octave

There are definitely pros and cons to the new ways of getting music out there. The good thing about the new way is that there is much more diversity. In the past musicians had to convince a record company to back them. The record companies acted as gatekeepers. I think this new era of being able to get your music out there at a reasonable price is fantastic. It is true that artists don't make as much money per recording but in the old world a small number of artists made large sums of money but this came at the cost of diversity. You had to convince EMI or Sony that they could get rich off of you. Innovations such as home recording and streaming have certainly democratized the music industry I feel lucky to live in a time when I can listen to such a diverse range of music from 9th-century Gregorian Chant to something quirky recorded by someone last week.

Absolutely, I know many people who choose to always buy the CD however it does come at a price that is far greater than streaming.

downloads of music use b*ger all data. When at home my phone is using my home wifi which has unlimited download and when I am using my mobile data does not even come close to using a concerning amount. You can always download from Spotify whilst using your home network which you can then play later whilst away from your home network.

Have EV sales in China slumped? China auto market hits milestone as EVs, hybrids make up half of July sales

I must admit I am also a little sceptical.

I think it depends on where you get your information. Because these days internet algorithms tend to push news and information based on what people have searched for or watched in the past, this tends to reinforce positive or negative views on the subject. I certainly get plenty of positive stories. Regional Queenslanders say electric vehicles worth it for fuel savings but challenges remain There are plenty of Youtube channels that present a positive view of EVs such as Fully Charged or The Electric Viking, I could name dozens of others. Some outlets (I am looking at you Rupert) only publish negative stories. An example of some pretty shoddy journalism can be seen in a link posted here recently. I am not having a go at the person who posted this as they posted the link without comment. Single photo turns many Aussies off buying an electric car So for those who don't want to read the story, the gist is that a woman was temporarily stranded when the triangular EV badge fell off her number plate and punctured her rear tyre. Because Tesla doesn't come a spare tyre she had to call for road assistance. Firstly the headline is hysterical nonsense. I doubt that people all around Australia are looking at this picture and saying "Nope, I won't get an EV" Moving on from this and putting our rational hats on, this is not a story illustrating the failings of EV technology. Let's just imagine that the Tesla did not run over the EV badge but the following car ran over it and let's say this car was one of the increasing number of cars that do not come with a spare, would this story have made the paper? I wonder what the headline would have been. The Daily Mail is one of the worst culprits Daily Mail admits making up story about electric vehicles causing potholes

HOW DOES OPEC INFLUENCE GLOBAL OIL PRICES? OPEC says its member states' exports account for about 49% of global crude exports. OPEC estimates that its member countries hold about 80% of the world's proven oil reserves. Because of its large market share, the decisions OPEC makes can affect global oil prices. Its members meet regularly to decide how much oil to sell on global markets. As a result, when they lower supply in response to falling demand, oil prices tend to rise. Prices tend to fall when the group decides to supply more oil to the market. The OPEC+ group is currently cutting output by 5.86 million bpd, equal to about 5.7% of global demand. The cuts include 3.66 million bpd by OPEC+ members to the end of 2024. A further 2.2 million bpd of voluntary cuts by some members expire at the end of June.

A substantial part of the price of petrol is the price of crude oil. This is affected by natural supply and demand but also manipulation by OPEC" "Fluctuations in Mogas 95 and Gasoil are mainly determined by crude oil prices, which are linked to OPEC geopolitics and exchange rates, since the commodity is purchased in US dollars. It’s quite complex." Why do petrol prices keep going up, and how is it decided?

The complicating factor is production. Oil producers manipulate the price by how much they choose to produce.

There was a time when LED bulbs were expensive but now there is little logic in not updating. They use 80% less power and can be bought for as little as a dollar each. https://www.bunnings.com.au/luce-bella-a60-b22-led-806lm-cool-white-8w-globe-2-pack_p0254550

I had quite a good friend about 20 years ago whose surname was Hoare his first name was Richard although he went by the shortened version Dick. That's right "Dick Hoare" Sadly when I moved interstate I lost touch with him and by now I would imagine he would be deceased. He started out as a music student of mine which is a little uncommon because he was in his 70s at the time. Whilst having a chat after a lesson one week he revealed that he had been a pilot in the RAF in the 50s. It turns out he flew Metoers and Sycamore helicopters amongst other things and ended up as a RAF flying instructor. We became good friends and eventually, I would go to his house once a week and his granddaughter would come home from school at lunchtime and I would give her a lesson. He used to put on a fantastic lunch for me and we would hang out for many hours. Although 30 years my senior he was great to spend time with. He definitely was not a stereotypical old man

I have seen a few studies on this subject so I would think it is a known thing. I think the price of LEDs has come down. In any case the answer would not be to pull them down and replace them with antiquated technologies that cost a lot more to run and still have some of the same problems regarding wildlife. The answer would be to ensure that new installations were with LEDs can be adjusted to take into account wildlife considerations and any replacement of LEDs that are harmful should be a step forward to adjustable wavelength LEDs not back to sodium lighting or similar.

I think these days there is the potential for public lighting to be much smarter than it is. Why have street lighting on throughout the night when it could use motion detection? Wavelengths could alter automatically to take into account local wildlife. I remember in the early 2000s before LEDs Parliament House in Canberra started turning off its floodlighting during the Bogong moth migration times. Back in the early 2000s I had a friend who was an astronomer at ANU/Mt Stromlo and I remember he used to complain about the sodium street lighting being a wavelength that seriously interfered with observations from Mt Stromlo (before it burnt down). Here is an article about wildlife-friendly LEDs Wildlife Lighting – Wildlife Friendly LED Lights

LEDs can of course be any colour so perhaps the solution is to alter the wavelength. We have smart LED lights in our house and in the evening towards a more red end of the spectrum. The point is LED lights don't have to mimic daylight so the problem is not LEDs

This does not seem like much of an endorsement of Putin

Further to my last post. From Solar Analytics (a pro-solar group) Draft rule change allows network companies to charge for solar energy exported to the grid This may result in a reduction of your solar feed-in tariff (estimated around 2c/kWh), but could also increase feed-in tariffs at peak times (evening), making home battery storage more attractive These charges won’t apply until 2024 at the earliest The charges are intended to incentivise network companies to enable more rooftop solar to be connected and to export more solar to the grid We support these changes but only if they include the right for all customers to put solar on their roof, and to export a reasonable amount of solar back to the grid (networks currently can reject solar applications or solar export) Rooftop solar is still the cheapest form of electricity is a fantastic investment for most households

I wouldn't get overly concerned about this. As with many things, the detail is important. "According to the publicly available fact sheet, and a statement issued by Ausgrid on Thursday, “under the new pricing arrangements a typical solar customer could see an increase of $6.60 per year – or 13 cents a week. Some solar customers can expect a rebate.” Or, as the fact-sheet puts it: “If the retailer fully passed through our two-way tariff, a typical 5 kW solar customer will see an annual bill increase of $6.60 per year. This includes $13.30 a year of charges offset by $6.70 of export rebate.” It could be argued that if the grid took power it did not need at a cost and actually paid for it, it could be argued that those without solar would be footing the bill. I don't particularly have a problem with lower prices or even a small fee to offload power that the grid does not need. Of course, this is due to our antiquated grid and this will and is changing as we modernize the grid. My electricity bills are pretty small. Most of my savings come from utilizing the power I produce at the time I produce it. As lower-cost batteries become more common (sodium etc.) the preferable option will be to store our excess power for our own use. The media loves to present sensationalist headlines such as "sun tax coming" however when examined closely it is usually not what it may seem. For an in-depth analysis Export charges are coming! What does it mean and should you still get solar?

Yep and not very well done. Note the man with 2 left legs and the back half of the bike missing.

Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris as Democratic candidate

Not shocked but pleased 😀

Are you absolutely sure about that? As far as I am aware the only supermarket that charges extra for card transactions is Aldi which charges 0.5% for card purchases. If you are getting cash out then there is a 3% charge by the credit card company not the supermarket. I can say for sure that I do not pay any extra at Woolworths when I use my phone/credit card. I know this because every time I shop I get an e receipt. https://www.finder.com.au/credit-cards/how-to-avoid-bank-fees-at-the-supermarket

I use my phone for just about everything. If my phone were to be out of power I would just use my card. All of my cards are on my phone and in my wallet.

Orange lives matter!

These days there are more choices re crossbars on bikes. My bike has a mid crossbar which is somewhat lower than a traditional "mens bike". I have seen plenty of men riding what would have traditionally been called a women's bike.