Ben Lever

"On two occasions I have been asked, 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?'... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."

Charles Babbage, inventor of the mechanical computer, 1864

Look folks gen AI videos are out in the wild so if you weren't already being careful about sharing rage bait videos then now is a great time to start

If you can't trace a video back to a trusted source then I recommend leaving it where it is, like a slice of bologna you found on the street

When is a terrace house not a #sydneyterracehouse?
When it’s a substation!
Crafty substation no 435 in Great Buckingham St Redfern, doing a great of blending in, while being itself
#publicsydney

arXiv will no longer accept review articles and position papers unless they have been accepted at a journal or a conference and complete successful peer review.

This is due to being overwhelmed by a hundreds of AI generated papers a month.

Yet another open submission process killed by LLMs.

Bus in Ballarat

Better buses make it easier to get around. Good to see a bus network review for Ballarat pushing ahead.
Have your say here: engage.vic.gov.au/ba...

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

Now this is interesting…

"One of the biggest impediments to increasing the amount of people we have who could work is our incredibly low unemployment benefits

People can't afford to put money on their travel card, they can't go to the dentist & they can't have something to wear to go to the interview"

X Log in Open app Homeland Security & @DHSgov Finishing this fight. •• DESTROY THE JOIN. ICE. GOV FLOOD 8:39 AM • Oct 27, 2025 • 1.6M Views over a lightly fried vaporwave scene from HALO

I truly wish that I were joking x.com/dhsgov/statu...

Comic. [two connected spacecraft hovering in space above the Earth] Houston, the view is superb. We can see the continents spread out below us, right where they’ve been since the Earth formed. [caption] I still can’t believe we developed spaceflight before we figured out that the continents moved.

Continents

xkcd.com/3159/

hey, if they update the ADRs to ban huge ICE cars with high fronts and poor visibility I will be the first to celebrate that too

BREAKING: NACC Commissioner finally bows to public pressure and steps aside from all defence-related corruption referrals.

This is a major-general backdown from Commissioner Brereton who, up until now, tried to stare down the growing public revolt over the conflicts of interest.

Australian carparks are about to get safer but maybe a bit spookier thanks to this new law The ghostly sound many EVs and hybrids make may be a bit creepy, but it helps improve pedestrian safety and it'll soon be mandatory here.

Some good news, despite the silly headline. EVs will be required to make a noise at low speeds, so people can hear them coming.
www.carexpert.com.au/car-news/aus...

a crumb of media coverage, as a treat www.sbs.com.au/news/article...

A tram packed with people, their faces scribbled out

It's 10pm on a Wednesday. You might assume travel demand would be low. Apparently the govt do - they've already dropped the frequency to 15 mins and it'll soon drop to 20.
But as you can see, the tram is so packed people are struggling to board.
We need more frequent services, even in the evenings

This could absolutely work in the UK. There is right now a window of opportunity to overturn decades of media propaganda created to protect the ultra wealthy.

South Australia is hitting 100% renewables EVERY SECOND DAY at the moment.

Phenomenal. 75% renewables on average for the past year.

The future is here, it's just unevenly distributed.

View past station exit with Myki readers, to a waiting bus nearby

Good interchanges help make getting around by public transport easier for more people. Having the buses and trams stop right outside the station is the first step. Frequent services to minimise waiting also make a big difference.

An editorial cartoon by Megan Herbert that depicts a super ute (brand: RAM IT THROUGH), in the tray compartment of which sits and Australian family, an indigenous elder, a kangaroo, a koala with baby, and a sea turtle, all wearing crash test dummy stickers on various parts of their bodies and heads. Leaning out of the cabin's windows are passenger PM Anthony Albanese, who is waving a flag saying "Environment Protection Reform Bill", and driver MP Murray Watt, also adorned with crash test dummy insignia. A sign on the side of the ute reads: "DESIGNED BY INDUSTRY, POWERED BY FOSSIL FUELS". The ute is revving, exhaust fumes pluming from the rear, in readiness to be driven at speed headlong into a wall in a crash test facility, on which is written, in emergency colours, CLIMATE CHANGE. Murray Watt cheerfully invites Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young and Coalition leader Sussan Ley to "Hop in!" Senator Hanson-Young, walking away with arms crossed, says, "No thanks." MP Ley, smiling, hand on hip, and ready to negotiate, says, "Only if you lose the seat belts, airbags and cut the brakes."

Brace for impacts.
My cartoon in today's @theageaustralia.bsky.social and @sydmorningherald.bsky.social

Breaking: ACCC sues over allegedly misleading Microsoft 365 subscription hikes The consumer watchdog is suing Microsoft for allegedly misleading around 2.7 million Australians over its Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

The consumer watchdog is suing Microsoft for allegedly misleading around 2.7 million Australians over its Microsoft 365 subscriptions.

This Friday there will be a special @criticalmassmelb.bsky.social, in memory of 19 year old Will Richter.

If you have a bike, scooter or skates, come along to show support to his family and community, and to show the state government we need protected bike lanes.

Protected bike lanes save lives.

[Stares intensely around the tutorial room]

Did anyone actually read the reading we set this week

First CBD Bypass In Quarter Of A Century Opens Tomorrow The Allan Labor Government has delivered Melbourne’s first CBD bypass in 25 years.Tomorrow, the new Wurundjeri Way extension opens to traffic – providing a new direct link into Docklands and the Marvel Stadium precinct, and creating a safer, faster and more reliable connection between Dynon Road and Flinders Street.

Given they're promoting the Wurundjeri Way extension as a route to avoid driving along King Street, now would be a great time to reprogram the traffic lights to give a better run for the more important modes on King Street: trams and pedestrians that cross it. #Melbourne

I just received a contract on Docusign for review and signing, and it offered to give me an AI-generated summary that I could read instead to save time.

That's AN AI-GENERATED SUMMARY ***OF A CONTRACT***, in case you need to let that sink in.

How Co-Ops Electrified America—Asterisk In the 1930s, private utilities balked at the task of bringing electricity to rural America. A New Deal agency figured out how to do it more quickly and more cheaply than anyone expected.

How Co-Ops Electrified America asteriskmag.com/issues/11/ho...

For Australia to get moving on electric vehicles, we must ban petrol and diesel cars by 2035 | Hussein Dia Letting the market decide is leading to a slow transition. This policy leap could trigger the rapid shift we need Australia’s sluggish electric vehicle transition has begun to accelerate. In the first half of the year more than 72,000 battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles were sold. That’s about 12% of all new cars, up almost a quarter over the same period in 2024. Despite this momentum, progress is still too slow. EVs now dominate in countries including Norway (98.3% of new cars), Nepal (76%) and China (51%). Australia is lagging. Continue reading...

For Australia to get moving on electric vehicles, we must ban petrol and diesel cars by 2035 | Hussein Dia

Disgusting comments from the Deputy Premier just days after kids died from tainted pills.

Victoria, NSW and ACT are all exploring pill testing because it’s a proven and safe harm minimisation programme that saves hundreds of young people’s lives.

In fact, there'd be benefits to doing both at the same time - it'd minimise disruption, with both projects leveraging the other's line closures.

But we've got to keep the pressure on, otherwise they'll use the Sunshine project as an excuse to keep kicking the can down the road. (6/6)

They've just spent the last decade simultaneously building the Metro Tunnel and grade-separating the three lines it links to, so clearly they can do both projects at once. (5/6)

There's a lot of work to be done - not only electrification itself but also likely ~10km of quadding. Not to mention 4 more level crossings they might decide to package with it. Let's say you aim to finish ~6 months after Sunshine's done - you probably need to start in 2027/28, if not sooner! (4/6)