Working on embedded and automation software for portable atomic clocks at Adelaide University, former atomic physicist, generally a nerd
Joined December 2009
- Tweets 10,225
- Following 211
- Followers 5,905
- Likes 2,040
5,928 Photos and videos
Chris Billington retweeted
16 Oct 2025
I did a deep dive into this CR investigation for my blog. Their reporting has a number of concerning errors that completely undermine their findings. Chief among these is a reliance on CA's pseudo-scientific daily lead limits that are far lower than average human intake.
14 Oct 2025
my latest investigation for @ConsumerReports is based on months of reporting and 60 lab tests of leading protein supplements
we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day β some by more than 10 times !
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16 Jul 2025
Rent assistance is broadly favoured by economists over most housing affordability interventions, it was a recommendation of the 2010 Henry Tax Review, and of the 2022 National Housing and Homelessness Agreement review from the Productivity Commission.
15 Jul 2025
There it is folks.
Like clockwork.
Rent assistance on the way.
If you understand how the system works, predicting what happens next actually isn't that hard.
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16 Jul 2025
This is rational, expert-driven policy, far from the cynical brain-fart some seem to be pattern-matching it to.
It's not a complete solution by itself to housing affordability, but it makes sense for a good policy package on housing affordability to include rent assistance.
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Chris Billington retweeted
9 Jul 2025
The AI 2027 scenario is terrifying and important. More people should be thinking about how radical change might come over the next few years, how likely it is, and how a sane world would be reacting to it.
We want to bring you into the story, and the conversation. Video here:
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8 Jul 2025
Confused by the disdain the timeline seems to have for speed dating.
It's not a substitute for dates, it's a substitute for swiping.
it's swiping but with gender parity, being forced to spend 5m on each person, filtered for people who bothered to leave the house and aren't bots
F: hey would you enjoy going a date but there's 90% chance I'll reject you and I gotta run 5 minutes after we start
M: wtf no that sounds awful
F: ok how about 10 of these in a row?
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7 Jul 2025
If it were about environmentalism, Europeans would all have AC as a side effect of using heat pumps for heating, unless deliberately crippled to not to be able to run in reverse.
The environmentalism angle seems pretty BS if they're wasting energy by not even using heat pumps
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18 May 2025
Love it when something totally inexplicable happens in a book, all the characters are like "what the fuck", and you know it's actually gonna have an explanation because it's not a TV show
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17 May 2025
...why? Who asked for this?
I don't think we need more tax transfers to seniors, does anyone think we do?
Or do seniors need extra incentives to use PT or something? Do we want to get them of the roads, are they causing too many accidents?
What is the angle here
17 May 2025
From January 1: Free public transport for seniors on weekends. Anywhere in Victoria.
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13 May 2025
Lolwut, apparently Sussan Ley intentionally added the extra s to her name
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Chris Billington retweeted
25 Apr 2025
The Australian Border Force wonβt stop searching me and my personal devices when I visit Australia. Despite being an Australian citizen, under Australian law, I have zero recourse to this continued flagrant invasion of my privacy. After two years of harassment I am publicizing this as a considered next step in an effort to make it stop.
(Link below).
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Chris Billington retweeted
21 Apr 2025
at this point the 'purpose of a system is what it does' analysis suggests that the purpose of the Trump administration is to take things it could easily do legally, instead do them illegally, get sued, and lose
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14 Apr 2025
Supply is the main issue, but I feel like the 5% deposit scheme is an improvement anyway. 20% deposits essentially play the role of insurance, and delay buying a home for people who can otherwise afford it. Government seems well-placed to play insurer.
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14 Apr 2025
One reason LMI costs so much is that housing downturns tend to be widespread and correlated, making it a poor fit for private insurance. A government role here makes sense to me. Happy to hear otherwise if there are good arguments, I'm no expert.
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Chris Billington retweeted
13 Apr 2025
I like using em dashes but now people will think I'm writing AI
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13 Apr 2025
Don't needlessly throw babies out with bathwater.
Yes, schools could handle boys better. The all-boys school I went to knew you had to tire them out with sports if you wanted them to focus.
Also ADHD is real and stimulants are highly effective at treating it, helping many.
13 Apr 2025
ADHD culture in America is basically "You're a rambunctious kid, so we're going to put you on a slightly weaker form of meth for your whole life"
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13 Apr 2025
The hilarious thing is that even NIST itself requires users to change their password on a schedule, in violation of its own recommendation on the matter
(at least, this was the case a few years ago)
12 Apr 2025
The latest NIST standard recommends against forcing password changes except in the event of breaches. You can lecture your IT department if they're still making you do this.
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12 Apr 2025
Perhaps an underappreciated reason for due process and transparency in immigration.
Some such stories may be made up, but we have no way of telling which - everyone's just going on priors.
It's bad if they're true, and corrosive to democracy if they're not. People should know! x.com/aviflombaum/status/191β¦
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12 Apr 2025
Quoted tweet was deleted (I think). It was saying a story sounded made up, the story being about an Australian who had been living in the US for ages being denied re-entry and their visa cancelled.
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