Chippendale’s new tower in Sydney judged world’s best tall building – This building is in our neighbourhood and I go past it twice a day. It’s gorgeous. I wonder if the award voters gave it extra points because it’s opposite the monstrous carbuncle of UTS?

How to Kick a Guy in the Balls: An Illustrated Guide – Between this article and some of the others linked on MetaFilter, @SusanSchorn makes me want to take up kickboxing again. RAWR!

Can Quitting Your Job Help Stop War? – The Atlantic – OH PLEASE. They found one guy who claims he quit his job over his refusal to pay federal income tax and spun it out into a ridiculous story of wannabe hipster Thoreaus. What about the guy who “doesn’t wear shoes” yet is some how still in talks with Ryan Seacrest to produce a TV show? How does that tie into the stupid clickbaity headline? Ugh. There’s a decent story about early retirement that could be dug out from under the bullshit, maybe. I hope Mr. Money Mustache sees it and tears these guys to shreds.

The Greatest Knitting Patterns in the Universe – My hand knit Weasley sweater is featured in this io9 geeky knitting roundup from 2010! I just noticed it in my referrers tonight. Random.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Having an Incredibly Efficient Day – I am a sucker for productivity articles. But holding off on my coffee til 9:30? That’s crazy talk.

Glazed Hand-Crafted Doughnuts Arrive in Sydney, glazed doughnuts, broadsheet sydney – Broadsheet – Heh. Hipsters. Also, they claim to have invented the concept of cereal milk glaze. Somewhere Christina Tosi is rolling her eyes…

Help article: What has changed in the latest tracker update? – Whoa. I just checked my Fitbit app and was confused to see it had sleep data for last night. I forgot to click the button to put it in sleep mode, but my graph is there. So I checked the latest firmware upgrade and discovered that the Force now does this automatically. That’s really cool! (The update also included the long-awaited Caller ID feature, which is pretty sweet. I keep my giant iPhone in my handbag and never hear when it rings. Now my Force vibrates and displays the caller name. So tomorrow, right?)

Updated to add: Whoa! I also figured out I can trigger the clock face just by double-tapping the Force. Not clicking the button; just hitting it. So cool! I really should read the actual release notes when I install upgrades…

Landing on a comet: A guide to Rosetta’s perilous mission : Nature News & Comment – “Never before has a space mission put a lander on a comet.” That is so amazing. You can watch live online or follow along on Twitter.

On Monday after work I went along to the Information Night for Random Hack of Kindness – Sydney. RHoK is an international initiative that started five years ago that aims to provide a way for people in tech – coders, BAs, designers, PMs, marketers, legal, entrepreneurs, whoever – to help make the world a better place. They have two Hack weekends a year, and the next one is happening on November 29th and 30th. The goal is not to win a prize or churn out a quick hack, but rather to build real solutions that can be put into place. (So obviously the weekend is just a starting point!) I would highly recommend anybody who’s interested to go along to the next event. A few notes I took last night:

• Two hack weekends a year, preceded by ideation and info nights
• Hack weekend goes from 9am-8pm Saturday, then 9am-3pm Sunday (when they head to the pub) – they provide beer/pizza on Saturday night
• Regular “RHoK and Rholl” nights throughout the year to follow up and deliver real solutions

Why should you participate in RHoK?

1. It’s a safe space to try out new tech, new role, new way of presenting yourself. If you’ve ever dreamed out about changing your job, this is a way to try it out and get experience.
2. It makes you feel good, obviously.
3. You get to meet other people with similar interests and goals. And being in a community of those who want to do good makes it easier to do good!

The projects that will be worked on at the November Hack weekend:

• Something to do with NGOs operating in Mekong
• Self-driving solar powered boats to check on buoys tracking global warming – also want to create a website to the public can follow along with the project
• Autistic children – maybe an iPad app or storyboarding tool?
• First Stop – way for disaster survivors to easily get services – started as a response to Blue Mountains bush fire. They already have prototype of low-powered wifi modem (using Raspberry Pi); goal is to deploy in emergency zones with app that allows survivors to register details easily and quickly to qualify for aid
• First Robotics Club – program for students K-12 – inspiring next generation of scientists and engineers – looking to improve website and come up with ideas to get more exposure in schools

If you’re interested in taking part, just go to the meetup site and sign up. There’s no requirement that you have to be a coder or consider yourself a “hacker” or even be a techie at all, really. If you want to help use technology to make the world a better place, your help will be welcome.

Unfortunately I’m going to be in Tasmania during this coming Hack Weekend, but I will definitely be at the next one.

Portraits for Cats Fundraiser # 3 – The Feline Foundation – I’m tempted.