Outsider's Insight

Work-life balance #2 Today we watched the England vs Mexico football match in the office and ate pizza. It was around midday - those who wanted to watch did. Those who had work or meetings kept working and came back from time to time to check the score. Every England goal was met with cheers around the office. They won 3-2. We only managed to eat about half the pizza. The Friday beer was sitting right underneath the pizza, but nobody touched it - it's Monday lunchtime, and drinking beer would be bad manners. Just Coke and pizza. I wish the same healthy work atmosphere in your offices too. Cheers, everyone, and congratulations to England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (Russian)

Winter in Auckland Took these photos yesterday morning. It's the first time I've seen frost in Auckland in 3 years. The temperature was about 3°C. Previous winters were milder, with minimums around 6°C. What's it like in real life? On the streets it's diverse. Half the people on the streets wear light clothes - hoodies at best, but often just shirts, T-shirts or even shorts. By 9 or 10 am, the sun usually warms it up to a typical winter 13-15°C, so people just push through the cold morning. Another half is dressed accordingly for the cold and then just take off their warm clothes by midday. At home in such weather I always wear a warm puffy hoodie, socks, pants, slippers. And have a hot cup of tea nearby. Sometimes we use the heat pump if we want to warm the house quickly. That's how we get through the coldest winter days. Fortunately, there are only about one or two weeks like this each winter. The rest of the season is usually warmer. (Russian)

NZ Political Compass (AI version) The test I posted yesterday focused on specific issues in NZ politics. To get a broader picture, I asked Claude to create a test that captures each party's overall political outlook. My prompt was: Create a NZ voter-matching test that: 1. Asks plain-language questions covering the real divides between the parties 2. Frames each question as a trade-off between two legitimate values, with no obvious "correct" answer 3. Matches answers against parties' stated positions using neutral wording and scoring After the initial result, there were a few rounds of refinements and fact-checking of the underlying data, also carried out by Claude. The final result is here. ACT still fits me best (see the screenshot), but the overall result is more moderate this time. Keen to see what results you get. PS This is an AI-generated test, not political advice. It may contain mistakes, so verify any claims using the fact-check section on the final page and your own research. (Russian)

NZ Political Compass There will be elections in NZ on 7 November 2026. As residents, we're allowed to vote - which seems quite fair - we've been paying taxes in NZ for a long time, so we should be represented. While looking into New Zealand political parties, I came across a good online test that helps people quickly figure out which parties align best with their political views. You can see my result in the screenshot above. Less government, lower taxes, fewer benefits, and more economic and personal freedom. ACT's programme aligns most closely with my views. That doesn't necessarily mean I'll vote for ACT - this test is just a starting point, and things may change over time. Would be happy to see your test results in the comments. (Russian)