My current car has ventilated seats. Use them every time I drive in summer.
Finding another car is now more difficult because I can never go back to not having them. Never I tell you!
I read a lot of fiction books in my own time when I was in primary school for the enjoyment of it.
When I got to highschool I hated English so much. Analyse what the author's theme was in this bla bla fuck off! Sucked the joy out of reading. Didn't give me any useful skills for the career path I was heading in to either.
There needs to be an academic English subject for people who just need it to get in to STEM courses.
Took some years after high school to get back in to it, but I do occasionally read fiction when I have time these days.
I've read they are drinking less and taking less recreational drugs and having less sex than previous generations.
I'm so glad that capturing everything with photos / videos and uploading to socials wasn't a thing in the early 2000s when I was going to clubs and electronic music festivals. Reach for the lasers safe as fuck.
They really came out of the wood work when the covid vaccines were released. Friends and acquaintances who were there munching down e's of unknown origin back in early 2000s suddenly had a different stance about putting something "unknown" in them.
Is grape the default anywhere other than the USA? I don't think I've ever seen grape jam (jelly) for sale in Australia.
Growing up the default was always strawberry.
I only eat bread rarely now. But if I was doing this it would be sour dough, Pics peanut butter and Schwartau Extra sour cherry jam.
Even the car I had 20 years ago had cruise control that could be set at 30.
I would really like to see the CBD become a blanket 30 zone. So many people drive like nut cases there.
I also think every set of lights should have cameras on the terrace and Wellington.
The most dangerous part of my 10km bike commute is the last 300m to my office.
WA's Centre for Road Safety research says the measure is the only foolproof way to protect all road users.
In addition to what slazer said, in Australia once you earn over a certain amount you get hit with an extra tax if you don't take out private health. The conservative coalition brought that in a long time ago because their donor mates in private health asked them to ruin our public health care and this was their first step towards that.
I still have private cover as it seems like the least bad option even though it pisses me off. I guess that's the point.
Since my work "upgraded" to windows 11 the task bar is the bane of my existence.
We all run a laptop docked with two monitors. In windows 10 I would set a monitor as primary, drag the task bar to the laptop screen. That would result in the most real estate for the software I use with out clutter.
Can't fucking do this is 11. It's either primary or all monitors for task bar. Someone suggested auto hide the task bar. Holy shit even that has been fucking ruined in 11. It turns off randomly and frequently. Plus notifications seem to over ride the hiding.
I hope that they do a better job of managing tenants who cause problems than they would for those in the suburbs.
There must be plenty of non problematic tenants that can go in these large buildings.
I feel that while no one wants to be next to problem neighbours, at least if they are in a detached building then their impact is on less people.
Pears said the energy rating stickers “have a lot of credibility with people” and is “relied upon” by consumers.
Really?
I've never really bothered much with appliance ratings.
Any time I see star ratings on anything that the govt has been involved with I automatically assume it's a load of bullshit that was guided by industry with their wants put well ahead of consumer needs. At best star ratings just dumb down actual metrics.
See:
The absolute joke that is food rating stars.
Home energy star ratings. Why not just state use the passivhouse standard? Or just state energy used and air tightness in changes per hour etc.
Vehicle star ratings where fucking human crusher 4wds still somehow gets 5 stars for vulnerable road user protection because it has some sensors in it.
The city of mining and fossil fuel.
Really?
Things have definitely changed in the last 15 or so years.
It drives me nuts when they decide to burn huge patches of forest that are no where near anyone's property resulting in terrible air quality in major population centres.
It will be something that in 50 years people will look back on in wonderment at how wrong the DBCA were.
The felling of what is estimated to be hundreds of tingle trees in a burn last December has sparked fresh calls for a review of prescribed burning in WA.
I've heard that part of the initial justification is it's going to make access to and from the Perth stadium a lot better for people coming from Mandurah.
The council removed the everyone's old larger general waste wheely bins when they rolled the new system out. Old system was 1 large general waste collected weekly. 1 large recycle bin collected fortnightly.
Now we have 1 half size waste bin collected fortnightly. Same recycle bin collected fortnightly. Large FOGO bin collected weekly. Unless I've done gardening there is usually only a tiny volume of food scraps in mine.
Part of the intent is to encourage everyone to produce less waste by making it harder to get rid of. The other is of course to get the methane generating FOGO separated so it does not end up in landfill.
Oh and the council saves money on disposal by having this system in place. Savings were not directly passed on to rate payer's though. I guess they are indirectly via not raising annual rates by as much.
The council I live in introduced them a couple of years ago.
There was quite a lot of complaining on social media. In conjunction with a weekly FOGO they changed the weekly general waste bin to one half the size and only collected it every 2 weeks. As a result lot of households struggled to get rid of all their rubbish.
Anecdotally: It's seemingly settling down now but a first there was a lot more litter in the streets from overflowing bins, both people's waste bins and bins in parks. A number of degenerates took to burning their plastic waste in combustion heaters / backyard pits. Which is highly inappropriate given we are less than 10km from the CBD and most blocks are sub 500 sqm . some are still doing this in winter. I wish there would be massive fines for this.
The council has been giving notices to people who put plastic etc in their FOGO bin. Unsure if they have cameras in the truck or if it's random inspections. Apparently they will stop collections for repeat offenders.
The council will supply larger and multiple waste bins for households who are willing to pay extra. I think they might have got less backlash if it had been opt in at first for a discount rather than this method.
Personally I think FOGO are pretty good if you have a suburban garden. Means you can do a little bit of pruning here and there and put the cuttings in the FOGO. Previously you would need to collect it all up then order a big green waste skip.
Infinite scroll
Enshitification of search results when shopping
Planned obsolescence
The WA government is forging ahead with a controversial racetrack project in Perth's Burswood Park amid firm resistance from residents, the local council and the opposition.
The WA government is pressing ahead with its plan to create a motorsport street circuit in Burswood Park.
It is opening the community consultation process for the controversial new proposal.
But Treasurer Rita Saffioti has denied it will only be a motorsport track, saying it will be a "multi-use facility".
Industrial action by WA firefighters is delaying burn-off efforts, which an ecologist says could prove costly next summer.
I thought it was odd that I've been able to enjoy this perfect weather instead of being holed up indoors to escape the smoke.
Recently received my postal vote ballot papers.
For anyone interested this is the 2025 W.A. senate ballot with links to party sites.
A – The Great Australian Party https://www.greataustralianparty.com.au/
B – Australian Christians https://australianchristians.org.au/policy-positions/
C- Citizens Party (formerly Citizens Electoral Council) https://citizensparty.org.au/
D – Trumpet of Patriots https://trumpetofpatriots.org/policies/
E – Sustainable Australia Party https://www.sustainableaustralia.org.au/
F- Australian Democrats https://www.democrats.org.au/what-we-stand-for/
G – Libertarian https://www.libertarians.org.au/policy
H- Gerard Rennick People First https://peoplefirstparty.au/policies/
I – The Greens https://greens.org.au/platform
J – Fusion | Planet Rescue etc https://www.fusionparty.org.au/policy
K – Socialist Alliance https://socialist-alliance.org/policy
L – Australian Labor Party https://alp.org.au/policies
M – Pauline Hanson’s One Nation https://www.onenation.org.au/issues
N – Legalise Cannabis Party https://www.legalisecannabis.org.au/
O – Animal Justice Party https://www.animaljusticeparty.org/
P – Australia’s Voice https://australiasvoice.com.au/what-we-stand-for/
Q – Liberal https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan
R – Nationals https://www.nationals.org.au/
Ungrouped
CAD, Ky
MUBARAK, Kim
Protesters call for a shake-up of Western Australia's fire management practice, but others point to the tragic outcomes of the Los Angeles fires as a cautionary tale.
West Australians believe the state’s capital will need to rapidly decarbonise and diversify its mining-dependent economy, halt urban sprawl and support more apartments if it is to accommodate 3.5 million people by 2050, according to a new report by a Perth think-tank.
The cheap points of politics means we have little sensible debate about fixing our migration system so that it works better for everyone, and for the economy. A looming election only appears likely to make sensible debate even more unattainable.
If you've grown up thinking that Situation Normal is something like the Australian Electoral Commission — an independent electoral authority which operates our voter roll to standard and transparent rules across the country — prepare to be shocked by the Wild West that is voting in America.
A web of 'delusional' regulatory decisions has essentially turned some perfectly good phones into e-waste.
A mayor in Perth's south-eastern suburbs has raised concerns that developers are creating subdivisions without sufficient verge space to plant trees.
The minister throws her weight behind a Business Council proposal for states to replace stamp duties with land tax.
Australia's had a particular immigration strategy for decades, but it's in major need of repair.
A rally will be held in Margaret River at the weekend to call on the state government to fund rapid bushfire suppression equipment and scale back “failing” prescribed burns in the South West.
Globally there has been a shift towards adopting new early detection and rapid suppression equipment to quickly identify and extinguish bushfires.
The technology, including smoke detection cameras, satellite monitoring, AI software and drones to give a bird’s-eye view to spot developing fires, is already operational in Canada and California.
It is being rolled out in European countries and along the east coast of Australia.
WA Forest Alliance senior campaigner Jason Fowler said the WA government and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions were lagging and reliant on “outdated and dangerous” policy.
“The prescribed burning program is no longer effective at protecting South West communities in a drying and warming climate,” he said.
“Only half of prescribed burns close to communities have been completed last year because they are too risky.
“Forests are also suffering with an increasing number of high-intensity burns causing severe damage.”
Likely a pipe dream at this stage. But having just visited south bank in Brisbane it would be awesome to create something similar here.
What I liked about south bank: -big shady trees to sit under Lots of nice places to hang out that don't require you to be a customer open access pool, water playground. Lots of places to eat
If Perth tried to do it, we would need to bring in the team who did south bank, and keep away the clowns who made the shadeless concrete wind tunnels like yagan square and Elizabeth quay.
The federal government will water down proposed carbon emissions laws for vehicles, as it seeks to appease car makers who feared it would push up the price of some cars by thousands of dollars.
Laborel party letting foreign companies dictate policy.
Prosper Australia says if we were smarter about taxing land, we could slash taxes on workers and businesses, writes Gareth Hutchens.
There is further evidence Australia's ongoing housing crisis is deepening as the national vacancy rate hits a record low of 0.7 per cent, according to Domain.
I'm sure if we keep voting for the Libor and Laberal parties they will eventually fix it right?