JF Higgins
@jfh11.bsky.social
“What do we want? Peer review! When do we want it? NOW!’ Toitū te Tiriti.
Okay. Sorry I bit. Stepping quietly away…..
January 13, 2026 at 2:06 AM
Okay. Sorry I bit. Stepping quietly away…..
Ok, I’ll bite. The Fan Cult is certainly excruciating but The Thing itself, if it’s an LLM, is pretty bad for all the reasons people go on about. AI for medical imaging etc, okay, but we don’t need the LLMs and they are doing a lot of damage to planet and people.
January 13, 2026 at 1:14 AM
Ok, I’ll bite. The Fan Cult is certainly excruciating but The Thing itself, if it’s an LLM, is pretty bad for all the reasons people go on about. AI for medical imaging etc, okay, but we don’t need the LLMs and they are doing a lot of damage to planet and people.
Thoughts on building accessible and older person friendly housing? Almost all our new townhouses in Chch are 2-3 storey with stairs. The lack of housing for older people is going to be a major issue soon (and will get worse for decades to come).
December 29, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Thoughts on building accessible and older person friendly housing? Almost all our new townhouses in Chch are 2-3 storey with stairs. The lack of housing for older people is going to be a major issue soon (and will get worse for decades to come).
A lovely documentary about him has just come out. ‘Not only Fred Dagg but also John Clarke’. Based on a memoir by his daughter Lorin. Well worth tracking down. We miss him.
December 27, 2025 at 5:32 AM
A lovely documentary about him has just come out. ‘Not only Fred Dagg but also John Clarke’. Based on a memoir by his daughter Lorin. Well worth tracking down. We miss him.
I wish they’d remember that they care when they’re standing in the ballot box.
October 23, 2025 at 7:44 AM
I wish they’d remember that they care when they’re standing in the ballot box.
Loved this book as a child. It was one of the books (along with A Wizard of Earthsea) that helped me see the power of language beautifully written.
August 22, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Loved this book as a child. It was one of the books (along with A Wizard of Earthsea) that helped me see the power of language beautifully written.
Wonderful, brave, compassionate human being. Apollo 13 showed the US at its very best - using science, creativity and innovation to address an urgent problem. (Can it go back to doing that please?)
August 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Wonderful, brave, compassionate human being. Apollo 13 showed the US at its very best - using science, creativity and innovation to address an urgent problem. (Can it go back to doing that please?)
💯 Chch lacks the natural corridors a lot of others have - our gardens performed some of that role but are fast disappearing. Now it’s up to Council but they seem to think adding trees to parks will do it. Street trees are needed! But they’re costly and god forbid, might disrupt roads🙄
July 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
💯 Chch lacks the natural corridors a lot of others have - our gardens performed some of that role but are fast disappearing. Now it’s up to Council but they seem to think adding trees to parks will do it. Street trees are needed! But they’re costly and god forbid, might disrupt roads🙄
Yep that’s why I got the ‘can’t find you in the system’ response first up. Corrected the address and bingo.
July 30, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Yep that’s why I got the ‘can’t find you in the system’ response first up. Corrected the address and bingo.
Send this to our Climate Commissioner who (in Stuff today) regards climate change as ‘a major concern’ but wouldn’t assert that it is ‘the greatest threat to life on this planet’ and is deliberately taking a back seat. Good news - she’s planning to work ‘at least a day a week’ on it. Marvellous.
July 6, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Send this to our Climate Commissioner who (in Stuff today) regards climate change as ‘a major concern’ but wouldn’t assert that it is ‘the greatest threat to life on this planet’ and is deliberately taking a back seat. Good news - she’s planning to work ‘at least a day a week’ on it. Marvellous.
Yes! My Outlook email opened today equipped with predictive text. Can’t tell you how distracting it is to compose an email while it tries to prompt me in its own direction. Fortunately have worked out how to disable it but it’s not easy to find.
June 27, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Yes! My Outlook email opened today equipped with predictive text. Can’t tell you how distracting it is to compose an email while it tries to prompt me in its own direction. Fortunately have worked out how to disable it but it’s not easy to find.
Great question. We need a range of accessible affordable rentals for older people. We need a govt that’s interested in this issue. And we need cross party support to address it. None of this seems likely at present but unless we address it soon we will have elderly people sleeping rough. Already do
June 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Great question. We need a range of accessible affordable rentals for older people. We need a govt that’s interested in this issue. And we need cross party support to address it. None of this seems likely at present but unless we address it soon we will have elderly people sleeping rough. Already do
But look at what is being built. Not, for example, the one bedroom affordable accessible homes that the growing number of older people who are renters need. By 2048 40% of retirees will be renters. 600 000 people. The 2-storey town house glut won’t help a lot of them.
May 31, 2025 at 2:29 AM
But look at what is being built. Not, for example, the one bedroom affordable accessible homes that the growing number of older people who are renters need. By 2048 40% of retirees will be renters. 600 000 people. The 2-storey town house glut won’t help a lot of them.
So tired of this formulaic response - we see it over and over: yes we are cutting this service but nothing will change, or as in this case, we continue to support it (even though it will disappear) but we won’t say how. Scripted, dishonest BS.
May 14, 2025 at 12:43 AM
So tired of this formulaic response - we see it over and over: yes we are cutting this service but nothing will change, or as in this case, we continue to support it (even though it will disappear) but we won’t say how. Scripted, dishonest BS.
Ditto. So much time having to be spent on things that a civilised society should be able to take for granted.
March 29, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Ditto. So much time having to be spent on things that a civilised society should be able to take for granted.
In the interests of fairness the abolition of DEI should be accompanied by the return of all stolen Māori land - public, private, whatever - since this is the origin of a huge part of the inequity DEI is supposed to address.
March 7, 2025 at 3:14 AM
In the interests of fairness the abolition of DEI should be accompanied by the return of all stolen Māori land - public, private, whatever - since this is the origin of a huge part of the inequity DEI is supposed to address.
Hi Russ. Kia ora means ‘be well’ or ‘I wish you wellbeing’ in the indigenous language, te reo Māori, of my country, Aotearoa New Zealand. And I do wish you well - it’s an insightful article - but please don’t use it in relation to the dictator. Kia Ora!
February 22, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Hi Russ. Kia ora means ‘be well’ or ‘I wish you wellbeing’ in the indigenous language, te reo Māori, of my country, Aotearoa New Zealand. And I do wish you well - it’s an insightful article - but please don’t use it in relation to the dictator. Kia Ora!
Superb! After taking on Seymour at Waitangi, Dr Te Aroha Rountree continues to show what true leadership in the churches can be.
February 21, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Superb! After taking on Seymour at Waitangi, Dr Te Aroha Rountree continues to show what true leadership in the churches can be.
And if he thought he was going to escape getting a talking-to by going to Ōnuku instead of Waitangi he was quite wrong. Powerful words from Ngāi Tahu’s Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa. I really recommend searching it out and having a listen.
February 6, 2025 at 6:51 AM
And if he thought he was going to escape getting a talking-to by going to Ōnuku instead of Waitangi he was quite wrong. Powerful words from Ngāi Tahu’s Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa. I really recommend searching it out and having a listen.
Agree. It’s in a room with He Whakaputanga and the Kate Sheppard suffrage petition. It’s magnificent and definitely worth a visit.
January 28, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Agree. It’s in a room with He Whakaputanga and the Kate Sheppard suffrage petition. It’s magnificent and definitely worth a visit.
It is infuriating. Anyone can read a history book. Anyone can read a Waitangi Tribunal report. It doesn’t take specialised knowledge to learn about the Treaty and the way it was breached. Just a bit of effort.
January 24, 2025 at 8:13 AM
It is infuriating. Anyone can read a history book. Anyone can read a Waitangi Tribunal report. It doesn’t take specialised knowledge to learn about the Treaty and the way it was breached. Just a bit of effort.
Yep, the Urban Heat Island effect is going to be a huge issue in the increasingly concrete space that Ōtautahi (once the ‘garden city’) is rapidly becoming.
January 14, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Yep, the Urban Heat Island effect is going to be a huge issue in the increasingly concrete space that Ōtautahi (once the ‘garden city’) is rapidly becoming.