Yvonne Perkins

Writer (technical writing, blogging at stumblingpast.com), digital history, owner of #OfficeKitty #Melbourne #Australia

Interests:#OzHist #digitalhumanities #documentation #WriteTheDocs #GardeningAU #Environment

Public Key

npub1qmzups5z063yz8wtw8p9gstylfcrrc306v0a2xup0k5rutztwahqhtqek0

NIP-05 Address

perkinsy_at_aus.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqd3wqc2p8agjprh9hrsj5g9j05up3ughax874rwqhm2p7939hwmsurl6qr

Author Public Key

npub1qmzups5z063yz8wtw8p9gstylfcrrc306v0a2xup0k5rutztwahqhtqek0

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Last Notes

2024-09-10 22:07:10

Genetically distinct Wollemi Pine saplings to be auctioned off. This tree dates back to the time of the dinosaurs and was thought to be extinct until a tiny grove of them was discovered in an isolated area in 1984. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-11/wollemi-pine-rare-saplings-auction-30-year-aniversary/104332320
#environment #GardeningAU

2024-08-25 11:40:08

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@npub1au2…2mr6 the lack of protected bike lanes is why I don't ride a bike. I am terrified of the traffic

2024-08-16 02:19:05

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@npub1q9m…zgdu Life is sweet after I started using Vivaldi browser. It has built-in ad blockers.
Gee that is sounding like an advertisement. I see what you mean!

2024-08-12 12:56:22

"The AI scams infiltrating the knitting and crochet world - and why it matters for everyone" via newsletter compiled by @npub16u7…uend
#knitting #crochet #ai
https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-ai-scams-are-infiltrating-the-knitting-and-crochet-world/

2024-07-14 20:42:53

One family's passion is to build dry stone walls and sculptures using the stone on their land in South Australia
#DryStoneWalls #GardeningAU
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-07-14/dry-stone-walls-family-legacy-in-maaoupe/104062746

2024-07-14 20:35:46

Bunnings and other plant nurseries sell known invasive plants that spread into Australia's native landscape.
#GardeningAu #GardeningAustralia
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2024-07-15/bunnings-criticised-for-stocking-invasive-weed-species-vic/104084222

2024-06-30 00:00:50

A gentle article about what three palliative care nurses have learned about life from their work with dying patients.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-30/how-to-have-a-good-death-and-life-palliative-care-nurses/103996052

2024-06-12 02:40:41

"Only 10% of native plants can be bought as seed – a big problem for nature repair. Here’s how we can make plantings more diverse"
Note the importance placed on diversity of plants and types. Monoplantings are not as healthy or natural for the environment.
#GardeningAU #environment #NativePlants
https://theconversation.com/only-10-of-native-plants-can-be-bought-as-seed-a-big-problem-for-nature-repair-heres-how-we-can-make-plantings-more-diverse-228899

2024-06-11 11:04:29

Today I discovered that our office is giving away free seedlings in the lobby - basil, coriander, kale and broccoli. I picked up some broccoli seedlings.
#Melbourne #GardeningAU
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/597/643/442/942/088/original/b2e32cb083583cc7.jpg
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/597/643/682/041/414/original/11c9db65b2d04ad1.jpg

2024-06-03 07:50:57

Does anyone remember Sue Becker? She was an aerobics instructor on TV in the 1960s and 1970s. Then she went onto host ABC talk back radio in Hobart during the 1980s - an era when women were not chosen for that job.
There is a researcher who would like to connect with people who have memories of Sue Becker:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-03/tv-aerobics-star-and-radio-broadcaster-sue-becker/103874376

2024-04-22 07:36:05

Only in Australia: "Hospital staff plead with bite victims to stop bringing snakes to emergency departments"
#Australia #snakes
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-22/bite-victims-warned-stop-bringing-snakes-to-emergency-department/103752506

2024-04-07 05:27:26

#SilentSunday #OfficeKitty
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/228/271/165/356/818/original/4044021b200ec42d.jpg

2024-03-31 06:13:40

The fog has been hanging around #Melbourne all day. This photo shows the Yarra River and the CBD taken from the Swanston St bridge. Flinders Street Station is behind the trees.
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/112/188/816/150/855/453/original/45746f171b74f915.jpg

2024-03-21 05:48:00

How 'worm farmers' help other farmers revitalise their soils and stop using fertilisers and other chemicals.
#environment #agriculture #GardeningAU
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-21/worm-healthy-benefits-farmers-agriculture/103605736

2024-03-21 01:53:43

We are looking forward to the Clunes Book Town festival this weekend! We love the treasure-hunting that is second-hand book shopping.
#books #Victoria #ClunesBookTown
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/17/clunes-booktown-festival-victoria-2024

2024-03-11 12:38:31

11:30pm in #Melbourne and it is 29.9 degrees. It will be another hot night, but the last hot night of the summer as a mild change tomorrow morning will bring temperatures down to the mid twenties.
A heat wave in March is not unprecedented but the change in season that comes with the equinox next week should mean that we won't experience 35+ degree temperatures again until next summer. I say 'should' because in this topsy-turvy climate change world strange things happen.
#environment #MelbWeather

2024-03-06 21:13:04

Women GPs in #Australia treat more people for mental health and women's health conditions but the Medicare payments to GPs for these types of long appointments are less per hour than the payments to GPs treating simpler conditions in short appointments. This leads to women GPs generally earning less than male GPs.
#iwd2024 #medicine #WomensHealth #WomensPayGap
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-07/gps-say-medicare-bulk-bill-incentives-make-gender-pay-gap-worse/103526758

2024-03-01 08:47:23

Well-designed schools that use local materials in Burkina Faso don't require air conditioning in 40 degree heat:
#architecture
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/29/we-dont-need-air-con-how-burkina-faso-builds-schools-that-stay-cool-in-40c-heat

2024-01-27 01:36:34

Do you save seeds? Your efforts will most likely not involve anything like this level of sacrifice to save seeds during Russia's tumultuous 20th century (via @npub18t4…wk9f):
#gardening #environment #seedsavers
https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/03/08/nikolai-vavilov/

2024-01-17 21:21:25

Atlassian have been studying the experience of their employees and that of other companies as they work remotely. They feel they still have things to learn but they have released their study.
#wfh #RemoteWork
In brief, they have found so far:
~ 92% of Atlassians say our distributed work policy allows them to do their best work.
~ Representation of women has doubled in certain geographies
~ 91% say it’s an important reason why they stay at Atlassian
https://www.atlassian.com/blog/distributed-work/distributed-work-report

2024-01-16 07:52:15

"CBRLocalFood is a pilot project to assess backyard food production in the ACT using citizen science. The project aims to investigate the role of home and community food production in food security and healthy diets within Canberra."
This news brought to you by @npub1rll…hhpx
#Canberra #gardeningAU
https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/7596afa1178c42f9b8e64fa0937c2db9

2024-01-07 12:33:52

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@npub1q9m…zgdu I noticed on the radar this afternoon/evening that storms are developing in a north/south line from Broken Hill so leaving South Australia clear. We are expecting a lot of rain tomorrow, but just 23 degrees, so cooler than it has been

2024-01-07 08:00:46

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@npub1q9m…zgdu I might go out now in the rain and repot a dipladenia. My normal source of potting soil ran out over the holidays - probably everyone is tending their gardens. But I discovered that I stashed away extra in the garage which I had forgotten about.
I don't buy Bunnings potting soil because it has weed seeds in it.
We have had 12.8mm of steady rain since 9am - wonderful!
#gardeningAU

2024-01-07 07:55:33

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@npub1q9m…zgdu I should have a go at growing a hibiscus from a cutting. A neighbour here has one that I like very much. I should knock on their door and ask if I can take a cutting.

2024-01-07 07:18:13

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@npub1q9m…zgdu We have lived in Far North Qld, Singapore and Sydney before returning to Melbourne. We went for a walk this morning and I was drenched in sweat even though it was only 29 degrees. This is not the Melbourne I know.
I have some dipladenias I brought with me when we moved from Sydney. I thought they would struggle in Melbourne's cold winters and hot, dry summers. They are subtropical plants and are thriving in the current environment.

2024-01-07 01:48:42

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@npub1q9m…zgdu humidity in #Melbourne is 84% and we have light, steady rain where we are. I reckon Melbourne's weather has changed over this time of year. Last year we had a humid Christmas/New Year period and same this year. A BOM meteorologist reckons the amount of moisture in Victoria at the moment is like what you would expect in Queensland, not here: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/07/victoria-and-southern-parts-of-nsw-prepare-for-thunderstorms-and-possible-flash-flooding

2023-12-26 07:13:45

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@npub1q9m…zgdu wow - that picture looks amazing! If it wasn't for the arm, it looks like one from an expensive magazine.

2023-11-21 09:26:13

'Ian Thorpe', a 35 kg wombat has been rescued after swimming for about 40 minutes in a Canberra pond. He is quite poorly after his adventure:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-21/act-wombat-rescued-yerrabi-pond-woman-in-kayak-ian-thorpe/103133288

2023-11-15 01:34:23

Gardeners in south-easr Australia should watch out for cabbage moths say ecologists who believe that numbers of the imported pest have exploded due to an unusually warm winter and favourable Spring conditions.
There are ways to deal with them that do not involve chemicals.
#GardeningAU #Melbourne
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/15/white-how-to-handle-australias-plague-of-cabbage-chomping-moths

2023-11-05 05:51:43

Did you know that Australia is the largest exporter of chickpeas in the world and is responsible for one-third of the world's exports. It is a great crop to grow in low rainfall areas
#agriculture
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2023-11-05/australia-worlds-largest-chickpea-exporter-pulse-council-growth/103057674

2023-10-26 07:15:36

Today I spotted a rare, native Yarra Tram floating in its native habitat on the Yarra River in #Melbourne.
@npub1tcf…624m are truly fake!
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/111/300/065/248/626/815/original/969b93656b95c247.jpg

2023-10-20 20:32:55

This is an uplifting story: Vesa Grujoska is 80. She works as a cleaner at Sydney's Central train station where she has worked for 50 years
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/vesa-is-80-and-still-working-full-time-shes-not-alone/iq9j0ryzw

2023-10-16 20:56:32

"Chatbots have many questions to answer about the sustainability of the web. They vacuum up all this data and give nothing back, so what is supposed to happen when you drive all your data sources out of business?"
#generativeAI
Stack Overflow lays off 28% of their staff:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/after-chatgpt-disruption-stack-overflow-lays-off-28-percent-of-staff/

2023-09-17 07:21:03

A nasturtium.
#QuietSunday
https://mediacdn.aus.social/media_attachments/files/111/079/270/898/312/152/original/26d1d96f952518de.jpg

2023-09-02 02:31:53

How can modern society and workplaces help people be the parents they need to be? Something is rotten in a society that forces both parents to work full-time while having young kids getting constantly sick in daycare. Aside from that, children need attention from parents who are not exhausted.
#childcare
https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/mark-tamhane-juggling-work-with-caring-for-children/102799952

2023-08-13 22:15:00

And finally, the media are sniffing around the audit function of big consulting firms and finding the smell a bit off:
"The big four accounting giants racked up billions of dollars in auditing fees in the private sector as the quality of auditing declined, heightening concerns it could trigger another Enron-type corporate collapse."
#audit #PWCscandal
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-14/australia-big-four-audit-decline-quality-fear-corporate-collapse/102718744

2023-08-01 08:09:04

This article encapsulates a lot of the reasons why I did not change to an economics major at uni even though I had the ability and interest.
In economics 101 we had to memorise a definition of economics that asserted it was a science. It is not. It is the study of human behaviour in the realm of exchanging and developing goods and services.
Using mathematical forecasting models is never going to work well. As soon as the forecasts are announced, people change their economic behaviour and thus the assumptions of behaviour that the model relies on are wrong. Keynes wrote about the important role of the expectations of people and how that has an important impact on economic outcomes.
Ian Verrender writes about other, equally foundational problems with the dislike of economics here:
#economics
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-01/why-economists-always-get-it-wrong-interest-rates-reserve-bank/102668538

2023-07-07 20:50:19

The cervical screening test, or 'pap smear' was developed thanks to a lab technician called Mary Papanicolaou, who had a vaginal swab taken every day for 20 years to advance research in this area.
Mary worked as a lab technician at Cornell University for many years but was never paid because she was a woman
#HistoryOfScience #WomensHistory
https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2023-07-08/andromache-mary-papanicolaou-pap-smear-test-cervical-cancer/102484690