Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Watched a presentation where someone spent 125 hours to script, shoot, and edit a 5-minute promotional video for a science organisation. Meanwhile the organisation’s Wikipedia article is just one paragraph long and was written last month by a volunteer in Australia. 0112
Reposted by Mike DickisonKnitMeAThneed @thneed.bsky.social · 30/09/2026@universityofotago.bsky.social @otagobiochemist.bsky.social @zoologyotago.bsky.social @otagoreligion.bsky.social It's a beautiful day to go and take a photo of a student flat so you can enter the Wiki Loves Scarfie Flats photo competition tomorrow! w.wiki/UYBq for more info and to register 078
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 29/09/2026“Wong said other parties have "characterised" Opportunity as being a party of land tax, "but our supporters know we stand for much more than that and we always have". *None* of these policies were mentioned at TOP’s public forum in Chch earlier this year; it was all UBI and citizens’ assemblies. 061
Reposted by Mike DickisonGrant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚🇳🇿 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 28/09/2026#NZpol Saw this excellent quote-reply to Simeon Brown’s latest attack on Labour. Worth sharing. 514673
Reposted by Mike Dickisonthe Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 27/09/2026this is out now -- a man worth knowing & knowing about. 28111
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Some excellent wares at Ōtautahi Made in Te Pae today; open for a few more hours and worth checking out, even in this vile weather. 031
Reposted by Mike DickisonOregon 🕎🎲 @oregonthedm.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Most riveting thing I've seen all week 383112843052
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026“The Greens’ candidate in the seat, Donald Mackenzie Mayo, who isn’t on his own party’s list, has taken the unusual step of already urging people to give their electorate vote to the Labour man.” Would be nice to have that attitude in Christchurch. 030
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026The stats for NZ are very different: we’ve lost two thirds of our forests, a third about 500 years ago, and another third in the last 150 years. 150
Reposted by Mike DickisonVote for hope in November! Toitū te Tiriti 🇳🇿 @mrjeffhowell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Absolutely cracking analysis of Hager's "Dirty Work" & the damage a few men (one in particular) did to the delicate precious fabric of our society in pursuit of power & profit. Also a reminder Simon Wilson is one of Aotearoa's best essayists. simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...simonwilsonhopetown.substack.comDirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deservesNicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years 02411
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 25/09/2026I met an academic today who wanted to demonstrate how great paid Gemini was at citing sources, and when we tested it this only source it cited was a Wikipedia article I’d written on Sunday. 3787
Reposted by Mike DickisonThe Sapling @thesaplingnz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Congratulations to Vida Kelly, Giselle Clarkson and Gecko Press – OMNIBIRD has won the Gerard Reid Book of the Year award at the Award st the PANZ book design awards this evening 1173
Reposted by Mike DickisonAinsley S @americanbeetles.bsky.social · 23/09/2026pls note the bats have been carefully depicted HANGING FROM THEIR LITTLE BRANCHES on this radial phylogeny (bats drawn by Fiona Reid, whose portfolio is here --> fionareid.ca) 2298109
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026It would be a shame if this was framed as “collecting all the lizards”. Bathurst are proposing the rip up and destroy the entire ecosystem, dig out all the coal, then reconstruct some vague approximation afterwards. It’s not about saving a few rare snails. But Bathurst wants to frame it that way. 16123
Reposted by Mike DickisonIdiot/Savant @norightturnnz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Another fast-track company thinks paying a bribe means they don't have to do their homework. 1175
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Otago is running a Scarfie Flats competition, starting 1 October. It's to get people to document and upload photos of classic Dunedin flats under an open licence, for Wikipedia and the historical record. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:W...commons.wikimedia.orgEvent:Wiki Loves Scarfie Flats 2026 - Wikimedia Commons 01815
Reposted by Mike DickisonIdiot/Savant @norightturnnz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Some - like Marsh - will no doubt be reprinted. But that will be controlled by her estate. People won't be able to just do it. Or make ebooks. Or remix. Or make derivitive works. And we will have to pay more than we otherwise would. Copyyright term extension is a real theft from the public. 161
Reposted by Mike DickisonIdiot/Savant @norightturnnz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026NZ authors we will lose in the first 5 years after expected term-extension: Mary Scott, Pat Lawlor, Michael Joseph, Dorothy Eden, Frank Sargeson, John Lee, Ngaio Marsh. Their work will be locked up for 2 decades longer than at present. 153
Reposted by Mike DickisonWikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand @wikimediaaotearoa.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This Sunday: ESEAP Capacity Building on Education Partnership 💻 How can universities leverage Wikipedia? The ESEAP Hub, in collaboration with Wikimedia Australia, invites you to our upcoming online capacity-building session focusing on education partnerships. 7PM Sun 27 Sept Register: w.wiki/V8S$ 011
Reposted by Mike DickisonIdiot/Savant @norightturnnz.bsky.social · 24/09/2026This can be done because Courage died in 1963, and the book has been out of copyright here for a decade. Copyright term extension means similar reprints of NZ authors who died after 1977 or so won't be possible. 1147
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026The thing I like best about being a freelancer is when big organisations with multi-million-dollar budgets hold off paying your invoice for as long as they legally can and sometimes longer. 1131
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Sitting in the cafe at uni and there are at least three tables of students around me having a bible study meeting. 470
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026I can confirm that Bruce is indeed very friendly, and the Museum of Natural Mystery could only exist in Dunedin. 041
Reposted by Mike DickisonThe Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery @mahalski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Nice to make the Lonely Planet Guide www.stuff.co.nz/travel/36103...stuff.co.nzThe ‘coolest’ and ‘quirkiest’ NZ region has just been named one of the world’s best places to visitA two-headed calf, a mummified cat, graveyard tours, steampunk and some of the world’s rarest penguins have helped propel Dunedin and Waitaki onto Lonely Planet’s list. 021
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 23/09/2026If you were wondering who is having very earnest discussions about L’affaire Sheeran outside of Bluesky and media headlines, it’s undergraduate students at UC. Two overheard conversations analysing his politics and media strategy. 040
Reposted by Mike Dickison🔜 Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Farrar vs. Farrier: how to tell the difference. By @xtotl.bsky.social Toby Morris. 520872
Reposted by Mike DickisonKoen Sebregts @dorsalstop.bsky.social · 22/09/2026"Instead of researchers being questioned about their companies’ habit of plagiarizing academics’ work or using customer data to train models without consent, the public’s imagination is redirected to fears about what the future might hold upon the arrival of fictional superintelligent machines." 02415
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 22/09/2026Um, first living penguin species in 100 years perhaps? Eudyptes warhami was described from the Chatham Islands in 2019; it went extinct about 500 years ago. 0113
Reposted by Mike DickisonCaroline Ball @heroicendeavour.eurosky.social · 21/09/2026"Wikipedia is the most widely used reference work in history and one of the most valuable training resources available to the generative AI industry; and yet that same industry is systematically undermining the conditions that make Wikipedia possible." 👏link.springer.comTowards a practice of knowledge commoning: academics’ ethical duties to defend Wikipedia in the age of generative AI - AI and EthicsWikipedia is the most widely used reference work in history and one of the most valuable training resources available to the generative AI (genAI) industry; and yet that same industry is systematicall... 0198
Reposted by Mike DickisonSang As It Ever Will Be @sanguinarynovel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026They can't have missed the comic from the Hero Initiative about this 1343103
Reposted by Mike Dickisondepths of wikipedia @depthsofwikipedia.bsky.social · 21/09/2026here are more ways to start editing!!! it's fun and you shouldn't be scared!!! bsky.app/profile/dept... 21267
Reposted by Mike DickisonBhen Goodsir @bhengoodsir.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Right now, 13% of shops in Auckland and up to 15% in Wellington are sitting completely empty. Yet commercial rents haven’t dropped in two years. Why? Because the current system protects commercial property values over vibrant, thriving communities. 38035
Reposted by Mike DickisonDylan Reeve @dylanreeve.com · 20/09/2026These policies seem good. Fundamentally there is something broken about the incentives for commercial landlords that sees them willing to let tenancies sit empty.rnz.co.nzGreens announce reforms to lower commercial rents, fill empty shopsThe Green Party is pledging to restore city centre vibrancy by ensuring market rent reviews for small businesses can lower rents, and letting councils run rental auctions for spaces that have been emp... 46714
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 19/09/2026LibriVox is a public-domain volunteer-read audiobook site, and to my delight has a multi-volume Insomnia Collection of very boring texts including A Textbook of Assaying for the Use of Those Connected with Mines; Chapter 6. librivox.org/insomnia-col...librivox.orgInsomnia Collection Vol. 001 | LibriVoxLibriVox 261
Reposted by Mike DickisonAbbie Jury 🌱 @tikorangi.bsky.social · 18/09/2026Imagine the outrage if we had a left-leaning government and the dollar sat as low as it is now. NZ$ should be around 93 to 96c Australian. But it is now sitting just above 80c. Has been around 83c but dropped further recently. Where is the analysis and reporting on this? 1184
Reposted by Mike DickisonAndrew D Thaler @drandrewthaler.bsky.social · 18/09/2026It's probably better framing to think off these guys as 19th century robber barons than some scions of New Tech. They're running the same boring playbook and we don't even get railroads out of it. 33820
Reposted by Mike DickisonAndy McKay @korimakoecology.bsky.social · 17/09/2026"Close to 300 critically endangered kākāriki karaka/orange-fronted parakeets have been counted at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary in Nelson, up almost 100 on last year’s survey."thepress.co.nzEndangered parakeet numbers soar at sanctuaryClose to 300 critically endangered kākāriki karaka/orange-fronted parakeets have been counted at the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary in Nelson, up almost 100 on last year’s survey. 37329
Reposted by Mike DickisonLois Beckett @loisbeckett.bsky.social · 17/09/2026An AI book list with three categories: 1) smart books that explain and critique the AI industry 2) VERY flawed but ~illustrative~ books on AI 3) books that provide deeper political/social context, including some fiction (lmk what you'd add to the list) www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s... 54014
Reposted by Mike DickisonGrant Jacobs BioinfoTools/NotJustDNA 🔬🧬🖥️✍️📚🇳🇿 @notjustdna.bsky.social · 17/09/2026#SciComm #NZ Some people might like to check the weekly ‘Month of Learning’ online talks coming up. – Four 10-minutes talks over a lunchtime www.scanz.co.nz/eventsscanz.co.nzEvents — SCANZ - Science Communicators Association of New ZealandJoin us for networking, professional development and science storytelling events around Aotearoa New Zealand! 143
Reposted by Mike DickisonBethany Black @bethanyblack.bsky.social · 17/09/2026I really need journalists to learn that every time OpenAI or Anthropic or xAI says that their model has broken containment and could destroy humanity that it’s a marketing pitch by companies running out of cash with high overheads and no profitable business model wanting more investment. 1853276
Reposted by Mike DickisonCEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 17/09/2026Happy second iRex ferry arrival week! This is the week the second rail enabled bigger ferry would have arrived in Aotearoa, six months after the first. We currently will not receive any new ferries until 2029, and at present have one ferry working and will go 4 years without a rail enabled ferry. 816568
Reposted by Mike Dickisonhuck mason @tylerhuckabee.bsky.social · 16/09/2026rip annie dillard 1134041130
Reposted by Mike DickisonAndré "Normal" Alessi @andrealessi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026At my office job where management has been insisting on using AI for everything, we had a "fun" team exercise where we asked Copilot what animal we were based on our daily interactions with it, and it told every single person in a team of ten people that we were most like a border collie lol. 4133
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026If journalists said things like “support for Labour is probably between 28 and 34% and for National somewhere between 27 and 33%” it would be more accurate, but they wouldn’t get to write long articles about tiny changes in poll results and a possible hung parliament. 1228
Reposted by Mike DickisonTze Ming Mok 莫志明 @tzemingdynasty.bsky.social · 15/09/2026WITNESS THE GLORY OF NEW ZEALAND MENTIONED 2356
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 15/09/2026If anyone in Ōtautahi wants to help with the Books of Mana project, we’ll be working on lvl 2 of Tūranga all Sunday: let me know if you’d like to join in. A good way to learn some Wikipedia and Wikidata. 187
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 14/09/2026BRANZ is an internationally well-respected research institute that’s *independent* of any government department—folding it into MBIE for vague cost-cutting reasons is stupid. www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...rnz.co.nzDecades of building industry research at riskThe future of our world-respected building research association is looking shaky with a government move to cut the dedicated levy that funds it. 13218
Reposted by Mike DickisonDr Sarah Hendrica Bickerton 🏳️🌈 @sarahhbickerton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026For crying out loud ... the whole point about having an expert independent building research agency is that they have EXPERTISE and are INDEPENDENT. Taking away their funding and folding them into a governmentl ministry is the polar opposite of this. 24412
Mike Dickison @adzebill.bsky.social · 13/09/2026The cognitive dissonance with people who dutifully recycle and drive an EV and support Palestine and buy free-range eggs but then talk to a text-extrusion programme all day is quite something. 0101
Reposted by Mike DickisonAndré Brett @drdrehistorian.bsky.social · 13/09/2026- Restoring the Bay Express (Wellington–Napier) and the Southerner (Chch–Dunedin–Invercargill) - Chch and Dunedin suburban rail on existing corridors (Chch to Rolleston, Rangiora, Lyttelton; Port Chalmers–Dunedin–Mosgiel) - Affordable economy class on TranzAlpine, Coastal Pacific, Northern Explorer 47512