My week of Monday 3 to Sunday 9 August 2026 was another productive one, but once again I can’t show you much of it yet. However I’ve noticed how I’m now becoming more interested in the humble bin chicken since I’ve been living near a colony of the. Yes, the Australian white ibis is much more common in Sydney these days, and they intrigue me.
It’s also another week when I haven’t been pushing the new-season crowdfunder. The 9pm Spring Series 2026, but at the time of writing we’re now 37% of the way to the first target thanks to some extreme generosity. I’ll start organising guests for the new season this week.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #128. More hacking by AI, eSafety’s own figures highlight ineffective teen social media ban, cheap smart specs in the news, and weird men run the tech industry.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these this week. I’ve pulled back the podcast production while I’m “between seasons” I’ll consider my options for photos and videos soon. Yes, I’ve said that before. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when the occasional livestreams are scheduled.
Some Interesting Links
- From the National Security Archive in the US, The Atomic Bombings of Japan and the End of World War II, 80 Years Later. Obviously it was published a year ago, but I only caught up with it this year.
- Related, I guess? From Lord HardThrasher, B-29 Superfortress – A $3.7bn Trial By Fire.
- From J Draper, What Can You Do When You’re Replaced By Machines? It does mention the Luddites, but the core of it is a detailed look at Rupert Murdoch versus the British newspaper unions in the 1980s. It’s definitely worth spending the 89 minutes.
- From the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, How to be a Canadian.
- Have I posted this one before? How about some slash fiction about AI.
- You might like to know how leopard slugs have sex.
- This week’s suggested follow: The technology masthead Ars Technica is usually worth reading, but I’d like to draw attention to their health writer Beth Mole, who has a penchant for gory stories. This week’s joyous news: Flesh-eating screwworms feast on humans in Mexico; human cases top 500.
The Week Ahead
On Tuesday I’m having my six-month checkup in the medical trial I’m taking part in, the one for a new trivalent vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPV-3). Given that I came down wth RSV in May, I’m guessing that whatever I was injected with didn’t contain the RSV vaccine component.
Other than that, it’s a week like the last few: I haven’t scheduled things for specific days yet, but it will be a mix of client work, administrivia, and podcast planning, and then The Weekly Cybers newsletter will appear on Friday afternoon as usual.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Takashi Wakasugi’s Wabi-Sabi Comedy (Encore), 22 August 2026. This is the show that I missed in May because I came down with RSV. I did see Waka’s work-in-progress show back in December, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it all came together.
- TechLeaders 2026, Bowral, 23–24 August 2026.
- Plateia Festival 2026, Earlwood, 19 September 2026. It’s another of those typical suburban street festivals, and as usual I’m looking forward to the food. If I go.
[Photo: An Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) makes his presence felt in Burwood, Sydney, honking as evening approaches on 4 August 2026.]