October 14

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 16 - 21 OCTOBER, 2023

Hello and Welcome,

Referendum TODAY

When is the referendum, and how can I vote?

It's on Saturday, 14 October. Voting is familiar to an election. Thousands of polling places will open around the country on 14 October between 8 am and 6 pm (local time). Those polling places will be very similar to where you vote on an election day. You can also request a postal ballot or pre-poll.

What should I put on the ballot paper?

The AEC advises voters to write only "yes" or "no" in English. The AEC has told voters not to use a tick or cross.

How will results be displayed?

Just like a normal election, the AEC starts counting ballots at 6 pm local time in each state. All votes cast on 14 October, and the majority of early votes, will be counted that night.

A constitutional change requires a double majority: that is, a national majority of all votes, plus a majority of votes in a majority of states (that is, four out of the six states).

When will the results be known?

The first results will arrive shortly after 6 pm on the east coast.

— Ed.

Meetings This Week

2023/10/17 — 10:00-12:00 — October, Tue — Tuesday Group

2023/10/21 — 14:00-16:00 — October, Sat — Web Design

Meetings Next Week

NO MEETINGS

Schedule of Current & Upcoming Meetings

First Tuesday  18:00-20:00 — Main Meeting

First Saturday 13:00-14:00 — Penrith Group

Second Tuesday 18:00-20:00 — Programming

Third Tuesday  10:00-12:00 — Tuesday Group

Third Saturday 14:00-16:00 — Web Design

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Go to the official Sydney PC Calendar for this month's meeting details.

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Penrith meetings are held every 2nd month on the 1st Saturday from 1-2 pm.
The following meeting is in November 2023.

ASCCA News:Tech News:

Google Chrome Will Snitch On RAM-Hungry Tabs

See the How-To Geek article by CORBIN DAVENPORT | Published on October 5, 2023.

A new feature in development shows how much RAM a tab uses when you hover over it.

Over the years, Google Chrome has been criticized for taking up too much RAM, primarily due to sandboxing each tab and extension, on top of the ever-increasing demands for modern websites and web apps. Google has been improving RAM usage with the Memory Saver feature, and now the company is working on another change to clarify which tabs are eating up your memory.

The latest Chrome Canary builds include a new feature flag called "Show memory usage in hovercards," which lists the current memory usage for a tab when you hover over it (below the full title and domain). This same information is already available in Chrome's built-in task manager, which is accessible from the main menu > More Tools > Task Manager, but adding it to the hovercards makes memory usage easier to check. This is another change to help people determine which tabs and sites are eating up the most memory, alongside automatic features like Memory Saver mode.

In a blog post, Addy Osmani from Chrome's Developer Experience team wrote, "This feature provides transparency into Chrome's tab throttling behaviours and gives users insight into a site's memory consumption. The current usage indicates memory consumed by the page and any background processes. State suspension happens when Memory Saver determines the tab has been inactive for a sufficiently long period."

The flag first appeared in June but has yet to be rolled out more widely. It's also temporarily unavailable in Chrome Canary since the initial test was set to expire in Chrome 119, and the Canary branch just got updated to version 120. The flag will probably be extended soon — this happens often with experimental features. Hopefully, it will roll out to everyone at some point after that, but there's no firm timeline on that yet.

You can try out the feature by visiting chrome://flags, searching for "Show memory usage in hovercards," and switching the dropdown to Enabled. It works in the current stable release of Google Chrome (v117) but may only appear in the other branches once the feature flag is extended.

Source: Medium

Read More »

More How-To Geek NASTY TRICKS

Recently, when I was using AdBlock, How-To Geek would fill my screen with "PLEASE DISABLE YOUR AD BLOCKER", but now I've switched to uBlock Origin, there are no more such demands.

However, they've created a different NASTY TRICK to fill half the page with a request to "Create your free account".

With no way to close or bypass this intrusion!

Marketing must have thought this was SO funny.

— Ed.

Fun Facts:

Old People's Home for Teenagers

ABC Iview — Discover More.

Old People's Home for Teenagers

Hello Viewer,

If somebody had told me a year ago that I'd be the facilitator on the ABC series 'Old People's Home for Teenagers', I would have pinched myself a few times and asked them for two more wishes. Fast forward 12 months, and it's still hard to believe I've been on this incredible journey exploring intergenerational connections with an inspiring group of older adults and teenagers.

With a background rooted in working closely with young people, families, and communities, I've always been passionate about fostering meaningful relationships and bridging generational gaps. Little did I know that this unique opportunity would allow me to combine my expertise and enthusiasm to create something extraordinary.

Much like the first series, you can expect a lot of laughs, tears and, of course, heart-warming moments. What surprised me the most was witnessing first-hand the profound and transformative connections between these teenagers and older adults. As a newbie to the world of television, I wasn't sure what to anticipate. What I experienced in our seven-week journey was seeing every participant, both young and old, not only experience personal growth but also embrace a journey that challenged them to break free from their comfort zones, confront their biases, and nurture bonds of friendships and understanding.

So, what are you waiting for? Mark your calendar for Tuesday, 3 October, and catch the second series of Old People's Home for Teenagers. It's not just a show; it's a genuine exploration of intergenerational connections that will leave you laughing, crying, and feeling inspired — and what can be better than that? Tune in and be part of this extraordinary journey because the stories unfolding here are ones you won't want to miss.

Happy viewing!

Will de Lima — Old People's Home For Teenagers Facilitator

Will de Lima is a dedicated youth worker with over 10 years of experience supporting young people, families, and communities across New South Wales.

Have Your Internet Speeds Just Gone Up?

My internet speeds used to be only 25 Mb/s down and 12 Mb/s up, with a modest monthly cost.

Well, they were the last time I checked my speeds.

My generous ISP must have decided we all needed a boost, so now we have 83.38 / 23.00 Mb/s instead.

A week or so ago, I noticed the Linux Update was very quick in downloading one of the 200 MB components. It was so fast I decided to rerun SpeedTest.

Here it is:

Internet Speed Test

Amazing — Ed.

Meeting Location & Disclaimer

Bob Backstrom
~ Newsletter Editor ~

Information for Members and Visitors:

Link to — Sydney PC & Technology User Group
All Meetings, unless explicitly stated above, are held on the
1st Floor, Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.
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