iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ooh, it might be time to rebuild my personal R package for making nice charts

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I didn’t weigh them but I think you’re right. They did look slightly better quality than the loose ones, but definitely not 4x nicer

000

Apparently you can, it is $1.23 PER ONION

Paul Brislen @brislen.nz · 30/09/2025

Am I missing something, or is Woolworths New Zealand really selling wrapped onions for about 2.5x the price of loose onions?

200

Reposted by Aaron Schiff

Payment surcharge ban will raise prices www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s... Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.

nzherald.co.nz

'Something to hide': Retail NZ hits out as advice shows surcharge ban will raise prices

Ministry advice showed the ban will weaken competition and increase prices for consumers.

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These words that Nigel Latta wrote in 2015 have always stayed with me

What's the hardest thing about being a parent?

It isn't the sleepless nights, or the endless fights. It isn't the constant worrying about every last little thing, or the constant pestering about every last little thing. It isn't the impact on your work life, your love life, or your social life. It isn't the lack of money, the lack of time, or even the lack of anything approaching a life of your own.

It feels like it's all of those things, but it it's none of them.

In the end, the hardest thing about being a parent is truly understanding that everything comes with a number. You get a certain number of bedtime stories, and a certain number of bedtime kisses. Your get a certain number of roads they'll cross holding your hand, and a certain number of sports matches on a Saturday morning. You get a certain number of bike rides, and a certain number of bad jokes with no real punchline. Most of all... you get a certain number of hours.

One day you'll go to the bucket, and it will be empty.

So--and I'm saying this as much to myself as to anyone else--get as much as you can, of all that you can, for as long as you possibly can. It's the only score you'll get that will ever truly mean anything, and it's also the hardest one to keep track of.

Good luck.

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Sorry, I read it wrong last night. The $200m co-investment fund is a separate thing from Investment Boost and it does sound like a fossil fuel subsidy to me.

000

Ah right thanks. I’m not sure if I’d call Investment Boost a subsidy, it’s more like a time-shift of tax obligations. It would apply to other energy investments too eg solar, so doesn’t seem like it would favour fossil fuels.

000

Crossing the ATLANTIC OCEAN on a Containership!

Enes Yilmazer usually does tours of luxury properties and superyachts but this tour of a container ship is pretty interesting youtu.be/10bTq3KhjaY

youtu.be

YouTube video by Enes Yilmazer

000

From their boards' point of view, wouldn't reinvesting dividends or taking on new capital effectively be the same choice? If so, I'm not sure if they would choose to take on more capital even if given the ability to do so, unless forced to by regulation or competition.

020

Craig Mod walks are some of my favourite things

Ben Harrap @bharrap.bsky.social · 30/09/2025

Reposted by Aaron Schiff

Great pointer from @nrennie.bsky.social on making data visualisations We as makers spend hours with the data and creating the visualisation, but we need to consider those who are looking for 5 seconds #WOMBAT2025 #dataviz

A slide about accurate visualisations asking

Is the chart appropriate
Are the axis ranges reasonable
Is it intuitive
Is the 5 second conclusion the same as the 5 minute conclusion

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I don't know the details of that $200m but public subsidy of fossil fuels doesn't make any sense

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I think there is some danger of hindsight bias in evaluating whether the AI investment was rational given expectations, but the real world limits of the technology seem clear enough now that current levels of investment look crazy to me

030

Chat, I think I may be operating a ponzi scheme, am I going to get into trouble?

000

I guess there's a few quick jobs created etc from drilling for gas even if it finds nothing, if it's funded by foreign investors, but that doesn't make an energy strategy

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Warwick History Post-Doc Club @post-doc-club.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

It looks more like the lip of a ski jump off a cliff to me! Maybe this paper should be suppressed. If people believe in the U shape it could be self-fulfilling.

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Reposted by Aaron Schiff

Great news! JSTOR now have a free account with an Independent Researcher category. You can access 100 documents per month www.jstor.org/action/showL...

3925581596

Reposted by Aaron Schiff

Julia M. Rohrer @dingdingpeng.the100.ci · 29/09/2025

Looks like my favorite paper on the age trajectory of happiness is finally out!!! So happy for the authors. Go check it out, it’s great.

media.tenor.com

a close up of a man 's face with the words `` it 's done '' written on the bottom .

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words `` it 's done '' written on the bottom .

710419

Dang it! I thought I was nearly at the bottom of the U 😭

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Chat, what are the main characteristics of a pyramid scheme?

Aaron Schiff @schiff.nz · 27/09/2025

A bit more context since I was just looking at the business demographics data .. Stats NZ reports 144 egg farming business in 2024, which seems like a reasonable number and is up a bit since 2022, but there could be a few large suppliers and many small ones.

020

It’s unclear but I wonder if the US chart shows total factor productivity rather than labour productivity (but comparing wages to TFP is misleading)

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Yes NZ export volumes should fall as US consumers react to higher prices for our stuff. The revenues of NZ exporters will also fall reflecting the reduced volume and possibly reduced prices, but this may be partly offset in NZD terms by a weakening of the NZD/USD exchange rate.

000

I think @josephpolitano.bsky.social has some charts showing that most of the tariffs so far have been paid by Americans, you may be able to replicate his approach for NZ exports to the US

That’s American propaganda. The US govt can only tax its own people so tariffs are paid by importers. Exporters to the US may choose to reduce their prices to offset some of the tariff, but that’s not guaranteed.

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Export dollar values should be FOB which excludes tariffs (and international freight & insurance costs)

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Hmm, I try to avoid index number charts in general, a lot of people seem to misinterpret them. Maybe better to show annual % changes.

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My first thought from the unit prices chart was, huh, we are we selling dairy cheaper to the US than elsewhere now? But that's not necessarily true.

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Ok I think the indexing possibly makes the US vs Others comparison confusing as it means the levels can't be compared at any point in time

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