fowl2
LightNews LightNews
fowl2.bsky.social
fowl2
@fowl2.bsky.social
69 followers 210 following 210 posts
I’m James. Standard tech/urban/transit trifecta stuff.

Also https://hachyderm.io/@fowl2, https://twitter.com/fowl2

Melbourne, Australia
Posts Replies Media Videos
fowl2.bsky.social
So if you start typing into another post while the previous one is still processing media upload @bsky.app on iOS just posts the drat one when it’s done. Oops
November 15, 2025 at 1:20 PM
fowl2.bsky.social
Can recommend Wake Park Cambodia in Siem Reap. Lovely day out - and I eventually managed to made it all the way around the course on a kneeboard from having not even know they existed this morning!
November 15, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Reposted by fowl2
kirstenhan.com
The Singapore government issued a “Correction Direction” to Malaysian news website MalaysiaNow under the anti-“fake news” law. Failing to comply w/ a Correction Direction is an offence in Singapore.

MalaysiaNow has released a statement essentially telling the Singapore government to fuck off
November 15, 2025 at 8:22 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
fairly fast (if true)
Photo of in flight entertainment: TIME TO SAI: 1h00m DISTANCE TO SAI: 7,190mi
November 14, 2025 at 1:56 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
“Bakong Tourists”, the QR code payment app from Cambodia’s central bank, works differently for Visa and Mastercard and in the inverse of the way you might expect:

Visa top up preview shows amounts in USD but Mastercard in Riel!

#fintech
November 12, 2025 at 5:28 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
So this email from Microsoft's I guess is a result of the ACCC court case www.accc.gov.au/media-releas...

MSFT manage to get 2 fairly key things wrong:
- My current price - I currently pay less than both options they provide
- The options available - $14/month != $139/year, nor is $18 * 12 = $179.
In October 2024, we announced changes to our Microsoft 365 pricing for subscribers in Australia. We recognise we could have been clearer in our communications about the full range of Microsoft 365 subscription options including the option to switch to Microsoft 365 Family Classic. Our relationship with our customers is based on trust and transparency and we apologise for falling short of our standards. We want to ensure you have all the information you need to make the choice that’s right for you, so we are sharing that information below, including the opportunity to receive a refund. Option 1: Stay on Microsoft 365 Family, your current plan Microsoft 365 Family includes the core Microsoft 365 apps plus our AI assistant Copilot and ongoing feature updates. Microsoft 365 Family renews at $179 AUD per year tax inclusive. If you wish to stay on Microsoft 365 Family, no action is needed. Option 2: Switch to Microsoft 365 Family Classic and receive a refund While Microsoft 365 Family Classic includes the core Microsoft 365 apps and regular security updates, it does not include our AI assistant Copilot and may not receive new feature updates. Microsoft 365 Family Classic renews at $139 AUD per year tax inclusive, the price you paid before the increase. If you want to continue using Microsoft 365 Family Classic after you switch plans, you’ll need to keep recurring billing enabled. If you switch to Microsoft 365 Family Classic by 31 December 2025, we’ll refund the difference in price between plans, starting from your first renewal date after 30 November 2024. We’ll process your refund to the payment method you use to subscribe within 30 days. Once the refund has been processed, it will be reflected in your Microsoft account. This refund option is only available to subscribers in Australia who receive this email and switch to the Microsoft 365 Family Classic plan by 31 December 2025 [Switch to Classic] Thank you for being a Microsoft 365 subscriber. [continues] Subscriptions View and manage your Microsoft products and subscriptions Microsoft 365 Family Next charge on 1 February 2026, AU$125.30 Manage Microsoft 365 Family Classic AU$14.00/month Switch plan once your current subscription renews? You already have a Microsoft 365 Family subscription. Microsoft 365 Family Classic has fewer benefits than your current subscription. Microsoft 365 Family Classic AU$14.00/month at renewal  For one to six people  Sign into five devices at once  Use on PCs, Macs, phones & tablets  Up to 6 TB secure cloud storage (1 TB per person)  Productivity apps*  Image and video editing tools  Data and device security *May not receive new feature updates. Includes productivity apps with Microsoft Copilot Microsoft 365 Family AU$18.00/month at renewal  For one to six people  Sign into five devices at once  Use on PCs, Macs, phones & tablets  Up to 6 TB secure cloud storage (1 TB per person)  Productivity apps with Microsoft Copilot*  Image and video editing tools  Data and device security  Your subscription renews on 1 February 2026 *AI features only available to subscription owner, usage limits apply; age limits may apply. You can turn off recurring billing to stop future charges in your Microsoft account. Learn about cancellation.
November 6, 2025 at 3:14 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
I see Waymo as the “adults in the room” in this space, hope they don’t get lumped together with Tesla. They are at vastly different capabilities.
cameronwilson.bsky.social CAMERON WILSON @cameronwilson.bsky.social · 22d
Exclusive: Waymo has begun talking to Australian regulators about trialing its self-driving cars down under.

This comes as the Google-linked "robotaxi" company tapped local lobbyists to represent it as Australia develops its autonomous vehicle road rules.

www.crikey.com.au/20...
October 28, 2025 at 4:41 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
What are the odds of an miss-OCR’d Google maps link being 200m away from the correct reading? Very surprised they’re so spatially correlated.
October 11, 2025 at 9:51 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
*perennial complaint about the stock iOS keyboard missing a bunch of symbols and diacritics despite having tons of room*

Today triggered by… ฿
October 5, 2025 at 10:49 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Monorail maintenance vehicle
October 5, 2025 at 7:52 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
“due to congestion on the line ahead this train will stop” automated announcement, slightly before leaving the BTS Surasak. Indeed the train did stop for a few minutes just before Saphan Taksin.

You’d think they could hold the train before leaving the station. Guess it depends where the congestion
October 5, 2025 at 7:27 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
TIL Apple has a bunch of diagnostic profiles available. The WiFi one adds this section in WiFi Settings on iOS.

Pretty barebones and kinda annoying it’s not available OOtB but I’ll take it.
October 5, 2025 at 5:41 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Keen to see how the Uber model of ignoring regulation works out for them. Financial services regulators are famously chill.
How being stranded in a Thai night market led to this $4.7 million start-up
Australian fintech start-up WAIWIN is tackling Thailand’s payments problem - and is raising $4.7 million to do take it across Southeast Asia.
www.forbes.com.au
October 5, 2025 at 5:37 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
EMV/contactless for the Bangkok Airporl Rail Link in October 2025?

as of 4 October… not yet
October 4, 2025 at 12:19 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Thai don’t program their PassKit boarding passes to properly present automatically near the airport 🥲

Or iOS 26 broke something ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
October 3, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by fowl2
edzitron.com
My Financial Times interview got reprinted on the front page of the newspaper The Australian Financial Review with an incredible illustration of the contents of my mind and the big handle I turn when I blog

www.afr.com/technology/t...
Battle lines Railing against AI slop, aggressive algorithms and firms bleeding users of data, Ed Zitron has become one of Silicon Valley's punchiest critics, writes Tabby Kinder. Mad as hell: the man calling BS on big tech Style over substance. Ed Zitron says tech giant leaders are greedy fools who have risen through a broken system. ILUISTRATION F d Zitron is not a journalist, performance to polemic - take aim at the not a whistleblower and cer- "idiots". "conmen" and cynical tech billion- tainly not a prophet. He's not aires he believes are responsible for a "rot- here to spread conspiracies, ten" economy, and they have earned him a to "tell it like it is" or to con-viral following. Take the blog he publishes as I board a truth and that evervbody plane to Las Vegas to meet him for this inter- else is a moron. He is, he says. just a pissed view. A 13,000-word screed about the "era of off. emotional guv who needs to get "these the bucinoce iint" it ic writton with ar fing words out of my head". apostate's disaffection, and argues that mod- Listeners to Zitron's podcast, Better Offline. ern companies, especially those in the tech or readers of his blog. "Where's your Ed at". industry are no longer run by competent are used to the swearing but might scoff at people, but by greedy fools who have risen his protests. Zitron's sneering manifestos - through a broken system that rewards delivered with the dropped Ts of his London superficial action over substance. It opens orrontonio hirinue rhuthm that toore from by calling Satya Nadella, chief executive of Microsoft, the second-largest public company in the world, "either a liar or a specific kind of idiot" for comments Nadella made in an interview about the sorts of questions he asks his company's own Al chatbot. More than 75,000 people subscribe to and regularly read these posts, a number that is growing. Zitron's podcast is owned and produced by iHeartRadio, the largest radio broadcaster in the US, which says it reache… Mad as hell: the man calling BS on big tech righteous energy so lamilar trom his podcasts. "Look, when it comes down to it, everything's like this: it's f--ed, and you are not insane for feeling bad," he tells me. "You are not stupid for feeling wronged. Things are unfair and you should f--ing say you're angry." Zitron monologues with the visceral dis- of the washed-up broadcaster Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network: he's mad as hell and hes not going to take it any more. In the film, Beale delivers one of cinemas most famous rants about disillusionment and powerlessness in the face of corporate domination but is ultimately exploited by his bosses for views. Beale was deranged, Zitron says (Zitron is not, "thanks to a wonderful therapist I see regularly"), but the character's sincerity, turning a personal grievance into a collective howl of frustration is something to aim for. "Emotionally and sincerely explaining why shit sucks, that's compelling, he says. Over the next couple of hours together, I will hear plenty of breathless tirades. It is, I come to understand, Zitron's default way of expressing himself. His arguments make my head spin, oscillating between grand observations on the business of technology and unguarded revelations about his mental health. Sometimes he reminds me of an opinionated teenager who hasn't yet developed the social skills to know when not to take themselves so seriously. "Tve been told my whole goddamn life to calm down, that I'm too much," he says. But with each unburdening I notice more and more a well of vulnerab-ility; a need to be listened to and liked. Zitron's path from hobbyist blogger to one of big tech's punchiest critics happened first very slowly then all at once. Born in Hammersmith, west London, his was a mostly normal but, he admits, friendless childhood. He did badly at school, struggling with ADHD and dyspraxia, a disorder that affects fine motor skills, but found solace in gadgets, the internet and online fantasy rol… onmental Protection Agency for policing the don't have that in me. I find the idea of Ed internet - although he has little hope that catron the chancerreal unny because is anything reining in big tech will happen dur- just me, I dont have a mask I put on." Hegoes ing Donald Trump's second term. But when on: The irony is my mask would probably asked how he would actually solve some of be a bit less emotional, a bit less aggressive the issues he sees with the tech world. his about this stilla answers become almost metaphysical. In many ways, The Sphere - a $US2.3 bil- "We need something that savs vou cant hon LED-wrapped orb just off the Vegas make shit worse like this," he says. Silicon strip - is the perfect analogy for the tech valley needs a reckoning with how man world.as tron sees it. It is an overwhelm liars there are. I think we need a better moral ing visual assault, its 15,000 square metres of society in general, but in the valley alone . screens demanding total, verugo-inducing he goes on to list, again, the tech bosses he immersion, and it lost SUS500 million last thinks are makins the world worse year. It is a lascinating, pointless shrine to Last year, Casey Newton, who co-hosts scale and spectacle. The New York Times tech nodcast Hard Fork Zitron and Thave left the Venetian to watch defined two camps of Al critics in an article the movie created for The Sphere, and shown titled The phony comforts of Al scepticism there at least once a day. Postcard from Earth The first camp, which Newton says is made directed by Darren Aronofsky. As metaphors up ol techs external critics, Delieve ALIS upon which to trame this aracle go. it is fake and it sucks", while the second - New- almost too on the nose. Fifty minutes of foot- ton's camp - consists of internal critics who age or earth, loosely Iramed around a science think Al is real and dangerous. Newton fiction plotline in which humans have aban- namechecked Marcus as the archetype of doned the planet through spa…
October 2, 2025 at 10:28 PM
fowl2.bsky.social
UBank phone wait times greater than 1.5 hours.

Must be the first day of the month, new hoops have been added, they have an uncompetitive interest rate, and they require a phone call to transfer money out.

Anyway here’s the spreadsheet www.accountsleaderboard.au
Accounts Leaderboard
A community driven independent savings rate comparison.
www.accountsleaderboard.au
October 1, 2025 at 12:13 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Edge devtools suddenly knowing source files names without a source map

Mysterious✨

But seriously how does it know?
September 30, 2025 at 1:25 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Surely someone has made an web/app that takes 2 points and draws an isochrone/cartogram showing places equidistant in *travel time*
September 7, 2025 at 1:17 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
TIL
Dictionary look up for “erstwhile”: adjective, former
August 31, 2025 at 5:49 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Either PTV or Google Maps have figured out how to label, if not apply an icon to, replacement buses. Good work.

Incredible how the 900 bus can beat it despite having one additional stops and a 1 minute recorded transfer penalty.
August 29, 2025 at 12:15 PM
fowl2.bsky.social
It’d be great if they fixed the emoji reaction search in Facebook Messenger (iOS)
August 29, 2025 at 2:47 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Maps apps are useless at telling you which exit to take once you’re in a station.
August 23, 2025 at 11:39 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Kuala Lumpur’s second airport, Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah (SZB) is lovely.

Honestly I love smaller airports. Less lines, less walking, less rushing, less the same 10 global “luxury” brands.

Airside/international departure gates have only a vending machine - so eat up before going through!
August 23, 2025 at 5:14 AM
fowl2.bsky.social
Wow Grab (MY) charging a foreign payment fee (for using a foreign Visa card?) is a bit unusual/rude
Screenshot of grab payment receipt email showing “foreign payment fee 1.33” out of a total 45.63 charged to a Visa card.
August 23, 2025 at 5:10 AM