My week of Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October 2026 saw me exploring food quite a bit. I baked a snapper. I made fried rice with the leftovers. I explored the wonderful world of baked potatoes. Oh, and I made a podcast. And I communed with some of the local fauna.
I’m very pleased to have seen a magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca) feeding three chicks in nest hanging out over Cooks River, and an Australian white ibis (Threskiornis molucca) feeding a nestling with a wingspan of about 30 cm in a palm tree very near where I live. Unfortunately I don’t have any photos because they were just a bit too far away for my phone’s camera to handle.
I also spotted a laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae), excavating a nesting hollow in a Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) while its mate watched from across the road. I hope they can make a successful home there, because it isn’t far from our place.
And I’m pleased to have won a meat raffle on Thursday and cooked some of the steak on Saturday, — and I’ve linked to the recipes.
And on top of all that, yes, I baked a snapper.
Meanwhile this season’s crowdfunder The 9pm Spring Series 2026 is still sitting on a plateau some 68% of the way to its first target. I really do need to give it a promotional push in the coming week or I won’t make it through spring.
Podcasts
- Finally, a new episode of Another Untitled Music Podcast, AUMP 00008: 2026 So Far, recorded last Saturday and posted on Tuesday., also on Mixcloud and YouTube.
Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #137. Firmus cancels its share float, OAIC investigates smart glasses app HeyCyan, Elon Musk gets another new job, and a very popular website returns to Australia.
Photos, Videos, Media Appearances, Corporate Largesse
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.
Some Interesting Links
- Please enjoy this delightful little promo for Movember, The Growmitment, starring Aaron Chen and John Cruckshank.
- The headline speaks for itself: Massive semen explosion after blaze hits bull artificial insemination facility, firefighters forced to dodge ‘projectiles’.
- Platypus-like creature from the Jurassic era found in China.
- While it might make you sleepy, cannabis may be bad for your sleep.
- This week’s suggested follow: There’s a variety of good reasons to follow Kit Bashir on Mastodon, but one of them is her #PowerOnStoryToot stream of sci-fi micro fiction. Her posts are also bridged to Bluesky, but the fiction is too short to fit into a single Bluesky post and you’ll have to click through anyway.
The Week Ahead
It’s a jumbled mix of all the usual things this week. I haven’t scheduled anything for any particular day — I’ll do that planning on Monday — but there’s certainly going to be some podcast planning, a decent chunk of client work, and a bit of a push on the seasonal crowdfunder. The to-do list is quite long.
[Update 12 October 2026: I’m adding in this newly-confirmed podcast recording. Update 13 October 2026: And now I’m moving it to next week. No sooner had I told everyone about this recording than we had to move it. Such is life. I’ve also rescheduled the episode with David Feng for reasons which will become clear in due course.]
NEW: On Thursday afternoon I’m recording an episode of The 9pm Edict with Johanna Weaver from the Tech Policy Design Institute in Canberra. She’s been on the pod before. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT this Wednesday 14 October.
The Weekly Cybers newsletter will appear on Friday afternoon as usual.
Further Ahead
- Aussie Bird Count, 19–25 October 2026.
- RESCHEDULED: The 9pm Edict recording with Johanna Weaver from the Tech Policy Design Institute, 20 October 2026. She’s been on the pod before. If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT on Monday 19 October.
- NEW: FrogID Week, 6–15 November 2026.
- RESCHEDULED: The 9pm Edict recording with high-speed rail enthusiast David Feng who was on the pod in July, 19 November 2026 (TBC). If you’re a supporter with TRIGGER WORDS or a CONVERSATION TOPIC for this episode, please let me know by 8pm AEDT on Wednesday 18 November.
[Photo: A snapper, species unknown, purchased from a local fishmonger and displayed on newspaper on 5 October 2026.]