Activity from Fiasco da Gama
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Social History Of The Cardboard Box
Buttonwood Zoo Red Panda Cam
That mysterious font is Festive, not Stymie
Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Found
Moon Train
DARPA has asked for proposals to build an American train on the moon, to compete with proposed Chinese base proposals, and Northrop Grumman has responded with a concept study. But will this be a levitational railway, or a more standard broad-gauge one to suit the lower lunar gravity?
Step By Step Repair
What if we could extend those basic principles — that repair should be social, embodied, intuitive, accessible — beyond the device or object? Could we apply these logics at the scale of civic systems and public spaces?
The Cybertruck from the perspective of a cultural critic
The World’s Last Internet Cafes
Otter 841
Her name is 841. She is a sea otter. Her attacks on surfboards are escalating. She has so far managed to evade capture. Her popularity is growing.
What is a pademelon?
Echidna Bachelorette
CDs are cool again. Here’s how to rip them
‘You can’t listen to CDs on your digital devices unless you rip them first. In ancient times—back in 2001—people knew how to do this, but much that should have been remembered has been forgotten.’
2023 Mens' Ashes Series
The first match of the 2023 Men's Ashes series is underway, at Edgebaston in England. So far Australia's Usman Khawaja has made 141, dismissed by England's Ollie Robinson. Previously, previously, previously, previously.
How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist
Brendan was once a leader in the US white nationalist movement. But when he took the drug MDMA in a scientific study, it would radically change his extremist beliefs – to the surprise of everyone involved.
Ben Roberts-Smith Loses Defamation Action
Ben Roberts-Smith, an Australian Victoria Cross recipient, has lost a defamation action he brought against the Sydney Morning Herald and Age, which accused him of being a murderer, a war criminal, and a bully.
Big boat stuck
In Praise Of The Pitch Clock
I’m on record as opposing the pitch timer, and I opposed it on aesthetic, even theological, grounds... I’ll just have to come right out with it. I was wrong.
Inside Music’s Nostalgia-Industrial Complex
The most authentic Philly steak sandwich in Lahore
Kaktovic Numerals in Unicode
'Almost 30 years ago, a group of Kaktovik students invented a numbering system that reflected the way they counted in Iñupiaq and made math more intuitive for them.' The numerals are now part of Unicode (PDF).
Australian soldier charged with murder
An Australian soldier has been charged with murder over the 2012 shooting of an unarmed man in Afghanistan, in a case that may have precedent for other Western allies. The Office of the Special Investigator has said that ‘40 or 50’ other offences are being investigated.
How does it feel
Infinite Mac
The Cage Gauge
George Pell 1941–2023
Cardinal George Pell, who was the most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child abuse before his convictions were quashed, one of Australia’s most influential and controversial Catholic clergymen, has died.
Auslan Holiday
Auslan, the majority Australian sign language has a visual dictionary with three recognised signs for ‘holiday’, of which the second is noteworthy.
The Commodordion
Charlie Dean (run out) Sharma 47
In 1947, Vinoo Mankad ran out Bill Brown at the bowler's end of the crease, giving his name to the unusual (and controversial) dismissal. Most recently, Deepti Sharma, at Lord's, ran out Charlie Dean to win the match for India. So, is it within the rules of cricket? Or is it unsporting?
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev 1931--2022
Work Pray Code
Carolyn Chen in Guernica: Buddhism has found a new institutional home in the West: the corporation.
I think all the teachers had some qualms about being forced to leave the ethical aspects of Buddhism out of the workplace. They were not being hired to make the employees more ethical; they were being hired to make them more productive.
Return of TISM
What Happened To Ford Timelord?
Lighthouses of Europe
Peter Cundall
Peter Cundall, the host (1990–2008) of the ABC's Gardening Australia, and host of gardening programs since 1967, has died.
Caffenol
Develop your film: with coffee, red wine, Croatian rosé, drain cleaner and acetaminophen, beetroot, ajvar (capsicum chutney), or gas station beer.
Block
AN0M
'When an Australian underworld figure began distributing customised phones containing the app to his associates as a secure means to communicate, police could monitor their messages'. 'From 2018, the FBI was covertly in control of An0m and Australian police introduced the technical ability to decrypt communications on the platform and monitor them for years'. 'Police claim the plan to use an encrypted app was hatched overseas over a few beers with FBI agents in 2018, before police figured out how to decrypt all messages'.
A Duty Of Care
Eight children and an octogenarian nun took the Australian Minister for the Environment to court, to establish whether there is a 'duty of care' to future generations, relating to climate change. The Australian Federal Court today ruled that the duty of care exists.
Multiple Destroyers Were Swarmed By Mysterious 'Drones'
Swatchbook
Bad Birds in Quarantine
'The chestnut-bellied seed finch, known in Guyana as the towa-towa, is at the center of a lucrative underground trade that culminates in Queens, New York, where immigrant Guyanese men engage the birds in elaborate, secretive competitions.' [CW: animal abuse]
Electronic Plastic
The death of the gay bar
Danny Ray
In what became an iconic part of Brown’s concerts, Ray would walk onstage mid-“Please, Please, Please” and drape Brown with a cape, only for the singer to explode out of the cape with a second wind.Danny Ray, 'cape man' and emmcee for James Brown, has died at 85.
Atlas des Régions Naturelles
High Frequency Trading on Shortwave Radio
KA7OEI discovered a massive 'intruder' signal, interfering with other transmissions, at the top of the 20m band. It's high frequency trading over shortwave radio, a growing field.
Brereton Report into war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) has released the Brereton Report, which includes evidence that Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.
Instant Lettering
Bilbies in Sturt National Park
Bilbies have been released into NSW’s Sturt National Park, 100 years after being declared extinct. Video.