mckenart has added a photo to the pool:
The kangaroos here are not the least worried about human visitors.
mckenart has added a photo to the pool:
The Coombabah Lakeland has some of the nicest stands of paperbacks I've ever seen.
Tasmanian.Kris has added a photo to the pool:
Pushed blacks, closed aperture, big drama. This cloud looks like it’s about to lecture you on the failures of liberal democracy. Or start a cult.
John from Brisbane has added a photo to the pool:
History
This timber hall was completed in 1936 at Boonarga, a small settlement approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southeast of Chinchilla. The hall was erected as a monument to the cactoblastis moth which overcame prickly pear in Queensland and New South Wales during the late 1920s and early 1930s.
The appearance of prickly pear in Queensland has been attributed to a small number of prickly pear plants brought to Queensland c. 1843 as garden plants. By 1862 prickly pear was growing in the Chinchilla district and spread rapidly in areas where land holdings were extensive and population relatively low.
Prickly pear was declared a noxious weed in Queensland in 1893. By 1900 approximately 10,000,000 acres (4,000,000 ha) were affected by prickly pear; an area which had extended to an estimated 58,000,000 acres (23,000,000 ha) by 1920. About half of this area was so densely covered by prickly pear that the land was useless for production. The costs of mechanical and chemical methods of eradication exceeded the value of the land and therefore did not prove economically viable for controlling the spread of prickly pear.
In 1912, the Queensland government established an experimental station in the heart of prickly pear country at Dulacca under the direction of a full-time scientist. The biologist chosen to establish and run this experimental station was Dr. Jean White-Haney. These investigations were regarded as "a great experiment in scientific research"; an experiment which was considered almost unique at this time. The progress of these investigations was followed by the international scientific community.
In 1925, 3000 cactoblastis eggs were imported from South America. These eggs were divided between the Sherwood laboratory, and the Chinchilla Field Station which had been established in 1923 as one of four Queensland field stations responsible for rearing and distributing insect supplies. The first prickly pear plant was destroyed by the cactoblastis moth at Chinchilla in September 1926. The last extensive area of prickly pear in Queensland was destroyed in 1933, and the Chinchilla Field Station was closed at the end of 1936.
The Chinchilla district was one of many areas which experienced renewed prosperity as land cleared of prickly pear was utilised for agriculture and dairying pursuits.
Proposals to erect a hall at Boonarga were first discussed in July 1934, at which time a public meeting was held and a Hall Committee appointed. Land for the proposed hall was donated by Mrs Fahey, a resident of Boonarga. In October 1934 the Committee decided to name the hall the Boonarga Cactoblastis Memorial Hall in honour of the cactoblastis moth. Finance for the hall was arranged through the Bank of New South Wales in Chinchilla with a number of Boonarga residents acting as guarantors.
Tenders for the erection of the hall were called by the Committee in June 1935. Although a tender was recommended for acceptance, tenders were reinvited in July 1935. The hall was built by local builder Mr Jack Schloss, at a cost of £435 and opened in February 1936 by Godfrey Morgan, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. A gala ball was held to mark the occasion.
Alterations to the hall in 1963 included the addition of the second aisle on the southeastern side of the hall. A new dance floor was laid c. 1985. The hall is presently used as a venue for dances, meetings and other functions.
With thanks to Wikipedia. No AI.
Here is the link for the full article with more information.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cactoblastis_Memorial_Hall
DEN HAAG (ANP) - In Groningen, Friesland en Drenthe is het risico op natuurbranden weer op het laagste niveau. Nu de noordelijke provincies als laatste ook weer in de zogeheten fase 1 zijn, betekent dit dat in heel Nederland een "regulier risico" bestaat op een brand in bijvoorbeeld bos- of heidegebied.
In fase 1 zijn natuurbeheerders en hulpdiensten voorbereid op een natuurbrand, maar zijn er geen extra maatregelen actief. Bij de volgende fase, het hoogste niveau van natuurbrandrisico, wordt mensen in de natuur gevraagd extra op te letten en zijn natuurbeheerders en hulpdiensten extra alert.
De Friese gemeente Weststellingwerf en het Drentse Westerveld hebben zaterdag het rook- en stookverbod ingetrokken. De gemeenten besloten hiertoe naar aanleiding van het verlaagde risico op natuurbranden.
Polly M.K. has added a photo to the pool:
Kameido Schrein, Tokyo
Der Kameido Schrein ist bekannt für seinen wunderschönen Wisteria Garten. Entsprechend viele Leute waren dort, um Fotos zu machen. Es war schon später Nachmittag, der Himmel war diesig bis wolkig.
Polly M.K. has added a photo to the pool:
Kameido Schrein, Tokyo
Der Kameido Schrein ist bekannt für seinen wunderschönen Wisteria Garten. Entsprechend viele Leute waren dort, um Fotos zu machen. Es war schon später Nachmittag, der Himmel war diesig bis wolkig.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept: The company behind the Proton Mail email service, Proton, describes itself as a "neutral and safe haven for your personal data, committed to defending your freedom." But last month, Proton disabled email accounts belonging to journalists reporting on security breaches of various South Korean government computer systems following a complaint by an unspecified cybersecurity agency. After a public outcry, and multiple weeks, the journalists' accounts were eventually reinstated -- but the reporters and editors involved still want answers on how and why Proton decided to shut down the accounts in the first place.
Martin Shelton, deputy director of digital security at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, highlighted that numerous newsrooms use Proton's services as alternatives to something like Gmail "specifically to avoid situations like this," pointing out that "While it's good to see that Proton is reconsidering account suspensions, journalists are among the users who need these and similar tools most." Newsrooms like The Intercept, the Boston Globe, and the Tampa Bay Times all rely on Proton Mail for emailed tip submissions. Shelton noted that perhaps Proton should "prioritize responding to journalists about account suspensions privately, rather than when they go viral." On Reddit, Proton's official account stated that "Proton did not knowingly block journalists' email accounts" and that the "situation has unfortunately been blown out of proportion."
The two journalists whose accounts were disabled were working on an article published in the August issue of the long-running hacker zine Phrack. The story described how a sophisticated hacking operation -- what's known in cybersecurity parlance as an APT, or advanced persistent threat -- had wormed its way into a number of South Korean computer networks, including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military Defense Counterintelligence Command, or DCC. The journalists, who published their story under the names Saber and cyb0rg, describe the hack as being consistent with the work of Kimsuky, a notorious North Korean state-backed APT sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2023. As they pieced the story together, emails viewed by The Intercept show that the authors followed cybersecurity best practices and conducted what's known as responsible disclosure: notifying affected parties that a vulnerability has been discovered in their systems prior to publicizing the incident. Phrack said the account suspensions created a "real impact to the author. The author was unable to answer media requests about the article." Phrack noted that the co-authors were already working with affected South Korean organizations on responsible disclosure and system fixes. "All this was denied and ruined by Proton," Phrack stated.
Phrack editors said that the incident leaves them "concerned what this means to other whistleblowers or journalists. The community needs assurance that Proton does not disable accounts unless Proton has a court order or the crime (or ToS violation) is apparent."
Martin Shelton, deputy director of digital security at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, highlighted that numerous newsrooms use Proton's services as alternatives to something like Gmail "specifically to avoid situations like this," pointing out that "While it's good to see that Proton is reconsidering account suspensions, journalists are among the users who need these and similar tools most." Newsrooms like The Intercept, the Boston Globe, and the Tampa Bay Times all rely on Proton Mail for emailed tip submissions. Shelton noted that perhaps Proton should "prioritize responding to journalists about account suspensions privately, rather than when they go viral." On Reddit, Proton's official account stated that "Proton did not knowingly block journalists' email accounts" and that the "situation has unfortunately been blown out of proportion."
The two journalists whose accounts were disabled were working on an article published in the August issue of the long-running hacker zine Phrack. The story described how a sophisticated hacking operation -- what's known in cybersecurity parlance as an APT, or advanced persistent threat -- had wormed its way into a number of South Korean computer networks, including those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the military Defense Counterintelligence Command, or DCC. The journalists, who published their story under the names Saber and cyb0rg, describe the hack as being consistent with the work of Kimsuky, a notorious North Korean state-backed APT sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2023. As they pieced the story together, emails viewed by The Intercept show that the authors followed cybersecurity best practices and conducted what's known as responsible disclosure: notifying affected parties that a vulnerability has been discovered in their systems prior to publicizing the incident. Phrack said the account suspensions created a "real impact to the author. The author was unable to answer media requests about the article." Phrack noted that the co-authors were already working with affected South Korean organizations on responsible disclosure and system fixes. "All this was denied and ruined by Proton," Phrack stated.
Phrack editors said that the incident leaves them "concerned what this means to other whistleblowers or journalists. The community needs assurance that Proton does not disable accounts unless Proton has a court order or the crime (or ToS violation) is apparent."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.