Kathryn
@shermarama.bsky.social
Design engineer, drummer, general maker of stuff. Keen on finding good solutions to complex problems. She/her. Hamiltron 🇳🇿innit.
Semantic fail: when I remove the sticker from an apple, it takes substantial conscious effort not to put it in the food waste bin. It's a piece of unrecycleable sticky plastic! I'm removing it because it's not food!
December 12, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Semantic fail: when I remove the sticker from an apple, it takes substantial conscious effort not to put it in the food waste bin. It's a piece of unrecycleable sticky plastic! I'm removing it because it's not food!
Matches what I've seen, even as a white British person myself. NZ has a whole heap of ethnic diversity, but seems to want to pretend it doesn't?
NZ racism hits different: ‘I’m not even going to try to pronounce the next name’
NZ racism hits different: ‘I’m not even going to try to pronounce the next name’
After swapping Wellington for London, Preyanka Gothanayagi was surprised to find people treated her like an actual person....
thespinoff.co.nz
December 12, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Matches what I've seen, even as a white British person myself. NZ has a whole heap of ethnic diversity, but seems to want to pretend it doesn't?
Reposted by Kathryn
When us process-heads warn about the importance of following systems and giving due weight to the how alongside the what, we have things like this in mind …
December 12, 2025 at 5:44 AM
When us process-heads warn about the importance of following systems and giving due weight to the how alongside the what, we have things like this in mind …
My mum carefully cultivated tradescantia as a houseplant when I was young, back in the UK, so it still boggles me that this is a smothering pest plant here... But it's excellent news that they're finding things to get it under control.
"A kahikatea forest remnant site in north Waikato has seen a near complete disappearance of tradescantia after the leaf beetle, stem beetle, and smut fungus all established there between 2019 and 2021. This site is now seeing recovery of native ferns and tree seedlings."
December 5, 2025 at 8:37 AM
My mum carefully cultivated tradescantia as a houseplant when I was young, back in the UK, so it still boggles me that this is a smothering pest plant here... But it's excellent news that they're finding things to get it under control.
Reposted by Kathryn
I found this when I was getting the decorations out of the loft.
Artist: Andy_R https://b3ta.com/board/11423193
Artist: Andy_R https://b3ta.com/board/11423193
December 4, 2025 at 10:04 AM
I found this when I was getting the decorations out of the loft.
Artist: Andy_R https://b3ta.com/board/11423193
Artist: Andy_R https://b3ta.com/board/11423193
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Sunfish (fecking odd fish)
Napoleon wrasse (fecking enormous fish)
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)
Saltwater crocodile
Kea
Sunfish (fecking odd fish)
Napoleon wrasse (fecking enormous fish)
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)
Saltwater crocodile
Kea
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Elephant
Platypus
Toucan
Armadillo
30-50 wild hogs
Elephant
Platypus
Toucan
Armadillo
30-50 wild hogs
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Indian peafowl
Water buffalo
American Alligator
Roseate spoonbill
Sandhill crane
Indian peafowl
Water buffalo
American Alligator
Roseate spoonbill
Sandhill crane
November 29, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Introduce yourself with five animals you've seen in the wild:
Sunfish (fecking odd fish)
Napoleon wrasse (fecking enormous fish)
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)
Saltwater crocodile
Kea
Sunfish (fecking odd fish)
Napoleon wrasse (fecking enormous fish)
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin)
Saltwater crocodile
Kea
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen -
• Manic Street Preachers (when there were four of them)
• L7 (many times)
• Stevie Wonder (actual Stevie actual Wonder)
• The Chills (we played support)
• Focus (yes there was yodelling)
• Manic Street Preachers (when there were four of them)
• L7 (many times)
• Stevie Wonder (actual Stevie actual Wonder)
• The Chills (we played support)
• Focus (yes there was yodelling)
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen —
• Prince, Koko, 2007
• Chuck Berry, Bradford, 1992
• Eels with Strings, London, 2005
• Taylor Swift, Eras Tour, Wembley, 2024
• Buddy Guy, Camden, 1999
• Prince, Koko, 2007
• Chuck Berry, Bradford, 1992
• Eels with Strings, London, 2005
• Taylor Swift, Eras Tour, Wembley, 2024
• Buddy Guy, Camden, 1999
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen —
• 2ManyDJs
• Orbital
• Oh My God It's The Church!
• Peaches
• Stirling Moss
(a lot of festival gig/sets tbh)
• 2ManyDJs
• Orbital
• Oh My God It's The Church!
• Peaches
• Stirling Moss
(a lot of festival gig/sets tbh)
November 28, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen -
• Manic Street Preachers (when there were four of them)
• L7 (many times)
• Stevie Wonder (actual Stevie actual Wonder)
• The Chills (we played support)
• Focus (yes there was yodelling)
• Manic Street Preachers (when there were four of them)
• L7 (many times)
• Stevie Wonder (actual Stevie actual Wonder)
• The Chills (we played support)
• Focus (yes there was yodelling)
Happy World Linguistics Day from Hamilton, New Zealand!
Happy World Linguistics Day from Montreal, Canada!
(I wonder how many different places we can get world linguistics day wishes from this year!)
(I wonder how many different places we can get world linguistics day wishes from this year!)
Happy World Linguistics Day from Melbourne, Australia!
November 26, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Happy World Linguistics Day from Hamilton, New Zealand!
BEING LECTURED ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT BY THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PREVENTING THERE BEING PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
November 25, 2025 at 10:11 PM
BEING LECTURED ON PROJECT MANAGEMENT BY THE PEOPLE WHO ARE PREVENTING THERE BEING PROJECT MANAGEMENT.
What do we understand food to look like, and can AI produce images that fit in with this? Well, turns out there's more crossover than I thought, but mainly because of how some food images are made.
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/you-want-t...
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/you-want-t...
'You want to imagine what this tastes like? Fuck you, says AI'
Georgina Voss on how AI-generated images impact the way we look at photographs of food. Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath.
www.vittlesmagazine.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:01 AM
What do we understand food to look like, and can AI produce images that fit in with this? Well, turns out there's more crossover than I thought, but mainly because of how some food images are made.
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/you-want-t...
www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/you-want-t...
Reposted by Kathryn
This is a great op-ed on the immense value of complete and connected bike networks but author @connorsharp.bsky.social is too modest. He wasn't just there at the celebration he helped open the Westmere to Pt Chev cycleway
November 20, 2025 at 12:15 AM
This is a great op-ed on the immense value of complete and connected bike networks but author @connorsharp.bsky.social is too modest. He wasn't just there at the celebration he helped open the Westmere to Pt Chev cycleway
Students on very fast bicycles! Or actually a fully-faired trike, and probably setting an NZ human-powered speed record, at nearly 83 kph. Not a very high one, by world standards, but they're aiming for 100... www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...
Stuff
www.stuff.co.nz
November 14, 2025 at 6:47 AM
Students on very fast bicycles! Or actually a fully-faired trike, and probably setting an NZ human-powered speed record, at nearly 83 kph. Not a very high one, by world standards, but they're aiming for 100... www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3608...
She runs an event management company. The story even mentions that it was her job skills that prompted her to jump in and help manage a difficult crowd situation. Her job is not 'mum'. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Devon mum steps in to help control crowds at Corfu Airport
Faye Williams says she was given a tannoy at the departure desk in Corfu.
www.bbc.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:16 PM
She runs an event management company. The story even mentions that it was her job skills that prompted her to jump in and help manage a difficult crowd situation. Her job is not 'mum'. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Someone somewhere is making a joke about the Overton window and given the cricket/politics content I'm suspecting it's Andy Zaltzman.
November 1, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Someone somewhere is making a joke about the Overton window and given the cricket/politics content I'm suspecting it's Andy Zaltzman.
Another spooky story for Halloween: I'm likely to do a larger share of the housework even though I'm the main breadwinner, because of being a woman in a heterosexual couple! So I get paid less for the paid work I do, and also do more unpaid work!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
BBC Radio 4 - More or Less: Behind the Stats, Is your housework split sexist?
Corinne Low explains the economics of women, men and housework
www.bbc.co.uk
October 31, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Another spooky story for Halloween: I'm likely to do a larger share of the housework even though I'm the main breadwinner, because of being a woman in a heterosexual couple! So I get paid less for the paid work I do, and also do more unpaid work!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...
Here's my spooky story for Halloween: I'm less likely to get work as a manager, and also likely to get paid substantially less for it if I do! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Female bosses earn less than men at every age
At the start of their careers, men and women earn almost the same. But by the time women reach their 30s their earnings flatten, while men's climb.
www.abc.net.au
October 31, 2025 at 9:33 AM
Here's my spooky story for Halloween: I'm less likely to get work as a manager, and also likely to get paid substantially less for it if I do! www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...
Regularly getting told off for not doing things 'right', but it turns out that just means 'not operating on the same fundamental misunderstanding'.
October 24, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Regularly getting told off for not doing things 'right', but it turns out that just means 'not operating on the same fundamental misunderstanding'.
This! Women doing engineering isn't new, and women don't have to be pioneers to do it. Exceptional, as in the exception that proves the rule? Yeah, nah, as they say.
Dr Frances Heywood #metallurgist Proudly part of history of women in metal trades in 1947 rebuffed query about #engineering being new for women by quoting 469 female blacksmiths & 322 smelters in 1840 census. @wes1919.bsky.social president 1948 d. #OTD 18 Sep 1994 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances...
September 19, 2025 at 8:04 AM
This! Women doing engineering isn't new, and women don't have to be pioneers to do it. Exceptional, as in the exception that proves the rule? Yeah, nah, as they say.
Reposted by Kathryn
Luxon himself handed me the Prime Minister's science prize last year. Let me say this in plain English: he's an idiot for running a govt who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden fund. any journo reading this can quote me on it #nzpol
September 18, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Luxon himself handed me the Prime Minister's science prize last year. Let me say this in plain English: he's an idiot for running a govt who budgeted more for AI than for the Marsden fund. any journo reading this can quote me on it #nzpol
Knitting for democracy!
September 5, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Knitting for democracy!
"It highlights the issue, though, that a bad idea communicated in a compelling way is still a bad idea." (In which a New Zealand mayoral candidate helps illustrate the difference between design and a thing that looks 'design-y'.)
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-...
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-...
AI can make anyone an architect – and that’s not a good thing
A Hastings mayoral candidate proposed a solution to a quake-prone library using AI illustration. An actual architect responds.
thespinoff.co.nz
September 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM
"It highlights the issue, though, that a bad idea communicated in a compelling way is still a bad idea." (In which a New Zealand mayoral candidate helps illustrate the difference between design and a thing that looks 'design-y'.)
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-...
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/04-...
Aaaaah! This sort of thing gives me both delight that R&D resources are being made visible and shareable, and FOMO that I'm not getting to use any of them. Anyway, you wanna science-y machine in NZ? www.kitmap.govt.nz
Home | Kitmap
Kitmap showcases a wide range of advanced Scientific infrastructure and resources available for R&D and innovation in New Zealand.
www.kitmap.govt.nz
August 28, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Aaaaah! This sort of thing gives me both delight that R&D resources are being made visible and shareable, and FOMO that I'm not getting to use any of them. Anyway, you wanna science-y machine in NZ? www.kitmap.govt.nz
Fresh from the department of 'surely we can do systems better than this?' because there's a lot of ways to do names.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
'It's messed up': Immigrants struggle with names that don't fit the system
Some migrants are changing names that do not fit standard Anglo-Saxon conventions, in order to avoid identity verification woes.
www.abc.net.au
August 27, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Fresh from the department of 'surely we can do systems better than this?' because there's a lot of ways to do names.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...
Reposted by Kathryn
Three waters has become a financial disaster for some councils. I spoke to a five-term mayor who says it has wrecked his council and the current reforms appear to be failing www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3607...
A mayor confronts the ‘ungodly’ price of three waters reform
The political battle over three waters is over, but the financial wreckage is just beginning.
www.thepress.co.nz
August 22, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Three waters has become a financial disaster for some councils. I spoke to a five-term mayor who says it has wrecked his council and the current reforms appear to be failing www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3607...
I've only ever read about these, but apparently some parts of North America put hi-vis flags by pedestrian crossings, which you're expected to carry as you walk to help cars not run you over. It boggles my mind that someone made these exist.
The perfect placement of The Ask sticker - directly on top of crossing flag instructions🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
📸 Rich Jones
📸 Rich Jones
August 22, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I've only ever read about these, but apparently some parts of North America put hi-vis flags by pedestrian crossings, which you're expected to carry as you walk to help cars not run you over. It boggles my mind that someone made these exist.