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Posting and reposting (mostly) from lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation.

I never applied for an amateur radio license because I didn't like the idea of appearing on an official list of "skilled" people. Until now that was a theoretical fear. One I wasn't even sure if it was warranted or just me being overly cautious.

In Belarus things escalated quickly. Radio amateurs - usually recognized as men of goodwill - have been declared enemies of the state and publicly shamed and indicted for high treason.

https://steanlab.medium.com/mayday-389f5713fee4

Yet another record breaking storm supersized by a warming world 😢 Climate change doesn’t create these storms: it makes them worse. They intensify faster, reach higher strengths and dump more rain. That’s why climate action isn’t just about saving the planet: it’s quite literally about saving US.

Fung-wong: Super typhoon hits ...
Fung-wong: Typhoon hits Philippines as nearly a million evacuate

Typhoon Fung-wong, with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115mph), hit the Philippines as a super typhoon and later weakened.

Electrek: "Fortescue Infinitey Train electric locomotive never needs fuel or charging." In 2022, Australian iron mining company Forescue published its concept for a battery electric “Infinity Train,” which would be the “world’s first” iron ore train capable of fully charging its batteries through regenerative braking. Co-developed with the locomotive experts at Downer Group, the 2 companies "claimed the clever technology would create a self-sustaining, zero-emission rail system powered entirely by the force of gravity during the train’s loaded downhill travels." Just this wk, "the concept went from the drawing board to the real world, completing an 1,100 km trip across Australia and proving itself to be up to the task of handling the grueling demands of Fortescue’s massive mining operations." Ellie Coates, CEO of Fortescue Zero, said the achievement, using zero fossil fuels, “represent(s) a major step in Fortescue’s journey to Real Zero.” The downhill segments of the trip from Perth to Pilbara with the heavy, loaded train carrying iron ore are sufficient to recharge the locomotive sufficiently for the return trip. The track is a 385 mile private, heavy-haul rail system. Annually the Infinity Train should obviate the use of 82 million liters of diesel fuel [about 21 million gallons], preventing the emission of some 235,200 tons of CO₂ Personally, I love trains, + they do't get more fuel efficient than this.  Crikey!
There's a really simple thing you can do to encourage more organisations to set up accounts on Mastodon.

The next time you post a link to Mastodon, just put this UTM code at the end of the URL:

?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

So for example:

https://that90ssite.neocities.org/

Becomes:

https://that90ssite.neocities.org/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Why?

Well, because the website owners are almost certainly using an analytics platform to track where their traffic comes from.

And if the organisation is big enough to have a social media manager, they're almost certainly looking at how much traffic social media posts are generating.

And this stuff gets reported up the organisational hierarchy.

If you add ?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social to the end of your URLs, suddenly Mastodon begins appearing in those reports.

Now, let's suppose on a given day they post their Facebook and X/Twitter links and a couple of hundred people click on it, because it's obvious spam.

Meanwhile, you post a link on Mastodon with the UTM code, and it's shared, snd a couple of thousand people click on it.

Perhaps they should look into investing more resources into Mastodon?

#WebDev #WebOps #WordPress #SEO #SEM #Fediverse #Mastodon
Yay! You found that 90s site!

The Greens' election rally was packed at Parramatta Town Hall. Senator Mehreen Faruqi and Adam Bandt pointed out dental and mental health in Medicare, fighting racism, more affordable housing, and free higher education are key policies for The Greens at this election. #auspol #ausvotes #AusElection #NSWPol #NSW
Amazing how quickly people on comfortable salaries dismiss $268 as 'vote-buying.' When you're barely getting by at $45K, that's not insignificant—it's a month of petrol or a fortnight's food shopping. It's not the housing supply or Newstart increase we need, but perhaps we can acknowledge that small steps for low-income earners still matter.
#auspol

Great article about the machinations of the pharmaceutical industry to dismantle our PBS because apparently it hurts America. It’s like we’re forcing them to take our money.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-21/behind-americas-decades-long-fight-to-dismantle-the-pbs/105078864?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Why big US pharma hates Australia and has for decades

America's pharmaceutical giants have been plotting to torpedo Australia's Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme, despite securing major concessions 20 years ago.

Helpful from the NYT, it’s been hard to keep track 🫣

Everybody needs a smart speaker just to play a song automatically whenever they approach the house. Walking in on this kills me every time 😂 #Journey

https://youtu.be/LatorN4P9aA?si=qspj4u4G1tKlp-a4

Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Official HD Video - 1983)

YouTube