I really enjoyed this post/newsletter on skibidi toilet and dialectic analysis 
https://etymology.substack.com/p/hegel-skibidi-toilet-and-language
Cam Wilson has taken over venerable Australian tech(ish) newsletter The Sizzle - Cam’s first issue is out today.
All the best to Anthony Agius for his non-retirement. https://thesizzle.beehiiv.com/p/us-spills-on-china-telecom-hack-crypto-s-big-2025-and-tech-in-aussie-election-firing-line https://decryption.net.au
The two genders: Githyanki and Githzerai.
(The New York Times seems unable to stop beclowning itself) 
Michael Leunig, Australian cartoonist, dies aged 79
I hope those memorialising him remember his recent comments and attitudes as well as his earlier work. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/19/michael-leunig-australian-cartoonist-dies-aged-79
I read more for pleasure this year than usual. Reading more widely led to some genuine surprises - and a few punishing tomes. Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake was the definite standout. https://outside.ofa.dog/user/ben_hr/2024-in-the-books?key=2b6b2a5226f74c10a123fc62e638eca7 https://outside.ofa.dog/book/154458/s/creation-lake
To give up one’s very self, to think only of others, that is the true meaning of Christmas. 
I’m dealing with generative A.I. use in assessment a lot at the moment. This is a good summary of the issues, but also describes the pressures and anxieties that students face as well as the structural drivers.
‘I received a first but it felt tainted and undeserved’: inside the university AI cheating cris... benhr.xyz https://benhr.xyz/2024/12/16/im-dealing-with.html
Climate change may have driven Homo sapiens to extinction in Europe before we were helped by Neanderthals. The Nature article provides more details.
I often wonder if the right species survived. 
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/news/2024/december/neanderthals-homo-sapiens-interbred-within-past-50000-years.html https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08420-x
Storing information for 2124 https://benhr.xyz/2024/12/12/storing-information-for.html
“Malaysia-based New Zealander hailed as the Tiger Woods of Scrabble” wins Spanish world title – despite not speaking Spanish https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/scrabble-star-nigel-richards-wins-spanish-world-title-despite-not-speaking-spanish
“it could be the first assassination in the United States using a 3D printed weapon“ https://www.404media.co/unitedhealthcare-shooting-person-of-interest-had-3d-printed-glock/
Interesting short video about the Catalan tradition of building human towers, or castells 
https://atmos.earth/javier-castan-depicts-the-castells-catalonias-human-towers/
Getting free from the slop machine https://benhr.xyz/2024/12/06/getting-free-from.html
Fascinating chart about Spotify’s increasingly granular (and bizarre) music genres, via Simon Elvery https://pudding.cool/2023/10/genre https://bne.social/@simon
The Lennox Street bridge underpass is an example of the old local government planning proverb: revenge is a dish best served via permanent signage.
The First Rule of Acquisition: Once you have their money, never give it back.
The Oxford Word of the Year 2024 is brain rot.
Interesting article on the rise of “nudging” in public policy, and how we can’t decouple behavioural economics' pernicious, intrinsically conservative influence from the historical context in which it emerged.
https://academic.oup.com/cje/advance-article/doi/10.1093/cje/beae038/7841518
This is wonderful. Unearthing video snapshots of life between 2009 and 2012.
Dancing, toddlers walking, soccer games, holidays, video messages. Surprisingly sweet insights into the recent past. via MeFi
https://walzr.com/IMG_0001 https://www.metafilter.com/206503/A-machine-for-inducing-nostalgia-for-a-brief-period-not-too-long-ago
Today I learned the Royal Society elected Elon Musk as a Fellow in 2018
https://deevybee.blogspot.com/2024/11/why-i-have-resigned-from-royal-society.html