And so ends summer. My week of Monday 25 to Sunday 31 March 2024 was spent in Sydney and contained the first autumn episode of my terrible podcast — to be posted soon — as well as a long weekend and a radio spot. I also visited, or rather walked past, an old home of mine.
This Weekly Wrap is also appearing a day late because I spent Easter Sunday socialising rather than doing what I’d said I’d do last week. Suffer.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #11. Digital ID bills become law but with amendments, Coalition invents a new online crime, problems predicted with anti-doxxing laws, and more. This one was emailed on Thursday afternoon, before the Easter long weekend.
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
- On Thursday I was on ABC Radio’s RN Drive, Big Tech: what will the new Digital ID law mean for you?, which also included a bit about Donald Trump’s Truth Social being floated on the stock market.
- My photo of the Hope and Anchor Hotel in Hobart was used to illustrate an educational article at Owlcation, Isaac Solomon: A Model for Fagin in Oliver Twist.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Recommendations
My pathetic journalling of Elon Musk’s decline continues. I am addicted.
- Elon Musk’s Tunnel Reportedly Oozing With Skin-Burning Chemical Sludge, which a Google News search lists as being from this week even though this story is dated 27 February. Don’t you just hate it when your tunnel is oozing toxic sludge?
- “Tesla CEO Elon Musk is requiring employees to install and show customers how to use his company’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) driver assistance system before finalizing a delivery in North America,” reports Quartz.
- Judge dismisses ‘vapid’ Elon Musk lawsuit against group that cataloged racist content on X.
- “Going forward, all X accounts with over 2500 verified subscriber followers will get Premium features for free and accounts with over 5000 will get Premium+ for free,” Mush said on Thursday. Remember that verified accounts means paying accounts, not actually verified in any meaningful way.
- Meanwhile, Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing has quit using X, saying it was no longer safe and productive for community engagement.
In other news:
- New from Ze Frank: True Facts: The Remarkable Adaptations of Shrimp. Contains the usual quantity of jokes about butts and genitals.
- Inside Grindr’s plan to squeeze its users. “The company’s bet on AI boyfriends and other paywalled features is making some employees nervous.”
- Apple Sues Former Employee for Leaking iPhone’s Journal App and More. Cleverly, they used their Apple-supplied work iPhone to leak Apple secrets.
- This is an amazing story. The Hotel Guest Who Wouldn’t Leave. “Mickey Barreto’s five-year stay cost him only $200.57. Now it might cost him his freedom.” The link jumps the paywall.
The Week Ahead
It’s already well into Easter Monday as I write this. I’ve started recording an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast with Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and Rami Mandow, but some technical problems mean we’ll have to reconvene at another time.
On Tuesday I’m doing a bunch of administrivia, errands, a train back to Wentworth Falls as the housesitting period ends, and then reconvening that podcast recording. The finished podcast will be released on Thursday Friday. [Update 3 April 2024: Yeah I’ll push the podcast editing back a bit to reduce the amount of drama.]
Nothing else has been locked into specific times, but I reckon I’ll schedule another podcast recording at least, and of course there’s always client work to catch up on.
Further Ahead
- Meanjin Autumn 2024 launch, Gleebooks, Glebe NSW, 24 April 2024.
- Aaron Chen’s Funny Garden, Sydney, 27 April 2024. I am thrilled for Aaron because he’s now doing six performances at the State Theatre. As a prelude, you might like to watch his show from last year, If Weren’t Filmed, Nobody Would Believe. As he says, “Lucky were filmed”.
- He Huang Tiger Daughter versus the World, Chatswood NSW, 5 May 2024.
- Nina Oyama is Coming, Marrickville NSW, 12 May 2024.
- The Sydney Dialogue, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Sydney and online, 2–3 September 2024 (TBC).
[Photo: A street of old two-story terrace houses in Sydney, showing in particular 290 South Dowling Street, Darlinghurst. Why this one? Because once upon a time in the late 1900s I lived there. Photographed on 31 March 2024.]