Aotearoa / New Zealand

See previous post for context.

If you'd like to see the full canvas, go to https://canvas.fediverse.events

I flew out though Wellington last week, and was told I could keep my laptop in my bag, no doubt due to the new CT scanners.

I know Auckland has these at the International terminal, but have they reached domestic yet? where else in the country?

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515692/rules-around-laptops-liquids-eased-at-auckland-airport

Hi all!

Canvas is an event that is like reddit's r/place, where users can paint one pixel at a time and we all work together to make some art. You can see more at last year's conclusion post.

You use your Lemmy account to log in, where it messages you a code to confirm it's you (no password required). This year they have a one account per person rule, so we will need all hands on deck!

We have a template for the design we have put together, you can jump straight to Canvas with the template enabled by clicking this link: https://canvas.fediverse.events/#x=162&y=328&zoom=4&tu=https%3A%2F%2Flemmy.nz%2Fpictrs%2Fimage%2F497358ad-b655-4ae1-9e42-ea70c303a63e.png&tw=112&tx=100&ty=300&ts=ONE_TO_ONE

The event starts today (Friday) at 4pm, and runs for 72 hours.

If you use Matrix (or are willing to use Matrix) join the chatroom by following the instructions here.

We can also use this post for coordination, or if anyone is having trouble getting logged in or other issues.

Edit: Updated link

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24722797

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24631592 ( [email protected] )

Highlights

• Aotearoa New Zealand formerly enacted revolutionary tobacco control measures
• Reforms included introducing a generational ban on tobacco products
• To achieve an equitable smokefree future, Māori leadership and partnership were critical in implementing effective tobacco control measures
• The planned smokefree reform was repealed by the sixth National-led coalition government
• Economic concerns, autonomy, and potential illicit tobacco trade were key justifications for the repeal

Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

• Something interesting that happened to you
• Something humourous that happened to you
• Something frustrating that happened to you
• A quick question
• A request for recommendations
• Pictures of your pet
• A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

She should be removed from parliament, now that the investigation has concluded and she was found to be corrupt....get rid of her.

I take issue with the article's assertion that it's a "sneaky payrise" as if it's somehow dishonest.

I've done this before after accumulating several years worth of leave due to a previous employer having strange ideas about project management and the mythical man-month.

I suppose I was kind of pressured into it, but I also liked having a pseudo-bonus that year.

This is a follow on from this event a little while back: 'Reckless': Man pretending to be injured on motorway overbridge arrested.

Back in April, I spent some time looking into a fledgling charity called the Suicide Reduction Trust (SRT). It had caught my eye after a reader tip-off about a TradeMe listing they believed might be a scam. The listing advertised a raffle with the prize too good to be true: a free house. And not just any house, a $2m Auckland mansion, along with cash for furniture and a brand new Tesla to boot. The raffle was advertised as raising funds for the SRT, which had launched shortly before the win-a-house promotion. While TradeMe pulled the listing, telling The Bulletin that it went against its rules, the raffle was legitimate, as Stuff’s Tony Wall reported at the time. But who was behind it and why?

A couple of weeks ago, an email arrived in The Spinoff inboxes with a provocative and, to be frank, shocking subject line: “Auckland lawyer hangs himself on Auckland motorway overpass.” It was from Jaques, criticising the media for failing to cover his new charity. The body of the email clarified this was simply an attention-grabbing stunt. “I’m going to do you a favour and give you the newsworthy clickbait you so badly desire and this morning I’m going to hang myself from an Auckland motorway overpass and you’ll have the story you really want,” he wrote. A few hours later, reports started to emerge of a man dangling from an overbridge, attached to a harness, causing delays to shocked rush hour commuters after two lanes were closed by emergency service. Newshub reported that Jaques was throwing leaflets at the speeding traffic below. He was later charged in relation to offensive behaviour and endangering transport.

Jaques acknowledged it could have “a profound impact on the Trust’s reputation and way of operating” and said “he may have in fact caused more harm than good”.

Some quite out of touch comments in here, I think. Saying "unlikely they would imitate the stylish apartment blocks that can be seen in the likes of Paris or Rome." when a large chunk of our population currently don't have a hope of ever owning a home is pretty elitist, in my view.

They also mention 50m2 as being considered the minimum for banks to lend to you, I live in a three bedroom house that's 100, a living space for one person can definitely be less than half that.

I really hope we can get more dwellings built that are affordable for a single person, that's something currently missing from our market, I feel.

Oh, is that the sound of a free market correction?

Is NZ oversupplied for retail? No, it's the consumers who are wrong.

Not that I follow it at this time but this looks to be the current standings. GG guys.

Cabinet Minister Judith Collins wants the government to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI), starting with the health and education sectors where it could be used to assess mammogram results and provide AI tutors for children.

"It doesn't do the work for them. It says some things like 'go back, rethink that one, look at that number,' those sorts of things. What an exciting way to do your homework if you're a child."

Deploying AI in education and health would be seen as high risk uses under new legislation passed by the European Union regulating AI.

Using AI in those settings in EU countries must include high levels of transparency, accuracy and human oversight.

But New Zealand has no specific AI regulation and Collins is keen to get productivity gains from extending its use across government, including using it to process Official Information Act requests.

An OIA request by RNZ for a government Cabinet paper on AI was turned down (by a human) on the grounds that the policy is under live consideration.

Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

• Something interesting that happened to you
• Something humourous that happened to you
• Something frustrating that happened to you
• A quick question
• A request for recommendations
• Pictures of your pet
• A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

In a world of Afterpay, tap and go and online shopping, cash is - surprisingly - still king.

Many said they still carry notes and coins in their wallets, and the amount of cash in circulation has almost doubled in the past 10 years.

One person spoken to by RNZ said they carried cash they received in tips from working in a restaurant, while another said her mum often gave her cash.

But a third said it felt "flippant" to carry cash: "I don't really like to keep it because then I tend to spend it and I'm trying to control my spending."

Some said carrying notes and coins was essential in a natural disaster.

"I do love to have cash because I kind of feel secure," one man told First Up.

Two Ministry of Justice workers are in hot water for describing a researcher as a "bitch" in an online conversation.

Academic and author Barbara Sumner made a number of Official Information Act requests as part of her PhD research into the systems around adoption. Then, in October last year, she asked for all correspondence mentioning her by name.

"Because I had felt all along that there was a resistance to everything I sent in and you know, just the sort of snottiness, I guess, of some of the responses that came in that request. I wanted to understand how they were treating me throughout the process."

One page of the response stood out among more than 100 others. A November 2022 Teams conversation between two staffers, whose names were redacted, complained about Sumner's latest request.

They described it as "a waste of time" and said it "should have been refused on the ground of substantial collation" or that the ministry should "charge her for it and get a contractor".

"our ministerial services team sucks cuz they wouldnt let us refuse, and helen didnt push back hard [sic]," one worker wrote.

"but also shes a bitch for wanting everything. does she think govt just has unlimited resources for this type of crap lol.

"like theres no public interest in our emails back and forward."

Quite a fascinating series of events actually, it sounds like the landlord/realtor has let her attitude cost her a large amount of money, and will continue to do so if she appeals the case.

It's good to see her getting pulled up like this though.

Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs during Matariki’s longer nights? Turn the lights down low

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/520796/want-to-help-our-precious-nocturnal-bugs-during-matariki-s-longer-nights-turn-the-lights-down-low

Theme: cooler than expected

Rules: no NSFW and has to be a snap you took yourself.

I think we should make themes optional so if you have a pic you want to post that doesn't fit, you still can, what does everyone else think?

A wave park heated with free (to them) heat from a data centre. This is seriously cool.