Open mike 30/04/2023

38 comments on “Open mike 30/04/2023 ”

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1. lprent 1

   30 April 2023 at 8:00 am

   I did some considerable site pruning yesterday, trimming plugins, fixing some errors that crept into the quite old database, and generally doing a tidy on the site and the system that hosts it. It feels a lot faster and lighter after clearing away some of the old plugins.

   I don't think that I broke anything because these were almost all things that I'd done on a test system first. But let me know if a feature that used to be there from last week is no longer there on the desktop site.

   It is also prep for building a new theme that will

   1. eliminate having to have a separate mobile theme. The theme should flex from larger to mobile.
   2. Still be based on the maintainable themes from wordpress. Our current theme is based on a 'classic' theme from the 2000s and has proved highly maintainable and extensible. The new one will be based on the 2023 theme.
   3. Should carry through most or all of the features of the existing site like the right bar. But in a more maintainable form and hopefully somewhat better because it will be accessible from the mobile side as well.

   I tested all of the basics yesterday while fixing a bug that has lurked in the system since wordpress 3.6 in 2013. There was a failure in the upgrade from the MU release to the mainline that affected the creations of new multi-sites. It was still in database. Took most of last night to finally find and kill that.

   I will also be collecting some of the useful old unmaintained plugins features, simplify them (generally they are coded in a manner that is unmaintainable) and wrap Standard plugins over them.

   This is all being done on spare time available – which is usually short. So they may take a while. But I am actually starting to have more spare time….

   Those of you who still have logins will be able to beta test and be critical of the new theme earlier. 🙂
   • lprent 1.1

     30 April 2023 at 8:33 am

     Just looked at the numbers of posts, comments media and general storage on the site.

     Posts

     • All (29,802)
     • Mine (1,125)
     • Published (28,307)
     • Sticky (1)
     • Drafts (1,372)
     • Private (123)
     • Trash (39)

     Comments

     302,346 spam comments were blocked so far. This is just one of the automatic anti-spam systems that has been in pace since about 2017. It is the 2nd from final trap.

     • All (1,834,676)
     • Mine (23,913)
     • Pending (0)
     • Approved (1,834,676)
     • Spam (44)
       this is the final trap – these are mostly moderator caught and cleaned periodically.
     • Trash (613)

     24515 media items – these are the sites graphics and documents – mostly used in the posts themselves. A few where an author has used a graphic in a comment. And a handful for site graphics.

     There are currently about 3-4x other cached graphics used speeding the site. Different sizes of media, different forms of the media (mostly webp these days), and all of your gravators for comments in various forms.

     The site lives on /dev/md0 (raid 1 of 2 SSDs and one space) which is mounted on /mnt/TS.

     • 960 GB available
     • 49.9 GB used (6%)

     The onsite backup is currently 146 GB made up of weekly full file backups (each 10.6 compressed), hourly database backups (each ~248 MB compressed), and hourly files deltas. This is replicated in two places offsite and usually updated within 20 minutes of the hourly backup.

     I keep about 8 weeks on site.

     There is a 2 year off site archive (just in case of long term regression issues), I still do a yearly backup of the archive to bluray. I'm kind of paranoid about backups.

     Also about privacy. All of the backups are encrypted, and so is the site.

     Not sure about traffic these days. The public face is cached out at cloudflare. They report

     Previous 30 days
     Total Bandwidth 2.54 TB
     Cached Bandwidth 74.43 GB
     Uncached Bandwidth 2.46 TB

     But we watch a lot of streamed TV and audio, run VPNs to work, and do a lot of work on the same link.

     So far over April, we did
     Domestic In: 398.57 GB
     Domestic Out: 403.42 GB
     Domestic Total: 801.99 GB

     International In: 76.86 GB
     International Out: 5.36 TB
     International Total 5.44 TB

     In Total: 475.42 GB
     Out Total: 5.76 TB
     Total usage: 6.24 TB

     A lot of the international out would have been the Standard either as the site itself or as offline backups.

     But we work and backup a lot of material in the cloud. All of my work goes through aussie VPNs because that is where the cloud servers are. I spend a lot of time on hooked into servers in Texas. My partners systems backup internationally and she works on sites offshore. Both of us mostly work from home.
     • roblogic 1.1.1

       30 April 2023 at 3:51 pm

       Thanks for the update. It does seem faster now.

       For the longest time it has been next to impossible to use the Reply function on an iPhone or iPad because of misbehaviour by the CKEditor widget, the text area was unable to capture focus so I could not type in the comment box.

       This seems to be working a bit better. Focus is still failing about 50% of the time, but that's still a big improvement from 99% that I was experiencing. (my only option was to go into the safari settings and turn off javascript). If you want to look into it further, I found a possibly relevant thread on stack overflow…

       https://stackoverflow.com/questions/14923967/ckeditor-does-not-focus-on-ios-when-tapping-in-text-area

       Thanks again for all your work on the site. Nga mihi nui Matua
   • weka 1.2

     30 April 2023 at 10:03 am

     thanks for the update, and all the mahi Lynn. Looking forward to seeing the new theme.

     btw, the site has been running slow for me recently, including this morning. Usually when going to edit something or working the back end, but sometimes just pages too.
     • lprent 1.2.1

       30 April 2023 at 12:24 pm

       Can't really cache the back-end easily normally. So it is usually short-cached.

       A lot of it changed last night, so what would normally cache would have required a reload.
2. Reality 2

   30 April 2023 at 9:30 am

   Wellington City Council seems intent on ensuring people wanting to go to restaurants, theatres, etc in the inner city have a very difficult time getting there. The people from the suburbs, Porirua, Upper and Lower Hutt will be unable to drive to and park from 7am to 9pm from Courtenay Place to Parliament if Let's Get Wellington Moving proposal is decided on. Given the bus service is unreliable and LGWM want to remove some inner city bus stops, people will find it just too inconvenient to bother. If I have misinterpreted this latest idea please put me right!

   Another plan is to remove half the car parks from Molesworth Street and side streets. And to remove two bus stops from Molesworth Street. Makes no sense to me to remove bus stops for those less able to walk further, particularly in bad weather. All this to have more cycleways. I await with interest and scepticism to see all these cyclists.

   I personally know a young couple living in inner city Wellington who managed to walk to work, go to cafes etc. But to visit family further afield, get groceries, go to sports practice out of the city, medical appointments etc etc was difficult. They have now got a car park in their building and life is much easier and convenient.
   • Steve 2.1

     30 April 2023 at 12:55 pm

     Eh what? There’s bugger all parking along the Golden Mile itself, it’s all on the side streets but don’t let facts spoil a rant. These days though I find it’s far easier just to go to the now council owned car park in Tory St or the one by Les Mills for cheap parking rather than circling around looking. If we’re out for dinner $5 or $8 for parking won’t break the bank.
   • miravox 2.2

     30 April 2023 at 2:37 pm

     I live in inner city Wellington too. I walk to work and have to step on to the road frequently due to over-full footpaths. Cycling is far too dangerous for me right now, but sometimes I see more bikes than cars on my walking commute.

     I can't wait for the transformation – bikes and scooters separated from walkers and more room for buses to move freely, and it will be a nicer space to be in.

     Agree that the public transport needs to be more reliable, but a good pair of shoes, a snapper card and the occasional use of mevos (car rental by the hour) works pretty well for the able-bodied – even if they don't cycle, and is way cheaper, and gives more freedom than owning a vehicle in the inner city.
3. tsmithfield 3

   30 April 2023 at 9:39 am

   Despite the promises Labour made about solving the housing crisis prior to becoming elected five years ago, the waiting list for state housing has sky-rocketed.

   Back then, the media had a myopic focus on people living in cars. But now, nothing much seems to have changed.

   I put a lot of this failure down to the increasingly restrictive rules being placed on landlords. This is effectively an aversive stimulus that discourages landlords from renting out their properties, or makes them extremely fussy about who they will accept as tenants. Hence, the pressure on housing increases.
   • AB 3.1

     30 April 2023 at 10:53 am

     If that's the case, then we should not allow one group of citizens to exercise such a powerful gatekeeping function over the ability of other citizens to be satisfactorily housed. It is an asymmetric power relationship that must be considered totally illegitimate between supposedly free citizens.

     As a principle that is undeniable. But actually implementing the end of private landlordism is of course extremely fraught and dangerous. But you don't achieve it by caving in to landlord demands.
   • Ed1 3.2

     30 April 2023 at 11:57 am

     Waiting lists do change – often the biggest reason is that the definition has changed – National reduced waiting lists by excluding some categories – the same thing happened with hospital waiting lists. It was an easy "win" for National, and much easier than actually improving services. Remember also that National sold off quite a few "state houses," purportedly to local housing organisations. I have not seen any statistics on what happened following those sales, but bearing in mind that the whole state housing stock had declined in repair (which we know from those that were not sold), and that the new owners do not have the capital resources of the state, it is possible that at least some of those houses were sold to maintain the rest, or let to tenants able to pay higher rent.

     Over the last few years New Zealand has seen an enormous increase in the renovation of existing houses and the building of new ones – to the extent that we are short of workers, supply chains could not cope (and that is internal supplies as well as international suppliers). That building work has been done by both government and private owners / landlords. That has increased housing supply in both cities and regional towns, and has been done by both government and private developers. Far from minimum standards choking off development, the developers have seen the opportunity for profit. Yes you can point to individual projects of government that did not produce headline completions, but overall New Zealand has a large number more dwellings than when National lost in 2017, and there have also been a large number of "state houses" renovated and more fit for purpose.

     But there have been other influences – recent storms took out a large number of houses in some areas, particularly in Auckland and the East Coast. That has put a lot of pressure on housing supply – and we can be proud of the reality that New Zealand has coped well with that pressure; most of those displaced through the destruction of their dwelling have been able to find at least temporary accommodation – but that will have also increased pressure on the supply of state housing.
4. Ad 4

   30 April 2023 at 10:31 am

   Have the Greens finished their list yet?

   Re-ranking started Friday.
   • arkie 4.1

     30 April 2023 at 10:48 am

     Voting closes midday on the 12th May
5. Incognito 5

   30 April 2023 at 11:02 am

   Knowledge is power, no more so than in the hands of insurance companies when they can use your personal information against you and deny you coverage or hike premiums.

   https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/488907/geneticist-andrew-shelling-calls-for-ban-on-insurers-accessing-genetic-tests

   It would have been nice if the article had elaborated more widely on the use of health data, e.g., from smart watches here in NZ.
6. Incognito 6

   30 April 2023 at 11:18 am

   Is Stuff spearheading National’s election campaign or just the Luxon Charm Offensive?
   • Mac1 6.1

     30 April 2023 at 11:39 am

     Reading the Sunday Star Times today, you'd think it was hosting the campaign. Luxon has entire front page, 'giving us the message' masquerading as an airline steward like mine today.

     She too got the message wrong, like Luxon, saying on the flight briefing we were travelling to the airport where we were leaving from. I don't think he knows where he is going either.

     Bought a copy at Wellington Airport. Only $2 rather than $4.50. Discount price to sell Luxon?
     • Incognito 6.1.1

       30 April 2023 at 11:55 am

       I haven’t had enough motivation to read the recent (yesterday?) opinion piece from Luke Malpass, But I guess I will just have to bite the bullet and read it.

       Have you read it?
       • Mac1 6.1.1.1

         30 April 2023 at 4:45 pm

         Yes, just now. The middle of the road, safe, dependable, 'no frills' PM backed by politicians like Wood and McAnulty, Robertson and Parker.

         Meanwhile National has to hive off to the right to protect its flank from ACT which is now making a move on a conservative's stronghold in Tamaki.

         Labour's left remains unchallenged by strangely ineffectual Greens.

         As Malpass asks, will it be down to who is the more dependable and trustworthy between the two Chrises?

         I wouldn't trust the one who uses a phone only to speak into, and not to listen as the Sunday Star Times depicts Captain Luxon doing today.
         • Incognito 6.1.1.1.1

           30 April 2023 at 7:55 pm

           It was pretty vanilla from Mr Malpass.

           Regarding the low effective tax rate of the very wealthy in NZ, I don’t think that it is going away as Mr Malpass seems to think (and hope?).

           A Bill will then be introduced to bring these into effect and set up the reporting requirements.

           I would like to see these principles enacted in a Bill before the end of the current Parliamentary term.

           If Parliament passes it, the Tax Principles Act will take its place alongside the Tax Administration Act and other revenue Acts to create the tax system that New Zealanders can understand and be proud of.

           https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/shining-light-unfairness-our-tax-system

           I find it interesting that “research” has now become such a loaded term.
           • Mac1 6.1.1.1.1.1

             30 April 2023 at 8:52 pm

             Consider the alternative offered by the owner of a ute parked on the side of the road who inscribed upon his back window about the time Seymour was visiting, the following political, social and economic wisdom-

             "F**k the Taxman".

             I think Parker is arguing here for some kind of consensus- the consent of the governed. He's saying that smart economies and countries recognise the need for taxation. Social cohesion is a basic necessity- for all. It is brought about by fairness.

             That's a good speech by Parker. The argument will be over how much will people agree is fair taxation for fair social outcomes.

             The ute owner represents a stupid end of that spectrum. We have to find what is tolerable, acceptable and effective. That's about education, debate, informing. It's about what kind of a society we would have if we lost social cohesion- the consequences of poverty.

             In these post covid times, with misinformation and rabbit hole craziness more than ever.

             And the middle ground 'no frills' approach will help people see that their taxes are not wasted and spent frivolously but will serve that common purpose of decency, fairness, opportunity for all.
             • Incognito …

               30 April 2023 at 9:01 pm

               The Taxman most likely paid for the road that the ute was parked on and the roads & infrastructure to get it there and back. The Taxman, in all likelihood, also paid for the limited education of the presumed owner of the ute.

               I agree with your comment and I think Parker is onto something that is or at least should be much less controversial than RWs make it out to be.
     • rod 6.1.2

       30 April 2023 at 4:47 pm

       The Sunday StarTimes is just another Tory Rag like the Herald .
7. joe90 7

   30 April 2023 at 1:29 pm

   The cult of Qelon.

   Elon sycophants are some of the most bizarre fanboys on this side of the incel world, but this wacky gem inexplicably in my timeline has entered Trump-having-lunch-with-Jesus category.

   https://twitter.com/larryfeltonj/status/1652396939785261059
8. lprent 8

   30 April 2023 at 2:46 pm

   I'm going to give a php 8.1 a test with the web server. May get a few quirks.

   Works ok on the test VM. But there are some old plugins – some of which may use deprecated features.
   • lprent 8.1

     30 April 2023 at 2:51 pm

     Umm. Probably not WordPress 6.2 still has it on beta with PHP 8.0 – 8.1

     Double ummm "The end of life date for PHP 7.4 was November 28, 2022"
     • lprent 8.1.1

       30 April 2023 at 2:57 pm

       I'll try it in a ubuntu 22.04 VM with a full backup. Site will be a slightly slow because I'll do the full backup now.

       Mostly deprecation notices for wordpress on PHP 8.x but I need to find the plugins that need updates.
9. tWiggle 9

   30 April 2023 at 3:57 pm

   https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/29/public-invited-to-swear-their-allegiance-as-king-is-crowned

   Never before has the UK had this 'pledge of alliegence' for a coronation. I find it creepy, and even creepier to think this might be CIII's idea. The UK is paying $100 mi for the event. CIII's estate runs to $1 bi, including dispensation from tax.

   Don't bother with the rest of the article, just pinned it for validation.
   • Grey Area 9.1

     30 April 2023 at 6:33 pm

     Parasites gotta do what parasites gotta do. English royalty – an anachronism from a long time ago.
     • Anne 9.1.1

       30 April 2023 at 6:54 pm

       Yes. You are right. It is an anachronism.

       But what you and many others fail to recognise is that the trappings of this anachronism brings a massive boost to the British coffers in the form of tourism, and also gives the ordinary citizens of Britain and millions of others throughout the world a chance to be lifted out of their relatively drab existences.

       Add to that – and imo the most important feature – the enormous historical significance of many of the beautiful articles of Royal patronage since time immemorial (eg. Westminster Abbey as just one of them)) and the equally magnificent parades of horses and carriages is a sight that gives countless millions enormous pleasure. No-one in the world can do it like the British. I happily admit I am one of them.
   • Belladonna 9.2

     30 April 2023 at 7:28 pm

     Reading the article, it looks as though this 'pledge of allegiance' for the commoners (i.e. the general population) – is replacing the traditional oaths of allegiance of the peers at the coronation.
     So, in effect, a populist move, recognizing that the peers (Lords) are no longer a significant force in the governance of the UK.

     It gives those who wish to participate an active part in the ceremony (albeit at a remove), rather than simply having their 'oaths' taken on their behalf by their MPs (which they do every time parliament sits).

     Those who don't want to, don't have to (in fact, they don't even have to watch – and can take their holiday and go do something else)

     Not sure why you regard it as 'creepy'.
     • tWiggle 9.2.1

       30 April 2023 at 9:51 pm

       As I understand it, the House of Lords does retain political power in forcing amendment of particularly egregious legislation. They must, like MPs, swear alliegance to the Crown on entering the House of Lords, but also on the death of a monarch. Charles is already sworn in by the peers, just not crowned.

       This remains a new pledge asked of commoners. Still feels creepy to me.
       • Belladonna 9.2.1.1

         1 May 2023 at 8:11 am

         The point I was making is that this pledge of allegiance by the commons, is replacing the oaths from the Lords in the Coronation ceremony.

         Historically, that was a public acknowledgement by the most powerful local warlords that they would obey the King (or, occasionally, Queen). And was a truly important bulwark of the monarchy.

         I'd regard the change as a symbolic acknowledgement that the Lords hold little political power any longer.

         No doubt any form of formal allegiance would feel 'creepy' to you.

         I suggest that you refrain from watching or reading about the coronation – or, any other political change of power, since all of the constitutional elements are likely to disturb you.
10. tWiggle 10

    30 April 2023 at 4:15 pm

    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/29/antisocial-how-putting-away-my-phone-helped-me-recover-from-a-heart-attack

    Very insightful article on the effect of social media on political life from Rafael Behr, a UK political columnist.

    "The more crowded the information marketplace, the harder it is for bland facts to compete with more lurid fare. Palates that are jaded need higher doses of spice. In politics, that creates incentives to wilful provocation. One way to catch the attention of a large audience is to stir a smaller one into a lather of indignation. In politics, infuriating the other side can be an effective campaign technique to amplify a core message."

    "Every second of the political day on social media is a referendum on whatever feels most urgent in the moment. The high frequency of that cycle makes it harder to distinguish between what is noisy and what is important. It militates against the debate of priorities, which is part of the negotiation of trade-offs necessary for pluralist politics to function."
11. SPC 11

    30 April 2023 at 4:52 pm

    The GOP strategy to gerrymander electorates to retain control of states and maximise the GOP seats in the House, and also block access to votes from younger voters and workers is becoming blatant.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22rL3YTgkO4
    • joe90 11.1

      30 April 2023 at 6:09 pm

      Only part way through the vid so not sure if he mentioned Texas' plans to limit polling places.

      https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/texas-senate-passes-bill-end-countywide-voting-election-day-rcna80829

      Also, Florida man.

      https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2023/03/01/florida-republican-leader-seeks-to-decertify-democrats-ban-democratic-party/69953767007/
    • tWiggle 11.2

      30 April 2023 at 9:58 pm

      https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/voter-id-rules-polling-station-local-elections-b2329402.html

      Voter suppression of poor people and young people by Tories rife in the UK too, with photo id now required. The list of accredited ids is small and biased to older people and car owners, while getting valid id for voting is not simple.
      • Belladonna 11.2.1

        1 May 2023 at 8:25 am

        Looks to me as though the UK have this covered.

        From your article:

        In accordance with the Act’s stipulations, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has launched a Voter Authority Certificate as an alternative, a document that individuals can apply for online and which is free but requires that you already be registered to vote and supply a recent digital photo, your date of birth and National Insurance number to claim.

        That looks like a very simple process to me. And would be pretty much identical to that required for any of the already-accepted forms of ID.

        In addition, anyone in the younger age brackets, who wants a drink at their local pub, will have a photo ID already (that's the PASS card).

        Note, getting a PASS card is indeed a quick and easy process (although they do charge a fee).

        If you want to argue that requiring any form of ID is going to depress voting – that's one thing (and you should produce your argument).

        But your current argument, that it's systematically unjust, just doesn't stack up.
12. joe90 12

    30 April 2023 at 8:15 pm

    AI-generated movies don't quite pass as live action. Yet.

    Text-to-Videos are getting insanely powerful. Few years and we will watch Hollywood movies generated by AI. Here are 12 incredible use cases of #Gen-2 changing the industry very rapidly

    https://twitter.com/heyBarsee/status/1651961767810179072

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