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Andrew Waugh

@mandrewwaugh.bsky.social
142 followers 40 following 2.2K posts

I know a bit about digital preservation and railway signalling

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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Has anyone noticed how unusual the weather is in Melbourne today? There's a low pressure cell centred over Echuca, with the rain bands being driven from east to west over Melbourne south of the divide.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The interim RAIB report into the rear end collision at Bedford has dropped. The driver of the second (colliding) train tragically died in the accident. An interim report doesn't consider why the accident happened, just what happened... (1/n) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6abd31...
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OldRailwayAccidents @rwldproject.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Space age railway! It turns, since the outset of electro-mechanical engineering (of course): Did Space Weather Delay the 10:05 p.m. Train Departure From Exeter on 18 October 1841? #RailwayHistory agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Did Space Weather Delay the 10:05 p.m. Train Departure From Exeter on 18 October 1841?
A reported 1841 train delay in England attributed to geomagnetic disturbance is inconsistent with the opening date of the railway affected The integration of contemporary observations and archiva...
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
That brand new train smell…
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The scifi dystopia ‘Robocop’ was set far in the future… 2028
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We did go to Manly but by bus (the Freshwater’s weren’t runningand the queue was very long). Walked to North Head, back by bus, and then fast ferry. S knew the’7 miles from Sydney’ but not the rest, nor that it was a Manly ferry advertising slogan
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Not what springs to my mind when Moree is mentioned, but apparently it is still a thing
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Dr Who’s other Tardis. I was keeping a wary eye out for aliens
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Hydraulic crane. Water pressure pushes the piston up and the chain is dragged up with the crosshead. The direction of pull is changed by the fixed pulley at the base
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Bit of a wait on this platform, but I am impressed by the confidence about their train running
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Way finding
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
How can you ignore such a cliche? I think that’s a barkentine (fully square rigged on the foremast, including the foresail, for and aft rigged on the main and mizzen. Without the for course it would be a topsail schooner)
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Wandered around Cockatoo Island
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
View out of the first hotel room. We had the cheap rooms but they ‘upgraded’ us to a harbour view because the overnight road works could have made it less desirable. Note the light railway
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This is not just a decorative feature of the second hotel room.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Spent a couple of days in the northern city last week
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
AI meets surveillance
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Speaking of rundown… The toilets on the concourse at Southern Cross have morphed into demountables. Three for women and two for men
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
In good news though, two out of the three escalator upgrades at Southern Cross have finished. And don’t they make the rest of the station look a bit rundown
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I used to sometimes feel like I was living in a social satire movie. Now it’s all the time. And the satire is getting more extreme.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
One of the stranger bits about being a gunzel is that you've walked around places that others think that most people have never been to. I recognised most of the places mentioned in this article, and certainly the lead photo... www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
theage.com.au
I don’t live in my suburb, which is just 8km from the CBD. Then again, nobody does
There are only two other suburbs like mine in Melbourne, and the others are nowhere near as close to the CBD. But then again, it’s not really my suburb.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Xtrap2 on the Down at 1205 today at Bentleigh apparently carrying passengers…
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Dreadnought Holiday @dreadships.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
"Rate this translation"
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
The Ig Nobles have been awarded again. I think they're doing academic studies right - little questions, but often important. Look at the Ig Noble prize for economics and tell me that it isn't a more important result than any recent big recent economic prize. arstechnica.com/science/2026...
arstechnica.com
Meet the 2026 Ig Nobel Prize winners
The annual award ceremony features miniature operas, scientific demos, and "24/7" lectures.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
*All* of the students at Scotch are male. *None* of the students will ever make a decision about whether or not to have an abortion. So why the fuck are they being lectured (let alone negatively) about the ethics or morality of abortion in religious education? Is this school teaching misogyny?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
The rot is well and truly underway. AI hallucinated references in submissions to parliamentary inquiries. Note the fun feedback. The submissions were published on the parlimentary website. Google then picked up the bogus references as if they were real... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
‘Scary’: how misinformation and AI hallucinations are infiltrating Australia’s parliament
Exclusive: Guardian analysis reveals that dozens of policy submissions from across the political spectrum incorrectly summarise real research and invent or wrongly cite sources
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Listened to '9 to 5' all the way through (for obvious reasons) for the first time in a long time. Dolly Parton said in a short catchy tune what it took Karl Marx a *very* long and heavy book to say. And in a way that was acceptable to Americans.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Super interesting analysis of what different countries class a crowded. It’s unlikely to be what you think!
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
This article says that the Oz Commonwealth was intended to be a 'competitive federalism' where the States compete against each other. What do people think? IMO that wasn't in the Federalism debates. theconversation.com/from-gst-to-gambling-to-gun-buybacks-australias-federation-isnt-working-290428
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Nina Baker @ninabake2.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
She was an absolute hero in every way and had a really pretty hard life despite having been born into the aristocracy. She was well enough known in that era and later to feature in kids' magazines.
Victoria Drummond story in True Comics, February 1943World of Wonder 1970
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
If you want to know how stupid some people are… I just saw two people walking in the 6 foot between the standard gauge line and the west line between Corio platform and the level crossing. About 100 metre distance.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Can anyone explain why the planned disruptions page published by transport.vic.gov.au doesn't include the Craigieburn or Upfield lines? transport.vic.gov.au/plan-a-journ...
transport.vic.gov.au
Planned works
View scheduled disruptions to public transport timetables.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Was lying on an operating table today before being put under (minor investigation & cleared) when the theatre nurse, making small talk, asked me what I did. After clarifying what an archivist did, she asked how AI was going to affect the records.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
World's smallest violin. They can absolutely afford it.
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Hrading south towards Frankston. Passed rwo Xtrap2 heading north
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
That buckle is almost certainly due to the derailing train - note the opposite rail hasn't been affected. But look at the buckles in the track stretching from 100-200 metres behind that... (From the BBC coverage www.bbc.com/news/live/cl...)
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Census completed. No technical hickups
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
@interurbanera.bsky.social
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
The celebrity endorsement that tells you that it would, in fact, be a very good idea indeed.
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Odd This Day @oddthisday.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Happy 48th anniversary of the accidental emptying of the Chesterfield Canal...
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
New weird new story in the mainstream media today. Did I just not notice these before or have we passed some alternative reality threshold?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
JFC, today just gets weirder and weirder. Who could seriously think that a royal commission - reporting in 11 months - is going to say anything timely about dealing with AI?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Tell us what's the important news story about the wild weather we've been having
The main headline tells us that the weather has caused some motorists lengthy delays after hitting hidden potholes at speed. The subhead tells us that the weather caused a death and a hospitalisation after a car hit a tree. What is a more significant news story?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The eyes follow you as if you were a potentially interesting worm or bug
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The VR turns up in odd places. An alley in Seymour shopping centre
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Hard rubbish in our neighbourhood produces some interesting things (someone clearly took it). And for the avoidance of doubt, i have never looked like this in my life
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Seriously, the only thing you can say about your product that will convince more people to buy it is that you have a new (naff) bottle? And you mount an expensive ad campaign around this fact?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The Australia Post receiving pillar and its superseded GPO one. How long has the post office being collecting from this corner?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
This study of NZ freight resilience focuses on road and coastal shipping. It mentions air. It ignores rail completely, except for an incidental mention that the Cook Island ferry carries rail. theconversation.com/how-would-nz...
theconversation.com
How would NZ’s vital freight system handle a big earthquake? Our study sounds a warning
New research reveals a magnitude 8.5 earthquake is likely to trigger a cascade of problems for NZ’s freight networks. But how many are avoidable?
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Andrew Waugh @mandrewwaugh.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
This article by George Brandis correctly notes the heavy lifting by the Liberals in getting rid of the White Australia policy. He lauds Menzies, but there is one Liberal PM he conspicuously doesn't mention at all. Which one do you think? www.theage.com.au/national/ton...
theage.com.au
Tony Abbott recalls a whiter Australia than I do. Menzies rejected his version, as do many Liberals
Abbott upset a lot of Liberals by pronouncing multiculturalism a failure. Our party’s founder ridiculed the notion that we should be a “species of drab uniformity”.
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