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
Pinned
Mike Dickison
@adzebill.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Happy to announce that, thanks to a grant from Wikimedia Aotearoa NZ, in 2025 I'll be Aotearoa Wikipedian at Large, with a focus on beautiful Banks Peninsula. Anyone keen to help with article writing, book transcription, photos, or research let me know. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
Up at sunrise and photographing McLeans Grassland Reserve for Wikipedia. One of the last surviving fragments of the original Canterbury Plains dryland ecosystem, it became a reserve in 2021 and is being restored with native plants, but the mayor thinks it should be covered in solar panels instead.
November 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Up at sunrise and photographing McLeans Grassland Reserve for Wikipedia. One of the last surviving fragments of the original Canterbury Plains dryland ecosystem, it became a reserve in 2021 and is being restored with native plants, but the mayor thinks it should be covered in solar panels instead.
Stand down: because this is just filler from the Washington Post, not actual reporting, we do not have to start a list of NZ therapists you should never, ever visit.
As a growing number of people turn to AI tools for therapy, Daniel Wu speaks to the therapists who are using it for their own mental health.
Would you turn to AI for counselling? These therapists are
As a growing number of people turn to AI tools for therapy, Daniel Wu speaks to the therapists who are using it for their own mental health.
dlvr.it
November 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Stand down: because this is just filler from the Washington Post, not actual reporting, we do not have to start a list of NZ therapists you should never, ever visit.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
The irony here is that academics don’t just write the articles for free—we also referee and edit for them for free. Something is deeply broken.
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Universities in 'battle of the century' with journal publisher Elsevier
One New Zealand university told its staff all universities in New Zealand and Australia would "lose some degree of access" to the publisher's 1600 titles from the start of next year.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 15, 2025 at 5:50 AM
The irony here is that academics don’t just write the articles for free—we also referee and edit for them for free. Something is deeply broken.
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
“New Zealand's eight universities spent $30-million a year on journal licences and about half of that sum went to Elsevier.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Blink and you will literally miss it, an image of me is in this video. 😂 Proud to say I'm a Wikipedian, doing my small part in improving everyone's access to knowledge.
November 15, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Blink and you will literally miss it, an image of me is in this video. 😂 Proud to say I'm a Wikipedian, doing my small part in improving everyone's access to knowledge.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
She also had herself committed to an asylum so she could see how the patients were treated and then report on her experience. Great woman!
Today in 1889, journalist Nellie Bly began an attempt to travel around the world in 80 days; she would successfully complete the journey in just over 72 days.
There's a great book about her. Amazing woman!
There's a great book about her. Amazing woman!
Nellie Bly - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
She also had herself committed to an asylum so she could see how the patients were treated and then report on her experience. Great woman!
Really nice piece by @kategevans.bsky.social on moa footprint discoveries and preservation. www.nzgeo.com/mailster/547...
The track makers
Moa once walked all over Aotearoa, pressing heavy feet into mud and sand. Eons later, finding just one of these footprints intact is a small miracle—a fossil that speaks to a movement, a moment in tim...
www.nzgeo.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Really nice piece by @kategevans.bsky.social on moa footprint discoveries and preservation. www.nzgeo.com/mailster/547...
Really disappointing that the mayor wants to turn one of the last remaining remnants of the pre-human Canterbury Plains into a solar farm, rather than see it restored it as a scientific reserve.
The city owns more than 3000 properties - enough to fill Hagley Park 66 times over - including a little-known grasslands reserve the mayor has a surprising plan for. “It’s going to cause a bit of a furore,” he admits.
How much is too much? Inside the Christchurch City Council’s vast $3b property portfolio
The city owns more than 3000 properties - enough to fill Hagley Park 66 times over - including a little-known grasslands reserve the mayor has a surprising plan for. “It’s going to cause a bit of a furore,” he admits.
dlvr.it
November 14, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Really disappointing that the mayor wants to turn one of the last remaining remnants of the pre-human Canterbury Plains into a solar farm, rather than see it restored it as a scientific reserve.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
There are still tickets left to every Christchurch session at Terror-Fi Film Fest which is at Alice’s, a tiny theatre. Do people just not know about it? I’m going with my 19 year old kid to a few things, more on the Fi spectrum than the Terror, I’ll admit. terrorfifest.com/films/
Films | Terror-Fi Film Festival
terrorfifest.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:23 PM
There are still tickets left to every Christchurch session at Terror-Fi Film Fest which is at Alice’s, a tiny theatre. Do people just not know about it? I’m going with my 19 year old kid to a few things, more on the Fi spectrum than the Terror, I’ll admit. terrorfifest.com/films/
Each morning before the conference started I'd go for a walk in a city park in Lisbon and listen for "exotic" (European) birds. I ended up writing the English Wikipedia article about it, mostly from Portuguese sources with liberal use of Google Translate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1...
November 12, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Each morning before the conference started I'd go for a walk in a city park in Lisbon and listen for "exotic" (European) birds. I ended up writing the English Wikipedia article about it, mostly from Portuguese sources with liberal use of Google Translate. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A1...
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Evidence of ancient tree-climbing 'drop crocs' found in Australia
Scientists say the crocodiles hunted like leopards by climbing trees and killing prey below.
www.bbc.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Today I learned that a New Zealand psychologist developed a reading model in the 1980s that’s still used to teach millions of kids despite being debunked decades ago by cognitive scientists.
how did i go so long not knowing we were literally teaching people to read wrong. i knew something wasn't right but jesus christ www.apmreports.org/episode/2019...
How a flawed idea is teaching millions of kids to be poor readers
For decades, schools have taught children the strategies of struggling readers, using a theory about reading that cognitive scientists have repeatedly debunked. And many teachers and parents don't kno...
www.apmreports.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Today I learned that a New Zealand psychologist developed a reading model in the 1980s that’s still used to teach millions of kids despite being debunked decades ago by cognitive scientists.
Rearing up baby stick insects again, hatched from eggs laid by last year’s batch. Nice low-maintenance pets.
November 11, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Rearing up baby stick insects again, hatched from eggs laid by last year’s batch. Nice low-maintenance pets.
The Wiki Science photo competition is running until mid-December! Be in to win cash prizes by donating your science photos for use in Wikipedia. Categories include people in science, microscopy, wildlife and nature, and astronomy. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons...
Commons:Wiki Science Competition 2025 in Australia and New Zealand - Wikimedia Commons
commons.wikimedia.org
November 10, 2025 at 9:21 AM
The Wiki Science photo competition is running until mid-December! Be in to win cash prizes by donating your science photos for use in Wikipedia. Categories include people in science, microscopy, wildlife and nature, and astronomy. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
The 2025 Wiki Science Photography Competition is underway!
Join us for this informative FAQ session where you will:
🦠 Learn how to enter the competition
🧬 Receive valuable tips and tricks from Wikimedia Commons experts
🔭 Discover how to best openly license your work
Thursday 13 November, 2pm 👇
Join us for this informative FAQ session where you will:
🦠 Learn how to enter the competition
🧬 Receive valuable tips and tricks from Wikimedia Commons experts
🔭 Discover how to best openly license your work
Thursday 13 November, 2pm 👇
Focus on Science: Your Guide to the Wiki Science Photography Competition
Want to participate in the 2025 Wiki Science Photography competition but don't know how? Need some help with Wikimedia Commons? FAQ with our experts!
events.humanitix.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:43 PM
The 2025 Wiki Science Photography Competition is underway!
Join us for this informative FAQ session where you will:
🦠 Learn how to enter the competition
🧬 Receive valuable tips and tricks from Wikimedia Commons experts
🔭 Discover how to best openly license your work
Thursday 13 November, 2pm 👇
Join us for this informative FAQ session where you will:
🦠 Learn how to enter the competition
🧬 Receive valuable tips and tricks from Wikimedia Commons experts
🔭 Discover how to best openly license your work
Thursday 13 November, 2pm 👇
Reposted by Mike Dickison
It is impossible for deer at any level to maintain and enhance natural biodiversity.
"Herd management plans aimed to keep deer numbers at a level which enhanced the recreational hunting experience while maintaining and improving natural biodiversity and forest health." www.odt.co.nz/southland/ca...
"Herd management plans aimed to keep deer numbers at a level which enhanced the recreational hunting experience while maintaining and improving natural biodiversity and forest health." www.odt.co.nz/southland/ca...
Call for opponents to support wapiti plan
The group which instigated the move to get wapiti in Fiordland classed as a herd of special interest says opponents should get right in behind it...
www.odt.co.nz
November 10, 2025 at 5:55 AM
It is impossible for deer at any level to maintain and enhance natural biodiversity.
"Herd management plans aimed to keep deer numbers at a level which enhanced the recreational hunting experience while maintaining and improving natural biodiversity and forest health." www.odt.co.nz/southland/ca...
"Herd management plans aimed to keep deer numbers at a level which enhanced the recreational hunting experience while maintaining and improving natural biodiversity and forest health." www.odt.co.nz/southland/ca...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
![Ferdinand Rudow (2 April 1840 – 3 September 1920)[1] was a German entomologist best known for the poor quality of his taxonomic work.[2] He described over 200 species of wasps during his lifetime, almost all of which have been revised as synonyms of other species.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreiawxaz22fm63iswczfs5wlbxsbynjchlch5xklwem2jrd3e6g46ay@jpeg)
![After an initial interest in studying lice and mites, Rudow began to focus on wasps in 1871.[3] Over the course of his research, he described 234 species and varieties within the Ichneumonidae family of parasitoid wasps, eventually amassing a collection of close to 14,000 insect specimens](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cyyd366g3hrxp5rynixm2mm3/bafkreie3ek67bgpzccweql4pohzxdpdvvbf4ejzeqngrvyg6xh336xhxta@jpeg)
Reposted by Mike Dickison
Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum.
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
Entoblock step
An improved pinning block for entomological collections.
It has five steps at different heights for quick and accurate label setting. The steps are visible from both sides, making it suitable for lef...
cults3d.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Steven Hammer, one of our regular collection users, co-developed a new #insect pinning block, with staff and volunteers from the museum.
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
It’s 3D-printed and open source, so you can try it for yourself:
cults3d.com/en/3d-model/...
#ECN2025
An AI booster at a recent conference tried to explain to me that ChatGPT has real value: his sister is a realtor and uses it to write client emails. My kneejerk response was “That’s gross!” It flummoxed him. But it IS gross to charge a commission for a service and automate your emails to save time.
November 9, 2025 at 4:26 AM
An AI booster at a recent conference tried to explain to me that ChatGPT has real value: his sister is a realtor and uses it to write client emails. My kneejerk response was “That’s gross!” It flummoxed him. But it IS gross to charge a commission for a service and automate your emails to save time.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
AI is *so* unreliable. I don't know why I keep trying. I asked Anthropic Claude to help me come up with some ideas for my upcoming NZ road trip and it confidently suggested a stay at the Kura Tawhiti DOC campsite and told me all about it. The only problem? The campsite is an AI hallucination.
November 9, 2025 at 1:56 AM
AI is *so* unreliable. I don't know why I keep trying. I asked Anthropic Claude to help me come up with some ideas for my upcoming NZ road trip and it confidently suggested a stay at the Kura Tawhiti DOC campsite and told me all about it. The only problem? The campsite is an AI hallucination.
Reposted by Mike Dickison
I wonder how many people are using it to plan trips around NZ and getting a horrible shock when they realise their agenda isn't just unrealistic in the time they have (a common problem for overseas visitors) but is literally impossible because the facilities were never there to begin with.
November 9, 2025 at 1:56 AM
I wonder how many people are using it to plan trips around NZ and getting a horrible shock when they realise their agenda isn't just unrealistic in the time they have (a common problem for overseas visitors) but is literally impossible because the facilities were never there to begin with.
ChatGPT is critically dependent on Wikipedia, its most-cited source (but Wikipedia doesn’t need ChatGPT at all). If you care about what LLMs are telling people, making sure Wikipedia is accurate should be your first priority. www.linkedin.com/pulse/wikipe...
Wikipedia is the Anchor of ChatGPT’s Knowledge
A new study from SEO experts at Ahrefs has quantified what many have long suspected: Wikipedia is the single most-cited source in ChatGPT’s answers by a wide margin. “ChatGPT’s citations aren’t confin...
www.linkedin.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:22 PM
ChatGPT is critically dependent on Wikipedia, its most-cited source (but Wikipedia doesn’t need ChatGPT at all). If you care about what LLMs are telling people, making sure Wikipedia is accurate should be your first priority. www.linkedin.com/pulse/wikipe...
The unsung discoverer of DNA’s structure, one of the four who published on it in 1953 and got the Nobel with Watson and Crick in 1962 (Franklin would have gotten it too if she’d lived)? NZer Maurice Wilkins. Everyone forgets Wilkins. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What Rosalind Franklin truly contributed to the discovery of DNA’s structure
Franklin was no victim in how the DNA double helix was solved. An overlooked letter and an unpublished news article, both written in 1953, reveal that she was an equal player.
www.nature.com
November 8, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The unsung discoverer of DNA’s structure, one of the four who published on it in 1953 and got the Nobel with Watson and Crick in 1962 (Franklin would have gotten it too if she’d lived)? NZer Maurice Wilkins. Everyone forgets Wilkins. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
When you run a workshop for someone and they insist on giving you a koha for it, except on the day they don’t and you have to invoice them for it (+ GST) and they don’t pay and you have to send an overdue notice and now it’s not really a koha is it?
November 6, 2025 at 11:09 PM
When you run a workshop for someone and they insist on giving you a koha for it, except on the day they don’t and you have to invoice them for it (+ GST) and they don’t pay and you have to send an overdue notice and now it’s not really a koha is it?
The sandwich-thrower is found not guilty after a long jury deliberation; in New Zealand the dildo-thrower was not even charged with a crime. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitang...
Waitangi dildo incident - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 6, 2025 at 9:42 PM
The sandwich-thrower is found not guilty after a long jury deliberation; in New Zealand the dildo-thrower was not even charged with a crime. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitang...
Reposted by Mike Dickison
November 5, 2025 at 5:32 AM