brisk

First past the post inherently reinforcers a two party system as voting for a third party benefits the parties that you least want. That's the spoiler effect.

Approval voting doesn't have that problem, so alternatives can actually show up and be viable.

RCV (actually IRV) has less of a spoiler effect than FPTP but it still has a substantial "centre squeeze" effect as moderate candidates --- with broad support but few first preference votes --- get eliminated early.

There are much better voting systems that actually attempt to identify the Condorcet winner. The only advantage AV or IRV have over Condorcet methods is simplicity

Definitely regional in Australia. Drinking fountain gang here.

How close do you want it to be?

I'm a big fan of the OpenBook

"We can coordinate the next steps together."
The reference to "next steps" is ominous because it's not clear what they are.

What a dramatic platform to say nothing of substance on

Because anti-trust has not been enforced this century, with the exception of Lina Khan's work as the FCC director.

Companies have been pushing the boundaries further and further for decades, with almost no push back.

Not enough brass, though

If I were designing a representative democracy from the ground up, I would have only one house with full proportional representation. I'm not compelled by any of the arguments I've seen in favour of multiple systems side by side like we currently have, they generally seem to sacrifice democracy in favour of convenience or "stability"

I'm strongly of the opinion that "government" as applied in the Australian political system (ie, cabinet) should not be a single party, but nominees collectively agreed by parliament (assuming ministers are necessary).

Going from where we are now, the lower house needs to change. Multi member electorates would be great. Otherwise, the smallest meaningful step we could take would be transitioning to a Condorcet method of counting lower house votes. That wouldn't even require us to change the ballots!

I'm not much of a musician, but I've used MilkyTracker for some chiptune work

A string has two ends

What level are your students (primary school, high school, technical college, university)?

You said it's not a core skill, so what is their core skill? IT? Machinist? Electronics engineer?

C is an excellent "fundamentals" language that anyone with a software engineering and maybe computer science should have exposure too, but if their programming is purely practical (e.g. scripting for IT?) C is essentially irrelevant.

Javascript is very narrow in scope but if they're web designers then it's essential.

I'll back the other commenters that if they need a language they can do useful things in (e.g. simple automations, calculations), Python is hard to pass over.

For me streaks are a double edged sword; if I break a streak then the stat becomes a disincentive

Live update has moved on since the headline but there's a article now https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-18/al-minhad-air-base-attacked-by-iran-no-australians-hurt/106468378

This graph is pretty good too

I have absolutely no idea how comprehensive it is, but Calibre has a book search that shows DRM free as a filterable column.

Three cueing peaked in the 90s.

School is the real world. It's just their world, not yours. It's where they spend a huge fraction of their day and year. School needs to be a livable place regardless of what comes after. "Preparation" if necessary at all, can come at the end or be taught explicitly instead of implicitly.

DUBAI, March 11 (Reuters) - Three more vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security and risk firms said on Wednesday, bringing the number of ships ‌struck in the region since the Iran conflict began to at least 14.
Shipping along the narrow strait has come to a near standstill since the United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on February 28, preventing exports of around a fifth of the world’s oil supply and sending global oil prices surging to highs not seen since 2022.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned that any ship passing through the Strait will be targeted. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to ramp up U.S. attacks on Iran if it continues to obstruct the strait.
The Thai-flagged Mayuree Naree dry bulk vessel ⁠was struck by "two projectiles of unknown origin" while sailing through the Strait on Wednesday, causing a fire and damaging the engine room, the ship's Thai-listed operator Precious Shipping (PSL.BK) said in a statement.
"Three crew members are reported missing and believed to be trapped in the engine room," Precious Shipping said.
"The company is working with the relevant authorities to rescue these three missing crew members," it said, adding that the remaining 20 crew members had been safely evacuated and were ashore in Oman.
Images provided by the Thai navy showed smoke pouring out of the back of the ship.
Iran's Guards said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency that the ship was "fired upon by Iranian fighters", suggesting the first direct engagement by the Guards who have previously fired missiles or drones.
The U.S. Navy has refused near-daily requests from the shipping industry for military escorts through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the war on Iran, saying the ‌risk of ⁠attacks is too high for now, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. Trump has said the U.S. is prepared to provide naval escorts whenever needed.
TWO OTHER SHIPS SUSTAIN MINOR DAMAGE
Earlier on Wednesday, the Japan-flagged container ship ONE Majesty sustained minor damage from an unknown projectile 25 nautical miles (46 km) northwest of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, two maritime security firms said.
Its Japanese owner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (9104.T) and a spokesperson for Ocean Network Express (ONE), its charterer, said that the vessel was struck while at anchor in ⁠the Gulf and an inspection of the hull had revealed minor damage above the waterline.
All crew are safe, they said, adding that the vessel remains fully operational and seaworthy. The owner said the cause of the incident remained unclear and was under investigation.
A third vessel, a bulk carrier, was also hit by an unknown projectile approximately 50 miles ⁠northwest of Dubai, maritime security firms said.
The projectile had damaged the hull of the Marshall Islands-flagged Star Gwyneth, maritime risk management company Vanguard said, adding that the vessel's crew were safe. Owner Star Bulk Carriers said the ship was hit in the hold area whilst anchored. There were no crew injuries and ⁠no listing.
The Guards' statement included a reference to another ship, which it said was hit by projectiles - usually a reference to drones - on Wednesday morning. Reuters was not immediately able to confirm that report.

This predates the ai bubble. There used to be a really common "plagiarism detector" (something like CheckMeIn?] that would generate a "similarity score" with a database of literature. Institutions were welcome to set their own thresholds of what they considered too similar. I hit the threshold multiple times in completely original works by using language that was simply too literary or formal in nature.

Mind I had been accused of plagiarism by teachers prior to those tools for much the same reason based only on vibes, so maybe that was a step up, since students could use it ahead of time.

There was a news story around that time of somebody getting taken through disciplinary action due to getting close to 100% similarity on the tool - eventually to discover that their own essays had Venn included in the database.

PCjs uses JavaScript to emulate a small collection of hardware and software that I grew up with in the 1970s and 1980s, allowing you to experience their slow CPUs, low-resolution displays, and primitive sound effects, all in the comfort and safety of your desktop or mobile web browser.
Over time, PCjs emulations have expanded to include selected IBM PC Compatibles and more classic machines, such as Minicomputers, Programmable Calculators, Terminals, and Arcade Games. To learn more or contribute to these very modest preservation efforts, visit the PCjs open-source project on GitHub.