Richard Clark

The first statement is true: if you are on the dormant roll, you will be able to cast a special vote. The second bit is somewhat misleading: if you are on the dormant roll for three years without updating your details or re-enrolling etc. then you are also removed from the Dormant roll.

LOCAL AOTEAROA EXCLUSIVE: Ōtaki MP Tim Costley claimed Kāpiti Airport’s owners must ask before the Government could list it as essential infrastructure. When challenged, he accused others of misinformation. NEMA has now confirmed he was completely wrong. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/costleys-c...

Armageddon

Prints available in my shop of this one from last year. The perfect Christmas gift for the philosophically-inclined office wall . Limited edition, numbered and signed giclee art print - link to shop in bio. #philosophy

Ōtaki MP Tim Costley wants Kāpiti Airport’s owners to save it. He wants Kāpiti’s councillors to save it. He wants Kāpiti's community to turn out and demand it be saved. Perhaps it’s time he started demanding the same thing from his own Government. localaotearoa.substack.com/p/the-one-ca...

it seems to shock the New Zealand government that Peter Jackson, Taika Waititi, and the Conchords etc all emerged from the same city in the same span, which coincidentally is when Wellington rent was dirt-cheap and there were heaps of empty industrial buildings around

People don't realize how necessary cheap rent is to the arts.

New Zealand expert here, New Zealanders only ask directly for help when they are in distress (Seriously though, David is a gem, webworm is amazing and has notably improved the world with the series on the Kiwi big churches alone, and also Alan the dog is there, check it out)

Spirited Away for Tax Purposes

I published a piece on The Conversation today on legislated nursing ratios. Results in decreased mortality, complications, readmission, length of stay, and burnout in nurses, and better job satisfaction. Savings cover twice the cost of extra nurses. #nzpol theconversation.com/nzs-nursing-...

I'm at OpenAI's DevDay event in San Francisco today - as I have for the past three DevDay events, I'm running a live blog where I'll be posting updates during the keynote, which starts in five minutes simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/29/...

Create an unnecessary sequel by adding an -er to a books title How to Beer Good — Nick Hornby

"Claims about the cost of operating the [Official Information Act] are being used as a Trojan horse to smuggle in a reactionary attack on our right to information" - newsroom.co.nz/2026/09/28/o...

He imposed Shania Law

zerg rush. zerg rush. *shakes head* never zerg take your time. zerg you worth it.

I included a few references to this year's record-breaking Kākāpō breeding season in a talk I gave yesterday, and since Claude Opus 5.5 is surprisingly capable at pixel art animation I had it create this celebratory video for my closing slide

O.m.g. Look at my. Butt

We’re grateful for any and all donations - our bottom line is the Tika service remains free for all survivors. givealittle.co.nz/org/tika

ME: So I can't put anything else on the scale? ANUBIS: No. Just your heart ME: No money, no good deeds? ANUBIS: No ME: What about steam points? I've got a ton of steam points ANUBIS: The point is to be lighter than the feather ME: I was just hoping to finally do something with the steam points

an amazing new project launches today in new zealand: people can report sexual harm, and get matched with others who reported the same person. when you report, you get a lawyer - and lawyer-client privilege. for free. i profile the website, technology, charity, & law firm here: www.webworm.co/tika/

Me (to a little boy beside me in a cafe who is wearing a yellow coat): Nice coat. Little boy: Thank you. It means when night comes I can hide as a star.

Dungeon Crawler Chris

Everyone thinks the labs are worried about alignment to stop the AI from killing us, but these things were trained on the internet - the alignment is there to stop them constantly rickrolling us

Imagine a calendar where putting an event in casts a shadow over the time before and after as a visual signal of how much time the invitees will feel like they can’t actually start anything

A few notes on Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5.1 - with Max thinking level I got the best SVG pelican I've had from any Anthropic model (at a hefty cost of $3.30!), which I then had it animate simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/1/c...

#downgradeamovie K-Pop Bargain Hunters

This interview with Melanie Buggey, who just swam across the Georgia Strait besting a 60-year world record, has me in absolute stitches. What an icon lolll www.cbc.ca/radio/asitha...

semantic web enjoyers in shambles that we finally invented the internet for machines and it turns out they really just want to read markdown

Continue to believe a movie called "Three Hours of Lighsaber Fights, Soundtrack By Daft Punk" would make more box office than the entire prior history of film.

My favourite grasshopper fact: Grasshoppers first appeared on the planet 250 million years ago. Grass did not appear on the planet until 40 million years ago Imagine it: 210 million years, hopping around on any random surface you can find, waiting for the grass that will make you truly yourself.

“Fantasy author” is a fake job created by Big Hat to sell big black hats.

Data centres powered by gas or coal should be 100% steampunk, full of hissing, clanking Babbage engines, tended by grimy-faced urchins who risk being crushed between the gears as they clear out all the sparrow's-nest malware with chimney-sweep brushes. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08...

The Moon: “It’s over Elon! I have the high ground!”

Tonight at 6:35pm NZ time is when we discover the Moon has point defence

1. The EC ethos has always been, count every vote possible, make it as easy to vote as possible. 2. If staff had to say to someone's face, No, you're not on the roll, you can't vote, they were going to get abused. I'm not working this election, and I really feel for the people who are.

If any writerly folk are keen, the University of Canterbury is looking to employ a writer in residence. Some conditions apply (chiefly, right to work in NZ required): jobs.canterbury.ac.nz/jobdetails?a...