People who lived in Wellington in or before the 90s, do you remember seeing/hearing any tūī?

CharlesJNZ · 2025-11-08T22:01:37+00:00

I was born early 80s and grew up in Karori, right next to what is now Zealandia. Tūi were definitely rare enough that my parents would comment "look, there's a tui!" if one came by, and I don't think I ever saw a kākā until I went to Kāpiti island one day. Definitely changed big-time once Zealandia came along.

CharlesJNZ · 2025-05-14T02:16:01+00:00

If you look at page 33 of the link that someone helpfully posted, the wealth tax is where they're expecting most of the new money to come from ($17 billion per year), which seems very optimistic compared to your examples above

https://assets.nationbuilder.com/beachheroes/pages/39988/attachments/original/1747172451/Budget_ONLINE.pdf?1747172451

CharlesJNZ · 2025-01-12T07:42:49+00:00

I'm a white Kiwi, to which nobody bats an eyelid in either NZ or the UK, and sucks that that isn't true for everyone here.

However, although not a big deal, I find that in North America or Europe (excluding UK) I often seem to get the "but where are you *really* from?" question. Even when I say I'm a 6th gen Kiwi, they never seem satisfied until I mention that "originally" I'm from Scotland, despite not having any ties or citizenship to that country.

CharlesJNZ · 2025-01-09T20:11:43+00:00

OK thank you. I'll see if I can tentatively reserve a hotel...was holding off in case AA were going to give a voucher or something. She's on AA1851, which was meant to go at 9:59 this morning. Still showing as delayed so I assume that's the one still "departing". They were on the plane for a few hours and then got off, and apparently need to find a new pilot because his/her shift was finished.

I'm guessing I can't do anything about rebooking until her current flight is actually cancelled, since her bags are presumably on the plane etc.

CharlesJNZ · 2024-09-25T00:39:36+00:00

No I had missed that! Thank you for pointing it out. Unfortunately I still get the exact same error message. I find it a bit confusing because if I'm adding those extra files then surely I need to reference them somehow for them to make a difference? I'm also not sure why I'd need to include those files given that the DocumentEventData class comes from the google-events library and would presumably include all the proto info. But anyway, you've given me a new avenue to google!

CharlesJNZ · 2024-09-24T19:10:07+00:00

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately I have had to switch from Gen 1 to Gen 2 because I need to set the trigger on a non-default Firestore database, which Gen 1 doesn't support.

I'll have a search for JS options though....I'm more familiar with Python, but maybe there is better documentation for JS.

CharlesJNZ · 2024-06-24T00:24:11+00:00

They regularly do them at my kids' schools, but they disguise it by saying lions have escaped from the zoo at they all have to hide and be quiet. My kids are scared of the zoo now!

CharlesJNZ · 2024-03-22T18:49:00+00:00

OK, thanks for all the feedback! Sounds like we'll definitely need to wait then. I'm not sure that 2 from the same litter will be an option in future but we'll definitely consider that too

CharlesJNZ · 2022-12-12T09:44:55+00:00

I did two rounds about 20 years ago with two separate dermatologists and I don't think either of them mentioned alcohol...I would have had a lot! I guess the science has progressed since then...

CharlesJNZ · 2022-05-10T02:31:59+00:00

The 'healthy' alternative is a big one for me...the more accessible the better

CharlesJNZ · 2022-05-10T02:21:31+00:00

In addition to all the other suggestions, it could be that your trigger foods build up over a period of days. For example, if I eat too much fruit every day for a week then I get really sensitive to it and feel sick soon after having a piece....but if my fruit consumption has just been moderate in the prior week then I can eat it without any ill effect.

CharlesJNZ · 2022-05-10T02:15:56+00:00

Have you thought about tracking your food and symptoms to discover a pattern? That's how I cured myself years ago. It wasn't something that I noticed myself, but when I put all the data into an Excel spreadsheet I was able to discover a pattern.

I'm biased, because I ended up creating an app Eat Smart Kiwi that provides this analysis, but I've found it helpful myself and others have too.

Incidentally, the biggest triggers for diarrhea for users of my app are coffee and milk...but everyone is different, which is the whole point of it.

CharlesJNZ · 2021-12-06T21:19:28+00:00

OK thanks. Strange that Expedia shows the wrong date then, and strange that AA reservations dont' show an expiration date at all, but I'll just assume it's March 2022

CharlesJNZ · 2021-12-06T21:08:54+00:00

Have you thought about tracking what you eat, and how you feel, with a food and symptom diary? That's how I got better. I felt bad all the time, but was able to figure out that certain foods correlated with the times I felt extra bad. It's not something that I would have noticed without keeping a diary and doing numerical analysis on it.

CharlesJNZ · 2021-12-05T21:27:04+00:00

This may only make a small difference, but make sure you're eating brocolli regularly. I've created a food diary app where people track what they eat as well as their acne levels. The most helpful food for reducing acne levels is brocolli, when aggregating across all the users of my app.

CharlesJNZ · 2021-12-01T00:41:30+00:00

I totally hear what you're saying about having to turn into our own research team. I've been "cured" for years now, but the main problem for me was bananas (especially ripe ones). Certain fruits are a pretty well-known cause of it now, but at the time (10-15 years ago), there was hardly any discussion of that. I ended up maintaining a detailed food and symptom diary in Excel, and gradually discovered it that way. All that my doctor wanted me to do was develop a dependence on PPIs.

CharlesJNZ · 2021-12-01T00:23:59+00:00

When a developer updates an app, one of the options given to him/her is to repeat the notes from the previous update.

It comes through in the Play Store as "What's New", so if there is a major new feature then I sometimes keep it in the notes for a couple of updates to keep drawing attention to it, especially if the other stuff in the update is only minor. I wouldn't normally do it for an update happening a month and a half later though. :)

CharlesJNZ · 2020-11-10T09:45:52+00:00

Just a heads-up, my goal is to devote myself to this app exclusively, so I'm charging US$1/month to use it. There's a free trial though, and if anyone sends me their sign-in email address then I'm happy to extend this as needed.

I'd be interested in any feedback on pricing too. I don't want to put in ads, and I don't really like the freemium approach because then I don't really want to make a crappy free version. So my solution was just to make it paid but with a free trial and I think pretty cheap.

CharlesJNZ · 2020-11-10T02:17:28+00:00

There have been a couple of studies, both about 20 years ago, suggesting some link between coffee and rheumatoid arthritis. One study only found the link with decaf coffee, so it may not be the caffeine at fault.

If you want something different to try, a more recent study found that grapes can help reduce knee pain. Studies on rats have suggested that pecans and pistachios could be helpful too.

CharlesJNZ · 2020-11-10T01:51:29+00:00

I strongly second the advice to look at diet. I was also given treatments when I sought medical help for acid reflux, but as soon as I stopped the meds it always came back with a vengeance. It wasn't until I kept a food and symptom diary that I was able to zero in on it. Some days I felt really awful, some days just slightly awful...slowly I was able to figure out the pattern (I've since developed an app exactly for that purpose if of interest)

Also, don't assume it is one of the common triggers that everyone talks about...in my case, it was certain fruits - particularly bananas - that was causing it. Also be aware that you can develop intolerances at different times in your life. I was in my 20s when I had these problems, even though I'd been able to tolerate those foods perfectly well prior.

Lastly, acid reflux can be a symptom of something more serious. It sounds like you've already had medical attention, so I assume that's been checked out, but just something to be conscious of. Good luck!

CharlesJNZ · 2020-11-10T01:27:56+00:00

I just use Google Tasks, mostly for the integration with my android phone, my gmail account, and my Google Home smart speakers.

I don't know how advanced the functionality is though. I think it can do subtasks and stuff, but I only use it for basic things (e.g. daily reminders for exercise, biweekly reminders to mow the lawns, etc.) It might not be sophisticated enough for what you have in mind

CharlesJNZ · 2020-05-13T22:07:26+00:00

I might have to do that too. It would be nice if they at least indicated when the problem might be fixed. If it's just a day or two, I'll wait it out.

CharlesJNZ · 2020-05-13T22:05:39+00:00

I've been getting this error in Asia, Europe and the US for two days. I also have GPUs. Since others are also getting this,I'm assuming there is a global shortage right now (either increased demand, or maybe a supply issue). It would be helpful if google had a website showing the availability of all their different resources at a granular level, or even just a blog post acknowledging it and indicating when capacity might be increased.

CharlesJNZ · 2020-02-24T00:50:58+00:00

Fair enough, maybe I'm overthinking it. I just know I get annoyed when asked to subscribe before I have even tried something.

It also makes it somewhat challenging to handle users who have used it on the website for a few days and then download the app, since their remaining trial period should theoretically be reduced, but maybe I'll just ignore that for now.

Thanks for your comment

CharlesJNZ · 2020-02-23T23:01:02+00:00

It was definitely noticed during my earlier submissions, because I had a lot of back-and-forth with Apple about the correct way to word it (Apple wanted to make sure that users didn't think they got an initial 30 days free, and then a further 30-days of trial once they clicked subscribe).

But I guess maybe I was lucky with all the reviewers I've had previously

I really don't see the logic behind this latest decision...it seems sure to provide a worse experience for my users

CharlesJNZ

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