On the 95th anniversary of the Armistice of “The Great War”, words composed early on in that grand folly are recalled: They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them The resonance in these words is powerful, and though we continue to go to war, it is an increasingly civilian world that marks this anniversary for the sake of recalling those lost in war. ...

Russell Brand - yes, he of the long hair and comedy - writes surprisingly vehemently and eloquently about politics in an editorial for the New Statesman: There’s little point bemoaning this apathy. Apathy is a rational reaction to a system that no longer represents, hears or addresses the vast majority of people. A system that is apathetic, in fact, to the needs of the people it was designed to serve. To me a potent and triumphant leftist movement, aside from the glorious Occupy rumble, is a faint, idealistic whisper from sepia rebels. The formation of the NHS, holiday pay, sick pay, the weekend – achievements of peaceful trade union action were not achieved in the lifetime of the directionless London rioters. They are uninformed of the left’s great legacy as it is dismantled around them. ...

Nest, who recently reinvented the thermostat for the 21st century, are at it again with the smoke alarm: To improve safety, Nest had to find a way to thwart false alarms, which lead people to tempt fate by disconnecting their units. The company’s solution is the pre-alarm heads-up. Nest Protect detects the problem before it reaches alarm-triggering levels and informs you, deploying its reassuring yet authoritative prerecorded human voice. Users can forestall the full-scale siren of the alarm with a wave of a hand under the device. This “gestural hush,” detected by motion sensors in the smoke detector, gives them some time to deal with the offending situation. When the air returns to normal, the voice delivers an all-clear message and the device glows green. ...

Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg drives a taxi for a day, doesn’t reveal who he is until the passenger gets an inkling. Fascinating to see the attitudes on display, and how comfortable and casual things are. Can’t imagine that happening with any of the Aussie PMs since Hawke.

My internet was slow yesterday. I’m blaming Abbott already. Where’s my real NBN? As you might imagine, even knowing with what’s coming, I’m not a happy camper following the election. The Coalition romped home, and no matter how much lipstick you put on the pig that was the result for progressive parties, the shambles in the Senate or the infighting that’s engulfed Labor afterwards1 is all just a bad situation. ...