https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/24/the-se...d-seymour/

This article by Sir Geoffrey Palmer makes for sobering reading:
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/23/geoffr...propriety/

This is why social media is so fucked up

Quote:Rage-baiting, or rage-farming, has a new wave of content creators and social media influencers not only inciting rage online - but profiting off viewers' anger too.
At its core, rage-baiting is a manipulative tactic used by content creators to elicit outrage from their viewers. The idea is that if you're angry, you're more likely to comment, share, react, and ultimately increase the online engagement of that video, which helps content creators drive more traffic to their channels and earn more revenue.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5245...your-anger

Suddenly tonight I can't get on any news sites,
Stuff.co.nz
BBC.com
Etc and other sites too.

This is using Firefox on win11 and edge as well as Firefox mobile on my phone.

Anyone else struck this tonight?

I even tried turning off unlock to no avail.

Certain to please some of their ill informed supporters, the 'crackdown' is already getting it badly wrong.

A woman unable to work for health reasons was told to supply an up to date CV...


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5259...to-date-cv


A former public servant had their benefit cut after one missed appointment. You do have to wonder why it is that the benefit can be cut immediately (in stages - & that after contact from thre person) without a problem but takes weeks to reinstate - it looks very like palin old nastiness


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525...rvant-says

This is a follow on from my previous post "USB won't show content".

I posed my problem on elevenforum. It was suggested that I probably had a corrupt user account, create a new user account and see if that worked. I have another user account set up on this PC for my wife. Using that I am able to see the USB content as soon as I attach the USB. 

So, how do I rebuild my user account?

Some time ago I converted two Acer Chromebook 317's to Linux Mint, then to MX-23.3. They work well but tended to overheat.
 I have now discovered "BookwormPup64 10.0.5". It is Debian 12 built on Puppy Linux. Is seriously fast, stable, runs at an average of 30c, supports JasperLake audio. It is 1.8GB installed. No problem installing it, except that I had to set up the SSD manually because it put Grub in the wrong place. Another small problem was that the keyboard lighting was off. I booted it on a Mint Cinnamon USB, turned the lighting on.

Its only surprising that they needed a survey, when this has been fairly wdely known for years. I remember Oscar Kightley comenting years ago that he used to carry a laminated sheet with all the answers ready when he was pulled over again; 'Yes officer, this is my car', 'Yes officer here's my licence' etc. etc.

Apparenty, police are finding it 'hard to hear'.

Mark Mitchell clearly doesn't agree that there's racism within the police.


https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5257...ral-racism

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5258...ficers-say

I'm out of practice. I have a column chart, along the bottom is the default...1,2,3,4 5, label. How do I make this something else?
I want it to be Am, PM, AM, PM.
Which is actually listed in one of my data columns.

It is Libre Excel not MS, although it shouldn't matter...but I have forgotten my chart making.

received this email from Electric Kiwi today 
Sorry about the layout being a bit messed up.

Seems to me this sort of a price increase is relying on loyalty which I am not sure exists in the market these days...  

Not far off a 50% price increase across the board.  I like supporting the small players, but loyalty only goes so far - this feels like a death knell for Electric Kiwi and probably the other retail only suppliers...

Quote:Important information about your electricity prices
 
 

 

 
We are writing today with some news regarding your power prices and the electricity market.
 
Unfortunately, wholesale costs are soaring like we have rarely seen in New Zealand.
 
What’s going on?
 
You may have seen in the news, and via our public comments that wholesale electricity conditions have recently worsened.
 
On the 18th of July we stopped accepting new electricity customers. When we made this decision wholesale prices had increased by 48% over six months and we’ve seen no improvement in the market since then.
 
As you can see in the below visual, the situation in New Zealand right now is pretty severe.
 

 
Why is wholesale rising so much?
 
We have been saying for years now that market reform is needed in order to stop the market failure and resulting mega-profits for the large gentailers in our industry.
 
In 2023 we raised a complaint with the Commerce Commission regarding misuse of market power in New Zealand energy markets. The Commission agreed there was an issue but passed responsibility for resolution to the Electricity Authority who have the policy tools to quickly enact market reform.
 
Commissioner John Small1 has stated “The wholesale electricity market is of real concern…we think it'll be much faster [to work with the Electricity Authority] than dragging four or five big companies through the courts for three years and then be told that three years ago what you did was illegal. That doesn't solve anything”.
 
Yet what has the Electricity Authority done to address this urgent problem? A year on and nothing has happened.
 
Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, the big four Gentailers - Mercury, Contact, Meridian and Genesis - are making record profits. In FY22 they made $1.9bn, in FY23 they made $2.2bn and all indications are that they’re on track for even larger profits in FY24.
 
New Zealand is in a great position to provide green energy at reasonable prices for Kiwi households and businesses. It will take innovation, integrity, and a market that fosters competition to get us there.
 
Price change notice
 
From 20th September 2024 your prices will change. The average cost increase for customers in your area is 128 cents per day. But you can reduce your costs by moving more power off-peak.
 
We hate doing this, and completely understand if you choose to seek better prices elsewhere. If you are looking around, we would suggest you use Powerswitch. This is a free site run by Consumer NZ that compares electricity prices.
 
Your prices are shown below (excluding GST):
 

Existing

From 20th September 2024

Fixed cost per day:

Current: $1.24

                                                    From 20th September 2024: $0.99
Usage cost per kWh:

Peak: $0.2997
Off-peak shoulder: $0.2098
Off-peak night: $0.1498

From 20th September 2024

Peak: $0.4553
Off-peak shoulder: $0.2732
Off-peak night: $0.2277

 

Peak usage charges apply weekdays 7am-9am and 5pm-9pm. Off-peak night charges apply every day from 11pm-7am. Off-peak shoulder charges apply weekdays 9am-5pm and 9pm-11pm, and weekends 7am-11pm.
 
The amount of change you see on your bill will depend on your usage and how much you use during your Hour of Power and cheaper off-peak times.
 
Simple ways to do this include running the dishwasher, dryer or washing machine off-peak. But there’s a lot more you can do too. We’ve created a handy guide that will help you become a master of load shifting.
 
Electric Kiwi entered the market to make things better for Kiwis. We will continue to advocate for the change that is needed to get this industry back on track.
 
Thanks for being an Electric Kiwi customer. If you have questions for us please reach out.
 
Cheers,
 
Luke Blincoe
Chief Executive
Electric Kiwi
 
1John Small, "Nine to Noon" interview by Kathryn Ryan, Radio New Zealand, July 24, 2024.