David Neate

Ah, the synergy of it. @news.abc.net.au reporting right now that we are "looking at a tsunami of dementia cases". This morning, I received an email from my illustrious phone provider, #Telstra, telling me my automatic recharge had failed & I'd need to make a manual recharge to retain my service.

I always think it's ironic that when you finish such chat sessions, you immediately have to evaluate the agent. Never are you asked to evaluate the corporate *systems* that have stuffed you around. Have other Australians have experienced this with #Telstra? Back to you, @news.abc.net.au

Wow. Last night brought our total on the #AussieBirdCount to over six million #birds. Thanks to @birdlifeoz.bsky.social for making the process so user-friendly, and for the learning opportunity provided by the links to birds' "biographies". Great too to see school groups involved.

stories.theconversation.com/supermarket-... Definitely support your local small grocer, where your needs, not those of multinational 'food' giants, are the priority. Classic for me was visiting the nearest "big two" supermarket, seeking an ingredient - you know, what you need when you prepare food.

The chain's website listed wheatgerm as an item that their stores stock. But not Delacombe Woollies, apparently. "You should have checked our in-store app". Not "Sorry, can we get it in for you?" I now mainly shop at our local Farmgate shop & a smaller supermarket; health food store for wheatgerm.

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/o... A heavy dose of irony in this story about punishing author Sally #Rooney for her support of #PalestineAction...

Ah, the synergy of it. @news.abc.net.au reporting right now that we are "looking at a tsunami of dementia cases". This morning, I received an email from my illustrious phone provider, #Telstra, telling me my automatic recharge had failed & I'd need to make a manual recharge to retain my service.

In the course of our discussion, I went back onto the app, and sure enough my recharge shows up as active & okay. Confirmed with the agent that I don't need to do anything. I look forward to the new email from #Telstra apologising for stuffing us around.

Ah, the synergy of it. @news.abc.net.au reporting right now that we are "looking at a tsunami of dementia cases". This morning, I received an email from my illustrious phone provider, #Telstra, telling me my automatic recharge had failed & I'd need to make a manual recharge to retain my service.

thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/envi... From @thesaturdaypaper.com.au - #AnjaliSharma with a brilliant summary of why anyone concerned for the world we bequeath to future generations should be appalled by the carefree politics of most political parties. There are boomers who support you, Anjali.

A challenge for David Speers and @news.abc.net.au: stop banging on about "productivity" as if we agree on its meaning, do a deep dive into it & analyse what #productivity means for our society. For starters, if it takes 40 minutes for my bank to answer a phone call, how's that productive business?

thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati... There's a lot in Toni Hassan's article. In 2014, when the #DigitalRevolution was flooding into our schools, there was no time for caution; it was "Luddites, get out of the way". British neuroscientist Susan Greenfield raised the alarm re screen time back then.

I still remember the year 9 student, who couldn't be bothered to go out & collect & press the plants for the herbarium homework I'd set, gleefully telling me she had her parents' permission to go onto TikTok after tea. No homework. She'd usually arrive at school, late, with the laptop battery flat.

thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/educati... There's a lot in Toni Hassan's article. In 2014, when the #DigitalRevolution was flooding into our schools, there was no time for caution; it was "Luddites, get out of the way". British neuroscientist Susan Greenfield raised the alarm re screen time back then.

Digital learning offered multiple advances over the preceding "I'll show you a video". Resources galore: @khanacademy.org , #Edrolo, #CrashCourse from @hankgreen.bsky.social . @geogebra.org enabled a student of mine student to draw graphs, & my advanced maths students to experience calculus.

The #spring #equinox without (so far) equinoctial storms - instead #Ballarat is hidden from view by morning fog, and there's a light frost at home.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s... During my time in Aotearoa NZ, the recovery of the Chatham Island #robin from the brink of extinction was a gripping drama. This win is testimony to the hard work in the 1970s by the team led by the late Don Merton. @forestandbird.bsky.social #birds 🪶

share.google/ecOhooKEziFr... On the subject of NZ #birds, it was a delight to find on #SBS the series #Bird'sEyeView, where a cast including tūi, kererū and pīwakawaka narrate the crazy ways of humans. The humour & the natural inclusion of Māori words make this a quintessentially Kiwi show. /2