Oli - something or other

@olimnz

ngai Aotearoa ahau | Ōtautahi resident | Retired | Was once an overland driver | Looking forward to voting them out in November. Born at 315 ppm. I'm on the Puffball server!

1554 Siguiendo1624 Seguidores12.159 Publicaciones

Bluesky

¿Es tu perfil?Reclámalo y olimnz.dirty.social es tuyo.Reclamar perfil

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 20d

So, I did a screen cap off the website in Snip & Sketch and it recognised the human text perfectly. A lot depends on the font size. Smaller is easier for AI and larger is easier for humans/worse for AI.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 23d

Oh dear. Should I tell them? askyourteam.com/en-au/consul...

A series of menu placeholders (Menu 1, Menu 2, Menu 3, etc) on a professional website.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 23d

They do not and cannot follow these seven principles. #nzpol

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-7-principles-of-public-life/the-7-principles-of-public-life--2

The Seven Principles of Public Life (also known as the Nolan Principles) apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder. This includes all those who are elected or appointed to public office, nationally and locally, and all people appointed to work in the Civil Service, local government, the police, courts and probation services, non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs), and in the health, education, social and care services. All public office-holders are both servants of the public and stewards of public resources. The principles also apply to all those in other sectors delivering public services. The custodians of the Principles of Public Life are the Ethics and Integrity Commission

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 28d

In case you're too lazy to click through (you should tho'). #nzpol #ClimateCrisis

Other nasty changes in the Climate Change Response Amendment Bill include:

removing consultation requirements for Emissions Budgets and Emissions Reduction Plans, allowing everything to be done in secret without public input;
removing all policy requirements from Emissions Reduction Plans, removing He Pou a Rangi's role in advising on them, and weakening monitoring;
allowing the government to dictate He Pou a Rangi's recommendations on ETS limits and price control settings;
removing the requirement that emissions budgets and decisions relating to them and Emissions Reduction Plans be consistent with the Paris Agreement and 1.5 degree limit. This in particular is contrary to international law.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 28d

Would those be Mr CEO Chris Luxon’s LNG transporters by any chance? #nzpol

Mark Chadbourn post. 15/7/2026

Ukraine’s assault on Russia’s naval presence gathers pace. Overnight 17 oil tankers, two LNG transports and a tugboat were hit, bringing the total to 136 Russian vessels in nine days.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· 29d

Oh dear, oh dear! Vanessa's FB post advertising "What does the future of the South Island look like?" is not receiving the attention she would like. #nzpol #Ōtautahi

Responses from Moira (Your not welcome in sommerfield) and Phillip (The man who is arrogant and has done very little for Te Wai Pounamu! No thanks!)

Poster advertising a Public Meeting. What does the future of the South Island look like?

Join National Spokesperson for the South Island James Meager MP, together with local New Zealand National Party MPs and candidates, for an open public meeting focused on the issues that matter most to our region. This is a chance to have your voice heard, ask questions, and join the discussion.

We'd love to see you there.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jul 13

I know RNZ has an article of their own but to also use an Australian article to record the works of #SamNeill which claims him as an "honorary Aussie". Well!

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jul 11

Er, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #AIsucks

Advert from Microsoft urging me to upgrade my Microsoft 365 to Premium with AI for an extra $14/month. No way, José.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jul 5

How big is your data - really?

Slide showing how, if one grain of rice = one byte, then one Terabyte is two container ships full and one Zettabyte of rice would fill the Pacific Ocean.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jul 3

Stuff poll shows 68% of respondents don't think it was worth bringing Michelin to NZ.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jul 3

This is what I am drinking.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 25

So, you know how fat balls for the birds come in elastic nets and you hang them in the garden....? Yeah, it fell down and the dog ate it. Now she's at the vets throwing it up. Damn dog! She'll be feeling very sorry for herself after this.

Betty, in happier times, standing on my shoulder.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 21

Shroom Room. Right opposite the fire station and next to St John's ambulance station.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 19

This is my neighbour's. Dog for scale.

A homebuilt hovercraft on a suburban street in Ōtautahi.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 19

Oh dear.

Parking 15 minutes sign with text that reads "Strickltly [sic] do not park here if you a pub customer". See outside shops on Centaurus Road, Christchurch.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 16

Dog. Sun. Happy place.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 14

I think this is quite a good result actually.

I have been added to the "Does not like AI/Crypto/Smart-glasses/NFTs/Bitcoin/VR" moderation list.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 13

Good ol' Wayne. And National believed him, with no evidence as usual.

while Auckland experiences very small earthquakes, it was thought to be at low risk of greater seismic activity.

That belief led Auckland’s mayor, Wayne Brown, to lobby the government to change building regulations for Auckland in 2023 saying there had been no earthquakes in the past 100,000 years. In 2025, the government announced it would exempt the city from rules for earthquake-prone buildings, meaning no strengthening work will be required.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 6

C'mon Mitre 10 - do better. Why ask me the region and store when you already know the X61 code tells you exactly that info? FFS.

Screenshot of Mitre 10 cash prize entry. The unique code commences with X61 which is the store code, and yet, they still ask me to enter the store location. Why??????

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 4

Usual emotional junior staffer 🐂💩

Tui Yeah, Right ad:

"We're taking really seriously" Luxon 2 June 2026

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 4

I blame Roger Douglas. I condensed the Substack into 10 bullet points. This Govt is using his playbook. Link in Alt Txt. No Alt Txt - too long, but I can send you the doco if you really want.

https://jamesbreckwoldt.substack.com/p/how-to-get-big-stuff-done-in-government

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 3

How on earth do I answer this????

As change to local government is considered, we may need to consider competing
priorities. In practice, this means gains in one area could result in less focus on another.
The scenarios below are hypothetical, but they illustrate the kinds of choices that might come up.

Which one of the competing priorities below would concern you the most? Please remember that these are hypothetical scenarios to give a sense of the types of decisions that might come up.

Efficiency gains that lead to a reduced emphasis on local representation and community voice

Changes to how resources are allocated across communities, with some areas receiving more or less than they do now

Cost savings that lead to changes to investment in infrastructure

Faster planning processes, with less opportunity for community input

More standardised services across bigger areas, with less flexibility to tailor to local needs

Cost savings that lead to changes to current service levels

Simpler structures, with more decisions made centrally rather than locally

I don't see major trade-offs, the outcomes are compatible

Don't know

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 3

Swope said the "downside to this arrangement is that New Zealand is tied to a service and to equipment that it does not own," No shit Sherlock! #nzpol

Dependency downside
Swope said the downside of moving this way was dependency.

"If there is a downside to this arrangement [it] is that New Zealand is tied to a service and to equipment that it does not own," he said.

"And ultimately, depending on how the political winds could shift, which you can never really anticipate, that service could be shut off and there'd be nothing New Zealand could do about it."

The Iran drones dispute reported by Reuters further illustrates this.

Swope for his part gave examples of defence or security projects or services being shut off, or threatened with that, at Google, Microsoft and SpaceX in recent years.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· Jun 1

Mr and Mrs Entitled of Waihike Island probably don't care.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 31

Oh! It doesn't like dots either. I refuse to use FB of Googs. Avoid www.1001fonts.com

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 31

Not seen this error for a long time. Doesn't like my underscore character. Luckily I have one with dot too.

Error message on a webpage saying:
ERROR Username contains invalid characters. Use alphanumeric
characters and hyphen only.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 30

Nerd Night. What could go wrong? 3rd June at A Rolling Stone in Ōtautahi.

Speakers
"Dolby Digital, The Back story"
by Mark Atherton

A close view of the background associated with the development of ‘Dolby Digital’ along with some adventures and mischief while living in San Francisco.

Mark moved from the UK to San Francisco in 1990 to join Dolby’s R&D team as senior engineer and project manager. He was architect and hardware designer of the Dolby Digital cinema project, and later served as a technical member of the DVD consortium. He holds multiple patents and international awards, and is widely published. He enjoys live music, collects friends who own old churches, and lives in St Martins with his spaniel, Bumble-Peanut.

————————

"Post Verbal Visual Poetry"
by Steve Wilbury

Back in the 1980s a visionary juggler was inspired by the death of his friend to create one of the most surreal art forms ever devised. His invention was unceremoniously stolen and an equally strange subculture evolved.

Steve Wilbury was in film school when he saw one of his friends doing strange things with a crystal ball. After following his friend to the local squat juggling rave (it was a thing, honest), he found himself immersed in a subculture that has given him his livelihood. He now spends his days doing strange tricks for strange people, including you!

————————

"Let’s Circle Back: The Psychology of Saying Nothing at Work"
by Dr Meike Belter

We will explore how workplace language, habits, and assumptions create confusion, misalignment, and very long meetings—drawing on psychology to explain why we rarely say what we actually mean.

Dr. Meike Belter is a consultant in organisational transformation, following several years spent researching and teaching organizational science. She holds a PhD in Human Interface Technology and focused on technology-mediated workplace communication, which she now observes daily in emails, chat threads, and meetings.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 29

Nah, Citroën Friday. (outside the pub just now).

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 25

It would be nice if Bosch made an adapter like this. This adds USB ports to a standard 18v battery. All major tool manufacturers make them and I urge everyone to get one.

4Ah Bosch 18v battery with a 2-port USB adaptor fitted. And yes, I have so many batteries that I have to number them using a paint pen.

Oli - something or other@olimnz· May 24

I wrote to the journalist.