Mike Dickison
@adzebill.bsky.social
My Jeopardy categories would be Wikipedia, natural history of Aotearoa New Zealand, Sondheim musicals, bird bones, and enough typography to get me into trouble. Ōtautahi, Dr Him.
0000-0003-1183-2550, Q56458901
0000-0003-1183-2550, Q56458901
Reposted by Mike Dickison
If this year was about getting off US tech, 2026 is the year to reassess the digital revolution — what works, what doesn’t; what to keep, and what to reject.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
We need to reassess our relationship to digital tech
Getting off US tech led me to a wider questioning of digital convenience
disconnect.blog
December 31, 2025 at 8:42 PM
If this year was about getting off US tech, 2026 is the year to reassess the digital revolution — what works, what doesn’t; what to keep, and what to reject.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
I’ve only just started to consider what needs to change about how I use digital technology, but I’m excited to learn more next year.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
One I missed: Ronald Hugh Morrieson's "Predicament" was published posthumously in 1975. Transition rules mean it gets the shorter of 50 years since publication or 75 years since the author's death. Morrieson died in 1972, so it enters the public domain today.
December 31, 2025 at 9:20 PM
One I missed: Ronald Hugh Morrieson's "Predicament" was published posthumously in 1975. Transition rules mean it gets the shorter of 50 years since publication or 75 years since the author's death. Morrieson died in 1972, so it enters the public domain today.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
When I worked for Metro I sent the mag’s collection of Trace Hodgson cartoons to the Nat Lib with the ed’s + Trace’s permission, after the destruction of archives by ACP suits. I just checked to see if they are online - and one of them is an illustrated note to me! Cor! This is oddly satisfying
December 31, 2025 at 9:06 PM
When I worked for Metro I sent the mag’s collection of Trace Hodgson cartoons to the Nat Lib with the ed’s + Trace’s permission, after the destruction of archives by ACP suits. I just checked to see if they are online - and one of them is an illustrated note to me! Cor! This is oddly satisfying
Reposted by Mike Dickison
There are 5.5 hours left in 2025, but nevertheless I'm going to take the chance that my year's reading is concluded. Here are my best reads of 2025, an idiosyncratic bunch of choices in a year that did not seem to have many big, zeitgeisty books. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...
2025, A Year in Reading: Best Books of the Year
I read 183 books in 2025, a little less than last year but still in the same ballpark. Despite—or perhaps because—of this breadth of reading...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:27 PM
There are 5.5 hours left in 2025, but nevertheless I'm going to take the chance that my year's reading is concluded. Here are my best reads of 2025, an idiosyncratic bunch of choices in a year that did not seem to have many big, zeitgeisty books. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...
Somehow I read 75 books this year, a record. How?
1. The nudge from posting capsule reviews
2. Joining a well-run library book club
3. Book podcasts: Backlisted and A Meal of Thorns
4. Scheduling reading time in the calendar
5. Unearthing two boxes of books from storage (a one-off!)
1. The nudge from posting capsule reviews
2. Joining a well-run library book club
3. Book podcasts: Backlisted and A Meal of Thorns
4. Scheduling reading time in the calendar
5. Unearthing two boxes of books from storage (a one-off!)
2025 READING
1. Sam Leith’s THE HAUNTED WOOD, summaries of the life, work, and cultural context of every major* children’s author. Necessarily too brief but a spur to revisiting or discovering 200 years of fabulous neglected writing. Also, never stuffy.
*except for the ones he skipped over!
1. Sam Leith’s THE HAUNTED WOOD, summaries of the life, work, and cultural context of every major* children’s author. Necessarily too brief but a spur to revisiting or discovering 200 years of fabulous neglected writing. Also, never stuffy.
*except for the ones he skipped over!
December 30, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Somehow I read 75 books this year, a record. How?
1. The nudge from posting capsule reviews
2. Joining a well-run library book club
3. Book podcasts: Backlisted and A Meal of Thorns
4. Scheduling reading time in the calendar
5. Unearthing two boxes of books from storage (a one-off!)
1. The nudge from posting capsule reviews
2. Joining a well-run library book club
3. Book podcasts: Backlisted and A Meal of Thorns
4. Scheduling reading time in the calendar
5. Unearthing two boxes of books from storage (a one-off!)
Just noting the official lemon pig photo is Wikipedia is by @genesisnz.bsky.social.
Lemon pig - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 30, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Just noting the official lemon pig photo is Wikipedia is by @genesisnz.bsky.social.
Green leaders complaining about being shadowbanned on Twitter and getting no views on Instagram?
Perhaps they could lead by example, quit the poisonous platforms, and try engaging here instead? newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/31/g...
Perhaps they could lead by example, quit the poisonous platforms, and try engaging here instead? newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/31/g...
Greens go face-to-face against the outrage-generating machine
The Green Party hopes an in-person campaign push will appeal to voters who, like party leadership, have seen new fears realised online
newsroom.co.nz
December 30, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Green leaders complaining about being shadowbanned on Twitter and getting no views on Instagram?
Perhaps they could lead by example, quit the poisonous platforms, and try engaging here instead? newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/31/g...
Perhaps they could lead by example, quit the poisonous platforms, and try engaging here instead? newsroom.co.nz/2025/12/31/g...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Remember to stock up on lemons today for your New Year Lemon Pig-making needs! 🍋
December 30, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Remember to stock up on lemons today for your New Year Lemon Pig-making needs! 🍋
Reposted by Mike Dickison
I'm v impressed by the series of articles @thepress.co.nz is running this week on nitrate pollution. Congrats to Maxine Jacobs, the author. Here's today's article, the 3rd in a series of 6. If you don't subscribe, consider buying. Or view through the library www.thepress.co.nz/environment/...
User pays: The hidden cost of nitrate-contaminated drinking water
Melisa Rusbatch drinks bottled water after feeling ill from nitrate-laden water. Others have installed costly filtration systems to avoid the health risks. But not everyone can afford such measures.
www.thepress.co.nz
December 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I'm v impressed by the series of articles @thepress.co.nz is running this week on nitrate pollution. Congrats to Maxine Jacobs, the author. Here's today's article, the 3rd in a series of 6. If you don't subscribe, consider buying. Or view through the library www.thepress.co.nz/environment/...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
the people NEED roach pix 😤
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
December 29, 2025 at 1:43 AM
the people NEED roach pix 😤
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Pseudomops septentrionalis "Pale-bordered Field Cockroach", Oklahoma
Balta notulata "Small-spotted Cockroach", Oahu
Panchlorinae, Tambopata, Peru
Paratropes, Tambopata, Peru
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wikipedian-at-Large, Dr Mike Dickison, recently spent a weekend on Waiheke Island getting members of the local community better acquainted with the Wikimedia Movement. The result was a group of new editors, and improved coverage of the island.
www.wikimedia.nz/a-weekend-of...
www.wikimedia.nz/a-weekend-of...
A Weekend of Wikipedia on Waiheke
Wikipedian-at-Large, Dr Mike Dickison, recently spent a weekend on Waiheke Island getting members of the local community better acquainted with the Wikimedia Movement.
www.wikimedia.nz
December 28, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wikipedian-at-Large, Dr Mike Dickison, recently spent a weekend on Waiheke Island getting members of the local community better acquainted with the Wikimedia Movement. The result was a group of new editors, and improved coverage of the island.
www.wikimedia.nz/a-weekend-of...
www.wikimedia.nz/a-weekend-of...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Rare pigeon rediscovered... The world's largest avian extinction event has occurred in the Pacific due to introduced predators. With mammal control, there is still hope for the manumea but it needs to start right now www.independent.co.uk/news/science....
Dodo’s closest living relative spotted in remote South Pacific rainforest
Manumea’s first sighting since 2013 raises hope critically endangered species can be saved from extinction
www.independent.co.uk
December 28, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Rare pigeon rediscovered... The world's largest avian extinction event has occurred in the Pacific due to introduced predators. With mammal control, there is still hope for the manumea but it needs to start right now www.independent.co.uk/news/science....
Reminder that Briscoes is being deceptive if not actively in breach of the Fair Trading Act with their "sale" prices.
December 28, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reminder that Briscoes is being deceptive if not actively in breach of the Fair Trading Act with their "sale" prices.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Thanks tot he government and its shitty treaty, we won't be seeing them until the 2050s.
All of which is another reason to hope for a collapse of the FTA due to national's climate recidivism.
All of which is another reason to hope for a collapse of the FTA due to national's climate recidivism.
December 28, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Thanks tot he government and its shitty treaty, we won't be seeing them until the 2050s.
All of which is another reason to hope for a collapse of the FTA due to national's climate recidivism.
All of which is another reason to hope for a collapse of the FTA due to national's climate recidivism.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Meanwhile, NZ will be effectively robbed of its culture. Significant authors expected to come out of copyright in the early 2030's (and who won't now) include frank Sargeson, John A. Lee, Ngaio Marsh, Michael Joseph, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Scott.
December 28, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Meanwhile, NZ will be effectively robbed of its culture. Significant authors expected to come out of copyright in the early 2030's (and who won't now) include frank Sargeson, John A. Lee, Ngaio Marsh, Michael Joseph, Dorothy Eden, and Mary Scott.
This work is being done by keen volunteers in their spare time. Why isn’t Public Domain Day part of the National Library’s remit? Why is there no Centre for the Public Domain at a NZ university, making the complete works of James K. Baxter and Rita Angus available for free to all Kiwis?
In anticipation of US public domain day, I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about two NZ authors who published works in 1930.
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
December 28, 2025 at 5:39 AM
This work is being done by keen volunteers in their spare time. Why isn’t Public Domain Day part of the National Library’s remit? Why is there no Centre for the Public Domain at a NZ university, making the complete works of James K. Baxter and Rita Angus available for free to all Kiwis?
Reposted by Mike Dickison
In anticipation of US public domain day, I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about two NZ authors who published works in 1930.
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
December 28, 2025 at 5:11 AM
In anticipation of US public domain day, I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about two NZ authors who published works in 1930.
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
The first is Palmer White, who published a pair of spy thrillers ("Mystery island" and "The circle of confusion")
Boxing Day sale score: a doughnut-clad sloposaurus, likely generated by AI, produced in a Chinese Christmas-ornaments factory. The perfect brainrot mascot for 2025.
December 28, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Boxing Day sale score: a doughnut-clad sloposaurus, likely generated by AI, produced in a Chinese Christmas-ornaments factory. The perfect brainrot mascot for 2025.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
One major UK publisher that I have worked has banned AI from any stage in a book’s production. The rationale being that it defends the sanctity of the book in an age where human authorship begins to be questioned. I think this is the kind of bold thinking that the whole industry needs.
November 17, 2025 at 1:10 AM
One major UK publisher that I have worked has banned AI from any stage in a book’s production. The rationale being that it defends the sanctity of the book in an age where human authorship begins to be questioned. I think this is the kind of bold thinking that the whole industry needs.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
The big one of course is Wodehouse. He died in 1975, so all his stuff is free in Aotearoa from the moment the echoes of the collosal drunken roar fade. Jeeves and Wooster, Blandings, Psmith, all that other stuff: free. Do with it what thou wilt.
December 28, 2025 at 12:15 AM
The big one of course is Wodehouse. He died in 1975, so all his stuff is free in Aotearoa from the moment the echoes of the collosal drunken roar fade. Jeeves and Wooster, Blandings, Psmith, all that other stuff: free. Do with it what thou wilt.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
A better article about the NZME/World Literacy Foundation/AI NZ booklist debacle. Feat. the always fab @taniaroxborogh.bsky.social They've published a list of the fake books - no doubt encouraging AI to keep thinking they exist. The future of the internet: screwed. www.1news.co.nz/2025/12/27/n...
NZME apologises for Christmas list featuring made-up book titles
Some have speculated online that some of the fake book titles published in NZME-owned papers may have been AI-generated.
www.1news.co.nz
December 27, 2025 at 4:54 AM
A better article about the NZME/World Literacy Foundation/AI NZ booklist debacle. Feat. the always fab @taniaroxborogh.bsky.social They've published a list of the fake books - no doubt encouraging AI to keep thinking they exist. The future of the internet: screwed. www.1news.co.nz/2025/12/27/n...
At the Christchurch Art Gallery show of Anne Noble’s photos documenting the trashing of the Kai Tahu’s fresh water, saw this report in the Otago Witness 13/11/1912 on the need to drain Lake Tatawai (which was done, over the protests of a few “half-caste Natives”). Extraordinary reading.
December 27, 2025 at 4:51 AM
At the Christchurch Art Gallery show of Anne Noble’s photos documenting the trashing of the Kai Tahu’s fresh water, saw this report in the Otago Witness 13/11/1912 on the need to drain Lake Tatawai (which was done, over the protests of a few “half-caste Natives”). Extraordinary reading.
Batten down the hatches, Ōtautahi; thunderstorm impending.
December 27, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Batten down the hatches, Ōtautahi; thunderstorm impending.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
So now in order to read the books, I’m going to have to read up on the reading list first to make sure the books are real. Awesome! (New list, don’t let me down, BBC).
12 books you need to read in 2026
Fictional gems, debut thillers, cracking biographies and everything in between.
www.bbc.com
December 26, 2025 at 6:30 PM
So now in order to read the books, I’m going to have to read up on the reading list first to make sure the books are real. Awesome! (New list, don’t let me down, BBC).