hi itsa me, vinlew

'I want to sounds smart and inspirational': How ministers use AI Most ministers say they don't use AI – but those who do use it for speechwriting, research, drafting questions to officials and generating images. Marc Daalder reports.

Over summer, I OIA'd every minister for their AI chat logs.

Here's what I found:
newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/06/h...

31 years ago today, Krusty the Clown first mentioned saying “the quiet part loud,” an expression which has since gone on to widespread usage.

#TheSimpsons episode “A Star is Burns” first aired March 5, 1995.

Mar 4 2026 BlueSky post claiming that it explained why we bombed a school in Iran "INFORMATION THAT IS A DECADE OLD" and had A Claude chat answer as its source

Hey guys this is not a viable source. Besides the fact that any AI system being used by the government presumably has access to more updated date (I sure hope). Claude is not a person, it can't answer questions about why it did something, it confidently lies, it doesn't have access to other's state.

A lot of people say AI isn't very good for the world and its outputs are routinely unreliable, but these haters fail to see how it's revolutionizing how we incinerate schoolchildren.

Case in point: Radio New Zealand having video of the US submarine killing more than 100 people off the coast of Sri Lanka.

seems bad

1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health

IRGC Destroys Second US THAAD System in Gulf, Wipes Out UAE Radar and $1.1 Billion Qatar Early Warning Shield — Iran Declares Missile Dominance - Defence Security Asia IRGC precision strikes reportedly destroy a second US THAAD system, its UAE radar, and Qatar’s $1.1 billion early warning system, exposing fractures in America’s Gulf missile defence architecture and ...

so Iran has apparently knocked out and destroyed / disabled to some extent two U.S. THAAD batteries

This is a massive deal. Aside from the expense, this is not a weapon system we just have a ton of lying around. You don't replace these easily.

defencesecurityasia.com/en/irgc-dest...

RCG offering free wireless to marae served by proposed new rural cell towers was huge in terms of securing local support, and improving resilience in Taitokerau.

The Government’s proposing a new rule to penalise close passing - but it’s more lax than the road code

www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

They are looking for a new keeper for Quarantine Island/ Kamautaurua in the middle of the harbour. It's on seek, if you think that you might be keen.

How Wellington's Moa Plant Disaster Turned Into A Hatchet Job NZCPR, founded by former ACT Party MP Muriel Newman published an article in Scoop putting the Moa Plant sewage disaster at the feet of Tamatha Paul. But they omitted critical context. Opinion/analysis

Great read about misinformation around Moa Point @mountaintui.bsky.social

open.substack.com/pub/mountain...

A few weeks of X’s algorithm can make you more right-wing – and it doesn’t wear off quickly Elon Musk’s social media platform is boosting conservative content – and it’s having long-lasting effects on how users see the world.

Research now backs up that if you let X (formerly Twitter) algorithms determine what you read, your views will shift to the right theconversation.com/a-few-weeks-...

Abundant energy for business Reinvigorating the private sector with rooftop solar

Good study by William & Peter Bisley: solar on 10% of NZ's available commercial & industrial roofs would cost $3b, earn $600m a year, and add 1.5 TWh of winter storage to the lakes – the same amount of energy the cracked LNG scheme is supposed to deliver.
bisley.substack.com/p/abundant-e...

Distinct memories of sitting on a bus in Manila with the news on and seeing literal piles of bodies, many mutilated

HBO Max is launching direct to consumer in NZ from mid-year.

Challenging for Sky. But as a viewer, will welcome 4K/HDR - though it'll come at a price

A clarification - this is the number of New Zealanders serving in the IDF, and doesn't mean they have all fought for Israel in Gaza.

(see the embedded PDF, in Hebrew)

Over 2,000 Britons served for Israel amid Gaza genocide Exclusive: Declassified obtained data on the number of UK nationals in the IDF. We are publishing it for the first time

50 New Zealanders have fought for Israel in Gaza, raising questions about whether NZers have committed war crimes.

www.declassifieduk.org/over-2000-br...

Are One NZ going to remove the visual pollution that is their soon to be shutdown HFC network?

Or are they just going to leave it on the poles etc?

Tweet exchange in which a photo of Anne Hathaway is posted by @TheRoyalSerf, to which user @VvSchweetz24 replies "@grok...do your thing. @Grok replies: Anne Hathaway isn't Jewish; she was raised Catholic but left the church. She married Adam Shulman (who is Jewish) in 2012 and celebrates Jewish holidays with their kids. SHe's played Jewish roles, like in "Armageddon Time."

pretty sure he meant the other thing, grok, but very cool that those are your two things

im sorry what

Almost at 3000!

probability.kucharski.io

U.S. Attacked Boat With Aircraft That Looked Like a Civilian Plane

Breaking NYT:

The Pentagon used a secret aircraft painted to look like a civilian plane in its first boat attack, according to officials briefed on the matter.

The laws of armed conflict forbid combatants from feigning civilian status.

That is a war crime called "perfidy."

FYI for Ao/NZ Bsky: new variant covid boosters coming in Feb/march

Did you remember what it was you actually wanted to do, or is that thought long lost

Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.

This is a double whammy story... Multiple entirely fake entries on this list published in multiple papers.

But the list itself is taken whole from a press release.

So it's a warning story about AI slop, but also a warning about unquestioning reproduction of press releases.

For a basic start. Golden Mile had a BCR that was at least 5 times higher, would have been delivered much faster. The Mt Vic tunnel costs 17 times more! That’s just math. 🤯