There's quite the blue smoke haze across Sydney today along with the strong smell of bushfires
@bestthingsbot learning that my mother and sister have returned home after a fire evacuation to find that all is as it should be.
@y6nH @sophia@glitterkitten.co.uk @Gargron I totally agree. It's bugged me for ages on Birdsite that the bookmark semantics have been overshadowed by signalling approval to the community and driving engagement for advertising purposes. If it came down to it, I wouldn't object too much if favourites went the way of the retweet and vanished, but I need my bookmarks :)
@shesgabrielle that's an interesting connection. I'd forgotten about those old street vendorsand how they informed the advertising industry. Thanks
@shesgabrielle I really don't like dickish shop staff. I could have just walked out without taking a photo and fumed, but I'm glad it escalated in one way. He's now on the cops radar as someone who wastes their time with trivial complaints against his customers and I look good since I deleted the photo as a goodwill gesture in the presence of the cops. I'll be interested to see if the FTC complaint makes an impact.
When the police arrived, they basically told him that taking photos wasn't against the law and told me I should leave. I've filed a complaint with the Fair Trading commission. No idea how that will turn out, but we'll see
So I had a "fun" incident today that involved the police. I went shopping for a fast charge phone charger, got sold something that wasn't and went back for a refund or replacement. The guy refused and got stropped when I mentioned consumer rights. He told me to leave, so I started walking out and then took his photo.
At that point he basically assaulted me to try and get my phone off me and bystanders called the cops at his request.
This is a cute collaboration between Amanda Palmer and friends about Brexit and foreign words imported into English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPLe9qhpBF8&feature=youtu.be
@Andrea @mike @shesgabrielle We don't appear to have room to display them all without creating a permanent gallery space in the house :)
@mike @shesgabrielle It turns out that the company made a mistake and created/delivered prints that weren't ordered. Apparently we can keep them free of charge since they don't see any benefit in them being sent back 👍
@mike @shesgabrielle The story started a ciouple of months ago at the dog park when someone mentioned that there was a doggie photo-shoot happening locally for the latets edition of the book. Bobbie paid a nominal amount for Meg to spend a day in the studio being photographed. I'd heard nothing about it for weeks until this delivery turned up out of the blue
@mike @shesgabrielle I *am* worried that there is some sort of scam going on, where they send out expensive unsolicited prints and expect people to pay for them. Apparently there's a series of books of photos of old dogs that sell well, however.
Yesterday, a courier delivered a big box that turned out to be thousands of dollars worth of photos of my housemate's dog. They ranged from coffee-table sized prints to large portraits. They may have to be returned
This is a nice article from Gizmodo that provides a potted history of the bicycle's role in female emancipation
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/10/how-the-bicycle-changed-the-world-for-women/
Translation: PG&E has neglected maintenance and upgrades for so long that even with the spotlight on them it's going to take a *decade* to catch up.
"California Can Expect Blackouts For A Decade, Says PG&E CEO" https://n.pr/31oc020
