Miraz Jordan

First, we're all good, no damage etc. Second: shaken awake by a fierce 5.8 quake this morning. That was quite something! 〰️

A few highlights from today: Deb made delicious pikelets; I wore my shorts for the first time this season and did my weight training on the deck.

My outdoor temperature sensor has died, but a neighbour's unit, about 1 Km away, says it's currently 19.3C and earlier reached 20C. Summery.

See the video: Northlanders up close with humpback whale, as Whangārei Harbour listening starts:

A humpback whale has put on a stunning display in Northland, breaching in front of a boat off Whangārei’s coast.

The encounter occurred at the same time as a trial started of an AI-powered acoustic detection system in Whangārei Harbour, which will soon give real-time information about marine mammals in the harbour. …

The next day, Taylor was playing golf at Waipu Golf Club when he also saw a humpback whale - possibly the same one - breaching off Bream Bay.

A new device, which can detect when marine mammals are present in Whangārei Harbour was installed last week at the harbour entrance. … The new acoustic recording system has software that can identify the species of animal and, if several hydrophones are used, it can calculate the latitude, longitude and depth of a noise source. It will transmit this information in real time back to an internet enabled device.

Via: Bream Bay News, 03 October 2024.

Update, 05 October 2024 via Northlanders up close with humpback whale, as Whangārei Harbour listening starts - NZ Herald:

The system is a passive listening device which hears underwater and uses several AI deep-learning algorithms to classify the sounds, differentiating whale and dolphin noises from other harbour noises.

An AppleScript to save a post selected in MarsEdit to a file in the Downloads folder. Use at your own risk. Let me know if you improve on it. 😁

-- very rough starter; use at your own risk
-- 04 October 2024
-- takes details from a post selected in MarsEdit and saves the post to a file in the Downloads folder
tell application “MarsEdit”
set newLink to ""
set newTitle to ""
set myPost to ""
set myDate to ""
set newLink to (permalink of selected post) as text
set myDate to (published date of selected post)

set newTitle to (title of selected post) as text
set myPost to (body of selected post) as text

set the clipboard to newLink & return & newTitle & return & myPost & return & "Published on: " & myDate

end tell
– thanks to Claude.io for the file saving portion below
set fileName to newTitle & “.txt” – Change this to your desired file name
tell application “Finder”
set downloadsFolder to (path to downloads folder) as text
set filePath to downloadsFolder & fileName
end tell
try
set clipboardContent to the clipboard
set fileRef to open for access file filePath with write permission
write clipboardContent to fileRef
close access fileRef

display dialog "Clipboard content saved to " & fileName & " in Downloads folder." buttons {"OK"} default button "OK"

on error errMsg
display dialog “Error: " & errMsg buttons {“OK”} default button “OK” with icon stop
end try

Ages ago I watched the first episode of Schitt's Creek and immediately saw it wasn't for me. After about 10 different people, over the years, said how brilliant it was I relented. The first season was definitely iffy, but now, I'm loving it. So funny! All the characters and actors are so good.

Whangārei’s fledgling cruise ship industry expected to boom:

Four cruise ships are expected into Northport at Marsden Point, about 35km from Whangārei, between January and March.…

Whangārei’s fourth cruise ship visitor will kick off the 2024/2025 season on January 18, with a maximum of 770 passengers.

The Azamara Pursuit will be followed by the Azamara Onward on Waitangi Day, with the same number of passengers. The Seven Seas Voyager will arrive four days later with a maximum of 705 passengers. Nautica, the season’s final cruise ship, is scheduled for March 24 with a maximum of 685 passengers.

On 03 June 2024 the Beach Access post by the north track off Reay Mackay Grove is gradually disappearing. Note how the sand comes up to just below the bottom S.

On 01 October 2024 that bottom S has almost been buried.

Here it was on 15 July 2020 when it was installed.

Census data has revealed one in 20 New Zealand adults identify as LGBTIQ+ - or part of the rainbow communities.

For the first time ever, the 2023 Census collected data about gender, sexual identity and variations of sex characteristics.

The LGBTIQ+ or rainbow population includes people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, intersex, or have other "minority genders or sexual identities", StatsNZ said.

Via: Census 2023: First-ever Census data on NZ's rainbow communities released.

Bit of a rattle this afternoon. 〰️

Down at lake Puna o te Ora today the Southern Bell Frogs were in full voice.

And as I listened to the recording, I realised the birds were busy chirping too.

A quote for the day from my friend Debra, who is not only working hard at her own job, but putting a lot of effort into the local community:

I'm trying to get some change because it's all too annoying!

That's an excellent reason to try to change things. 😁

Consent granted for large solar power station at Ruakākā in Northland | RNZ News:

Consent has been granted for a solar power station at Ruakākā in Northland that will produce more than three times the energy of the biggest solar farm currently operating in New Zealand.

If all goes to plan, Meridian's Ruakākā Solar Farm will start producing power in late 2026.

The 200,000-panel solar farm will be spread over three sites at Marsden Point totalling 172 hectares, with a peak output of 120 megawatts (MW).

About half an hour before sunrise I noticed a sliver of yellow crescent moon rising above the hills.

The birds were welcoming dawn with their chorus (volume up).

Finally seen my first comet: Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS), approx 90 minutes before dawn. Couldn't see it with naked eye but binoculars were great.

Nice to see horses on the beach today. For a while now it's been tricky for them to gain access, thanks to changes in terrain. Today: 3 riders, two on beautiful Arab horses.

Sometimes they ride flat out, like this person in 2016.

When we first came here a fellow used to train his horses.