Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 25m

For me, the emotional fatigue was real. And even though I supported it, Auckland having to go into yet another lockdown while the rest of the country didn't, was hard.

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Lauren M @elenem.bsky.social · 56m

Doesn't help of course that all the Covid post-mortems have been 'WHY DIDN'T THEY PSYCHICALLY KNOW THE EXACT THINGS TO DO AND MOMENTS TO DO THEM' and not 'Wow that was a really dangerous and uncertain time and they had to try and make decisions based on the information they had'

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Mark Tierney @marktierney.com · 2h

Just so you know, if Taylor Swift were being paid '90s royalties, she'd be at least twice as rich. #musicindustry

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LostArcNZ @lostarcnz.bsky.social · 13h

The solutions proposed for New Zealand's (and virtually every other country's) problems are always like:
"We need to make people work for more years"
"We have to cut back on services, I'm sorry, there is just no other way"
"We have to cut benefits for young people"

never:
"We need to tax the rich"

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 2h

#Wordle #dailyWordleClub #Wordle1577 Wordle 1,577 3/6*
🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩Quick and easy three for me.

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 19h

It's even worse with youtube using an 'AI filter' to process shorts without telling the people uploading them. So even real videos are being given the AI-look without the creators' knowledge.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

YouTube secretly used AI to edit people's videos. The results could bend reality

YouTube made AI enhancements to videos without telling users or asking permission. As AI quietly mediates our world, what happens to our shared connections with real life?

www.bbc.com

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Chad Jessup @adhdev.io · 20h

Dear Movie Studio,

I would like to watch your movie please.

Please let me watch it and I will give you moneys for this privilege.

It currently isn't streaming or available to buy anywhere, however.

Thanks,
Chad

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 19h

Cherry trees in Cornwall Park going strong this weekend. Plenty of visitors there to appreciate it. #sakura #flower #cherryBlossom #somethingBeautiful #TamakiMakaurau #Auckland #Aotearoa #NewZealand

Wide shot of cherry trees at Cornwall Park showing the trees in bloom & plenty of people under the trees.

Closeup of a bunch of three cherry blossoms.

View from under cherry trees looking upwards, showing masses of cherry blossoms dotted in the sky.

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 1d

#Wordle #dailyWordleClub #Wordle1576 Wordle 1,576 3/6*
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩⬛🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩In three & symmetry.

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Newsroom NZ @newsroom.co.nz · 2d

Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Chris Finlayson offer praise for the Waitangi Tribunal – and damning criticism of the coalition Government. Sam Sachdeva reports.

Hell hath no fury like an attorney-general scorned

newsroom.co.nz

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AlastairJNZ @alastairjnz.bsky.social · 2d

Voting closes today - drop your ballot off before midday!

Huia Sue @huiasue.bsky.social · 2d

Vote first thing tomorrow, & take it to a ballot box near you
I Voted for people to protect parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, recycling, kind & connected communities, public transport, social housing, cycle trails, green spaces, public ownership of water & services, disability action & Māori Wards

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Ben Ross @benakl.bsky.social · 2d

Overheating urban areas are back in the spotlight, and the reason is clear: a lack of greenery, particularly trees.

The 3-30-300 handbook serves as a practical guide for cities and urban areas to address this issue by keeping their environments cool,

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Veronika Meduna @veronikameduna.bsky.social · 2d

Peace Nobel Prize goes to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado for her "tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela" and "her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy" share.google/slEstTt7TFhN...

Nobel Peace Prize 2025: Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado wins

Nominations closed in January but US President Donald Trump had led a public campaign to win the award.

share.google

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 2d

Correct title: "Can Jon Fasman (writer of the article) Finally Give Johnny Cash His Due?"

The rest of us have been appreciating Cash for decades.

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 2d

Gen X says yes.

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 2d

while I acknowledge that LLMs do have some uses for stuff like “producing code with knowledgeable human supervision,” this perfectly reflects how I feel about using it for my own creative work

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 3d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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🦝 Pepper Raccoon: Trash Priestess 🦝 @pepperraccoon.com · 3d

Hi if you’re in NZ I HOPE YOU VOTED IN YOUR LOCAL ELECTIONS OTHERWISE UR A JERK

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Laurel Krahn @windowseat.bsky.social · 2d

This review gets to something that I've found hard to explain.

After my husband died suddenly last November, it seemed odd that the TV show that helped me get through the holidays was Slow Horses, which I hadn't yet watched. I watched the 1st four seasons twice & they kinda saved my life. 🧵

Drew Magary @drewmagary.bsky.social · 3d

This week’s JAMBOROO topper is about Slow Horses, which is a perfect TV show. defector.com/how-slow-hor...

How 'Slow Horses' Explains The World | Defector

Drew Magary’s Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday at Defector during the NFL season. Got something you wanna contribute? Email the Roo. You can also read Drew over at SFGATE,...

defector.com

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Soon Lee @soonleenz.bsky.social · 2d

I love "Slow Horses". The linked article says Diana Taverner is played by "Kristin Hot Thomas". *Golf clap* No notes.

(It's a show chockful of cliche characters, but the writing & chemistry makes it fly.)

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Sharon Murdoch @domesticanimal.bsky.social · 3d

Govt to cut #JobSeeker benefit for 18 & 19 year olds who’s parents earn over $65,000, even if the teens have a disability or health condition. With #CostOfLiving & the job shortage they’re cranking up stress levels to 11, all to meet a target.
My #cartoon today about hard-nosed #NZpol

Cartoon. Title: “Job Seeee-e-e-e” Image shows PM Christopher Luxon at the open hatch of a small plane, high above farmland. He’s leaning out, and holding up a parachute pack, labelled “Job Seeker” He’s calling out to someone falling from the plane, “And I’ve kept your parachute because you kids from low-income homes need some motivation” Then he adds, “Don’t let that disability slow you down!”

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 3d

The NZ Drug Foundation has a major new report pressing the case for a replacement of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, which turns 50 this month. Thing is, its recommendations – for a complete realignment to health, not criminalisation and punishment, are ... drugfoundation.org.nz/topics/polic...

Safer drug laws

We need safer drug laws for Aotearoa New Zealand - our new report sets out a pragmatic, evidence-based way forward.

drugfoundation.org.nz

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TKarney @pecunium.bsky.social · 4d

A recurrent attempt to blame people for corporate action (this news gets repeated every few years).

HFAs in inhalers = ~2.4million tons a year.

Total CO2 last year was 37.8 GIGAtons.

Inhalers are less than a rounding error.

CNN @cnn.com · 6d

The people who are most vulnerable to the hard-to-breathe air that comes with climate change may inadvertently be adding to the problem, new research finds. https://cnn.it/4pWQMoh

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👻madeline boOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 4d

the answer to the trolley problem is not to pick who to sacrifice, it’s to dismantle the system that led to an unsafe trolley crossing.

if any part of your morality strategy involves picking a group to let die on a hill, throw the entire strategy out. it’s wrong.

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Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 4d

Fucksake. It's quite clear now that they only looked at this benefit policy as political marketing and took no advice on who it would impact – which includes young people with serious health issues and disabilities. Just feckless and cynical. Shame on them. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Hundreds of teens with a health condition, disability may be cut from Jobseeker benefit

The government is ending Jobseeker payments to 18- and 19 year olds whose parents earn more than $65,000.

www.rnz.co.nz

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Aya Vandenbussche (she/her) @hiyaaya.bsky.social · 4d

When I was doing my MA, my tutor did not want to approve my dissertation because he did not like Terry Pratchett (it was about Feet of Clay and the Golem, amongst other things). I changed my tutor, got a distinction, and was published in an academic journal.The snobbery of it infuriates me.

DiscordianKitty⭐ @discordiankitty.bsky.social · 4d

Pratchett's books are some of the most intelligent, insightful and well-written literature of our time. The idea that it's not appropriate for adults is such an unbelievably shallow take it actually manages to outdo the Kemi Badenoch thing.

Padraig Reidy @padraigreidy.bsky.social · 5d

My probably-get-me-banned-from-Bluesky take is that a 45 year old woman saying her favourite author is Terry Pratchett is embarrassing for everyone concerned

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