Bird Of The Year: Little Penguin / Kororā

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It's that time of the year in Aotearoa New Zealand when family members are split, friends lose friends, and all over the motu people can't believe other people didn't vote for the LITTLE PENGUIN / KORORĀ  in the Bird Of The Year. What can I say, vote Kororā because they are the cutest of birds and Wellingtonians just like me. It’s the world’s smallest penguin with a big place in New Zealanders’ hearts. Marching out to sea each morning, returning at dusk after a hard day’s fishing – this penguin is a true blue worker. Forest & Bird is helping to boost the population living around Wellington's coastline. Ōamaru Penguins We’re the passionate flock behind Ōamaru Penguins, proudly championing New Zealand’s cutest little campaigners, the kororā little penguin! Our team spends its days wearing many hats (and occasionally dodging penguin attitude), caring for the colony, supporting conservation and research, and creating unforgettable visitor experie...
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Stadia Of The World

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 … but mostly the Wellington Regional Stadium (Westpac, Sky, and now Hnry). Sport theme is done and dusted, stadia below, and previously we had kids , cricket , and rugby . Next 4 weeks we're gonna attempt a theme of Screens with the 4 weeks being Celebrity , Watching , Connecting , and Computers .
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It's Just Not Cricket

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Well, it is, the theme said so!
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Street Art and Sculptures

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It's been all go here over the Christmas / New Year times and beyond, and whilst I have been continued sharing a daily photo on Mastodon * I had forgotten to do my weekly catch-up blog post. I'll let you pop into the photo album  🖼️ Mike's daily photo - Themes for the yuletide images, but back to the themes and I have two topics from the current Art & Fashion series to share with you. (this week I have just started sharing images from the  Painting  topic before next week's  Eye opening ) Street Art Sculpture * I've given up on Bluesky and Facebook tbh
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Which #WellyTech Xmas Were You At?

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There were five #WellyTech Xmas Do's created, hosted, and facilitated by Raj and I via the Access Granted NZ podcast, were you at any of them? [click/tap a logo / title to open each event photo album] 2014: Golding's Free Dive It all started with a, "Let's say thanks to those that have been on the podcast", so we did over a great beers and then a pizza for Michelle and DK who turned up just as we were done, LOL 2015: Hop Garden After the initial impromptu drinks we thought we'd make it a bit more formal and opened it up to the awesome Mauricio and his thriving Geekzone community as well inviting a bunch of others such as Hack Miramar, open source groups, and other like-minded Wellington tech communities. We also arranged a live Q&A session with tech / tech-adjacent luminaries and the Mayor. Oh, and Hack Miramar ran a wee competition to make something (if I remember). A lot of fun, and proved to Raj and I that it was not only fun, but did indeed bring the...
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Cute Short Time Travel Movie Rediscovered Via Photos

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Hands up those who remember the wonderful Wellington PhotonFlux bar, from creative partners Anton Sounes and Nina Human, themed around all things SciFi that ended in such nasty terms . As you may know Google Photos creates little 'look back in love' highlights of ones photos and videos. Recently up popped the following from a PhotonFlux catch-up with mates on Christmas Eve 2017.           "I wonder if that website exists still?" Yes it does but doesn't show anything, however all it's trying to do is show you this: https://www.davidgould.com/Studios/TomorrowsDreamFilm/ Or even better, here's the movie on YouTube:
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7 Boats, Turns Out We All Really Like Them

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Yeah, boats eh - maybe some ships - we love a good floating craft. Together with land transport we really only have one other place to go now, UP TO THE SKY! This Is What Drowning People Actually Look Like
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W. C. Fields quotes

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The office has all been moved around - new desks (with starter handles to raise and lower them), new high(er) speed network and ... the same old work. At least I have a differing view of the world, my team (well, the team I'm a part of not "my" team) is a lot closer - finally - and it's like an office from the 80's ... or even a classroom. But I still have time to move the crap off the PC : ------ Any man who hates dogs and loves whiskey can't be all bad. Anyone who hates Dogs and Kids Can't be All Bad. Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch??! Who stole the cork from my breakfast? Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times. Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again. Then quit, no use being a damn fool about things. Madam, there's no such thing as a tough child - if you parboil them first for seven hours, they alwa...

AI, It's All Getting A Bit Worrisome

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Large Language Models (LLMs) that power the chatbot you find so fascinating is NOT what AI is all about anymore, that is so last year and simplistic. Agentic AI is where it's at. Watch this to move your thinking on from, AI "made a funny image and then it wrote my report for me" to see what AI (as I write) is really about. Ok, so now we know about agentic AI, and specifically how OpenAI, the company that gives you ChatGPT, allowed it's agentic AI's to roam the Internet, eek. Here's a few articles that give deeper insight, but let's start with this from Wikimedia from just a few days ago. OpenAI “rogue” agent activities found on Wikimedia projects 5 October 2026 by Selena Deckelmann, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Wikimedia Foundation While OpenAI admits to agents behaving “unpredictably”, they must also acknowledge their responsibility to monitor and prevent these risks. AI companies are not doing enough to secure their systems and pr...

5 Common Logical Fallacies and How to Spot Them

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I want to run through something important but often overlooked in our daily conversations, debates, and even our own thinking: logical fallacies . Understanding logical fallacies is like having a mental toolkit for spotting weak arguments, manipulation, and plain old fuzzy thinking. It's about sharpening your critical thinking skills and navigating the complex landscape of information and persuasion we encounter every day. In this "long read," we're going to break down five common logical fallacies (with another five in a follow-up post ), look at where they came from (or how they were identified), explore their potential downsides, and, most importantly, provide actionable strategies for spotting them and adjusting our own thinking. The Cheat Sheet Alright, here is the [tl;dr] "too long; didn't read and can't wait" version of all ten fallacies at a glance for those of us who need the shorthand to get back to the rugby or the...

You Don't Have To Do That

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We find ourselves in all sorts of situations and sometimes we may feel like we're being coerced into something we don't feel comfortable with. You have choice, always, and you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Recognise that there may be a cost, perhaps a massive personal cost to not doing it. You still have a choice and you don't have to do anything you don't want to. Take a breath, step back, and think, "Do I really want to do this?" Maybe you're scared, it's a new thing and you're feeling more anxious about failure and when you do it you'll be chuffed with yourself that you gave it a go. If it's a big thing then perhaps taking the time to talk with those you trust and have useful insight would help, if so then put off the decision until you're clear. Sometimes it's peer pressure, or even social expectations, that you feel is manipulating / forcing you to do something you don't want. You always have a choic...

Rugby World Cup 2011 Fixture iCal Calendar

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2026/7 UPDATE: You'll be looking for this I imagine: Rugby World Cup 2027 Fixture iCal Calendar The calendar has now morphed into the ongoing International Rugby Fixtures iCal Calendar ...

Dunning-Kruger Effect Memes And Cartoons

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The Dunning-Kruger effect : when people overestimate their skills because they don't know enough to see their own lack of knowledge or ability. I have trawled the Web finding the finest of funnies, by all means share them when you feel the need.

The Difference Between One Million And One Billion

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It feels like a billion is just a bit bigger than a million. Obviously it's bigger but it fits on the same scale as a million, surely. It doesn't. A billion is so so so much bigger than a million. I've trawled the internet finding graphics and videos that show the VAST difference between one million and one billion. Oh, and just to finish with a different misconception about space starting with the classic opening line from the great Douglas Adams and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy : “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” < 64: Always get explicit consent 66: Ask that question >

Bob Newhart - The Great Minimalist

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The early story of Bob Newhart is quite spectacular: 1958 : Bored To relieve the  advertising copywriter boredom he and his mate make funny phone calls to each other They record them on acetate His mate moves cities He records just him doing the calls A radio DJ hears them and loves them 1959 : Signed Warner Bros. start up a record label but can't sign any big music stars to kick it off The DJ tells the head honcho to listen to the acetates, "A comedy record, I dunno" They all get convinced and Warner Bros. Records tell him to do a club show so they can record him. He's never done a live show, ever 1960 : Stardom He does his first ever gig, they record it The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart  becomes the top hitting record of 1960 Bob Newhart is a star and, in the US, it becomes the 20th best-selling album of all time 

The Grounds For Voting Green

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[UPDATE: 20th Aug 2026]:  10 More Grounds For Voting Green I'm a Greens NZ voter, have been for quite a long time. I like their people, policies, and process. I have voted for other parties, sometimes for a very specific policy, and even once because I really liked the person which, according to most political pundits, is actually how most people vote - people they recognise and know wearing the colours they associate with. On some social media thingy (Mastodon via CloudIslandNZ I think), I read the following article and it got me thinking, what is it about the Green NZ policies that everyday New Zealanders would / should / could think about. Just saying, "Vote Green", for most people is a big turn off as it, well, it just doesn't ask that glorious question , why? The case for voting Green I’m not a member of the Green Party, but they're getting my vote. Here’s why. by Simon Wilson, Jun 27, 2026 THE GREENS HAVE two core messages. They’re both simple enough ...