Leigh :) Stark ๐Ÿฆ„
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leighlo.bsky.social
Leigh :) Stark ๐Ÿฆ„
@leighlo.bsky.social
1K followers 310 following 630 posts
Award-winning tech journalist & editor pickr.com.au. As heard on ABC, 2HD, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR, and more. Media appearances at pickr.com.au/about/media/ Journalist. Reviewer. SEO. Author. Photographer. Geek dad. Created simplsaver.com. Happy to help.
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A total surprise last night: my publication @pickrau.bsky.social grabbed the Best Independent Coverage award at the 2025 Australian IT Journalism Awards. Humbled by it all.
My guess is it's been considered. Affinity was a buy once concept before Canva got involved. I have a license. lol.
Was literally going to suggest this.
If you have 30 seconds and like Wordle (or even if you hate it, but like word games), I'd love to hear what you think about a game I've made: BleepWords.

It's a soft launch. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Share to friends, family, and people who love words.
BleepWords
Play the game that's all about choosing the right !@#$ing word. It's almost never the one you expect.
bleepwords.com
When you get to the final level, finding the submit button, the keys are designed to go back to normal again.

You can technically select a date. But it's a bit of punishing ux. And if you step in a poo emoji, you lose a day, because like real life, it takes about a day to clear it up.
It's intentionally evil ux.

The keys and directions don't move properly because the ux is so bad. There are a set of keys that always move the right way, but the documentation is equally bad, so I've just kind of left it out.
A colleague suggested I release this on Steam. Not sure it's worth the Steam listing price, but having a ponder.

Can evil ux be a game?
Clearly, I needed to change the fact that there weren't any Australian entries in the Bad UX World Cup.

So here's a somewhat evil date picker made for gamers who want to throw their phones across the room, and who will quickly realise you can't cheat on desktop, either.
Datehack - A Roguelike Date Picker
leighlo.com
I built something in a few minutes of spare time. It's particularly evil, but also quite bad. leighlo.com/datehack.html
Datehack - A Roguelike Date Picker
leighlo.com
We can only hope it's better than that last game.
Kind of want to enter. Does that make me a bad person?
So I should pitch a different time slot then.
Maybe I need to pitch a drive time radio show where for an hour people can get angry at their devices for tech support, get answers, and feel happier overall. Maybe.
Last night on ABC Adelaide, a caller doubted my expectation that it was an update that caused the DNS issue.

Turns out it was an update. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...
No prize for guessing what today's radio spots will cover.
All good mate. Have a great evening.
I haven't. I get your logic, but again, I don't see it the same way.

And while social isn't the internet per se, I think arming kids and teens with good education is better than blocking them from using it.

It also basically encourages parents to do little because the ban will take care of it.
Parents typically talk to their kids about drinking as they grow. How many kids had tastes as they grew up?

Plus parents should talk to their kids about excess, and not drinking when driving.

I hear this logic often and don't think it's quite the same.

The ban is saying nothing until 16.
You're absolutely right. But that doesn't mean we don't try.

My kids are already asking questions. And I'm a technology journalist, so I'm naturally trying to be as transparent with them as possible.

I think the effort of education is a better try than a ban. Each to their own.
Again, not attacking anyone who supports the ban. I get it. I get the need to act. Some of the stories coming out from parents dealing with this are heartbreaking. I don't have a solution there.

But I don't believe collective education has been tried by the government on this. And it should.
The problem Graeme is it recommends everyone do something, but stops short of providing actionable education to parents and kids. And then covers it with a government rush job of a ban by December.

That doesn't read as a genuine attempt at long term action. Not to me, anyway.
I don't think there's a quick cover all fix for this.

But a ban blocking young people from social when their world is connected and digital presents harms, too.

That's why it was so crucial the government listen when it pitched the idea, rather than rush it through.