My week of Monday 24 to Sunday 30 August 2026 began at a conference in Bowral, where I managed to check out the local bird life as well as learning things. Once back n Sydney, I got some client work done. I fed two cats while their humans were away. And there was progress of a sort in the saga of The Lost Module.
The Saga of the Lost Module
Yes, the big wooden crate that contained one-third of the goods I’d had in storage for a little over 15 years, and which the storage company then couldn’t find.
Some weeks back I’d sent them a compensation claim consisting of a low-end estimate of the value of the lost items, plus one-third of the amount I’d paid then for storage — there had been three “modules” in all — plus interest calculated according to the interest rates set by the Local Court of NSW. Finally, this week their reply came, and I laughed.
“There is no evidence to establish that the item was lost while in our possession or that it was transferred to us… Our position is that the item may have been lost prior to the transfer and was never received into our possession. On this basis, we do not accept liability for the loss. However, in an effort to resolve the matter, we are prepared to offer [a round number which was a mere 13% of my claim] as a settlement.”
Why did I laugh? Because they’ve just admitted that they were charging me storage for an item they now claim they never possessed.
I’ve replied with a very firm no, that’s ridiculous, and given them 14 days to come back with something reasonable. I’m hoping they won’t take too long to make a decision, and I’m certainly hoping I don’t have to take them to court, but if needs must etc. Stay tuned.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #131. Meta to pay up to US$18 billion to settle massive lawsuit, datacentre energy use to grow 700% in next decade, and the cops arrest two “principal participants” in a major cybercrime gang.
Media Appearances
- One of my photos of a QantasLink De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 aircraft, a photo I don’t even remember taking, was used to illustrate a news story, Alliance Aviation raises A$33M in institutional leg of A$40M equity round, at Dealroom.co.
Podcasts, Photos, Videos
None of these this week. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when the occasional livestreams are scheduled.
Corporate Largesse
- TechLeaders was of course a corporate event, run by Influencing, and they covered my accommodation at The Gibralter in Bowral, along with meals, drinks, and transport from Sydney. Adobe sponsored the conference dinner.
Some Interesting Links
- I have just finished watching the series New Zealand Spy on ABC iView and it is very silly and fun — although maybe too silly for some. There’s some delightful cameos from Tim Key and Sam Campbell, and a very strong performance from Tony Armstrong. More on Wikipedia.
- Snarky Platypus introduced me to the TV game show Press Your Luck, which is new to me. Here’s an episode from 1988.
- And why not have British Pathé newsreel from 1968, Dreadnought, set aboard a Royal Navy nuclear submarine. Contains a gratuitous naked sailor.
- Hokkaido’s own SHOW-GO has posted a new performance video, Seven Days.
- This week’s suggested follow: Allow me to introduce you to the YouTube channel of Jago Hazzard, “a channel very loosely focused on trains, London, history and whatever else might take my fancy. Sometimes there are jokes. How are you?” I saw a photo of him recently and he’s nothing like I imagined.
The Week Ahead
A week of changes lies ahead. I’ve finally started to replace some of this things which were lost in The Lost Module, and Monday will see the assembly of a new bed. I’ll be matching it with a new quilt. I’m looking forward to this very much.
On Monday evening I’m making my final trip to Ashfield to ensure that those two cats are safe and fed. Having a regular chore outside the apartment has been a great benefit.
Tuesday is 1 September, the start of administrative spring or whatever we want to call it — although the Sydney basin really has six seasons and we’ve already started to see the emergence of the “spring” signs such as my hay fever.
Anyway, I’ll mark the new season with some spring cleaning of my planning and time management processes. At various times I’ve successful deployed David Allen’s Getting Things Done processes, but that’s getting a bit old now and it’s very much a paper-based system. I’ve moved on. No, I’ll spend two days sprucing up my data in OmniFocus, a software tool I’ve been using for years now.
An important implication of this is that plans for spring-series podcasts and other such things will soon be emerging at a quicker tempo. And even more importantly, I’ll actually be completing some of those plans.
On Thursday I’ll be writing an essay on some aspects of the AI boom-bubble-trend that were discussed during TechLeaders, and as usual The Weekly Cybers newsletter will appear on Friday afternoon.
I am yet to plan anything for the weekend, although Certain Ideas have been floated.
Further Ahead
- Plateia Festival 2026, Earlwood, 19 September 2026. It’s another of those typical suburban street festivals, and as usual I’m looking forward to the food. If I go. Which I probably will.
[Photo: An assertive little raven (Corvus mellori) photographed at the Gibraltar Golf Course on 24 August 2026.]