Avron 🇳🇿
@avron.bsky.social
Old Millennial, queer, autistic, depressed, pakeha, born and raised in Aotearoa.
My block/mute/ignore reactions are based on years of tumblr bots/spam.
TILT (Thing I Like Tuesday/Thursday) - lasted five months.
My block/mute/ignore reactions are based on years of tumblr bots/spam.
TILT (Thing I Like Tuesday/Thursday) - lasted five months.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
'The adult minimum wage will be frozen for 3 years, while a training wage would be set at 60% of the adult minimum wage for workers under 20'
Less than $15/hr. For a 19 y/o. In 2030. Which they'd have to take because they've also cut off your access to a benefit.
Adult, indeed.
Less than $15/hr. For a 19 y/o. In 2030. Which they'd have to take because they've also cut off your access to a benefit.
Adult, indeed.
ACT pledges to freeze adult minimum wage, lower youth training rate
The party says wages can sustainably rise when workers become more productive and businesses can afford to pay more.
www.stuff.co.nz
September 15, 2026 at 12:31 AM
'The adult minimum wage will be frozen for 3 years, while a training wage would be set at 60% of the adult minimum wage for workers under 20'
Less than $15/hr. For a 19 y/o. In 2030. Which they'd have to take because they've also cut off your access to a benefit.
Adult, indeed.
Less than $15/hr. For a 19 y/o. In 2030. Which they'd have to take because they've also cut off your access to a benefit.
Adult, indeed.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
People with an interest in supporting those with disabilities may want to get on this, if they haven't already.
www.nzrelay.co.nz/about-us
"New Zealand Relay is a free, government-funded service that enables people with hearing and speech communication difficulties to use the phone."
www.nzrelay.co.nz/about-us
"New Zealand Relay is a free, government-funded service that enables people with hearing and speech communication difficulties to use the phone."
The following consultation from Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment closes for submissions tomorrow
The future of the NZ Relay Service
The future of the NZ Relay Service
The future of the NZ Relay Service
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is preparing for a new contract tender for the NZ Relay Service in mid-2026, which will shape service delivery for 2027 and beyond. We want to hear from the community to ensure the service remains relevant, safe, and fully meets the needs…
www.mbie.govt.nz
July 18, 2026 at 10:29 PM
People with an interest in supporting those with disabilities may want to get on this, if they haven't already.
www.nzrelay.co.nz/about-us
"New Zealand Relay is a free, government-funded service that enables people with hearing and speech communication difficulties to use the phone."
www.nzrelay.co.nz/about-us
"New Zealand Relay is a free, government-funded service that enables people with hearing and speech communication difficulties to use the phone."
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
A reminder that good policies everywhere attract the most outrageous naysayers, and the best thing to do is just push on anyway:
As we reflect on sixty years of free secondary education and how it has transformed Ireland, it’s worth remembering that some people thought it was a mistake in its first few years.
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few. jrnl.ie/7159629
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few. jrnl.ie/7159629
Who would object to free secondary education? In 1966, quite a few.
There was even a pushback against school buses as a nature walk spoiled or an impromptu GAA match missed.
jrnl.ie
September 13, 2026 at 10:11 AM
A reminder that good policies everywhere attract the most outrageous naysayers, and the best thing to do is just push on anyway:
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
As both an academic and a writer, I am repelled by the "this looks like a long document. Would you like me to summarize it for you?" that seems to appear at the top of every pdf viewer now.
NO. The *entire point* of good writing (either books or journal papers) is that every sentence has a purpose.
NO. The *entire point* of good writing (either books or journal papers) is that every sentence has a purpose.
September 10, 2026 at 6:39 PM
As both an academic and a writer, I am repelled by the "this looks like a long document. Would you like me to summarize it for you?" that seems to appear at the top of every pdf viewer now.
NO. The *entire point* of good writing (either books or journal papers) is that every sentence has a purpose.
NO. The *entire point* of good writing (either books or journal papers) is that every sentence has a purpose.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Discworld QOTD, from The Light Fantastic
“Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it…”
“Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it…”
Discworld QOTD, from Small Gods
“Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.”
“Fear is a strange soil. It grows obedience like corn, which grow in straight lines to make weeding easier. But sometimes it grows the potatoes of defiance, which flourish underground.”
Discworld QOTD, from I Shall Wear Midnight
“Oh, I feel very angry a lot of the time," said Tiffany, "but I just put it away somewhere until I can do something useful with it.”
“Oh, I feel very angry a lot of the time," said Tiffany, "but I just put it away somewhere until I can do something useful with it.”
September 10, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Discworld QOTD, from The Light Fantastic
“Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it…”
“Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it…”
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
You know, when you find out that the art you like is made by people you've learned hold views you find wholly repugnant, I don't think you need to disavow ever having enjoyed the art. It's okay to acknowledge you liked or loved that art, but are now putting it aside. That was then, this is now.
September 10, 2026 at 10:36 PM
You know, when you find out that the art you like is made by people you've learned hold views you find wholly repugnant, I don't think you need to disavow ever having enjoyed the art. It's okay to acknowledge you liked or loved that art, but are now putting it aside. That was then, this is now.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Just to keep the record straight.
Remember this when Willis tries to tell you about Labour's "recklessness" and how they saddled generations with debt.
note: they didn't, but they did borrow to save lives and jobs and keep businesses alive in a pandemic, not to fund their tax cuts.
#nzpol
Remember this when Willis tries to tell you about Labour's "recklessness" and how they saddled generations with debt.
note: they didn't, but they did borrow to save lives and jobs and keep businesses alive in a pandemic, not to fund their tax cuts.
#nzpol
September 10, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Just to keep the record straight.
Remember this when Willis tries to tell you about Labour's "recklessness" and how they saddled generations with debt.
note: they didn't, but they did borrow to save lives and jobs and keep businesses alive in a pandemic, not to fund their tax cuts.
#nzpol
Remember this when Willis tries to tell you about Labour's "recklessness" and how they saddled generations with debt.
note: they didn't, but they did borrow to save lives and jobs and keep businesses alive in a pandemic, not to fund their tax cuts.
#nzpol
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Wilt looked like a big human, but André looked like he came from a different world that existed on a bigger scale than ours.
Wilt Chamberlin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, André the Giant on the 'Conan the Destroyer' set.
My mind is having a hard time with the scales involved.
André is 7'4"
Wilt is 7'1"
Arnold is 6'2"
(if you didn't know, André played the 'Dreaming God, Dagoth', uncredited)
My mind is having a hard time with the scales involved.
André is 7'4"
Wilt is 7'1"
Arnold is 6'2"
(if you didn't know, André played the 'Dreaming God, Dagoth', uncredited)
September 5, 2026 at 12:31 AM
Wilt looked like a big human, but André looked like he came from a different world that existed on a bigger scale than ours.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
"There is no safe age verification...
...
At this point, anyone still supporting age verification requirements, especially claiming it’s for “child safety,” should have to answer for all the millions of people put needlessly at risk due to data breaches like this."
www.techdirt.com/2026/09/03/h...
...
At this point, anyone still supporting age verification requirements, especially claiming it’s for “child safety,” should have to answer for all the millions of people put needlessly at risk due to data breaches like this."
www.techdirt.com/2026/09/03/h...
Hackers Had A Live Feed Of Every ID This Verification Company Scanned. For Over A Year.
From the very beginning of this recent obsession with identifying everyone online (yes, they like to call it "age" verification, but it always ends up as identity verification), we've been pointing out that it was a huge privacy nightmare waiting to happen. Or maybe it wasn't waiting. Maybe it was already happening. This week a...
www.techdirt.com
September 5, 2026 at 8:11 AM
"There is no safe age verification...
...
At this point, anyone still supporting age verification requirements, especially claiming it’s for “child safety,” should have to answer for all the millions of people put needlessly at risk due to data breaches like this."
www.techdirt.com/2026/09/03/h...
...
At this point, anyone still supporting age verification requirements, especially claiming it’s for “child safety,” should have to answer for all the millions of people put needlessly at risk due to data breaches like this."
www.techdirt.com/2026/09/03/h...
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Well, that's one way of avoiding bad headlines about corruption... www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...
NZTA moves to gut integrity team after watchdog raised concerns about mega road projects
NZTA’s integrity investigators called for a forensic audit of a cyclone rebuild alliance. Now the agency is proposing to shrink the team and outsource investigations.
www.thepost.co.nz
September 4, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Well, that's one way of avoiding bad headlines about corruption... www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361...
May have plans for the first weekend of next month?
bgbtb53.lilregie.com
Will I want to be surrounded by so many strangers?
bgbtb53.lilregie.com
Will I want to be surrounded by so many strangers?
Board Games By The Bay - Christchurch, October 2026
bgbtb53.lilregie.com
September 3, 2026 at 1:27 AM
May have plans for the first weekend of next month?
bgbtb53.lilregie.com
Will I want to be surrounded by so many strangers?
bgbtb53.lilregie.com
Will I want to be surrounded by so many strangers?
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
They shut down flu tracking and flu is out of control. They cancelled ferries to save money and now we are gonna get shittier ferries that cost more. They fired all the public servants and unemployment went up. They gave landlords tax breaks and homelessness people are dying on the streets.
September 1, 2026 at 8:54 AM
They shut down flu tracking and flu is out of control. They cancelled ferries to save money and now we are gonna get shittier ferries that cost more. They fired all the public servants and unemployment went up. They gave landlords tax breaks and homelessness people are dying on the streets.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
If you want them to work, pay them what they're worth.
'They should be at work': Christopher Luxon on 10,000 striking public servants
'They should be at work': Christopher Luxon on 10,000 striking public servants
Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith has criticised public servants planning to strike next week, saying the industrial action is part of a "broader political campaign" to change the government.
www.rnz.co.nz
August 31, 2026 at 11:51 PM
If you want them to work, pay them what they're worth.
Book reading in August (images from app.thestorygraph.com)
Took the early part of the month to finish reading The Dark is Rising sequence, the middle of the month to read a Marvel Comics history, and the end of the month was Star Trek again.
Another day of no reading, due to the same friend...
Took the early part of the month to finish reading The Dark is Rising sequence, the middle of the month to read a Marvel Comics history, and the end of the month was Star Trek again.
Another day of no reading, due to the same friend...
September 1, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Book reading in August (images from app.thestorygraph.com)
Took the early part of the month to finish reading The Dark is Rising sequence, the middle of the month to read a Marvel Comics history, and the end of the month was Star Trek again.
Another day of no reading, due to the same friend...
Took the early part of the month to finish reading The Dark is Rising sequence, the middle of the month to read a Marvel Comics history, and the end of the month was Star Trek again.
Another day of no reading, due to the same friend...
Board games I played through August 2026, images from bgstatsapp.com
First image is everything recorded at boardgamegeek.com the second is everything played at boardgamearena.com
I only record (bgg) online play (bga) with people I might have been at the same table with, so no overlap this month.
First image is everything recorded at boardgamegeek.com the second is everything played at boardgamearena.com
I only record (bgg) online play (bga) with people I might have been at the same table with, so no overlap this month.
September 1, 2026 at 1:19 AM
Board games I played through August 2026, images from bgstatsapp.com
First image is everything recorded at boardgamegeek.com the second is everything played at boardgamearena.com
I only record (bgg) online play (bga) with people I might have been at the same table with, so no overlap this month.
First image is everything recorded at boardgamegeek.com the second is everything played at boardgamearena.com
I only record (bgg) online play (bga) with people I might have been at the same table with, so no overlap this month.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
A kid at home with the flu learns one thing, that their parents care enough to let them rest. At school they learn nothing and take the classroom down with them. Full receipts here: andrewdicksonnz.substack.com/p/crouching-... fin/
Crouching Bureaucrat, Hidden Ideologue: David Seymour’s Flu Factory
OIA emails show how David Seymour pressured health officials to ‘soften’ sick-day rules, costing the country $100 million in lost output and thousands of hospital days in 2026 alone.
andrewdicksonnz.substack.com
August 30, 2026 at 6:41 PM
A kid at home with the flu learns one thing, that their parents care enough to let them rest. At school they learn nothing and take the classroom down with them. Full receipts here: andrewdicksonnz.substack.com/p/crouching-... fin/
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Thread. (Jeeez.)
This was directed toward me a kid.
My stepdad once grounded me from reading.
That backfired. In school the next day I told every teacher giving out homework loudly I would not be reading the week's readings as I was grounded from reading at home.
Stepdad was a teacher in that very school.
Lol.
My stepdad once grounded me from reading.
That backfired. In school the next day I told every teacher giving out homework loudly I would not be reading the week's readings as I was grounded from reading at home.
Stepdad was a teacher in that very school.
Lol.
August 28, 2026 at 9:23 AM
Thread. (Jeeez.)
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Finding out just how many games revealed at Opening Night Live used gen AI in their development is disappointing but unsurprising.
Worried about your growing games wishlist? Here's some help to make it smaller https://kotaku.com/opening-night-live-2026-genai-slop-games-geoff-keighley-2000728477
Here Are The Opening Night Live Games You Can Ignore Because Of GenAI Slop - Kotaku
Some were already known to feature genAI, but a lot of them are new
kotaku.com
August 27, 2026 at 8:25 AM
Finding out just how many games revealed at Opening Night Live used gen AI in their development is disappointing but unsurprising.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Government which promised "no new taxes" promises that all internet use will require an ID card, which may cost money, and is absolutely a tax on your time and privacy.
August 24, 2026 at 4:31 AM
Government which promised "no new taxes" promises that all internet use will require an ID card, which may cost money, and is absolutely a tax on your time and privacy.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Name your favorite Disney princess (wrong answers only).
August 23, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Name your favorite Disney princess (wrong answers only).
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
The number of writers who use genAI tools to "research" is possibly the most baffling thing to me
It's not a search engine! It's generative! And predictive! These are like the only two things the techbros don't lie about!
"oh it's just a starting point" READING TEA LEAVES WOULD BE AS EFFECTIVE
It's not a search engine! It's generative! And predictive! These are like the only two things the techbros don't lie about!
"oh it's just a starting point" READING TEA LEAVES WOULD BE AS EFFECTIVE
August 23, 2026 at 1:49 AM
The number of writers who use genAI tools to "research" is possibly the most baffling thing to me
It's not a search engine! It's generative! And predictive! These are like the only two things the techbros don't lie about!
"oh it's just a starting point" READING TEA LEAVES WOULD BE AS EFFECTIVE
It's not a search engine! It's generative! And predictive! These are like the only two things the techbros don't lie about!
"oh it's just a starting point" READING TEA LEAVES WOULD BE AS EFFECTIVE
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Hey: Polls mean shit if you don't get out and vote
August 21, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Hey: Polls mean shit if you don't get out and vote
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
One of the most striking things in the actual paper is that this effect is almost entirely driven by the declining performance of male students who use AI.
August 19, 2026 at 2:49 PM
One of the most striking things in the actual paper is that this effect is almost entirely driven by the declining performance of male students who use AI.
Reposted by Avron 🇳🇿
Democratic Socialism: Myth Vs. Fact https://theonion.com/democratic-socialism-myth-vs-fact/
August 19, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Democratic Socialism: Myth Vs. Fact https://theonion.com/democratic-socialism-myth-vs-fact/