Bob LeFridge :tinoflag:

In a previous BirdSite life I was a disillusioned AI fridge, but here I'm an altogether quieter, more helpful appliance.

IRL I'm a retired filmmaker who lives in the front line of climate change... on a New Zealand beach at sea level. Born 313.2 ppm when the air was cleaner, and we weren't force fed CO2 and microplastics.

As a cynical optimist I love the peaceful Mastodon atmosphere. People are generally nicer in these parts.

:tinoflag: :tinoflag: :tinoflag: :tinoflag: :tinoflag:

Tis me: http://boblefridge.nz/
Just say no.: [#NoIndex](https://mastodon.nz/tags/NoIndex ) [#NoAI](https://mastodon.nz/tags/NoAI ) [#NoBots](https://mastodon.nz/tags/NoBots ) [#NoAISlop](https://mastodon.nz/tags/NoAISlop )

Public Key

npub1k9glzmfdrryrvdrtew62a6n9ngm6ea47lwyljz2zgra2dv44s3pq99l47g

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqstz503d5k33jpkx34uhd9wafje5dav76l0hz0ep9pyp74xk26cgsspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds4pus5j

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1k9glzmfdrryrvdrtew62a6n9ngm6ea47lwyljz2zgra2dv44s3pq99l47g

Show more details

Last Notes

2025-05-13 10:57:54 CEST

Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on film sets.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/may/13/gerard-depardieu-found-guilty-of-sexually-assaulting-two-women
#MeToo #MoiAussi #Depardieu

2025-02-17 05:54:19 CET

Southland is introducing a ‘three-strikes’ system for people who deliberately contaminate their recycling bins. Dunedin, Tauranga and Auckland already do this.
The gossip in my village today is that the weird Welshman mixed polystyrene with glass and received a first strike notice from the council. They didn't empty his bin and he was apparently on the phone complaining bitterly. He's a slow learner.
https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/recycling-rule-breakers-could-lose-bins
#NZ #Recycling #Southland

2025-02-13 02:26:45 CET

- reply

Love the little distorted bokehs. 🙏
@npub1422…pwy4 @npub1ppv…t2nj

2025-02-09 23:12:13 CET

- reply

I've just realised that my perception of velociraptors has been entirely determined by Jurassic Park.
[@sister_ratched](https://toot.community/@sister_ratched )

2025-02-09 21:59:59 CET

Here we go. Another novovirus rips through a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
Affected passengers get to enjoy the world's dirtiest, most polluting form of travel, while contemplating the life-changing experience of projectile vomiting & extreme diarrhoea.
Nice.
We're not even halfway through February and this is the sixth gastrointestinal illness outbreak on a cruise ship in 2025.
Cruise ships are still floating petri dishes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/360575016/nearly-100-ill-gastro-bug-rips-through-cruise-ship
#CruiseShips

2025-01-27 20:08:07 CET

AI dreams disrupted.
Woo woo! The companies building giant plagiarism machines have suffered a massive setback. It comes from China and it's called DeepSeek. Using a fraction of the resources of other LLMs, it’s now the most downloaded free app in the US.
China has built a better mousetrap.
That sound you can hear? That’s the AI bubble bursting.
https://www.ft.com/content/e670a4ea-05ad-4419-b72a-7727e8a6d471
#AI #NVidia #DeepSeek
1/2

2025-01-26 00:43:06 CET

French newspaper Le Monde has decided to stop sharing content on Xitter where they have 11m followers. This lengthy editorial explains their ethical decision.
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2025/01/20/fighting-for-facts-in-the-era-of-trump-and-musk_6737224_23.html
#LeMonde #Twitter #Musk

2025-01-24 20:16:55 CET

- reply

I've run my own mailserver since 1995 and remember many happy years of dealing with spam then with Gmail ID-ing all of my outgoing emails as spam. What fun!
After thirty years that's all settled down, I rarely see any spam and my email just works like it should. So I recommend running your own mailserver to anyone with an abnormal tolerance of server hassles & thirty years to spare.
@npub1534…6fct @npub1lq6…nf7e @npub1etd…zs3a

2025-01-22 02:49:01 CET

- reply

Only a few hours later, Stuff has done a rewrite on the story and it's not paywalled.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/dunedin-publican-attends-donald-trumps-historic-second-inauguration-in-freezing-us/CD4QXLYAOZFLVJM6LGXF5D33KY/

2025-01-22 00:11:42 CET

I'm always surprised when kiwi business people out themselves as Trump supporters.
Today's knob-of-the-week is Michael McCarrigan who owns the Duke of Wellington pub in Dunedin -- the old Wharf Hotel. He flew to Washington for the orange coronation and ended up standing in the cold with thousands of other MAGA supporters.
Silly man could've saved money by just tattooing "Not a critical thinker" on his forehead. Numpty!
(Paywalled)
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/world/inauguration-%E2%80%98epic%E2%80%99-adventure-dunedinite
#Dunedin #Hospo #DukeOfWellington

2025-01-21 19:09:03 CET

Morena New Zealand. Otepoti is about to have its third sunny day *in a row*. I wouldn't say this is unprecedented, but it makes a pleasant change.
May the sun smile upon you, wherever you may be.

2025-01-20 00:19:23 CET

- reply

And for most of them, social media feeds that bubble and maintains the delusion.
[@sister_ratched](https://toot.community/@sister_ratched ) @npub1hpe…v47a

2025-01-09 02:08:47 CET

- reply

May all of your wishes come true and welcome to the club. 🥳
[@sister_ratched](https://toot.community/@sister_ratched ) @npub1l84…h0y2

2025-01-07 06:23:01 CET

There's been a magnitude 6.8 (or 7.1) earthquake in Tibet. Reuters reports that dozens of people have died.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/7/earthquake-hits-tibets-shigatse-city-tremors-felt-in-nepals-kathmandu
#Earthquake #Tibet

2025-01-06 02:23:28 CET

- reply

It looks like the Haaretz story has been pulled.
"Error 403 Forbidden"
@npub1y5s…673k

2024-12-29 20:53:20 CET

- reply

Jeez, "... several weeks." Isn't climate change full of surprises.
@npub1rdz…7cqs @npub1san…jgxu

2024-12-04 07:00:51 CET

This website shows you what Google AI learns from your photographs. The level of detail is quite amazing. The site is owned by a former Google engineer who is trying to put people off storing photos on Google's servers.
I fed it some Seymour and just look what it produced.
"The man in the image appears to be Caucasian, middle-aged, and of seemingly average economic status."
https://theyseeyourphotos.com/
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/593/004/327/146/330/original/a201c77fc965cd00.jpg

2024-12-02 04:19:42 CET

BIRD FLU REPORTING
Biosecurity NZ advises anyone seeing three or more sick or dead wild birds in a group, to report it immediately to the exotic pest and disease hotline on:
𝟎𝟖𝟎𝟎 𝟖𝟎 𝟗𝟗 𝟔𝟔
#Biosecurity #NZ

2024-11-30 01:55:52 CET

If you earn over $180k pa, Luxon's coalition are about to remove some of your employment rights. Specifically, you'll be unable to raise an unjustified dismissal claim.
This appears to give employers the right to sack higher paid workers at will without having to worry about due process or fair play.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/360504772/high-income-workers-unable-claim-unjustifiable-dismissal-thanks-new-policy
#NZPol #LabourRelations

2024-11-28 20:49:49 CET

Black Friday tip: Don't buy anything and save an amazing 100%.
#BlackFriday

2024-11-19 20:04:10 CET

- reply

Jeez. Napier City councillors have voted unanimously to keep this soggy piece of flood-prone land on their list of sites "suitable for future housing development."
Unanimously.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360491240/councils-odds-over-whether-flood-prone-land-suitable-housing

2024-11-19 11:14:42 CET

The mayor of Barcelona plans to phase out all 10,000 Airbnbs operating in the city by 2028 and return the homes to the local rental market. The city gets 32m tourists every year and most locals are sick of it.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/19/barcelona-mayor-defends-ban-tourist-flats-drastic-action-needed-cut-housing-costs
#Airbnb #Barcelona #OverTourism

2024-11-18 03:50:47 CET

The South Island hīkoi has arrived in Picton, heading for Wellington tomorrow.
:tinoflag: :tinoflag: :tinoflag:
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/south-island-h%C4%ABkoi-marches-picton
#hīkoi #NZPol #ToituTeTiriti

2024-11-18 01:57:51 CET

- reply

Just three people voted to include the site on the list in the first place: Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and Napier councillor Maxine Boag.
Let's see how supportive they remain.
2/2

2024-11-18 01:56:17 CET

In Napier, a developer wants to build 660 "affordable" houses in a flood-prone area on Riverbend Road. This 2022 photo shows the flooded site (in the foreground) which is deeper than adjacent properties.
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has voted unanimously to exclude Riverbend Road from future development due to severe flood risk.
However Napier and Hastings councils could still approve the development.
1/2 🧵
#Napier #Riverbend #NZ #Flooding
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/501/165/120/814/785/original/fea21358a3d853bd.jpg

2024-11-17 01:29:02 CET

My little companion Meow passed away this morning. His final hours were filled with pats and scritches behind the ears and whispered words of adventures yet to come, until he drifted off into a really big sleep.
Goodbye little friend. 💔
#Caturday
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/495/410/701/738/029/original/250859aca7eee1f9.jpg

2024-11-09 02:28:21 CET

- reply

An Amsterdam local speaks out.
https://www.tiktok.com/@martydoesnotplay
(via @npub1yyr…lyn2)
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-09 02:21:18 CET

- reply

AlJazeera have what appears to be a balanced commentary, as usual.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/8/israeli-football-fans-clash-with-protesters-in-amsterdam
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-08 21:38:44 CET

- reply

Yep. There were over 200 deaths in the Spanish floods, but I guess that figure pales into insignificance for Israelis when your own country has already slaughtered more than 50,000 Gazans.
Whatever happened to basic human dignity? Zionists disgust me.
@npub1qnm…pxsz @npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-08 21:34:36 CET

- reply

More confirmation that police targeted mainly Moroccans and left the Zionist troublemakers alone.
https://todon.nl/@joenepraat/113448801597084168
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-08 21:29:12 CET

- reply

Before the game there was a moment of silence for victims of the Spanish floods.
"The Israelis disrupted the silence with chants, whistles and fireworks."
https://mstdn.ca/@dbattistella/113448768070102327
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-08 20:56:43 CET

- reply

In Jerusalem the Israelis detained two French people who have diplomatic immunity. They were soon released, but the Israelis knew they were breaching protocol, and didn't care.
Like the football thugs in Amsterdam, Israelis everywhere are emboldened by the success of their country's ongoing genocide.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-police-briefly-arrest-two-french-officials-unacceptable-move-foreign-2024-11-07/
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft @npub1wxc…7e02

2024-11-08 19:59:35 CET

- reply

The BBC is duly reporting that the protests were "anti-semitic". The poor old Beeb will never muster the courage to admit that half the world is opposed to Israel's genocide.
@npub1gjr…fryu @npub17a9…7kft

2024-11-02 11:02:21 CET

Janey Godley has died from cervical cancer. She was only 63. R.I.P. to a very funny lady.
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/nov/02/scottish-comedian-janey-godley-dies
#Scotland #JaneyGodley

2024-10-27 21:06:48 CET

An Otago man has been jailed for 26 months for manufacturing firearms using a 3-D printer.
His defence that he didn't know it was illegal fell on deaf ears, given his previous conviction for aggravated robbery and prior gang involvement.
While others had been sentenced for *attempting* to manufacture weapons, this is the first time someone's been convicted for actually manufacturing firearms.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/jailed-3-d-printing-firearms
#NZ #3d #Guns

2024-10-27 05:50:29 CET

Candace Owens -- the far-right, Trump-supporting, anti-trans, Holocaust-denying conspiracy theorist planned a speaking tour downunder. It was titled "Candace Owens Live! Australian and New Zealand Tour".
Sensibly, Australia has just banned her.
How will NZ's cooker coalition treat her application? With the Aussie leg of her grift cancelled, hopefully she'll just stay home.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/27/australia-rejects-visa-application-by-rightwing-us-pundit-candace-owens
#CandaceOwens #AUPol #NZPol

2024-10-25 10:35:06 CEST

In good news, a record 33 fluffy albatross chicks have fledged and left Taiaroa Head on Dunedin Harbour for a ten year adventure at sea. I wonder if their wings get tired?
Thanks to each bird having a fitted GPS, DOC can track them worldwide. The first fledglings are already 9,000km away off the coast of Chile. Go, big birds!
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/fantastic-breeding-season-albatross
#Albatross #Dunedin #TairoaHead

2024-10-23 20:39:37 CEST

Six months ago Kawarau Gibbston outside Queenstown finally received dark sky certification.
Now that certification is in danger after Luxon's losers fast-tracked a plan to plonk a complete village of 3,000 people, right at the bottom of Coronet Peak.
While this development will benefit Rod Drury and a few other rich listers who always want more money, their greed will add to the ongoing environmental destruction of the Queenstown area.
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/queenstown/fear-dark-sky-certification-risk-if-village-goes-ahead
#NZPol #FastTrack #Queenstown

2024-10-08 11:00:09 CEST

Another large ski resort in France has announced it's closing for good. After 85 years, Alpe du Grand Serre has cited decreasing snowfall as the main reason for the closure.
The villages making up Alpe du Grand Serre are at 1,368 metres and the highest lift goes to 2,184m.
For comparison, Coronet Peak base building is 1,187m while the peak of the Peak is 1,649m.
Climate change... coming to a ski-field near you.
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2024/oct/07/large-french-alpine-ski-resort-to-close-in-face-of-shrinking-snow-season
#ClimateChange France #Skiing

2024-09-24 01:49:20 CEST

- reply

I've done a bit of sound recording for TV and can testify that lavalier mics taped inside a shirt (with a wee loop of gaffer tape) sound best. The sound is much cleaner with almost zero wind noise. It's a pro trick few people know about AND it hides the mic.
To anyone hand-holding a lavalier. What kind of wanker are you?

2024-09-21 07:03:18 CEST

- reply

YouTube asked me to sign in to prove my age. I don't have a Google account so fuck them.

2024-09-11 08:48:44 CEST

- reply

If, perchance, any immorally wealthy persons were to follow through on the tired old threat* to leave NZ because of a wealth tax, then that's surely a bonus. Those who don't pay their fair share are a nett drain on society.
Even better, if they all left, we wouldn't need to eat them.
* brought to you by the Atlas Network & their local Associates
#EatTheRich

2024-09-10 05:39:13 CEST

- reply

Yep. The term surged in popularity around lockdown time, when all the cookers came out of hiding and inflicted their mass stupidity on the world.

2024-09-09 23:49:02 CEST

Cooker alert!
The Oreti Community Board has been taken over by cookers. A minor revolt in August saw Katie Allan become the new chair.
She's on record criticising the regional development agency Great South, saying they were obsessed with "premature climate-change modelling".
She has no time for Maori and accuses Local Government NZ of having "sold ratepayers out to a racist elite".
Imagine local govt infested with cookers. Watch this space.
https://www.odt.co.nz/southland/%E2%80%98disastrous%E2%80%99-southland-board-chair-belittles-own-council
#NZ #Cookers #Southland

2024-09-07 04:42:14 CEST

Brazilian muso Sérgio Mendes has died following a battle with long-Covid.
For years "Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66" were synonymous with bossa nova. Here's one of their videos -- 'Mas Que Nada' from 1966.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zu0iDvCjgk
Guardian obit:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/sep/06/brazilian-musician-sergio-mendes-dies-aged-83
#SérgioMendes

2024-09-06 00:56:05 CEST

- reply

Note to others: I blocked the entire domain because it's only a bridge between Nostr and the Fediverse. A spammer's dream.

2024-09-06 00:19:59 CEST

- reply

Toodles spammer.

2024-09-01 02:18:26 CEST

Look at this little fluffball. The fairy tern is NZ's most endangered bird with fewer than 35 adult birds remaining. RNZ looks at efforts to save these little cuties.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/526703/meet-new-zealand-s-rarest-bird-and-those-who-are-hoping-to-save-it
#NZ #FairyTern
https://mastodon.nz/system/media_attachments/files/113/059/406/095/064/632/original/c60556a2a9d881d5.png

2024-08-31 23:39:23 CEST

The Stuff headline reads "Famous Japanese virtual singer Hatsune Miku to make NZ debut".
One punter says, “I am so excited to hear the songs live.”
"Live."
People will pay to see a "virtual" singer perform at Spark Arena. I'm sorry, but is there a generation which doesn't understand the concept and joy of "live" music?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/culture/350394256/famous-japanese-virtual-singer-hatsune-miku-make-nz-debut
#Vocaloid

2024-08-17 11:48:46 CEST

A charter plane carrying JD Vance made an emergency landing in Milwaukee after a door seal malfunction. And guess what... it was a Boeing 737.
"A mere coincidence", say Boeing fans.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/350382167/jd-vances-plane-makes-emergency-landing-after-door-malfunction

2024-08-11 00:51:37 CEST

- reply

With genocide, there are no "goodies & baddies" -- only perpetrators and victims.
None of the situational complexity overrules the fact that the world is witnessing a horrific genocide, nor the fact that the current US administration is willingly supporting it. Without US weapons, Netanyahu would be impotent.
If I was American of course I'd vote for Harris & Walz because the alternative is the end of democracy. But ignore an active genocide? Sorry, can't do that.

2024-08-11 00:00:19 CEST

- reply

The wave of positivity fuelling the Harris camp is indeed a wonderful thing and Walz will be perfect VP. They're inspiring and I have no doubt will trounce Trump.
However the US-backed Israeli genocide is still taking place every single day. Yesterday the Israelis bombed a school and murdered over 100 people, claiming there was a ‘high probability’ a PIJ commander was inside.
How can you expect people to put aside their disgust of their country supporting an active genocide?

2024-08-05 00:18:05 CEST

Seventeen people die every year in New Zealand after being hit by a train. This video of a recent North Island crash shows just how inattentive some drivers can be. (This driver survives).
I don't know about you, but I'm always alert when going anywhere near tracks where giant steel transporters weighing hundreds of tonnes have the right of way. I don't understand how some drivers can be so blasé.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/jesus-jesus-car-driven-tracks-front-train
#NZ #Trains

2024-07-31 09:25:39 CEST

- reply

Hold onto your hats!
"Nobby is the diminutive form of the name Norbert. It is also a nickname most commonly used in English for those with the surname Clark or Clarke."
I think we should call him 'Norbert' from now on.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobby

2024-07-31 08:10:34 CEST

Racist dickhead and Invercargill mayor Nobby Clark appeared to offer his support to racist dickhead and DCC councillor Lee Vandervis, after the latter was censured for (yet more) anti-Māori remarks.
However Nobby has clarified that the email in question was actually written by his partner, Karen. If he's not deflecting blame, he's just outed his partner as another racist dickhead.
Birds of a feather, and all that.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/523733/nobby-clark-defends-partner-over-response-to-councillor-lee-vandervis-breach-of-conduct
#Vandervis #NobbyClark