A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death. Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written." Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating. 🧪🧬🧫

#eqnz rattle! Light shaking?!

🚨📕 Need a gift for the Pōneke peeps/map geeks/history buffs /archive nerds/book fans in your life? Have I got the tome for you! Mr Ward's Map (by Elizabeth Cox, published by MUP, designed by me) 🚨📕 My design notes: makinggood.design/thoughts/map... + buy here! www.masseypress.ac.nz/books/all/mr...

used ChatGPT this week to proof comments and to convert to html (moodle screws uo spacing/italics when pasting text). I am spending more time proofing its changes than I was my own text, tbh. Despite expressly saying ‘do not add additional italics’ it keeps making te reo Māori term italic 😖

Siouxsie took on an institution that failed to protect her and other academics from death threats, whilst doing fantastic #scicomm for the common good. She won against UOA. And is left with a house-size debt even after being awarded costs. Give a little back if you can 💚 🚨

At a time when academics are under sustained right-wing attack, Dr Siouxsie Wiles stood up to the neoliberal regime of university management and won, but it came at a cost. If you can, please consider supporting Siouxsie, one of the most courageous scholars I know. www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/852...

Capital gains tax as a ‘tax on the corner dairy’ is a massive stretch, surely that’s clear to all? I guess ‘this is a tax on the corner dairy assuming the dairy owner owns the building and decides to sell it, paying tax on a % of profit made on that sale’ doesn’t exactly roll of the tongue does it

@rebeccamatthews.bsky.social good to see your name on the list of councillors likely elected for Wharangi/Onslow-Western. So sorry you’ll have such cooked colleagues 🤨 keep on fighting the good fight! 💚

@lauriefoon.bsky.social looks like we get you back in Paekawakawa/Southern, and I am delighted (and a bit relieved!) 💚 yay Laurie!

💯🧑‍🍳😘

we need to change the history of Aotearoa again… i found a 2,500 year-old Terracotta Warrior from Xi’an, China near Maupuia yesterday. jk! do you recognise this as a souvenir or something more interesting… ? full story… www.reddit.com/r/Wellington...

Gardeners of #nz #kikorangi: what’s this? I was cutting down a cottoneaster and this was growing below (self seeded). Not the same as what I cut down. Seek has offered up privet, Myrtle rust (?!), Chilean guava, rata… oh and insect and bird lol!

Paging #nzpol: Luxon and Brown behind me on the plane. What’s my one liner when we get off?!

And still, the progressive Wellington Mayoral candidate Alex Baker is not included. Was he asked? #nzpol #nzpolitics

Local candidates: it's not much help telling us you're married with 3 kids and have run your own business. I need to know where you stand on issues: fluoridation, cycleways, water, homelessness, climate change mitigation, housing density, libraries, and which issues you care about most.

quite enjoyed the low level sharpie action on one of Ray Chung's signs: his portrait augmented with a pair of droopy boobs and "soft pendulous breasts" written across it. He said it, he gotta own it (and all being well, get owned in the elections)

… great to see some informed, realistic perspective on AI within the conversation in New Zealand. This overview from Andrew Lensen at VUW is well worth your time…

the current government wants to change concessions for accessing public land. ie: opening up conservation land for exploitation. agricultural sprawl cannot be the way that NZ seeks to answer its economic challenges. we may already be at the limits… newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/13/l...

Outlook can’t even work out contextually that I *do* mean ‘deboss’, not ‘debase’ and back off changing my text over and over. I’m a book designer talking to a publisher you stupid tool #bookdesign

… o crap. the totalitarians just showed up

2025 version of finding an Old Master in the attic (fridge clean-out version)

Capitalism working as designed.

woah! that alert works #eqnz #tsunamiwarning

The rumours are true, we are indeed putting on another Science, Technology, & Human Values STS School! 22-25 June 2026 in Seoul, Korea - hosted by Seoul National University + KAIST, w/ support from the Korean Association of STS (KASTS) + AusSTS. See www.sthvschool.org Applications close 10 Dec 2025

streaming services are to filter coffee as vinyl is to espresso.

I’m a sporadic, lazy and easily distracted reader, but today I gorged myself on Bad Archive by Flora Feltham. Books, chips, duvet and the sofa on a Sunday. A recommended tonic, but this book especially so 💚 @thwupbooks.bsky.social

@lauriefoon.bsky.social yay welcome Laurie! 💚

A solid week of typesetting. Not convinced that #AI is gonna replace editors + designers any time soon. The nuance in the mark-ups I am fixing is super-detailed. Even with a really good template and style-mapping, it still needs close attention. Also, enjoy this #glitch! #typesetting #bookdesign

Diane Calvert sees herself as a "credible alternative" choice as Wellington Mayor and says she offers a "woman's voice". She doesn't have a track record of supporting other women on council. Nor has she shown any skills at working across the table. Not my pick. #NZpol www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Two things about the new mayoral candidacy announced today: not being Ray Chung does not a centrist make, and look at the record. Is there anything there that has been about Wellington growing into a modern city or about better things being possible?

A new paper in The Lancet Microbe lays the groundwork for a global science-policy body to tackle pandemic threats — modeled after the IPCC for climate change 🧪🧵

Thanks @aussts.bsky.social for a great three days at #aussts25 #signalsandnoises 💚 Amazing you’ll be heading to Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington next time! (Put me and @tristam.bsky.social down for local donkey work jobs!)

TIL: incubators for babies were first a festival sideshow?! Thanks Elisabeth Stephens, fascinating stuff! @aussts.bsky.social #aussts25 #signalsandnoises muse.jhu.edu/article/940463

Really enjoyed @digitaldang.bsky.social’s talk on loudspeakers in the Vietnamese context. The especially evocative ‘fish sauce and exhaust’ phrase encapsulating the urban streetscape was a deliciously poetic highlight 💚 📢 #signalsandnoises #AusSTS2025

We’ve cracked 5k signatures. We’re pretty neat 💛 #nzpol our.actionstation.org.nz/petitions/lu...

Glitches of the day (these should be pretty straightforward text pages, but at 400 pages the file is getting a bit wobbly 🤪) #indesign #bookdesign

I spent yesterday in Tāmaki Makaurau at Objectspace with most of Aotearoa’s book design whānau and it was great—enriching and inspiring. James Goggin from Practise’s talk a highlight (awesome as always). And! They have a book fair today; get on it book fans! www.objectspace.org.nz/events/objec...

Some good news! Auckland Uni ordered to pay Siouxsie Wiles more than $200,000. Hardly compensation, but a full and clear note that she was right and the uni was in the wrong and kept digging www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... siouxsiew.bsky.social

Was it only a British (1980s) thing to describe any cut to the head as they ‘cracked their head open’? Just because last week I got a head bash that made my scalp gush blood (all fine; random gardening accident!), and I wonder if it qualifies 😂🤕🩸

as much as it is genuinely unfortunate (on many levels) that @misswhanau.bsky.social has decided not to stand for reelection, Andrew Little needs to respect democratic process and stay in his lane until the election is held… www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

If you use/manufacture/supply/design/sell sustainable period products like menstrual cups and period undies, or are curious about these products, or are a women’s health researcher, or are interested in the health of people who menstruate we’d love to hear from you so please get in touch.

No, it isn't. The candidate seems to misunderstand the Council’s process. The Council has already approved the much-needed Courtenay Place regeneration project a year ago, and we are right to progress with it. #nzpol

Setting up a little exhibition in the Life in Vacant Spaces incubator on Cashel St, Ōtautahi with @jostle.bsky.social + friends! Come find out about our project #tohaveaplace about intersectional experience of public space, & share the places that make you feel *something* good, bad or indifferent!

Goodness, the Gramercy bakery queue is something to behold on a Saturday morning. Bike racks full too! Just goes to show, Wellington isn’t dead and plenty of people will make their way to great spots on foot or two wheels 💚🥐☕️🚲

On Tuesday I went to a talk in Thorndon at Te Apārangi, got on my bike after, rode on a cycleway to the waterfront, then one up Cambridge Tce., then one along Adelaide Rd, then along Riddiford St on a cycleway. That’s 80% of my journey without even planning. I love that this is becoming the norm 💚🚲

Poor Owhiro Bay, plague of millipedes now this epic weather! www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

@knhannah.bsky.social and @rkpriestley.bsky.social and I designed a stamp with Papakura on it for NZ Post, which is how I learnt about her 💚 makinggood.design/work/women-i...

@misswhanau.bsky.social you’d have had my vote ☹️ glad you made a decision for you and glad you’ll likely still be a voice on council

Movie you’ve watched more than six times using gifs. (“Hard mode” no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR)

Why is #TheArchers is trending? All that happened today was Helen attempted empathy with half a sandwich