Bob LeFridge

Following an activist campaign in Australia, KMart has pulled the $99 pervert glasses from their AU and NZ stores. Coincidentally, Australia’s privacy commissioner is investigating the Chinese company which makes the app which powers the pervert glasses. They have concerns over the way the app developer handles personal information. https://www.stuff.co.nz/wellbeing/361043488/kmart-pulls-its-inexpensive-camera-glasses-website #KMart #PervertGlasses #CreepGlasses

Staff at the Eiffel Tower are on strike. A Hindu religious group booked for a private tour demanded that female staff were "set aside" during their visit. Management complied. "As ‌the delegation passed ⁠through, women were asked to leave their workstations so that men could take their places." Hopefully the strike will help management realise that misogyny and religious fanaticism should never be allowed to infect their workplace again. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/strike-shuts-eiffel-tower-after-female-staff-hidden-during-religious-visit/PR7CCHFO4FHYBJHTPCBTSHAJAY/ #Paris #Eiffel #Hindu

A US oil company connected to Trump has landed drilling equipment in Greenland. They don't have permission to land the equipment, let alone to drill two test wells within a conservation area. Climate-aware Greenland stopped issuing drilling licenses in 2021, but the USians intend to piggyback on an existing license. Emboldened by Trump's international aggression, their motto appears to be "Who's gonna stop us?" This action will produce headaches that Nato members don't need right now. The Americans really have become the world's most obnoxious arseholes, haven't they. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/08/greenland-iwarning-trump-linked-oil-firm-prepares-drill #Trump #Greenland #Oil

NZ media are reporting that Dunedin's Ed Sheeran mural has been "defaced" or "sprayed over". In reality, someone has politely painted the words "Free Palestine" at the base of the painting, adding a contemporary context. https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/music/dunedin-s-ed-sheeran-mural-de-faced-amid-tour-backlash#EdSheeran #Dunedin

Hey... have I got a pair of shorts for you. @Alice@beige.party

Four headlines in today's Guardian. Spot the odd one out. #ClimateChange

Unlike Google and Apple which have both perverted their maps to reflect the US President's dementia-inspired ravings, MapQuest has done the right thing by not changing a thing. And bingo... they're suddenly the most popular app on the US app store. To celebrate, Mapquest have put up a page which allows you to generate any name for Lake Ontario. Here's mine. https://gulfof.mapquest.com/lakeontario https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/02/mapquest-is-now-the-no-1-u-s-app-after-bucking-trumps-lake-america-renaming/

In Sam Neill's 2023 memoir, he ripped into his old Christchurch alma mater Christ's College and elite education in general. He said many of the students at the boarding house were the “product of generations of inbreeding”. “Canterbury farming families, for some reason, like to marry among their own. The gene pool is very small. You would think that a cursory examination of how they bred their Corriedale sheep would’ve been helpful in this regard. Sadly, no.” Sam lived by his convictions. While he could have afforded any level of private schooling, his daughter was in my son's class at Queenstown Primary. We've lost a damned fine man. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361005947/school-sam-neill-once-said-was-full-inbreds-pays-tribute-distinguished-old-boy #SamNeill #NZ #Education

Of course. I'm sure there are good people in Russia too, but that shouldn't stop us from criticising Putin's war. My collective "Americans" was referring to the arseholes leading the US and If you're American, I'm sorry. Because to the rest of the world, like it or not, Trump and his sycophants ARE America. Their chaotic and bullying approach to global diplomacy shapes the way USA presents to the civilised world. Unfortunately the leadership of the world's most powerful country diving headlong into authoritarianism tends to reflect badly on the whole nation. Sorry if I upset anyone. @gert@social.coop

While the fast-tracked Datagrid project has been calculated to use 280 megawatts, the company has a secret plan to make it four times bigger and thirstier at 1000MW. An MBIE briefing from last year reveals Datagrid's goal is ‘‘almost double the consumption of the Tiwai Point smelter’’, currently NZ’s largest single electricity user. Datagrid want to nab a quarter of NZ's total electricity supply. However an Electricity Authority (EA) spokesperson said the authority had ‘‘not been informed’’ of the data centre’s ‘‘final capacity’’. Of course they haven't. And because Luxon's coalition is so naive, there are also datacentres being planned for Twizel, Ohau, Geraldine and Cromwell. The plan is to fill NZ with offshore-owned datacentres churning out AI-slop. And they're guaranteed continuous power at a fraction of the cost paid by consumers. The Greens have exactly the right idea. https://archive.ph/pFOXt#selection-1381.0-1393.103 @jeremy_pm@mastodon.nz @phil_stevens@mastodon.nz @pezmico@mastodon.nz#Datagrid #Datacentres #NZ

In a triumph for NZ First's fragile white cookers and racists everywhere, English has become an "official" language of NZ. Ignoring the facts -- NZ laws are written in English and Parliament conducts its business in English -- the English Language Bill passed its third and final reading at Parliament yesterday. At the first reading of the bill, NZFirst leader WInston Peters said the purpose of the Bill was to help solve a "virtue signalling narrative..." He's an elderly man who sees 'too much woke' everywhere he looks. Green MP Tamatha Paul adds some perspective, describing the bill's supporters as a "bunch of snowflakes that hear the word Aotearoa and cry themselves to sleep." She noted English was also not an official language of England. For those outside NZ, Te Reo Māori and sign language are our two existing official languages. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/english-to-become-nzs-third-official-language-dkz3dnlq #NZPol #Racism

This is sad. Papatoetoe Intermediate School has cancelled its school camp this year because so few families could afford it. Last year camp cost $240/ This year, it's over $350. Only 160 out of 750 students confirmed they could go. School camps are a right of passage for kiwi kids. I curse the coalition government which has made so many families so very poor. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/education/771967/auckland-school-forced-to-cancel-school-camp-as-families-unable-to-afford-it #NZ #Education #SchoolCamp

The NZ government has rejected a ban on the public sale of fireworks. This decision defies public opinion and lacks common sense. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/govt-rejects-calls-to-ban-public-sale-of-fireworks-q5pk852b #NZPol #Fireworks

That's seriously shitty. They've updated their help files to remove any reference to fees for for vehicle sales and included the 'surge pricing' line you quoted. It makes comparisons with other sales methods impossible. And from TM's perspective, once you've gone through the process of entering all your vehicle's details you're far less likely to abort the process. Variable pricing... testing what certain sections of the market will tolerate. I'd like to see the criteria they use and I'll bet AI is involved. @thomasbeagle@mastodon.nz#TradeMe

These references to "her previous public profile" ate intriguing. Is she a TERF or a full-blown cooker? Either would pass must under Simeon Brown. Searching 'News' for "Manoja Kalupahana" brings up nothing and Stuff say their earlier story was never published. So why is the FSU getting so prematurely defensive? Presumably Dr Kalupahana has a dodgy past they'd rather we forget. I, for one, would like to know more. @zl2tod@mastodon.online#Kalupahana

NZ -- product recall Vogel’s breads sold in the South Island with a best before date of 15th August have been recalled because they may contain small metal pieces. https://www.mpi.govt.nz/food-safety-home/food-recalls-and-complaints/recalled-food-products/vogels-brand-various-breads-recalled-as-the-products-may-contain-foreign-matter-small-metal-pieces #NZ #Recall

Modi appears at Trump rallies, has a questionable human rights record and India is Russia's biggest purchaser of fuel & oil. They're largely funding Russia's war in Ukraine. Many kiwis view Modi as toxic. Inferior leaders like Luxon try to set up as many photo ops as they can, leading into elections. "Here's me shaking hands with another world leader, therefore I am relevant" will flood Luxon's socials. Perhaps Luxon sees the Modi / Trump / Putin connection as admirable? I'd like to think that most NZers see through the facade, but I'm not holding my breath. @paulh@cloudisland.nz

Kieran McAnulty reckons Luxon ruled out TOP accidentally. “I think he did it by accident, and then he got flustered, and then he ran away,” he said. “I don't think he meant to do it. He started going on about how they don't like parties that want to spend more, while they're in coalition with one of those. And so I think the fact that he called an end to it and then ran down the stairs like he was competing at the Commonwealth Games suggests that yes, it wasn't meant to happen.” https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/361011738/christopher-luxon-rules-out-working-opportunity@jeremy_pm@mastodon.nz

The tsunami warning has been downgraded and the big quakes revised to a 5.9. But there will still be high tides a swells. "... stay away from the sea, beaches, harbours, marinas, rivers and estuaries. "People on boats, live-aboards and at marinas should leave their boats/vessels and move onto shore. Do not return to boats unless instructed by officials." https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361007251/tsunami-warning-issued-after-major-quake-south-island @SimonCHulse@mastodon.nz @simplicitarian@cloudisland.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz

True. It would be worse during daylight hours. But there's still the hotels, motels, hostels and campervans to think about. I read a long form piece last year (Newsroom?) about the problems of evacuating this area during a disaster. I'll have a search for it tomorrow, but the gist was a tsunami would be the worst case in terms of evacuations. @SimonCHulse@mastodon.nz @simplicitarian@cloudisland.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz

I'm with Jack. When MG started to put their badge on shopping trolleys it signalled the end of the marque. @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @jackyan@mastodon.social

Metservice have issued a "rare" red heavy rain warning for Coastal Dunedin and Clutha. Batten the hatches, people. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather/672039/rain-snow-warnings-take-effect-for-parts-of-south-island @Xas@mastodon.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz#Dunedin

The Fiat adventure was a bit like that. Strap in for a long story. My brother had bought a faded but serviceable, red Fiat 500 for a couple of hundred bucks. Cars were cheap in the mid 70s. We'd been told that there was an almost identical Fiat in a car sales in North Dunedin with a $600 price tag, so one night we went for a look. We parked our Fiat in the car sales' driveway and checked out the other vehicle. Very similar, three times the price. All good. As we were pulling out of the car yard, some dooberry in a huge yank tank thought we were stealing the other Fiat, so he chased us, flashing his lights. We knew a few narrow streets around the gardens area and managed to give him the slip. A Fiat Bambina vs a massive v8... it was quite exciting. We parked up with our lights off until we spotted him again, then we powered up and headed south. Naturally he chased us, so we led him past the Central Police Station and sure enough, he pulled over leaving his engine running, car door open and rushed inside. We went to the Octagon and grabbed a burger from Big Daddy's. Later, we popped into the Police station to see what was up. After we explained the identical Fiats, the cop laughed and said, "When we received a report of a Fiat 500 driving around the north end at high speed with its lights off, we were skeptical." We all had a good laugh. Afterwards, we referred to the incident as "The Night of the Fiat 500." And I still have a place in my heart for Fiat Bambinas. @jackyan@mastodon.social @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz @yakmoose@cloudisland.nz#Fiat500

GeoNet are showing seven subsequent quakes in the same location, ranging from 3.4 to 4.3. Something's bubbling away below the surface. @simplicitarian@cloudisland.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz

I like the "She'll be right mate" from the deep south. People become stauncher the further south you travel. @aligorith@mastodon.nz

Bleak is the right word. But it's just heavy rain so far, rather than snow. This live cam at the top of the Leith Saddle shows no snow, yet. https://www.metservice.com/traffic-camera/leith-saddle@paulh@cloudisland.nz @Xas@mastodon.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz

In the meantime, here's a good account of a Wellington chap who had a fencing dispute with Matthew Ryan. TLDR: the good guy won. https://geoffpalmer.co.nz/chronicle-of-a-debt-foretold/ The "Statutory Demand" referred to in the story is a powerful tool. Years ago, after I'd been chasing a bad debt for months, I spoke with a free lawyer at Citizens' Advice. He gave me an SD template, I served it on the company's registered office and within ten days, the debt was magically repaid in full, plus interest. @paulh@cloudisland.nz#MatthewRyan

I loved the old sultana pasties which disappeared around lockdown. I was excited when the new ones appeared, but they're awful. They've replaced the raisin filling with some sort of sugary, chemical mush. I'll never buy them again. @Lizly@mastodon.nz

Those who keep a wary eye on New Zealand's cooker community should note that twisted conspiracist Billy Te Kahika is in hospital following a heart attack. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/361007901/billy-te-kahika-jnrs-condition-deteriorates-after-heart-attack #NZ #Cookers

But there will always be tourists at Milford Sound and there's no easy escape from that area. @simplicitarian@cloudisland.nz @craftygardennz@mastodon.nz

It's a beautiful car but feeding that v12... @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @jackyan@mastodon.social @yakmoose@cloudisland.nz @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz

I'd like to see the drillers evicted, but while that would be the legal and just thing to do, there'd be US troops in Greenland within 24 hours. Trump would use it as an excuse to invade. I suspect back door diplomacy is in overdrive at the moment. @stellarsarah@mastodon.world

Not me. It's too ugly and boxy. It's what you'd get if a Fiat Panda mated with a skip. @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @jackyan@mastodon.social @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz

You have us wrong. My brother and I were actually pretty discerning in our choice of vehicles. Like Gruff says, there were quite a few five hundy cars. Between us we owned a few Vanguards, a weird fibreglass thing called a Mistral, 20-30 Morris Eights, one Morris Minor, one Morris J4 van, one CF Bedford, one Citroen GS club, one 1949 Singer Sports, a matching pair of MG Midgets and that infamous Fiat 500 which was involved in a reported "high speed (!) chase" round north Dunedin. I've also owned a VW Variant (yellow), an Alfa Romeo GTV2000, a Saab 900, a 72 MGBGT, a Ford SIerra wagon (bland), a pair of Triumph 2500s, a Telstar (bland), the sad little SJ410 living at the back of my drive, one Escudo (bland), two Suzuki Swifts and seven Subarus. That's all. Perfectly normal. @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @jackyan@mastodon.social @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz @yakmoose@cloudisland.nz

Private company Taylorville Resource Park takes industrial waste from Christchurch, trucks it over the Southern Alps to Greymouth and stashes it on unstable land next to Greymouth's water treatment plant. What could possibly go wrong? And cue climate change. The torrential rain which flooded Greymouth on Friday also caused a landslide from the dump site onto a road. The slip was big enough that two cars smacked into it in the dark. There's little can be done to stop the operation because the West Coast Regional Council gave permission for the dump to operate in this most unsuitable location. We are the authors of our own demise. https://www.odt.co.nz/news/west-coast/slip-near-controversial-landfill-follows-greymouth-rainstorm-rhmjncob #Greymouth #ClimateChange #NZ

-2° -- Feels like -4° Yep! It's chilly outside. @exlibrarykris@cloudisland.nz @Xas@mastodon.nz

Supplementary Bambina story Actually... I didn't mention this because my brother only owned it for a couple of weeks, but he stupidly bought a modified Fiat 500 with a two litre engine and fat tyres. It was an ugly little black thing and the rear tyres scraped on the guards. The two seats were in the back because the engine took up so much space. This car was the evil twin of the earlier Fiat. He drove it from Wellington to Auckland and stayed with me out at Titirangi. I had a nice rental in Wood Bay with a little bridge over a stream leading to my driveway. And that's where the buggered engine finally shat its pants and died. Damn thing blocked my driveway for a couple of days until I had it towed. @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @yakmoose@cloudisland.nz @jackyan@mastodon.social @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz

And what if the Civil Defence web site goes down again under heavy traffic? As I've never had a FB account, I'd be buggered if government agencies required me to submit to Zuckerberg's tracking farm in order to access important and potentially life-saving information. @Firesphere@cloudisland.nz @venzann@mastodon.nz

Here in NZ we're mounting them in rows over fields so sheep can graze beneath. The panels offer shade, the grass grows really well underneath them and the sheep are happy. It's a win-win situation, especially with bigger solar farms. Sticking them on a sacred site is unnecessarily provocative. @neckspike@indiepocalypse.social @ProPublica@newsie.social @Toastie@journa.host

If the cambelt was replaced at 65k, which sounds suspiciously low, then it's due for another one shortly. I have no idea what it costs to replace a cambelt on a baby Ford, but for a Subaru you're looking at around two grand. Otherwise it looks straight. I have no idea of the value, but $3k sounds high for a 27 year old car. It's been listed for over a month, so a cheeky offer might work. $1,500, keeping the cambelt in mind. ;-) @IceNine@social.vivaldi.net @yakmoose@cloudisland.nz @jackyan@mastodon.social @GruffHarding@mastodon.nz

Unfortunately the archive site is down at the moment. I'm sure it's only temporary and I'll retry later. @paulh@cloudisland.nz

Update: Almost 12 months have passed since the Environment Court ordered Samnic directors to clean up their Gisborne forestry mess. Remember the 80 or so investors who each lost $50k after being promised a $1m return? Well the three Samnic directors think those people should pick up the bill for their mismanagement. Shareholders are saying "Nah!" Enforcement seems to be a slow process. https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360981807/directors-gun-forestry-clean-demand-payment-shareholders #Samnic #NZ #Environment #Forestry