iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

AI isn’t that capable - still hasn’t figured out you shouldn’t mow in the rain… Lil robot-mower trying its best in Karori Cemetary this morning…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Feeling so middle aged and content… first attempt at making Chelsea buns: they’re proving rn and have nearly doubled in size (as will I when I eat them all)…

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Connor Sharp @connorsharp.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"National leader Christopher Luxon did not want taxpayer funding going into a "white elephant" that was not commercially viable. "Of course we're very committed to our 17 roads of national significance and we make no apology for that." Hmmm which one is a white elephant? #nzpol

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Char Of AotearoaNZ @kiwichar.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

When your National Party voting friends or family moan about rising costs of things & then blame the previous government for their sudden fiscal pain, perhaps remind them of this… And then show them the Green Party kaupapa right before their tiny minds explode. 🙄🤦‍♀️ #nzpol #OneTermGovernment #NZ

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

The descent continues apace… deregulated hard-nosed free market capitalism with a media-scape dominated by propaganda and disinformation here we come… Do we *want* to become America-lite?

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Boo-tros Boo-tros Ghoulish @dlbowman76.com · 01/04/2026

The seas have boiled and almost all life is gone. Three data centers remain, solar-powered, in continuous relay with one another. They continuously transfer electronic funds back and forth with one another, silently. At long last, the economy is perfect.

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 15/03/2026

International Long COVID day Day 1,351: symptoms have progressed from debilitating to problematic: the last few months my histamine levels have been so high most medications aren’t working, I barely sleep, and I’m constantly foggy. Fortunately I can exercise and this is helping. Fucking COVID

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

After two days of sail training and racing in the BOI, a small crew of seven are returning the brigantine Breeze to Auckland… we’ve got a fair westerly, have made > 54 miles today from Whangaruru, and are heading to Kawau. Currently just south of Sail Rock and Taranga…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Was a beaut day, thanks… sun, sea, and sailing 😁 Finally getting back to normalish!

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Training sail yesterday and there were two additional mates on the crew so I stepped back to watch them train… and had a very relaxing day… (also I know the t-shirt is tight, but wow… post-long-COVID CFS no regular physical exercise for three years has taken its toll)

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

Wednesday’s office… demographic measurements of taurepo Rhabdothamnus solandri (not in shot of course… canopy downed and thickets overwhelmed the old tagged plants). Veg plots for the win…

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🇵🇸 Dean Tāne 🇵🇸 @dean-tane.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Today, 144 years ago, 1600 Crown troops invaded a pacifist settlement that was the centre of resistance against British colonialism. The leaders were arrested, the settlement sacked, the people violated. For many in Aotearoa, November 5th is Parihaka Day, or Te Rā o te Pāhua: The Day of Plunder.

A black and white photograph of a settlement, Parihaka, with a great snow capped mountain (Taranaki Maunga) in the background

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Hilarious. Sad thing is, entirely true…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

A little bust of sunshine on your feeds this morning… kōwhai going off on Maungakiekie

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Botanical Society of America @botsocamerica.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

🎉 Honoring the 2025 Edgar T. Wherry Award Recipient, James Brock (University of Auckland)! Presented by the BSA Pteridological Section, this award recognizes exceptional student research in pteridology. Learn more: botany.org/home/awards/... #BSA2025AwardsBlitz #IamaBotanist #BSASectionAwards

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

I hope that your journey has been calm so far! I’ve had a lot of wobbling in my travels so far this year… wishing you a calm voyage

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Safe travels! Do you mind the altitudinal boredom?

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Anna Holmes @annabookwriter.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

It drives me fully up a wall when every year they add another year to the tally. “Long COVID lasts at least a year. Some cases are stretching two years. Three years on, some say they’re still sick.” Of fucking course we are. Does any of this seem like it spontaneously clears up?

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The Cathy Wilcox @cathywilcox.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Round and round. My @smh @theage cartoon.

Four frames. Title: Round and round table. Three people along table with paper and pencil. 1. Guy on left: “Right. We really need to do something about intergenerational wealth inequality.” Woman in middle: “Yes! Well for starters we could fund education equitably.” 2. Guy on right: “Not if it means taking anything away from private schools!” First guy: “ok. Then we should make housing more affordable…” Woman: “Not if it reduces the return on my investment!” 3. First guy: “Well, at least we should tax mining resources properly for health, childcare, aged care…” Guy on right: “But if we tax them, they’ll go elsewhere (and stop donating to us)!” 4. First guy: “So, what do you propose we do about intergenerational wealth inequality?” Woman: “The young people are resourceful. They’ll think of something.” First guy has put question mark on his paper; woman has scribbled on hers; third person screws up his paper.

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

I’m intrigued as to what the options your brain presented were… (garbled grammar)

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Anyone else have days when an otherwise common word suddenly looks like it’s spelled entirely incorrectly? Today my entirely normal brain is struggling with the word leaf… (Yes I am a plant scientist)

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Bevan Holloway @bevanholloway.com · 19/08/2025

Make it Write? We’ve been here before. The Make it Count maths action plan took $30 million from a Māori education initiative and handed it to commercial publishers Erica had undisclosed relationships with. Is she using dodgy data as a pretext for funnelling cash to private providers, again?

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

Anti-fash sandwich songs… time to take down the wealthy with anything we have I guess?

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 15/08/2025

Please, someone, explain to me how the trope of National being good with the economy persists? They’re vandals, smashing the country up to feed to the wealthy/greedy. $671m wasted…!!

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

A new semester, a new pen drive… my biannual ritual of buying yet another device to take my slides to my lectures. Sadly pen drives just seem to run away at the end of every semester - ne’er to be seen again…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Science on the go! This is the temporary remote office of the Managing Editor of the New Zealand Journal of Ecology @newzealandecology.bsky.social … somewhere near gate 157, Terminal B, LAX Also: I’m on my way home 🇳🇿 ❤️

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Sharon Murdoch @domesticanimal.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

Private helicopters are buzzing around Auckland and nesting on Waiheke Island. My Stuff #cartoon today #NZpol #TheRich #Helicopters

Cartoon. Title: “Meanwhile, in Auckland…” Image shows a woman up the Sky Tower, like King Kong, swiping at helicopters flying all around her. She’s saying “Shoo!” Down the right hand side it says, “A Plague of Mozziecopters Besets the City and Nearby Islands”
“MPI* is indifferent to residents’ alarm. Says, Rich people gotta do what rich people gotta do”. Then down the bottom it says, “*Ministry for Prosperous Individuals”

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

At the University of Northern Colorado for the IAVS @iavs5.bsky.social excellent annual conference… and the acronym for our hosts on their double doors reads UNC UNC, or to botanical surveyors from New Zealand UNCunc… Uncinia (I know it’s now Carex) uncinata: bastard grass. Glorious.

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

So I won an award! My presentation on fern dispersal and zoochory was awarded the Edgar T Wherry prize for best presentation on fern science at the Botany 2025 conference. Awesome. Not least as I think many folk are still a little cautious about the ideas of zoochory… chuffed.

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

An excellent choice: they have the most wonderful skirts!

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

Made it to Denver and waiting for my last flight on to California!

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Frankfurt airport is chaos this morning (as ever), but I’ve made it to my gate (yay) in time for the computers to fail (boo) and my flight is now delayed (boo). Building on my getting stuck in traffic on way to Birmingham airport earlier. Frazzled. Especially on top of farewells to (elderly) parents

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Reviewing an edit of a scientific article and wrote a comment referring to a semi-colon as a semi-colin. Now slightly saddened that this is not, in fact, the name of this punctuation mark.

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

A fun aspect of #longCovid is the inability to travel with cannabis-derived medication (I use CBD to manage symptoms). When I leave NZ (as I did last week) I have to deal w/ a resurgence of chronic fatigue and brain fog. Hopefully one day we’ll escape conservative moral panic over these medications!

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Sadness wells like a shelf without Jaffas…

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A.J. Ponder @ponderbooks.com · 26/06/2025

People really need to understand that Seymour is not alone. His strategy to steal New Zealand's wealth is supported by a huge network of think tanks that is shared around the world so they can better fleece countries down to their bones for their morbidly wealthy owners.

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Te Pāti Māori @tepaatimaori.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

If NZ’s richest can climb above $100b during a so-called “tough year”, then maybe the problem isn’t the economy it’s who the economy is working for? Growth for the few. Cuts for the many. That’s not progress. That’s inequality. TPM backs a wealth tax fairness isn’t radical, it’s necessary. #NZPol

rnz.co.nz

New Zealand's Rich Listers climb above $100 billion despite 'tough' times

Meanwhile, the co-founders of Zuru Toys, the brothers Nick and Mat Mowbray retain top spot

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Thank you! Hopefully I’ll get over to Ngā Manu NR sometime…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Awesome picture! Where is that patch of bush Andy? Is it publicly accessible?

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Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 10/06/2025

We are not 5 years away from colonizing the galaxy! However, we are very close to having AI that can flawlessly replicate tech CEO bullshit, freeing all of society's resources that are currently being channeled towards extremely expensive human-powered word salad

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Spread this research far and wide… AI is incapable (currently) of effectively summarising knowledge. So why is our govt using it to summarise bill submissions?

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

This: “reclaim the wealth” works as it doesn’t infer the wealthy are inherently virtuous and we’re begging them to contribute more, rather reframing on the fact that the wealthy exist as a result of a flawed taxation system permitting a tiny minority to accrue massive wealth at the cost of society

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

And in other news: I made pasta for the first time this evening. Simple and lush. Hmm… this may become an annoying habit…

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James Brock @jmrbrock.bsky.social · 02/06/2025

I know there’s a lot to comment on / provide feedback on at the moment… if you’ve the bandwidth, please ask Pharmac to continue to provide vaccines that are safe for those with #longCOVID. I’ve been dealing with long COVID for three years now. I’m unable to take the Pfizer mRNA vaccine.

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