@billbennett@mastodon.nz
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billbennett

@billbennett@mastodon.nz

I like to think that my 45 years of reporting on technology and business has left me sceptical rather than cynical but the behaviour of some tech companies is such that sometimes readers might be better served by the latter approach.

  • Jay Rosen, Chair of Journalism at New York University

See my New Zealand telecommunications and tech news website at https://billbennett.co.nz

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

This story on my site, from 2008, might finally be out of date:

https://billbennett.co.nz/knowledge-work-reports-of-its-death-are-an-exaggeration/

joerg_spengler, to random German
@joerg_spengler@muenchen.social avatar

Haie töten weltweit ca 4 Menschen pro Jahr - Autos ca 1,3 Millionen.
#Verkehrswende #VisionZero

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@joerg_spengler 1000 people a year are killed by crocodiles? I find that hard to believe.

lightweight, to random
@lightweight@mastodon.nzoss.nz avatar

Why, oh why, does the NZ gov't continuously get bamboozled into making shitty web-based systems that are 100% dependent on proprietary Microsoft technologies? Yes, 'new' DOC booking system, I'm looking 🤔 at you.

It'll perform poorly, cost a bomb, scale ungracefully, and be very expensive to maintain... until Microsoft suddenly end-of-lifes the technologies on which it depends. At which point the taxpayer will bail you out (again).

Gov't decision-makers, some guidance: https://davelane.nz/procurement

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@lightweight @puck @carl_klitscher @stephen Microsoft stopped throwing its weight around with journalists a long time ago. On the other hand, it does enjoy strong relations with media companies and even owns a few or has active 'partnerships' with them.

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@lightweight @puck @carl_klitscher @stephen The 'something' did happen. It was called 'search engines', "programmatic advertising" or 'Facebook'.

When I left Fairfax-IDG in 2008, MS hadn't advertised for at least three years at that time. I doubt it has since. It does advertising in newspapers and on TV, but NZ specialist media hasn't seen a penny in a generation.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

Dear anyone online. If I’m unsubscribing from whatever spam you are sending me you can cut the passive aggressive nonsense and the “we’re sorry to see you go”. At this point I’ve already heard too much from you. You are in danger of turning disinterest into dislike.

mpesce, to random
@mpesce@arvr.social avatar

Just submitted my topics for this week's RNZ NineToNoon segment (Thursday 9am AEST) and dear god, you could not make these up: The 'LLM Kryptonite' bug I found and tried to report; Microsoft's 'Totalled Recall', and Google telling everyone to eat rocks.

Charlie Brooker, thou art avenged!

billbennett,
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@mpesce it’s always such a contrast to my Nine to Noon topics. Which is a good thing.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

The way things are going in New Zealand right now I can see “shoebox in middle o’t’road” becoming an accommodation option once more.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/04/02/forgotten-books-and-how-to-save-them/

billbennett,
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@nzlemming Yeah, I gave up on the comments. They were doing my head in.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

NZ Tech Podcast: ARM Chips and AI PCs: https://billbennett.co.nz/nz-tech-podcast-2/

billbennett, to random
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NZ Tech Podcast: ARM Chips and AI PCs: https://billbennett.co.nz/nz-tech-podcast-2/

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

Even after 60 years of watching football I humbly recognise I couldn’t do a better job than most professional coaches or team managers. Even the unfeted ones.

On the other hand, I’m damn certain I could do a better job of running clubs than nine out of ten owners. The majority are idiots.

billbennett, to random
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Checking if all those cross posting fediverse things are working as they should. Please ignore this.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

For reasons that I don’t need to bore anyone with, Saturday got off to an extremely slow start. By the time I made it to the local, fancy artisan baker, most of the usual choices were sold out. So I went off piste and got a fruit loaf. Which turns out to be fabulous

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@bananabob I just had a slice with blue cheese… It was like a gourmet supper.

KiwiEV, to random
@KiwiEV@mastodon.nz avatar

FINALLY!
A solution at last!

video/mp4

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@KiwiEV Designed by AI?

ThisCJ, to random
@ThisCJ@mastodon.nz avatar

Today I went to Iona Abbey, founded by St Columba c560. The current building is C12, built by the Benedictines. It was left to ruin after the Reformation but restored in the C20 by an ecumenical group now called the Iona Community, who stand for diversity, peace and justice. P

Interior shot showing ancient walls with ferns growing out of them
A display about the Iona Community, details at Iona.org.uk
A High Cross - a Celtic cross with a circle, rendered in stone, about 3m tall

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@ThisCJ hope you didn’t run into any Vikings.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

If you are interested in modern Physics, I recommend this video:
https://yewtu.be/watch?v=nFZSFKl39YU

billbennett, to random
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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/technology/ukraine-russia-starlink.html

billbennett, to random
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Spark buys Lauriston solar farm output: https://billbennett.co.nz/spark-lauriston-solar-farm/

billbennett, to random
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Is any Android app worth a thousand bucks?

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-play-store-1000-price-limit-3445833/

billbennett, to random
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I figured out that Duck Duck Go was Bing ages ago. Didn’t realise until yesterday’s melt down that Ecosia was also Bing.

Or Bung as I think we can now call it.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

I like to think that my 45 years of reporting on technology and business has left me sceptical rather than cynical but the behaviour of some tech companies is such that sometimes readers might be better served by the latter approach.

billbennett, to random
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

It's that time on a Friday when I edit my newsletter and remove any snark that may have crept in during the writing stage.

RadicalAnthro, to Egalitarianism
@RadicalAnthro@c.im avatar

A decent summary of the discussion over shrinkage of brain size in Homo sapiens in the past 100,000 years.

One very strong point is made by Eva , linking reduction of brain size to stratification and class society:
'Jablonka argues that if even if brains did shrink when complex societies emerged, it doesn't necessarily follow that smaller brains were necessarily an adaptive response.
"If 3,000 years ago much larger more complex societies emerged, this could correlate with much greater differences in social classes. If, as a consequence the majority of people were poor, then we know that poverty and malnutrition and things like that would compromise the developing brain."'

We would agree, metabolic and energetic/nutrient constraint is likely important. Marta also suggests a link to nutrient deficiency associating to onset of agriculture.

A significant implication is that the super large brains of our ancestors came about through and strong ethics of vital nutrients to mothers and children.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240517-the-human-brain-has-been-shrinking-and-no-one-quite-knows-why

billbennett,
@billbennett@mastodon.nz avatar

@RadicalAnthro Do we know if they becamet more efficient?

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