Mike Kilpatrick
@marvingardensnz.bsky.social
890 followers 1.3K following 1.1K posts
Scot in Aotearoa. Funny fucker, but quite needy. Prone to cry at random videos. Music and book lover. Occasional poet. Anti-AI, LLMs. Neo-Luddite. No Nazis/TERFS/billionaires. Plant based. Far left. Toitū Te Tiriti. https://marvingardens.nz
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Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
autnews.bsky.social
Hard hats don't protect against sexism👷

And the challenges faced by women working in construction in Aotearoa - ranging from subtle biases to outright discrimination - are likely hampering efforts to increase female representation in the industry. www.aut.ac.nz/news/stories...
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
(The Talented Mr Ripley LOOKED amazing, but it continued my dislike of Anthony Minghella's oeuvre. I much preferred Purple Noon, the French movie version of Patricia Highsmith's novel, as an experience.)
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you'll never watch again, & one song you can't stand

I'm vegan so there are lots of foods I refuse to eat, but out of things I can eat then it would be New Zealand yams

The Talented Mr Ripley

I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
nedgilmore.bsky.social
Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you'll never watch again, & one song you can't stand

Raw Apple

The Incredible Hulk

Brimful of Asha
miravox.bsky.social
Introduce yourself using only one food you refuse to eat, one movie you'll never watch again, & one song you can't stand

Parsnip

La La Land

you say it best when you say nothing at all 🙄
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
Awesome. I want some analysis on whether this was deliberate or a cross that snuck in, but terrific to see him and the team doing so well!
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
You've got to take your wins when you can get them, which is why I'm taking advantage of my impending move into an apartment in the central city by booking cheap movies at Academy Cinemas.

Eight movies to look forward to in October and November and not an Event Cinema rip-off in sight!
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
I've watched 15 games of Rangers this season under Russell Martin, a coach with a supposed footballing philosophy. Barca showed more in one half of football than Rangers showed in all of those games put together.

I am enjoying women's football more than men's right now, no question.
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
I've watched a fair bit of women's football over the last two years or so and watching Barca demolish Bayern in the Champions League this morning was an absolute masterclass in structure, style, tactics and game plan executed brilliantly.

It finished 7-1 and could have been more.
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
Governments are always behind the ball when it comes to regulating technologies - but I don't know if it's ever been more important. The idea that a synthetic text extruding machine (thanks @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social) should be promoted as therapists is scary as hell.
autnews.bsky.social
AUT senior lecturer and registered psychotherapist Dr Brigitte Viljoen says New Zealanders could be at risk from unregulated AI chatbots being promoted for therapy - and the Government needs to act.

"We need scientific proof... not hypothetical claims and hype.”

www.aut.ac.nz/news/stories...
AI chatbots no substitute for therapy - AUT News - AUT
An AUT senior lecturer says New Zealanders could be at risk from unregulated AI chatbots being promoted for therapy.
www.aut.ac.nz
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
autnews.bsky.social
AUT senior lecturer and registered psychotherapist Dr Brigitte Viljoen says New Zealanders could be at risk from unregulated AI chatbots being promoted for therapy - and the Government needs to act.

"We need scientific proof... not hypothetical claims and hype.”

www.aut.ac.nz/news/stories...
AI chatbots no substitute for therapy - AUT News - AUT
An AUT senior lecturer says New Zealanders could be at risk from unregulated AI chatbots being promoted for therapy.
www.aut.ac.nz
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
bookshop.org
Can’t decide what to buy on Prime Day?

Try: absolutely nothing, and then go support indie bookstores instead 📚
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
The (very easy) online cryptic crossword at the Herald today is my second best time ever. I would have beaten my 3:39 time if I had a mental block on saffron.

But this is the first time I remember that I've been ranked 1, albeit I don't expect to stay there. I'll take an early morning win.
Puzzle Solved
Time: 03:54
Your personal best is 03:54
Your rank: 1 of 34
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
kojamf.bsky.social
Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
chrisdametto.bsky.social
The ratio of arrests in comparison with the Tommy Robinson protests is absolutely wild. People peacefully holding a sign vs people violently attacking the police and the public.
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
It wasn't that long ago I was proud to work for Microsoft. We had dedicated news people all around the world choosing local stories to surface (no pun intended) to visitors to MSN and users of the Edge browser. Some of the very best people I've ever worked with were there. And now it's all bullshit.
nathangrayson.bsky.social
with each passing month, microsoft gives us more reasons to minimize its presence in our lives, or divest from it entirely. the latest game pass price hike is another. it won't be the last
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
sitkaworldsfair.bsky.social
Oh.

It’s Yom Kippur so why not have the official DHS account say “globalists,” a very common word to hear that almost never means Jews.
ericcolumbus.bsky.social
DHS appears to suggest that it will deny citizenship to "globalists"
Homeland Security
@DHSgov
"Communist?"
DENIED.
"Terrorist?"
DENIED.
"Globalist?"
DENIED.

Above a meme of a bearded smiling guy, in this case wearing a USCIS hat
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
Jane Goodall's work insisting, with evidence from her brilliant and tenacious fieldwork, that we were not so separate from animals, and they were much more like us than the Eurocentric theorists asserted, was so important.
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
nihilcurtis.bsky.social
We need to resist AI not because the technology is a threat to humanity but because it's political economy is a threat to democratic society.
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
joshuajfriedman.com
One of my favorite anecdotes from THE PREHISTORY OF THE FAR SIDE: "That doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know."
A few days after this cartoon was published, my syndicate received a very indignant letter from someone representing the Jane Goodall Institute.
Not only did my syndicate and I both get read the Riot Act, there was a vague implication that litigation over this cartoon might be around the corner.
I was horrified. Not so much from a fear of being sued (I just couldn't see how this cartoon could be construed as anything but silly, but because of my deep respect for Jane Goodall and her well-known contributions to pri-matology. The last thing in the world I would have intentionally done was offend Dr. Goodall in any way.
Before I had a chance to write my apology, another complication arose.
The National Geographic Society contacted my syndicate and expressed a desire to reprint the cartoon in a special centennial issue of their magazine. My editor, aware of what had just occurred, declined, explaining why.
Apparently, whoever it was that sent the inquiry from National Geographic was shocked. They told my editor that "that doesn't sound like the Jane Goodall we know." They did some checking themselves, and an interesting fact was eventually discovered: Jane Goodall loved the cartoon. Furthermore, she was totally unaware that any of this "stuff" was going on. Some phone calls were made, and the cartoon was not only reprinted in the centennial issue of National Geographic, but was also used by her Institute on a T-shirt for fund-raising purposes.
I've since had an opportunity to visit Dr. Goodall at her research facility in Gombe. It's a wonderful place (sort of like right out of National Geographic).
"To refer to Dr. Goodall as a tramp is inexcusable even by a self-described 'loony' as Larson. The cartoon was incredibly offensive and in such poor taste that readers might well question the editorial judgment of running such an atrocity in a newspaper that reputes to be supplying news to persons with a better than average intelligence. The cartoon and its message were absolutely stupid." —Excerpt from the above-mentioned letter that started the ruckus
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
alannawrites.bsky.social
The language of non-consent around AI is really telling. "It's too late to be scared." "It's here whether we want it or not." "You'll have to learn to work with it." "You can't fight the inevitable."

All just variations of "you're not allowed to say no." Creepy technology made by creepy people.
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
I knew someone would post this and didn't have to scroll far! Apparently she loved the cartoon when shown it.
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
tommorelloofficial.bsky.social
On this day in 2008 I released my album, “The Fabled City”. One of my favorite memories from this album was performing the title track in the streets of Manhattan during the #OccupyWallStreet protest.
Video: @rollingstone.com
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
dejanajuk.bsky.social
Landlords/Property Investors: We want a business model that’s all rights & no responsibilities. All profit & no costs. No security of tenure for tenants, no upgrades in fire safety, earthquake safety, or disability access & no way for tenants to know.
National/ACT/NZF: We’ve got your back.
#nzpol
marvingardensnz.bsky.social
And we gave this fascist piece of shit citizenship after just a couple of days because he flashed his wallet.

Eternal shame on Aotearoa for this.
wired.com
WIRED @wired.com · 12d
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Carl Schmitt, the German legal theorist tapped by the Nazi's to justify Germany's slip from democracy to dictatorship.

Those theories have been a roadmap for the billionaire
ever since.
The Real Stakes, and Real Story, of Peter Thiel’s Antichrist Obsession
Thirty years ago, a peace-loving Austrian theologian spoke to Peter Thiel about the apocalyptic theories of Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt. They’ve been a road map for the billionaire ever since.
www.wired.com
Reposted by Mike Kilpatrick
brislen.nz
Payment surcharge ban will raise prices

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/payment-s...

Payment surcharge ban will raise prices, reduce competition between big and small businesses, officials warned

We warned you. Hiding the problem doesn’t fix the problem.
'Something to hide': Retail NZ hits out as advice shows surcharge ban will raise prices
Ministry advice showed the ban will weaken competition and increase prices for consumers.
www.nzherald.co.nz