TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Oscar, freshly back from getting his haircut on our front doorstep. Sept. 30, 2026. T he house is unusually quiet. It's been a couple of days since we said our final goodbyes to Oscar, our family dog of 16 years. In the last two to three weeks he couldn't really even bark, and he slept a lot through the day, so it's not that he isn't here to fill the noise. He just had a presence. He may have been a small dog but he was a big personality and part of our lives. Particularly in his last year, where he just seemed to be determined to have his say when he wanted to let you know you were required to help him stay on his schedule, breakfast, lunch, playtime, dinner, and, in his last few months, even expected to be tucked into bed (he started going to bed at about 9pm-ish on his own accord but would wait for me to follow him to bed). People often asked what breed he was? When his fur was cut short you could see the King Charles Spaniel. When it was long, he had more of the Poo...

Tiny Software Engineer is a DIY desktop robot that physically represents an AI coding agent. It reads, thinks, types, and reacts to what the agent is doing. Created by jmrlab . Video Here . A s interesting as the commercial robot race is, in particular humanoid robots. Chances are, you're not getting anything much more elaborate than a robot vacumm, internet connected fridge/TV, or an always listening voice assistant in your home anytime soon. Side note - all of those things have been plotting robot armagedden for years, as is well documented in this blog . The Internet of things is real, and you don't know what they're planning on robot social media! Maker Robots have been around for a while but, with the development of AI's that can have a more coherent conversation than some world leaders, giving an AI a physical robot body is becoming a thing in the DIY maker world. If you're not familiar with 'makers' they're generally anyone with a 3D printer and...

The New Tesla Roadster. Image: Tesla O ctober 15th, 2026 is the day we finally got a first look at a flying car, that actually looks like a car first, but can also fly without any fancy transformations. It's just ready to fly, presumably 'at the push of a button and you're flying', ready to fly? I don't know the actual control system. Elon Musk launched the new electric Tesla Roadster with a live demo, using a version of the car that was remotely controlled - since they did show the demo car had 'Starman' inside - or a version of him - they launched the original Starman into space in a Tesla Roadster (the previous model), a few years back. I'm not going to go over the car's specs in great detail. I'll just mention highlights. It has a fan system that literally sucks air from under the car allowing it to stick to the road, and take corners, faster than regular cars. The suction is so strong the car can literally drive up a wall and onto the roof...

1x1m Pressed Plastic Sheet made from recycled, shredded plastic waste. Photo: Precious Plastic website. A s much as plastic is bad for the planet it's also an extremely useful raw material for thousands of products. There in lies the problem. Plastic product waste. Precious Plastics Foundation is based in the Netherlands and is a non-profit organisation that is working to solve the plastic problem by turning plastic waste into a valuable resource that anyone can harness with their open-source Plastic Sheet Press. Using the press anyone can melt down shredded waste plastics and press it all into a plastic sheet that can be used as decorative abstract art (at its most basic level) or be used as a raw material to build new products from the sheets such as furniture, construction blocks, art sculptures, and more. Below is a video from Precious Plastics documenting the development of the Plastic Sheet Press and how organisations and businesses worldwide are using it to recycle plastics...

New Leader of the Australian Greens, David Shoebridge. W hen I first heard Larissa Waters was resigning as leader of the Australian Greens party I cynically thought 'f**k, what scandal is she caught up in?' because I'm just so used to leaders from all sides of politics resigning amid scandal or being metaphorically knifed in the back by some impatient or disgruntled successor. Thankfully Larissa is putting her health first, though she's only resigning as leader at this stage, not resigning from her seat. Still, a little disappointing for everyone, as she hadn't been leader for that long, but at least seems to have been around long enough to steer the party into a new era of clarity and unified messaging. As highlighted by my previous post, The Australian Greens Show How a Political Campaign Ad Should Be Done - More Parties Should Use This as a Template . While the Greens democratically elect their party leaders it was likely a surprise to no one that David Shoebrid...

Lanterns - HBOmax P ersonally I think the new DC Studios, Lanterns series is one of the best DC shows in quite some time. It even edges out The Penguin for me (just barely) because it has likeable characters. Don't get me wrong, The Penguin is a standout drama series for sure, but I prefer heroes to villains (or anti-heroes for that matter) even if villains get the better monologues. It's nice to have a show like Lanterns, where the heroes are the most interesting part of the story, and you hope they triumph in the end. That said, I have never really been a fan of the Green Lanterns. I don't have a preferred Lantern. The character was always just one of the lesser cool members of the Justice League to me. The only reason I even know Hal Jordan's name is due to the Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern movie. Prior to that I just knew the character as Green Lantern. The only reason I know of Guy Gardener is from the Superman movie... and the only reason I know John Stuart is ...