Josh Hallwright, PhD
@hallwright.bsky.social
Humanitarian and disaster management professional turned 'academic'; ex-UNOCHA, ex-Red Cross, ex-fammer, ex-X; enjoys wine, food, the natural and social sciences; acknowledges the unfortunate job security that comes with working in humanitarian crises.
We gotta start referring to data centers by both their mother and father's last names, Spain style. The Microsoft-Chevron data center, the Meta-ExxonMobil data center, and so forth. Absolutely no reason just the tech bros should be taking the heat on this shit
Suburban residents protest 15-metre power poles linked to data centre expansion
Double the height, 160 times the voltage. The latest ugly side effect of the AI revolution
Electricity distributor Jemena has been replacing 7-metre wooden power poles with 15-metre industrial poles rated to carry up to 66,000 volts, but there's been one consistent complaint among the residents where this is happening.
abc.net.au
Can’t eat a sandwich until you subscribe to sandwiches. Can’t eat today’s sandwich until it has applied daily sandwich updates. Sandwich now has adverts even though you paid for ad-free sandwich. Can pay again to have less sandwich adverts. Now you can eat the sandwich, but it’s smaller.
This is the master key to deciphering contemporary debates about free speech. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/se...
@mark-carney.bsky.social anti-Zionist is not antisemitism…
Did you know that producing one pound of beef is 25-50x worse for climate change than burning a pound of coal? In fact, it’s one of the most polluting things we can consume. And grass-fed beef is usually *even worse* — thanks to its much higher land use and methane emissions.
‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn www.theguardian.com/environment/20…
74% of the world is under dictatorship. Most elected democratically.
From @timnitgebru.blacksky.app and me on what we should take from the 2026 summer of AI hype: www.technologyreview.com/2026/09/22/1...
Don’t be fooled by this summer of AI hype
Breathless claims about AGI and new capabilities fall apart pretty quickly under scrutiny.
technologyreview.com
“Even for a government, $10 billion per year is a lot of money. It is one of the largest expense items in the federal budget, usually costing more than running either the Australian Army or the Royal Australian Air Force.” Read the full piece on The Point: thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...
"This is the paradox of Bab al-Mandab: the narrow stretch of water commands the attention of states and militaries far beyond Yemen, yet many of the people living on its shores have experienced little of the prosperity or development that such strategic importance might imply."
Nick Brumfield@nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · last wk.Perhaps *the* authoritative account of the Fall of Mukha from trusted Yemeni journalist @mohammedalqadhi.bsky.social
Rent tech is an unavoidable part of modern renting – and renters have little control over what data they have to give up and what happens to it afterwards.
Personality tests, dodgy reward programs, AI bots: how rent tech platforms make renting a ‘dehumanising’ experience
theconversation.com
Scientists: The world must nose dive CO2, methane and other greenhouse gas emissions if we are to avoid global societal destruction. Engineers: Yes, we have the technology. We can do that. Politicians: Nah. Let's burn more oil and gas. Keep things popular whilst we fight the next general election.
In the hot and dry conditions that we are headed towards due to climate change, we can save water, keep yields up, and draw down emissions all with agrivoltaic systems.
Commercial Solar Guy@commercialsolarguy.com · last wk.‘18 radiation sensors, 14 weather stations, 14 soil temperature & moisture probes…Grain specific weight, an indicator of quality, 3% higher than in control plot…On the coldest nights, temperatures beneath the canopy were up to 3 C higher…reduced the average daily temperature range by about 1.5 C’
#PeteWhishWilson Nobody is talking about this... We all need to wake up to this! The rise of #OneNation is so off the charts it defies usual political explanations. #Greens won't let this potential foreign interference slide by unchecked. Nothing less than our democracy is at stake. #AUSPOL
Nice campaign by the Norwegian Consumer Council about the declining lifespan of products. Enjoy!
Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
It was confirmed yesterday that the centre left coalition won the election in Sweden As predicted, with the far right performing poorly, coverage has almost entirely vanished from international media
Aurelien Mondon@aurelmondon.com · 2w agoYou may be relieved but spare a thought for so many editors in the mainstream media who were hoping to run hyping headlines about the far right winning in Sweden As always when SD is hyped and ends up crashing, I expect Swedish politics will drop off the radar as it's no longer sexy enough
This Minister is completely out of his depth, and this is characteristic of the government’s reckless and botched implementation of their aged care reforms. How can older Australians trust this government anymore?
KPMG holds $437 mil worth of active contracts with Labor - including 28 Defence contracts worth $303.8 mil - despite the fallout over KPMG’s integrity, ethics & leadership failures. Despite all the lessons of the Big 4 scandals Labor’s response has been woefully inadequate.
A coalition of over 30 organisations wants to accelerate electrification across Australia’s homes, businesses, farms, transport and industry. But some formidable roadblocks stand in their way https://ow.ly/pARB50ZOyWC
SwitchedOn podcast: Can a new alliance fast-charge Australia’s electrification push?
A coalition of over 30 organisations wants to accelerate electrification across Australia’s homes, businesses, farms, transport and industry. But some formidable roadblocks stand in their way.
ow.ly
Swedish truck manufacturer makes two big announcements: start of series production of FH Aero Electric, and unveiling of new battery electric truck https://thedriven.io/2026/09/17/turning-technology-into-reality-volvo-unveils-80-tonne-electric-truck-and-begins-series-production-of-700-km-model/
"Turning technology into reality:" Volvo unveils 80-tonne electric truck and begins series production of 700 km model
Swedish truck manufacturer makes two big announcements: start of series production of FH Aero Electric, and unveiling of new battery electric truck.
thedriven.io
Mu Traw District – Air Strike and Destruction Incident Date – 30 July 2026 Incident Location - Ma Htaw Village Tract, Dwe Lo Township, Mu Traw District Photo - KHRG #KHRG #humanrights #whatshappeninginmyanmar
"Can someone explain why – in an economy in which the central bank has decided we need almost 700,000 people to be unemployed – those people live in such dreadful poverty that it can make you up to 10 times more likely to die in the prime of your life?" www.theguardian.com/business/gro...
In such a rich country, it is shameful how many Australians on jobseeker are dying in desperate poverty | Greg Jericho
Lifting the abysmally low jobseeker rate to the poverty line would save thousands of lives
theguardian.com
HEY EVERYONE - NEW REPORT!!! NVIDIA is the largest company by market cap on the planet. But it hides key climate data, while claiming AI is going to be a 'net benefit' for climate. We (8 groups) put together the first ever broad critique of NVIDIA's climate record: ketanjoshi.co/2026/09/16/n...
