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Mr Hounsell

@hounsell.bsky.social
858 followers 512 following 3.9K posts

Aussie Transport Analyst - Writing on life in the urban jungle; places, living streets & quality transit. He/Him (They/Them is OK) linktr.ee/hounsell ✈🚢🚈🚋🚌🚕🚗🛵🚲🛴👣 🏳️‍🌈☿⚧

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Reposted by Mr Hounsell
Matt Golding @goldingcartoons.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Now, after a near total population collapse, bogong moths are delighting scientists with sudden spring abundance www.theage.com.au/environment/...
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Adam Morton @adammorton.bsky.social · 17h
A story of our time: Approval of biggest coal project in NSW planning commission’s history described as ‘infamous betrayal’. Independent Planning Commission says climate change impacts from Hunter Valley project will be ‘outweighed’ by economic benefits.
theguardian.com
Approval of biggest coal project in NSW planning commission’s history described as ‘infamous betrayal’
Independent Planning Commission says climate change impacts from Hunter Valley project will be ‘outweighed’ by economic benefits
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 19h
The White House accord on AI that was signed by all the big tech oligarchs today misspells United States as “Unites States.”
Document signed by Trump, Sundar Pichai
Google
Dario Amodei
Anthropic
Mark Zuckerberg
Meta

Greg Brockman
OpenAl

Elon Musk
XAI

Jensen Huang
nvidia “Unites States”
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Reposted by Mr Hounsell
Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A Bunch of Einsteins By me and @postcardsbybecky.bsky.social Read more cartoons! —> #Policartoon Support the cartoons! —>patreon.com/barry
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON
This cartoon has six panels.

PANEL 1

A bearded man in a red cap is recording a video of himself.

JAKE: Why should taxpayers be on the hook for science research with no real-world value? If their research were worth anything, private industry would already fund it!

PANEL 2

Jake’s rant continues over a cross-section of the landscape, from farmland and suburbs to a city; his voice is coming from a little cabin. A fiber-optic cable runs underground all the way across the panel.

JAKE: Believe me, these researchers aren’t a bunch of Einsteins!

CAPTION: There wouldn’t be high-speed internet for this doofus’s videos without fiber optic cables!

PANEL 3

Under the ocean, a fiber-optic cable runs along the ocean floor. Word balloons coming from the fiber optic cable contain the icons of many internet-based services — Facebook, Zoom, Discord, Netflix, Minecraft, and more.

CAPTION: Without fiber optics, the internet would be far too slow for how we use it today.

PANEL 4

CAPTION: So where did fiber optics come from? Well…

CAPTION: 1966

In a laboratory break room, an excited scientist throws his arms wide while another scientist eats at a table.

SCIENTIST: Now that lasers exist, we can use ultrapure glass fibers to carry light long distances!

OTHER SCIENTIST: How does that do anything?

PANEL 5

CAPTION: 1960

A scientist proudly holds up a diagram of a newly invented device. Another scientist sits at a microscope.

SCIENTIST: I call it a “laser”! It’s based on the old theory of stimulated emission.

OTHER SCIENTIST: But Theo, what use is it?

PANEL 6

CAPTION: 1917

Outside a university, a pompous-looking man gestures indignantly as he reads a scientific paper. He's speaking to a young Albert Einstein, who rolls his eyes.

MAN: Albert, where’s the practical value in this “stimulated emission” drivel? It’s a waste of taxpayer money!
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Barry Deutsch @barrydeutsch.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
The Cities Are Full Of, uh, "Crime" By me and @postcardsbybecky.bsky.social Read more cartoons! #PoliCartoon Help us make more! patreon.com/barry
TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

PANEL 1

A white man wearing a baseball cap looks around nervously as he walks on a city sidewalk. Behind him, we can see storefronts and pedestrians. All the people are brown-skinned, enjoying their day, including an adorable family with a toddler riding on her mom's shoulders.

PANEL 2

A residential city neighborhood. The same white man presses against a wall, trying not to be seen, as he watches a little girl playing hopscotch, while another girl sits on a stoop reading a book. Nearby, a middle-aged woman waters some potted plants on a low wall. Again, the white guy is the only white person in the panel.

PANEL 3

The white guy peers out from behind a tree at a piragua cart, where the piragua vender is smiling as he talks to a customer. In the background, we see a man walking a three-legged pitbull, and a couple of people playing basketball. Again, everyone but the white guy is a person of color.

PANEL 4

We see the white guy in a professional-looking podcast studio, clenching a fist and talking intently into the microphone.

WHITE GUY: I've been to the city, and it was full of, uh, crime.
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The Shovel @theshovel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Households across Australia are cancelling annual holidays, cutting back on groceries and reducing other spending because the 79-year-old little boy is out of his depth. Read the full story: theshovel.com.au/2026/05/06/i...
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Ella Baron @ellabaron.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Wednesday's @theguardian.com cartoon #AndyBurnham #LabourPartyConference #Liverpool
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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/09/2026
Nation’s 93-Year-Olds Announce Plan To Crash Car Into Side Of Bank theonion.com/nations-93-year-olds-a…
Nation’s 93-Year-Olds Announce Plan To Crash Car Into Side Of Bank
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Mr Hounsell @hounsell.bsky.social · 22h
No, No, No! I don't want to be forced to call it Artificial Intelligence to resist the American Fascists, because AI as it is used is technically misleading .....
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PizzaCake @pizzacakecomic.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
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The Shovel @theshovel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"I do want to reassure Australians that as soon as we’re in a proper recession and people are pushed into financial ruin, we’ll lower rates." theshovel.com.au/2026/09/30/r...
theshovel.com.au
RBA Reassures Australians They’ll Stop Raising Interest Rates as Soon as Economy Collapses — The Shovel
"I do want to reassure Australians that as soon as we’re in a proper recession and people are pushed into financial ruin, we’ll lower rates"
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Mr Hounsell @hounsell.bsky.social · 22h
Ridiculous, don't put up a wall, if it's a busy station implement Spanish (both sides of the train) platforms.
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TT 🇨🇦 @ttomlin.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This isva love letter to Montreal ❤️ I spent the wknd there for the UCI road cycling World Championships but this post is not about racing. We stayed 8 kms from Mt Royal (the event epicentre) and rode to/from each day. So. Many. Bike. Lanes. So. Many. People. Riding. #Montreal #quebec
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WIRED @wired.com · 29/09/2026
Scientists have found a new form of pollution, one where plastic and pieces of coral become irreversibly intertwined. www.wired.com/story/plasti...
wired.com
Plastic Is Melting Onto Corals
Scientists have found a new form of pollution, one where plastic and pieces of coral become irreversibly intertwined.
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Cozy @cozyt-c.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Paris by cargo bike. Perfection.
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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"E-bike adopters reduced travel costs by 12% and increased physical activity by 14%." doi.org/10.1016/j.ur...
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Admirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Dr. Margaret Allen: the first woman to perform a heart transplant (Stanford, 1985). • 1985: Founded the first heart transplant program, U. of Washington Med Center & served as its director until 1996 • 1994: First woman president, United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) #WomenInSTEM #MedSky
A black-and-white portrait of Dr. Margaret Allen (born 1948), the pioneering American cardiothoracic surgeon who became the first woman to perform a heart transplant and founded the heart transplant program at the University of Washington Medical Center. She is positioned in the center of the frame against a softly blurred, natural outdoor background of dense foliage or hedges. She wears a dark top over a light-colored, knit turtleneck collar that frames her neck. Her long, wavy hair is pulled back. She wears large, thin-rimmed circular aviator-style eyeglasses. Dr. Allen looks directly forward into the camera with a neutral, calm, and composed expression, conveying a sense of quiet determination, focus, and intellectual strength. The composition uses natural, soft lighting that minimizes harsh shadows on her face. The overall mood is serious, professional, and dignified, underscoring her historic significance as a trailblazer for women in medicine and surgery.
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Only In Boston @onlyinbos.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Downtown Boston is gridlocked right now because someone decided to leave their car double parked... 🙃 📹: @vanessageauxinue_
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A reminder that this year the unemployment rate has gone up 0.56%pts - roughly an extra 87,000 unemployed. So in 15 min when the RBA raises rates again just remember 35-44yos on Jobseeker are almost 10 times more likely to die than those not on welfare: www.theguardian.com/business/gro...
Chart showing deaths per 100,000 by age
22-34yo: 17.1 no welfare; 137.0 on Jobseeker
35-44yo: 30 no welfare; 288.1 on Jobseeker
45-55yo: 83.4 no welfare; 427.0 on Jobseeker
55-64yo: 201.6 no welfare; 615.6 on Jobseeker
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Antipoverty Centre @antipovertycentre.org · 29/09/2026
Our statement: apcentre.substack.com/p/urgent-act...
Follow link in post to read full statement
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ScarletCoral @scarletcoral.ca · 24/09/2026
New from @notjustbikes.com on @nebula.tv on Singapore's cycling network : " #Singapore wants to increase the number of people cycling, which is a great goal, but they're going to have to fix some major problems first."
nebula.tv
Not Just Bikes — Cycling Made Difficult (but it's getting better!)
Singapore wants to increase the number of people cycling, which is a great goal, but they're going to have to fix some major problems first.
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Reposted by Mr Hounsell
Erik Noonan @eriknoonan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bike/pedestrian networks don't take 30 years to build. Stop accepting those timelines in your community. The best practices have been proven & they already exist. Safety should already be the #1 priority. The ROI is unbeatable. The timeline is a moral document and it shouldn't be generational.
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𝚃𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚜 𝙶𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚎 🚇 @taras-grescoe.com · 28/09/2026
“Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There's something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out in a gym." —Bill Nye, Science Guy.
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un Américain perdu à Paris @paris75009.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Most mornings, teams of workers deploy as a triple threat for keeping Paris clean; on the right is the street sweeper, in the middle is the sidewalk power washer, & on the left the men picking up litter & emptying waste baskets. #paris #street #france
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Stilgherrian @stilgherrian.com · 29/09/2026
It is my sad duty to report that the Australian government failed to renew the trademark registrations of Sabin the Immunisation Bear, mascot of the Immunise Australia Program. search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/s... search.ipaustralia.gov.au/trademarks/s...
A black and white cartoon outline of a bear's head, highly stylised, but cute, and tilted to the right at a jaunty angle.
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Tim Baxter @timinclimate.naruresearch.com.au · 29/09/2026
🫪
If you found out that up to 70 per cent—or more—of the Australian Carbon Credit Units under the three dominant methods backing Australia's climate strategy might not represent a single, genuine tonne of avoided carbon, would you fix the paperwork or would you fix the problem? That's exactly what's in front of us today. The amendment chooses the paperwork. They've called it the Carbon Credits and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Transparency) Bill 2026—the integrity transparency bill. I want you to sit with that for a second. It is, frankly, one of the most audacious pieces of branding I believe this parliament has seen. It is a bill named for two things that its own record shows the scheme has never reliably had.
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The Chaser @chaser.com.au · 29/09/2026
"As I said to the help while they cleaned my mansion, we all need to be ready to make sacrifices,” said the RBA boss. chaser.com.au/general-news...
RBA tells working class people to stop wasting money on ‘luxuries’ like food, shelter and transport - The Chaser
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Mr Hounsell @hounsell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It is the dogma of modern American script writing and media criticism, that TV must be character driven. However, Terry Nation's stories were plot driven, and as the hosts note: young people -- and people looking for an easy watch -- often watch an easy running around incident driven adventure story
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Gavin Gatenby @gavingatenby.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Enjoy it folks, Bogongs are a food windfall for other wildlife and especially the endangered Mountain Pygmy Possum! bsky.app/profile/gavi...
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Rex Patrick @mrrexpatrick.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Instead of the Reserve Bank reducing inflation by increasing the amount of money we have to give to the banks, why not increase the amount of money we have to pay into our own superannuation accounts? #NewApproach #OurMoney #auspol
7news.com.au
Australia braces for second-highest interest rates in developed world
Australia faces a potential Reserve Bank interest rate hike that would give it the second-highest cash rate in the developed world, behind only Iceland.
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The Point @thepointau.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"It's not just rates that are on the rise" a new cartoon from Fiona Katauskas (@fionakatauskas.bsky.social). See today's cartoon on The Point: sbrew.link/FuJcoK5x
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Sammy Roth @sammyroth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Coastal erosion is just like the wildfire crisis, in a lot of ways. In places like Malibu, a century of poor development decisions designed to tame nature were already holding up poorly, and now they're getting torn to shreds with the climate crisis. insideclimatenews.org/news/2709202...
insideclimatenews.org
A Century of Sand Debt Comes Due in Malibu - Inside Climate News
A new study finds the world’s great surf breaks are vulnerable to climate change. In Malibu, the problem is more specific: a coast with few defenses, with a record El Niño winter closing in.
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bystander1.bsky.social @bystander1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
"Nine of the companies are named Mensch Investments Industrial, and are differentiated only by a single number from SL7-1 through to SL7-9. All nine have the same directors" Close the loophole!!!!!!
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1EarthMedia @1earthmedia.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Mensch or mentsh is a Yiddish word which figuratively means "a person of integrity and honour" ... "someone to admire and emulate, someone of noble character. These 'mensch' flout political donation laws to channel money to the right wing Victorian Liberal Party #auspol #SpringSt
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Blair Lorenzo / The Fox and the City @thefoxandthecity.com · 28/09/2026
Walking through Amsterdam, I was at first confused about what these structures were... until I saw a car pull into one. It's an automated underground parking garage. I knew these existed, but had never seen them before. Very cool in a sci-fi/engineering way, but not exactly a great use of money.
 A glass structure on a sidewalk/slow street area with a metal pad inside.A car driving into the glass box.Car on the elevator / storage pad in the glass boxUser control screen for the underground parking.
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Australian Conservation Foundation @ausconservation.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Be very kind to them. Don't use insecticides. Turn off unnecessary outdoor lights. Pop any moth that comes inside back outside so it can continue its migration. au.news.yahoo.com/aussies-warn...
au.news.yahoo.com
Aussies warned not to make common mistake as thousands of moths swarm
A phenomenon not seen in around 20 years has returned to Sydney.
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It takes more than three months for the federal government to detect data breaches, according to new analysis www.governmentnews.com.au/agencies-slo...
governmentnews.com.au
Agencies slow to detect data breaches - Government News
It takes more than three months for the federal government to detect data breaches, according to new analysis.
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Mr Hounsell @hounsell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7uu...
youtube.com
China's Northernmost High-Speed Railway Starts Service
YouTube video by CCTV Video News Agency
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Gavin Shoebridge @kiwiev.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Fifteen years and 158,000 km later, this old Leaf is still rapid charging like new. Grabbing some renewable electrons at ChargeNet before heading to the Bombay Hills. Got something different to collect today. Just need to summon the energy to deal with Auckland...
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Megan Herbert @meganjherbert.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
A lot to process. My cartoon in today's @theageaustralia.bsky.social and @sydmorningherald.bsky.social
A political cartoon by Megan Herbert showing the reception area of a Medicare Bulk Billing practice. As a humanoid robot, labelled "AI Agent", hands a claims form to the startled looking receptionist, it says, "Hello. I would like to lodge a claim that I'm here to kill you all." In the background, a member of the Australian Federal Police, who is perusing a file labelled "AFP Report on Open AI Breach", overhears and whips his head around in startled reaction. But tellingly, doesn't rush to take any meaningful action.
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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 29/09/2026
Reuters got some of the IPO docs. Anthropic is a total dog of a company. Spent $12.6bn to make $4.6bn in revenue in 2025, $7.33bn of which was compute costs. Operating loss of $8bn. Losses getting worse year over year. Amazing stuff www.reuters.com/business/fin...
Summary
Companies
• Anthropic IPO could value the company at more than $2
trillion
• Anthropic lost $42 billion in 2025
• Al lab spent $7.33 billion on compute and infrastructure last year
• Operating loss widened to $8.06 billion in 2025 from $2.98 billion in 2024
• Execs, industry analysts have expressed concerns over harms of Al tech
Sept 28 (Reuters) - Anthropic is making a massive bet that Al will transform the global economy more profoundly than industrialization, electricity and the internet, according to its IPO prospectus seen by Reuters.
But the cost to get there will be staggering. Anthropic reported a net loss of $42 billion in 2025, and plans to spend $518 billion on cloud, computing and infrastructure obligations in coming year, according to the
prospectus.
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Techmeme @techmeme.com · 29/09/2026
IPO prospectus: Anthropic reports a net loss of $42B in 2025, with operating losses of $8B+; revenue grew 12x to ~$4.6B, ~25% of which came from two customers (Echo Wang/Reuters) Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
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e pluribus cartoonum @rjmatsoncartoons.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Will This Congress Rewrite History to Match Trump’s Trade War Propaganda? #Trump #Tariffs #TradeWar #Canada #Congress #MinistryofTruth #Orwell
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Lauren McKenzie @themckenziest.gay · 29/09/2026
“Kelvin waves are not like crashing waves at the beach. They are planetary in scale, spanning thousands of miles.” Learn something new and terrifying every day
theguardian.com
Concern mounts over slow-moving, planetary-scale ‘Kelvin’ wave heading for California
The ocean phenomenon could raise sea levels by up to a foot as El Niño keeps warm water trapped along the coast
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 28/09/2026
Hey everyone remember how I was saying the AI X-risk criti-hype is a targeted project designed to kill regulations and further ensure an impatient rush on data centre contsruction www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09...
abc.net.au
OpenAI breach proves need for more data centres, major parties say
Labor, Coalition agree OpenAI's Medicare breach proves the need for Australia to secure "a seat at the AI table" by rolling out data centres nationally.
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Prof Ray Wills @profraywills.futuresmart.com.au · 28/09/2026
The next race is not for liquid fuels It is for cheap electrons Global evidence shows electrification is no longer a distant or marginal pathway The deployment of solar and batteries now represents the fastest energy shift in human history Wills, Newman & Buckley thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
deployment of solar and batteries now represents the fastest energy shift in human history
Ray Wills, Peter Newman & Howard Buckley
https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260928-the-next-race-is-not-for-liquid-fuels-it-is-for-cheap-electrons
@fssau.futuresmart.com.au
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Mr Hounsell @hounsell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Watch this 25 second animation 👇
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Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations @fao.org · 28/09/2026
🐕 Rabies is preventable, yet it continues to claim lives. On #WorldRabiesDay, @fao.org highlights the importance of dog vaccination, surveillance and stronger animal health systems to stop rabies at its source and protect communities. 🔗 bit.ly/4x5dqgP
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Asher Wolf @asherwolf.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
I’ve been saying this for days www.smh.com.au/business/com...
smh.com.au
‘Obscurity not security’: Government accused of overreach in Medicare ‘hack’ response
Tech experts argue that the Medicare statistics portal’s code was set up to send data to anyone who requested files, including data that wasn’t promoted.
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Phil Sturgeon 🌳🚵⚓️ @philsturgeon.com · 28/09/2026
Just saw someone zoom by on a Solar powered recumbent e-bike, clearly homemade. I barely got a photo before he was away. Just commuting to work in Chippenham I think? Legend.
Industrial estate with a small grainy cyclist turning the corner, laying back on a recumbent bike, and two flexible solar panels making a roof over the top.
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