NGL, I'm also grumpy & bemused by this.

Ireland’s data centre appeal ‘fading’ due to pressure on electricity grid, report says

Canterbury's regional council officially admits dairying pollution is a big problem. Ashburton's catchment looks critical in the graphs.

🇳🇿 NZ Bird of the Year

How does competition influence investment? The CMA has just published our new Microeconomics Unit lit review (joint work with my fantastic colleagues Amanda Ereyi and @joelkariel.bsky.social). 1/2

10/ You can’t tell what you don’t know. It’s not even an accusation. It’s formal logic.

Bad luck NZ (v AU in football) but I reckon it'll make the Eden Park match on Tuesday all the more interesting.

My papers arguing that the "Abundance Movement" needs broadening to include place-based jobs policies for distressed places are being released today, with a long paper at the Upjohn Institute & a shorter summary at Brookings Metro.

Classic kiwiana here... Farmer hit by lightning praises gumboots for saving life www.rnz.co.nz/news/country...

We've started using the possum hunter method on our ant armies. Stage 1: feed them up. Honey stations the key locations. They are loving it.

If I was a skeleton, I'd have a dapper hat, a long cigarette holder, a monocle and I'd be riding a motorbike

An idea worth sharing...

Automated Software Swatting as a Service or ASSaaS

A Chinese cell phone company pivoted to making EVs and within three years is delivering 350K cars a year. It took Tesla ten years to get there.

Spotted @ahawkins.bsky.social at Whammy bar this evening & he was kind enough to indulge me.

I'll be there. Looking fwd to it.

The best time to change farming methods was 20yrs ago. The 2nd best time is now. www.thepress.co.nz/environment/...

I may have overdone it when the chocolates lady came around...

"Ow wow Mr Altman! how are you going to pay for all that?" "Ohh uh we're going to invent a whole new way of finance working that the world has not yet figured out" These people are intellectual slime mold and it drives me barking mad that they can just say mindless gibberish and get infinite money

Why doesn't Sam's AI software just design new computers that need less space and energy and generate less heat.

A thread on "reverse acquihires" in the AI space. Reverse acquihires are characterized by two things: 1) the buyer takes over the most important/talented employees and 2) the buyer pays a hefty sum to the target firm via a side deal. They are becoming common in the AI space:

from my window...

Get cracking to those Asian supermarkets Due to do our fortnightly run to our local tomorrow What it costs me to fill the trolley there is about half of what it would from Woolworths, Pak n Save and New World www.rnz.co.nz/news/chinese...

Defending your dissertation like you're ChatGPT: "I'm sorry, you're correct, I was wrong about that and you're right to bring it up. The actual answer is exactly what you just said."

Better ways to farm.... www.rnz.co.nz/news/country...

Sure, vector algebra/calculus/statistics isn't going to produce sentience. ...reinforcing the fact that as much as we love maths, it isn't cool.

This article, which is great, reminded me of a quote from Red Dwarf that had a big impact on teenage me: RIMMER: It's just that I'm ill at ease with the opposite sex. LISTER: It's because you see them as some alien species that needs to be conquered with trickery. They're not - they're people.

Cut my thumb cooking & now it doesn't unlock my phone.

Motherfucking wind farms…

Day trip to the Tron to check out a baler.

Wow. Great story!

This is a good survey of the GE issues facing nz. One thing it omits is that GE producers rely on their products being "substantially similar" when arguing against labeling but the same products are "novel, unique etc" when they apply for patents. Pick one. www.1news.co.nz/2025/07/22/i...

I recently reviewed Louis Kaplow’s book "Rethinking Merger Analysis." The review evaluates the book’s discussion of market definition, coordinated effects, entry, efficiencies, and the welfare standard. Available in The Antitrust Source or at ssrn.com/abstract=533...

Updated my NZ inflation tracker with today's data We may have passed peak olive oil but fruit, meat, coffee and dairy are rising again Household utilities keep rising; stuff for your home is cheaper Cheaper education for toddlers but bad news for uni students More: schiff.nz/gallery/pric...

Ok, I have THE BEST NEWS! Almost six months ago now NinjaKitty 2.0 blew her engine. After a lot of delays —some my end & some not— & after a very thorough investigation, Suzuki will fully repair my car under warranty. I should have her back by the middle of next month at the latest🥳 🙌 🙌

pumping out heat / not a heat pump

Superb thread as usual. Up from here is v informative background. Down from here pulls the thread together.

The news of Chris Faiumu's passing has shaken the music community. @martynpepperell.bsky.social put it well today: "Mu was a beacon...For a long time, he was Wellington’s lighthouse, shining his light on good tunes, good laughs and good times. Then he became... www.audioculture.co.nz/profile/mu

Remembering Mu. Rest in peace big man. You made your dreams come true. open.substack.com/pub/selected...

C&S are doing a great job of remixing their old bangers for a new generation... youtu.be/T8KwY8a47rU?...

Henri Bergson

Be nice to your driver: book them using Bolt rather than Uber. Same car, same driver but 'only' a 20% commission instead of 28%.

Great insight...

OK, some more considered thoughts on the Industrial Strategy published on Monday and my comment on it. The first, inescapable point to make about this thing is that it is *huge*. Not "Bidenomics" huge, which translated to £ would have meant £100bns. But in detail 1/ www.gov.uk/government/p...

I reckon our privileges committee would take a pretty dim view of this conduct.

Not sure this Telegraph review of Kneecap at Glastonbury will survive a call to the Editor from Lisa Nandy (Culture Secretary) It concludes: 'Condemning them just makes you look like a killjoy out of touch with the mood of a generation'. www.telegraph.co.uk/gift/446273b...