If my grandpa knew how little we spent on his funeral, he’d turn over in his cardboard box.

Al Jazeera actually mentions climate change in the article

For those interested in the NZ proposals for social media ban for under-16s. #nzpol

I finally ran out of excuses and did my first exercises for the year. Feeling good.

Beef has a huge environmental cost. And the only real fix is to consume less of it. drawdown.org/insights/gre...

Crikey that ute video REALLY angered some folks on Zuck's website. 😳 A few kiwi blokes got super emotional and let rip with some horrible insults fly as if I'd offended them somehow by driving up a hill?? It's not even a long video. The heck's going on?

#TrainNews: Steam Incorporated has shared photos from the inaugural Mainlander Train service. Steam Incorporated's DC 4375 led the train services, and it was DC 4375's first trip south of Rolleston. PICS - Marty Melville & Craig Rohloff.

WARNING: I am about to talk about a small way in which I found an AI tool to be useful. If you hate *all* talk of AI, you don't need to tell me. You can just ignore or block. I am discussing this because I am interested in it and others have expressed curiosity in how I use these tools.

The always-smart Cory Doctorow sets out how little old AoNZ can get rich: #nzpol pluralistic.net/2026/01/17/e...

One of those days where I was already exhausted and burnt out before I saw this morning's slew of new messages and emails wanting something from me as an unpaid volunteer.

Auckland, come to Doomsday Comedy this evening at 7pm! Hilarious and heartwarming. Get your tickets now! #comedy #cults #Auckland #TāmakiMakaurau

Loops + Skylight + diVine = cross platform short videos, for everyone. The dev of diVine is interested in cross platform interop, and with Bridgy, we could bridge Skylight too. The revolution won't be centralized ❤️ joinloops.org via ActivityPub skylight.social via ATproto divine.video via Nostr

Loops is the open source TikTok Spread the word ✨️ joinloops.org/our-mission #JoinLoops #TikTok

WANT #NZ

Once again: I loved Hound of the Baskervilles so much! On a broader note, it's great to see what coll theatre we've had in Ōtautahi this last year (even if I was too ill to see most of it), and I hope to see more and better things coming in this next year!

Aw thanks @ladyhorrors.bsky.social: “There was a lot of admiration for Canterbury Repertory Theatre’s The Hound of The Baskervilles – strong leads, good design and direction, zesty script” And thanks for reporting whispers from quiet corners. May decision-makers take note! #Ōtautahi #theatre

🔥

I'm not a single issue voter by any means but if I was the governments lackluster response to the genocide in Gaza would be enough reason for me to vote against them next year www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Anyone looking for the full map or wondering who made it, it’s the work of Matt Brown and it’s here. open.substack.com/pub/londonis...

Facebook is a dumpster fire of AI-generated content. Usually the posts are at least designed to be interesting, but today the algorithm served up an insult-ridden post about an electric ship designed to delight progressives, outrage conservatives, provoke arguments, and change no minds whatsoever.

Please for the love of all that is holy, go beyond the f***ing Google AI generated summary! It is AI GENERATED! It's barely even confirming that the titles exist somewhere on the internet, not that the books actually exist! It confirms NOTHING!

This is brilliant. thespinoff.co.nz/society/08-0...

It bang and crash #Ōtautahi

I’ve done some catalogue searching and am fairly confident in saying that 5/10 titles in this list do not exist (1, 2, 4, 5 and 7). Sloppy, unacceptable, and a real kick in the guts to real authors with real books they’d love people to buy and read!

Dropping #FluTracking in NZ for a measly $57k of cost-cutting? #NZPol

Yomp!

#signalBoost "We know that, as a general rule, our audiences and artists aren’t rich. We wear that as a badge of honour - we’re keeping it real, yo! - and it’s our pleasure and purpose to be presenting quality shows that are accessible and within reach of everybody. But, you can still help us… "

If you'll be in #Ōtautahi #Christchurch on 12 January, I highly recommend this sci-fi/thriller feature #film at Lumière, directed by Ricky Townsend. It's incredible what an independent, low-budget film can achieve! Unfortunately I can't make this repeat screening.

Feeling flush with cash this Christmas? Little Andromeda would love some help to bridge a $50k gap and reopen next year. It's the coolest little fringe theatre in Aotearoa. Folk are already chipping in. With a bit of work, I know we can get this over the line! #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #theatre #NZ

Bluesky CEO @jay.bsky.team joins @rabble.nz to discuss what it takes to run decentralized social media at scale. In this ep: - How @bsky.app grew to 40M+ users with a tiny team - What makes the AT Protocol different - Why the right to exit matters for social media Watch now: youtu.be/p0O4dRi7nPs

Most social platforms make it nearly impossible to leave without losing your content and data. @jay.bsky.team, CEO of @bsky.app, explains how open protocols give users the right to exit and build social spaces that actually work for them. Full episode with @rabble.nz, out now.

When regulators design social media frameworks as if every platform is Meta-sized, they risk creating an internet where only monopolies can survive. Bluesky CEO @jay.bsky.team & @rabble.nz discuss how Meta-scale regulation creates barriers that smaller social teams can’t operate under. Out now.

When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.

Especially relevant in NZ, where funding for the Archives NZ digitisation programme of official records was axed in 2024.

"You don't have any mail! Our servers are feeling unloved," says the All Mail folder in Gmail. "It was inevitable that I abandon you, Google," I reply. "You failed to live up to your old motto: 'Don't be evil.' You trapped users into your suite of proprietary products and got cosy with Trump."

We are all one bad week away from from needing a food bank or housing support. We are much more likely to have a bad week than magically become millionaires.

did everybody already know that Yahoo, the pre-Google search engine that began as a list of hyperlinks, is called that because it's an acronym? Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle. Yahoo

Luxon has a plan. It looks like this. 6 plates for him, 1 plate between 5 at the other end of the divide he’s widened. I don’t misunderstand him. I see him. #nzpol #hoarder interactives.stuff.co.nz/the-side-eye...

Ooh this came out a few weeks ago! The pre-colonial voyaging waka recently discovered in Rēkohu Wharekauri Chatham Island arrived there between 1440 and 1470 CE, but could be much older. Finalised radiocarbon results should be released by February 2026. #waka #archaeology #NZ

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

Theory: English becomes a tonal language the moment you say 'fuck'.

This is the year I finally ditched all streaming services and started buying albums again so here is my @listenbrainz.org wrapped! Feels good to say I bought all these albums

Really useful advice for authors on how to deal with the Anthropic settlement. In my case, I'm trying to figure out whether I or my publishers are the reproduction-rights-holders, which matters for where the payouts go.

Aw Secret Santa signups opened and closed again while I was too busy and burnt out to be hanging out on Bluesky. I tried so hard to be proactive and follow the account because I keep missing it year after year and I really wanted to take part for a change. 😭

I'm producing this show if anyone has relevant expertise, contacts, or material and wants to get involved! #cult #NZ #exvangelical #comedy

Here's a lovely review from @jojoinabox.bsky.social on the Backstage Christchurch Facebook page (or I've pasted below some very kind bits about me). #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #theatre #review

Good news, I'm reviewing theatre again! The review is only available on FB, sadly, but if you still have an account you can read it here: www.facebook.com/share/p/1AXC... Tl;dr, Canterbury Repertory Theatre have just opened a BRILLIANT production of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Go see it!

We're opening! I would love to see some friends there tonight. This is the most technically ambitious production I've ever been in, and the most demanding on me personally. It's looking and sounding amazing and I can't wait to share it with our first audience. #Ōtautahi #Christchurch #theatre

There is more than enough to go around. We just need to organise that. This is how a matriarchal world order would arrange things: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800925003027

New: Google has chosen a side in Trump's mass deportation campaign. Google is hosting a CBP facial recognition app to hunt immigrants; no indication Google will remove. At same time Google takes down apps for reporting ICE sightings “Big tech has made their choice” www.404media.co/google-has-c...