My week of Monday 12 to Sunday 18 December 2022 was moderately productive, with a podcast and the launch of a new crowdfunding campaign, plus all the usual things. I set up all the things for a busy week next week. And I had a lovely afternoon at the pub.
Back in 2015 generous supporters bought me a new computer — and the time has come to replace it.
On Friday I launched a crowdfunding campaign, The 9pm Hardware Refresh 2023 to fund a new MacBook Pro and some accessories.
I’d be grateful if you could click through to check out the details, pledge your support, and maybe even tell your friends.
At the time of writing we’re already 48% of the way to Target One but there’s three more targets after that which I really want to reach. You have until Australia Day, 26 January 2023.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Assassination Coordinates, recorded and posted on Sunday. Sure, there’s a lot about Elon Musk, but there’s also a lot that isn’t. There’s even a song.
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. To support this and other projects, please consider pledging to The 9pm Hardware Refresh 2023.
Articles
- Digital developments from Canberra 18, 16 December 2022. Parliament did come back for a day but that was about energy prices. That said, we saw action on robots, navy drones, digital wallets, and the US CLOUD Act. Oh yeah, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) was abolished.
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, Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of any of these things. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Recommendations
First, a whole bunch of links on the Musk-Twitter drama.
- As Vanity Fair explains, Elon Musk’s Commitment to “Free Speech†No Longer Extends to Twitter Account Tracking His Private Plane.
- Elon Musk Kills Twitter Audio Feature After Bizarre Talk With Journalists.
- Twitter relaunches blue tick service with higher price for iPhone users.
- From 5 December, On Twitter, Elon Musk chats with right-wing trolls like Australian YouTuber Avi Yemini.
- Or more directly from The Atlantic this week, Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist.
- Twitter abruptly dissolves safety council moments before meeting. “Also on Monday, it was reported that Twitter’s former top safety official, Yoel Roth, was forced to flee his home amid escalating personal attacks, including from Musk himself.”
And in other news:
- I’ve probably mentioned it before, but the latest series of Matt Bevan’s Russia, if you’re listening is astoundingly good. Look for it in your podcast app.
- Have I mentioned Rex’s Hangar before, a YouTube channel full of interesting aviation profiles? His recent video on the Martin-Baker MB 5 was particularly good.
- The New York Times has a bunch of stuff on China’s space program, including A Timeline of China’s Advancements in Spaceflight.
- And interesting argument from Adam Something: Nuclear Power is FINE, Here’s Why. Mind you, I agree with a commenter that the sponsorship from an invest-in-art mob could well come back to bite them.
- “Australia can now lay claim to being the wellspring of modern mammal evolution… The ancestors of Theria (placental and marsupial mammals) evolved in Gondwana 50 million years before migrating to Asia during the early Cretaceous Period.â€
- From 9 May, K-Pop is not popular in America, according to the analysis. My favourite sentence references “a middle aged white woman wearing a BTS fan t-shirt”, which is amusingly on-brand.
- I’ve been enjoying how Apple Music’s recommendation engine sends me down some very interesting rabbit-holes. This week I discovered the band 虚回VirtualE and their song 夜行动物. Then I watched, from the same album, CHILI PIGGY. Oink!
- A magnificent short video put together by Ze Frank, When The World Becomes Small.
- And finally, at the turn of the 20th century SS Warrimoo did something most singular. Correspondence about the nature of counting centuries will not be entered into.
The Week Ahead
I’m still working for those two consulting clients right up until Christmas — which is Sunday so I guess I mean until Friday — but there’s still some things for you lovely people.
Monday is all about the pre-production because…
On Tuesday night it’s the first of the video livestream series for the 2022–2023 holiday season, The 9pm Quiz of the Year 2022 Part 1, at 8pm AEDT.
Click through and set yourself a reminder, you hear?
[Update 19 December 2022: New timing is now confirmed for the podcast recording.]
On Wednesday (probably) Thursday afternoon I’m recording a special-guest episode of The 9pm Edict with Yun Jiang, the inaugural China Matters Fellow at the Australian Institute of International Affairs. She’s been on the pod before in June with The 9pm Big Moist China Conversation. We’ll be talking about all things China from the news.
If you’re a podcast supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please get the details to me by 9pm AEDT on Tuesday 20 Wednesday 21 December. The finished episode will be posted late Friday afternoon.
On Friday I’ll also publish the last digital developments post for the year.
Saturday is Christmas Eve and Sunday is Christmas Day. I don’t have any family gatherings to go to, and at this stage I have nothing planned. I’ll probably just enjoy the quiet times.
Further Ahead
- The 8pm Quiz of the Year 2022 Part 2, 29 December 2022, 8pm AEDT.
- I’m toying with the idea of doing some sort of livestream on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2022, but I have no clear thoughts at this stage.
- The 8pm Quiz of Everything 2023 Part 1, 5 January 2023, 8pm AEDT.
- NEW EPISODE: The 9pm Edict recording with Elise Thomas, freelance journalist and OSINT analyst with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. She’s been on the podcast before in April 2021 and February 2022. If you’re a podcast supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please get the details to me by 9pm AEDT on Monday 9 January.
- The 8pm Quiz of Everything 2023 Part 2, 12 January 2023, 8pm AEDT.
- NEW DATE: End of The 9pm Hardware Refresh 2023 crowdfunding campaign, 26 January 2023, 9pm AEDT.
- Lunar New Year Comedy Festival, Sydney, 28 January 2023.
- Everything Open conference, Melbourne, 14–16 March 2023 (TBA).
- NSW state election, 25 March 2023. I’ll definitely do something special for this one.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, online, 4–5 April 2023.
- Coronation of Charles III, 6 May 2023, although I have no idea what I’ll actually do about it.
[Photo: The Alexandra Hotel, Leura, photographed on 14 December 2022.]