The hypocrisy from the media on the Green’s minor budget error is astounding. They are consistently bringing forward policy that is independently costed, unlike the other parties. What the media chooses to emphasise is that a leaked budget contained an error due to a spreadsheet typo. Meanwhile […]

RE: https://mastodon.nz/@janef0421/116791484468807120 Somehow, 71% of people in a poll think this is a good idea. That’s profoundly disappointing and shows a troubling lack of awareness and social conscience. #nzpol

I honestly find National's policy on KiwiSaver disgusting. This country has a major issue with low incomes and poverty. Requiring people experiencing poverty to put 6% of their gross income into a retirement savings account is not feasible and will result in worsening poverty. This is an […]

It’s depressing how little support there is for chronic psychological distress. It’s either short term, which is inadequate for serious, or really expensive. It may also just not work at all. It is extremely frustrating to spend thousands of dollars on something that doesn’t end up helping all […]

I don’t know what Keir Starmer smokes. The amount of policy work that must be required to come to the conclusion that pagination should be mandatory for 17-year olds is hard to imagine.

I am quite pro-nuclear, and I don’t think it’s a bad idea to eventually add some SMRs to NZ’s grid, assuming that the technology matures. However, it seems very premature to discuss this before more fully developing the hydro storage potential of the South Island. This is both because that is […]

It is true that FOSS maintainers have no obligation to develop software for users. This does not mean that they have no obligation to refrain from developing software in a way that harms users.

This is a disappointing response. Introducing regressions into a mature piece of software that is widely relied on is harmful and damaging. Tridge’s response completely fails to accept that he has caused any damage, and refuses to accept that he is culpable. He clearly feels aggrieved by people […]

I really doubt that the USA and Iran are going to reach an agreement anytime soon, given the recent escalations. If I had to guess, I would say escalations will continue and fighting will eventually fully resume. That seems more likely, though I don’t think it’s impossible that a stalemate with […]

It’s remarkable how often stories like this come out. Some person, who has no real idea of what large-scale projects cost, being outraged at a supposedly high cost paid by part of the public sector. The cost is always completely reasonable in context. A lot of people will take it seriously […]

Is AI conscious? I dunno. Is a shrimp conscious? Is a tree conscious? Is a colony of Protozoa conscious? What even is consciousness? It’s not something that can be rigorously defined or observed.

Contrary to Trump’s claim, the Strait of Hormuz is not an international waterway. It is in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. While those countries do have an obligation to allow traffic through it, they do have significant rights to regulate it. #iran #usa

Ever since my old therapist suggested, I have suspected I may be allistic. Unfortunately, getting “diagnosed” as allistic somehow costs several thousand dollars. There also isn’t much information on that sort of process.

Given Israel’s actions in Lebanon and America’s strikes on Iranian territory, I do not think a peace deal is a realistic prospect anymore. I don’t think it was ever likely given the USA’s positions and lack of flexibility, honestly. I think a return to active fighting will resume soon. It will […]

Why do so many people insist on getting on a sandbox about how installing Linux “isn’t the solution”? I know it gets clicks and people can be annoying, but installing Linux is often a good solution and it’s good people advocate for it. Things aren’t going to change if people keep being so […]

I’m really confused by this article. Operating parking costs money, maintaining roads costs money. Parking and road space at an airport are scarce and in high demand. It’s unrealistic to expect parking at an airport to be free or cheap. I guess the author has a point about the current public […]

[Transphobia, Transmisogyny, Online Gender-Based Violence, Cruelty to Mothers and Children] I did a search of NZ legislation to see how the transphobic "Definition of man and women" bill might impact trans women. While I am not a lawyer, what I found was highly disturbing. The biggest impact I […]

Google’s AI-only search thing depresses me. A world where people’s view of the world is mainly determined by the output of a machine is dystopian and anti-human. Even if the machine was broadly functional and non-malevolent, relying on a single source of truth is completely opposed to knowledge […]

This is one of my favourite images I've ever taken - a pivotal moment in how I saw my images, and a moment that marked a moment of progression in my journey in the #Art of #Photography I took it while balanced on the edge of a cliff, capturing what was a […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

I kind of get where Chris Bishop’s social housing change is coming from. Making more housing support available for private tenants when there’s a shortage of social housing is, abstractly, good. However, cutting support to all social housing tenants to achieve that strikes me as harmful and […]

My work is going so hard on AI, it’s stressing me out.

How, exactly, does Winston Peters propose to pay for this bank he wants the government to buy? I’m by no means against government spending, but this seems to be going too far. #nzpol

Why do people feel the need to have complex conversations about transmisogynistic talking points at this point. I don’t think it’s appropriate, given the stakes.

I’m sad. So sad.

My workplace has implemented something called CoPilot code review. It’s an LLM that attempts to do code review. I dislike it. It produces a lot of nonsensical comments, and I think it will degrade tram performance by wasting contributor’s cognitive energy. But I seem to be completely unable to […]

I would be alarmed if someone didn’t give me at least $250,000.

I am somewhat confused by the USA’s continued focus on the Iranian nuclear program. Their stated motivation is to prevent Iran from creating an atomic bomb, and they seem to regard the issue as urgent. But Iran denies it is developing an atomic bomb, and all the reputable analysts agree. I am […]

My job is destroying my wellbeing. Or more, accurately, it is failing to provide the sense of wellbeing that I am utterly dependent on it to provide. I guess that’s the natural outcome of social isolation, emotional neglect, and being told you’re gifted; Workaholism.

Why is every ad for a painkiller about preventing pain from affecting your life. I would have thought not experiencing as much was an adequate selling point. It’s not bad to take a break or rest, you don’t have to push through everything.

I am so alone. I wish I had people to relate to. People who understood what I have experienced. Pain is harder to bear without support.

The sadness over my childhood has returned. Hmmm. I suppose it’s necessary.

I wish I could get pregnant.

I keep ruminating over my youth. I was doing it a lot over the weekend. I’m not totally sure why, but it’s probably unprocessed emotional pain. I had a lot of bad experiences as a child and teenager. I don’t think I was emotionally present for a lot of it, and I suppressed most of it for years […]

Well, that press conference certainly didn’t have the confidence I’d expect from a man who has the full support of his caucus. #nzpol

It would not be difficult to express concern about the migration provisions in the India-NZ free trade agreement without being racist. In fact, I will do it now. “I am concerned that the guaranteed migration places required by the agreement may result in an excess of skilled workers in some […]

Frankly, I would rather Luxon announce that he is considering having New Zealand slip on a banana peel than say we might get involved in Hormuz. Nothing good is going to come out of us taking any military action in the strait of Hormuz. #nzpol

I am not responsible for the dysfunction of others. Particularly that of men who use chatbots.

If this polling trend continues and Winston Peters’ NZ First has 15% or more of parliament after the election, I will need to leave. NZ First has made it clear that they want to violate the rights of transsexuals, and with that sort of sway, they will. This country will no longer be safe for me […]

If open-source maintainers are overwhelmed by low-quality LLM PRs, they aren’t going to have time to talk to each submitter independently about why they shouldn’t be doing what they’re doing.

Sometimes my work culture feels like a frat house.

I’ve been trying hard at work to get my colleagues to listen to me, and they just won’t. They’re so full of masculine bravado. They don’t take me seriously. I don’t even feel like they respect me half the time. I feel like so many of the failures we’ve had would be avoidable if they’d listen […]

A lot of people on social media seem to have very little respect for people who disagree with them in any substantive way. Particularly bluesky et al. Much less so on the fediverse.

How was it not obvious I disliked my job until it gave me a health issue and I took a month-long break? These people just don’t take the work they’re doing seriously enough. We’re writing the primary consumer interface for millions of dollars of transactions, it’s a very sensitive application […]

Here we go again.

I’m back in New Zealand. Ugh.

the idea that a "singularity" is possible is just the idea that you can turn "mistaking a sigmoid for an exponential" into a millenarian religion

If NZ Labour can’t even say with certainty that they will vote against a law that is intended to violate my rights and incite hatred against people like me on the basis of transsexuality, why would I stay? Why should I live in and contribute to a country that clearly does not care about my […]

"#australia says it can’t go it alone on #socialmediaban for kids" is the "Help us open Hormuz" of tech policy: Doing the wrong thing despite everyone telling you it ain't the solution and then complaining about others not helping when you fail. Even the Australian rep to the #eu now admits […]

Is Donald Trump trying to offensive, or have the gulf powers succeeded in converting him to radical Sunni Islam? Not totally clear. #trump #war #iran

I’m not really a resort fan, honestly.