Private 5G, satellite resilience and final TDL: https://billbennett.co.nz/private-5g-satellites-tdl-nz-telecoms/

Is Microsoft Co-Pilot still embarrassingly bad?

2021. @adriennelaf.bsky.social @theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

I have resolved to purge AI from my life. There may still be a stray AI image on my main site that I’ll pick up at some point, but otherwise it’s always been clean. About 90% of the record covers on my Soundcloud site are AI generated. I can clean them up over the summer.

My only claim to special knowledge about AI is that I wrote an awful lot about it 35 years ago and talked to dozens of experts, especially in Japan. Instinct tells me China is rapidly pulling ahead of America on AI. It has a lot to do with an open source approach, but that's not the whole story.

Farm exports are in danger of becoming more of a lottery: www.farmersweekly.co.nz/politics/red...

Is it possible to be addicted to Vegemite?

Tonight I’m reading about American politics

Banning Vegemite is a cruel, unusual punishment. www.bbc.com/news/article...

It’s great that BlueSky has a Gift Links/Gift Articles feature, but every single one of them is from the US. How about some antipodean gift links?

Up to a point I find it comforting that the AI chatbots sometimes still struggle with te reo (Māori) words, but they appear to be getting much better at New Zealand-style switching between Engilsh and te reo. Spellcheckers and audio AI are way behind.

Sign of the times, I checked the flying range of the yellow legged hornet. So long as the existing finds are the only nests our house is outside their potential haunts... but this is really not good.

Was thinking about this. While it's possible that Trump may be able to sue the BBC, a billion dollars is many times the largest ever defamation payout from a UK court. If he sues in the US, there is a way, way higher legal bar to his action. www.bbc.com/news/article...

It's not yet 9:00 and my email and phone have been running hot over the lead story on today's newsletter. billbennett.co.nz/2degrees-ast...

The Trump World View From the new Private Eye, out now.

Today’s newsletter: A partnership between 2degrees and AST SpaceMobile offers a distinct take on mobile to satellite. Chorus wants government help fixing digital divide. Another data record breaks. billbennett.co.nz/2degrees-ast...

2degrees reveals sovereign satellite strategy: https://billbennett.co.nz/2degrees-ast-spacemobile-satellite-service-2026/

Airport catering is predominantly carbohydrate

Realistically, given the margin of error in this poll and the effect of overhangs, all we can really say is that, right now, the next election is too close to call. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

I've realised that I've consciously stopped or massively reduced using em-rules in my copy. I was taught to use them 50 years ago as a young journalist, but now they are often seen as an indicator that something was written by AI. I can't have people thinking I'm doing that.

Heaven knows it’s not a scientific poll and has no meaningful validity, but the people who can be bothered to click on a button that only a certain demographic will see appear to click in near unison.

In Auckland this year’s togs, togs, undies weather is about five weeks earlier than usual.

Interesting story from the dairy sector: www.farmersweekly.co.nz/technology/s...

I've tried all three of the main mobile companies at one time or another and none of them have managed to disable voice mail. Sometimes it goes off for a week or two, but I continually end up with unwanted voice mail messages.

Friday's newsletter for people who were otherwise engaged at the end of last week. billbennett.co.nz/one-nz-moves...

For the supporters of Farage & Co.

Was still in my music journalist phase so I saw every one of these play live. Saw some of them play many times.

The odd thing about this story is that there are still some people who think such a programme might be effective despite years of unambiguous evidence suggesting otherwise. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

I killed Microsoft subscription the moment I got the first notice with the extra copilot fee. There will be no going back. The only reason we still had a subscription is because one family member believed it was essential. I’ve barely touched the software in well over a decade now.

Today’s newsletter: billbennett.co.nz/one-nz-moves...

One NZ moves HQ back to town: https://billbennett.co.nz/one-nz-moves-hq-back-to-town/

10% of Meta's 2024 ad revenue came from outright frauds and scams; the platform shows consumers 15 billion ads for fraud and scams every single day. This doesn't even include agitprop and AI slop. the existential collapse of this monumental pile of shit company simply can't come quickly enough

I was a young man the first time I heard quantum computing would soon be commonplace. www.bbc.com/news/article...

According to my email, there’s a DHL parcel waiting for me to collect in Sao Paolo. How exciting.

I’m not convinced the Liquid Glass user interface changes in the new MacOS are an improvement. It’s not bad, just not better than before the update. Likewise I’m not certain Spotlight works better than before. On the other hand, the cross device integration and continuity features are excellent.

I'm concerned that the Ministry of Social Development sends out what amounts to an emailed advertising brochure each month to Supergold card holders. Do the companies that feature in the email pay for their advertising? How are they picked?

Should be compulsory reading for every business manager: hbr.org/2025/09/ai-g...

It's nearly time for second breakfast.

Since I upgrade to MacOS 26, I've started to run out of application memory on a 2025 MacBook Air running five modest apps.

Australian freight company announces rollout of another 12 electric trucks that will replace diesel vehicles used for the national delivery network of global beverage giant Coca-Cola.

I've been worrying about this for more than six years. billbennett.co.nz/online-subsc...

That's quite some juxtaposition. @snugbucket.bsky.social

Something for older readers from 2019.... billbennett.co.nz/dial-tone/

These people are not our friends www.engadget.com/cybersecurit...

ladies and gentlemen...we got him

For a brief moment five years ago, Huawei was the world's top-selling mobile phone brand before US sanctions hit. billbennett.co.nz/huawei-sales...

A link to today's newsletter for everyone who was preoccupied at 8:00. billbennett.co.nz/city-rail-li...

Apparently my left eye is pseudophakic. I had to look that up.