Oh dear. My week of Monday 24 February to Sunday 2 March 2025 was another unproductive week, making February overall an unproductive month. Remedial action will be needed. For a start, I’m now declaring March to be part of summer.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #57. The commentariat froths over Starlink’s risk to regional Australia, Apple comes up with a sensible way to do age verification, and the ABC recreates Senator Jacqui Lambie for $100.
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.
As for podcasts, well, the summer series will need to be extended. I am therefore declaring march to be part of summer. I can do that, right?
As part of The 9pm Summer Series 2024 crowdfunder I still owe you two special-guest episodes. One will probably be about conspiracy theories, so watch out for that. Tged other will be about what’s happening in The America with Associate Professor David Smith from the United States Study Centre. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT on Monday 24 March.
And then there’s Another Untitled Music Podcast. I’m still waiting for APRA AMCOS, the licensing body, to answer some important but, I would have thought, simple questions about the music license. To be honest, much of the delay is also down to my stress and fatigue levels and such.
I do want to post and first pilot episode, which was recorded a few weeks ago, and then give you time to comment before recording the second, so I’ve pushed back that second recording to a date TBA.
Meanwhile, I’m actually a couple of weeks behind schedule in starting the next season’s crowdfunder. Normally I start a campaign towards the end of one season so I can plug it in a few podcasts and so the funds, which arrive well after the campaign ends, don’t arrive too late into the season it’s meant to be supporting. I’ll probably therefore start the autumn crowdfunder in the coming week.
Before then, though, you are more than welcome to throw a few coins into the tip jar or subscribe for special benefits. Please consider. Yes, please consider.
Muskwatch
It’s hard to keep track of all the idiotic things that Elon Musk has been up to, this in a way this is almost mere random selection.
- Via ABC News: “Is anyone unhappy with Elon?” Trump asked his cabinet. “If they are, we’ll throw them out of here,” he said to laughs and applause. Later, Trump appeared to fall asleep.
- From The Conversation, “How Elon Musk’s deep ties to — and admiration for — China could complicate Trump’s Beijing policy.”
- Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest ‘should scare every American’, experts say.
- Civil servants quit Elon Musk’s DOGE citing security risks over US data.
- It might be a small consolation, but Elon Musk is getting poorer by the day, writes John Naughton. “As his goons root through the innards of the US government, Tesla sales are plummeting, the cars are being defaced and owners are ashamed.”
- And finally, from Jianli Yang, founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives, DOGE’s rampage through institutions has parallels in China’s Cultural Revolution.
Some Interesting Links
- The Sydney funnel-web spider has been found to be three different species.
- Also, the whirring treefrog is now three different species.
- So I should also mention that back in 2021 the bleating treefrog was found to be three different species, screaming rather than bleating.
- Cattle producer wakes to find olive python eating her bra and shirt. She was not wearing them at the time.
- Whales sing when they’ve had a good meal.
- Billy Hume presents an interesting argument in The real reason why analog recording is better. It’s not about the sound quality.
The Week Ahead
On Monday I’m heading down to Penrith for a variety of reasons. The rest of the week is yet another of those times when I need to attempt to concentrate on work, particularly after two weeks of failure to do so. That’s not much of a plan, but it’s my plan.
Further Ahead
- NEW: Podcast recording with Associate Professor David Smith from the United States Study Centre, 25 March 2025. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT on Monday 24 March.
[Photo: Departing Sydney Airport for Melbourne exactly two years ago today, 2 March 2023. I was en route to record a podcast and then head to the Australian International Airshow at Avalon Airport.]