TagMeInSkipIGotThis

@TagMeInSkipIGotThis@lemmy.nz

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TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

If you go read up on the history of central banks using interest rate hikes to generate recessions to tame inflation its pretty damn consistent that they often end up overshooting and making things worse than they needed to be to achieve the same result.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Just to add to that, im not much of an economist or anything but my understanding is there's 2 main levers that can be used - interest rates (monetary policy?) and tax rates (fiscal policy).

Its become orthodox to use the former & ignore the latter, partly because of voter backlash & it can be a bit complicated. But as far as I understand it given sovereign governments can print money & borrow when things are bad to generate economic activity the flipside would be to tax it back out and save it to reduce the supply of money chasing goods.

Some folks argue that would be a tidier way of doing things, who knows?!

https://www.slowboring.com/p/tax-increases-are-the-best-cure-for
https://www.corporateknights.com/category-finance/seven-ways-to-tackle-inflation-without-raising-interest-rates/

AI for school tutoring, instant medical analysis part of NZ's future - Judith Collins ( www.rnz.co.nz )

Cabinet Minister Judith Collins wants the government to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI), starting with the health and education sectors where it could be used to assess mammogram results and provide AI tutors for children....

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

"AI" for health is already known to be very problematic, and nobody wants to see a 10 years down the track commission of inquiry about why some women were not diagnosed correctly from their mammograms.

The chatbots Judith is talking about for tutoring children regularly hallucinate and come up with such stupid things as cooking recipes for petrol spaghetti and other reckless trash. Sounds like a fast way to destroy the education of a bunch of children, but all the rich kids will still be in their private schools with low pupil numbers and enjoying private tutors so why would Judith care.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

The more I see & hear, the more I think its all grift.

Ie the crypto bros left their coins for nfts, and now they've tanked they're finding something else to burn the planet down in order to scam suckers.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

I'd have to see that in action before I pass judgement but given LLMs predilection for hallucination and the vagaries of how humans report tech faults I would be surprised if it was significantly more accurate or effective than a human. After all if its working out if there's a known issue then essentially its not much beyond a script at that point and in that case do you want to trade the unpredictability of what an LLM might recommend vs something (human or otherwise) that will follow the script?

Even if an LLM were an effective level 0 helpdesk it would still need to overcome the user's cultural expectation (in many places) that they can pick up the phone and speak to somebody about their problem. Having done that job a long long time ago, diagnosing tech problems for people who don't understand tech can be a fairly complex process. You have to work through their lack of understanding, lack of technical language. You sometimes have to pick up on cues in their hesitations, frustrated tone of voice etc.

I'm sure an LLM could synthesis that experience 80% of the time, but depending on the tech you're dealing with you could be missing some pretty major stuff in the 20%, especially if an LLM gives bad instructions, or closes without raising it etc. So you then need to pay someone to monitor the LLM and watch what its doing - at which point you've hired your level 1 tech again anyway.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

That's what excel is; code for people who don't know they're writing code - and its clearly a bad way of doing most of the things people do with it.

But on the flipside you have to give it props for getting people a foot into programming, even if they don't realise that's what they're doing (and folks who use actual languages and lines of text to achieve the same thing don't accept it for what it kinda is).

I think you could make an argument that Excel is the world's most used/successful IDE ;)

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

There's a follow up article on RNZ I think talking about this a bit more. One of the ideas someone had is that it could be great in health because they could use AI chatbots to talk to patients in their own language.

Which would be a great service for sure; but like, translation tools already exist and are likely to be better than anything branded as "AI" comes up with for a long time and there's always like translation services with humans we could just pay to do it without burning the planet.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

This sort of thing is pretty consistent with the anecdotal rumours about Luxon's interactions with pilots and other staff while heading up Air NZ. Which sorta pushes those stories from the probably just made up, to actually maybe they are legit after all. Some of the scuttlebutt stories basically alleged he was a total a-hole; which, yeah I can see it.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

I mean a souped up compensator Ford Ranger aint cheap is it!

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Its really not that impossible to tell. There's loads of work done over years by historians and lawyers that have helped to bring understanding to the document.

Bear in mind a treaty is effectively a contract, and the Te Reo version was the one signed by the vast majority of Iwi. And even if they had signed both, my non-lawyer understanding is that international falls on the side of the one in the indigenous language in situations like this.

So, now its 2024, the agreement has to be interpreted to come across into English law language norms; and understanding of historical context and meanings of terms matters, that's why its a bit fuzzy but that's just the way it is. Act saying its not clear is more a sign that they reject the consensus that has emerged among experts than that there is no clarity.

The principles were clarified. Act just disagree with them so want to change the principles. Partly that's libertarian principle, but its also just race baiting electioneering. Changing the principles to what Act wants might remove ambiguity and make it clear but its done unilaterally and effectively reneges on the Crown's commitment to the treaty.

If you want to know why Maori might be angry about that, try telling your bank you have changed your understanding of your responsibilities on a loan document and won't be meeting their expectations anymore.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

A lot of folks don't understand that the recent more moderate approach by the Crown is still not following the Te Reo version of the treaty which means the approach still does not meet international legal standards for which version matters.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

It would just be a different representative body negotiating the relationship with the pakeha crown I guess. Its entirely their choice as to whether they want to represent as individual iwi or as a whole in that relationship.

I think about it like it seems pretty normal that at an official level the NZ Government talks to the Australian Federal Government, not to the Melbourne mayor :)

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Just as a suggestion; because its interesting stuff. Maybe have a read of some of the work the Waitangi Tribunal has produced over the years.

What's been happening in recent years is Act, Don Brash and others approaching the issue with race baiting sound bites. Its mostly vibes and bad faith.

Compare it to the huge amount of research and historical context the Tribunal has put into their work.

https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/news/report-on-stage-1-of-the-te-paparahi-o-te-raki-inquiry-released-2/
https://waitangitribunal.govt.nz/assets/WT-Part-1-Report-on-stage-1-of-the-Te-Paparahi-o-Te-Raki-inquiry.pdf

In any case, to understand where Maori are coming from, its important to remember this finding: "... rangatira who signed te Tiriti o Waitangi in February 1840 did not cede sovereignty to the British Crown.

Ie, if sovereignty wasn't ceded back in 1840 why should any Maori give two hoots what Seymour thinks?

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

That I don't know, though my perspective is that's up to them to work out and as Pākehā i'll have to learn how to negotiate that relationship if/when it ever happens.

That's not a position i've always held, but over the years as i've read books like 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' and other stories about the dispossession of indigenous people i've come to a much more complicated understanding of the price that was paid for the privilege I enjoy. It's uncomfortable, but that's a minor inconvenience compared to the cost others paid.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

This is the legal equivalent of "you cut, I choose".

I love this summary of that latin :)

Investors may see biggest impact of Reserve Bank's lending limits ( www.rnz.co.nz )

The Reserve Bank says that from 1 July, banks will only be able to lend about 20 percent of their new lending to owner-occupier borrowers with a debt-to-income ratio of more than six. That means, if your household earns a combined $100,000, your loan will be limited to $600,000....

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Yeah that's what interests me, given the funding they've raked in from property related interests over the last couple of years they are quite beholden to that lobby.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Just butting in to suggest the Presso.

If you get cycloned and lose power, but have a coffee addiction - then something that can make near Espresso without electricity is a boon!

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Ive had mine for 10 years and use it daily. Makes pretty good espresso, not as good as a good barista would, but good enough.

https://presso.co.nz/shop/hand-powered-coffee-makers/rok-gc-espresso-maker-silver/

They are pricey given they just do a black coffee and all though.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Yeah I converted mine to the new version - they had a really good guarantee when I bought mine as well which was 10 years, if something breaks send a photo & we'll send a replacement.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Nobody trying to make money on YouTube is going to stop click bait; its a necessary evil to get your videos fed by the algorithm. It sucks, but its here to stay until the algorithm starts punishing it.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Its not just more jobs for more money over in Aus; working conditions are much much better over there thanks to their union movements maintaining influence while ours were deliberately undermined by the 80s "Labour" government, then the 90s National governments.

The fair pay act which Nactional Fist are scrapping would have finally started to bring the balance back into employment negotiations - and while some of it would have been to cause pay to go up, a lot of the focus would have been on ensuring consistent work conditions across industries.

Alas that's gone now and the gap between us & Aus will just continue to grow.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

A reminder to anybody that isn't aware, that the structure of our economy requires a level of unemployment to keep wage demands low and combat inflation (even when the bulk of that inflation is imported through overseas cost & profiteering).

So the economy guarantees some people won't have jobs, and this government aims to be punitive to those people who don't have jobs; including the people the same government is actively forcing out of employment.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Common enough; but I wonder if this is a symptom of new generation not keeping up with attempts to reduce emissions. Less coal/gas power generation & less wood-fired heating combining with a cold snap.

But the intent of a grid notice like that is to encourage generators to turn on more supply I think - its only a grid emergency notice that indicates supply isn't meeting demand.

The other thing that'll happen is where areas have ripple control they'll turn off hot water & street lights & whatnot to reduce demand as well.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Or storage for our more intermittent renewables such as wind & solar. Pumped Hydro would have been useful early this morning for instance (and is what lots of places in the rest of the world are doing).

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Its hard not to wonder if they're also held to a different standard; there's no way a Green candidate who beat the shit out of a younger kid with a bed leg and was credibly accused of being a bully later in life would be allowed to stand for election.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Yeah it comes down to energy density and time to replace expended energy. That's why the most successful electric trucks i've seen basically go to a depot where the entire battery pack is swapped out for a pre-charged one.

Of course there's a whole other piece of calculus that is ignored in New Zealand - and that is energy efficiency. Reducing the size of, and need for, long distance trucking by utilising far more fuel efficient rail & coastal shipping would also reduce emissions; and would allow us to decrease maintenance and new build costs for roads.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Yup; and the previous increases to size & weight of freight trucks bought in by National governments is a large factor in the cost of building and maintaining roads now. While at the same time we continue to let most of our rail network degenerate and have done nothing to try to recover coastal shipping from when it was destroyed in the 80s to de-power the maritime unions.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

You wouldn't even need to be in your 80s; lifestylers just shouldn't keep rams.

Supermarket facial recognition trial: Rotorua mother’s ‘discrimination’ ordeal ( www.rnz.co.nz )

A Māori mum misidentified as a trespassed "thief" at a Rotorua supermarket trialling facial recognition technology says she felt "racially discriminated" against and embarrassed during the "horrible" birthday incident....

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

If you use any of the rewards cards at supermarkets they've got lots more than just your address.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

Just wanting to add, that apart from being very angered by the supermarket's in general & their use of this BS technology; I think I kinda want to try chops with fried rice.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

I always have a jar of doubanjiang now - it gives such a deep savory spicy kick when cooking. I think some new world / pak'n'saves carry the Lee Kum Kee jar which i've used before and is ok but not quite as good as some of the other jars i've tried (I usually just pick one at random from my local grocer). At a pinch you could probably sub gochujang, its not the same but does a similar job. One thing I really like about this youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@ChineseCookingDemystified) is they try to show as authentic a recipe as possible but almost always include substitutions for things they guess aren't readily available in the west.

The other thing i've started having on stock are these packs of sichuan ma la hot-pot base. They're like a lump of chilli and spices and oil mixed together, i've used them as instant flavour for an otherwise fairly plain stir fry as well as a flavour hit to stews and braises. They have that spicy & numbing thing going on obviously so not everyone's cup of tea.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

I'll take the bait (slightly).

We probably don't need to build rail in a lot of places; just use what is there which would limit it the cost to an investment in some railcars and staff.

Eg a feeder service from Waipukurau -> Napier airport (or even up to Esk Valley before heading back) could get passengers off the expressway which can get very congested at peak times and is probably cheaper than 4 laning it.

I'm not as familiar with where the rail goes down in Christchurch but a similar service running from Burnham through Chch to Rangiora could be worth investigating.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

The rail is already there, and already maintained, so its not really a consideration. Both of those routes i've mentioned are already in use for a small number of daily freight runs and due to their weight in comparison require far more maintenance than some relatively lighter passenger carriages would. Road also costs a lot of money to build, and increasingly more money to maintain - both of those calculations increase the more lanes a road has too. I wouldn't expect the Hawkes Bay Regional Council to have to fund all of that themselves, especially as the idea is to mode shift vehicles off State Highway 2, which is central government funded.

More cycleways is always great; but a railcar set that can do >100km/h on a route like Waipukurau to Napier with capacity for say 100-120 commuters or shoppers is 100 vehicles worth of congestion and pollution off the road. Its also a distance that almost nobody is going to commute on a bicycle, particularly when the weather is wet and/or cold. If it proved popular enough you can expand the set to carry more people or add additional service times as well and the beauty of that stretch of rail is that originally there were a lot of small stations built which were closed in the 80s when the areas they served became less than villages. Some of those areas have subsequently become quite popular for lifestylers so over time considering opening the stations back up would be a possibility.

Its easy to make passenger rail look impossible if you try to make it so the passenger services have to fund the entirety of the rail infrastructure - but NZ has always run freight and passenger on the same rail and in the past used to run far more services than we do now. I'll concede building passenger rail is an overly expensive proposition for the population outside of Auckland, but my point is that in many places we don't need to the rail is already there and once its there you don't need 5 million people to make it thrive - see Wellington's commuter rail network.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis ,

A successful mass transit system almost necessitates being mostly separated from private vehicles; there are plenty of cities around the world that are 500k or smaller which have metro systems so there really isn't much of an excuse for Auckland to not have one.

I think the smallest I can find on a quick google today is Lausanne which is only 150k people but has a separated rubber tired metro of some kind. Ghent is another small one with a mostly separated tram system, Rennes has a mostly underground system and is for an urban area of around 360k.

But we don't even need to look overseas, Wellington Region has 4 1/2 lines for only 550k or so people. 2 of those are fully dedicated to passengers, and one of the others is almost entirely passenger as well. Mixed Freight & Passenger works in NZ, we've been doing it for decades.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis OP ,

Yeah they definitely saw through that BS very quickly and started writing articles pointing it out. I'm not sure how much it was WCC's vs that panel that they were calling out though.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis OP ,

I buy that with Utes; back in the 2000s and 2010s. But early on when SUVs were becoming vogue it was definitely a perception of safety, particularly for the urban buyers using it for around town, school and sports runs etc.

Nowadays a twin cab ute has fairly well taken over that spot, particularly for urban drivers but whether perceived safety is as much of a selling point for them I'm willing to concede.

Sure, a Leaf might weight something similar to a Ranger; but the big difference in danger from a Ranger is its height and particularly driving around town poor visibility for pedestrians.

And in any case, I'm not barking up much of a tree, read the study - it's pretty clear that Utes & SUVs in that study were a lot more dangerous. Also note I tied safety fears to SUVs, not Utes.

TagMeInSkipIGotThis OP ,

And to add one more thing, your weight comparison on Leaf vs Ranger doesn't ring true to a quick google. Kerb weight on the leaf shows up approximately 1570kg, looking at drive.com.au stats, there's no 2023 Ranger less than 2200kg. And then perhaps more importantly, Gross Vehicle Mass is just under 2000kg vs 3200kg+

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