It’s a bright sunny day on a suburban street. We’re looking at what has obviously been a corner shop for a century or more, a two-storey building which has been re-rendered in buff-coloured plaster or concrete or something. On the righthand end there’s an open door, above which a blue awning reads “1 STOP SUPERMARKET” with various square photos of food and groceries. The centre part of the wall has two big panels with similar photos. On the left-hand end is a roller door-closed. The upper floor has windows of various shapes, the larger ones with roller shutters. At the right-hand end what was once a balcony is now enclosed. In front of it all is parked a small silver sedan — a car, not a chair.
Posted on by Stilgherrian

Weekly Wrap 839: Podcasts and pain, what a week!

I ended my week of Monday 22 to Sunday 28 June 2026 with back pain from a rather nasty series of spasms, which kicked in on Saturday and are kinda still with me as I write this on Monday. I’d recorded two podcasts, but didn’t have the energy to edit them. I haven’t taken many photos lately, which is why there’s a random local shop at the top of the page.

I wrote this last week: As for the ongoing crowdfunder and The Great Unboxening and The Lost Module, there’s no further news this week either. However the coming week will see a small flood of new information as I try to wrap up as much as possible before the end of the financial year.

That’s still valid, more or less, but there has been progress. On the weekend I sorted all the books into keep (or try to sell more slowly), try to sell in bulk, or into the skip. It felt good.

Podcasts

I’ve recorded two podcasts, one with Swiss-Chinese train enthusiast David Feng — or is it “Chinese-Swiss”? — and one with Snarky Platypus about our 2026 Bingo Card. They will be edited and posted in that order.

Articles

  • The Weekly Cybers #123. Australia’s teen social media ban to get “further strengthening”, WA Police deploys live face recognition cameras, Five Eyes nations warn of “devastating” AI-boosted cyber attacks, and much more.

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 the occasional livestreams are scheduled.

Some Interesting Links

Just a couple again this week, as I’m behind schedule. I’ll empty my browser tabs into a longer list for next time.

The Week Ahead

Monday kicks off the week — obviously — with a client meeting and then a variety of errands. One of those errands will be mailing out some people’s purchases in The Great Unboxening. There’s also the somewhat overdue administrivia in my push for compensation for The Lost Module, the missing third of the things I’d had in storage, or thought I did. But the day will also be shaped around my back pain.

On Tuesday I’ll be receiving a tradie at the apartment, getting my back seen to over in Darlinghurst, and trying to get some podcast editing done. The editing will continue Into Wednesday, I suspect.

I’ve also got some client work to do in there. It’s mostly about typography, it seems.

I’ll start writing The Weekly Cybers newsletter early, on Thursday, but I will finish and post it as usual on Friday afternoon from a train as Snarky Platypus and I head to Newcastle for a short break.

On Saturday I’m recording a podcast with Newcastle’s own Carol Duncan OAM, 21st Freeman of the City, before the Platypus and I wander around the city. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 10am AEST this Saturday 4 July.

We return to Sydney on Sunday afternoon.

Further Ahead

  • Wollongong visit, 9–10 July 2026. Another fantastic idea from Snarky Platypus. I’ll flesh out the details next week.
  • Podcast recording or excursion or meet-up or something with Swiss-Chinese train enthusiast David Feng, Sydney, 14 July 2026 (TBC). We’re not sure exactly what we’re going to be doing yet, although we’ll certainly be catching the Sydney Metro out to Tallawong. Stay tuned.
  • Six-month checkup, 11 August 2026. This is part of the medical trial I’m taking part in, the one for a new trivalent vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPV-3). Given that I came down wth RSV in May, I’m guessing that whatever I was injected with didn’t contain the RSV vaccine component.
  • TechLeaders 2026, Bowral, 23–24 August 2026.

[Photo: A very ordinary corner shop named 1 Stop Supermarket in Campsie, Sydney photographed on 10 June 2026. I have never been inside.]

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