My week of Monday 6 to Sunday 12 January 2025 was less productive than I’d hoped, but at least I got some planning done. That and I saw a very nice cardiologist.
The fatigue came from having had an mpox vaccination. According to the US Centres for Disease Control, about one in three people have a reaction significant enough to cause them to skip work or social activities. I already have long-standing sleep and fatigue problems, so this was enough to push me over the limit. Oh well. I’m back now.
As for the cardiologist, well, after I fell on my face back in early December, the wonderful people at St Vincent’s Hospital noticed a couple of interesting things. Nothing to be concerned about immediately, but my GP subsequently noted that I’m a certain age and somewhat unfit — he keeps saying that for some reason — so maybe it’s time for a proper cardiac check. So here I go, making solid use of Australia’s medical system.
Nothing untoward turned up in the initial ECG. I’ll post updates as the process unfolds.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #50. In the first edition for 2025, Australia’s treasurer talks up cryptocurrency, Meta dumps fact-checking and loosens hateful conduct rules, federal agencies’ cybersecurity goes backwards, and more.
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, Media Appearances, 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.
Muskwatch
Mr Musk has certainly been flexing his political muscles lately, yet his new best buddy Mr Trump is still nine days from becoming POTUS for the second time. So much ketamine, so little time!
- Elon Musk calls for Reform UK leader Nigel Farage to quit.
- UK prime minister Keir Starmer slams ‘lies’ after online attacks from Elon Musk, so in a way Musk is a non-partisan political annoyance. In a way.
- The Chancellor of Germany says ‘Don’t feed the troll’.
- “A growing number of MEPs have questioned whether Musk’s posts breach the EU’s content moderation law.”
- From The Conversation, “Elon Musk and the tech titans v the rest of Maga — here’s where the big splits could happen.”
- Elon Musk goes nuclear on the Sydney Morning Herald.
- Telstra has signed an agreement with SpaceX Starlink to provide satellite-to-mobile services, starting with SMS this year.
- And finally, a daft comment. Elon Musk says all human data for AI training ‘exhausted’. I suspect he only means textual information that’s already in digital form, readily available, and in English. “The only way to then supplement that is with synthetic data where … it will sort of write an essay or come up with a thesis and then will grade itself and … go through this process of self-learning,” he said.
Some Interesting Links
- It’s always struck me as ridiculous that on the US poorly trained prisoners are rounded up to fight wildfires. In the current Los Angeles area fires, some 30% of those on a ground are convict labour. As usual, Teen Vogue is on the case with The Last Wildfire-Fighting Camp for Incarcerated Teens in California.
- From the redoubtable Patrick Boyle, an explainer: Is Electrification Killing the Auto Industry? It’s a thorough look at the current economics of the electric vehicle industry. It contains facts.
- An excellent BBC documentary on the history of Bauhaus for its centenary in 2019.
- Cairns police appealed to the public to help find a “missing” taser believed lost during a pursuit on New Year’s Eve. Oh wait, they found it.
- And from the Royal Variety Performance 2024, Mischief Theatre performs a short play, The Comedy About Spies.
The Week Ahead
On Monday night I’m recording an episode of The 9pm Edict podcast about space with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and astrophysicist Rami Mandow, 13 January 2025. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for that episode, please get them to me by 12 midday AEDT that day.
Tuesday will be about editing and posting that podcast, while Wednesday and Thursday are about client work errands and client work respectively. [Update 14 January 2025: Yes, a slight tweak to this to reflect what the emphasis is lively to be. But there’s always an attempt at minor clients tasks.]
The 9pm Edict is supported by the generosity of its listeners. You can always throw a few coins into the tip jar or subscribe for special benefits. Please consider.
On Friday I’ll be writing The Weekly Cybers, of course, but I’ll also be heading down to Sydney for a couple of days. I’ll also be in Sydney for the two weekends after that.
On Saturday Snarky Platypus and I will be planning The Untitled Music Podcast — yes we’re sticking with that title — and as you’ll see below we plan to record the first pilot episode the following weekend. This is slightly later than originally planned, but close enough.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Podcast recording for The Untitled Music Podcast pilot one, 25 January 2025 (TBC). The current sketch of a plan is for the finished episode to be posted a day or two later.
- The 9pm Edict podcast recording with infectious diseases physician Dr Trent Yarwood, 28 January 2025. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for that episode, please get them to me by 10am AEDT that day.
- NEW: Podcast recording for The Untitled Music Podcast pilot two, 1 February 2025 (TBC). Again, the finished episode is likely to be posted a day or two later.
There will soon be an episode about conspiracy theories like the Flat Earth, unless that turns out to be true. Writer and columnist John Birmingham will likely be joining us in February.
[Photo: The Moon over Granville station, Sydney, as people queue for the Saturday night rail replacement buses, photographed on 11 January 2025.]