Josh Withers

My February 2021 Apple Fitness challenge is to walk 227km in the month. So I was out late last night closing in on the target when I stopped and looked at the bus timetable sign at a local bus stop.

That NFC tag piqued my curiosity. I wondered if it worked on iPhone?

So I tapped my iPhone 12 Pro up against the NFC logo and a website hyperlink notification popped up like when you scan a QR code.

And TransLink, the local public transport provider, had neglected to renew the domain name used in the NFC tag.

I now own the transl.in domain name and the people of the Gold Coast now have easy access to my website. 🤷‍♂️

As an example, a local bus stop links to http://transl.in/k_300428

How has it taken 20 years for me to know that a) AIDS/HIV denialiam is a thing, and b) my favourite band - The Foo Fighters - were backers of the thesis & have never officially walked it back? Thank you to Martin McKenzie-Murray in The Monthly, John Safran’s Music Jamboree, and Goat

I bet you have an opinion on politicians and who is a terrible one.

Do you think the incentives that used to exist to become a pollie/leader have evaporated while the work/accountability has (rightly) increased significantly, so less of the best people in our community want to stand up to lead today?

I’ve honestly considered serving in government, and aside from rabid imposter syndrome, and not knowing if I’m the kind of person that I think should be a leader in the community - like a MP - the incentive for me to stand up is ever reducing.

I can think of it now, journos or keyboard warriors scouring over my years of internet history. Past clients who didn’t like me weighing in on podcasts, and imagine if they started talking to my family about politics or even me. Like my first step-mother probably still thinks I’m a gay priest like I overheard her telling someone a few years ago. All whilst earning a less than corporate wage but not having the liberties to act like a corporation but instead, acting in the best interest of the electorate - not just those who elected you.

I’d like a new Mavic model please.

In late 2016, five years ago, you set my heart on fire. I’d been watching the Phantoms ghosting through the sky making aerial photography for three years. Your Inspire line had inspired me for over two. But the Mavic, the sweet little foldable package with a great camera, won me over, be still my beating heart.

That first relationship with the Mavic Pro was like the first time I drank whisky neat. I knew everything before then was wrong, and only this was right. I saw the Platinum and the Air taxi onto the UAV runways of our hearts and knew something bigger was coming.

And in late 2018 that Mavic 2 boarding call sounded. I fell in love all over again. With the choice between a Zoom model or a Pro model with that fat ‘Blad camera, I knew the Mavic 2 Pro was for me, and boy did we see the world. That Mavic 2 Pro and I, we travelled far and wide. Through America, New Zealand, Bali, Iceland, and all over my home that they call Downunder, we made photos and videos and had so much fun.

In Iceland in late 2019 my little Two Pro got a little bit confused - I think we were too close to the Arctic polar cap - and despite my best piloting, the compass wanted more, and she flew into the distance, and I’m guessing the side of a mountain about 25 minutes flight time away. Luckily for me, the DJI Go app data saved my bacon and a warranty-replaced Mavic 2 was in the mail.

In late 2020 the drone and my relationship had blossomed to the point where I felt like we could expand our boundaries and try new positions. On this one sunset afternoon one of us got a little too close to a wave, and then amidst the confusion, we got a little too close to a rock pool, and the rocks, and the pool, and things didn’t end well.

Alas, now I am drone-less.

I even received spousal approval for a new purchase as a birthday present last year.

But I look at the DJI product lineup and can’t help but feel like it’s missing a Mavic 3. In the intervening years new Airs and Minis have been released, so your passion for small has not waned. Yet the Mavic line of spectacular cameras, rocking some sweet sweet Hasselblad glass on a small and foldable aircraft, has gone wanting.

Please put a new drone into my hands, DJI.

Please don’t make me buy whatever Sony is selling.