Posts from the blog

The city of Derna, destroyed by flood

ArcGIS StoryMap: Storm Daniel’s impact on Derna

I just completed a course in using ESRI ArcGIS for geographic analysis. Wow, this is such a powerful tool… Check out this StoryMap that I created about the 2023 disaster in Derna, Libya. https://arcg.is/yuGeD0
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Videos

My YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@DrNatJG
Audiogram depicting high frequency hearing loss. There is a decrease in hearing ability at high frequency, which cuts out the sounds of birds tweeting and leaves rustling, as well as the sounds 'f', 'th', 's', and 'k' of conversational speech.

It’s Hearing Awareness Month!

March is Hearing Awareness Month! Did you know: over 880,000 Kiwis are Deaf or hard of hearing and about 20% of NZ Year 9 students have measurable hearing loss…
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Cartoon image of five people standing in a row. The figure in the middle is a mysterious dashed outline, suggesting that person is invisible.

It’s World Diabetes Day!

Sunday 14 November is World Diabetes Day, and this year marks 100 years since the discovery of insulin in 1921…
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The 'Druplicon' mascot symbol (a cartoon character made out of a drop of water, infinity eyes, curved nose, and mischievous smile) over the word 'Drupal'

I’m shifting to Drupal!

Since 2015 I’ve run this site on WordPress.com as an opportunity to blog my ideas and interests, and showcase my writing. It’s time to shift from WordPress to Drupal, here’s why…
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A black and white sign in a shop window saying 'Sorry, we are closed'

What you’re feeling is disability

What’s inducing such violent tantrums and angry protests against covid-related public safety measures? The world has become less accessible for everyone…
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A man and woman in business attire. Text over the image reads "Are you #divers-ish?"

It’s Disability Pride Week 2019!

You may think “I’ve worked in offices for years, and accessibility in the workplace has never really come up as a serious issue. What’s the problem?” THAT’s the problem…
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Personal pronouns are complicated in Te Reo Māori (the indigenous language of Aotearoa/New Zealand). For example, the English word "us" can translate into Te Reo in at least three ways...

This is us

Personal pronouns are complicated in Te Reo Māori (the indigenous language of Aotearoa/New Zealand). For example, the English word “us” can translate into Te Reo in at least three ways…
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Image shows four icons depicting a person in a wheelchair, a brain inside an outline of a human head, two hands making a sign in sign language, and a person walking with a cane. Below this are the words “INCLUSION MATTERS”.

Happy Disabilities Day!

Today is the International Day of Disabled Persons! (3 Dec 2018). The UN’s theme for 2018 is “Empowering persons with disabilities and ensuring inclusiveness and equality”…
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The Changing Places logo which shows a person in a wheelchair, a caregiver standing behind a changing table, and a ceiling hoist

Changing Places

Today (19 November) is World Toilet Day! Hurray! For quite some time now I’ve been working on a secret project which I had to keep under wraps until the formal press release. As of today…
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Three views (front and sides) of a red armour crocheted garment with drapery, a keyhole in a painted heart on the chest, and a heart shaped shield

Jilted (a poem)

A poem for Margo JG’s submission to World of Wearable Art, May 2017…
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A photo of Salman Rushdie signing a book

Hate is no joke

The true story of when Salman Rushdie schooled me on the topic of authoritarian hate and intolerance…
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A grid of nine identical images of the same handsome white male smiling while driving a car

Putting diversity in the picture

I was preparing a presentation for early tomorrow morning, poaching photos off the internet for my slides, when I noticed a distinct lack of diversity in my search results…
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The logo for ASB bank, over which is a sign with the skull and crossbones symbol and the word Mines

KiwiSaver and cluster bombs

A few days ago I saw an article which really threw me for a loop. Most New Zealand “KiwiSaver” retirement savings schemes (including mine) have shareholdings in…
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Five men with NTSB on their jackets inspect the wreckage of VSS Enterprise amid small creosote bushes in the Mojave Desert

Learn your lessons (or crash and burn)

(this article was first posted at eSocSci.org.nz) On 31 October 2014, the world’s first commercial passenger space ship crashed, killing the co-pilot and seriously injuring the pilot. SpaceShipTwo (also known as ‘VSS Enterprise’) was undergoing tests after…
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Nat skiing with his son, using an adaptive sit-ski

Being Papa

This is my story of how I learned to be Papa to my kids, one of whom has a severe brain injury.
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