the crew behind VLC are legit heroes. they've been offered millions (tens of millions?) to sell VLC or incorporate advertising and every time they've said, nah, we like that our video player is free software for everyone on the planet

“Once again the government is testing and undermining our basic rule of law,” Tyrrell said last November. www.crikey.com.au/2026/05/15/t...

Huge loss for transphobes in Australia today www.starobserver.com.au/news/giggle-...

Minister @jasonclaremp.bsky.social has vetoed funding for 13 ARC grants based on security grounds. “Security” is the only way they can veto individual grants anymore* (not just a whim like under the previous legislation). From ARC's “Update on Research Security” 👇 www.arc.gov.au/news-and-pub...

Erm excuse me I think you’ll find Polyphemus won Love Island Season 4 and went on to marry Tiresias.

I interviewed the researcher behind the first study quantifying just how dangerous “AI psychosis” is, and how sycophantic chatbot models validate a user’s thoughts, worsening symptoms of delusions and mania fortune.com/2026/03/07/c...

Starmer is toast www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This is …….. really bad

Not to be outdone by Ireland, The Netherlands has just picked TikTok, Meta and Uber's lawyer as the new head of the Dutch Privacy Authority. Well done everyone. For shame. nltimes.nl/2026/05/13/l...

He’s just a good-looking rebel who bats by his own rules

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges …”

Stone cold classic

Wondering what would happen to me, a university teacher, if I refused to grade any of my students, because they didn’t understand my assessment task www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

frankly I have come to believe techies are illiterate. science fiction isn't about the future, stupid. it's about the current political situation but set in space so no one gets mad. duh!

Train in the Mist (2016) Available as art print: www.inprnt.com/gallery/ryot...

The Australian is making it increasingly difficult for the Betoota Advocate to position its satire

If you think Bluesky sucks, you are not using it correctly. I have curated my feed to be full of DeliciousWeirdos™️ and KingShitposters™️ which means endless nerdiness (complimentary), bangers, and really insightful threads. Sorry you aren't having fun you aren't playing right. Try harder!

If LLMs are a "social technology" akin to a market, it might be interesting to bring Marx into the mix to think about how markets aren't just information processors but the means by which relations of social domination are organized (and mystified) knightcolumbia.org/content/ai-a...

A Campsie real estate agent in Sydney's south-west was fined $35k for evicting a tenant on the grounds the landlord's relative wanted to move into the property. No such family member ever turned up and the home was re-advertised the day after the tenant was evicted www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

50% off Fascist Yoga if you buy on link below by tomorrow (14 May 2026). www.plutobooks.com/product/fasc...

Property prices might fall! (Alternative headline: housing affordability might rise). Shane Wright is better than this rubbish www.theage.com.au/politics/fed...

Almost certainly the most psychedelic photo I have taken of a bullock at sunset.

The FT data guy was sneering at people's concerns about Palantir's involvement in the NHS a few years back. Yeah I kept the receipt

Spain’s growing reliance on renewable energy has helped keep power prices stable even as the war in the Middle East drives up costs, said the country’s minister for environmental transition

The Australian literally found a guy with a Porsche and a property portfolio to be the voice of the 'victims' of the budget

Don't normally share articles from the bad site but this one is a work of art. This fellow is very upset that he will have to pay extra capital gains tax, on any profits from his share portfolio, if he sells it, from July 2027 www.news.com.au/finance/econ...

Massive budget backlash from the fantasy ETF traders

NEW: xAI appears to have added more than 500 MW (!) of unpermitted gas turbines to its Colossus 2 campus in a matter of weeks, according to internal emails between the company and regulators

“A Russian ship sank in mysterious circumstances. It may have been carrying submarine nuclear reactors to North Korea” edition.cnn.com/2026/05/12/w...

The tower that almost existed - mostly in the minds of hack journalists and their News Corp editors. No applications or planning permits were ever submitted but that didn’t stop multiple stories from multiple newsrooms. #AusPol #BollocksNews

Tele having a normal one I see.

Applicants to a $500,000 program offered by Australian petroleum producer Santos to support flood-affected communities across the outback in mid-2025 were told they would only be given financial help if they said good things about the company in the media. New from me in @drilledmedia.bsky.social

It’s funny how no one will say all this “global uncertainly” the budget has to address is caused by…Australia’s most important security ally

after zero AI related terms appeared in last year's budget main paper, this year has the most mentions since Labor came to power in 2022. The 26-27 budget has a dedicated section includes some new money for AI research & to build an AI tool to speed up housing approvals

In 18 years of closely watching federal budgets, I've never seen a budget measure with this level of social spending cuts (not even in Joe Hockey's 2014 budget). $36b in NDIS cuts over the forward estimates

It’s a rollicking night here at my place, where we play the classic dinner party game, ‘how high will Ben score in the Hare psychopath test?’

CJEU, media/tech/IP law New judgment: Italy did not breach EU law by requiring Meta to negotiate compensation for use of press stories - Meta's right to carry on a business has to be balanced with the publishers' intellectual property rights and media pluralism curia.europa.eu/site/jcms/d2...

"If anything changes, I will be forced to raise it by the exact amount I already will be" he said to the media. chaser.com.au/general-news...

In a few weeks time Ursula von der Leyen gets to congratulate her sixth British Prime Minister

Four more ANU council members quit after Julie Bishop's shock resignation: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-12/act-four-anu-council-members-quit-after-julie-bishop-resignation/106669744

Whoa damn www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...

I’m beginning to think the people in charge are not very good at this www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05...

The stuff I write about is so nuts that I find myself quadruple-checking the facts with pen and paper. For example, in 2020 Andreessen Horowitz led a $12 million investment round in the Clubhouse app (at a $100M valuation). It had 1500 users. It reached $4 billion valuation in 2021, then...poof.

Residents in Fayette County, Georgia noticed their water pressure was unusually low. Turns out that a data center 20 miles away had been drawing 30 million gallons of water in secret through connections the county didn't know existed. Is it any wonder why so many are opposed to data centers?

"In a media landscape shaped by algorithms, surveillance, and disinformation, Baltimore organizers are choosing print because it provides them the tools to share the vital information they need."

Atmospheric CO₂ of 340 ppm

Catherine West, right now:

I wrote in March about the billionaire ownership class’ doomed strategy of trying to attract readers by pivoting right — and who it ends up hurting.

I've started as the ABC’s national AI tech reporter, after 5 unreal years at Crikey. AI is one of the biggest stories of our time. The sheer amount of money, influence and hype makes it ripe for critical, nuanced and accessible reporting. Got a story about Aussies and AI? email: [email protected]