Tag: australia

Australia’s Arkon Energy Bags Millions to Expand Its Green BTC Mining Operations

Despite the ongoing flump in the crypto market, players operating in the mining industries have not lost hope for the sector’s speedy recovery. Australia’s Arkon Energy has managed to raise $28 million (roughly Rs. 228 crore) in order to expand its eco-friendly BTC mining operations into the country. Arkon is a renewable data centre infrastructure company based out of the Australian Capital Territory. The funding round was Blue Sky Capital, which is a quantitative investment manager and digital assets market maker.

The benefitting firm relies on 100 percent renewable electricity to mine Bitcoin. The company reportedly extracts renewable power trapped in electricity markets to sustainably lower its costs.

“The current market climate, with low prices for Bitcoin and mining equipment, offers a compelling opportunity to take advantage of our unique profitability and access to growth capital,” Josh Payne, the CEO of Arkon was quoted by CoinTelegraph as saying.

Arkon recently purchased Hydrokraft AS, a renewable energy-based data center in Norway. With securing this investment, the Australian startup intends to create the infrastructure to use Hydrokraft’s capabilities in full capacity.

Crypto miners have been hit by shrunken profit margins after the prices of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies slashed substantially.

Meanwhile, the power costs in several parts of the world rose in recent times, which too heavily impacted the crypto mining business. As per a Bloomberg report, Bitcoin miners lost over $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8,200 crore) during the recent crypto crash.

Several players in the market are now looking to take advantage of the bear market sentiment.

In September, crypto billionaire Jihan Wu reportedly set up a $250 million (nearly Rs. 2,043 crore) fund to buy crypto mining machines from distressed sellers. Wu is the founder of blockchain firm Bitmain.

Aspen Creek Digital Corp. (ACDC), a new solar-powered Bitcoin miner, raised $8 million (roughly Rs. 65 crore) in Series A funding and Vespene Energy, a company that converts methane gas released from landfills into power for bitcoin mining, closed a $4.3 million (roughly Rs. 35 crore) funding round in recent times.

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Aussie specker finds massive gemstone on evening walk

A Queensland amateur prospector has claimed his biggest find yet after excavating a precious gemstone during his evening walk.

Matt Betteridge found “an absolutely massive” 834-carat Australian sapphire near his home on fossicking land near Rubyvale in Queensland’ Gemfields while on a “bit of evening specking (looking for sapphires with a torch)”.

Mr Betteridge told the Today show on Monday morning that his family “were stoked” with his find.

“When I got back to camp we put it on the scales and my wife and I yelled 800 carat! We couldn‘t even comprehend the size of it,” he said.

Mr Betteridge shared the moment in a TikTok video, scraping back dirt and trying to pull the gemstone out only to realise it was too big and required more excavation.

“Holy dooley … No way!” he exclaimed in the video.

“Holy dooley … what the hell.”

Matt Betteridge said he found the 834-carat Australian sapphire near his home on fossicking land.
Matt Betteridge said he found the 834-carat Australian sapphire near his home on fossicking land.
TikTok
Matt Betteridge scraped it from dirt and tried to pull the gemstone — only to realize it was too big.
TikTok

He said the result of the excavation was “an absolutely massive” 834-carat Australian sapphire.

“Look at the size of the crystal there,” he said in the clip in an ecstatic voice.

Mr Betteridge claimed the sapphire was “very roughly” worth about $12,500, telling followers on TikTok he was ”beyond stoked”.

“So chuffed I can’t even explain,” he wrote.

“The rain unearthed it that little bit … I thought it was going to be an average-sized stone until I couldn’t pull it out,” he said.

When asked if the sapphire would be put on jewellery, he said “this one will stay as a specimen”.

“It does have some facet-grade material inside here and you would have to destroy the specimen to find out how much it’s worth and that’s not for me,” he said.

“I think I will keep it as it is,” he said.

With so much rain recently, gem hunters like Mr Betteridge are out in force, believing they have a better chance of spotting the lucrative gemstones after heavy rain has washed away topsoil.

“All the speckers are out covering ground, even in between the showers,” Mr Betteridge said.

“We are all for getting people out here to have a go. Just grab your permit in town here and have a go.”

The region is believed to be one of the largest sapphire-bearing areas in the world.

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Australian woman clears the air over ‘racist’ letter

A student who took to social media to share her outrage about a “racist” letter she received was quickly shut down after the truth was revealed.

Former University of Queensland student Sierra Chen took to Facebook to express her disgust after a letter sent to her home was addressed to a person named “Ms. Ching Chong”.

The woman, who is of Chinese origin, believed it may have been a malicious act of racism, as the phrase can be used as an ethnic slur to mock people of Chinese and East Asian heritage.

“Last week I received mail from UQ sports with a slur on the envelope, Ching Chong,” she wrote.

“The content of the letter was quite normal, but Ching Chong is a racial discrimination word against Chinese.

Sierra Chen reached out to her house manager looking for “Ms. Ching Chong.”
Facebook / Sierra Chen

“I emailed them to find out the truth, they told me where was a girl called Ching Chong that had left this address. They couldn’t give me any more details due to privacy.

“However, I double checked with my house manager, and there wasn’t anyone called ‘Ching Chong’ that has lived in this house.

“If possible, I hope I can contact with this girl, and I hope it was just a coincidence.

Sierra Chen didn’t receive any answers while searching for anyone named “Ms. Ching Chong.”
Facebook / Sierra Chen

“I wonder if anyone else has received such suspicious letters, please contact me too.”

Her post was met with many angry reactions from others who thought it may have been a cruel joke.

“That’s so racist” one commented.

“You should report it.”

After sharing the alleged racist letter online, Sierra Chen found out the recipient’s name was correct from a former tenant.
Facebook / Sierra Chen

“Sorry you had to feel that way, it must have been really insulting” another said.

“As an Australian with a French last name… [there is] no end of people speaking bad French slurs.”

While many were incensed about the apparent racist fiasco, the truth was soon revealed.

Another former student came forward to assure that she had lived at that address previously, was involved with UQ sport, and that was in fact her real name.

“Chill guys, it’s me. My birth name is Ching Chong,” she explained.

“My parents named me Ching because it rhymes with my family name Chong, and my beautiful Chinese name.

“I lived at that address in 2017 and was a Blues recipient. UQ sports is not racist, I just have a cool name.”

Many were relieved that the entire fiasco was actually not malevolent in nature.

“Thank you Sierra Chen for calling this out,” Ching said.

“I would be super confused too if I received a letter at my address with such an interesting name, if this wasn’t my actual name.

“Thank you for taking action to check with the house manager and UQ sports, and for trying to find me. I appreciate you.”

Sierra Chen was happy to have the letter recipient explain the situation.
Facebook / Sierra Chen

People in the comment section came together to share their relief, and also to open up about other awkward name mishaps that had occurred.

“My friend’s name is Ichi Wang, it was the first thing he ever told me about himself,” one said.

“He loves his interesting name.”

“What a plot twist. I’ve never laughed so hard!” commented another.

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Wedding guests stranded after booking lavish Airbnb that’s under construction

This Airbnb was more air and less B&B.

A woman said her family members were left devastated when they arrived at a home they booked on Airbnb, only to discover it was under construction.

Renee Menzies took to TikTok last Wednesday, saying her sister and 11 other relatives traveled to the Australian resort town of Byron Bay to stay at the Airbnb for a wedding, but were left stranded after realizing the listing was a scam.

Menzies slammed the vacation rental company for leaving her family in the lurch and for failing to quickly refund them the money that was forked out on the fraudulent lodgings.

“My family turned up to this today,” the ticked-off TikTokker griped in her viral video, which has clocked up more than 230,000 views. “A completely vacant home, in the middle of a massive renovation.”

An Australian woman claims her family was left stranded after they arrived at a price Airbnb property only to find it was still under construction.

Menzies’ clip featured footage which showed the home did not have any flooring and was awaiting the installation of a new oven and refrigerator. The walls of the property were also partially painted.

The 12 guests arrived to find the Byron Bay home still under construction, with partially painted walls and no flooring.
TikTok/reneescbfs
Menzies said her family booked out the pricey property in the Australian resort town of Byron Bay.
TikTok/reneescbfs
The property was clearly not fit for stay, with the guests forced to fork out money on alternative and expensive last-minute accommodation.
TikTok/reneescbfs
The oven, refrigerator and cupboard had not been installed inside the home and were left out on a back deck.
TikTok/reneescbfs

In her caption, Menzies directed her ire at Airbnb, writing, “No warning, and when they rang you for help you accused them of lying, wouldn’t help find somewhere else to stay and wouldn’t provide them a refund.”

“You left 12 people and 3 kids under 3 literally standing on the side of the road,” she further raged.

The clip quickly clocked up hundreds of thousands of views — but Menzies claimed the company didn’t adequately address her family’s concerns.

The listing showed the property fully renovated and complete with a plush pool.
TikTok/reneescbfs

The following day she posted another clip, in which she declared, “Hey @airbnb still no communication from you after our family turned up to this yesterday. Left stranded on the side of the road, literally, with 3 toddlers and nowhere to go.”

Menzies continued to post videos about her family’s ordeal on TikTok, saying it took days for the family to be refunded. They were eventually also reimbursed for money they were forced to fork out on alternative accommodation.

Menzies claims her viral TikToks forced the company to pay attention to her complaints.

The Post has contacted Airbnb for comment.

The vacation rental provided a statement to Newsweek about Menzie’s messed-up videos.

“We were disappointed to learn about this experience and have fully refunded the guest and provided rebooking assistance,” it stated. “We have taken appropriate action on the Host while we investigate further and reached out to the guest to provide further support. In the rare event something isn’t as expected on arrival for a stay, our Community Support team is on hand 24/7 to help.

Aibnb added, “Our team is very much focused on ensuring each stay is a positive experience for guests, Hosts and the wider community. That’s why this year we introduced AirCover for guests, the most comprehensive protection in travel, included for free with every stay.”

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Stream It or Skip It?

Now on Netflix, The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone is a mini-biography of one of Australia’s most influential transgender rights advocates. Now 22 years old, Georgie is a Human Rights Award-winner who, as a teenager, successfully campaigned to change the laws preventing young trans Australians from acquiring stage one hormone-blocking treatments. She co-wrote this 29-minute film, which captures key moments of her life in a quietly profound fashion.

The Gist: “I’m a girl. Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside, I feel like a girl.” That was Georgie speaking, at nine years old, in a home video. Next we jump to a decade later, on the day of her gender affirmation surgery. She sits in the car with her mother on the way to the hospital: “I keep thinking about the moments that led me here,” she says. She looks a little nervous; maybe she didn’t sleep well the night before. They get her prepared in the hospital room. Her mother brushes her hair and strokes her arm lovingly. Then we jump back to Georgie as a child, playing with her twin brother Harry, five years old, on their first day of school. Then back to age nine again, where she talks to the camera about boys at a swimming pool teasing her when she tried to find a space to change into her bathing suit.

As she readies for surgery, the movie flashes back and hops around to Georgie at various ages, cutting in glimpses of her public advocacy, where she explains how anxious she and her family felt when she, her parents and doctors had no say over what she can and can’t do to her own body – they had to wait for the court to decide if she could proceed with stage one treatment. She doesn’t want anyone else to have to go through with that. We see her meet Australia’s Prime Minister; we see her receive awards for her advocacy; we see her speak in front of people. And then she’s back with her mother prior to surgery: Today is “just you,” her mother says. “It’s just for you.”

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Dreamlife opens with a quote from actress Laverne Cox, so the Netflix documentary she produced about trans representation in TV and film, Disclosure, fits the topic. Also, Hulu doc Changing the Game focuses on trans teens participating in school sports.

Performance Worth Watching: Georgie’s confidence and vulnerability are on display throughout the film; both are inspiring.

Memorable Dialogue: Nine-year-old Georgie talks about how she feels safer after having visited the doctor.

Off-camera voice: You didn’t feel safe before that?

Georgie: Well, no. Not that many people understood about me.

Sex and Skin: None

Our Take: In a short amount of time, Dreamlife covers the gamut of Georgie’s experience, from public to personal. It’s subtly insistent in its advocacy for bodily autonomy, and that’s consistent with Georgie’s personality, which is upbeat, outgoing and matter-of-fact without being confrontational or overly righteous. She bravely shares intimate moments illustrating the emotional complexity of her decision to pursue gender affirmation surgery, and the absolute certainty she carries with regards to her identity. It’s easy to see why her advocacy has been successful so far, and the film feels like her next step in that pursuit. It doesn’t weigh itself down by presenting facts and data or delving into the topic of trans persons’ trauma; it’s more of an intuitive glimpse into one person’s life, how she changed it for the better, and how she hopes to help change others’ lives as well.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone is a humane and heartfelt look at the Australian advocate’s personal experience as a trans woman.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com.

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Stream It Or Skip It?

We seem to say this every time we come across a feelgood teen drama aimed for kids, but it’s almost refreshing to see teens doing things that are inspiring instead of seeing them have sex, drink and party. Call us old fuddy-duddies, but we’re encouraged that Netflix seems to be investing in a lot of shows that are more about the inspirational than about, well, the other stuff. A new series from Australia is in that inspirational category.

Opening Shot: A teen is on a plane. We hear her voice say, “They say that courage is knowing that you might have a chance at failing at something, and choosing to do it anyway.”

The Gist: Kyra Berry (Jada-Lee Henry) was a top gymnast in the U.S., surprisingly making nationals without a professional coach. But she hurt her knee at the national meet and offers to join various academies dried up. However, but then former world champion Maddy Cornell (Emily Morris) offered her a tryout at her Correga Academy in Adelaide, Australia; the three-month tryout could lead to a multi-year academic and athletic scholarship.

Despite the competition — only six scholarships are available, and only one for an international student — most of the girls are happy to see Kyra. Scarlett (Zoe Rae Burns) and Maya (Luciana Valdez Tirado) are not among that group; they even post a selfie of themselves on Kyra’s social media feed declaring themselves the academy’s champions.

Kyra knows the competition is going to be tough, especially because she can’t complete her front fulls without falling, something that’s been plaguing her since her knee injury. But Maddy encourages her by showing her video of an injury she suffered before she became a world champion, and tells her to work with Jaimi (Trung Le), the strength coach who specializes in helping people rehab from injuries. As she works with him for two weeks, her confidence grows.

Photo: Netflix

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance is a spin-off of two Australian family movies: A 2nd Chance (2011) and A Second Chance: Rivals! (2019). Both starred Morris as Maddy Cornell; in the first film, she was more or less around the age Kyra is in this series.

Our Take: What we have been appreciating about the various Australian kids’ series that Netflix has debuted over the last year or so is that they’re well-written stories that both kids and adults can appreciate. They don’t talk down to their kid audiences and they don’t irritate adults. They’re just good stories that star teens that aren’t doing the types of things we see in other series, like the recent Aussie import Heartbreak High.

Are there high stakes here? Sorta. There’s only one international slot for the scholarship, and it seems that Kyra is coming from behind in order to grab one of those slots. Scarlett and Maya are going to do all they can to knock her out of contention. But most of the series seems like it’s going to be more inspirational and coming-of-age than anything else, with Kyra coping with being on the other side of the planet from her Minnesota home, maybe dating Bradley (Jett Gazley), a soccer player at the school where the academy students go, and her overall transformation into a confident, world-class gymnast.

And that’s OK. There’s certainly space for a feelgood teen dramedy that has minor conflict, lots of scenes of people flipping and twirling, and inspirational competition scenes. Jada-Lee Henry is extremely likable as Kyra, and Morris’ calming presence as Maddy is welcome, whether you ever saw the two other Second Chance films or not.

What Age Group Is This For?: The show is rated TV-G, so it’s good for all audiences, though gymnastics-loving kids 6 and up might appreciate it the most.

Parting Shot: Scarlett and Maya realize that pushing Kyra out of contention is going to be tougher than they thought; Myra looks towards Kyra as she says, “I have another idea…”

Sleeper Star: Akira Van plays Li, one of the girls who becomes fast friends with Kyra. She’s under tremendous pressure to achieve, and when she introduces herself, she talks about how much she has to do on top of her already strenuous day of gymnastics and school.

Most Pilot-y Line: Scarlett and Maya mention a student named Louisa, who got cut when she couldn’t do a front full. Jami overhears them and asks another coach, “Was there a Louisa here last year?” “I don’t think so,” the coach replies. It did sound like a pretty lame lie from Scarlett and Maya, didn’t it? As TV villains, they need to do better.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance has a feelgood story, appealing stars and lots of top-notch scenes of athletic achievement. It’s definitely not edgy, but that’s a refreshing change for us.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.



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Australia’s Crypto-Based Money Laundering, Offshoring to be Tackled by New Law Unit

Cryptocurrencies have often come into the limelight for becoming a tool for criminals who wish to engage in financial frauds. In Australia, the federal police have formed a new unit whose one-track job would be to sniff out illicit money transfers happening through crypto assets. The new unit is being headed by senior level official Stefan Jegra. As per Jegra, the use of cryptocurrencies in crime has risen multi-fold in recent times that in turn rose the need for a standalone team in Australia.

“The increased focus on illicit money transfer via crypto comes as the Australian Federal Police eclipsed a $600 million (roughly Rs. 4,800 crore) revenue-raising target,” Financial Review said in its report.

The Australian police force is aiming to delve deeper into understanding the models of organised financial crimes.

Keenly eyeing the use of crypto in processing economical frauds could help the law enforcement authorities in Australia to have an “intelligent insight” into the international money laundering rink, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw reportedly believes.

“It’s targeting assets, but it’s also providing that valuable, investigative tracing capability and lens for all of our commands across all of our businesses, whether they’re national security-related, child protection, cyber – or the ability to trace cryptocurrency transactions across the relevant blockchains is really, really important,” a CoinDesk report quoted Jegra as saying.

In a bid to rid its crypto space from scammers, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is looking to enable auto identification and take-down of questionable and suspicious crypto websites.

Australians lost over $81.5 million (roughly Rs. 650 crore) to crypto scams between the months of January and May, the ACCC had said in a June report, raising an alert against the rising number of cyber-crime cases in the nation.

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Aussie boy had plastic flower lodged in throat for 5 years

A young Australian boy who has struggled with breathing issues for most of his life had a small plastic toy lodged in his throat.

A cough has lingered throughout eight-year-old Marley’s short life, which had made it hard for him to breathe and caused him to frequently vomit.

Marley developed a cough when he was around two years old, but his parents did not think much of it at the time.

Doctors diagnosed him with asthma a couple of years later, but his puffer did nothing as his condition gradually grew worse.

His Dad Jay Enjakovic said they thought something did not add up, so the family of four vowed to find the reason behind Marley’s poor health.

“With Marley in the last few years playing a lot of sport and football and basketball, it slowly went downhill pretty quick. He couldn’t run out his games, coughing a lot more, bringing a lot of food up, bringing water up every time he ate,” Jay told the Today Show on Tuesday.

“That’s when Skye and I really pressed and pushed and asked more questions. We really wanted an answer because we had a feeling it was not asthma.”

Marley struggled with a cough for his first eight years of life.
Family handout

After multiple trips in and out of the hospital, Marley’s condition reached a breaking point in December of last year when he became “quite critical” and an ambulance was called for him.

Doctors ordered an x-ray when he arrived, but Marley’s mother Skye Enjakovic said they made one crucial change.

“Luckily his x-ray pictures were taken a little bit higher up this time and they realized there was something going on with his esophagus and his trachea,” she said.

Marley’s surgeon later told his nervous parents that their son had been diagnosed with tracheoesophageal fistula.

Marley Enjakovic’s surgeon originally diagnosed him with tracheoesophageal fistula.
Family handout

“It is a connection from his esophagus to his trachea, meaning that food, drink and saliva had basically been entering his trachea (airway) and going on to his lungs,” Skye explained.

“Children are born with this condition but it is always picked up either in pregnancy or at birth and is operated at a few days old.”

Marley’s surgeon could not look down his trachea due to the inflammation, so he was later sent to Melbourne children’s hospital for a surgical repair on December 27.

But before operating, the surgeons decided to take another look at his trachea.

Skye “nervously” waited for hours to find out what they had found, but she was not prepared for their shocking discovery.

Marley Enjakovic’s family is now raising money for the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation in Adelaide, Australia and have already passed $1300.
@ skyejade88

“A few hours later I received a phone call to meet his surgeon at recovery where they pulled a piece of plastic, an arts and craft plastic flower, from his airway,” she said.

“I honestly couldn’t believe it! This was the whole cause of everything! I was relieved I finally had an answer.

“We are unsure how long this price of plastic was lodged in his airway, but my guess is at least five years as that’s when we started noticing small issues which became worse over time.”

Jay said he was in “disbelief” and “complete and utter shock” when he heard the news, particularly over the plastic flower they recovered.

“Wish it was manly like a hot wheels or something,” he joked.

He said the family holds no resentment towards the doctors who did not discover the reason for Marley’s condition earlier when the family always believed it was not asthma.

“Sometimes you have to push that little bit more you know, doctors don’t know everything,” Jay said.

In fact, the family is raising money for the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation in Adelaide, Australia and have already passed $1300.

But the while the source of Marley’s health issues has been found, that does not mean his battle is over yet.

“Unfortunately Marley has not healed as suspected from Melbourne, after the inflammation had settled the connection was still there,” Skye said.

“He honestly is the strongest kid, he hardly ever complains, he is so brave!”

Marley will be undergoing major surgery in Melbourne on Tuesday to repair his airway and esophagus.

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