mastodon 4.7.2ebike touring, writing Born at 312ppm, Melbourne (Naarm) Australia [background picture is Flinders blowhole on a calm day]
US is blockading a major oil route and making a fortune selling its oil to replace those supplies. At the expense of the world economy. But outside of China I don’t see any reports in these terms. #auspol
logically Australia should have Chinese bases to defend against the insane Americans. But I can’t see that happening #auspol
best wishes to Tracee Hutchison in Nepean. I reckon she has a chance. The Liberal candidate is the mayor and the locals hate the council with a passion. As always One Nation candidate grabbed from the front bar at the last minute. #auspol
Colesworth to hike prices. One of the ways that Aldi keeps prices low is that they are not very active on stock control. So if you are not attached to a particular brand (for example in milk) then I expect you will still get milk. Of course there are also the things that appear in Aldi for a while and then disappear for six months. I'm not sure how that works.
Interesting comparison #ai https://leehanchung.github.io/blogs/2026/04/05/the-ai-great-leap-forward/
I stayed at this caravan park. It’s not on the grey nomad migration routes so it relies on big weekend events like Easter. So sad to see it struggling, but a lot of the places I really like are the same. #travel https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-03/fuel-crisis-hits-small-towns-like-foster-ripple-effects/106469842?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
I see Aldi is struggling https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/business/retail/supermarket-war-aldi-australias-profit-plunge-as-shoppers-fall-out-of-love-with-its-cheap-products-c-22211936# A big failing is both short term (daily) and long term stock control is poor. For time poor families it’s a big problem if stuff is not there. The real problem though is that there are essentials they just don’t sell. It’s fine for me, as I have all the time in the world. #aldi
might have the caravan park to myself in May. I just go with the tent, and travel by VLine. I don't talk to the grey nomads and I won't miss them.
great to see that article today (Age) on trying to learn something you are really bad at, to offset dementia. I am truly awful at Mandarin but since I paid for a yearly subscription I doggedly persist.
what AI is good for: “are there new treatments for this condition?”. What it’s dangerous for “I have a pain in the chest, what should I do?” #ai
prelude to AI and humans https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/29/dogs-brains-shrink-5000-years-ago
Guest author on John Birmingham's column (Jason Lambright - ex US military, Iraq veteran.) On Trump:
"He bought an education. He bought fame. He purchased a series of wives. He bought his way out of numerous lawsuits, prison, and military service. This list could go on.
He has rarely encountered people who cannot be bought. I don’t think he could recognize such a being if he spoke to them. But they do exist. They have always existed, even in Rome, even in Parthia."
i do like the new Aldi ad reassuring the person stressing over the price of cheese. It should also point out that there will be only one brand of cheese available, and it might be a different brand each week. But yes, it will be cheap. #aldi
the management consultant and the modern University. What an ideal marriage. Stupid and Stupid.
what we need is for Mr Xi to ring up Mr Trump and say "enough of the bullshit, mate". But we are at least ten years away from that point. #auspol
i am reading Yann Martel "Son of Nobody" and it is a joy. #books
my $30 bedside clock did the daylight saving change automatically (it’s an iToma)
Fortune article on US govt debt crisis in 2029 (projected). They fail to present the most likely path. US simply defaults and threatens debtors with a military response. Not paying attention #auspol
I keep thinking about the NATO exercise where 20 Ukrainians with a set of drones wiped out two battalions (2000 soldiers)
Like the great man said, the future is here, it’s just not distributed evenly #ai https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-20/chinese-humanoid-robot-beats-human-half-marathon-world-record/106585368?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other
Margo Madison’s line in opening episode of latest For all Mankind: “ at least you have something to balance “ is an absolute killer. Brilliant stuff. #ForAllMankind
tried to work with a very old github repo that implements an algorithm. Much trouble, code was python 2. something. Ask DeepSeek to do it. Excellent implementation. This is what AI is good at. #AI
Interesting. Another non LLM company https://www.wired.com/story/david-silver-ai-ineffable-intelligence-reinforcement-learning/ #ai
