What does 'remastering' an album actually mean?
What does “remastered” actually mean? Here we go.
Writing
Here's a selection of my work:
22 years later, modders are keeping SimCity 4 alive
On SimCity 4's enduringly lovely modding community, and how they've kept the game alive long after its proverbial sell-by date.
Pitch perfect: why listening to cricket on radio soothes a world that won’t hear sense
A paean to listening to the radio cricket commentary, a reflection on the state of the world, and a meditation on the joys (and perils) of nostalgia.
The 'voices' that people with schizophrenia hear could be echoes of their own vocalizations
This is a subject that's both really fascinating and really nuanced. It represented the biggest challenge I've had to communicate something in accessible terms—and I think I did a good job!
Reflections on Rowland
Some belated thoughts on the great Rowland S. Howard. (Pic: Kane Hibberd)
Yes, the moon has an atmosphere—and it’s metal as hell
\m/ \m/
Opioids Watched in Real Time as They Work Deep Inside The Brain
It's actually kinda wild how little we know when it comes to the details of about how opioids actually work.
The mystery of cats and their love of imaginary boxes
I wrote about cats! For the internet!
Sam Bankman-Fried, a puffed-up messiah who took the gullible down with him
Crypto: it's all fun and games until it hurts real people. Which it does.
The music site Bandcamp is beloved and unique. I shudder at its corporate takeover
Why culture is too important to entrust to the invisible hand.
Why is it now so hard to get my ADHD medication?
ADHD part two, med shortage boogaloo.
Why our brains think fake hands are part of our bodies
A piece for Popular Science about the body transfer illusion. Want to feel like you have three arms? Step this way, kids!
Chai standards
In which I drive out to Werribee in search of decent chai, and get all the feels about India. मेरा भारत महान
Wishing on a bottled star
I take it upon myself to write about nuclear fusion, because physics is fascinating! (PDF)
The Australian welfare system has always been needlessly cruel. Now it’s punishing half the country
As if Coronavirus wasn''t bad enough...
Tuning out the static: It took 40 years before I found out that I have ADHD
On being diagnosed with ADHD at 40. It's been a surprisingly positive development!
Science never quite clicked for me at school. Then I discovered science YouTube
My latest obsession (or one of them, anyway): science YouTube!
Çaykh: V I S C 0 9 Album Review | Pitchfork
A review of a really fascinating mixtape for Pitchfork.
Americans Have More Guns
A parody of a ridiculous New York Times op-ed about Australia.
Cat Condo is the stupidest, most cynical game... So why can’t I stop playing?
For the love of god why can I not stop playing this goddamn game
The Block: an Australian obsession, and for some, a life-changing disaster
This week brought the news that “an alarming number” of former residents of Melbourne’s Gatwick Hotel are now in jail. It’s not like no one could see this coming.
Our casual use of military jargon is normalizing the militarization of society
Looking into a subject that has long fascinated me — the way in which military jargon has pervaded common vocabulary.
Elliott Smith - The J Files
An in-depth examination of Elliott Smith's music and the way that it connects to the many different places he called home.
Why the Most Important Olympic Basketball Team Wasn't the Dream Team
Fun fact: This was Rolling Stone's most read sports-related article of the year.
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