My week of Monday 2 to Sunday 8 February 2026 wasn’t particularly productive, but my move back to Sydney was finally confirmed after 15 years of living in the Blue Mountains “for a few weeks”. Not immediately, but very soon. I have a lot to think about.
Back in January 2011, my future accommodation was unknown because, well, Sydney landlords. The deadline for moving was approaching fast with nowhere new organised and without the cashflows needed to cover it. I ended up with an offer of temporary accommodation in the Blue Mountains, weirdly punctuated with a work trip to the US.
Fifteen years later I’m still in the Mountains.
If you’ve been following my personal news, you’ll know that for the last few months my good friend Snarky Platypus — you’ll know him from the podcasts — has been apartment-hunting. The plan has been for me to then lodge with him.
And now an apartment has been found and purchased in Campsie in Sydney’s inner south-west. We should be able to move in from mid-March. And I’m bracing myself for change.
Fate being what it is, once more I’m going to be moving when the cashflows are a bit shit. That’s why I’ve started a brand new crowdfunder with a focus on pulling a household’s worth of goods out of storage, moving my everyday possessions some 100 km from the Mountains down to the city, covering the disruption to my working routines (such as they are), and whatever other unexpected costs pop up. Please consider.
(While I’ve been running quarterly crowdfunders on Pozible for several years now, this time I’m using GoFundMe. Why? Funds are released regularly rather than at the end of an all-or-nothing target, and the fees are a little lower.)
Finally, many of the items in storage will be sold or given away in The Great Unboxening. Most of the boxes contain books. But there’s also vinyl records, CDs, probably some DVDs, and who knows what else. I do know there’s various bits of technology and some curiosities. So stay tuned for news of that.
Podcasts
- I’ve finally organised a new home for Another Untitled Music Podcast‘s audio files on Mixcloud. The first pilot, which was posted in April 2025, has been posted first so we can get used to this new platform. In the coming weeks we’ll upload the existing episodes and set up the usual ways for you to support the pod. All of the existing episodes are already on YouTube, however. At this stage we plan to resume recording new episodes in March.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #103. Bunnings gets a green light for face scanning but a slap for inadequate policies, Australia’s teen social media ban seems less of a drama than imagined with other countries are to follow, and real estate rental platforms are horribly vulnerable.
Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, 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
- ITV Retro has put all of the science-fantasy series Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982) on YouTube, and here they are. Stars David McCallum and Joanna Lumley and very cheap production. They’ve also posted, The Prisoner, Stingray, a remastered Thunderbirds, Joe 90, Press Gang, Captain Scarlet, and more.
- From Wildlife Photographer of the Year, the people’s choice 2026.
- This week’s episode of If You’re Listening is a must-watch: Stephen Miller: Edgelord in Chief.
- Cannibalistic jellyfish with a vanishing anus are invading Venice.
- This is extremely satisfying: Controlled Demolition Inc’s Top 10 Demolitions of 2025.
- “JUMPSEAT, the United States’ first-generation, highly elliptical orbit (HEO) signals-collection satellite, has recently been declassified“, said the NRO on X.
- This week’s suggested follow: Mentour NOW! is a YouTube channel devoted to civil aviation and the airline industry, presented by actual pilots. Be ready for plenty of detail.
The Week Ahead
NEW: On Monday night I’m recording an episode of The 9pm Edict with David Gerard, editor of Pivot to AI. He’s been on the pod before, but now of course there’s nothing happening with AI, is there? What will we talk about?
If you’re s supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 7pm AEDT tomorrow, Monday 9 February.
On Tuesday I’m heading down to Sydney to kick off my involvement in the trial of a new trivalent vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPV-3). There’s a 37.5% chance I’ll get the placebo, and a 37.5% chance it’ll be the full new thing. The remaining options are a range of single or bivalent vaccines. I’ll do some other things while I’m down there, like get a haircut.
On Wednesday I’ll edit and post that new podcast, and on Thursday I’ll post another old episode of AUMP to Mixcloud.
Friday sees The Weekly Cybers newsletter as usual. There won’t be any apartment-hunting on Saturday, however, because Snarky Platypus has bought an apartment! Instead he and I will be catching up in Sydney to plot and scheme and plan and drink wine.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Sydney day, 17 February 2026, for the first medical checkup after I’m given a vaccine, or maybe the placebo. As usual I’ll do some other things while I’m down there.
- NEW: The 9pm Edict recording with Dr Alice Gorman and Rami Mandow, late February 2026 (TBC). This will be another space-oriented episode, originally timed to coincide with NASA’s Artemis II mission, although that’s now been delayed until March.
- Takashi Wakasugi’s Wabi-Sabi Comedy, Sydney, 16 May 2026 (TBC). I saw Takashi’s work-in-progress show back in December, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together.
[Photo: The Campsie Hotel, photographed on 11 November 2018. It’s one of three pubs in Campsie, and all of them are along Beamish Street. This pub will soon become one of my locals — although it’s already a regular. Check out its history.]