Reposted by beccadownesSimon Lee @simonleewx.com · 10/09/20268 years ago, I tweeted side-by-side maps from NASA GISS showing global temperatures in 1976 and 2018 – both hot summers in the UK. It subsequently went viral and was printed in the Daily Mail! The 2026 version is stark. Two locally extreme summers separated by 50 years of global climate change. 7560305
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Resistance to AI is usually put down to fear or ignorance: fear of change or job losses, or not understanding the tech & being unable to see the benefits. This frames resisting AI as irrational, not a choice to be taken seriously, just something to be overcome. #AIresistance 100
Reposted by beccadownesLAL @lindli.bsky.social · 29/08/2026the most a chekhov’s gun has ever chekhov’s gunned is when they introduced these years ago and swore they wouldn’t be used for policing 19530
Reposted by beccadownesFT @fucktheory.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Imagine being talented and beautiful and rich and famous and still the most noteworthy thing about you is how good a person you are. 99268156333
Reposted by beccadownesHayley @writagal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026“We simply cannot accept the harm being done to a generation of New Zealand children.”* *Except the harm to 1 in 7 NZ kids living in material hardship, the 1 in 4 girls / 1 in 9 boys abused before 15, or kids unable to access public health, or have clean air in schools, or be taught art history ortheguardian.comNew Zealand to consider banning children under 16 from social mediaPrime minister Christopher Luxon’s party to introduce bill seeking the ban, citing harm to a generation of children 815454
Reposted by beccadownesEddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 24/08/2026An u16 social media ban on selected platforms a) won't significantly stop u16s being those platforms; Australian evidence shows this. b) will institute mass identity surveillance of all users of any age on those platforms; and c) Won't affect key sources of online safety risk (roblox, chatbots). 524898
Reposted by beccadownesCEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 22/08/2026It is possible to build infrastructure and make it look good and spend money on that because it belongs to all of us and we deserve nice public spaces and places. 36719
Reposted by beccadownesDr Dean Knight @drdeanknight.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Sigh. Another legislative mistake comes to light in amendments passed under urgency without select committee scrutiny. And the minister throws officials under the bus, while trying to wriggle out of responsibility for her stewardship of legislation etc. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361... 36126
Reposted by beccadownesDylan Reeve @dylanreeve.com · 12/08/2026It's a secondary thing, but can we talk about how ridiculous "Fix the basics" is as an election slogan for an incumbent government? Especially one that ran on that same slogan last time. 1719436
Reposted by beccadownesMichael Plank @michaelplanknz.bsky.social · 31/07/2026The bargain price of $138 million per km. Or one postdoc per metre. 22613
Reposted by beccadownesRichard Easther @rjme.bsky.social · 31/07/2026Here's the opening, but read the whole thing... 02011
Reposted by beccadownesBlueShiftNZ @blueshiftnz.bsky.social · 23/07/2026Journo: Mr Prime Minister you still think New Zealand can achieve net zero by 2050? PM: Yes, maybe even a few years earlier J: Yet you are doing nothing to reduce NZ's emissions? PM: No, we expect a science-based solution to emerge soon J: So you're funding NZ scientists to do this? PM: Oh, God no 824182
Reposted by beccadownesStephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 13/11/2025Every ad now 8271363078
Reposted by beccadownesConnor Sharp @connorsharp.bsky.social · 16/07/2026If they sign one of the RoNS which might actually happen, Warkworth to Te Hana, as a Public Private Partnership, the annual payments for that could be over $300m per year, for 25 years+ So yeahhhhh enough money for the Marsden fund for 100 years on one road... 2279
Reposted by beccadownesℭ𝔥𝔞𝔬𝔰 ☽|☾ 𝔓𝔯𝔦𝔢𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔰𝔰 @chaospriestess.bsky.social · 28/04/2026My favorite Sam Neil fact will always be that he designed a future Australian flag that replaces the union jack with the aboriginal flag for Event Horizon and insisted the film use it. 86173614485
Reposted by beccadownesSacha @sachadylan.bsky.social · 13/07/2026State funeralstuff.co.nzActor Sam Neill has diedSam Neill has died in hospital, his family said in a statement on Monday. 1533861
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 28/06/2026I have couple of questions: What constitutes "better"? Whose definition? Who's doing the watching? Is everyone being watched, including the tech executives, or are they just doing the watching? techcrunch.com/2026/06/26/x...techcrunch.comXprize founder says 'humans behave better when they’re being watched' | TechCrunchPeter Diamandis is the latest tech executive to argue that global surveillance will make the world a better place, following Larry Ellison's comments in 2024. 100
Reposted by beccadownesRussell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 10/06/2026This is good policy, and a very strong contrast with how the government chose to allocate new transport spending in the Budget. I hope they have a good plan for selling it, eg ... 716443
Reposted by beccadownesMallory Moore @sexabolition.blog · 08/06/2026By far the biggest problem with delegating judgement to machines is the people who own the machines can tune them towards outcomes they prefer but those who don't own anything can't. It's not the technology. It's a transfer of decision making power from rational accountable systems to capital. 52819805
Reposted by beccadownesFrancis Sealey @globalnet21.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Paris air pollution is down 50% after its radical bike-friendly transformation Cars have been banned from more than 100 streets. Tens of thousands of parking spots have been eliminated. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been added. And air pollution is plummeting 663105998
Reposted by beccadownesDaniel Vernon @yeehawtheboys.bsky.social · 21/05/2026Time to court the women's vote, once we define what one actually is. I chat more about this over at my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/yeehawth... 517169
Reposted by beccadownesJulie Blommaert @drjulieb.bsky.social · 17/05/2026“Vote for us and we’ll do something we know is really popular and that we could do now” says the party that’s passed more things under urgency, against expert advice, and against public submissions in the last three years than anyone else 713854
Reposted by beccadownesEmily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 16/05/2026This is beautiful on so many levels. It names clearly and directly one of the insidious tactics that tech uses to evade effective regulation. It exemplifies a way in which humanistic scholarship provides critically important insight. >> link.springer.com/article/10.1...link.springer.comWaiting for AGI - AI & SOCIETYAI & SOCIETY - 39727
Reposted by beccadownesJordan S. Carroll 🌹 @jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 07/05/2026They stole over 3 TB of data from Canvas but 2 TB is just required syllabus language copied from a university website. 832644
Reposted by beccadownesEddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Turns out the people going on about data sovereignty and the risk of chucking everything on the servers of massive overseas companies were entirely onto something and our institutions probably should have listened to them. Who could have imagined? (quite a few people, in fact) 27223
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 28/04/2026Interesting thread on “AI”. I don’t agree 100% but I do think the current model doesn’t scale economically & maybe technically, which means what we’ll have in the future will be very different. Likely just small embedded fragments of “AI”, not a huge world changing systems. 020
Reposted by beccadownesMe and a small nugget of love. 🇸🇪♥️🇺🇦 @mnotme.bsky.social · 19/04/2026The human circulatory system, before and after proper cable management. 294200453911
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 15/04/2026Laughing out loud at this. They say hard times make for good art. 000
Reposted by beccadownesChar Of AotearoaNZ @kiwichar.bsky.social · 11/04/2026Why Pākeha are so resistant to embracing Tikanga is a real mystery to me. Even right now, on the cusp of yet another catastrophic climate event, Marae across the motu are ready with open arms to CARE for our communities…ALL of us, not just Maori. The knowledge is rich, the integrity is priceless. 28920
Reposted by beccadownesRobert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 08/04/2026Spoiler alert: nothing trickled down. 28396643153
Reposted by beccadownesKate Watson @loreandordure.com · 06/04/2026This is surprisingly reassuring! 28915
Reposted by beccadownesKatie Mack @astrokatie.com · 02/04/2026"The real threat is a slow, comfortable drift toward not understanding what you're doing. Not a dramatic collapse. Not Skynet. Just a generation of researchers who can produce results but can't produce understanding." 312027636
Reposted by beccadownesDr Sanjana Hattotuwa @sanjanah.bsky.social · 02/04/2026This table brings out points in a bit more detail. Hope this helps NZ'ers understand where they sit in relation to what the UK, and Australia have been informed by their leaders around what the coming weeks, and months will bring. He waka eke noa, but those already vulnerable will be hit hardest. 59035
Reposted by beccadownesMeade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 01/04/2026"We are going for all humanity." "Artemis crew is go for launch. Full send." Publicly funded science to explore our universe and our own precious world is a beautiful thing. 330770
Reposted by beccadownesPaolo Bacigalupi @paolobacigalupi.bsky.social · 01/04/2026Using AI would defeat the entire purpose and pleasure of writing. I have no more interest in using AI to write than I have interest in letting another person run a marathon for me. The arrival isn't the point, nor the beauty of it. 28124
Reposted by beccadownesKeith Ng @keithng.bsky.social · 01/04/2026The obvious risk to business is not "being left behind" by AI, it's over-commitment to AI when the offering changes (price, availability, feature) dramatically and it turns out you reshaped your business on a bad set of assumptions. 1369
Reposted by beccadownesBlake E. Reid @chup.blakereid.org · 29/03/2026This is an essential read, and the closing on credentialing versus engagement and "centering the people for whom the stakes are highest" in particular. (H/T @peachfleurr.bsky.social @robin.berjon.com)tarakiyee.comOn The Enshittification of Audre Lorde: "The Master's Tools" in Tech Discourse🖼️Cover Photo: Train at the Nairobi terminus of the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway. It runs parallel to the Uganda Railway that was completed in 1901. The first fare-paying passengers boarded ... 14820
Reposted by beccadownesCEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 23/03/2026Go to internetnz.nz/membership/ to sign up before March 31 2026. Then make sure you vote for the board elections, and turn up to the online AGM and ensure the right wing don't capture INZ and implement their anti diversity agenda.internetnz.nzMembershipThere are plenty of perks to being a member of InternetNZ, from regulars newsletters, invites to events and much more. Find out how to join and get involved. 42119
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 16/03/2026Really? That's what the government is prioritising? Never mind the cost of living crisis, let's make it easier to get a drink. If that's the only solution they have for [waves hands at everything], they should just go all-in and legalise cannabis. #nzpol www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...stuff.co.nzGovernment proposes sweeping changes to alcohol lawsThe Government says proposed reforms will ease licensing rules and support hospitality sector growth 193
Reposted by beccadownesSardonicus @sardonicus.eu · 21/02/2026'An Inuit man warms his wife’s feet. Greenland, 1880—1890s. Photographer Robert E. Peary / National Geographic' 740796
Reposted by beccadownesMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026'to treat peer review as a throughput problem is to misunderstand what is at stake. Review is not simply a production stage in the research pipeline; it is one of the few remaining spaces where the scientific community talks to itself.' 1/3timeshighereducation.comAI is not a peer, so it can’t do peer reviewIf we still believe that science is a vocation grounded in argument, curiosity and care, we can’t delegate judgement to machines, says Akhil Bhardwaj 6359155
beccadownes @beccadownes.bsky.social · 28/01/2026Peer review science relies, more than we care to admit, on what @zey.bsky.social calls "load bearing frictions" that make it difficult to fake good science, and on trust that most ppl also value science itself & won't cheat just for personal gain. This creates the wrong environment for that to hold. 04217
Reposted by beccadownesCarl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 27/01/20261. The thing about science that these jokers don't understand is that science cannot be vibe-coded. Whatever its flaws, the point with vibe coding is that you're trying to quickly make something that sorta works, where you can immediately sorta see if it sorta works and then sorta use it. 26963283
Reposted by beccadownesCraig Renney @clrenney.bsky.social · 27/01/2026Budget is on 28 May. If things get a tiny bit better, then it's only because in 2 short years, they got so much worse. Cuts to essential public services. Record out-migration of Kiwis. Failing child poverty. New Zealand can't afford more of this failed plan. Let's make this a one-term government. 1246