Joshua Leung

PhD. Graphics / HCI / InfoViz.

* Software Engineer (Python + Rust + Qt / QML + C + C++)
* Blender Dev (Animation + Grease Pencil)
* Creator of TPMS Studio
* Photographer
* Violinist / Composer
* Bird Paparazzo
* Avgeek
* Oxford Comma Proponent
* Indents using TAB's (tabwidth = 4)
* Data Archivist
* Anti-AI / No Gen-AI
* Anti Tipping Culture

✅ English
✅ Cantonese
❌ Mandarin
↗️ Korean
🤏 Spanish

Christchurch, NZ

Public Key

npub1g826smdszdyzz65eh0settah68suhk29um4kavmwl36ykhyavzvsqarwnd

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsyr4dgdkcpxjppd2vmhcv447marcwtm9z7d6mwkdh0cazttjwkpxgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds8r36eq

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1g826smdszdyzz65eh0settah68suhk29um4kavmwl36ykhyavzvsqarwnd

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Last Notes

2026-08-02 04:56:09 GMT

Was shocked to discover earlier today that the house on the corner of Brake and Bowen Streets (a block from the Church Corner shops) has now been fully bowled and replaced by what looks like a really claustrophobic-monstrosity high density cluster of 7-8 Wolfbrook townhouses... The 3 storey variety too! (The between unit walls use a pathetically thin barrier wall material, which will probably leak sound like a sieve)
This used to be one of those "Classic Kiwi Art Deco" houses, with a modest single story art deco house (white and orange), an open garden with large lawn (curved garden edges) framed by a low concrete fence marching the house, a birdbath in the middle of the garden, and established plantings (e.g. there was a nice orange maple), and a bunch of other dainty ball shaped flowers. Then the house would have 2-3 shallow concrete steps leading up to a pair of double doors with textured glass panes.
As recently as 12 months ago, it was operating as a doctor's clinic. Specifically, the clinic I drove Dad to for his first post-hospitalisation checkup. (That carpark though was a challenge to get back out of! I had to reverse all the way back out!!!)
Sad to see another classic make way for another one of these monstrosities!
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/117/024/081/884/364/523/original/5517c975e007b2cd.jpg

2026-07-21 23:17:08 GMT

Dad just texted to say that this morning (right now actually) marks 40 years since they've been living here in NZ! 🥳
They moved here with literally just a suitcase and very little in savings, so that Dad could take up his job as an academic at the University of Canterbury, where he is still working today!
(IIRC, apparently, they were offering a tenured position with citizenship, which made this the favoured option over taking up a similar position in St Louis (?))

2026-05-01 08:55:45 GMT

Has anyone had a look at their daffodils recently?
I saw today that most of ours had shoot tips poking through the topsoil already! 🤯

2026-04-20 22:39:28 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
I expect the cold weather this week to have done in my big dahlias too 😥
The small ones along with the begonias are in the glasshouse now, and will hopefully make it through the week, but may have also succumbed to the cold

2026-04-19 21:51:57 GMT

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@nprofile…v9wr
Yeah... company device, in a corporate IT environment heavily built around ALL of their latest toys 😭
At least pur team's system is in Linux, so I actually spend the majority of my workdays working in that, but via Winslop windows

2026-04-19 21:46:00 GMT

Have wasted a good 15 minutes waiting for Winslop 11 to reboot to apply an update, requiring about 3 restart cycles. That's on top of the Dell drivers update thing now having 5 updates it wants to apply, in a really naggy way, on top of what Winslop does. 🙄
But in this case, I had to do that, otherwise the stupid VPN wouldn't reconnect!

2026-04-07 02:46:05 GMT

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@nprofile…xpw3 @nprofile…wj33 @nprofile…cqqu @nprofile…t3ug
Yep, I've been seeing this for a while now, but the weekend was quite bad (got the "Fail Elephant" page a few times, before it would pop back a few refreshes later, with 503's stacking up instead)

2026-03-27 22:07:05 GMT

Good grief! A whole convoy of motorcycles just started driving past!
I had thought the noise was from out at ruapuna (?), but maybe this was just this lot driving down the road from IDK where

2026-03-27 10:42:43 GMT

Damn... just spent an hour trying to help Dad get Samsung SmartSwitch to transfer data from his old phone to new one
The biggest hurdle?
Apparently the version on Google Play considers his old phone "too old" so refuses to play ball! Either when using wireless or cable. And then selecting an option for the cable then realizing you stuffed up rules that option out too...
Anyway, eventually I managed to work the problem by backing out of things, then creating a Samsung account on the old phone (as you can't get into their appstore without one!), from which it then allowed me to update SmartSwitch to a version that it was happy to download and install!
Only then, could I FINALLY get them syncing!
But oh... after they say it will take 5 hrs, and we go to check if the process is still going, it does the whole signin flow again like it forgot what it was doing!!!
Damn... 🤬🤬🤬
(Of course, this is not gonna solve WhatsApp or Microsoft Authenticator, which will need manual intervention later! 🙄)

2026-03-27 03:51:34 GMT

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@nprofile…gtt6
Indeed... I suspected as much
The crap that goes into any "free" trade deal with the US typically includes so many provisions for them to loot at will that it's all rather depressing...

2026-03-27 03:11:24 GMT

Another reason I should never be let near the baubles of power:
If some corporate scum like Watties tried to pull a factory closure like what we saw, I would probably have done a combination of:
* 1) Slapped the directors and shareholders, *personally*, with fines and penalties for pulling such a move
* 2) Required the company to immediately divest of their operations to create a worker-owned coop (funded + backstopped by said penalties)
* 3) Put a condition on their operations that if they were to reenter the market with imported alternative product, that would be either banned OR hit with heafty tariffs
I mean, this sort of thing has been shown to be possible to do, as a certain orange buffoon has shown! We might as well apply the same playbook in cases where it can be used for good!

2026-03-23 20:17:05 GMT

It doesn't happen often, but this morning was one of those days when I inexplicably woke up early, and proceeded to head out for a walk!
It of course helped that there was some neat looking fog around the neighborhood that I wanted to capture! It had gotten denser between initially waking up, and taking a second look out the window, so I figured there might be something good to see 😁

2026-03-19 02:41:38 GMT

As much as I dislike Trump, and question him going to war like this, I hold a much dimmer view of Iran going into a manic + berserk "laam chow" (*1) x "Jihad" mode... 🤬
There's no sympathy or support here for spraying fireworks everywhere, holding the world's fuel supply ransom (if not outright destroying stuff), and doing everything it can to draw everyone else other than the US / Israel aggressors who are actually doing all the active attacking of them!
In that sense:
YES, Iran's leadership are a bunch of crazed evil despots who should get eliminated...
BUT, if you can't finish the job swiftly, then we really shouldn't be shutting down avenues to deescalate!
At least give the rest of the world a chance to prepare before you go back for round 2 perhaps? 🤔
(*1) Translation for everyone else: "When one party, losing the fight, decides to just take down everyone and everything with them"

2026-03-19 01:41:14 GMT

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@nprofile…v9wr
It's not quite that bleak, yet, IMO but:
* They do still launch here
* At last check, they did still have their main (?) factory + development centre here (Akl)
* They started with a NZ founder who is still nominally the boss / heavily involved
So, in my books, it's still enough to somewhat claim some links to the country to claim them as "our" entry in the space race, even if the USA component is increasing + share market evils are increasingly dictate how this stuff runs

2026-03-18 22:54:15 GMT

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@nprofile…v9wr
Well, TBH their website address has long been "rocketlabusa.com" - emphasis on the "usa" part 😅

2026-03-05 20:09:52 GMT

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@nprofile…wj33 @nprofile…lgpy
I often get them in waves - probably some in the afternoon at certain times, and a lot at night too.
Sometimes they also coincide with taking a few seconds to be able to post...

2026-03-05 19:53:46 GMT

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@nprofile…lgpy
Have been getting random 503's (lots in a row) and sometimes complete non-loading (with the error mascot) for weeks now. So not surprised.

2026-03-02 20:52:46 GMT

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@nprofile…xpw3
I remember once thinking the Jolla / Sailfish OS looked pretty neat, and wanted to try using one for a while.
Had the same though about the Microsoft Phone tiles design too TBH (even though I do dislike their offerings on desktop these days)

2026-03-01 20:56:45 GMT

Brrrrr... just when I was contemplating "maybe" heading in to the office after all today, a very heavy hail ridden shower just passed through 🥶
Nope. Don't think it's happening today 😅

2026-03-01 10:45:38 GMT

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@nprofile…fh5u
Putin... by quite a long ways

2026-02-27 22:20:17 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
It felt chilly here the last 2 nights. May be time to put the begonias back under the covers of the glasshouse that needs reskinning before they die off prematurely...

2026-02-27 03:18:29 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
Yikes! I hate fungal infections of any form 🤬

2026-02-26 01:25:39 GMT

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@nprofile…5w5c
Heck, the first thing I did was go through trying to disable every AI thing I could! (I only got one because my old phone's battery was close to dying, and Spark didnt seem to have wanted to support it on their post 3G network, even though it was all on 4G usually)

2026-02-25 23:17:06 GMT

Yuck! It just *had* to start raining when I left the house, and will only get uglier when I'm due to head home.
Starting to think I maybe shouldve just stayed home and put up with the digger noise + shaking 🙄
All the roads are chocka full of traffic, everywhere today too... (including most of the places I could try to park when coming home). Argh!

2026-02-24 19:47:00 GMT

No wonder Santa Claus(e) only comes at the end of the year 🤣
#nevent1q…eruk

2026-02-23 01:34:52 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
The scaffolders put up a giant cage around our place last year. Those yellow angled beams were impressive!
For half a day of roofing work, cage was up for a week!

2026-02-20 20:27:54 GMT

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@nprofile…xpw3
It's really terrible how that place keeps perverting the use of the word "freedom" 🤮

2026-02-19 22:04:32 GMT

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@nprofile…xpw3 @nprofile…v9wr @nprofile…0z4m
I started migrating a bunch of mine to Aegis when trying to find a way to migrate phones. Lots are still tied to Ms Auth though

2026-02-19 03:37:38 GMT

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@nprofile…yzxf @nprofile…5mvz
Cue a hoard of "window washer" dudes cued up beside you begging for cash like ravished seagulls 😜
(*) Was recently very disappointed to see this scourge take hold at the Blenheim Rd / Matipo intersection 😡

2026-01-24 22:20:22 GMT

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@nprofile…xpw3
So these things work outside the EU? 🤔

2026-01-24 22:19:26 GMT

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@nprofile…gydw
Ooh... tubular bell flowers! Do any of our nectar feeders like these?
One year, I bought a small plant with red tubular flowers like this (just not in big clusters) during winter. Was marketed as "Ring a ding ding" or something similar, and "bird attracting". Sadly, the thing was very weak with a very skinny main trunk, and it soon died off before even making it one season OR attracting any birds! Heck, I haven't seen any around anymore either!

2026-01-20 10:00:07 GMT

Get outside noe! Big colourful beams!

2026-01-16 22:55:11 GMT

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@nprofile…gydw
Fascinating! I did recently hear some new-to-me metallic sounding calls a bit similar to this that baffled me. Heard them on 2 days in various parts of the garden, but couldnt see anything. I had assumed maybe another thrush / baby thrush, but now I can also see it having been one of these maybe

2026-01-13 03:14:32 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
Yay for you! 😆
I remember when they strong-armed (*) us into doing this back when I was a kid... not fun!
Remember, this was in the age of the house only having a single landline (and our landline was ill placed for long chats, being halfway up the wall in the hallway!), and they would spend an hour or two asking *super invasive* questions.
IIRC, they were effectively asking mum and dad about the same bloody probing questions each time (I.e. effectively needing you to recite back to them full employment history and all finances).
The last or second to last time, they also needed me to answer questions. IIRC, they had newly introduced a: "Do you use the internet, and what do you do on it?" 😬
(*) Yes, the old:
* You have been "randomly chosen"
* As a citizen of NZ, you *must* do it or you are breaking the law
* There's no getting out of this
* We will come into your house and do it (like that first time they dropped by) if you don't take our phone calls
I am NOT a fan of this sort of stupid social science research nonsense quackery. Especially not compulsive style like this. 🙄

2026-01-13 00:19:13 GMT

WTF?! Apparently the system we all have to use to get NZ passports is all run off US-based cloud infrastructure?! 🤯
Then again, given how much NZ govt (not to mention many IT stacks in this country) are effectively "Microslop Shops", i really shouldn't be too surprised 🙄
(*) I mean, I'm glad we're not running off Alibaba Cloud, or whatever Russia's equivalent is instead. But still!
https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/13-01-2026/your-digital-identity-is-not-under-new-zealand-jurisdiction

2026-01-11 02:32:25 GMT

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@nprofile…wj33 @nprofile…cu23
Indeed... very slow + intermittent not-connecting 😬
Is only slowly recovering enough to intermittently post after some delays now

2026-01-07 21:28:50 GMT

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@nprofile…gydw @nprofile…d3s0
Very interesting...
A few things that come to mind from my SDXC cards:
* There is a tipping point of fullness, beyond which every time I start up my camera to try to shoot stuff, it suddenly now takes 3-7 seconds to boot. As in, it is completely unresponsive. Won't even "just take the photo, and worry about turning on focus / screens until getting that first snap first.
* I've noticed this gets progressively worse, until suddenly, I'm getting really irritated by missing a whole bunch of shots one day while in the car again
* I've found my ProGrade ones better than SanDisk on this front, seemingly holding out for longer before suffering the same fate. Both the 256 variants.
I've traditionally used SanDisk CF cards exclusively for years, and only encountered 1 complete dud.
However, one reason I don't like the ProGrade ones so much is that they tried to go all eco-friendly, and have this weird "paper tray" for housing the card (which you can only destructively open), BUT also wrap that whole box in plastic shrinkwrap. At least with the SanDisk ones, I get storage boxes for them.
* I believe this may be some kind of "wear levelling" type thing, where past that breaking point, they may start copying data around/ reshuffling when you try to write extra stuff.

2026-01-07 00:36:49 GMT

Way to go Vietnam! Now if only our politicians were not as spineless and beholden to Big Tech lobbying + bullying 🙄
Summary:
Vietnam to ban unskippable ads with hard cap of 5 secs max before skipping allowing, requirement for obvious close buttons, immediate close option on static ads, and additional controls on ads for harmful products and services. 👍
https://saigoneer.com/vietnam-news/28652-vienam-bans-unskippable-ads,-requires-skip-button-to-appear-after-5-seconds

2026-01-06 23:44:33 GMT

Argh, garden emergency! Neighbour had a guy spraying herbicides along their driveway (i.e. where we have a bunch of flowers + fruit trees - notably our ball dahlia, lemon, and fig trees)! 🤬
Have gone out and sprayed down everything with a liberal dousing of water. Hoping that we've managed to head off a minor die off 🤞🤞🤞

2026-01-06 22:42:28 GMT

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@nprofile…7760
While the "colour palette" approach does admittedly look pretty, it's IMO not really suited for actual living spaces as you end up placing restrictions on what you can / cannot have inside your house (or in the rooms where that applies).
I.e. Once you have a palette in a room, anything "else" just looks out of place so it cannot be kept there, and if you need to replace anything, you can only find something that fits the palette.
Very restrictive!

2026-01-05 11:45:52 GMT

🦔 + The GOAT Himself! == 😍
I mean wow... Sir David Attenbrough's nearly 100, and he can *still* get on the ground like that right beside a hedgehog and deliver an intro like that!
Not to mention, that hedgie AND those fence holes are pretty cute too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gsd5_xzebH0

2025-12-31 04:57:04 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
I would have bristled at the notion of dahlias being yanked... but I don't consider "single dahlias" as being "real" ones 😜
They're more glorified daisies or something similar at that point IMO 🤪

2025-12-31 00:17:09 GMT

We're all in love with the new ball dahlia I got this year 😍
While it's not quite the consistent "orange" colour I'd expected from the photo, this red -> yellow colouring is actually rather cool too, not to mention the joy of just seeing such large, round, and vividly coloured flowers in the garden.
Thanks again @nprofile…etrn for the hint about the online sale for the place selling these!
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/811/284/542/027/109/original/8c47b496624c4c17.jpg

2025-12-29 05:10:52 GMT

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@nprofile…fwwf
We're back in action now...

2025-12-29 05:01:49 GMT

Crap... our internet is on the blink right now 😬

2025-12-28 22:54:21 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Ooh... that's a pretty one indeed! I'm guessing the center part hasn't fully opened yet, but it's quite a stunner indeed

2025-12-24 04:00:42 GMT

LOL I heard some weird paper-tearing sounds coming from the room next door - turns out Dad's frantically trying to wrap presents for Mum (while she's in the shower), and is looking a bit baffled about what to do with the wrapping paper 🤣🤣🤣

2025-12-23 05:03:07 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Undercut... maybe that's the word Mum needs to be telling the hairdressers. They are almost always cursing her for having "too much hair", while she always complains about too much annoying hair around her neck while not wanting the outside to go short into a bob 😂

2025-12-22 22:55:55 GMT

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@nprofile…3nu3
Fascinating idea that needs testing I reckon!

2025-12-21 12:09:14 GMT

As someone very much in the data-preservation camp, this is a most excellent and unexpected win! 😍
Let's hope the copyright mafia lay off them for long enough that this library doesn't get obliterated before more copies exist...
EDIT: But yeah, releasing it in separate stages and hopefully as separate collections hopefully helps keeping things alive + well preserved better. It's great that they focused on the Metadata first, as that should in theory be less likely to attract the ban hammer attention (?)
#nevent1q…h9q0

2025-12-20 23:13:23 GMT

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@nprofile…3nu3 @nprofile…8c65
Took a brief look at the world finals from earlier this year just now to check it out
I was like:
* Uh... imagine math olympiad + competitive programming + folks live-streaming their coding sessions, but decked out in traditional green-glowing esports garb, and err... WTF are they even doing?!
* Man, those modal blocking error dialogs really suck

2025-12-20 04:45:58 GMT

PSA: Apparently there is a band of nasty weather sweeping up the coast (currently Timaru / Ashburton ish) with what looks like Thunderstorms / Hail / Heavy Rain on the radar. While Metservice was predicting for this to hit around 8-9 with lots of heavy rain, I'm thinking it might be a bit earlier
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/750/083/128/777/714/original/153b5fd9d1fbedac.png

2025-12-19 01:42:55 GMT

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@nprofile…p7rx
Modifier keys not working is still a pretty major yet basic/fundamental defect to not have fixed

2025-12-18 22:56:12 GMT

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@nprofile…5nnv
The ink hasn't dried on that deal, and we already have to say: Told ya so! 🙄

2025-12-18 22:35:54 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Ah... granted, having most of your usual options cut off could make things more difficult 😅

2025-12-18 21:01:19 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Bored from being on holiday?! I've *NEVER* understood people who say that!
How can finally having uninterrupted time to do whatever the hell you want be boring!? 😂

2025-12-17 08:32:14 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
LOL... maybe I shall have to turn my house into a "House of Horrors" for that unproductive orange-ball dahlia with dark leaves... (though i don't think i can stomach those tubers) 🤪
Last year, it gave me a grand total of 2 flowers. 2!!! (And one opened smooshed into the other one too IIRC). I gave it a second chance as it came back after being treated rather badly... but still, it's showing no signs of being any good

2025-12-17 05:36:05 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
WHAT??!!
So it turns out that when their flowers don't work out, dahlias go from treasured guests to dinner plate liners?! 😜

2025-12-16 07:08:46 GMT

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@nprofile…fwwf
MBIE 2.0

2025-12-14 12:37:19 GMT

Oh... just learned that the company that installed my heatpumps ended up in liquidation in May this year! 😱
Then again, seeing the mess I had with that second one, I'm totally not surprised in hindsight!
(I.e. they first wanted prepayment urgently in full including for bits that would eventually be unneeded, then struggling for weeks to get them to commit to an install date, and then even worse, trying to get them to honor the refund they promised to give me - and oh, amongst this, their office admin left their job, they'd apparently moved premises just when they finally actually sent the refund (after 2 attempts), and boss dude was getting increasingly unresponsive... yeah, they were not doing very well at all by that point! 😬)
EDIT: To be fair, I was trying to get this 2nd install sorted just before Christmas... that said, after making allowances for all that, it did still seem unreasonable.

2025-12-12 07:24:41 GMT

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@nprofile…5nnv
Somehow, I looked at those numbers and thought they all got off rather lightly, don't you think?

2025-12-11 00:37:53 GMT

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@nprofile…t0pv
Personally, I don't really want to go either
BUT, there is a good chance that I may end up being called on to head on a work trip there the next time some of us have ro head over. (Two / three colleagues are actually currently over there this week). The chances of that happening in the next 2 years is quite high I reckon...

2025-12-10 08:59:26 GMT

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@nprofile…t0pv
If anything, since the announcement of speed "increases" last year, I reckon downloads have gotten slower in practice! 😜
(This is all anecdotally, as I didn't run a speech test back then, and the sites I'm running into issues with are different from the ones that seemed fast then)

2025-12-09 20:47:42 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Wow... you're lucky you have ladybugs
Whenever we have aphids, we don't have any
Then again, I did see one on the kitchen window the other day, so hopefully it's been having a good feast 😅

2025-12-08 00:34:57 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
It's almost like a short-trumpeted daffodil 😂

2025-12-07 05:01:23 GMT

Anyone have tips about how to make my driveway gate more obviously not somewhere to park?
I mean, it has those blocks that span the gutter between footpath and road, which should be a sign enough that maybe there's a driveway!
1) Would putting an extra street number sign over this side help (we have it on the other side where the mailbox)
2) Or should I put up stripey fluro tape on each of the pillars either side the gate?
3) Or just take the chance to mount security cams on top of each post?
4) Or is it time to make some hand-drawn parking lines to prevent anything going too close to our driveway too? 🤔
1-3 are presumably fully legal, while 4 is probably not (though neighbours on opposite side have done so before)
I'd like to have to avoid putting an explicit "no parking" on thr gate itself, as that could block the rollers and stop it working g

2025-12-06 04:56:30 GMT

I'm in love with my small ("Little John") bottlebrush this year! It's putting on a spectacular little show with lots of little red bushy flowers covered in a magical dusting of yellow pollen tips! 😍
#BloomScrolling
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/670/825/480/505/346/original/2ac89f1c85c56a45.jpg
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/670/825/441/280/583/original/47a7567be481f448.jpg
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/670/825/552/793/412/original/b8855face8aaefbc.jpg

2025-12-04 12:19:11 GMT

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@nprofile…sp74
Looks like some expensive fool-hardy malarky blew up in his face... again!
As if that wasn't the usual state of affairs 😜

2025-12-02 08:02:00 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Ooh! You got this one!
We've been eyeing it up, but had no real use (or space) for it LOL

2025-12-01 08:21:31 GMT

OMG! This is a most excellent innovation! "Mosquito probiscus used as 3d printing nozzle/needle!" 😍👏👏👏🤣🤣🤣
EDIT: Hmm... that's provided it doesn't take off... as then you'd need to farm all those mosquitoes to get enough of a supply! 🤔
https://techxplore.com/news/2025-11-repurpose-mosquito-proboscis-3d-nozzle.html

2025-12-01 01:06:45 GMT

WTF?! Everyone on our team apparently got scary messages from IT saying that our corp devices tried to connect to "unauthorised" WIFI
Even the guy whose company laptop was powered off and in a bag
Either IT have stuffed up some config, or something else has gone weird

2025-11-29 04:24:32 GMT

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@nprofile…fwwf
That reminds me: Here are mine from that night
#Sunset
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/631/073/585/462/493/original/77931c9eebf82a25.jpeg
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/631/074/051/397/697/original/0d0b354244d1f496.jpeg
https://o.mastodon.nz/media_attachments/files/115/631/075/942/608/758/original/fe107fe2051ab401.jpeg

2025-11-28 02:48:04 GMT

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@nprofile…5nnv @nprofile…p7rx @nprofile…p6cu
What?! I never realised someone in NZ was behind it! 😱
I still remember seeing it in use on Dad's old Windows 3.1 box way back in the 90's!

2025-11-27 08:10:18 GMT

Woah! Finished dinner just in time to catch the spectacular red sunset just now! 😍

2025-11-26 05:50:36 GMT

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@nprofile…wcg4
We have a running tally of "<x> days till the holidays. Have you put in leave requests?" 🤣
The week between Christmas and New Year's, only 1 guy will still work the 2 days. And that's because he's retiring and will take the following week off instead
But otherwise, everyone else is not gonna be around much for a good few weeks.

2025-11-25 21:25:00 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Same here. And then the next day or two as well! 🥵
Winds are already kicking up too

2025-11-23 20:44:03 GMT

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@nprofile…p7rx
Wow, that linked blog post is quite the (scary) story!
Personally, I gave up coffee about 12 years ago (having started having it about 5-8 years earlier?). And I wasnt even a heavy drinker either (i.e. 1 cup at breakfast, with 1 teaspoon of instant)
Reasons:
1) Initially, it was just absolutely destroying my focus in the mornings. Like, 3 hrs would go by in a haze of either blazing with 2000 half baked ideas (ramping up over each other for world dominating projects that would never end up happening, while real world work never happened) OR more likely, another YouTube bender to calm back down enough to do anything 😅
2) Later, it included all the "hot coffee" reflux while brushing teeth / rushing out the door, OR the 5pm headaches (yes 5pm to 5:30 / 6) if I didnt have any for 1-3 days... which were both unpleasant
3) Finally, most unpleasant were the heart palpitations + feeling "on edge" (in the "I could keel over at any moment", lasting from coffee ingestion until about 2-3 hrs after trying to go to bed) that now happens if I do inadvertently have any coffee...
As for other things:
* I've never liked soda / alcohol / energy drinks, so not a factor
* Tea - I only really have that with lunch/dinner on the weekends really
* Chocolate - Well, I do have a bit sometimes, here and there, but rarely as chocolate-block pieces or larger...

2025-11-22 04:34:35 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Happy Birthday! 🥳 (if it's today or this weekend)

2025-11-20 08:33:04 GMT

The blackbirds this week have been very grumpy with me for raking the leaves
They frequently land with a loud "thwump" on a nearby fence, then glare at me while a worm is looped through their beak like those dangly bits that chickens / turkeys have, before proceeding to loudly chastise me...
Why???

2025-11-19 11:56:04 GMT

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@nprofile…5nnv @nprofile…l72q @nprofile…t0pv
I've got 2 machines I will be converting to Linux... (Maybe the laptop too... but I may just leave that as Win 10, and reconsider my options with the next replacement laptop)
Well... once I have my full Linux setup nailed down, WIP projects requiring current Windows setups complete, and the hardware on the other machine fixed so it can be used again...
But in the meantime, none of my personal machines are going to Windows 11. None.

2025-11-19 01:26:43 GMT

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@nprofile…t0pv
I hate to agree with anything "The Chinese" do, but in this instance, I would have to agree with that!
Putting on my old HCI fancy-pillow-hat:
Ultimately, I do firmly believe that the role of technology is to serve people - to help or assist us in doing what we are not able to otherwise... and only when you first focus on what need is being served.
If you just focus on having the "most sophisticated and advanced gizmo (by metrics alone)", you've just built a very expensive and very specialised hammer that might be rather useless in practice. (I have examples...)
With that view:
* Focussing on solving real problems in the here and now? You're going to be making lots of real useful + tangible + visible progress
* Focussing on AGI? Meh... that's just a silver bullet moonshot that you'll then be trying to ram down everyone's throats to find a market for it...
Err... hang on, doesn't that second one sound somewhat familiar already? 🤔

2025-11-18 12:20:49 GMT

Ahh... was seeing this earlier when trying to post / scroll here earlier
#nevent1q…7xr3

2025-11-18 12:17:48 GMT

Hmm... has anyone tested yet what the recursion / nesting limit on Mastodon Quote posts is now? Or is it documented somewhere?
I think I've seen them go 2-levels deep once so far... 🤔

2025-11-17 06:41:28 GMT

Two of my dahlias are *finally* showing signs of flowerbuds 😍

2025-11-16 20:51:06 GMT

Now available for kids to use to create bank accounts
Next stop: Social Media / internet access controls for everyone else 🙄
https://www.thepress.co.nz/business/360886649/mymahi-digital-id-lets-teens-young-13-sign-emerge-bank-accounts-online

2025-11-13 01:34:48 GMT

Woah, it's really bucketing down now 🌧🌧🌧

2025-11-11 20:50:24 GMT

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@nprofile…wcg4
Thankfully that is largely the case nowadays!
I once got sick from a manager coming in to work while still recovering from a bad cold (and even admitting that they were "still filling buckets with tissues"), and not having to courtesy to let anyone know up front OR rescheduling any one-on-one meetings instead.
Then again, Big Business has been running all those propaganda hit pieces in the media about people "being too eager to take sick leave" now... like "Labour gave them 10, so they now use 6! Arrgh.... we're melting! How dare they!" 🙄
Anyway, hope you feel better soon

2025-11-11 11:53:51 GMT

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@nprofile…3nu3
Wow, that is most fascinating!
I assume that those days of week are in their language?

2025-11-10 19:21:57 GMT

Hurrah! Best of the morning to you!
Ding ding, Uncle is gone! Such peace and quiet at last! 🥳😍

2025-11-10 06:53:28 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Ouch! That sounds terrible :birdheart:

2025-11-07 01:18:34 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Yeah, last time my FedEx one sat there from Saturday until Tuesday (Monday was a holiday there IIRC), and yes, they did have to do a customs check, just to say: "Yep, that's just passing straight through to NZ"
Kindof like how they force everyone just transiting through there to also have to get their ETA visa thingy 🙄

2025-11-07 00:06:01 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
IME, NZ and Aus don't generally let things clear customs until after the weekend if it arrives there on Friday (and before Monday midday)
They generally take about a day to do anything to packages around those times, but can take just a few hrs (maybe even quick turnaround) during the rest of the week. I usually see those messages happening at either 11am ish or 5pm ish, but "at regional depot + loading onto courier for delivery" is always between 6am to 7:30am

2025-11-05 23:00:38 GMT

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/microsoft-offers-365-refund-option/premium/NPGEEF65LJFA3F62VTENOBMKSU/

2025-11-05 02:58:41 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
At least it wasn't where that UPS plane crashed (or on that flight for that matter)... i hope! 😅

2025-11-04 02:06:39 GMT

Have lined up a GP appointment for later this week 😬
TBH, I had been dragging my heels on going lest I get hounded about several things, including being forced to go on a bunch of daily pills (e.g. blood pressure - quite likely. Also not having done the blood test last year... then after doing it, maybe ending up with blood sugar + cholesterol pills too now). I think I was probably close last year with the blood pressure ones, so will likely be even closer this year...
But yeah... no, I really don't wanna end up on daily pills + a short quarterly refill leash just yet... as then, that'll probably have to go on for a few decades from then on, ALONG with all the other stuff doing that entails 😬
(It doesnt help that there are days when pills just don't go down...)

2025-11-03 22:43:13 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Every other year, I need to lie flat on my belly, look under tiny under the fence, and try to figure out where the trunk is coming from, then attempt to grab it / pull the top to ground level in the crack, then start trying to saw away this 1.5cm thick trunk, situated right beside a fence post!
Very evil.

2025-11-03 22:32:25 GMT

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@nprofile…etrn
Oof... reminds me of how we used to get this rather vigorous weedy tree type thing growing under the fence - between the metal screen we put and the hole-ridden wooden one on the neighbour's side

2025-10-31 00:35:25 GMT

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/31-10-2025/its-time-to-accept-that-new-zealands-weather-stinks

2025-10-30 23:12:06 GMT

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@nprofile…5nnv
Took them long enough!

2025-10-30 21:33:19 GMT

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@nprofile…fwwf
Well, I wouldn't rule out PPP's completely per se.
Just, not in the way we are used to seeing them!
Let's just have instead:
Private companies build + fund the creation of shit. Then turn it over for the public good, with self (private) funded maintenance.
Hmm... then we might get them just building crappy billboards-as-infra? 🤔