I watched this movie during a flight and shed a tear, it’s so good. I should have been sleeping because my then-1-year-old, on my lap, was sleeping. But I stayed awake to watch it because again, it’s so good. www.theguardian.com/film/2023/de...

Language is on the agenda for the new government. Here's what English being an 'official language' would mean:

www.rnz.co.nz/news/what-yo...

"As the pandemic wore on, many grim outcomes I warned about came to pass, and most societal changes I hoped for did not."

@edyong209.bsky.social on how reporting on long Covid made him a better journalist: www.nytimes.com/2023/12/11/o...

Saturday NZ reported covid case numbers were 25% up on the previous Saturday.
Sunday was 42% up on previous Sunday.
Monday was 52% up on pervious Monday.
Tuesday was 65% up on previous Tuesday.

Millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses wasted as officials mull over rollout for 2024
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/millions-...

One hundred times this.

“To the person who let off fireworks from 3.30am till 5.20am last night:

“A sleep deprived mother is basically more terrifying than Liam Neeson. You need to know that.”

open.substack.com/pub/emilywri...

As an exercise at a sci comm workshop on LLMs earlier in the year, we found we could produce reasonably convincing (to a non-expert) scientific papers in 15-20 mins, with fake authors, bios, data, references, acknowledgements etc. Disheartening - but not surprising - to see them in the wild now.

I feel like I don’t know how to use social media anymore. (I say, as I start a new account.) But this post is worth sharing:

“I feel the urge to speak meaninglessly, and the urge to stay silent, and the senseless notion that not speaking is the same as refraining from action. It isn’t.”