This is me deep in crisis. My luxuriantly flowing locks have been getting shorter. I have lost over a third of the length in the last few years. I'm feeling quite distraught.
It's happening. In parts of New Zealand, insurers have stopped offering cover on properties at risk from climate change.
It started with AMI in Westport, progressed through Blenheim and Canterbury and now Tower Insurance is refusing to cover some properties in Outram, on the Taieri Plains.
Climate change... coming to a property near you, a whole lot earlier than you expect.
What are the ethics of finding a website which is distributing malware via a ClickFix attack? One of my staff was struck by one yesterday. I have advised the organisation which owns the website but what now? Do I give them a chance to fix it before I start publicising this more widely?
A mallard duck swimming on the Heathcote River with the best reflections (I took a lot more photos of the swirling patterns on the silver water): https://inaturalist.nz/observations/335927802
Invitation for Identity Verification
Kia ora JACK YAN, Using a smart phone or mobile device, please continue to eVerify below to complete your identity verification, alternatively you can use this URL For more information, see anz.co.nz/eVerify
It's Friday morning in NZ and the extended 5am deadline given by the hacker has now expired.
However the hacker took all of the sample materials offline two days ago. Did somebody perhaps pay the ransom? Will we ever know?
Three further snippets of info have been released.
"About 45 Northland-based GP practices are impacted and about 355 "referral-originating" GP practices across New Zealand regions."
"The breach was limited to data stored in the "My Health Documents" module only. User data stored in the GP-provided "Health Records" module was not compromised as part of this incident."
"It was announced yesterday that University of Otago Emeritus Prof Murray Tilyard has been appointed as an honorary clinical adviser to the Manage My Health board."
Plums are in full fruit in Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ, at the moment. I was on Valley Road today in Cashmere there were at least 11 kererū feasting in the plum trees up the side of the road.
I think plums are one of the big reasons that these birds venture down from the hills into the city at this time of year.
A photo of a kererū bird in the middle of swallowing a yellow plum whole. Kererū are big blue-green pigeons with white bellies and red beaks, eyes, and feet. The plum only just fits in its wide mouth.
#introduction
Kia ora 👋
I’m Jamie, based in Aotearoa New Zealand 🇳🇿
I’m an ambivert. I enjoy getting to know people and good conversation, but I’m happiest easing into spaces rather than being the center of attention straight away. I’ll jump into discussions when I know the topic and feel confident holding my own, especially where individual perspectives actually matter.
I love being outdoors: camping, fishing, and long walks to reset my brain. Indoors, I’m usually bouncing between games (#DnD, #Catan, #LeagueofLegends, #Minecraft, and a soft spot for sandbox / RPG / crafting worlds), food adventures, and whatever media has my attention that week.
I like building things, setting systems up, and tweaking ideas that smarter people came up with first, but I’m equally happy just enjoying good design, good food, and good stories. Music-wise I’m all over the place (except country), with a long-standing love for Twenty One Pilots and currently vibing Ren.
Online, I try to avoid performative controversy. I post to start conversations, not win arguments. I like thoughtful interaction and hearing how different people see things. Expect curiosity, questions, and the occasional “what do you reckon?” post.
Coffee in the morning (and a refill before 2pm), night owl by nature 🌙☕
Here to learn, share, and connect. Nice to meet you.
Hi NZ fediverse, let's see if we can get this iphone back to its owner.
Found after the Christmas in the Park concert at Bowl of Brooklands, New Plymouth, early on 22nd December (so probably lost on the evening of the 21st)
We were out shopping at Barrington Mall today and I was surprised to see this big sign saying “Shopping is pointless” next to a photo of a happy woman in a field of flowers.
My first thought was that it’s some surprisingly on point anti-commercialism messaging to see in a mall at Christmas time.
Then I realised that a word was being blocked from view. When I made a few steps to the left, the whole sign reads “Shopping elsewhere is pointless.”
A photo from inside Barrington Mall in Christchurch, NZ. A big sign on the wall has a black and white photo of a woman in a field of flowers next to the words “Shopping is pointless.”
On Monday Santana Minerals’ Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project was accepted for the Fast Track process. Apart from scarring the landscape, Santana's mining activity will release toxic elements into the environment including arsenic & lead. The mine will consume up to 9.5 million litres of water per day.
To stymie criticism, and taking advantage of the stupidly short time frame of National's fast-track process, Santana did a 10,000 page document dump at the last moment, overloading objectors.
And if that's not bad enough, Santana now wants to exclude residents, expert locals and community groups such as Sustainable Tarras from having any say in the process.
The Luxon government may only last for three years, but the damage they're doing to our environment will last for generations.
Robert Taylor, guitarist 🎸 for 70's kiwi pop band #Dragon has passed and I share video for band's first #NZ number one hit written by band keyboardist Paul Hewson 🎹 . The 1977 age of consent balladry is perhaps written from perspective of a possible jail cell and later became theme for 2012 #Aussie TV show #PubertyBlues. In the video singer Marc Hunter wanders #Melbourne aimlessly wanders late 70's before joining the group, including Taylor for a lil' performance. Like many of the band's biggest hits, the song was written by Dragon's resident hook-writer, keyboardist Paul Hewson.
I don’t know why we were not taught about this growing up, but as we in #NZ and the Southern Hemisphere come into #Summer, it is worth learning the meaning of the #UV Index. Just found the graphic below just now explaining the numbers!
I’ve found it helpful, not had a bad sunburn since I put it as a widget on my Apple Watch. #aotearoa#australia
An infographic detailing the UV Index categories:
low (1-2): no protection, unless outdoors for extended periods, or near reflective surfaces such as snow or water.
Moderate and High (3-7):
Protection Required:
-Slip on clothing.
-Slop on sunscreen, use sun protection factor (SPF) 30 for adults and 50 for children.
-Slap on a wide brimmed hat.
HIGH
-Seek shade during midday hours.
-Slide on sunglasses, wraparound are best.
Very high to extreme (8 to 11+):
Extra Protection Required:
Avoid being outside during midday hours.
Make sure you seek shade.
Always wear sunscreen and protective clothing
i.e.: shirt, hat, and sunglasses.
Bright sun and nature-themed design elements are included.
Oops! Apparently someone at Radio New Zealand has never seen a magpie in NZ before.
In their story today about a NZ fossil discovery of a possible bowerbird, which they took from The Conversation, someone has chosen to add photos of a tauhou/silvereye, tūī, korimako/bellbird, and, perplexingly, a European magpie.
Not only that but the same photo of a European magpie was captioned as an Australian magpie in another RNZ article 3 years ago.
For the non-birders out there, the only thing in common is that they're black-and-white birds with "magpie" in their common name. They look very different and are not closely related (different bird families). It's like confusing a deer with a sheep.
(It's an interesting article about the fossil discovery though.)
A photo of a European magpie, which is a mid-sized black-and-white bird.
This is a screenshot from an article on the Radio New Zealand webpage surrounded by text talking about the Australian magpie, which is an unrelated and quite different looking bird.
I went with friends to the World of WearableArt (#WOW) show in #Wellington at the start of October. The show runs for about two weeks each year. It is an AMAZING event. Each garment is a work of art. The creativeness and ability to fashion garments out of various materials blows my mind.
The show is not just the garments but live music, dancers and acrobats(!). It's really an amazing performance. If you ever go, I recommend paying a little extra and getting the audio guide, for me it really added to the experience to hear about the inspiration and garment construction as each piece came out.
Unfortunately you can't take photos/videos during the show, so I only have a few of the stage before the show and photos of garments from previous years that were on display.
A garment with a head piece shaped light a heart. The area over the shoulders and hips are exaggerated large heart shapes. The dress fetched to the ankles. The whole garment is shades of pink and made from ribbons stitched together.
One of the fun things about working in an ecology department at a university is being surrounded by people who are really, really good at finding interesting critters.
On Thursday we took our annual first year ecology course field trip to Ōtamahua/Quail Island. That's a reserve in the middle of Lyttelton Harbour, where the pest mammals (except mice) have been removed and lots of trees have been planted. It was a great day.
Here's entomology Masters student George Gibbs, a genius at finding insects, with one of a pair of mating stick insects that he found.
And, here's Jennifer Gillette, our talented herpetologist, with two native geckos she found. (Don't pick up geckos. Jennifer has training and a permit from the Department of Conservation to handle these.)
I love how the public library is a space with power outlets and wifi where you are allowed to simply exist for a period of several hours without spending money
@mcc seriously, if you're well off please leave the public library spaces & facilities for people who really need it.
At least fairly obvious in #nz It is likely that is the only heated shelter vulnerable get through the day and only place they have access to internet & even access to computing devices.
So rather than free loading & be smug it was paid by your taxes and "entitled" to use it, find somewhere else to spend time and just go to the library when you really need to use it.
On Monday evening we're going to try our first public online meet-up for #iNaturalistNZ.
I'll give a short presentation on some of the many highlights from iNat NZ over the past year. We'll then open the floor and hopefully get folk meeting each other and talking about how we can work together to support and grow the iNat NZ community.
If this sounds like your thing, you'd be most welcome.
The meeting link and other details (and the underside of some pāpango–NZ scaup) is on the linked page.
Alexander and Hatton in ‘Who voted for Australian federation?’ find that the spatial pattern of New South Wales voting does NOT support conventional thinking that manufacturing interests favoured the 1901 Aus political union with its promise of tariff protection! https://doi.org/10.1111/aehr.70008