RaoulDuke

Modern Hundertwasser Koru

OK, cool. What does the little download button that shows up when you zoom in do?

Yeah, I think genetic modification will play a big role in NZ's pest strategy at some point in the future. I doubt the technology's ready yet, especially when it comes to mammals. But it might not be too long until we're able to do something like the stuff they're doing with mosquitoes in the US at the moment.

Good catch. I guess it shows NZ unis are doing a good job with sustainability at least.

I always regret opening the Daily Mail

Thanks for making and sharing this. I know I'll use it. I keep discovering features. I'm glad you've got the Basemaps imagery on there.

In terms of offline use, does it keep low-res tiles of the whole country for offline use, with the option to download individual tiles when you're zoomed in? That's how it seems to work.

So I am. Sorry about that, @SamC

Stories from Mon 26 June AM and earlier:

Mon 26 June, PM

This is stupid. They put 1000s of lives at risk, but Waka Kotahi claims it's not within their regulatory powers and the Police can be bothered to investigate. All that happened was they lost their authority to issue WoFs. That's barely a deterrent at all.

Meanwhile you've got this story from yesterday about local Māori proposing a mātaitai reserve around Ruapuke Island in Foveaux Strait. That might well be the difference between iwi groups and local Māori.

That article is a fantastic example of what I was saying:

The media’s awfully good at stirring up fear by concentrating on specific subsections of crime that are rising amidst an overall downward trend.

And look at what the article says:

Between 2017 and 2022, the number of serious assault reports increased by 121%, while reports of acts intended to cause injury went up by almost 30%.

They cherry-picked some subsection of crime and time-frame to present an impression that crime is going up, whilst conveniently saying nothing about the overall rate of serious crime.

You won't find decent statistics in the media. The long-term gradual reduction in crime rates does not fuel fear and drive clicks, so it's rarely reported on. There's enormous amounts of academic literature, but if you want a quick rundown, look at the Crime Rates section of this page.

Besides, going looking for statistics can give you false conclusions. Interpretation is complicated, and needs to be viewed in the context of things like changes in reporting and categorisation of crimes over time. For example, the article you linked to mentions that the reporting of retail crime went up significantly once the police released an app that makes it much easier to report low-level offences. That's likely where that bump came from.

In view of the complexity, it's much easier to look to experts in the field, rather than attempting to do their job better than them. I've read and heard enough from experts to know that the gradual reduction in crime since the 90s is a well-known phenomenon, and is happening in many developed countries. I'd never be able to remember their names, but there's one in that article I linked.

Read the article. Crime has been going down steadily for 20 years. The media's awfully good at stirring up fear by concentrating on specific subsections of crime that are rising amidst an overall downward trend. They've been doing this for decades, and a very large chunk of the population swallow that narrative hook, line and sinker. People will actually say things like "you can tell crime is increasing" without considering how they came to that conclusion, or that the evidence shows the opposite.

So that's the path we're on - one towards lower crime, and a better outcome for everyone. But no one is proposing that we do nothing to make things better still. It's just a case of where we put that attention. Don't we want to spend our money and effort on solutions that actually work?

There are experts who have done huge amounts of research into works and what doesn't, like the academic in that story. And yet you still find people who think they know better because "criminals can't commit crimes if they're in jail", as if that was something experts hadn't considered. I'm always surprised how many people think the first solution they can think of will be better than the findings of an expert after decades of research and consideration.