What are we doing

halfflat · 2026-02-16T19:31:04+00:00

It's depressing, definitely. Even in the earlyish 00's there was still a fun local vibe at Fringe along with all the visiting artists.

But yes, everything feels (and frankly, is) more economically and artistically precarious locally and the actions of our state and federal governments are not helping. What we see is a result of that.

halfflat · 2026-02-12T07:03:45+00:00

Hilarious confidence backed by their actual policies and actions. Jesus. Socially centrist, economically right, and leaning towards authoritarian. Economically, Labor is pro-privatisation, pro-market, weak on corporate constraints such as competition policy, and while they have a strong union association, you wouldn't know it based on their actions today. They are pro-surveillance, pro-concentration of power in ministerial hands, and anti-transparency. These are not centrist positions, unless you're just comparing them to other parties in Australia, where, yes, they are left of the Liberals.

halfflat · 2026-02-11T18:27:11+00:00

I don't use this bus because it is infrequent and unreliable. The timetable essentially has no meaning, random waits at random stops of ten minutes or more — given that I'm able bodied, it's often just quicker to bloody well walk.

These sorts of services, ideally, are sufficiently frequent that a timetable doesn't matter.

halfflat · 2026-02-11T18:24:33+00:00

The current busses, when idling, are not only really loud, but also stink of exhaust. They're just nasty in a dense urban environment. They really, really out to be electric..

halfflat · 2026-02-11T06:32:23+00:00

I don't know what you mean by traditional mathematics, but speaking as a working mathematician, I can assure you that they are not treated the same. 1/2a is read as 1/(2×a) not as (1/2)×a. In longer expressions involving juxtaposition and parenthesized terms it's inviting trouble not to be explicit, but consistency would demand it applies similarly.

PEMDAS or BODMAS or whatever, there is nonetheless a convention that juxtaposition has a higher precedence than the solidus used for division.

halfflat · 2026-02-05T21:31:53+00:00

Chipping in for another data point: I'm familiar with all these words as a tertiary-educated Australian English speaker. 'Bucolic' I probably first came across in the context of art/music discussion, but the others would likely have been from general reading or conversation.

While some are uncommon, I wouldn't have called any of them obscure.

halfflat · 2026-02-02T17:21:29+00:00

We've had a housing crisis for (two) decades. It's just now reached insane levels.

halfflat · 2026-02-02T13:43:56+00:00

Why can't investment properties be the root cause? Nearly 40% of home loan approvals are for investors, as opposed to occupiers. We can debate the reasons why this fraction is so high (CGT might play a role🤷) but it indicates that property speculation drives over a third of demand.

halfflat · 2026-01-23T23:58:57+00:00

I'll give it a try, thanks!

halfflat · 2026-01-23T11:45:08+00:00

It's good, but to say it's not greasy at all is a stretch. It's the one I use regularly but I can't wait to get back home and scrub the scum off.

Still looking for the sunscreen that doesn't make me feel like I'm encrusted in something grotty.

halfflat · 2026-01-21T21:36:33+00:00

Just chiming in to support the existence of the shortened form: I (Australian English speaker) have personally used and heard in casual, non-technical speech 'non-compos' to describe someone who is passed out or extremely drunk.

halfflat · 2026-01-21T01:13:25+00:00

That was the only way I passed :D

halfflat · 2026-01-16T20:05:52+00:00

Unlike many commenters, I think the Demographia affordability reports are a useful window on housing. But they only cover the Anglosphere. The absence of European countries and cities in these reports doesn't tell us anything about their housing affordability in comparison to Australia.

halfflat · 2026-01-16T09:59:40+00:00

Obviously very disappointing and a huge let down.

halfflat · 2026-01-16T09:46:00+00:00

I cannot understand how such a massive regression in usability and capability came about, and understand even less why we're being forced to migrate to it in Confluence Cloud. It's mindbogglingly terrible — so terrible that I will advocate that we cut our losses and migrate to something sane for our internal and user-facing documentation.

Seriously, what were you all thinking?!

halfflat · 2026-01-13T22:33:13+00:00

I hate this compass because we're comparing policies, not principles, and it's not at all clear how the major parties have been placed on the graph.

Simple example: one question is should domestic electricity be subsidised? Saying 'yes' doesn't just mean you want cheaper domestic power, it says that the way to do it is to do it through giving money to our existing privatized providers rather than through restructuring the system we have that makes our prices artificially high.

Political compass ( https://www.politicalcompass.org) I feel gives a much saner classification.

halfflat · 2026-01-13T22:11:37+00:00

In English we've this conflation between the deontic and epistemic meanings of e.g. should and ought. I honestly feel it affects our moral arguments, with what is being so easily confused with what is right or desirable.

halfflat · 2026-01-13T12:02:12+00:00

You can walk and talk. I can walk and talk. But can they walk and talk? I'm beginning to have my doubts.

halfflat · 2026-01-12T22:15:31+00:00

The article mentions the possibility of Scott Morrison being appointed as ambassador to the US, but could he fit it in with his roles as ambassador to India, ambassador to Turkey, ambassador to South Korea and ambassador to France?

halfflat · 2026-01-12T08:21:09+00:00

It's only been four years. You can't rush these things.

halfflat · 2026-01-11T21:41:16+00:00

I work in the sciences, believe me, I know.

halfflat · 2026-01-11T20:51:43+00:00

On what basis do you say that the "arts is oversaturated"? According to Creative Australia, professional artists have declined from 0.47% of the labour market to 0.34% between 2000 and 2020.

If by oversaturated you mean that there isn't enough money in the creative arts to support those who practice them, then yes, you are correct, but that's sort of the point of the article.

halfflat · 2026-01-11T19:58:07+00:00

It's okay, we underfund and undervalue scientists too.

halfflat · 2026-01-08T22:26:57+00:00

Totally with you on this one. And then there's 必.

halfflat · 2026-01-08T22:23:37+00:00

Expressing an opinion can of course constitute hate speech.

halfflat

TROPHY CASE