Brisbane trk • 2 weeks ago • 100%

www.theguardian.com

> The Queensland government is in talks with Star which reportedly needs $300m in short-term funding to continue operating Queen’s Wharf precinct in Brisbane’s CBD. Sucked in. I hate casinos. I hate gambling in general. Having said that... How do they get in financial trouble?? You're literally stealing money from people on a grand scale. Some punters are losing their homes because of how much money they pour in. Crooks are laundering money by losing a huge percentage of their cash there. International visitors turn up and drop tens (hundreds?) of thousands in a night. > “The worst case scenario would be that they have to close their doors not long after opening them,” the premier, Steven Miles, said on Wednesday. IMO the BEST case scenario is that they close their doors, and the space is used for something better than gambling.

Unpopular Opinion trk • 1 month ago • 69%

Driving, gymnastics, break dancing (ESPECIALLY break dancing)... Anything that can't be timed or measured or otherwise objectively decided should be removed from competition. How do you quantify "style"? How do you ensure there is not biase from judges based on their knowledge of the competitor, be it country they are representing, or personal connections, or racial / religious opinion? How do you fairly compensate for what your personal opinion considers "worth" more when it comes to a trick or routine compared to another? Swimming, running, jumping, throwing things a distance are all things that can be measured and ruled against a standard that every competitor uses. It's fair and it's removed from any bias. The Olympics are supposed to be about competition between athletes and shouldn't be affected by popularity or politics, which anything with an interpretive aspect to the result will suffer from. So yeah, remove the feels sports and limit the Olympics to reals sports.

Electric Vehicles trk • 2 months ago • 100%

www.drive.com.au

10 years / 250,000k just announced by MG in Australia - including electric vehicles (and thus batteries)... Not bad considering the anti-EV crowd are always declaring battery packs to have a 3 year lifespan! > MG has introduced the longest factory warranty ever offered by a new-car maker in Australia – 10 years or 250,000km, whichever comes first – five years after rolling out seven years of coverage across its line-up. > And unlike Mitsubishi – which in October 2020 became the first brand to market a 10-year warranty, but with only a 200,000km distance limit – there is no mention of a requirement for customers to have their car serviced within the MG dealer network to access the full decade of coverage. > While MG’s new 10-year warranty is longer in time – compared to its previous seven-year offer – it now has a distance cap of 250,000km, rather than unlimited. > In effect from today (1 August 2024) for all newly-registered petrol, hybrid and electric MG models, the new warranty applies to vehicles not deemed to be "commercial use" – such as Ubers, taxis, food delivery couriers and driving schools.

Brisbane trk • 2 months ago • 93%

> Remarkable video shows a driver's wild rampage from Brisbane to the Gold Coast. > A number of vehicles were smashed including an ambulance, with the accused live streaming himself hooning through South Bank. The story said he dumped the ute *and his dogs* before stealing a truck... Anyone know if the puppies are ok? 😬

Australia trk • 2 months ago • 93%

www.abc.net.au

> Callum feels the familiar vibration of his mobile phone. Another text from Sportsbet. ... > Callum hasn't placed a wager for more than a year. Sportsbet is still trying to lure him back into action with an almost daily stream of text messages. ... I actually had the opposite experience to the complains in this article.. I'm not really a gambler, but I did fire up SportsBet for my first ever bet in my life during State of Origin. I put in $50 and lost $10 on Queensland. Then I found the horse bit and selected some random horses and apparently I'd won $100 so I took out my original $50, then threw away the rest on random horses and greyhounds, and Queensland at State of Origin again. Outcome? Zero dollars lost, and a couple of games worth of funsies thinking I was going to become a tenionaire with my 1.xx odds win. Sportsbet sent me one SMS, and I replied STOP. Sportsbet sent me one email, and I hit unsubscribe. I haven't received any communication since - no sms, no email, no push notifications, no anything. Not sure I'm fully on board with people claiming its all SportsBets fault they're gambling and being preyed upon IN THIS SPECIFIC WAY. I do say their constant spam during any sports match of any kind on free to air television is an absolute disgrace though.

Australia trk • 2 months ago • 93%

What a pair of clowns (ALP and LNP)... Also I really hate TikTok. > There are currently no rules at either the state or federal level to stop political parties and candidates from using AI-generated material in election campaigns. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-22/qld-premier-slams-opposition-for-ai-generated-tiktok/104126936 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-23/labor-questioned-over-ai-generated-tiktok-of-peter-dutton/104131228

Brisbane trk • 2 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

Bit of an update to an earlier article --> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-21/qld-daisy-hill-hit-and-run-appeal/104123370 > A woman charged over the alleged hit-and-run murder of a young mother south of Brisbane has been remanded in custody after a brief court hearing. > Police allege 23-year-old Kiesha Thompson was deliberately struck by an SUV just before 9am on Friday in the Logan suburb of Daisy Hill, south of Brisbane. > The alleged driver — 24-year-old Larissa Rita Mae-Leigh Sant — has been charged with one count of murder. > Police said the women were known to each other but their relationship was unclear.

Brisbane trk • 2 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> A teenager has admitted to being behind the wheel of a speeding stolen car and causing a crash which killed three people on the Fraser Coast last year. > The boy, who cannot be named, was due to appear in person in the Childrens Court of Queensland on Tuesday morning, but he refused to travel to Brisbane from the detention centre. > Instead, he appeared via video link, and Judge Deborah Richards told him the defiant behaviour was "**a pretty stupid thing to do**". Seems a bit of an understatement...

Brisbane trk • 2 months ago • 80%

7news.com.au

Dunno how he managed to do that - fell asleep maybe? Made for an interesting commute to work today with that closed off. Archive link: https://archive.md/4K3TZ Original text: > A man was killed when he hit a barrier and rolled his ute on a Brisbane road. > The 32-year-old man, from Orange in NSW, was driving through the Granard Rd exit of the Ipswich Mwy in Rocklea about 3.20am on Thursday when he crashed. > Paramedics were called but the man was declared dead at the scene. > No one else was in the car and no other cars are believed to have been involved in the crash. > A forensic crash investigation is underway. > The Granard Rd exit on the Ipswich Mwy was closed amid the investigation.

Australia trk • 3 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: > * Live sheep exports by sea will be phased out over the next four years, after laws banning the trade passed parliament on Monday. > * Earlier in the day, opponents met with the prime minister to request a Senate inquiry into the legislation. > What's next? > * WA Premier Roger Cook says he will continue to negotiate for additional support for farmers affected by the laws. Sky News and other similar conservative whinge rags are already posting the anti-Labor and anti-Greens headline as a response. Personally I think its great news. Keep the value add in Australia (processing), and remove the cruelty of long ship travel followed by questionable processing practices in other countries.

Brisbane trk • 3 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: > * Queensland's LNP opposition wants to increase the cap on poker machines that can operate at clubs with more than two premises. > * The gaming machine cap for a club licensee with three or more sites is 500, but the LNP wants to lift that to 700. > What's next? > * The LNP is taking the policy to the looming October state election, arguing that the proposal would benefit smaller clubs facing closure. ... Don't these statements contradict each other? -> Applies only to businesses with **more than two** premises -> benefits "smaller clubs" ??? Also I love the related stories: 

Brisbane trk • 3 months ago • 100%

You never see a song called "Northside Rocks", that's all I'm saying 😎

NRL trk • 3 months ago • 83%

www.theguardian.com

> This year’s series was the first to be played across three games, in a milestone acknowledged by Maroons captain Ali Brigginshaw after the match. “We’ve wanted this for so many years, and finally, for both teams, we’ve been able to achieve it,” she said. First ever decider, and a sell out crowd to boot Women's footy is on the up and up.

Brisbane trk • 3 months ago • 97%

www.theguardian.com

> Mayor Adrian Schrinner says property owners would now need appropriate planning approvals, body corporate support and a 24-7 property manager for short-term rentals Hard to argue tbh.... Is there a negative to something like this I'm not aware of? Personally I think Airbnb is the stupidest thing going. You pay more than hotel rates, to live in a house you have to clean and tidy yourself and then pay cleaning fees on top, and its often a hassle if anything goes wrong as there's no responsible party you can approach - Airbnb shrug their shoulders, and the host just hides behind a mobile number they can conveniently turn off. Have used them a couple of times in the past purely because we had pets and I hated it.

Australia trk • 3 months ago • 92%

www.abc.net.au

tl;dr - fuck "reality" tv > In the reality TV production process, after the casting of villains and the baiting for villainous behaviour, comes the editing. > It's in the post-production suite that a villain edit can truly come to life. ... > The editor says there are a few techniques to achieve these characterisations. The simplest one is being selective in what gets included. ... > The second technique editors use is amplification — finding a moment amongst what the editor calls the "boring crap" that can be boosted into a storyline. > In the show, it's spun as a major conflict. ... > And then, the drama is further enhanced with a technique called "frankenbiting". > Like Frankenstein creating his monster, editors will mix together unrelated elements from the footage to make their own beast. ... > When the show finally goes to air, the final phase of a villain edit begins: controlling the narrative. > Now, program makers try to ensure that no narratives that contradict the edit make it into the media. > "They would remind me in a very threatening way before every single media interview that I had signed a [non-disclosure agreement]," Olivia says. This becomes a problem for Olivia, because when the show goes to air, the backlash is swift.

Australia trk • 3 months ago • 93%

www.theguardian.com

> Cheaper electricity, less emissions and ready by 2035 are some of the Coalition’s core promises on nuclear energy, but are they backed by evidence? tl;dr - no

Brisbane trk • 4 months ago • 100%

music.youtube.com

An ode to the greatest suburb in Brisbane

Brisbane trk • 4 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: Queensland has a range of roadside cameras to detect offences such as speeding, mobile phone use, and not wearing a seatbelt. > The government has significantly revised how much it expects to make from cameras with revenue in 2023-24 tipped to fall $94 million short. > What's next? The cameras are now projected to make $409 million in 2023-24, followed by $465.8 million in 2024-25. Brace yourself for a reduction in tolerance. Government relies on that speed camera income so if there's a shortfall they'll stop dropping the percent tolerances until we hit the 1kph over fines they hand out in Victoria.

Australia trk • 4 months ago • 90%

www.abc.net.au

> Broader adoption of keeping cats safe at home would have large benefits for cat welfare, human health, local wildlife and even the economy. So, should cat owners be required to keep their pets contained to their property? The answer to the question is obviously "yes".

Brisbane trk • 4 months ago • 100%

 On the plus side, if anyone needs a doctor they're close by I guess.

Brisbane trk • 4 months ago • 100%

Our workshop electricity bill is constantly insane, despite relatively low consumption. If I plug in our residential rates against our workshop usage, it would be at least 30% lower for the same consumption. Is there an actual need for a "business" account at a business address? My understanding of business accounts is that they offer higher levels of support and a faster resolution time, but when poo has hit the fan (such as flooding) we're not restored any faster than the houses nearby anyway. Seems bollocks to pay quite a bit extra as a business when the usage is comparable to a residential address. This also applies to internet which is more expensive for a business account with no difference in SLA.

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 100%

I've had YouTube Music since it was Google Music, but the price has recently doubled and at the same time I've started noticing my "Radio" keeps playing the same dozen songs over and over again. Started to feel like I was listening to Triple M. Yesterday was the final straw as every song played on repeat until you manually skipped which is just... wtf? How does that even happen? I have jumped on to Spotify for the minute, but find it is too heavily focused on "pop" music - it seems to choose songs that are broadly more popular, but aren't really the same as what I'm choosing to play. I somehow always end up back with top 50 chart artists in the queue, even if I started on like bluegrass or hillbilly or something. Also if I select a song or artist and choose "Radio", it always the same 50 songs and then just stops which doesn't seem like what "Radio" should be at all. What other options are there that are accessible from Australia, and preferably have a decent amount of Australian local content? I have zero interests in podcasts being jammed in, I just want music. And preferably music that I can just say "play stuff that sounds like this" and it'll go on a deep dive to focus on things I haven't heard before. Critical: - No ads - Able to actually choose the music and skip and what not, so not Sirius or similar - Good catalogue of Australian artists - Android and Desktop clients - "Family" plan or similar for 2 people Budget not really an issue.

Brisbane trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> Two people have died and a woman is in a critical condition after a three-vehicle crash in the Legacy Way tunnel in Brisbane's inner-west on Wednesday afternoon. > Queensland Police said preliminary investigations indicated a black Audi S3 was travelling north in the tunnel when it crashed into a silver sedan, which subsequently crashed into a small truck. > The driver and sole occupant of the Audi, a man in his 50s, died at the scene. > A woman in 20s, who was a passenger in the silver sedan, also died at the scene. > Police said the driver of the sedan was taken to the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in a critical condition. > The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Aussie Enviro trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: A new North West town for 8,000 people will no longer be built as part of a massive renewable energy project when it re-seeks environment approvals. > The federal environment law has been criticised for rejecting more renewable projects than fossil fuel ones. > What's next? The proponent behind the North West energy project expects to submit an environmental application this year. ... > It would have been halfway along the lonely stretch between tourist mecca Broome and the iron ore shipping capital of Port Hedland. > A new town for 8,000 workers, their families and all the services and additional people you would need for such a population in Australia's remote North West region. > A town built using the latest in sustainability principles to service one of the world's largest renewable energy projects which covers more than 6,500 square kilometres of spinifex-dominated sand plains. > With a 26 gigawatt capacity — which is enough energy to meet a third of Australia's demand in 2020 — the Australian Renewable Energy Hub wind and solar project would have created green hydrogen and ammonia for export. > Well that was the plan.

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 96%

www.abc.net.au

> Qantas is investigating reports of customers having access to other passengers' information on their app. > In a statement issued this morning, the airline said it would provide more information as soon as possible. > "Qantas is investigating reports of an issue impacting the Qantas app this morning," a spokesperson for their airline said. > The scale of the issue has not yet been confirmed. Luckily I can't afford to travel anywhere so this won't affect me, but probably will others.

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> The report found a key cause of the outage was a problem with Optus's 3G network. > During the outage, Optus's 4G and 5G towers shut down, meaning emergency calls were diverted to other network's towers — known as camping on. > But the network's 3G base towers did not shut down, so those calls got lost along the way. > "Some devices … attempted to make emergency calls via those [3G] towers (rather than look to camp on to another network), even though no mobile service was being supplied by the Optus network," the report said. ... > The recommendations include: > * Obligate telcos to shut down their towers during outages, allowing triple-0 calls to be carried by other networks > * Establish a "Triple Zero custodian" whose sole responsible is to make sure the system is working > * Force telcos to share real-time information about outages with emergency services organisations and authorities > * Force telcos to file a timely post-mortem on major outages to the regulator and the government — including what caused it and steps being taken to resolve it, with a clear and detailed timeline > * Review the government's contract with Telstra to run the triple-0 system, with any changes to be made within a year > * Introduce an industry-wide approach to responding to consumers affected by large-scale outages > * Establish an agreement between telcos requiring them to help each to manage and resolve outages > * Review all legislation and regulation relating to triple-0

Brisbane trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> Rocklea, on the city's south side, had the most buybacks of any Brisbane suburb, with 72 properties spanning more than 50,000 square metres acquired. Can confirm - houses around here have been disappearing like a Thanos finger click. I actually feel a little bit sorry for some people... In the period after the flood but before the buyback was completed, there were properties hitting the market and being sold at insane prices for what was essentially floodplain. All of a few months after people were moving in to their new home, the properties either side are getting demolished and turned in to green space. Imagine buying a house and committing to a 30 year mortgage, only for both your immediate neighbours properties to be considered useless for housing and turning into tiny parks. On the one hand - hooray! No neighbours! But on the other hand... You're kinda isolated and perched in the middle of public space on a property that council considered so bad for housing (in a housing crisis!) that it's better off as a lawn.

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 93%

www.abc.net.au

Feels bad man

Brisbane trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> Roy lost his roosters over a noise complaint, he's hoping the premier can intervene as he did with Molly the magpie WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THIS COMING?? 🙄

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> A man is in custody after at least four people were injured in an alleged stabbing incident at a church in Sydney's south-west on Monday night.

Australia trk • 5 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short? Authorities say Molly the magpie will be returned to its original carers on the condition they make no commercial gain from the bird. > The couple, who have had the bird for four years, run a popular Instagram account and have signed a book deal. > What's next? The environment department will work with the couple to ensure the magpie is properly cared for. ... > The department said in a statement that independent expert veterinary advice had shown that Molly was highly habituated and may have developmental issues, meaning he can never be rehabilitated or returned to the wild. Good news they've put the condition on in this particular instance, but you can guarantee other Instatockers who want their five minutes of fame will be out there collecting whatever they can get their selfish mitts on to try and be the next big thing.

Brisbane trk • 6 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: A Noosa teenager has been arrested in the middle of her sentencing hearing for her part in the torture of a schoolgirl. > Three girls were arrested last March for the incident at a house at Tewantin in the Noosa Shire that was filmed and went viral on Tik Tok. > What's next? The eldest offender will reappear in court on April 22. A 12-year-old co-accused of the torture is expected to face court next month. A little north of Brisbane, but damn... What a bunch of losers. > While on bail for the torture, the second eldest offender was caught multiple times travelling in stolen cars and stealing hundreds of dollars in fuel from service stations. Lovely.

Brisbane trk • 6 months ago • 100%

mypolice.qld.gov.au

> Police investigating a suspicious fire at a tobacconist Footage is clearly of concerned passerbys who saw the fire inside and desperately tried to open the door to put it out.

Australia trk • 7 months ago • 97%

thedriven.io

> Tesla announced it had quit the FCAI on Thursday and Polestar followed it up on Friday, saying the FCAI campaign – driven largely by Japanese car makers led by Toyota – is intolerable. ... > Tesla and now Polestar’s announcement that they intend to leave the FCAI adds to mounting pressure on CEO Tony Webber who last month came under fire for threatening to run a 2010 anti mining tax style fear campaign against the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. > The fossil car lobby group CEO claimed that the NVES would cost the entire car-buying public $38 billion in the first five years, which led to the AFR running a story titled “Labor’s new EV-boosting rules will cost $38b, auto group says” followed by Coalition leader Peter Dutton and Nationals Senator Matt Canavan parroting claims that the NVES would see the price of popular vehicles increase by up to $25,000. Claims that have been widely rejected including by the Electric Vehicle Council.

Brisbane trk • 7 months ago • 100%

A photo I took on December 27th, 2002 at 11:49am.... but where? I believe its on the northside of Brisbane as we were visiting someone out that way and an hour or two later I took a photo of JB Hifi at Chermside, but buggered if I can work out where this is exactly. Did a lap down Gympie Road using Google Streetview but its not old enough. Nothing looks exactly right anyway. COULD have been from the southside as we lived in Mount Gravatt at the time, so really anywhere between there and Chermside'ish via main roads I guess. Apologies for the photo quality. It was 2002. Digital cameras weren't much chop back then. I've uploaded the original file (and a few from afterwards which are definitely from the Northside, EXIF data shows they were taken a few hours later) here in case another pixel or two can be gleaned from the original: https://www.palad.in/uploads/aussie.zone/mystery-location-2002/ 

Brisbane trk • 7 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> * In short: Brisbane's Ezra Mam made a formal complaint alleging Spencer Leniu racially abused him during the Broncos' season-opening loss to the Roosters in Las Vegas. > * Broncos coach Kevin Walters said Mam was "adamant" Leniu used a racial slur and was left "pretty upset" by it. > * What's next? The NRL has charged Leniu, and he will be required to front the league's judiciary. I'm probably too white privileged to comment, but aren't both dudes from indigenous backgrounds? Seems weird for one indigenous group to make a "racial slur" at another since wouldn't it be equally offensive to the bloke saying it? Maybe I'm just creative enough with what sort of potential insults there might have been heh. Either way, not a super great start to the NRL trying to get Yanks all excited about the game or whatever they're trying to achieve by playing in Vegas. I thought they were there to play US based teams but it's just Australian teams going on holiday to slap some slightly more exotic pokies by the sounds of things.

Aussie Enviro trk • 7 months ago • 100%

www.abc.net.au

> In short: The Queensland government will give out rebates of between $3,000 and $4,000 for households to install solar battery storage systems. > The $10 million program will begin today with the government giving out about 2,000 means-tested rebates. > What's next? The government says authorities from the state's Department of Energy could inspect batteries installed under the scheme to ensure they meet safety standards.