My week of Monday 11 to Sunday 17 September 2023 wasn’t hugely productive, but it felt like it marked a gentle phase shift in my world. I got some exercise done, and I kicked off a new client project.
As I mentioned last week, I had planned to walk the 13 km from Merrylands to Bankstown on Wednesday. Unfortunately I started to show signs of being a little overheated or dehydrated or something, so I cut it short and caught a train from Chester Hill.
If the map doesn’t show up, try here.
As you can see, that’s still a decent stroll, and I’m determined to do more in the future. Indeed, I’ve order a second-hand Fitbit so I can track my movements more effectively. Don’t worry, though, I won’t get obsessive about it and post every little thing. I’m too old for that bullshit.
Articles
- Digital developments from Canberra 53. Spies, more spies, cybering, and more cybering! We also have proposed new ID and drug laws, a report on sexual consent laws, and an apology for robodebt — to Services Australia staff.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Podcasts, Videos, Photos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Recommendations
There’s a lot of Elon Musk news flowing from the release of the new biography by Walter Isaacson. You can find that for yourself. But here’s a few other bits and pieces.
- The US Department of Justice has questioned whether Twitter complied with an FTC order on data security and privacy practices after Musk’s takeover.
- Elon Musk Is a ‘Free Speech Absolutist,’ Except at Work.
- “Ice Cube roasts Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover in brutal meme exchange: ‘Feel stupid yet?’.” Weirdly, my Bluesky post about this has been the most-reposted comment I’ve made on that platform.
- “Russia’s Putin praises Elon Musk as an ‘outstanding person’ and ‘talented businessman’.”
- Far-right EU lawmakers nominate Elon Musk for human rights award.
- And something which is kinda good news, I guess? “The author of a new biography of Elon Musk has admitted that a controversial detail in an online extract of the book — which suggested that the tech magnate thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian naval base in September 2022 — is factually incorrect.”
- Oh OK, one thing from the book. ‘I’m Not Trump’s Fan’ and Other Takeaways From a New Book on Elon Musk.
- And finally, in news still unfolding as I type this, Russell Brand backed by Elon Musk and Andrew Tate as he denies ‘serious criminal allegations’.
In other news:
- I’ve been watching some of comedian Rich Hall’s BBC documentaries on American history and culture, most of which you can find on YouTube. One to start with would be Rich Hall’s Working for the American Dream (2018). I’m still laughing at the middle class being defined as “the happy mediocrity”.
- Or maybe you’ll prefer, Rich Hall’s Red Menace, in which he visits the world’s most wonderful nuclear fallout shelter.
- Adam Something has posted another of his snarky commentaries, Hyperloop in 2023: Where Are They Now?.
- Airbus commissioned a highly legible typeface for use in aircraft cockpits, called B612, and they’ve made it open source so anyone can use it.
- Scientists Devised a Way to Tell if ChatGPT Becomes Aware of Itself.
- Given the current unseasonably warm weather — in the Blue Mountains today it’s been 10°C above average and in the coming week it’ll be worse, this is worth reading: Potential El Niño inching closer, but the Bureau of Meteorology is not ready to declare it yet.
- I have been enjoying Taskmaster New Zealand series 4. You might too.
The Week Ahead
On Wednesday I’m heading to Sydney again for some health-related appointments, lunch, a social thing, and some shopping — but no long walk this week because it’s looking like it will be a ridiculous 14°C above average.
Other than that it’s a series of standard days trying to get some work done rather than falling asleep. Maybe I’ll write more about that in the near future.
Further Ahead
- Housesitting in Sydney, 7–31 October 2023. If you’re wanting to catch up with me, this would be a good time in which to extend invitations. Except for…
- NEW DETAILS: The 9pm Hobart Expedition, 22–25 October 2023. Snarky Platypus and I have locked in a voyage south. I may well be recording a podcast there. We’re definitely going to MONA on the Monday, though, and there will now be an anyone-can-come evening at a bar on Tuesday 24 October, venue TBA.
[Photo: An abandoned house in Merrylands, Sydney, photographed on 13 September 2023.]