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timrichards

@timrichards@aus.social

Travel writer living and working on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne, Australia. Rail travel expert, current books on sale include Heading South and Ultimate Train Journeys: World. See my published writing at iwriter.com.au.

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timrichards , to Random stuff
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Amusing but also serious.

Male drivers: why are they such a menace behind the steering wheel? https://www.theguardian.com/money/article/2024/may/14/male-drivers-why-are-they-such-a-menace-behind-the-steering-wheel

bojacobs , to sts group
@bojacobs@hcommons.social avatar

Chernobyl, 38 years ago today.

Human "bio-robots" had to make homemade lead lined suits to then spend 40 seconds to 2 minutes on the roof of reactor #3 shoveling bits of the reactor core into the hole where reactor #4 used to be. 3,500 people did this task.

@histodons @sts

video/mp4

timrichards ,
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

@bojacobs @histodons @sts I visited Chernobyl after the 30th anniversary in 2016. Strange, eerie place.

timrichards , to Random stuff
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Jeez. If visiting country Victoria, don't accept anything made from mushrooms.

Clunes death: ‘Magic mushroom’ probe after woman dies at Soul Barn wellness centre
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-dead-two-hospitalised-over-suspected-mushroom-drink-poisoning-at-health-retreat-20240416-p5fk8y.html

timrichards , to Art
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

Spotted Picasso's Weeping Woman the other day at NGV International. If you haven't heard about the sensational 1980s theft of this painting, this SBS TV series is entertaining: https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/news-series/framed

timrichards , to bookstodon group
@timrichards@aus.social avatar

A fun bit I just read in The Mating Season by PG Wodehouse...

@bookstodon

Screenshot of text, which reads: My heart stood still. I clutched at the windscreen for support, and what-whatted. ‘The great thing to remember, the thing to bear in mind and keep the attention fixed on, is that he meant well.’ My heart stood stiller. In your walks about London you will sometimes see bent, haggard figures that look as if they had recently been caught in some powerful machinery. They are those of fellows who got mixed up with Catsmeat when he was meaning well.
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    • timrichards , to bookstodon group
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    Off to Ballarat then Clunes by train, for the annual book festival. @NarrelleMHarris will be promoting her new novel 'The She-Wolf of Baker Street', which is out today. (See https://www.clandestinepress.net/products/she-wolf-of-baker-street)

    @bookstodon

    ajsadauskas , (edited ) to cars
    @ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

    The saga of Waverley Park — Melbourne's car-dependent suburban AFL stadium with a planned seated capacity of over 150,000 (not a typo!)

    A really good run down by @philip on the plans by the AFL (and its predecessor, the VFL) to build the world's largest stadium in outer-suburban Melbourne.

    Unfortunately, a planned railway line past the stadium to Rowville was never built. That meant a massive 25,000-spot car park as the only real means to get there.

    While most of it has been demolished and redeveloped for housing, the oval itself still used by Hawthorn Football Club as a training and administration centre.

    https://youtu.be/LvvLwiRCx4s?si=x2QvxepgPtBtJZfx

    @fuck_cars

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @philip @fuck_cars "planned railways" to significant locations are never built. Take the airport as an example.

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @awelder @jedsetter @nictea @philip @fuck_cars And Perth doesn't even have much of a pre-car inner-city, so it's dominated by car-friendly suburbia. The new train lines are good, but it's a pity they run between freeways and thus miss out on local walkable neighbourhoods around them.

    timrichards , to bookstodon group
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Free for all to read at my Patreon... I review an extraordinary new book that expands our knowledge of - and empathy with - the oceans and their inhabitants:

    Review: Deep Water, by James Bradley https://www.patreon.com/posts/100643060

    @bookstodon

    CultureDesk , (edited ) to Japan
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    The Japanese city of Ozu has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, and an ancient castle that serves as a hotel is drawing travelers to this small city sometimes referred to as “Little Kyoto.” BBC Travel’s Tom Schiller tells us why we should take a trip there.

    https://flip.it/VHJq34

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk Missing a link there

    ajsadauskas , (edited ) to DeGoogle Yourself
    @ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

    In an age of LLMs, is it time to reconsider human-edited web directories?

    Back in the early-to-mid '90s, one of the main ways of finding anything on the web was to browse through a web directory.

    These directories generally had a list of categories on their front page. News/Sport/Entertainment/Arts/Technology/Fashion/etc.

    Each of those categories had subcategories, and sub-subcategories that you clicked through until you got to a list of websites. These lists were maintained by actual humans.

    Typically, these directories also had a limited web search that would crawl through the pages of websites listed in the directory.

    Lycos, Excite, and of course Yahoo all offered web directories of this sort.

    (EDIT: I initially also mentioned AltaVista. It did offer a web directory by the late '90s, but this was something it tacked on much later.)

    By the late '90s, the standard narrative goes, the web got too big to index websites manually.

    Google promised the world its algorithms would weed out the spam automatically.

    And for a time, it worked.

    But then SEO and SEM became a multi-billion-dollar industry. The spambots proliferated. Google itself began promoting its own content and advertisers above search results.

    And now with LLMs, the industrial-scale spamming of the web is likely to grow exponentially.

    My question is, if a lot of the web is turning to crap, do we even want to search the entire web anymore?

    Do we really want to search every single website on the web?

    Or just those that aren't filled with LLM-generated SEO spam?

    Or just those that don't feature 200 tracking scripts, and passive-aggressive privacy warnings, and paywalls, and popovers, and newsletters, and increasingly obnoxious banner ads, and dark patterns to prevent you cancelling your "free trial" subscription?

    At some point, does it become more desirable to go back to search engines that only crawl pages on human-curated lists of trustworthy, quality websites?

    And is it time to begin considering what a modern version of those early web directories might look like?

    @degoogle

    timrichards , (edited )
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @degoogle I actually contributed to one! I was a writer at LookSmart for four years; we manually created categories and added websites to then, with short descriptive reviews. Though an algorithm listed more sites below our selections, we could force the top result, eg we'd make sure the most relevant website was the first result of a search on that topic. Old-skool now, but had better results in some ways.

    CultureDesk , to Random stuff
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    Surge pricing — where items cost more when demand is high — is coming to Wendy's next year. @AxiosNews has more details on this.

    https://flip.it/glE4fq

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk @AxiosNews that is really appalling. If I ate there, I'd stop doing so in protest.

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Loads of good Filipino restaurants in Melbourne these days; here's the latest.

    Filipino restaurant Askal opens in Melbourne CBD with pork sisig platters and purple ube negronis

    (maybe paywalled) cc @drei https://www.theage.com.au/goodfood/melbourne-eating-out/filipino-food-continues-to-flourish-at-this-hotly-anticipated-cbd-restaurant-20240223-p5f7aw.html

    luckytran , to Random stuff
    @luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

    Moon Lander is all of us!

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @luckytran @dsilverman I relate. So does @NarrelleMHarris.

    w7voa , to Random stuff
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    There's "a simple reason," according to President Biden, why the bipartisan border security funding deal is not moving forward: "Donald Trump" and it looks like the Republicans "are caving."

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @w7voa Don’t feel the troll

    ajsadauskas , (edited ) to Technology
    @ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

    My real worry with Google's voyage into enshittification (thanks to Cory Doctorow @pluralistic the term) is YouTube.

    Through YT, for the past 15 years, the world has basically entrusted Google to be the custodian of pretty much our entire global video archive.

    There's countless hours of archived footage — news reports, political speeches, historical events, documentaries, indie films, academic lectures, conference presentations, rare recordings, concert footage, obscure music — where the best or only copy is now held by Google through YouTube.

    So what happens if maintaining that archival footage becomes unprofitable?

    #tech #technology #Google #enshittification #youtube #video @technology #capitalism #film #television #cinema #art #arts #SocialMedia #business #economics

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @pluralistic @technology Needs to be nationalised; or more precisely, converted to a non-profit body.

    timrichards , to bookstodon group
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    I think after this I should give these cycling adventure books a rest. I like the descriptions of the places they visit, though they rarely spend much time in cities. But they endlessly eat the most horrible food just for the energy intake, makes me feel slightly ill reading about it. :)

    @bookstodon

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Interesting concept. Certainly the US should stop unconditionally supporting everything the government of Israel does, and put pressure on for change.

    Israel Palestine: Joe Biden should drop support for Israel and alternative plan is better than two-state solution

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/the-two-state-solution-has-failed-a-true-democracy-is-the-middle-east-s-only-hope-20231204-p5eowg.html

    Is the 'Change the Date' movement gathering momentum?

    Normally I tune out to this annual debate since it feels so polarised and stale, but the messaging from Woolworths, Cricket Australia, the Australian Open and others this year suggests big companies are concerned about an attitude shift within Australian society. It seems they've decided the inevitable backlash is now worth it...

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @eatham @unionagainstdhmo I think 9 May, when federal parliament first met in 1901. It's the right year, and more convenient than 1 Jan.

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @skribe @ajsadauskas @eatham @unionagainstdhmo Could always be moved.

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @whybird @skribe @ajsadauskas @eatham @unionagainstdhmo As someone said the other day - let's go for the existing Wattle Day on 1 September!

    Gargron , to Random stuff
    @Gargron@mastodon.social avatar

    I'm 31 years old now :catjam:

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @Gargron HBTY

    timrichards , to bookstodon group
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    When I was in a book club, I wouldn't show up if I hadn't read that month's book. I eventually left when almost no one each month read the book. The socialising was nice but, c'mon, read the book.

    Why we keep showing up to book clubs — even when we haven't read the book https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-18/book-clubs-still-popular-bringing-readers-together/103326462

    @bookstodon

    timrichards OP ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @siftinsand @feather1952 @bookstodon I've heard about that concept and I like it. I did find with my book group that you read more widely, but it cut into your time for reading things you liked.

    timrichards OP ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @sister_ratched @bookstodon So it's now really a social group, not a book club I guess.

    timrichards OP ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @realn2s @Arlenecw @siftinsand @feather1952 @bookstodon Yeah I get the feeling the standard book cub concept was invented partly to encourage busy people to read. But I'm always reading antway, so I don't want the book club choices to cut into my preferred reading.

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Disgusting that presenters can be sacked for just being on the "wrong" side of the Gaza conflict. The ABC's commitment to diversity seems to only apply if you keep your mouth shut.

    Antoinette Lattouf, political opinion and the ABC’s impartiality

    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/antoinette-lattouf-political-opinion-and-the-abc-s-impartiality-20240112-p5ewt1.html

    dilmandila , to bookstodon group
    @dilmandila@mograph.social avatar

    Oh my God! Oh fck! I wake up to this big news and all I can say is fck! I went to bed having read something about Philip K Dick Awards (I can't even remember what I read about it!) and I wake up to learn that my book, Where Rivers Go To Die, has been nominated for this and its a big deal to me and all I can day is f*ck! What a way to start the year!

    https://www.norwescon.org/2024/01/09/2024-philip-k-dick-award-nominees-announced/

    @bookstodon

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @dilmandila @bookstodon @Adam_Cadmon1 Congrats!

    CultureDesk , to Random stuff
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    Are you confused about the Stanley cup (no, not that one) craze? Vox's Alex Abad-Santos attempts to break down this bizarre obsession with a fancy water bottle. "Stanley isn’t really into selling people what they need though," he says. "If it were, one reusable indestructible water bottle with a lifetime warranty should be enough."

    https://flip.it/ljQ94z

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk If I have to figure out which Stanley Cup it is, you've lost me

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Melbourne Mastodon Meetup!

    @mike, @ThermiteBeGiants, @NarrelleMHarris and I would like to get together IRL for some drinks, and you're all invited...

    On: Thursday 18 January, from 6pm
    At: The Quiet Man pub, 271 Racecourse Road, Kensington
    PT: Newmarket Station or Tram 57 (Stop 24).

    We can meet for a drink in the front bar, and there'll be a table booked in the dining room from 6.30pm. (Find menu etc here: https://www.thequietman.com.au/)

    If you can definitely make it, could you let me know by replying below? Then I can get the numbers right when booking the table.

    See you there! (Please boost for reach)

    parismarx , to Random stuff
    @parismarx@mastodon.online avatar

    Which Mastodon app should I be using?

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @parismarx Of you're using an iOS device, the Ivory app is very good.

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    This is fun - great food hidden in odd places.

    ‘If our food is good enough, they will come’: the hidden dining gems at Australian petrol stations and carwashes https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/dec/20/best-petrol-station-food-places-australia?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    cc @LifeTimeCooking

    timrichards , to bookstodon group
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Christ, imagine being so deranged that you'd post negative reviews of books of fellow new authors you perceived as rivals. Goodreads is turning into the YouTube of the literary world (no that's not a compliment).

    ‘It’s totally unhinged’: is the book world turning against Goodreads? | Books | The Guardian

    @bookstodon @NarrelleMHarris https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/18/goodreads-review-bombing

    timrichards OP ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @joannaholman @bookstodon @NarrelleMHarris I have it linked up to my Kindle so it automatically registers the books I've finished reading. Otherwise I never remember to go there. There are been too many scandals about dodgy reviews, it's decreased my interest in it.

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Good point here - forcing people back to offices will impact women more, as success in work is linked by managers to availability (and it's men who are more available for long office hours).

    If employers stop people working from home, one group will pay dearly

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/if-employers-stop-people-working-from-home-one-group-will-pay-dearly-20231217-p5eryp.html

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Finally! A bit of sense from the Australian government.

    Australia votes for ceasefire in Gaza at UN General Assembly https://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-news-live-pm-joins-canadian-nz-leaders-to-call-for-sustainable-ceasefire-in-gaza-minister-weighs-up-july-1-nationwide-engineered-stone-ban-20231213-p5er2f.html?post=p55i4r#p55i4r

    rodhilton , to Random stuff
    @rodhilton@mastodon.social avatar

    I've never watched a single episode of Doctor Who, I barely even know what it's about - but I have now seen about half a dozen clips from the latest episodes and with absolutely no context this show is completely fucking unhinged.

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @rodhilton @Adam_Cadmon1 It's often a bit unhinged with context. I love it. But then I've been watching it since I was born.

    CultureDesk , (edited ) to Random stuff
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie? Moviegoers have debated whether the action flick starring Bruce Willis is part of holiday canon. Half of respondents to a Yahoo/YouGov poll say no. Where do you stand on the film’s holiday status?
    https://flip.it/LO1NKe

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk Do you realise the options on the poll don't match your question?

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    More censorship. If Israel has such a strong case for its Gaza invasion, why do artists need to be censored for speaking out?

    Prominent Australian artist Mike Parr dropped by Anna Schwartz Gallery over performance that referenced the Israel-Gaza War - ABC News

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-09/mike-parr-dropped-by-anna-schwartz-gallery-over-performance/103206658

    Susan60 , to ActuallyAutistic group
    @Susan60@aus.social avatar

    Does anyone else feel deeply offended by scam text messages? @actuallyautistic

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @Susan60 @actuallyautistic They are very annoying. Who decides to make a living by ripping others off? What scum.

    Gargron , to Random stuff
    @Gargron@mastodon.social avatar

    I've been brewing on this thought for a while, but I think it comes down to, AI has no place in the arts. Machine-generated art has the appearance of what it is emulating, but no substance. Like cake made entirely of fondant. Or cardboard.

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @Gargron And by definition, entirely derivative. Parasitically drawing from other people's achievements.

    GossiTheDog , to Random stuff
    @GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social avatar

    Massive story coming from this one later - thank you for Senator Wyden for blowing this up. Apple, follow through with public disclosure so this doesn't get lost.

    Part of the US (and other) governments spy worldwide using push notifications. That popup telling you your friend messaged on that super secure encrypted messaging app? Yeahhhhh.

    https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/governments-spying-apple-google-users-through-push-notifications-us-senator-2023-12-06/

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @GossiTheDog @jpm Good reason to minimise app notifications. I hardly have any turned on.

    CultureDesk , to Random stuff
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    In an interview to promote new movie "Genie," Richard Curtis told the Independent that the scene in "Love Actually" where a character uses cue cards to profess his love to his best friend's wife was, "a bit weird" and that he now understands why it was referred to as "the stalker scene." Tell us in the comments if there are any films you thought were a-OK at the time, and now look back on with horror.

    https://flip.it/Bb6_4t

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk Love Actually is problematic in so many ways: https://www.yourtango.com/entertainment/love-actually-unhinged-problematic-overlooked

    GuyDudeman , to Random stuff
    @GuyDudeman@mastodon.social avatar

    I really love and the literal breaking of the fourth wall, where the characters realize they're characters. Such great moments.

    @comics @comicstodon

    image/png
    image/png

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @GuyDudeman @comics @comicstodon Cool stuff. This was the best page, from Animal Man :

    CultureDesk , to Photography
    @CultureDesk@flipboard.social avatar

    While millions of people around the world don't have clean water, the elite are paying top dollar for fancy H2O drawn from volcanic rock in Hawaii, melting glaciers in Norway, or droplets of morning mist in Tasmania. There's even such a thing as a water sommelier who can advise on food pairings. Here's the AP's deep dive into the subject, complete with original photography that shows the stark contrast.

    https://flip.it/wvKzcE

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @CultureDesk you'd think people would be far too embarrassed to seek the services of a water sommelier, but apparently not

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    Good read. It feels similar here. We've been programmed for decades to feel that Palestinian lives don’t matter, but younger generations are seeing through that bias.

    There’s a big reason Joe Biden is losing younger voters: Israel and Palestine

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/23/joe-biden-young-voters-israel-palestine-arab-muslim-americans?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    timrichards ,
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    @ajsadauskas @kowcop @naevaTheRat Everyone loves talking about trains. :)

    timrichards , to Random stuff
    @timrichards@aus.social avatar

    "Why can’t Australians enjoy such a pleasant way to travel, given sleeper trains are going through a major resurgence in Europe, partly in response to climate change? It’s a good question, and there’s a simple answer: because the New South Wales government doesn’t want you to."

    For Traveller, I discuss the impending removal of sleeper trains between Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane - and imagine what could exist instead, based on the European experience.

    NSW sleeper trains: Why the government shouldn’t ditch them https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/reviews-and-advice/sleeper-trains-are-making-a-comeback-why-are-ours-being-axed-20231114-p5ejwl.html

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