My week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 September 2022 saw me visit one Sydney university and peer at parts of another from a distance over rooftops — so obviously I’ve posted a photograph of the one I didn’t visit. I also produced a fascinating podcast, even if I say so myself.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Killer Robot Restaurant Booking with UNSW Scientia Professor Toby Walsh, recorded on Monday and posted on Saturday. He’s the chief scientist of the new UNSW AI Institute and it’s a fun chat.
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Articles, Photos, Videos, Media Appearances
None. You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Corporate Largesse
- At the launch of the new UNSW AI Institute we all were fed plenty of coffee and a very nice lunch, and I snarfed myself a lovely branded coffee cup.
Recommendations
- Scientists following the ability of Australia’s sulphur-crested cockatoos to open garbage bins have updated their research follow the humans as well: “Interspecies innovation arms race”: cockatoos and humans at war over wheelie bin raids.
- “The #stomach is a very sensitive organ,” explains this little film from Deutsche Welle. I think it’s a bit special.
- Even more special, however, is LOOK MUM NO COMPUTER building a musical instrument from raw sausages.
- A fascinating Twitter thread: “Let’s (digitally) crack open McClure’s Magazine from May of 1910 and talk about it.”
- Are you into the history of World War Two? Are you into stop-frame animation? Like Lego? Then combine all your loves into this single six-minute film, Lego Battle for the Bismarck.
- It’s a year since AUKUS was announced, the technology-sharing agreement between Australia, and UK, and the US to deliver, among other things, new submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. Here’s some updates via the Lowy Institute and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. A quick Google search will probably deliver many more.
- If you’ve been astounded by some of the more over-the-top instances of public and institutional grieving for the late Queen Elizabeth II, then check out the Twitter account @GrieveWatch.
- For reasons which are not entirely clear, I tweeted all the news videos covering the opening of the Sydney Monorail in 1988. It was closed in 2013. It was stupid.
The Week Ahead
Tuesday is another Sydney day, in part for another recording of Win the Week at the ABC in Ultimo. It’s the final episode of what has been an excellent series. Check it out on ABC iView.
Then it’s time for Bond on Tuesday with the first of the Pierce Brosnan films, GoldenEye (1995). Yes, there was a gap of six years. Find a stream and get ready at 8.30pm AEST. We press PLAY at 8.40pm.
How can I be part of Bond on Tuesday while I’m also at the ABC? Just as on other occasions, I’ll have watched the movie beforehand and my reaction tweets will be pre-programmed.
I return to the Blue Mountains on Wednesday.
Thursday is Australia’s National Day of Mourning for Her Majesty The Queen. I think that’s when I’ll record a solo episode of The 9pm Edict, because I’ve been accumulating a lot of thoughts about all this and you might as well hear them.
Friday includes the September Equinox, the exact moment being somewhere between 1058 and 1104 AEST, depending on which source you check. I may or may not do something to celebrate.
If all that doesn’t seem like much actual work, remember that I said wouldn’t mention the consulting work I do unless there was something specific made public. In reality I’ve been doing more billable hours this month than most other months so far this year.
Further Ahead
- Gin Gala, Centennial Park, 6 October 2022.
- Aussie Backyard Bird Count, 1–23 October 2022.
- Federal Budget, 25 October 2022.
- NetThing: Australia’s Internet Community Forum, online, 27–28 October 2022.
- Victoria state election, 26 November 2022. I’m sure I’ll do something special.
- NSW state election, 25 March 2023.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, 4–5 April 2023.
[Photo: The Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is the first building in Australia to be designed by Frank Gehry. It houses the UTS Business School. Photographed from Haymarket on 14 September 2022.]