Sunset Strypey

Free human being of this Earth. Pākeha in Aotearoa.

Be excellent to each other!

BTW When I say Trained #MOLE, I mean generative models, what the hype bubble calls "AI", see my blog post;

https://disintermedia.net.nz/invasion-of-the-mole-trainers/

Email: strypey @disintermedia.net.nz

Jabber: strypey@jabber.org

Matrix: @strypey:matrix.iridescent.nz

All posts here CC BY-SA 4.0 (or later).

#Vegan #Permaculture #PeerProduction #SoftwareFreedom #PlatformCooperatives #FreeCode #CreativeCommons #SciFi #Comedy #Juggling #fedi22

Public Key

npub1pwwm8s9zxssfm3aqv3g4fvqfh9kglr76m5z434cymju9gp9jhwwqdqtc65

NIP-05 Address

strypey@mastodon-nzoss-nz.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqh8dncz3rggyac7sxg525kqymjmy03ldd6p2c6uzdewz5qjeth8qpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ekk7um5wgh8qatzdssrl6

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub1pwwm8s9zxssfm3aqv3g4fvqfh9kglr76m5z434cymju9gp9jhwwqdqtc65

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-10-27 03:28:03 UTC

Just a reminder that in anticipation of the sunset over mastodon.nzoss.nz, my micro-reviews of pop culture, music, TV, movies, etc, will be posted on my Wafrn account (@nprofile…826k) from now on (if I remember).
This is to keep that stuff somewhat separate from;
* my political ranting (see @nprofile…gv77)
* my hopefully more measured tech/ media news and commentary (still here for now but see thread attached to pinned post)
(1/2)

2026-10-27 00:38:56 UTC

#FreudianTypoOfTheWeek
Ventimetre (n.): Unit of ventilation.

2026-10-26 13:31:11 UTC

The more I learn about Ghost, the more conflicted I feel. It's a big step up from SS, and I really enjoy the carefully thought out UX of the Ghost interface. But ...
* can't send so much as a single email newsletter to a subscriber without a MailGun account
* can't accept payment from subscribers without a Stripe account
* TinyBird - basic web traffic analytics depends on having an account on a third-party service, instead of integrating Free code like Plausible or Matomo
(1/2)
#Ghost

2026-10-26 12:47:11 UTC

XMPP server eJabberD has had Matrix support for a few years now;
https://www.process-one.net/blog/matrix-gateway-setup-with-ejabberd/
I wonder if the @nprofile…jnxc team have considered doing the same? I know how passionate they are about XMPP and fair enough. But hear me out, I'm going somewhere with this.
(1/2)
#Matrix #XMPP #FederatedChat #chat

2026-10-26 10:07:53 UTC

@nprofile…v9wr Just out of curiosity, have you checked out Wafrn?
One thing that gives it an edge over other fediverse server software is an ATProto 'sidecar'. Which enables a PDA for each account that opts in, making their posts and replies visible in the ATmosphere. I presume ATProto accounts can be followed without bridging too, but I've only just started testing.
(1/2)
#Tumblr #Wafrn #ATProto #fediverse

2026-10-26 02:29:44 UTC

... aaaaand we're back, to your irregularly programmed schedule!
(... big ups to Disposable Heroes of Hiphopracy)
Clearly this poor old Mastodon server has seen better days. There's been discussion around the camp about putting it out to pasture. To be replaced with a shiny new Mastodon on the iridescent.nz domain, where active accounts can migrate over the next year or 2.
Hopefully we can find a way to keep a post archive running under the mastodon.nzoss.nz domain. Any advice on that?
(1/?)

2026-10-22 02:26:12 UTC

"New analysis came out this week ... Teen marijuana use declined significantly in every [US] state that legalized adult use. Every single one."
#ChrisFowlie, 2026
https://feeds.95bfm.com/link/22115/17498685/marijuana-media-w-chris-fowlie-r%C4%81pare-october-15th-2026
Why do these drug prohibitionists want more of our kids smoking the whacky baccy? Won't somebody think of the *children*!
#cannabis #DrugLawReform #MarijuanaMedia #95bFM #podcasts

2026-10-21 21:45:48 UTC

#FreudianTypoOfTheWeek
Web hoisting (v.): Setting up a website.

2026-10-21 10:47:18 UTC

The power of denial summed up in a single image.
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/117/478/493/149/026/787/original/163cf6aa5f49ccaf.png

2026-10-21 08:00:00 UTC

Goggle Search: We're organising the world's information.
Goggle Gemini: We're disorganising the world's information.
#Google

2026-10-21 01:39:32 UTC

Goggle Search: We're organising the world's information.
Goggle Gemini: We're disorganising the world's information.

2026-10-20 23:29:34 UTC

I feel duty bound the comment on the Buck the Sheep controversy. I'm kind of embarrassed that both theSpinoff *and* John Oliver stole a march on me on this one. I've been busy doing fuck all, and is the nature of burnout. But I digress ...
In brief, I when the Greens and ACT/ Free Speech Onion agree on something, it's usually pretty bona fide. Obviously satire ought to be exempt from NZ copyright law. Or even better, BORA ought to have teeth enough overrule it.
(1/?)
#BORA #copyright #satire

2026-10-20 00:41:08 UTC

So now the NZ Parliament website is trying to pull browser scripts from this third-party domain;
"UNPKG is a fast, global content delivery network for everything on npm."
https://unpkg.com/
npm is a software repository for JavaScript slop. A full accounting of its history would require a long blog post, at least. Suffice to say that it was already well known as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, long before being (mis)managed GritHub/BorgSoft;
https://www.ncsc.govt.nz/alerts/supply-chain-compromise-impacting-npm-ecosystem/
#npm #GovtIT

2026-10-20 00:05:10 UTC

I'm think about a new project, codename; #DeadPage.
The idea is to set up a service that mirrors the homepages of public interest commons projects, like those developing Free Code software. With some kind of archive.org style header to make it clear that it's a mirror.
The mirror would be hosted as a subdomain, eg;
https://glimpse-editor.deadpa.ge
Ideally in such a way that if the homepage is unresponsive, for any reason, the the DeadPage version gets served instead. But I'm not sure how though.

2026-10-19 21:07:17 UTC

"You'd have been an idiot, or an education union member, to kid yourself that Erica Stanford's education reforms weren't working."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch/2026/pitching-for-parents-education-in-the-election-mascot-mess
Yeah, what would primary teachers know? They only do a 3 year uni degree in educational theory and practice, under the tutelage of people with PhDs in education who've spent their careers studying the evidence for what works and what doesn't. What would they know?
(1/?)
#education #NZElection2023 #MediaWatch #RNZ #podcasts

2026-10-19 04:20:27 UTC

#CaptionCompetition
Go!
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/117/465/644/479/314/907/original/10666db354e3cc74.jpg

2026-10-19 02:50:42 UTC

How the rest of the country sees The Tron ...
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/117/465/297/187/767/865/original/12d339592accc75f.jpg

2026-10-19 00:24:18 UTC

#ADHDTips: Leaving a thing in your visual field can be a good way to remind yourself to deal with it. But it only works in an otherwise uncluttered environment!
If you haven't responded to a visual niggle within a few hours or days, it will fade into the background. Eventually you won't even consciously notice it, except when it gets in your way in the middle of another urgent task.
Don't let it! Put it away, and try a different strategy (#TTD list entries, body doubling, etc.
@nprofile…wafw

2026-10-18 14:11:44 UTC

Bring back Meccano!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meccano
#Meccano

2026-10-17 20:00:02 UTC

To help out on fediverse.party, all you need to know how to do is use a web browser and a search engine, open issues on CodeBerg, and edit a wiki. You don't to be able to wrangle a Git repo, wrestle with static generator, or debug a CI
It's like an iceberg, where the website is the tiny tip that sticks up above the waterline. The vast majority of the work is researching fediverse software and community services (guides sites, stats portals, etc), and updating wiki pages.
#FediverseParty

2026-10-17 15:21:25 UTC

Social media bans for children? Barlow called it 30 years ago;
"You are terrified of your own children, since they are natives in a world where you will always be immigrants. Because you fear them, you entrust your bureaucracies with the parental responsibilities you are too cowardly to confront yourselves."
#JohnPerryBarlow, 1996
https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence
(1/2)
#B416 #SocialMediaBans #AgeVerification #AgeGating

2026-10-17 13:16:16 UTC

Would you like develop an app? A fediverse app to be precise. With 90% of the work already done for you?
You don't need a generative model for that.
(1/2)
#FediverseParty #DelightfulLists #VibeCoding #AI

2026-10-17 09:35:29 UTC

I just noticed a bonus effect of @nprofile…mvm4's new policy against hosting vibe coded slop. If a project moved off CB in the second half of 2026, after the policy was adopted, you can pretty much guarantee generative models are being used in its development. Or will be.
Not only does the policy avoid CB's resources being wasted on this kind of slop, it gives us an easy way to identify and avoid it ; )
#CodeBerg #VibeCoding #MOLE #AI

2026-10-17 08:23:59 UTC

Maybe it's just a case of OMYAC syndrome, but I've been noticing more and more ludicrously noisy motor vehicles and reckless driving these days. Anyone get the eerie feeling we're now living in the first Mad Max movie? We're not at the Road Warrior stage yet, but it's starting to feel more and more plausible.
(For the uninitiated, OMYAC = Old Man Yells At Clouds)
(1/2)
#dystopia #MadMax #movies

2026-10-16 12:52:37 UTC

I just went to enable the ATProto support on Wafrn and quickly realised this is *not* the native ATmosphere integration it's been promoted as.
The 'enable BlueSky' page in Settings says;
"To enable Bluesky, you will log in through the Bluesky flow and authorize your account."
Seems that it's essentially just an internal BS client, so it still requires a BS account, under the dominion of BS management. This is a bit disappointing.
(1/2)
#Wafrn #BlueSky #ATProto
@nprofile…9xvm @nprofile…7j8f

2026-10-16 09:35:44 UTC

@nprofile…q9cx I just tried to visit retribute.me and got a 502. With text linking to the FunkWhale status page (which BTW still links to @nprofile…cxpy).
What's up there?

2026-10-16 08:37:41 UTC

"Need a bit more privacy? The laptop's webcam has an integrated webcam cover that can be open and closed on a whim."
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-t4-gnulinux-laptop
What, you mean no more sticky note over the webcam? I'm gushing now, I know, but these folks really do seem to think of everything.
I'm in need a reliably laptop, and I'm seriously thinking about one of those. Talk me out of it, I dare you.
#WebcamCover #privacy

2026-10-16 07:51:42 UTC

Framework has had some impressive community marketing. So a *lot* of people know about them. But some are probably still suspicious about the funding they gave to various shady projects (notably Omarchy)
ThinkPenguin laptops are also designed to be as repairable as possible, *and* to fully respect your software freedom. Every component works with GNU/Linux, no proprietary blobs required. They're also half the price;
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/penguin-t4-gnulinux-laptop
(1/2)
#FrameWork #ThinkPenguin #RightToRepair

2026-10-16 05:37:53 UTC

Does anyone know of an article that explains why someone might want to publish their blog or newsletter into the social web, and explains the basics of how to do that? Using simple, clear language that non-geeks can easily make sense of.
#publishing #SocialWeb

2026-10-16 01:21:52 UTC

This week's Midweek MediaWatch posed the question; do leaders' debates still make sense in 21st century elections?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2019055919/midweek-debates-and-stalemates-bring-back-kiwibuck
I haven't bothered to watch any this time around, which suggests my answer is a resounding 'no!'
I see no value whatsoever in people jabbering vague talking points at each other in public for an hour or 2. They're vestigial organs left over from the broadcast era, and we'd be no worse off without them.
(1/?)
#ElectionsDebates #MediaWatch #RNZ #podcasts

2026-10-15 22:29:55 UTC

The things generative models can do, which can't be done with more deterministic forms of AI (a very broad category including a lot of genuinely useful automation), are all things that can otherwise only be done by humans.
So a question I'd like to ask anyone boosting the use of generative models is;
Why do you want to avoid working with a human?
This is not a gotcha question, I'm genuinely curiously. There are many possible answers, all of which could be illuminating.
#GenerativeAI #AI

2026-10-14 11:30:01 UTC

Most dried pasta sold in this country comes in disposable plastic bags. Presumably, like most plastic, made out of toxic wastes from fossil fuel refining (if you can claim they have a use, you can rebrand them as "byproducts" or "coproducts")
Anyway, l Just opened a new box of pasta - a brand I haven't bought before - expecting to see a plastic bag inside. I was pleasantly surprised. No plastic bag!
#packaging #plastic #FossilFuels
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/117/438/982/663/335/709/original/d5447d06333ba2c4.jpg

2026-10-14 04:09:21 UTC

"There is immense power of possibility in the many existing solutions (below) that are ready to be deployed at scale. With them, we can make ourselves more resilient and #MoveTheDate of Earth Overshoot Day.
Leading up to Earth Overshoot Day, the Power of Possibility platform highlights many ways we can improve our resource security in five key areas (healthy planet, cities, energy, food, and population)."
https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/power-of-possibility/
(1/2)
#EarthOvershootDay #overshoot #environmentalism

2026-10-14 00:30:01 UTC

Oh-oh. Another naming collision in decentralised tech!
"Zot and Nomad pioneered many features, such as nomadic identity, portable identity, access control, identity proofs, among other things. It also pioneered federated single sign on, which was spun off into its own protocol, OpenWebAuth (OWA)."
https://opennomad.net/page/nomad/home
"Nomad is a new design for radically cheaper cross-chain communication without header verification."
https://old-docs.nomad.xyz/
#NamingCollisions #NomadProtocol #Nomad

2026-10-13 08:33:29 UTC

Test.

2026-10-13 01:35:22 UTC

#Listening to The Pit by @nprofile…2fsg, from the 2019 EP Hello Cruel World;
https://bandwagon.fm/668613500477057c74ab4012
I like the strutting beat, the quirky lead guitar, and especially the lyrics and vocal performance. Well worth a listen.
(1/2)
#ButterflyDoom #LoFi #rock #music #CCBYSA #CCMusic

2026-10-13 01:23:30 UTC

Not sure who is/was running it these days, but PixelFed.nz seems to be down today. Haven't checked in for a while, so it could be a dead parrot. Last good version archivedby the WayBack Machine was in June;
https://web.archive.org/web/20260606133332/https://pixelfed.nz/
#PixelFedNZ #StatusChecks

2026-10-12 07:18:12 UTC

I just had an idea for a service that helps people find the official fediverse accounts for projects and organisation.
Let's say it's called find.me. I'd search for @castopod@find.me, and my app would find a luggage tag redirecting me to @nprofile…6jtr. If CastoPod changed their official account, they'd submit the new account to find.me, and the luggage tag would be updated accordingly.
Maybe <rel me> tags could be used in some way to verify provenance?
@nprofile…xgry
#AccountSearch #search #FediDevs

2026-10-12 05:22:29 UTC

Hi @nprofile…um9r, I found your fediverse service on the list here;
https://forte.eenoog.org/instances?project=coresignal
Coresignal.podmoodle.nohost.me looks like a Bonfire instance, but it's not on the Bonfire list here;
https://forte.eenoog.org/instances?project=bonfire
Is CoreSignal a fork of some kind? Or has @nprofile…hxsx maybe got some issues with its NodeInfo implementation?
#Bonfire #CoreSignal #FediDevs

2026-10-12 03:37:02 UTC

"But yet, despite video now being native to the web, people still habitually treat YouTube as the only way to publish video content on the web. Despite native support for video streaming and all the server software available, people habitually treat Twitch as the only way to stream. Despite web browser vendors working together on a standard API for video/voice calls (WebRTC), people act as if Discord is the only way to hold a group call."
https://arcanican.is/blog/2025/retvrn.php
(1/2)
#OpenWeb

2026-10-12 02:48:17 UTC

Anyone know of any SourceHut instances other than the flagship?
https://sr.ht/
I just spent some time web searching, but couldn't find any.
#SourceHut

2026-10-12 02:37:16 UTC

"Public administrations cannot consolidate onto one forge: each runs its own instance under its own legal basis, with accounts issued by a national identity provider that vouches only for its own staff. Issuing a local account to a foreign civil servant mints an identity we can neither govern nor deprovision, so the choice is a guest account outside our trust anchor, or no collaboration."
#LukasKahweSmith, 2026
https://matrix.to/#/!zvKZtX5bJSe0glr83bb7XWpLpkLPVmFY-2SVwCLDA_E/rHSJchctfFC_Ikh3r9c7Era_9scJl67vykWKwZ28xuQ?via=matrix.iridescent.nz&via=matrix.org&via=ccc.ac
(1/2)
#ForgeFederation #PublicCode #PublicCode

2026-10-12 02:32:02 UTC

"A good question would be: 'then why not just using one selfhosted platform only?'. But hosting my own forge publicly comes with big drawbacks ... [including that] ... A 'known' public forge is usually easier to contribute."
https://bacardi55.io/2024/07/26/re-thinking-my-git-hosting-with-sourcehut-and-forgejo/
This blog post raises a style of forge federation use I hadn't thought of. Developers doing day-to-day work on private forges, but mirroring their work to public forges, to receive issues, patches, etc, via federation.
#ForgeFederation #CodeForges

2026-10-12 00:49:37 UTC

Here's something that really bakes my noodle. A lawyer can be 100% correct that Source Available software is not Free Code ("open-source"), while still implying it's somehow *not* proprietary;
https://fossa.com/blog/comprehensive-guide-source-available-software-licenses/
Proprietary software comes in 2 forms, the standard form where source code is a trade secret, and Source Available. I'm not sure why anyone is confused about this, especially a lawyer who clearly has a lot of experience with software licensing.
#SourceAvailable #SoftwareLicenses

2026-10-11 22:10:24 UTC

"There's no problem with someone being a billionaire because they provide work for hundreds of people ..."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/mediawatch/2026/who-wants-to-be-a-billionaire-reality-tv-check-award-wining-oil-scoop
I'm sorry, who provides work to whom?!?
#MediaWatch #RNZ #podcasts

2026-10-11 08:56:23 UTC

#Listening to the latest edition of Radio @nprofile…u5k4, which I somehow missed when it dropped in August;
https://radiobsots.blogspot.com/2026/08/193-wrapping-up-and-winding-down.html
I really enjoy this podcast, every time, and I'm very sad to hear Macedonia talk about calling it a day. But I totally agree there's no point struggling on with a hobby project you're not enjoying anymore.
(1/2)
#BSOTS #podcasts #CCMusic #music

2026-10-11 02:09:00 UTC

"Capitalists, if you think that you can play footsies with these people, you're wrong. They will come for you, and drag you into the streets, and kill you."
#GlennBeck
https://www.futurehindsight.com/occupy-series-episodes/episode-4
Oh, the projection! Who is it in the US over the last couple if years that's been dragging people into the streets, and killing people in the streets? Anticapitalists, or the masked blackshirts working for capitalists?
Even at the time, the violence at Occupy camps was from cops, not occupiers.
#Occupy

2026-10-10 21:56:02 UTC

For a long time I've been very selective about what tech I use, based on strict ethical principles (scroll down here);
https://disintermedia.net.nz/about/ for the ethical principles)
I want to use, promote, and support the development of tech that meets as many of these principles as possible. A few years ago I came across a blog piece using the tongue-in-cheek term 'tech vegan' to describe this;
https://nolanlawson.com/2019/05/31/tech-veganism/
(1/?)
#TechAmish #TechVegans #TechEthics

2026-10-10 20:15:09 UTC

"Apply for funding before November 3rd 2026
Do you have a valuable idea in the area of digital commons and networked technology, that will contribute towards achieving a more open information society and serves as a building block for an open internet stack?
Could you use financial and practical support to develop your open solution that empowers users on all layers of technology?"
https://nlnet.nl/news/2026/20260903-call.html
#DigitalCommons #FundingCalls #GrantFunding

2026-10-10 08:21:27 UTC

This afternoon I spent some time working on the ActivityPub server watchlist on the fediverse.party wiki;
https://codeberg.org/fediverse/fediparty/wiki/ActivityPub-server-watchlist?action=_revision
This may seem low priority compared to updating the site itself. But having a carefully curated, thoroughly linked, and up-to-date watchlist is key to doing that well. Because data is checked when updating the watchlist, then again during actual site updates, massively reducing the risk of factual errors or typos sneaking onto the site.
(1/2)
#FediverseParty

2026-10-10 04:38:03 UTC

"What we saw was the remnant of First-Past-the-Post politics, being played out by two political parties that are past their heyday, who are fighting for the same middle ground."
#SeanPlunket, 2026
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/9pm-live-tonight-the-bradbury-group-post-tvnz-leaders-debate-special-with-willie-jackson-sandra-grey-sean-plunket-john-tamihere-matthew-tukaki-and-dr-harpreet-singh/
It's vanishingly rare that I agree with Sean Plunket about anything, but I can find absolutely nothing to disagre with in this statement. Nailed it.
#LeadersDebate #TVNZ #NZElection2026

2026-10-10 02:08:00 UTC

There's been a bunch of discussion here recently about building a federated replacement for the recruitment and jobhunting aspects of LockedIn. There have been a couple of attempts to build something like this, and today I stumbled on another one. Development started at the end of 2020 and stalled a few months later, although the repo was only official archived and the homepage taken down in 2023;
https://github.com/Flockingbird
( 1/2)
#FlockingBird #LinkedIn #ProfessionalNetworking #FediDevs

2026-10-10 01:13:18 UTC

Anyone know why all the sites run by Ted Unangst, the developer of Honk and azorius, seem to have gone down at the end of last year? Is Ted OK?
https://web.archive.org/web/20251207001422/https://honk.tedunangst.com/u/tedu
#Honk #azorius #TedUnangst

2026-10-10 00:16:58 UTC

I'm not sure what I think about this yet, but it seems important to be aware it exists ...
#TIL about #OpenWALDO;
"OpenWALDO brings everything people expect from open source to AI: a community anyone can join; source code and training data anyone can contribute to and audit; open tools; public governance and trust earned through transparency; and models anyone can compose, train, validate, reproduce, extend, and improve."
https://openwaldo.org/
#AI #SoftwareFreedom

2026-10-09 07:20:37 UTC

A friendly reminder from the late, great Bill Hicks that regardless of who wins what electoral race in Nov - in NZ or the US - nothing much will change by itself. What Hicks joked about here;
https://video.kamloops.social/w/bd35ca5e-1336-4eb7-95e6-5d34ffa9d553
... was all but confirmed by Confessions of an Economic Hitman;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK45TyCq9XI
Democracy means we have to make the change together, and in our current system, make it clear to political representatives of the corporate class they have no choice.
#elections #BillHicks

2026-10-09 04:50:55 UTC

You know what would be cool? A code forge app that could speak Git, email and ForgeFed, so I could pull from any Git host over SSH, and interact with repos on any forges using Git's email bindings SourceHut style, or with ForgeFed implementations.
#Anvil aims to do at least some of this;
https://codeberg.org/Anvil/Anvil
Anyone know of any other examples?
#SourceHut #ForgeFed #CodeForges #Git

2026-10-09 04:12:11 UTC

I'm thinking again about a cross between NextCloud and SyncThing. A server-based file syncing network, which is mainly used to sync files between devices. But can also start storing a a file when the number of copies in the network falls below a threshold (eg 2, higher for more redundancy), deleting it from the server once more nodes sync it. A full version history of all files could live on each device, again, synced via the server.
(1/?)
#NextCloud #SyncThing #FileSync #CloudComputing

2026-10-08 23:55:06 UTC

I think I finally understand why Bomber got so frustrated with the NZ Green Titterati he started referring to them as "emerald stormtroopers". I still think that was an overblown expression, especially when used over and over again. But I get it.

2026-10-08 21:54:37 UTC

I want to see Opportunity unambiguously rule out any supporting any beneficiary-bashing in any coalition agreement they sign up to. Even Winston First of all people have have managed to come out against this.
This is a bright line for me. If there's any chance of Opportunity supporting a government that's going to randomly drug test beneficiaries, that rules them out as an option for me on election day.
#DrugTesting #drugs #SocialWelfare #TOP

2026-10-08 20:18:04 UTC

Political journalists in this country don't seem to understand how polls work.
"A new political poll has the Opportunity Party below the 5% threshold required to enter Parliament without winning an electorate seat."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361044158/new-poll-sees-coalition-back-power-opportunity-falls-short-5
That would be the Taxpayers Onion-Curia poll, which put Opportunity at 4.8%. As they say themselves;
"... the margin of error means there is a 42% chance Opportunity is actually above the 5% threshold."
https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/oct2026_nztucurpolljjhhfas
(1/?)
#TOP #ElectionPolls

2026-10-08 04:53:51 UTC

Trying to watching the Kingmakers debate, it occurs to me that Parliamentary politics has devolved into the secular equivalent of an interfaith debate club. They constantly say things as if they're stating obvious facts. Even though, more often than not, they're unverifiable articles of political-economic faith, and when they are falsifiable they're usually unproven, if not directly contradicted by available evidence.
(1/?)

2026-10-08 03:39:09 UTC

"Proposing to loot the foreign aid biscuit tin without much prior warning or without any consideration of how this might impact on our aid partners – or on the international reputation of New Zealand as a reliable partner in development – is reckless, and irresponsible of National and ACT. [Winston] Peters has called it 'dangerous' and 'desperate'. On this occasion, he’s right."
#GordonCampbell, 2026
https://werewolf.co.nz/2026/10/gordon-campbell-on-the-centre-right-laying-traps-for-winston-peters/
#ForeignAid #NZPolitics

2026-10-07 21:55:53 UTC

I'm a died-in-the-wool political tragic, but I'm finding it really hard to pay attention to the election campaign. It's all so cynical and spoon-fed.
I'm normally like a kid at Christmas During election time. But for the first time ever, I just want it all to be over so we can go on with our lives.
#NZElection2026 #NZPolitics

2026-10-07 11:43:26 UTC

New #Disintermedia blog post about supplying groceries to households in Aotearoa in more decentralised, low-emission ways, and hopefully breaking the supermarket duopoly;
creative policy approaches to
https://disintermedia.net.nz/breaking-the-supermarket-monopoly-over-grocery-supplies-in-aotearoa/
I dropped this off last week, before a young family member came to stay (it's been enjoyable, exhausting chaos). In all the hubbub I kept forgetting to share the link. At one point I forgot which blog I posted in on : P
#KiwiDelivery #AntiMonopoly #supermarkets #groceries

2026-10-04 08:18:56 UTC

#Opportunity party have released 5 bottom lines for post-election negotiations;
* "Giving the Commerce Commission more teeth and greater independence ..."
* "Regulating lobbying and capping political donations ..."
* "... 10-year plan to 'fix the health system' alongside health professionals ..."
* "Phasing out bottom trawling ..."
* "Recommitting to Paris Agreement emissions reduction obligations and protecting the Climate Change Commission's independence."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics_election-2026/1643401/health-supermarkets-and-political-lobbying-among-opportunity-party-s-bottom-lines
(1/?)

2026-10-04 03:17:04 UTC

When people ask why it matters if species go extinct, when most of us have never even heard of them and they don't seem to do anything for us, here's a way to answer. Point out that there are plenty of components in their computer, or their car, that they've never heard of and don't know what they do either, and ask them if it's ok to randomly pull a few out.
#extinction #ecology

2026-10-04 02:33:33 UTC

Ok, I really need to get off the communal catastrophizing wagon for a while.
Yes, there's lots of bad shit happening in the world, but honestly, when has that ever not been the case? And yes, it's important that shit is documented, as part of our evidence base for coming up with solutions. But that doesn't mean I need to relentlessly browse it all.
I need to stop and smell the roses more and focus more on solutions I can be part of, or just stuff that lifts me up. I'm allowed!

2026-10-03 05:57:52 UTC

"The fiscal cupboard is bare only in the sense that someone being throttled may experience some difficulty in breathing. It is a deliberately inflicted condition."
#GordonCampbell, 2026
https://werewolf.co.nz/2026/10/gordon-campbell-on-this-weeks-prefu-outpouring-of-wishful-thinking/
#PREFU #NZEconomy

2026-10-03 02:30:57 UTC

"On Tuesday, the IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir ordered an investigation of the [documentary] film [NAZA] to be carried out. Reportedly, the IDF will be seeking the assistance of the security agency Shin Bet in their inquiries, and legal action may be taken against the film-makers."
#Gordon Campbell, 2026
https://werewolf.co.nz/2026/09/gordon-campbell-on-israels-extreme-responses-to-the-film-naza/
Well that's a military and a government with absolutely nothing to hide. Nothing to see here, move along ...
#NAZA #Gaza #IDF #Israel

2026-10-03 01:16:13 UTC

"Many people I meet ask me a variant of the question 'I understand we want more women in technology, but why?' It’s a great question, and not at all something we should be offended by. Often men are afraid to ask questions like this for fear there will be backlash, and I think that fear can lead to stifling an important conversation."
#SaraJChipps, 2012, quoted by @nprofile…4xpq in 2014
https://blog.codinghorror.com/what-can-men-do/
(1/?)
#WomenInTech #diversity

2026-10-02 23:36:50 UTC

"2,800-year-old Ethiopian palace had walls strong enough to support 16 floors."
#DarioRadley, 2026
https://archaeologymag.com/2026/10/2800-year-old-ethiopian-palace-strong-walls/
I can't read stuff like this at the moment without thinking of The Dawn of Everything ...
#Ethiopia #archaeology #anthropology

2026-10-01 23:25:13 UTC

"I don’t want any of us who stand at the crossroads between fields to feel like outsiders any more. With the world heading where it’s heading, us outsiders need to band together."
@nprofile…3src, 2026
https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2026/the-story-of-this-blog-so-far/
Sign me up! So much of what you describe in these 2 posts reminds me of my own attempts to have some kind of career. Although I get the impression you've managed to be much more productive and professional about it than I have ; )

2026-09-29 00:40:51 UTC

Conehead sighting ...
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/system/media_attachments/files/117/351/540/315/496/129/original/add7f4a5f3a70bcf.jpg

2026-09-28 23:22:21 UTC

It appears that FedWiki has completed some kind of ActivityPub implementation;
https://github.com/fedwiki/wiki/issues/122#event-31977514814
Anyone know more about this?
#FedWiki #WikiWeds #ActivityPub #FediDevs

2026-09-28 05:52:54 UTC

"We have now about 1000 examples of randomly selected bodies that ... prove helpful for policy-making, and so I think it's time to try it in the US. In fact, I'm pleased to report that I'm directing the design for a citizen's assembly in Connecticut, on local public services ..."
#HélèneLandemore, political science professor, Yale University, Feb 5, 2026
https://www.futurehindsight.com/episodes/democracy-without-politicians-hlne-landemore
#Connecticut #CitizensAssembly #DeliberativeDemocracy #Yale #democracy

2026-09-28 04:00:01 UTC

I finally managed a new #Disintermedia post! The first proper one since May (I've had an epically shitty year);
https://disintermedia.net.nz/breaking-the-supermarket-monopoly-over-grocery-supplies-in-aotearoa/
Strap in folks this is *long* one (even by my standards). Mostly providing context for a modest proposal for challenging the NZ supermarket duopoly, without engineering a third supermarket chain.
#FoodDelivery #supermarkets #AntiMonopoly #groceries

2026-09-28 03:29:10 UTC

Here's #SimonWilson defending his "AI" criti-hype column, which amplifies the claim that there's a 10% chance of it destroying humanity;
"Even if that's ridiculously wrong, the way to measure risk is not to say; is the 10% right, the way to measure it is what you do when you insure your house."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/the-bradbury-group-8pm-live-tonight-minister-mark-mitchell-greens-co-leader-marama-davidson-political-panel-fran-osullivan-simon-wilson-and-shane-te-pou/
Sure, but what you don't do is insure your house against turning into gingerbread. Because that's not *possible*.
(1/2)
#CritiHype #AI #BradburyGroup #Waatea #Rova #podcasts

2026-09-28 02:12:26 UTC

I've come across a couple of people on the F-Droid and Trisquel forums, who argue that it's fine to ship a generative model as a component of Free Code software, even a proprietary one it's marked as 'nonfree media'.
I'm pretty sceptical of the claim that a generative model is not software. But if that's true it definitely adds MaSS (Model as Software Substitute) to a project.
#MASS #AI #SoftwareFreedom

2026-09-28 01:07:22 UTC

Like OpenOffice, and even Gitea, NextCloud is a big project and it would be a big deal to fork it. But if a group was looking to do that, maybe because of the NextCloud project's enthusiastic embrace of "AI";
https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/ai/overview.html
... another thing the fork could prioritize is a local-first design approach;
https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/ai/overview.html
So it would work more like SyncThing, if someone added server-based versioned backups as an optional add-on.
#SyncThing #NextCloud #AI

2026-09-28 00:18:21 UTC

Whoever is operating @nprofile…n95e might like to pin and intro post we can Boost, so more people can learn about this account, and find it when they're jobhunting, or recruiting.
@nprofile…7m5n could maybe monitor this for jobs their members could do to?
#FediHired #SituationsVacant #JobsWanted

2026-09-27 22:25:01 UTC

I reached the end of season 2 last night, and saw the flashback to the before times. With the conversation about the "dirty bomb" the reference to Iran, and the suggestion that the bombing might have been a false flag attack.
(1/?)
#Silo #SciFi #TV

2026-09-27 07:06:05 UTC

I'm on the hunt for someone who is not a 'computer person', and has fairly average reading skills, as a co-author or subeditor for the Disintermedia blog;
https://disintermedia.net.nz/
My goal for Disintermedia has always been to explain digital rights issues, and rights-respecting software and online services, in a way that the average person can grok. But when you're deep into a subject, it's easy to think one'smistake a somewhat technical explanation for a 'simple' one.
(1/2)
#Disintermedia

2026-09-27 05:16:25 UTC

Calling the Asia-Pacific the "Indo-Pacific" is like calling the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America", or calling the Persian Gulf the "Arabian Gulf". This is the language of colonisation; an attempt to symbolically claim ownership and control without any historical or democratic right to do so. I reject it utterly.
#colonisation

2026-09-27 05:12:35 UTC

Does @nprofile…jwxg have a meetup group on Mobilizon or any the other federated events platforms?
https://delightful.coding.social/delightful-fediverse-experience/#events-planning
More explanation here;
https://community.iridescent.nz/t/promoting-the-use-of-activitypub-federated-sites-for-community-events/
#Flounder #Pacific #Federated Events
@nprofile…g43f

2026-09-27 02:46:35 UTC

Anyone still arguing that the bursting of the "AI" bubble will leave us with useful computing infrastructure, now disused, needs to read and think about this.
#AI #AIBubble #EWaste

2026-09-27 01:28:33 UTC

We found out. They do pose a threat. A major one.

2026-09-27 00:04:52 UTC

"In 2023, a University of Canterbury study found that even non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders could, on average, subconsciously recognise over 1000 words of Te Reo Māori."
#SimonWilson, 2026
https://simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work-and-the-disinfecting-sunshine
That sounds super cool! But if this is the study Wilson was thinking of;
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-mori-words-understood-zealand.html
... it also says most of those people only understand the meanings of about 70 of those words, which is not so cool.
#TeReoMāori

2026-09-26 23:59:34 UTC

A lot of kiwi writers are keen to leave SS, for the same reasons David Farrier did with @nprofile…hykn, and I suspect others could be convinced too. But some I've talked to find the pricing model of Ghost.org intimidating. I think there's an opportunity there for @nprofile…hy9x to fill the gap.
I wonder if @nprofile…v9wr and @nprofile…srmn have decided on a pricing model for hosting Ghost newsletters here in Aotearoa?

2026-09-26 22:39:57 UTC

For a while now I've been using 'hard right' and 'far right' to distinguish between corporatists and other market extremists, on the one hand, and crypto-fascists and open fascists on the other. But the more I think about it, the more the phrase 'far right' seems to miss the point.
The problem with fascists is not how far to the right their take on economic issues (often that's actually more centre-left), but their deeply authoritarian and antidemocratic social attitudes.
(1/?)
#FarRight

2026-09-26 05:32:41 UTC

I have a suggestion about inviting people to speak at tech conferences. It's particularly focused on people who sometimes get described as "problematic".
I don't mean self-identified white supremacists (like DHH), or people's whose behaviour is unambiguously abusive. I mean all the edge cases, where some people feel uncomfortable, and others don't (for a wide range of reasons).
To explain the idea, I'll use the example of RMS (Richard Matthew Stallman).
(1/?)
#RMS #ConferenceSpeakers

2026-09-26 03:11:48 UTC

@nprofile…9uze I have vague memories of friend.camp integrating with some of events calendar. Did I make that up, or get confused maybe with another Mastodon fork? I had a bit of a dig but couldn't find anything on friend.camp or your GritHub repo about it.

2026-09-26 02:58:02 UTC

"Mastodon has a feature called "quote tweeting" that lets you embed what someone else posts, with your own comment right next to it. It's really useful for provide commentary in context, like this, where I point people to a sale and they can read both my comment on the sale and the original tweet about the sale in one post."
@nprofile…9uze
https://github.com/hometown-fork/hometown
Finally, I understand what makes Quote Posts distinctly useful. Another way to describe them would be Boost Comments.
(1/2)

2026-09-26 01:30:58 UTC

A few weeks back I was wailing and gnashing my teeth, about all the perfectly functional hardware that will go to e-waste in Aotearoa because of the 3G turnoff. In response, someone (can't remember who, sorry!) was schooling me on all the reasons why it's impractical to re-purpose obsolete mobile devices, eg as home media servers.
Anyway #TIL there's a company in the EU that's found a creative solution to that problem;
https://citronics.eu/
#Citronics #EWaste #recycling

2026-09-25 11:24:50 UTC

"I once heard Joanna Macy say something like; We cannot know the impact of our actions. We do not know if our efforts to save the planet will be enough. However, we attend to the world with loving kindness, just as a midwife attends to a new born baby or a hospice worker attends to a dying man; with great compassion."
#JoCampbell
https://www.ekodo.org/this-is-enough.html
#JoannaMacy

2026-09-25 11:14:02 UTC

"In Zen meditation we lean gently towards areas of suffering rather than away from them. The practice itself provides the strength to do this, showing us that we too have the capacity of the Buddha to open ourselves to suffering and include it in compassionate awareness. (This is what statues of the Buddha seated in meditation were really meant to convey, not that he was some kind of god!)"
#ArthurWellsRoshi
https://www.ekodo.org/there-is-no-zen-in-true-zen.html
#meditation #Zen #Buddhism

2026-09-25 10:03:43 UTC

#TIL about #UpForGrabs;
"... a list of projects which have curated tasks specifically for new contributors. These are a great way to get started with a project, or to help share the load of working on open source projects."
https://up-for-grabs.net/
#Onboarding #Mentorship #OpenSource

2026-09-25 07:18:53 UTC

"With all that in mind, here is what I personally think a GNOME LLM policy could be:
A GNOME Project LLM Policy
The GNOME Project prioritizes the social and human aspects of
collective software creation. Therefore:
1. LLMs ("AI") can not be used to create or modify
anything submitted to GNOME, or hosted on GNOME infrastructure.
You might be asked to prove your code meets this requirement.
You might be banned for trying to circumvent this policy."
https://blogs.gnome.org/alatiera/2026/09/23/the-gnome-llm-policy-that-i-want/
(1/2)
#AI #GNOME

2026-09-25 05:18:24 UTC

@nprofile…tly8
> A favourite or like from me just means "Marked as read"
I've been told people do this. It breaks my brain. The button literally says 'favourite'. How can everything you read be your favourite?
Keep in my mind that every time you hit this button you're sending the author a notification. I don't really want to be notified every time someone has merely read one of my posts. Do you?
Is there maybe another way fediverse apps could serve the purpose this serves for you?

2026-09-25 05:11:23 UTC

@nprofile…3gx9 Just had a skim of the methodology for the collective governance database you and your colleagues have been working on;
https://govarch.ecologies.info/database
I recently read The Dawn of Everything, which got me thinking about the deep history of horizontal decision-making. Which, if Graeber and Wengrow are correct, seems to have been locked in a schismogenetic battle with hierarchical decision-making through human history and prehistory.
#GovernanceArchaeology #CollectiveGovernance #democracy

2026-09-25 04:52:03 UTC

"Alas, it would seem that Labour concluded long ago that it was going to lose this year’s election, and Chris Hipkins has proven to be the ideal man for the job."
#GordonCampbell, 2026
https://werewolf.co.nz/2026/09/gordon-campbell-on-the-nicky-hager-book-political-donations-and-another-fine-mess-from-chris-hipkins/
#ChrisHipkins #NZLabour #NZElection2026 #NZPolitics