RobiNZ Personal Blog

End of Life Choice Act is now law

An important day in NZ today; End of Life Choice Act takes effect in New Zealand | Radio NZ The End of Life Choice Act has come into effect one year after nearly two-thirds of New Zealanders voted in favour of it in a referendum... The End of Life Choice Act 2019 gives me the right, with lots of conditions, to legally decide when I die. To be able to ask for assisted dying, a person must have a terminal illness that is likely to end their life within six months, and must be competent to make an informed decision.... Read more →

The Vaccination Chronicles: if only

Given the recent, unnecessary, measles outbreak in New Zealand I think Richard Saunders documentary deserves more coverage. It was made in, and references, Australia but the message is universal: “The Vaccination Chronicles: if only” can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTprFOmIjIg, and permission is given for public screenings. The production, a personal endeavour by Mr Saunders, was made possible with the financial and personal support of many like-minded people from all over the world. So far it is subtitled in English, Dutch, Turkish, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Danish and German. “The stories of people who saw firsthand the effects of vaccine preventable diseases.... Read more →

The thing that made the things for which there is no known maker

“The thing that made the things for which there is no known maker” is brilliant: Credit Peter @ NZARH for sharing. Read more →

Condolences to the crew of Atlas Air Flight 3591

A few weeks ago I ordered two new Flying Spaghetti Monster badges for my car(s). One for the new(er) Abarth and a replacement as a decade of NZ UV had got to the finish on the Bravo one. They were supposed to arrive about a week ago but I suspect may have been lost in a tragic accident. I was listening to a local aviation podcast on Saturday and they mentioned an Amazon freight aircraft had crashed on a flight from Florida to Houston: NTSB Takes Lead Investigating Crash of Amazon Air Cargo Plane A widebody cargo plane hauling packages... Read more →

Antarctic Mission–A travel itinerary of movie soundtracks and a podcast hero?

I seem to have developed a rather strange way of deciding on a travel itinerary. I cycled (nearly) to Mt Everest, which was amazing, but I never had the longing some have to visit it. I went because an unexpected opportunity to visit an amazing place coincided with a great bunch of people to travel with. That I got to visit a unique part of the world, long connected with New Zealand (thanks to pioneering adventurers and more recent adventure travellers) was just a bonus. One memorable part of the journey was listening to some music, part of my lifelong... Read more →

“2 for” the price of more, not so special?

I decided to forego the “2 for $4 Mulitbuy” special in favour of the standard 2 for $3.50 pack… Same store, same aisle… Read more →

Traffic Light Thought–Spooky sights in Waikumete Cemetery

Normally a dusk dog walk in the cemetery would not worry me but I saw something rather spooky tonight. It wasn't supernatural but I did wonder what about a dozen cars cruising slowly around, seemingly following sat nav maps, was about until one went past close enough to work it out. Spooky to see, in 2018, there are still adults chasing Pokémon.. * It wasn’t at the lights but is car related so made the TLT category. Read more →

Don’t give aid, give money, directly

Why giving money, directly, is better than giving aid, from GiveDirectly. They are also one of GiveWells top nine charities for 2017. Here’s the basic story: GiveDirectly is the first nonprofit that lets donors like you and me send money directly to the poorest people on the planet, with no strings attached. Crazy as it may seem, we weren’t able to find this back in 2011 when we were looking for a way to give away our own money, and that’s why we created GiveDirectly. And yes, a lot of people thought we were crazy at first - one of... Read more →

The nuclear geek side of Las Vegas? The National Atomic Testing Museum

Due to flight timing I had Friday, after Autodesk University, in Vegas. After the best part of a week Casino living and ‘The Strip’ it was time for a change. On the way to the US I heard a “The Skeptics Guide to the Universe” podcast which mentioned “The National Atomic Testing Museum”, and decided to check that out. It is about 3km off the Strip and I decided to walk, fresh air and natural light was a nice change after spending most of the week inside. Back of ‘The Sands’ exhibition space where AU is held. The Howard Hughes... Read more →

Does the USA need another burger chain? BurgerFuel isn’t just another

It is interesting to see BurgerFuel are taking on the USA. The little Kiwi burger company (if now 10% owned by Subway) are taking burgers to the land of burgers, which may raise the question: Why? I was going to write about that when I remembered an unsolicited review of BurgerFuel, by an American, I saw back in April which explains it better than I ever could. George (Geo) Hrab, musician and podcaster extraordinaire, of the Geologic (nothing to do with rocks) Skeptic Podcast wrote this in an email to his Geologists (financial supporters of his podcast). I’m a long... Read more →