He aha?
Ko tēnei taku wāhi i te ipurangi hei ako, hei tūhura, hei kōrero mō ngā kaupapa e rata ana ki ahau — pēnei i te hangarau me te pūkaha o ēnei rā, me ngā take e pā ana ki te tangata whenua o Aotearoa.
This is my corner of the web to learn, explore, and write about topics that interest me — including modern technology and engineering, and topics relating to Māori.
There are times where I'll weave Te reo Māori into my writing. Sometimes kupu Māori can express more accurately what I'm trying to communicate, especially when discussing topics within the Māori context. Te Aka Māori Dictionary is a great resource for translating Māori words into English and vice versa.
Ko wai ahau?
He uri ahau nō Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Porou. Nō Rotorua ahau.
I'm a descendant of Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue and Ngāti Porou and I'm from Rotorua in Aotearoa New Zealand. I spent some time in Tauranga and Wellington before returning home around 6 years ago.
I don't have any social media accounts and I like to keep a low-profile. I don't really like attention and I value privacy.
So why write a public blog?
The main reason is to organise and record my thoughts. I could write offline but I figure someone else may find the whakaaro interesting.
Kaihanga Pūmanawa Rorohiko
I'm a web/software developer by trade and I'm drawn to working on the web platform because of the open web principles.
Currently the web is largely divided into walled gardens that are controlled and monetised by big tech companies. In addition to big tech control, some governments exert control over citizen access to the internet and the web.
Regardless of the current state, I still believe in the web as an important public and open resource for all. I'm an advocate for the open web and it's my platform of choice to design and build on.
In general I'm a problem solver and tinkerer and I've always been curious about how things work and how parts of a system (including sub-systems) relate and connect.
E Tipu E Rea
The following whakatauki was written by Apirana Ngata in 1949 in the autograph book of a school student. It reflects the flexible and practical nature of Māori people and the willingness to integrate and adopt new tools.
E tipu, e rea, Mo nga ra o tou ao,
Ko to ringa ki nga rakau a te Pakeha hei ora mo te tinana,
Ko to ngakau ki nga taonga a o tipuna Maori hei tikitiki mo to mahuna,
A ko to wairua ki to Atua, nana nei nga mea katoa.
Thrive in the days destined for you,
Your hand to the tools of the Pākehā to provide physical sustenance,
Your heart to the treasures of your ancestors to adorn your head,
Your soul to your creator to whom all things belong.
The "tools of the Pākehā" in the modern context includes information technology. Digital tools could be utilised more to tautoko our aspirations, while looking to the ways of our tīpuna for guidance on appropriate use of these tools.
With the current emergence and popularity of Large language models (LLM), it's going to be important to figure out where the digital space is heading and what impact AI will have on Māori.