pm Edict recording with digital rights enthusiast Justin Warren, who’s been on the pod before, 27 November 2025. If you’re a supporter with a TRIGGER WORD or CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 10am AEDT that day.
- CONFIRMED: ATARASHII GAKKO!, Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, 4 December 2025. This Japanese group is well worth exploring. I’m not sure who I’m taking to this gig yet. Make me an offer. And to be clear, while I still haven’t decided on a co-conspirator I’ve have bought tickets.
- NEW: Takashi Wakasugi Work In Progress, Factory Theatre, Sydney, 5 December 2025. He’s also doing a show on 6 December.
[Photo: A Sydney Trains Endeavour railcar at Blacktown station shortly before departing for Bathurst on 25 October 2025.]