I finally kicked off a spring series of The 9pm Edict podcast during my week of Monday 9 to Sunday 15 October 2023, after a break of more than three months. Please encourage me to do more in the usual way: send money.
I also spent the week in Sydney, where I’m housesitting for the rest of this month, minus the upcoming Hobart trip mentioned below. The warmer than average spring weather has been refreshing, and I think quite good for me, even if it does mean that we’re all going to die.
Podcasts
- The 9pm Ageing, Death, and Bestiality, a solo episode recorded and posted on Sunday. In retrospect I’d have titled this “The 9pm Ageing, Bestiality, and Death”.
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. You can subscribe for special benefits or throw a few coins into the tip jar. Please consider — especially this month because revenue from other work has been a bit lean.
Articles
- Digital developments from Canberra 57. The government’s Identity Verification Service is back on the agenda, along with new regulations for digital wallets. The National Anti-Corruption Commission reports on its first 100 days. And the head of ASIO reminds us that “words matter”.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Videos, Photos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these, but see below for news of forthcoming podcasts. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear.
Recommendations
I’m not sure how long I can keep doing this. Elon Musk is ridiculous.
- “X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, announced a new feature this week that lets so-called verified users automatically block any replies from people without blue checkmarks.”
- In a ridiculous story that imagines the type of car involved is relevant, Israel-Hamas War: Elon Musk reacts after Tesla Model 3 helped save a man’s life.
- Or if you prefer, EU launches probe into Elon Musk’s X over Israel-Hamas war content.
- And in another story of incredible relevance, Elon Musk congratulates [New Zealand] National’s Christopher Luxon on election win.
- Elon Musk Unveils X.ai: A Game-Changer For Investors.
- And finally from John McNaughton in the Observer, Musk’s plan X: keep users in the dark, feed them dung and watch sales mushroom.
In other news:
- “By studying atmospheric patterns across Australia over the last 40 years, scientists from UNSW Sydney and the Bureau of Meteorology have discovered that the number of ‘hail-prone’ days have decreased across much of Australia, but have increased by up to approximately 40% in some heavily populated areas.”
- Japan’s Post-War Meth Panic (& How They Stopped It). I knew Japan had an amphetamine problem in the immediate aftermath of WW2, but this brief presentation gave me a lot more interesting social detail.
- Western Sydney Airport and Metro line Progress Update 49 Badgerys Creek Australia, being a bunch of drone footage.
- From the well-respected Pew Research Center, U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz. Are you more knowledgeable than the average American? They scored an average of 7.4 out of 15, and although the quiz is from 2019 they won’t be any smarter today. Meanwhile I scored 13.
- Should you charge your phone overnight? Will ‘overcharging’ make it explode? Common battery myths debunked.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I’m taking a day trip up to the Blue Mountains for various reasons, one of them being to kick off my Aussie Bird Count week for this year. I want to make sure that my magnificent magpie army gets included, even though the vast majority of the week will be spent in Sydney.
Tuesday through Thursday will be about work for clients, mostly, although I seem to remember something being said about dinner with people on Thursday night.
On Friday I’m posting the episode of The 9pm Edict podcast I recorded this week with Scientia Professor Toby Walsh about his new book, Faking It: Artificial Intelligence in a Human World.
On Sunday, Snarky Platypus and I are flying to Hobart of kick off The 9pm Hobart Expedition, burning off a bunch of loyalty pointes rather than spending too much cash.
We’re going to MONA on Monday 23 October, recording a podcast on Tuesday (see below), and there will be an anyone-can-come evening at a bar on Tuesday 24 October, venue TBA in next week’s Wrap and on the socials.
Further Ahead
- The 9pm Edict podcast recording with cartoonist and artist Jon Kudelka, Hobart, 25 October 2023. The finished podcast will be published on 27 October.
You might want to check out our previous conversation from 2021, The 9pm Snakes, Steaks, and Mistakes with Jon Kudelka. - The War On 2023: Annual Comedy Gala, Bathurst, 5 December 2023. For reasons which are not entirely clear, Snarky Platypus and I will be taking the train to Bathurst to see The Chaser’s end of year show there rather than in Sydney. We’re then continuing on to Orange the next day, returning to our starting points the day after.
[Photo: The Computer Science Engineering building at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, showing the bright red pipes where it’s connected to The Series of Tubes, photographed on 13 October 2023.]