There’s an open letter you can sign to support the case and call on the Minister to immediately reinstate the guidelines: ry.org.nz/reinstate

We elect people who value numbers on a piece of paper over whether actual people eat or have a roof over their head or can get healthcare when they sick. We elect people who value numbers on a piece of a paper over children eating or being educated. I also note that the numbers are all fake.

More shelducks than I usually see together in one place. Wonder if they're doing some kind of indie band reunion tour.

Exactly this. This is both an act of deliberate cruelty towards a marginalised, vulnerable community and a trial balloon to see how far they can push, and how fast. (Going by the last two years and the pace and volume of erosion, and active targeting of vulnerable people - very far, and very fast.)

Turning into my father one "the problem is no one reads enough books these days" grumble at a time

Reposting by request:

It's not all brews, hooning, suspiciously more violent than you'd expect sports and Garn down. They've got Science Trevs!

I spoke to Midday Report at RNZ - you can listen to the interview here: www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

Also, I know I already said 4/4, so I guess this is post 5/5 LOL But read some proper reasoned stuff on blockers. Have arguments ready for your racist sexist uncles at Christmas www.emilywrites.co.nz/what-are-pub...

In case relevant to your interests, the University of Otago's Indigenous Knowledge and Technology Symposium in December will be having a public keynote, also online via Zoom: "AI and mana motuhake: the case for te reo Māori" www.otago.ac.nz/news/events/...

Purple time. *fingerclick*

...I simply do not have enough NOPE for this. pivot-to-ai.com/2025/11/18/v...

I barely know how to express how sad and angry I am at the politicisation of essential healthcare for trans kids. Just - this election can’t come soon enough. And when it does, we need to fight as if lives depend on it - because for some, that’s the literal truth. #nzpol 🏳️‍⚧️

Karen Chhour is quoted in this piece actively promoting conversion practices, after previously comparing gender affirming care to torture at Lake Alice. This coalition is evil. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

(You should all 👀 when established US hacking cons start losing venues over current politics,)

new paper by Sean Westwood: With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

You know what this means? In another 3-4 months or so, we will have more little grey-green alien pods than we know what to do with.

Rebecca was one of the founders of Interplay and programmed & designed for some of the most influential games of my youth, notably Bard's Tale I & III and Wasteland. She will be missed.

Me to tech clients: the important thing to focus on is keeping the furries happy

This is not what you should see on a "Do Not Sell My Personal Info" link when a UK company is announcing that they're harvesting your data. Their "help bot" doesn't let you type anything. Their contact form requires you to put in a lot of extraneous information to harvest. Dark UI patterns galore.

I'd like to share this old video of hers, where she talks about her time working on the 3DO port of Doom. it's a wild story that stuck with me, and a reminder that sometimes "bad games" have amazing people working on them

I seem to be saying this a whole lot recently, but: you need enough scaffolding to support the work, but not so much that it becomes a cage. It should be something that helps you reach further, not trip over. Just how that looks can vary wildly depending on what you're building and why.

For those with an interest in NZ's Open Government Partnership national action planning, feedback is being sought before Nov 28th: www.publicservice.govt.nz/system/open-...

Have the people who approved this ever heard of Robodebt? 🤦‍♂️

This observation is being made about the United States, but it could equally apply here in New Zealand.

Ōtautahi, showing up. watchthisspace.org.nz/artwork/1110

All things considered, this was a good weekend to watch Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein.

a “Space Force”, if you will

Make it happen NZ.

At last, my irrational annoyance with people who back into car parks is validated

Oh shit, sorry. *puts a bunch of earth back over the top*

If the government were serious about dealing with the systemic issues arising from this dangerous affair, they would be taking action to significantly restrict the ability of people to obtain name suppression. It seems to be misused by powerful men to shut down legitimate reporting far too often.

The G4 geomagnetic storm is having an effect on the New Zealand power grid. Transpower have issued a Grid Emergency Notice and have taken lines and transformers in Southland out of service. #spacewx #solarstorm

I appreciate their conscientious work, but I still wonder: did the investigating officers consent to being de-anonymised in the press like this? Is knowing their identities in the public interest - and does it put their careers at any risk? (It shouldn't, no, but...) www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

This is incredible

An awful, awful example of what happens when you use AI scribe systems in healthcare without any meaningful form of redress for their erroneous output. Setting a "compliance" policy that doesn't allow clinical staff to change AI generated fields without intervention is definitely a money decision.

If you find a toutouwai/North Island Robin, it *will* try to stare you down and it *will* be adorable. 🪶 www.instagram.com/p/DQ3ZO8piRi1/

Dear NZ: fight civil asset forfeiture with everything you have in you. Love, the US

A concorning snippet, here: "That campaign will receive $5.9 million from the Proceeds of Crime Fund - money taken from criminals - and the Government wants to make it faster for police use the proceeds of crime laws to seize assets from drug dealers." www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

I still have an original rendering of what NEOM was meant to be before MBS upended it entirely to what it is or even now was Cities connected together giving the urban island affect

pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.

Morning pottering in the garden. Nothing too strenuous, but pulling more weeds, identifying a few more species, pruning back the rambunctious rosemary. Will be very interested to see what kind of brambles I have. Not fruiting yet, but we'll see.

New Zealand would like to be normal too, please. #nzpol

Guy Fawkes Boogaloo.

Not now, carnivorous death ball

Lurid colours

Oh hell. I looked into who the vendor is for the NZ public transport National Ticketing System (Motu Move)... and it's literally a U.S. defence contractor who also makes C4ISR (surveillance, intel, recon, etc.) systems. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubic_C...