Once upon a time—well, in a land of myth and melodrama—a young chap named Icarus got the ultimate upgrade: wings. Handcrafted by his ever-wise (and occasionally overly ambitious) father, Daedalus, these wings were a marvel of ancient engineering, crafted from feathers and wax. Icarus, thrilled by his newfound ability to defy gravity, soared into the sky with the enthusiasm of a kid on a sugar rush.

I came across a post on the socials during a doom scrolling session the other night. Picture below for eventual context. The author had been to a talk by a LinkedIn company exe (I think) and posted their key takeaways from the talk, which really resonated.

In April 2022 we checked in with the team to find out how connected they feel to the Abletech values and ask if they were empowered to live them each day at Abletech. This blog is a summary of the results from the April survey.

In 2021, our CEO Michelle Harvey called for more diversity in tech workplaces. Learn about how our partnership with TupuToa brought this to life.

We all love the satisfaction that comes with solving a problem – especially when it’s a gnarly one. So when we heard about Creative HQ’s Climate Response Accelerator, we couldn’t resist getting involved. Together, we’re helping some of the smartest people in New Zealand to solve some of the biggest climate-related challenges facing our planet.

When presented with some damning statistics on the presence of Māori and Pacific peoples in corporate-sector leadership positions, Abletech was delighted to join a campaign for change.

Our team spent the day with international award winning trainer Mike Catton. We upskilled in the latest science behind maximising productivity and managing time efficiently.

We went wild for our Christmas celebrations and spent a lovely sunny Saturday in Wellington’s green belt at the world’s first Toitū zoo. Wellington’s zoo is officially carbon neutral.

Our friends over at Addressfinder are looking for a Customer Success Specialist and a Digital Marketer. Feel free to share the opportunities with people who may be interested. Applications close 30 November.

Two important weeks are marked this week. Deaf Aotearoa marks NZ Sign Language. The Mental Health Foundation of NZ marks Mental Health Awareness.

Māori Language Week helps us all remember that te reo is a cornerstone of New Zealand culture, and an important part of our country’s heritage. Te reo Māori is an official language of NZ. It’s a great time to be part of the broader language revival and raise public awareness and usage. Our participation links with our #TeamValues.

At Abletech we’re proud of our team’s culture. This week we identified exactly what our team values are. It was great! The workshop was facilitated by our GM Michelle. Everyone had a chance to speak and we collaborated to agree on four team values.

We’ve been working from home, or working remotely, for a few years now. Are you moving into a work from home phase? Here are some things we’ve learnt.

Biking to work is increasingly popular with our developers. Electric bikes reduce the barrier of Wellington hills.

Cars are not eco-friendly. Both fossil-fuel and electric powered vehicles require large amounts of energy to mine and process the raw materials. The by-products of the mining and manufacturing process are localised pollution (smog, chemicals) and global pollution (carbon emissions).

We were asked: are electric cars able to travel up hills at a reasonable pace, or are they really slow when hard work is required?

There’s a trend of transitioning from petrol and diesel vehicles, to vehicles powered by electricity. In this post, I’ll report on the growth rates of EV sales in NZ and similar overseas markets.

The car’s motor will slow down the car when you take you foot off the accelerator, and the byproduct is electricity which flows back into the battery. Technically termed Regenerative Braking, or Regen, this happens automatically (and silently) while you drive. It’s not something you think about.

Most people with electric cars (EVs) normally need to charge up the battery every 2 or 3 days. If you have a newer car with a larger battery, you might go a week without charging. If you drive longer distances in an older EV, you might need to charge daily.

There are 3 costs to consider here:

Last year, my partner and I moved to Canada, mainly to explore the other side of the world from New Zealand. We wanted to be away one or two years, but we didn’t have funds to do that without working.

Volunteers and participants at the 2018 workshop. Photo cred: RailsBridge

We prepared and judged Go Bags for getting home in a civil defence emergency.

This year’s RubyConf AU was held in Doltone House at Jones Bay Wharf, Sydney. Here’s a review of my highlights: