My week of Monday 19 to Sunday 25 January 2026 was relatively quiet with lots of naps. But some planning was done, and the weather turned from wet to hot. Keep it clean, OK?
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #101. It’s a short one before the long weekend. The government passes its hate speech legislation, the UK looks set to get its own teen social media ban, and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella really wants us to use AI.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Some Interesting Links
- I asked and I received! Threads of garlic recipes on Bluesky and Mastodon.
- Check out the mushroom making people hallucinate dozens of tiny humans.
- Dan Toomey answers the question What happened to X?.
- Macaulay Library’s Best Bird Photos 2026, as well as some things which are not birds.
- From the Bundeswehr, a 1988 film of military aircraft operating off an autobahn.
- “Intended as China’s version of Dubai’s palm-shaped artificial island, Ocean Flower Island is a $12 billion monument to debt-fueled economic excess” (gift link). So, yes, same same.
- And a longer read from the New York Times (gift link), “A year inside Kash Patel’s FBI: Forty-five current and former employees on the changes they say are undermining the agency and making America less safe.”
- This week’s suggested follow: The Loremen podcast, “a podcast about local legends and obscure curiosities from days of yore”, presented by James Shakeshaft and Alasdair Beckett-King. There’s 348 episodes. You don’t have to start at the start, but they’re timeless and there’s some Loremen lore you might need to learn to understand all the jokes.
The Week Ahead
Monday is the public holiday for Australia Day, but I might well poke at some podcast planning. I think I’ve figured out how to get Another Untitled Music Podcast back online.
NEW: On Wednesday I’m recording an episode of The 9pm Edict with journalist Erin Cook, who’s become a regular. The main focus will be Thailand’s general election coming up on 8 February, but there will be plenty more. If you’re a supporter with a TRIGGER WORD or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 2pm AEDT this Wednesday 28 January.
The 9pm Edict and Another Untitled Music Podcast are supported by the generosity of you, their listeners. Please consider supporting them. You can to throw a few coins into the tip jar directly or subscribe for special benefits. There’s also some specific benefits for supporting AUMP.
On Friday morning there’s the final run of Sydney Trains V-Set stock. I won’t be catching it, but I might get up early to photograph it as it passes through Wentworth Falls. That’s at 0648 AEDT so it’ll depend on my mood that morning.
Of course Friday also sees The Weekly Cybers newsletter as usual. On Saturday I’ll be in Sydney once more, looking at apartments. And Sunday will be a day of rest.
Further Ahead
There’s still nothing 100% locked in past the current week. I will definitely fix that.
[Photo: Definitely not a love shack in Campsie, Sydney, photographed on 17 January 2026. I posted this with the text: “The apartment hunting is going very well so far. And they say Sydney has a housing problem. This is going for just $840,000.” Someone took it way too seriously. For the avoidance of doubt, this was totally made up. “It was a joke, Joyce!”]