August 2022 – Page 30 – Michmutters

Month: August 2022

Categories
Sports

Wallabies alarm bells ringing as 2023 World Cup nears

Wallabies alarm bells ringing as 2023 World Cup nears

They’re the good times. The losses have thrown up the same frailties: accuracy and discipline, or not enough of it for long enough. This weekend’s 48-17 loss exposed another one: Australia’s back three or, specifically, the lack of a genuine fullback. Jordan Petaia, Marika Koroibete and Tom Wright are all good athletes and good footballers but none of them could offer a safe pair of hands under Argentina’s aerial assault. It is terrifying to ponder what the Springboks might do to the same three players in Adelaide in two weeks’ time.

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Australia’s forward pack is capable of battering opposition teams and Rob Valetini’s running lines off set piece were one of the few bright spots in Sunday’s loss. But the pack hasn’t nailed the brief with any regularity. In fact, the only reliable things about the Wallabies at all this season is that they’ll trail at halftime.

Perhaps that is to be expected from a team as buffeted by injuries as this one has been. Call Australia A, Australia ‘C’, for the forseeable future, because there’s a XV of potential starters on the sidelines right now. Scott Sio, Dave Porecki, Folau Fainga’a, Allan Ala’alatoa, Izack Rodda, Rory Arnold, Lachlan Swinton, Michael Hooper, Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi, Hunter Paisami, Izaia Perese, Andrew Kellaway and Tom Banks, off the top of the head.

But as Dave Rennie said on Sunday: “We’ve got to be better. While we know we’ll get a few guys back, whoever puts the jersey on has to front.”

Limping through each season and hoping everything will click in a World Cup year is what fans have been reduced to. Cheika’s Wallabies finished 2018 with a 30 per cent win rate off four wins from 13 Tests. They were beaten by Wales in the group stages, then smashed by England in the quarter-finals. The year before a World Cup year is the time when belief is bedded in or seeds of doubt take root.

Right now, the Wallabies’ course hangs in the balance. Rennie’s overall win rate is 40 per cent, or 10 wins from 25 Tests. They’re two from five this season, with the toughest of the Rugby Championship yet to come and a five-Test spring tour hot on its heels. Of those sides, you could only pick out Italy as a certain win.

The Wallabies react after losing to Argentina by a record margin.

The Wallabies react after losing to Argentina by a record margin.Credit:Getty

In France next year they will likely play Argentina or England in the quarter-finals. Cheika and Jones are both seasoned Test coaches now. Rennie, for all his success in Super Rugby, for his measured, detail-driven approach and popularity among his players, will be the World Cup rookie.

Dave Rennie’s post-match interview with the herald was the first time the Wallabies coach has betrayed frustration with the gap between what he believes his players are capable of and what they’re producing in game.

“We’re better than that, but you can talk about it all you like, you’ve got to put it on the park,” he said.

The search for answers continues, with no guarantee that returning players will make enough of a difference. Add fullback to the five-eighth crisis and there is not a lot to feel hopeful about as we head into back-to-back clashes with South Africa and New Zealand.

Watch every match of The Rugby Championship on the Home of Rugby, Stan Sport. All matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.

Categories
Australia

Off-season native bee carers give macadamia farmer a pollination backup plan against varroa mite

Off-season native bee carers give macadamia farmer a pollination backup plan against varroa mite

“Foster parents” who take care of native beehives in their own backyards have helped a Queensland macadamia nut farmer develop a pollination backup plan should the invasive varroa mite spread.

Geoff Chivers started investigating using the small, stingless insects to pollinate his orchards, which were some of the oldest in Bundaberg, when varroa mite first started spreading around the world.

In five years, he has gone from five beehives to 150, which he said was made possible by a group of enthusiastic locals he called the “foster parents.”

“We need to have feed for those bees in the off-season,” he said.

“We actually host them out to families and friends in Bundaberg who have either large areas of native bush around them or backyards in the middle of town where there’s lots of flowering plants or vegetable patches.”

He was not looking for any new foster parents, with all of the beehives adopted and thriving in their host homes.

“We’ve found that the bees actually flourish in the urban environment because of the variety of flowers and other things that they can collect pollen from,” he said.

A mid shot of a man in a blue work shirt holding a small house-like native bee hive in front of a grevillia bush
Macadamia farmer Geoff Chivers has spent years researching and developing native bee hives for use in his orchard.(Rural ABC: Kallee Buchanan)

Macadamia trees have a short flowering window, and because orchards are large and surrounded by monoculture crops, the bees would not have enough food or variety without their host families.

“The foster parents love it, they really become attached to their hives,” he said.

“While we only need the hives for probably four to six weeks each year, they tell me they actually miss them when they’re gone.

“There’s a lot of people that just love to sit out and watch the bees come and go and just do what they do.”

Win-win for bees and community

All of Mr Chivers’ beehives currently have homes with foster parents like retiree Hugh O’Malley, whose wife Allison first suggested they get involved.

A wide shot of a white haired man resting his hand on a small native bee hive
Hugh O’Malley has been fostering native bees for three years.(Rural ABC: Kallee Buchanan)

“I’ve got a little vegetable garden and I’d had trouble with a lot of plants, like cucumbers for example, with pollination,” Mr O’Malley said.

“Since we’ve had the bees here, which we have for about three years, things like that are growing quite well.”

He said the bees were low-maintenance and easy to integrate into his existing garden.

“If they need any water they get it off a bit of dew off the grass and of course they know where to go for food,” he said.

“So I don’t have to do anything… I don’t use any sprays or anything like that, which is good for the bees.

“It’s nice to see them there, and they’re no problem because they don’t sting.”

It’s estimated about 90 per cent of the pollination for macadamia nuts is done by honey bees, but with the detection of the devastating varroa mite in New South Wales, farmers in Queensland have been considering their options should bee numbers drop significantly.

Patience pays off

Mr Chivers said it had taken years of experimentation and education to get the native bees working in his orchard, but he was seeing tangible results.

“We placed the bees around the outside of the orchard believing that they would move through the orchard,” he said.

“What we actually saw was around the outside of the orchard, we’re getting a much better nut set, but not so much into the orchard.

“We started experimenting [with] moving the hives actually inside the orchard… we put a grid pattern throughout the orchard so each hive is no more than 50 meters from another hive.”

In one of the oldest orchards in the district, he said kernel recovery — a measure of how much nut is inside the shell that determines what the grower is paid — had risen from 30 to 35 per cent.

A larger honey bee rests on a white flower beside a small stingless bee.
Native stingless bees (right) are not susceptible to the invasive varroa mite, which can devastate honey bee (left) colonies.(Supplied: Tobias Smith)

Some limits

While it was a success for his farm, Mr Chivers acknowledged there were limits to how much the bees could do in place of traditional honey bee pollination, particularly when it came to breeding and splitting beehives, which is a much slower process in the stingless varieties. .

“We couldn’t go out tomorrow and get enough hives to pollinate all the macadamia orchards or other farms around here, but we have enough now, I believe to pollinate, all our own farms,” ​​he said.

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Categories
Business

Discount registration for historic vehicles in Australia: Everything you need to know

Discount registration for historic vehicles in Australia: Everything you need to know

Own a classic or collectible car? It could be eligible for cheaper registration, if you don’t plan on driving it very often.

Ben Zachariah
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State and territory governments across Australia have introduced discounted registration for older vehicles – providing they are deemed to be a legitimate classic or collectible car, and not an old bomb.

However, authorities are now grappling with ways to stop motorists from rorting the discount registration scheme.

The intention of the program is to ease some of the financial burden on owners of classic cars, and to preserve historically significant vehicles for future generations.

South Australia is the latest jurisdiction to introduce new eligibility standards for historic vehicle registration, becoming the second state to lower the age of applicable vehicles from 30 years to 25 years.

From 1 July 2022, vehicles in South Australia aged 25 years and older are now eligible for the discounted registration – allowing up to 90 days of driving each year for an annual fee of about $85.

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The change brings South Australia’s Conditional Registration Scheme into line with Victoria’s Club Permit Scheme, which allows cars aged 25 years and older to be driven for 90 days annually for less than $200.

In New South Wales, vehicles must be more than 30 years old to be eligible for the Historic Vehicle Scheme, with 60 days of driving available for $96 for the first year, and $47 thereafter.

While Queensland also limits its Special Interest Vehicle Concession Scheme to cars more than 30 years old, those vehicles can only be used for approved events throughout the year, with a cost of about $220 for those on the scheme.

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Northern Territory conditions are similar to those in Queensland, with vehicles 30 years and older eligible under the Club Registration Scheme for around $130 annually – but they are only able to participate in special events.

Western Australia’s version, known as Concessions for Classics, is a little more complicated. Vehicles manufactured prior to 1990 can receive a discount of up to 75 per cent off the cost of standard registration, with 90 days total of driving available annually – 60 days for use in special events, and the remaining 30 days for personal use.

Tasmania also limits its Special Interest Vehicle Registration to cars aged 30 years or older, but comes with the caveat that they must be “in exceptional condition inside and out”. For around $200, those on the scheme get 104 days of logged driving each year.

Most of these schemes are only available to authorized car club members. For more information, contact your local state or territory government department.

Ben Zachariah

Ben Zachariah is an experienced writer and motoring journalist from Melbourne, having worked in the automotive industry for more than 15 years. Ben was previously an interstate truck driver and completed his MBA in Finance in early 2021. He is considered an expert in the area of ​​classic car investment.

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Categories
Technology

9 Android Features You Should Be Using Every Day

9 Android Features We Reckon You Should Be Using

This article is sponsored by Samsung.

Android phones are renowned for their customization and versatility, which means your device boasts a tonne of features, and can do a heap of things, you probably have no idea about.

In order for you to get the most out of your phone, we’ve rounded up nine tricks and features you should know about in order to get the most out of your Android. And if you don’t own an Android and you’re tempted to make the switch over, Samsung has just released the Galaxy S22 range, which offers three models to choose from.

For some of these options, we’ve offered a guide to where to find them on your phone, but models and iOS differ. If our directions aren’t right, try Googling the feature alongside your phone model.

9 Android features you should be using

1.One-handed mode

If you’re working with a Galaxy SS22 Ultra, Google has a custom keyboard you can download and set up as your default — if you hold onto the comma key, it’ll transform into a smaller keyboard that’s much easier to quickly type on.

2.Glide typing

While we’re on the topic of Google’s keyboard, if it offers a faster way to type, where instead of pressing each letter you can drag your finger (or S-Pen, if you have an S22 Ultra) to each letter. The impressive tech will speed up typing considerably.

3.Smart Lock

Any tech expert will tell you how important it is to set up a PIN code or biometric scan to lock your phone and protect your data, but let’s not deny that it’s a little time-consuming. But Androids offer a location-based service where your phone automatically removes the lock if it detects you’re, for example, at home. It can also remove a lock if your Bluetooth is connected to a trusted device, like a car. To set it up on a Samsung, head to Settings, then Security, Advance Settings and choose Smart Lock (other Androids might differ slightly).

4. Add lock PINs to apps

But that’s not all when it comes to customizing your security. We’ve all felt that slight sense of horror when a friend or co-worker borrows your phone to look at something, knowing that a few swipes away could reveal way more information than you’re willing to offer.

App pinning lets you lock one app to your screen until you re-enter your pin, meaning the person with your phone is stuck in whatever app is open when you give them the phone. You’ll need to set it up in advance, but it’s easy to use: open Settings, Security, Advanced Settings then App pinning. Afterwards, you can access it in any app by swiping the bottom of your screen, selecting the app, and voilá! No more anxiety when you’re handing over your phone.

5. Set your own default apps

We all have our preferred web browsers, but the same goes for messenger apps, maps, emailing and more. Androids let you customize your default app for all kinds of tasks — just head to Settings, Apps, then Default Apps. There, you can make WhatsApp or another messenger service your default rather than SMS messages, as well as a heap of other options.

6. Bring back lost notifications

Sometimes, you might swipe away a notification by mistake. Thankfully, Androids keep an easy-to-access log of all your notifications, meaning you can go back if you have a nagging feeling you accidentally archived an email or missed an important text. Searching ‘notification log’ will pull it up, or you can make a shortcut via the Widgets app pretty easily, too.

7.Disable animations

Androids have in-built animations for their menus and apps, like shrinking them as they close. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, which is why it’s easy to disable: there’s an option to turn them off under the Accessibility list in Settings. You’re welcome!

8. Split your screen and run apps side-by-side

This handy tool lets you split your screen in half, either vertically or horizontally depending on your screen orientation, meaning you can work in two apps at once without flicking back and forth. It’s incredibly useful when you’re working with data from two sources, or just multitasking! It’s particularly great on the S22 Ultra, considering the generous 6.8-inch screen size.

To put it to use, open up the app carousel, and press the circular button on top of the app of your choice — a menu should appear with ‘split top’ as an option. (If it doesn’t pop up, the app’s developers have blocked the option.)

9.Become a developer

This list proves that Android phones are endlessly customizable, but this is really just the tip of the iceberg. All Androids offer a ‘Developer Mode’ that frees up your phone to customization even further, from homepage skins to rendering and debugging. It’s a whole big world that only takes a few clicks to access — it’s slightly different across models, so we’d recommend Googling “developer mode” + your phone.

And there you have it, nine features you should be using on your Android.

This article has been updated since it was first published.

Categories
Entertainment

Comedian Blake Pavey pokes fun at his terminal illness during his stand-up comedy shows

Melbourne comedian Blake Pavey (pictured) was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) when he was just six weeks old. Cystic fibrosis is a terminal condition that causes severe damage to the respiratory and digestive systems, resulting in thick mucus sticking to the lungs

A young Australian stand-up comedian has shared a series of videos online poking fun at his terminal respiratory illness while performing in front of live audiences.

Blake Pavey, who has more than 870,000 followers on TikTok, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) when he was just six weeks old.

The 20-year-old, from Melbourne, needs to self-manage himself by taking between 30 to 50 tablets a day, often feels out of breath after exercising and is unable to have children.

Cystic fibrosis is a terminal condition that causes severe damage to the respiratory and digestive system, resulting in thick mucus sticking to the lungs – and patients typically live into their 30s or mid-40s.

Blake told FEMAIL he copes with his condition through humor during his live shows while also raising awareness.

Melbourne comedian Blake Pavey (pictured) was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) when he was just six weeks old. Cystic fibrosis is a terminal condition that causes severe damage to the respiratory and digestive systems, resulting in thick mucus sticking to the lungs

Melbourne comedian Blake Pavey (pictured) was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis (CF) when he was just six weeks old. Cystic fibrosis is a terminal condition that causes severe damage to the respiratory and digestive systems, resulting in thick mucus sticking to the lungs

The 20-year-old (pictured left on stage) turns to humor and pokes fun at himself during his comedy shows

The 20-year-old (pictured left on stage) turns to humor and pokes fun at himself during his comedy shows

In one video shared on Instagram, Blake asks the audience: ‘Are there any other dying people in the room?’ and woman puts her hand up explaining how she has a ‘hereditary family disease’.

The pair banter back and forth before Blake jokingly calls the woman a ‘loser’ because she didn’t receive a ‘Make A Wish’ despite having a terminal disease.

In another clip at a separate show, Blake explains what CF is and the life expectancy is – but then someone can be heard cheering.

Blake laughs and seems shocked, then makes fun of the woman.

‘He’s going to die, let’s go! That was the most positive way to tell me to kill myself,’ he joked.

In one video shared on Instagram, Blake asks the audience: 'Are there any other dying people in the room?' and woman puts her hand up explaining how she has a 'hereditary family disease'

In one video shared on Instagram, Blake asks the audience: ‘Are there any other dying people in the room?’ and woman puts her hand up explaining how she has a ‘hereditary family disease’

Blake told FEMAIL he copes with his condition through humor during his live shows while also raising awareness

Blake told FEMAIL he copes with his condition through humor during his live shows while also raising awareness

Blake said living with CF feels like 'breathing through a straw on a daily basis' because the mucus in the lungs is thicker and becomes 'trapped'

Blake said living with CF feels like ‘breathing through a straw on a daily basis’ because the mucus in the lungs is thicker and becomes ‘trapped’

Blake said living with CF feels like ‘breathing through a straw on a daily basis’ because the mucus in the lungs is thicker and becomes ‘trapped’.

This build-up increases the risk of bacteria and infection in the body, which requires close maintenance and medication.

Blake doesn’t recall the first time he was told he had CF but remembers the ‘toughest moment’ when his parents had to discuss the life expectancy with him.

‘It’s always been something I’ve just had to deal with throughout my life,’ he said.

‘The life expectancy is always in the back of my mind but I try not to focus on it too much. I don’t want to let it control me.’

Blake doesn't recall the first time he was told he had CF but remembers the 'toughest moment' when his parents had to discuss the life expectancy with him. 'It's always been something I've just had to deal with throughout my life,' he said

Blake doesn’t recall the first time he was told he had CF but remembers the ‘toughest moment’ when his parents had to discuss the life expectancy with him. ‘It’s always been something I’ve just had to deal with throughout my life,’ he said

'My mum and dad weren't aware they both had the CF gene which was passed on to me. It would've been pretty scary for them because they weren't sure what was wrong with me at first,' he said

But he doesn't let the condition stop him from enjoying life

‘My mum and dad weren’t aware they both had the CF gene which was passed on to me. It would’ve been pretty scary for them because they weren’t sure what was wrong with me at first,’ he said

‘My mum and dad weren’t aware they both had the CF gene which was passed on to me. It would’ve been pretty scary for them because they weren’t sure what was wrong with me at first,’ he said.

‘The first six or seven weeks when I was struggling to get to sleep and was in a lot of pain would’ve been the toughest.’

Not only has Blake been hit with the reality that he will likely die young, he may also require a lung transplant in the future to survive.

‘A lot of people with CF tend to need a lung transplant at some point depending on how severe it gets, which is something that is always on the cards,’ he said.

Not only has Blake been hit with the reality that he will likely die young, he may also require a lung transplant in the future to survive

Not only has Blake been hit with the reality that he will likely die young, he may also require a lung transplant in the future to survive

What is cystic fibrosis (CF)?

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a serious genetic condition that causes severe damage to the respiratory and digestive systems

This damage often results from a buildup of thick, sticky mucus in the organs

The most commonly affected organs include the lungs pancreas liver intestines

If you have CF, a genetic mutation increases the thickness of mucus and other body fluids.

When this happens, the thicker fluids can interrupt the function of organs – like the movement of air through your lungs. This can trap bacteria and lead to infections

Source: Healthline

Blake has been able to self-manage the degenerate condition and says it can worsen over time.

He is diligent with health checks and usually visits the doctor every three months.

Blake moved to Melbourne last year to pursue comedy and is now planning a national tour.

On TikTok he’s known for sharing comedic skits and relatable videos – including mimicking what ‘every’ host on different radio stations sounds like and hilarious takes on real-life events.

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Categories
Sports

Hawthorn Football Club accused of mental health hypocrisy

Hawthorn Football Club accused of mental health hypocrisy

In documents lodged on Sunday with the human rights division of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Salmon-Abbott says she was first approached by Hawthorn shortly after Christmas 2020 about working for the club.

She began work in March 2021 as a full-time member of its partnership accounts team. About two weeks before she started work, Salmon-Abbott was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She believes that, like many young people in Melbourne, her mental health deteriorated during the city’s first protracted lockdown the previous year.

Sophia Salmon-Abbott is seeking an apology, compensation and a declaration that Hawthorn broke the law.

Sophia Salmon-Abbott is seeking an apology, compensation and a declaration that Hawthorn broke the law.Credit:Chris Hopkins

In her statement of claim, Salmon-Abbott says she discussed her mental illness with her bosses at the club and explained to them that feeling excluded was one of the significant triggers for her condition. She told this masthead that they seemed supportive of her situation, but in her statement, she says that this changed after she had a series of panic attacks at work and was hospitalized for a month.

Salmon-Abbott says that after she was given from hospital, she requested a gradual return to work, starting discharge with one day a week. Her dispute with Hawthorn, which is already the subject of failed mediation, centers on whether the club genuinely tried to accommodate this.

“I tried for months and months and months… to get back to the club,” she said. “I was just trying everything possible and it just seemed like I was stuck in mud.”

A key piece of evidence cited by Salmon-Abbott’s statement of claim is an email in which a Hawthorn executive made it clear that Salmon-Abbott would not be welcomed back to her old job until she was able to work full-time. The email was circulated among Hawthorn staff but not shared with Salmon-Abbott.

This is the basis of the claim of misleading and deceptive conduct against Hawthorn.

In August 2021, Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves sought to reduce Salmon-Abbott’s employment contract from five to one day a week, shift her from corporate partnerships to reception and extend her probationary period, the court documents claim.

According to Salmon-Abbott’s statement of claim, this was detrimental conduct in breach of Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act.

Her case is being run by Harmers Workplace Lawyers, a specialist employment law firm.

Salmon-Abbott claims that from July 5, 2021, through to the end of the year, she was on unpaid leave and not permitted to return to work. She has now quit the club and taken a new job with a large consultancy firm.

Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves congratulates club coach Sam Mitchell.

Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves congratulates club coach Sam Mitchell.Credit:michael wilson

Salmon-Abbott says she feels supported in her new job and is still managing her anxiety and depression, which have prompted thoughts of suicide at her worst points.

“It is not something that just goes away overnight,” she says. “To this day, I can’t attend an AFL football match because I get triggered. I’ll have a panic attack.”

Asked why she is pursuing the case against Hawthorn – the club she grew up barracking for – Salmon Abbott says she was disappointed to leave the sports industry and more disappointed in Hawthorn, which every year plays an AFL match for the Beyond Blue Cup, an event intended to “shine a light on mental health” and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.

“I think it comes down to the fact that I know I wouldn’t be the only person out there who’s experiencing this issue. This is bigger than me.”

Kennett founded Beyond Blue in 2000, shortly after leaving office as Victorian premier. He chaired the organization for 17 years before handing it over to former Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He retires as Hawthorn president at the end of this year.

Salmon-Abbott is seeking a declaration that Hawthorn breached Victoria’s equal opportunity laws, an apology from the club, compensation and costs. Reeves said the club would make no further comment while the matter was before VCAT.

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Categories
Australia

NSW man charged with firearm offenses over shooting at Canberra Airport

NSW man charged with firearm offenses over shooting at Canberra Airport

A 63-year-old man from New South Wales has been charged with firearm offenses after allegedly firing multiple rounds inside Canberra Airport yesterday.

About 1:30pm on Sunday, shots were fired inside the airport, and a man was arrested.

No one was injured.

Police allege that the man arrived at the airport about 1:20pm and sat on some seats near the check-in desks on the first floor.

About 1:25pm, they said he drew a firearm and deployed a number of shots into the windows of the building.

Australian Federal Police officers who were stationed within the airport terminal apprehended the man.

The glass has some small holes in it and is clearly damaged, but the panes remain in place.
Bullets damaged the glass windows of Canberra Airport after the man allegedly opened fire.(ABC News: Harry Frost)

The airport was evacuated and plans were grounded for about three hours as ACT Policing and AFP Airport Police worked in partnership to secure the area and confirmed the man was acting alone.

Canberra Airport returned to normal operations about 5:00pm, with flights resuming shortly afterwards.

Three bullet holes in large glass windows.
At least three bullet holes are visible in the glass windows of Canberra Airport.(ABC News: Harry Frost)

The man is set to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court this morning where police said they would oppose bail.

The man is facing charges of discharging a firearm at a building, unlawful possession of a firearm and discharging a firearm near a person causing alarm.

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Categories
Business

Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week 14 August 2022

Top brokers name 3 ASX shares to buy next week 31 July 2022

A white and black clock face is shown with three hands saying Time to Buy reflecting Citi's view that it's time to buy ASX 200 banks

Image source: Getty Images

Last week saw a number of broker notes hitting the wires once again. Three buy ratings that investors might want to be aware of are summarized below.

Here’s why brokers think investors ought to buy them next week:

According to a note out of Goldman Sachs, its analysts have reiterated their buy rating on this fund manager’s shares with a slightly trimmed price target of $1.92. Goldman was pleased with GQG’s results and remains positive on its outlook. This is due to its strong operating momentum and low fees. It also highlights the company’s co-founders have the majority of their wealth invested in GQG and its investment strategies. The GQG share price ended the week at $1.66.

Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX:PLS)

A note out of Citi reveals that its analysts have retained their buy rating and lifted their price target on this lithium miner’s shares materially to $3.60. The broker made the move after increasing its earnings estimates for FY 2023 and FY 2024 significantly on the back of higher spodumene price assumptions. It is expecting this to underpin high levels of free cash flow. The Pilbara Minerals share price was fetching $3.12 at Friday’s close.

Analysts at Morgans have retained their add rating on this property listings company’s shares with a slightly trimmed price target of $143.00. This follows the release of a full year result that beat on the top line and narrowly missed on the bottom line. REA was particularly pleased with the performance of REA’s local operations, which delivered very strong growth over the prior corresponding period. Looking ahead, the broker believes management has levers to potentially pull to boost its growth. The REA share price ended the week at $133.85.

Categories
Technology

Review: Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro Wired features 3000 lumens brightness and 360 degree 2K video camera

eufy Security

I’ve been testing the Eufy Floodlight Cam 2 Pro for several months. On paper it offers a unique feature set of 360 degree pan and tilt camera, tunable 3000 lumens LED array, AI-powered human detection and auto-tracking, no subscription fees and 8GB onboard storage.

Read on to find out how well it worked in real life.

unboxing

Inside the box, you’ll find the Floodlight Cam 2 Pro, install hook and string, charging cable, junction box, plate screws, central screw cap, central screw, various security stickers and a quick start guide.

You can unbox yourself, but once you’ve connected it to the internet (2.4ghz Wi-Fi only), it has to be hard-wired by an electrician; ignore the American sites that say you can wire it up to your home switchboard yourself.

Installation

Apart from that warning by me, the Quick Start guide and installation video provided by Eufy is very easy to follow. The Floodlight Cam 2 pro can be mounted on a wall or on a ceiling up to 3m off the ground max.

IMG20220408065721
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What’s good at

As soon as it connected to my Wi-Fi, Alexa automatically recognized the camera and floodlight and allowed me to interact with it by voice, the Eufy Security app and Alexa app/smart displays. It is also compatible with Google Home but not with Apple Homekit.

Screenshot_2022-04-08-09-50-30-86_141309a7379982865806771bd175c1f6
Screenshot_2022-04-08-11-07-18-65_ff785028b59b747d09873fc0674450df

Weather protection is IP65, and so far it has survived dusty winds, blown rain and accidentally being jet sprayed by my hose as I cleaned my back wall.

The Floodlight Cam 2 Pro records motion-activated events using three motion detectors that spotted humans up to 11 meters away on my fence line (which is closed to the claimed 12.19m range). This is not a 24/7 continuous recording solution.

The color temperature tuneable floodlight emits up to 3000 lumens (across three individually panels adjustable via the eufy Security app) is even better as it brightly lights my whole back yard from edge to edge, making dragging the bins and other evening or early morning tasks super easy.

eufy Security
eufy Security

The lights are clever enough to detect the time and level of light outside so they reliably only turn on triggered by sensors between sunset and sunrise or when I tell Alexa to turn them on.

The 360 ​​degree 2K resolution security camera and its three sensors are super customizable via the Eufy app. You can control the camera up, down, left, right, and center with the arrow keys on the live view app page.

Once the camera detects a person, it moves to record them and follows them walking around your yard until they leave. Thanks to 3 sensors even if the camera is pointing elsewhere it will be triggered and pan around to capture what is happening.

You can add preset locations to jump to view them quickly, and you can adjust left, center and right to have separate sensitivity depending on how far you need them to be able to detect.

Mentioning these the 3 independent PIRs on the left front and right of the device has three types of sensitivity settings: standard, advanced and automatic.

  • Standard: three PIR sensitivity set together.
  • Advanced: three PIR sensitivity set separately.
  • Automatic: the sensitivity of the three PIRs is automatically adjusted according to the accuracy of each trigger.

You can set activity zones to exclude unnecessary video event alerts or recording of unnecessary footage eg: and exclude above the top of your fence line if the camera can partially see into your neighbour’s land.

what could be better

The first issue for some people is looks. The Floodlight Cam 2 Pro is only available in white and is not the prettiest device with multiple light panels and the 360 ​​pan and tilt camera. In my case my walls are white, and the device is white so it fits in well.

The second issue is that video is only stored in 8GB non-expandable onboard. It’s puzzling that Eufy doesn’t allow users to pair it to a Eufy Homebase 2 storage unit if you have one already, as I do for storing Eufy doorbell video clips. Optional paid cloud storage is available, and you can send videos to NAS storage if you have it.

For some people, the cost may be too high once electrician install fees are paid on top of the purchase price but bear in mind this is an all in one very powerful 3 direction floodlight as well as 360 degree security camera. If a similar spec security camera and floodlight were purchased and wired in separately the cost would likely be much higher.

Should you buy it

The Floodlight Cam 2 Pro is the brightest floodlight with 2K video camera available in Australia (to the best of my knowledge) and comes with the bonus of not requiring a paid subscription forever to enable all it’s features and store video.

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These features and allowing lots of software customization result in it being highly recommended by me.

The Floodlight Cam 2 Pro is available for $449.95 from it’s Australian distributor, as well as from JB Hi-Fi etc.

Disclosure Statement

Eufy has allowed Ausdroid to retain the product as hard wiring it to the house electricity supply was done at a significant expense

Categories
Entertainment

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under 2022 Exclusive: Eliminated star Pomara Fifth breaks silence on secret ‘feud’ after Minnie Cooper’s claims on launch night | Season 2

During the third installation of Ru Paul’s Drag Race Down Underwe had to say goodbye to iconic queen Pomara Fifth.

While Pomara’s epic runway style was without a doubt a showstopper in Episode 3, her on-stage brunch roast alongside fellow queen Beverly Kills didn’t impress the judges as much as she had hoped.

Following a fierce Lip Sync For Your Life against each other, Pomara was sadly sent packing while Beverly was told to join the other queens.

All seasons of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise are available to stream now on Stan.

In an exclusive interview with 9Entertainment, Pomara discussed her exit and how it felt to be one of 10 queens flying the flag Down Under – before offering a cryptic response when asked about the rumored rift that’s been whispered about since launch night…

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Pomara Fifth
Pomara Fifth was eliminated from the show during Episode 3. (Stan)

How does it feel to have been eliminated?

Not great, but at the same time I went into the show with two my goals; to get on the show, and to not go home first. I completed all my goals. I said to the girls when I was in there that I’m just going along and doing my thing and taking in the experience, rather than worrying about the competition and stressing about that.

READMORE: Here’s everything you need to know about the fierce and fabulous queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under Season 2

When week three came along, I was starting to get a bit homeick. I had never really seen drag racing before, I had only seen, like, two seasons of it. So I think I was feeling a little bit behind… there was that moment, but at the same time I’m eternally grateful that I was one out of 10 picked out of all of Australia and New Zealand.

It doesn’t matter where you get, I got on the bloody show!

Do you think being partnered with Beverly Kills in the challenge hindered your chance in the competition?

Umm…yeah! I have a very unique comedic style, and I think being partnered with someone who I could really, truly bounce off would have obviously been great. Beverly was not really known for her comedy style, and she’s not really a comedy queen so I think there were those issues. At the same time, it is what it is. It’s not going to be a competition if it’s not hard. We just worked together as best we could, but safe to say… she’s not funny!

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Pomara Fifth
Pomara was partnered with Beverly Kills in the challenge. (stan)

What do you think let you down in the end?

You could not tell me s–t on that runway! I felt so good, I felt so f–king pretty and if I’m going to go out, I’m going to go out in one of my favorite outfits and still look like a million bucks on that runway. It was definitely the roast that let me down, and I think I got too much in my head about it. I was just trying to enjoy my experience, to be honest.

I’ve said previously, if this was my brunch, an actual brunch in Australia, this is probably not how it would go.

Is there anything you would do differently?

I’d probably go back and reword my skit. I know there was this whole [thing of] Beverly blaming me for trying to take over the whole skit. Which, I mean…yeah! I definitely would try and take over a little bit more.

I know that sounds bad, but I gave up I think, and just said, “We’ll keep your bits in.” I think rather than doing that, I would have really gone in hard and stuck to my strengths and been like, “This is what I know will work.” At the end of the day, no hard feelings. I love all my girls, I love Beverly. I went as far as what RuPaul would allow me.

Is there a queen group chat?

And it is! It’s definitely salacious. We talk about anything and everything every week. If we encounter problems through the day, whatever ticks us off, if someone needs help. Everything we see on the internet about us, we just send a picture to the whole group and have a giggle about it. It’s really fun. We all keep each other really grounded, and really try to enjoy this experience together.

Is there anyone you think this week that should have gone home instead of you?

That is a shady question! Shady. Look… yes. I think by saying, I have more to give… my aim to get on the show was to get a positive message out. I really was like, how do I share my experience and what I’ve been through in my life with other people and let them know it’s going to be OK, and that life is worth living. What better show than drag racing?

I hope I got as much of a positive message out there that I possibly could. I don’t think I should have gone home, but you just deal with the cards you’re dealing with, I guess. I’ll leave it up to the fans to decide who should have gone home!

On launch night, Minnie Cooper said live on-stage that there was a rift between some of the queens. Are you part of that?

[After a brief silence] …Let’s just say, that all nine of us get along like a house on fire.

READMORE: Faúx Fúr claims she was ‘sabotaged’ by her fellow queens amid ‘black panty gate‘

RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Minnie Cooper
Minnie Cooper hinted there was a rift between some of the queens during the launch party. (stan)

What was it like to meet Drag Race royalty, Michelle Visage, RuPaul and Rhys Nicholson?

I almost wet my pants. You get to meet RuPaul, and that was like holy f–k. My first thought was, holy c–p you are that tall! Just stunning up close, beautiful. Then as you do your runway, and you don’t get to see anyone until the moment you step out on that runway and walk towards them. Or as I did, gallop towards them. Even watching myself I was like, “Slow down! Why are you walking so fast!” You get so excited, and the music is playing so loud that you’re just like – charge.

You just see the beautiful people sitting in front of you… and I can confirm, that there are no filters. I was thinking, surely not – surely not, that they’re not that pretty! But I was right up close to them, right up front and they’re beautiful. All of them.

All seasons of the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise are available to stream now on Stan.

In Pictures

The stars of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Season 2 premiere

Queens hit the blue carpet at the Drag Race Down Under Season 2 premiere

Big hair, bold looks and plenty of glamour.

ViewGallery

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