-
Daily Rumination No. 24: The Value of British Humour
Normally, before I start to talk or write about a show or film that I have seen, I try to finish it in order to reflect on its overall themes, plot and quality. That’s hardly unusual—you don’t leave a film halfway through it and then write a review. Watching Ricky Gervais’s new Netflix show After
-
Daily Rumination No. 23: The Productivity-in-Transit Lifestyle
In today’s world of hyperconnected, digital capitalism, we hear constantly that careers should be rewarding, fulfilling endeavours that create meaning for our lives. This is in no way representative of most people’s experiences, particularly for those who commute long distances. Work doesn’t give meaning to your life… it just becomes your life. I saw great
-
Daily Rumination No. 22: Questioning Common Sense
It is interesting to consider the term ‘common sense’. What does it mean exactly? The Oxford Dictionary of English defines it as ‘good sense and sound judgement in practical matters’. The issue here is that what is ‘good’ and ‘sound’ will vary from person to person. What is common sense to me may not be
-
Daily Rumination No. 21: We’ve Golden Soil and Wealth for Toil
In many ways, Australia is a very intelligent country. Australians decisively banned guns in the 1990s after a major shooting, invented the ubiquitous black box and Wi-Fi and opened their borders in the post-war period, which led to the birth of one of the most multicultural nations on Earth. Sometimes, however, Australians are stupid. Take
-
Daily Rumination No. 20: Skype Etiquette
For years and years, people have complained about emails. There are too many of them, people don’t know how to keep them brief and it’s easy to lose track of conversational threads. In more recent times, numerous communication tools have been proposed as alternatives, whether it’s the popular group-based Slack or project-focused platforms like Asana.
-
Daily Rumination No. 19: The Age of Aquarius
When it comes to radio and television, I ignore all commercial networks in Australia and stick to SBS, ABC and Triple J. Not only can I avoid incessant advertising, I can generally be certain that what I am watching or listening to is reliable and has an appropriate mix of Australian and overseas content, whether
-
Daily Rumination No. 18: NSW Election Time
Today was the New South Wales state election and I’m displeased to hear that the Liberal Party has retained power. Also, the opposing party, Labor, remains in power in my local seat, having won 52 per cent of the vote. Neither party is a good option and the latter has been safe here for decades.
-
Daily Rumination No. 17: Sautéed Brain
During my lunch break today, I sat on a bench outside and happily listened to the latest episode of Accidental Tech Podcast through my AirPods. All of a sudden, one of the IT people from my building walked past and yelled, ‘I’ve seen you wearing those earphones quite a bit; aren’t you afraid that they’ll
