Hello, my name is Fab! I am a freelance journalist, podcaster and aspiring novelist. On this website, you can find my my thoughts on many different topics ranging from technology to politics and everything in between. There is also some software to discover that I have written.
This website is maintained with a static site generator and includes no dynamic elements. I use no JavaScript, there are no ads and my site sets no cookies in your browser. Tracking is limited to the data collected by my hosting provider.
If you like what I am doing, you can support my work with a blog subscription — find out more on the about page.
Latest Blog Posts
-
Don’t Touch the Space Balls!
The Queensland Fire Department in Australia is warning beachgoers not to touch mysterious metal balls that have washed up at Forrest Beach. Forrest Beach is about 200 km south of Cairns, facing the Palm Islands in North Queensland.
Specialist QFR Scientific teams have safely secured a number of the items throughout the weekend and remain on scene continuing their work. A 50-metre exclusion zone is still in place. The nature and origin of the debris are still being investigated.
A “space ball” on Forrest Beach near Cairns (Photo: Queensland Fire Department)It looks like these objects are hydrazine monopropellant tanks from the upper stage of a rocket or from a de-orbited satellite. On social media, they have been dubbed “space balls” in reference to the 1987 Mel Brooks film Spaceballs that actually has an upcoming sequel set for next year.
Apparently, the “space balls” have appeared before, at least once, in 2011 in a remote area of Namibia.
-
Kerbal Boom
As it turns out, the Artemis II mission has caused a major influx of players to Kerbal Space Program. It’s hit its all-time highest number of players in April of this year. Mind you, this is a game that came out almost exactly 15 years ago! The April peak made KSP almost exceed the Day One player count of Kerbal Space Program 2, which completely underdelivered and has now been completely abandoned by its developers and players alike (even though it is somehow still being sold on Steam).
Data from SteamDBWith the Artemis hype, KSP has finally recovered the players it has lost to its own pretend-sequel and seems to have gained a new life with folks going back to it. There are 6000 people playing it as I write this! I feel like it’s time for me to go back to my own space program.
→ See all blog posts or subscribe to the blog's RSS feed