Robert Merkel
@rgmerk.bsky.social
code monkey, former SE academic. Obsessed with renewable energy.
The idea that the Nationals and Liberals can disassociate themselves from each other and satisfy their respective voting bases is just nonsense. If you think either party would give up the opportunity to get back on the government benches, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
January 22, 2026 at 7:17 AM
The idea that the Nationals and Liberals can disassociate themselves from each other and satisfy their respective voting bases is just nonsense. If you think either party would give up the opportunity to get back on the government benches, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.
Good things are possible, and we should just do them more often.
Have you heard the good news about congestion pricing?
NYC's congestion pricing has been running for a year now. How's it doing?
Kate Slevin joins me to break down the almost unqualified success of the controversial program's first year.
www.volts.wtf
January 9, 2026 at 11:23 AM
Good things are possible, and we should just do them more often.
Definitely one of those “but it’s a DRY heat” days in Melbourne. It’s 39 out here but it really isn’t unbearable.
January 9, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Definitely one of those “but it’s a DRY heat” days in Melbourne. It’s 39 out here but it really isn’t unbearable.
Reposted by Robert Merkel
A Royal Commission's role isn't to solve intractable policy problems, generate expert consensus nor provide public soapboxes.
They're powerful quasi-judicial bodies with the power to compel evidence even from typically privileged sources.
And that's why they should be used sparingly.
They're powerful quasi-judicial bodies with the power to compel evidence even from typically privileged sources.
And that's why they should be used sparingly.
January 6, 2026 at 3:57 AM
A Royal Commission's role isn't to solve intractable policy problems, generate expert consensus nor provide public soapboxes.
They're powerful quasi-judicial bodies with the power to compel evidence even from typically privileged sources.
And that's why they should be used sparingly.
They're powerful quasi-judicial bodies with the power to compel evidence even from typically privileged sources.
And that's why they should be used sparingly.
Of course, the actual doctors spend most of the article talking about diet, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and exercise, which are far more determinative of your cancer risk than either of these real but comparatively minor factors: www.smh.com.au/healthcare/h...
January 3, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Of course, the actual doctors spend most of the article talking about diet, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and exercise, which are far more determinative of your cancer risk than either of these real but comparatively minor factors: www.smh.com.au/healthcare/h...
PSA for Melbourne cyclists, if you're going up or down Mount Donna Buang from the Warburton side, there's dozens of blown out tyres and their associated bits of steel belt strewn over the road near the big car park a couple of km from the summit. I got a puncture on the way down.
January 1, 2026 at 11:56 AM
PSA for Melbourne cyclists, if you're going up or down Mount Donna Buang from the Warburton side, there's dozens of blown out tyres and their associated bits of steel belt strewn over the road near the big car park a couple of km from the summit. I got a puncture on the way down.
Yes, but also Baumol.
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 27, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Yes, but also Baumol.
Jeebus. One way or the other this test will end without a player scoring a 50.
December 27, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Jeebus. One way or the other this test will end without a player scoring a 50.
The serious answer is likely “he gives good quotes and is plausibly an expert in something”, which is all a journalist on a deadline usually needs.
Excuse me why is anyone asking Mike Pezzullo anything?
December 21, 2025 at 11:13 PM
The serious answer is likely “he gives good quotes and is plausibly an expert in something”, which is all a journalist on a deadline usually needs.
Reposted by Robert Merkel
Eternally this
Excuse me why is anyone asking Mike Pezzullo anything?
December 19, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Eternally this
Reposted by Robert Merkel
This entire opinion piece by Chip le Grand does not mention ISIS a single time. Not once. Instead it repeatedly suggests that the cause of the Bondi attack was Labor's failure to crack down harder on Gaza protests and related antisemitism. www.smh.com.au/national/lab...
December 20, 2025 at 9:08 PM
This entire opinion piece by Chip le Grand does not mention ISIS a single time. Not once. Instead it repeatedly suggests that the cause of the Bondi attack was Labor's failure to crack down harder on Gaza protests and related antisemitism. www.smh.com.au/national/lab...
Reposted by Robert Merkel
not that the present economic picture is rosy, but i do think that popular culture — and specifically nostalgia bait television — is a big part of the reason that our public memory of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s seems to miss the real economic pain that marked each of those decades.
December 20, 2025 at 2:44 PM
not that the present economic picture is rosy, but i do think that popular culture — and specifically nostalgia bait television — is a big part of the reason that our public memory of the 1970s, 1980s and even 1990s seems to miss the real economic pain that marked each of those decades.
Inevitable, bad, and why requiring porn sites to collect personal information about their users is a bad idea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Hackers access Pornhub’s premium users’ viewing habits and search history
ShinyHunters group reportedly behind the hack affecting data of 200m users thought to be from before 2021
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Inevitable, bad, and why requiring porn sites to collect personal information about their users is a bad idea.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Robert Merkel
Good. Now do inner Melbourne. These trees are a menace in all respects. (Including for hay fever.) There must be better shade tree options!
Twenty-five London plane trees are set to be removed from Hamilton after they were found to be causing problems with local infrastructure.
London plane trees to be cut down in main street of Victorian city
Twenty-five London plane trees are set to be removed from Hamilton after they were found to be causing problems with local infrastructure.
www.abc.net.au
December 15, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Good. Now do inner Melbourne. These trees are a menace in all respects. (Including for hay fever.) There must be better shade tree options!
Lots of discussion about gun laws today, understandably.
One basic point I'd like to make is that you wouldn't want people running around hunting rabbits with deer rifles, which might be an unintended consequence of a blanket one-gun-per-adult policy.
One basic point I'd like to make is that you wouldn't want people running around hunting rabbits with deer rifles, which might be an unintended consequence of a blanket one-gun-per-adult policy.
December 15, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Lots of discussion about gun laws today, understandably.
One basic point I'd like to make is that you wouldn't want people running around hunting rabbits with deer rifles, which might be an unintended consequence of a blanket one-gun-per-adult policy.
One basic point I'd like to make is that you wouldn't want people running around hunting rabbits with deer rifles, which might be an unintended consequence of a blanket one-gun-per-adult policy.
Reposted by Robert Merkel
December 9, 2025 at 10:51 AM
WTAF?
December 7, 2025 at 7:53 PM
WTAF?
This thing is a gimmick: It runs a few times a day on a 3km route.
December 6, 2025 at 3:29 AM
This thing is a gimmick: It runs a few times a day on a 3km route.
Examples of these trucks were at the recent Melbourne EV show.
We can electrify heavy transport if we want to, though the trucking industry, particularly owner drivers, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming.
We can electrify heavy transport if we want to, though the trucking industry, particularly owner drivers, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming.
Gavin Mooney: "China is electrifying its trucking fleet so fast that it’s now reshaping global diesel demand.
This has not been widely covered by the mainstream media."
#battchat #alwaysbecharging
www.linkedin.com/posts/gavinm...
This has not been widely covered by the mainstream media."
#battchat #alwaysbecharging
www.linkedin.com/posts/gavinm...
December 3, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Examples of these trucks were at the recent Melbourne EV show.
We can electrify heavy transport if we want to, though the trucking industry, particularly owner drivers, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming.
We can electrify heavy transport if we want to, though the trucking industry, particularly owner drivers, will probably have to be dragged kicking and screaming.
While there is nuance in the details, ultimately, this appears to be a "computer says no" system, designed on the basis that human assessors are too susceptible to sympathetic applications.
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
December 3, 2025 at 5:22 AM
While there is nuance in the details, ultimately, this appears to be a "computer says no" system, designed on the basis that human assessors are too susceptible to sympathetic applications.
Reposted by Robert Merkel
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
December 3, 2025 at 12:34 AM
EXCLUSIVE: Funding and support plans for national disability insurance scheme participants will be generated by a computer program and staff will have no discretion to amend them, under a major overhaul of the NDIS to be rolled out next year, @australia.theguardian.com can reveal.
Brought to you by the letters I, B, and M.
my "not a blacklist" shirt has a lot of people asking questions already answered by my shirt
November 25, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Brought to you by the letters I, B, and M.
With grant success rates this low it is essentially impossible for young researchers to make their way - and if it’s this bad for DECRAs, imagine what it’s like for people in the post-DECRA valley of death.
DECRA success rate is the lowest in 14 years, since 2012 (1st year the scheme ran).
What a pathetic system we have for supporting new ideas, new people…
DE26: 13.1%
25: 17.9
24: 19.6
23: 15.0
22: 19.7
21: 17.1
20: 16.0
19: 17.2
18: 16.3
17: 16.7
16: 16.4
15: 14.3
14: 13.6
13: 15.6
12: 12.8
What a pathetic system we have for supporting new ideas, new people…
DE26: 13.1%
25: 17.9
24: 19.6
23: 15.0
22: 19.7
21: 17.1
20: 16.0
19: 17.2
18: 16.3
17: 16.7
16: 16.4
15: 14.3
14: 13.6
13: 15.6
12: 12.8
🚨 #DECRA #DE26 announcement:
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/a3f6be6e-33f7-4fb5-98a6-7526aaa184cf/285
/bot
❗️Outcomes announced publicly for Discovery Early Career Researcher Award 2026❗️
See ARC's RMS for list ➡️ https://rms.arc.gov.au/RMS/Report/Download/Report/a3f6be6e-33f7-4fb5-98a6-7526aaa184cf/285
/bot
November 25, 2025 at 12:54 AM
With grant success rates this low it is essentially impossible for young researchers to make their way - and if it’s this bad for DECRAs, imagine what it’s like for people in the post-DECRA valley of death.
Betteridge's Law strikes again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Onboard the world’s largest sailing cargo ship: is this the future of travel and transport?
The Neoliner Origin set off on its inaugural two-week voyage from France to the US with the aim of revolutionising the notoriously dirty shipping industry
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Betteridge's Law strikes again. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
This is…not great.
There might be a (kinda) national gas market but the ability to move gas around the nation is constrained by available pipeline capacity, and there is also limits to the ability to store gas to meet peak demand in winter - which is where the risk of shortages comes from.
There might be a (kinda) national gas market but the ability to move gas around the nation is constrained by available pipeline capacity, and there is also limits to the ability to store gas to meet peak demand in winter - which is where the risk of shortages comes from.
Victoria produces more gas than it uses, so how is the state on the verge of a gas shortfall?
Is Victoria really facing a gas shortfall?
Victoria produces more gas than it uses, so how is the state on the verge of a gas shortfall?
www.abc.net.au
November 18, 2025 at 9:06 PM
This is…not great.
There might be a (kinda) national gas market but the ability to move gas around the nation is constrained by available pipeline capacity, and there is also limits to the ability to store gas to meet peak demand in winter - which is where the risk of shortages comes from.
There might be a (kinda) national gas market but the ability to move gas around the nation is constrained by available pipeline capacity, and there is also limits to the ability to store gas to meet peak demand in winter - which is where the risk of shortages comes from.