Aotearoa / New Zealand

One Wellington peanut butter company has gone where no Kiwi food company has gone before.

Last year, nut butter brand Fix & Fogg was approached by NASA with a request to create a space rocket-approved product.

After months of working with the space agency to find the perfect delivery and storage pouch, Fix and Fogg's nut butter was launched into space on a recent six-month mission.

A New Zealand team has taken home gold at the Cheerleading World Championships in the US.

The 23-member All Star Cheerleaders Academy All Girl team is the first Kiwi team to win at the competition, which saw more than 550 teams from 21 countries compete.

How long is too long to spend in a 24-hour gym? Can you do too much squatting?

That is the question on the mind of Hawke's Bay man Arthur Eagle after what he claims was his unfair eviction from FlexFitness in Hastings after spending all night there.

Eagle, whose membership has now been cancelled after the 4 March incident, claims a clause stating that 'all memberships include unrestricted access' was not followed and he was deliberately discriminated against.

But the gym manager has a different story. He claims Eagle broke several gym rules and was loitering, leaving no choice but to terminate his membership.

Gym manager Meryn Hemmingsen said staff members had spoken to Eagle several times about what he described as "highly unusual" behaviour within his gym, asking him to stop violating rules.

Hemmingsen claimed Eagle spent "numerous occasions" all night at the gym in the very early hours of the day, "for instance, arriving just after midnight and leaving around 7am".

"When he did exercise in the gym, it was nowhere near the entire time of his stay, and some early mornings when he spent time in the gym, he did not exercise at all for many hours at a time.

"Our gyms are not a place for loitering; they are a place for exercising."

Hemmingsen also said Eagle was following people into the gym without using a security tag.

"Our manager discovered on several occasions that he was not using the security key tag to swipe into the gym, but rather following others who swiped ahead of him.

Eagle denied this was the case, saying he asked a few people nicely, and only on two occasions, to use their swipe card to enter the gym.

The Stratford-revered glockenspiel has stood proud in the main street, Broadway, since it officially opened in 1996, but it had stopped working over the weekend.

Stratford District deputy mayor Min McKay said it was a large tourist attraction.

She did not know the reason why it had stopped but hoped an engineer would check it on Tuesday.

Edit: If you're reading from All, this is Stratford in New Zealand, it's named after Stratford upon Avon but it's not the same place 🙂

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 doesn’t 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 a hippo
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how's it going?

Are there any legal experts that want to weigh in on this.

Can the police in New Zealand force unlock your device with your biometrics?

How does this work with NZ law?

Hiringa, with partners fuel supplier Waitomo Group and Australasia’s largest heavy vehicle fleet owner TR Group, on Tuesday opened three green hydrogen stations, with a fourth under way, within the North Island’s economic “golden triangle” of freight movement.

We were away for a week and left it on the side of the road. Doesn't look like they were particularly competent, as they ruined the ignition but didn't manage to start it.

They left quite a mess, bit annoyed to be honest.

Was just talking about how cool New Zealand's rare frogs are and wanted to share. These frogs evolved to have no ears, so they also have no croaking noises (what's the point if the mates you are trying to attract are deaf) which is unique!

NB: There probably is a bit of "political" content insofar as some of the people are talking about threats to the frog and opposing its habatat destruction but I think this still belongs in general?

In our two bathrooms we have a switch panel with 4 switches: one for a light, 2 for heat lamps, and 1 for a fan extractor. As we tend to forget the fan extractor I want to make this smart. Something like

It has to work well with Home Assistant. WiFi is fine, Zigbee would probably be better. Should not have a cloud dependency, I can't sell this stuff to my SO saying that she can't turn on the lights if the internet is down. I've flashed Tuya based switches and RF emitters with ESPHome using LibreTiny.

As it's obviously 220v I'd like to avoid Aliexpress stuff. Probably also needs a good IP rating as it's in the bathroom.

Any tips?

A man and woman were found dead at the Anzac Valley Road address in Waitākere before 7.30am.

Earlier, a family spokesperson for the pair, Dean Burrell, said the deaths involved an animal kept on their property. The pair are believed to have been killed by the ram.

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 doesn’t 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 a hippo
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how's it going?

My car insurance through Trade Me (Tower) is about to renew and the new cost is 100% higher. Any recommendations for a new insurer or are we powerless to prevent these increases?

I work with fire alarm systems for a living, so it's fascinating to see a building get so bad it is shut down entirely by the fire brigade.

No BWOF since 2017 is just incredible though.

Heard this on the BBC news podcast today, they reference our attempt....that we have given up on.

May as well participate since we are lucky enough to have a voice in this country

A Māori mum misidentified as a trespassed "thief" at a Rotorua supermarket trialling facial recognition technology says she felt "racially discriminated" against and embarrassed during the "horrible" birthday incident.

The store is part of a six-month trial of facial recognition technology in 25 of Foodstuffs' North Island supermarkets, which is being monitored by the Privacy Commissioner.

The technology scans customers' faces and compares these images to those on the store's databases of known offenders or suspects.

She said on the evening of 2 April, her 47th birthday, she stopped in with her teenage son to buy chops to go with fried rice from a Chinese takeaway.

She said two male staff approached her in the meat section and one got "literally in [her] face" and loudly told her: "You have been trespassed and you need to go".

She said they insisted she leave, even when she offered photo identification.

Solomon said the "horrible" ordeal went on for about 10 minutes before she and her son left the store without the chops, and she broke down in tears in the carpark.

She said she felt helpless and the incident "ruined what was until then a wonderful birthday".

Consumer New Zealand's chief executive Jon Duffy said the use of this technology was "highly invasive" from a privacy perspective, "like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".

"Many New Zealanders don't have a choice where they shop which means they may be forced to give up their data, whether they like it or not."

Napier's former prison is closing due to safety concerns, leaving the man who runs tours through the site unhappy he will be locked out.

The 162-year-old prison, New Zealand's oldest jail, has become a popular attraction since Toro Waaka began leasing the Bluff Hill property more than two decades ago.

He first opened a backpackers' lodge, which has since closed, before beginning the popular tours. They attract more than 30,000 people a year.

Toitū Te Whenua Land Information NZ, which manages the Crown landbanked site, told Waaka last month his lease was up.

Land Information said the site was an earthquake risk and retaining walls needed an upgrade.

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 doesn't 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 a hippo
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)