Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Mature gent strolls along the suburban shopping strip. Grey hair and beard, jeans and an obscure old band t-shirt, a small backpack dangling from his hand. As he passes I catch a whiff of Bodyshop’s White Musk, freshly applied.

#CafeLife

November 26, 2025 at 10:29 PM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

kottke.org

@kottke.org

“Art is valuable precisely because it is not easy to create. We are interested in art, in any and all of its forms, because humans made it. That’s the very thing that makes it interesting; the who, the how, and especially the why.” [joshcollinsworth.com]

Alchemy

Some thoughts on attempts to create gold out of nothing, and how generative AI, in many ways, mirrors that doomed pursuit

joshcollinsworth.com

November 26, 2025 at 7:42 PM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Kaz Cooke

@kazcooke.bsky.social

This sets out the clear, bullet-point agreed plan that, if funded by Australian governments, would stop most ongoing family violence & make women & children way safer. Governments choose not to, while spending $60m on PNG men's rugby, $96m on crap BOMsite, millions on dicky consultants, etc.

Women's Agenda @womensagenda.bsky.social · 1d

Australia knows how to end gender-based violence. What we lack is the political will to make the fiscal decisions that match the crisis, writes Katherine Berney.
womensagenda.com.au/latest/austr...

Australia knows how to end violence against women. What we lack is the will to pay for it.

Australia knows how to end gender-based violence. What we lack is the political will to make the fiscal decisions that match the crisis.

womensagenda.com.au

November 26, 2025 at 12:21 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Four more sleeps to the start of #Whamageddon 🎶

November 25, 2025 at 9:32 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Ixia ‘Elvira’
Carpet rose (madly overgrown)

Viewed from above, ixia flowers arch elegantly over a bright blue watering can. The flowers are closely spaced along a slender stem; each boom has six pointed petals of palest icy blue, with a darker blue centre.

Close-up photo of a deep pink rosebud, slightly opened, against a background of dark glossy foliage and multiple other flower buds.

Photo of a ridiculously big rose bush on a sunny afternoon. It’s nearly 2 metres tall at its highest point, and about 3 m across. Deep pink flowers are unfurling all over the plant. Its leaves are dark and glossy. In the background, a sliver of house wall and a bright blue sky streaked with white clouds.

November 25, 2025 at 9:10 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Kaz Cooke

@kazcooke.bsky.social

'Some staff are shocked?' ALL recently forced out staff, & the few experts left, everyone who isn't in the questionable senior management tier knows that the State Library in Melbourne is teetering on the brink of irreparable disaster & the end of this iconic Library as we know it. Inquiry now.

The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 2d

The State Library of Victoria’s ‘major’ proposed cuts include slashing the number of reference librarians and free computers for public access. Some staff are shocked.

Proposed cuts at State Library of Victoria go against its mission – and will hurt the disadvantaged

theconversation.com

November 24, 2025 at 5:31 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Fiona Tribe

@fionatribe.bsky.social

Ask your depressed friend to help you out with something. I don’t care if it’s helping you try out a new recipe, or helping you choose something good to watch on TV — it’s a way of keeping connected that doesn’t make them feel like the burden they often (wrongly) feel they are.

November 24, 2025 at 1:35 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

The Australia Institute

@australiainstitute.org.au

"Right now, this region, is under siege, in large part due to insatiable corporate and government desires to ‘develop’ the North," writes @euanritchie.bsky.social in The Point.

Northern Australia is extraordinary, and it’s under severe threat

Right now, this region, is under siege, in large part due to insatiable corporate and government desires to ‘develop’ the North.

thepoint.com.au

November 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

ping @drspacejunk.bsky.social

kottke.org @kottke.org · Oct 16

Good luck losing less than an hour to this: a huge archive of logos for government, non-profit, private, military, and even fictional space agencies and companies. [kottke.org]

The Space Exploration Logo Archive

Good luck losing less than an hour to this: a huge archive of logos for government, non-profit, private, military, and even fictional space agencies and companies. There is also a book, but it looks like it was only

kottke.org

November 23, 2025 at 9:18 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Here on #Wadawurrung country: 5.6 mm of rain in the last 24 hours.
Sister’s place across the bay, on #Boonwurrung country: 27 mm.

November 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Kaz Cooke

@kazcooke.bsky.social

#Victorians! Our State Library is being trashed by a series of executives with no experience or understanding of public collections. Many hired as 'temps' without full process, who then caused scandals & exodus of specialist & librarian staff: a full wreck looms. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...

State Library proposes major cuts to staff and services

The library plans halve the number of reference librarians it employs and reduce the number of computers available for public use in a move that has outraged staff.

www.theage.com.au

November 22, 2025 at 12:05 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Michael Haslam

@twigtechnology.bsky.social

Seals singing in a sea cave

#Orkney 🦭🎧

November 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

We gave up on Covid-19 and now we’re apparently giving up on eradicating the varroa mite that’s killing bees in vast numbers.
No bees = no crops, no food.

1EarthMedia @1earthmedia.bsky.social · 5d

We'll miss the bees when they're gone

Varroa mite detected at Salt Creek, South Australia
"Since the national decision to transition to management, we are now focused on managing varroa in a way that minimises its impact, while ensuring business continuity.."

#auspol
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Varroa mite found at second site in South Australia

The deadly bee parasite has been detected in South Australia again — this time in the state's south-east.

www.abc.net.au

November 21, 2025 at 8:44 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

erin mccann

@mccanner.bsky.social

Like many places these days, Scotland lets the public name their snow plows. But they take it up a notch and offer a live tracking map so you can follow Thistle Grit Through, Robert Brrrns and Ice Sweeper Willie on their rounds

www.traffic.gov.scot/gritter-trac...

November 21, 2025 at 2:48 AM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Lovely Cathy and her sweet golden staffy rescue Ruby accused me today of being a dog whisperer ☺️

#CafeLife
#TellYourDogISaidHi
#ItWorksOnCatsToo

November 21, 2025 at 2:14 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

peter fyfe

@fyfepeter.bsky.social

a polite reminder that surveys, especially customer feedback surveys, are not completed under oath and it is your solemn duty as someone uncomfortable with the trajectory of late capitalism to subvert the dominant paradigm and make your answers unusable, specious and hilarious

November 18, 2025 at 11:25 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Aristotle: Politika

(commenting on the Carthaginians, a nation of traders and merchants)

“They think that the rulers should be chosen not only for their merit but also for their wealth, as it is not possible for a poor man to govern well or to have leisure for his duties ... It is a bad thing that the greatest offices of state, the kingship and the generalship, should be for sale. For this law makes wealth more honored than worth, and renders the whole state avaricious; And it is probable that those who purchase their office will learn by degrees to make a profit out of it.”

November 21, 2025 at 12:26 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

ptom

@ptom.net

For those interested in the ritualistic and monumental places of ancestral peoples, I cannot recommend Dr. Kelly's "The Memory Code" highly enough. Its narrative approach to the anthropology of pre-literate memory is filled with a deep respect and affection for humanity and its grand endeavors.

The Memory Code

Share on

www.lynnekelly.com.au

November 20, 2025 at 4:13 AM

Reposted by Margaret L Ruwoldt

Rachel Happe

@rhappe.bsky.social

This is fabulous -

Communicating online generally and moderating communities specifically, is one of the best leadership development experiences anyone can have.

All teenagers would benefit from it.

New_ Public @newpublic.org · 6d

RESEARCH: What happens when teens steward their own digital spaces?

A study of Discord servers run by and for teens found that moderators not only gained valuable skills, but were better at maintaining engaging, healthy spaces for their peers.

The kids will be alright 🥹

dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Quote from P4 in italic serif font on white background: "I think that people are most effectively able to moderate if they actually care about the community ... [It's also very important] to be a role model to the community. When you're more invested, the community is going to respect you more and listen to you more than someone who has absolutely no idea how the game works. They're obviously not going to listen to what they have to say."

Quote from P3 in italic serif font on white background: "We discuss moderation tactics, best practices for keeping ourselves healthy, keeping communities healthy, make ways to make our lives easier, ways to make sure that we're doing the best job possible ... It's really, really useful to have mentors and people that are way more experienced than me to guide me through different elements of Discord moderation that I've never delved into before."

Quote from P2 in italic serif font on white background: "I think that through Discord, there can be meaningful conversations on relationships, teaching people, connections, that aren't found in schools ... [Our Discord community is] providing that space to be able to [talk to others] in a way that's like, a healthy space. If anything goes wrong, there's actually something [that's going to be] done about it instead of just like being like, 'It happens.' ...[The fact] that [disagreements] are communicated about, and the respect, those are key factors to our group."

Quote from P4 in italic serif font on white background: "Moderation has helped me understand a lot about how to deal with people, especially with regards to managing conflicts, resolving them, working with different types of people [from around the world] ... It has basically helped me a lot in terms of the sort of soft skills that you need to run a community smoothly."

November 20, 2025 at 6:34 PM

Margaret L Ruwoldt

@emelaarghh.bsky.social

Mid-century modernism at the Gordon Institute in Geelong, built in the 1950s. The neighboring Lascelles Laboratory building with its classical frills is a little older (1920s).