Gerard Atkinson

We are here for day 2, and we brought flowcharts!

A cocktail table with an iPad and brochures on it. The table is flanked by a banner reading “Iris Ethics” on the left, and a display stand with fliers and brochures on the right.

Today’s office: Iris Ethics is proud to be the Networking Event sponsor for the @eisummit.org #EIS2025 Summit. Set up a mini-booth to talk about all things ethical review and how we can support high quality implementation research.

Actually, an opera that is contemporaneous is Massenet’s “Werther”, based on Goethe’s novella, which would be perfect material but depending on where the character is it may not have been available. It would normally take a few years for operas to diffuse globally in those days.

Alternatively, and if you really want to get the waterworks going, “Ah non credea mirarti” from Bellini’s “La Sonnambula”. It’s one of the most heartbreaking pieces ever written, and Bellini’s grave has the melody of it inscribed on it (he died tragically young, and music is the poorer for it).

“Quanto è bella, quanto è cara” from Donizetti’s “L’elisir d’amore”. Not strictly contemporaneous (from earlier 19th century), but well known. It’s the lead tenor pining for the soprano who he feels unworthy of.

I checked, it was 2006. The year I played in a 3am poker tournament at Treasure Island and lasted long enough to make it to the buffet breakfast. 2007 I was in Atlanta being physically restrained from crash tackling Jack Canfield on stage for promoting pseudoscience. But that’s another story.

The starter pack of boots, jersey, koozie and painkillers are in the mail. Your local club will be in touch. 😂

Three tabby cats sit on a table in a row. All are loafs

You have been summoned before The Council. What are you accused of, and how will you defend yourself?

It has to be said: Annabel Crabb’s tie game is amazing. #AusVotes

Random brainwave: It just clicked that the song “Happy” by @pharellwilliams.bsky.social is written entirely in a minor key. That’s extremely clever.

A book with the cover text: "Forget your old, tired ideas about leadership. The most successful corporation of the 1990s will be something called a learning organization" - Fortune Magazine THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization PETER M SENGE

Some light reading for the long weekend…

DTS is definitely edited to create drama. That’s not to say that there aren’t interesting storylines and controversies, but they play out in a way that isn’t usually as dramatic as Netflix might make out.

The 2025 Barkley Marathons is over. There are no finishers. #BM100

Hope you're doing alright mate.

And we’re back… for about 60 seconds, and then back off. I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if a thousand air conditioning units suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

Thanks mate, the power company reckons it will be out until 2130, but they have a good record of fixing it quickly so hopefully they will get it fixed soon.

Must be a Dennington thing 🤣

@justjim.bsky.social you got power on your side of town? (for all those watching, this is just an average hot and/or windy day in Warrnambool)

Power’s out my side of Warrnambool.

Movies you’ve watched more than 6 times, using only GIFs.

A screenshot of a solved crossword puzzle. At the bottom is a popup saying “You solved this puzzle in 2 minutes 53 seconds”

So I’m not saying today’s Fairfax Quick was easy (it wasn’t), but there’s a reason there’s a rule at the office that says I can’t participate in doing the crosswords until after 3pm when everyone else has had a go. New PB. Now to try and solve a @dontattempt.bsky.social quick that fast.

A photograph of a koala sleeping in a gumtree.

The world is pretty awful at the moment. Trying to block it out by doing cool stuff. Today it was setting a PB in a 10k race and then going to the park on the way home to show my parents in law koalas in the wild. Pretty cool.

A screenshot of a LinkedIn post by Judy Singer: Gerard Atkinson MBA QPR GAICD There's 2 kinds of people in this world. Those who make a mistake and fix it, and those who hang on to a juicy calumny forever. My position has not changed. I'm not transphobic but I am #linguaphilic. The word #Woman is historically reserved. It does not include anyone who has now, or has ever had, a p*n*s. I did use the word "femoid" ", but recognised quickly that it was derogatory and removed the post. I hope you are not the other kind who will hang on to the joys of bile forever. For the record: My intention was to empower trans people to create their own name - because power relies on self-naming. I admit that I did not make that clear. That was my mistake. https:// neurodiversity2.blogspot.com/2024/11/not-transphobic-linguaphilic.html OJk. Rowling @ @/k.rowling-Jun 13 a being definable only by reference to the male. An absence, a vacuum where JONS HOKINS LGBTO GLOSSARY The "Transphobia" libel. I'm Linguaphilic…. neurodiversity2.blogspot.... Like Reply Judy Singer Author 1h ••• Sociologist. Australian. Coined #Neurodiversity in 1... PS. Have you ever considered that you might be #misogynistic? You are if you deny women the right to decided who comes into our own spaces. What you are doing is just the latest ploy in the age old game of male domination. (However unconsciously, in case you are incapable of self-reflection?)

Meanwhile on LinkedIn, apparently calling out people for transphobia makes me an #ActuallyAutistic misogynist:

Seriously, I've had to tackle 150kg+ players in rugby, I've had my collarbone broken in a collapsed ruck, my shoulder was dislocated multiple times in my career, and I once played half a rugby game unable to feel/move anything in my lower left arm. But I still won't wear that shirt out of fear.

Seriously, the fact that this machine runs at all is in violation of the laws of physics. The charger cable is held together with duct tape, 3d printed strain relief, and misplaced hope. I found it dumped in a backyard by a former resident, covered in dirt and dew.

THIS SHOULDN'T BE POSSIBLE. I fear I may be smote for defying the Gods a la Prometheus.

Meanwhile in AI land, I just got a local deployment of Deepseek R1 (1.5B) running on a sandbox machine. Which isn't all that impressive in itself, except that my sandbox is a 2013 Macbook Air booting Linux off a USB flash drive.

Nah, AI is better trained than that. Yes, even Grok.

Honestly, the more I think about it the more I believe social media is the cigarettes of our era: addictive, harmful to our health, and making everything stink.