iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Home cafe in Thorndon. Maybe also pickle and pie?

Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

For an effective analysis of the state of NZ under this system you can read “Unbridled Power” by Geoffrey Palmer, and/or the post MMP sequel “Bridled Power”

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

That’s what they have in the Australian lower house. It tends to be made up almost entirely out of the major parties and systemically excludes groups with geographically distributed support. In the upper house support is aggregated across a whole state and so parties like the Greens get in

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Well done and thank you for your service

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Has anyone else’s Google maps voice changed to a guy who pronounces Māori place names nicely?

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I wonder if the “thank you very much sir, I appreciate it” bus passenger ever goes on the “bye bye” bus driver bus

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

Just heard an advanced “thank you driver” on the bus. “Thank you very much sir, I appreciate it”. Makes me wonder if he says that on every bus or if this bus driver was exceptional in some way

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Also the terms of use are funny and technically I’m breaking them by taking a screenshot www.tematapihi.govt.nz/terms-of-use

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

It would never have been a choice between a $15k brochureware website with events plugin and a $600k one, it’s a choice between the $600k site and funding some improvements to the existing site to meet the needs of the opening and also benefit the rest of the network

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

This kind of slick design does cost a lot and there is some complexity to the events but a) there are multiple Wellington firms who do this stuff well and b) it didn’t need a standalone site at all, they’ll be regretting the fragmentation as the content team needs to update things in two places

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Also reform candidates appear to sometimes be AI generated

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

The only useful heuristic I can identify from this is that the Green Party took some photos of candidates against some greenery with a 50mm lens and nice depth of field, the Conservative Party took some photos of candidates being backed into a bush with a phone camera

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Yeah I see that. But like with crypto, many of the use cases where it pays off are crime 🤷‍♀️ and the grift collapsing doesn’t bring back the stuff it destroyed

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

And there’s probably some good stuff too I guess but uhhh all that is to say long live libraries and archives

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Hopefully it stays worth it for some of them 🤷‍♀️ otherwise the next generation probably only gets access to that information pre-digested through AI, or behind walls that have kept the worst of its destructive impacts out, and those will both have a cost associated soon enough

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

I think people operating platforms that enabled the open information ecosystem we enjoyed in the early 21st century are looking at their server costs ballooning and their human traffic shrinking, more targeted cyber attacks and security patches every day, and thinking is this worth it?

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Since it’s poisoned the well of public information they’ll be seeking new data sources to train off. If it were me and I didn’t have qualms or access to it in another way, I would be making huge OIA requests to get access to emails, documents and conversations to train off. Maybe they have qualms

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

The path I see for this is that AI will likely reduce in availability to the general public, but the technology will still be used in enterprise and crime, and the damage it is doing to the public information ecosystem will increase as AI scrapers and hackers make it more difficult to host anything

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

You have done many good things through your thoughtfulness

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

I love them and they love crime

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Did you get harassed by weka

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Reposted by Merrin

Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

The whole web is built on a primary grace: that the people visiting you are trustworthy. It costs a little something for me to serve my webpage to everyone who goes there. When the number of scrapers outnumbers the number of humans by an order of magnitude, this grace is fragile.

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John Kostyack @kostyack.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

More evidence that Big Tech is locking us into a new generation of fossil fuel infrastructure and destabilizing our climate: the 5 largest hyperscalers have announced 16GW of power deals this year, and only 3GW have been for clean power.

16 GW of power deals announced by 5 hyperscalers in 2026

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Jeff Colgan @jeffcolgan.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

As an IR professor, it's depressing that this is outperforming all others as the best theory of US foreign policy

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Read about this this morning then just walked past someone wearing one of these hats in Wellington?! Word travels fast

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

“I’ll send you my take because I think it’s correct”

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Michael Wood @mtroskill.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

The clean car discount was making New Zealand’s vehicle fleet cleaner, cheaper to run, and helping us to be more resilient in an unstable world. Its cancellation was a massive own goal by the Luxon Government and is now seriously costing New Zealand.

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

There are a couple of whakatauki in there as well that are very nice but the syllable calculation doesn’t bear close examination

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

Really evocative language by Willis here. The beef and lamb reference brings to mind a field of grass (grazing) then it’s flipped on to a field of grass (sport). What a poignant meditation on the silent but vital role of grass, economically and culturally

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Oliver L @eey0re.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

I'll be speaking on a panel about Open Government, with the Chief Ombudsman and others at Forum on Democratic Resilience and Transparency this Monday 23 March at Parliament. Free tickets might still be available: events.humanitix.com/democratic-r...

Forum on Democratic Resilience and Transparency
New Zealand Parliament
(Hosted by Duncan Webb & Vanessa Weenink)
Time
Event
Notes
9:00 to 9:10
Mihi Whakatau
Welcome comment from host MPs
Grand Hall (Live Streamed into Legislative Council Chamber)
Kaumatua
Webb / Weenink

9:10 to 9:40
Opening Keynote Speech
Grand Hall (Live Streamed into Legislative Chamber)
Phil Goff

9:45 to 10:45

Panel 1 – Grand Hall
Theme: Improving Participation
Chair: Bronwyn Hayward
Michael Mcaulay
Mika Hervel
Max Rashbrooke

Panel 2 – Legislative Council Chamber
Theme: Pacific Democracy
Chair: Alfred Schuster
Jose Sousa-Santos
Traci Houpapa
Caren Rangi

11:15 to 12:15
Panel 3 – Grand Hall
Theme: Public Access to Power
Chair: Anne Tolley
Bryce Edwards
Peter Gluckman
Phillipa Yasbek
Panel 4: Legislative Council Chamber
Theme: An Inclusive and Cohesive New Zealand
Chair: Helmut Modlik
Prudence Walker
Judy Matai’a
Deborah Hart

12:15 to 12:45
Keynote Speech –
Grand Hall (Live Streamed into Legislative Chamber)
Chris Finlayson

12:45 to 1:45
Lunch

1:45 to 2:45

Panel 5 – Grand Hall
Theme: Open Government
Chair: Julie Haggie
Sam Sachdeva
John Allen
Andrew Ecclestone
Oliver Lineham

Panel 6 – Legislative Council Chamber
Theme: Improving Democratic Process
Chair: Simon Wright
Dean Knight
Andrew Butler
Fleur Fitzsimmons

2:45 to 3:15

Closing Keynote Speech from the Chief Human Rights Commissioner
Grand Hall (Live Streamed into Legislative Council Chamber)
Stephen Rainbow
3:15 to 3:20
Final Remarks from host MPs / closing
Grand Hall (Live Streamed into Legislative Council Chamber)
Webb / Weenink

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

They gave her a shaker and introduced her as a new member of the band. This was after the tree played a saxophone solo too. Great time

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

The day would have been a win even if it had just been the time in the queue, but it was great inside too!

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

That might have been us! I meant the damp child being carried with bare feet on the left haha. Could not keep her away from it. Went through 3 pairs of pants today

Baby running through water fountains in a queue

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Went to the opening of Te Matapihi ki te Ao Nui, the Wellington central library. So good. Excited to read some books and use some sewing machines and microfilm over the coming months and years. The cafe was great and ran very smoothly for a first day at capacity. Also the baby joined a brass band

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Ha that’s our damp child on the left

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Ha you’ve captured the moment before someone came and tamed the queue to curl back onto itself. Had a great time in the queue, great time in the library

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

(I know a lot but at a 2024 vintage)

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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 04/03/2026

Emissions from Australia's biggest data centre operator are *definitely* growing. Airtrunk is the worst but everyone's on the way up. This isn't projections and possibilities, anymore. www.crikey.com.au/2026/03/04/a...

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Thanks! Really enjoying the show otherwise!

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

@mattbevan.bsky.social hi, we have been really enjoying Black Swans. Except for 24:53 into this where there is a horrible high pitched noise in the TV clip youtu.be/qr7oj5_o5x8?...

youtu.be

The Home Ownership Collapse | Black Swans 2 | If You're Listening

YouTube video by ABC News In-depth

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

This library book tells an extra story

A book called “teeth are not for biting”

A bite out of a book called “teeth are not for biting”

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Merrin @merrrrin.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Probably have the same PHO

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