John Merchant

Mr and Mrs Bluetongue

Murphy’s Haystacks

Willy Wagtail on a rock

This is my rock

The battery boom has begun 🔋⚡️

2024: 69 GW storage added, +66% YoY. Growth looks more like smartphones than power plants—modular, fast, unstoppable. With costs still falling, 2025 will likely surge another 60–70%. The fastest-growing energy in history? Batteries + solar. #BESS #Lithium #Solar #LFP

Tesla Officially Launches FSD in Australia & New Zealand; Introduces 30-Day Free Trial Tesla has officially launched FSD (Supervised) in Australia and New Zealand. A deep dive into the staged rollout, the standard 30-day free trial and the pricing… Read More

Tesla Officially Launches FSD in Australia & New Zealand; Introduces 30-Day Free Trial

Sign the Petition Support EP Cruises: Protect Local Tourism & Conservation Efforts

The whale watching operation at Fowlers Bay is conservation best practice. They need to be granted an exemption to continue operations.

chng.it/mV5gMcYc6p

We’ve normalised traffic danger and pollution for decades. But freedom to drive shouldn’t come at the cost of freedom to walk safely, breathe clean air, or let kids go to school without being gassed. Road harm isn’t inevitabl, it’s a design choice. Let’s choose better.

Kati Thanda - Lake Eyre

Telstra satellite direct-to-cell appears to work for my iPhone 15 Pro in outback SA. I can send and receive SMS and iMessage, text only.

There are also off-grid Telstra 4G towers with satellite, solar and what appears to be batteries. The speeds and ping are great considering how remote it is!

Milky Way from Beltana, Flinders Ranges

Finally, a spot of rain in Whyalla

Bluesky just needs push notifications! 🔔

“We were surprised”

Electric trucks ready to overtake diesel on lifetime cost

thedriven.io/2025/05/20/w...
@thedriven.io

Don't be surprised, just be happy
The time for electric trucks is from now on

Aspire 9.3 new dashboard features, day 7:

It's release day and there's a surprise dashboard feature. GitHub Copilot is your new AI debugging assistant 🚀

📒 Review hundreds of log messages in one click
🚨 Find root causes of errors faster
🧠 Explain error codes using AI's vast knowledge base

.NET Aspire 9.3 is here and enhanced with GitHub Copilot! - .NET Blog .NET Aspire 9.3 is the biggest release of .NET Aspire yet, with the introduction of GitHub Copilot directly into the .NET Aspire Dashboard, updates for integrations, app model enhancements, and more.

.NET Aspire 9.3 is here with copilot.

devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/intro...

#dotnet #aspire #copilot

100 autonomous electric trucks begin work in giant Mongolia mine A cluster of 100 autonomous electric mining trucks have been put into operation at a giant open pit mine in Inner Mongolia.

A cluster of 100 autonomous electric mining trucks have been put into operation at a giant open pit mine in Inner Mongolia

Many people think solar and wind won't be able to keep the grid stable because they lack "inertia".

I think solar, wind and batteries will do a BETTER job and I think you can explain it thus:
- the old grid is a record player
- the new grid a digital player
🧵

Decarbonizing the last few percent Three questions lie at the heart of any discussion of the transition to net zero. How to decarbonize the grid; how to maintain grid stability; and how to do both affordably.

Three questions lie at the heart of any discussion of the transition to net zero. How to decarbonize the grid; how to maintain grid stability; and how to do both affordably. How one neglected approach could provide a big part of the answers…
mliebreich.substack.com/p/decarboniz...

Volvo to build heavy electric trucks in Australia after record breaking order Volvo accelerates plans to build heavy electric trucks in Australia after a record order of electric prime movers from transport group Linfox.

Volvo accelerates plans to build heavy electric trucks in Australia after a record order of electric prime movers from transport group Linfox

NEW from me: China's CO2 emissions fell ~1.6% in the first quarter and have now been flat or down for more than a year. This is the first time on record that emissions are falling due to clean energy growth, not slow power demand.

Global EV sales to hit 20 million in 2025, as prices hit parity in key markets EV sales expected to jump in 2025 to more than 20 million, with price parity reached in key markets, particularly in China and south-east Asia.

EV sales expected to jump in 2025 to more than 20 million, with price parity reached in key markets, particularly in China and south-east Asia

I should really spend more time on here, but nonchalantly engaging in Socratic dialogue with the trolls on bird app is somehow an effective learning tool for me. Intellectual resistance training?

Roughly a 1600km round trip for Mitch, as he drove over from Victoria to visit us in Adelaide, South Australia. We really appreciate his commitment to the .NET developer community.

Mitch presenting to the group

Thanks again @mitchdenny.dev for coming over to show us .NET Aspire. Your enthusiasm was infectious, and we can't wait to see what new features get announced at #MSBuild next week!

Safe travels home and we hope you visit again soon 👋 #dotnet #dotnetAspire

CSIRO assumes NOAK in GenCost so it’s inferred from that

Common argument I’ve seen repeated is that these are FOAK and the Coalition would build NOAK (apart from the SMRs). I can’t find any statement from the Coalition that they intended to build NOAK though.

Correction: This is another example of an entire ecosystem distorted by global warming due to greenhouse gas pollution.

Algal blooms are a symptom of ecological degradation, not the ultimate cause.

People keep saying “$600 billion” because it’s within the realm of sober, cautious estimates, from a trusted source (albeit with a vested interest). Given the Coalition’s history and the global track record of nuclear, it’s arguably a conservative midpoint.

Estimates are approximations, no modelling can fully capture the complexity of reality. They are neither the truth nor lies.

Labelling the estimate a “lie” is counterproductive to their cause. If the methodology of the estimate was flawed, they should highlight that, not accusations of deceit.

Visual Studio 2022 in dark mode with the File menu open and GitHub Copilot Chat visible for AI assisted coding. The File menu's New menu is expanded with the Bluesky Account... option highlighted for selection.

File > New > Bluesky Account...