title: Na gunu yaqona ena kena ivalavala vei keda na itaukei, na vakasama vata kei na vakatulewa e sala muria mai; vata kei na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama nei koya na dau ni vakau motoka. Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Fijian]

authors: Aporosa, S. 'Apo'

abstract: E robota vakarabailevu na Pasivika na tubu ni itei ni yaqona, se ‘na nodra itei na Kalou Vu’. E vakayagataki me wainimate vakaViti, e tuki tale ga na wakana ka lose ena waidroka ka tauvuloni me gunuvi ka igunugunu veivakacegui. E tiko na ikilai vakavanua ni yaqona, ia baleta ni sa gunuvi vakasivia ena loma ni vica na auwa, sa vure cake mai na kauwai ena vuku ni kena revurevu ki na nodra tataqomaki na draiva. A sa vulica o Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, e dua na Research Fellow ena univesiti ni Waikato e Niusiladi na revurevu ni kena vakayagataki vakavanua na yaqona ki na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama kei na veika e vakavurea ena ituvaki vinaka ni draiva. E vulica o Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa na revurevu ni vakayagataki vakavanua ni yaqona ki na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama kei na veika e vakavurea ena ituvaki vinaka ni draiva. 

(Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Fijian language.)

text: Na gunu yaqona ena kena ivalavala vei keda na itaukei, na vakasama vata kei na vakatulewa e sala muria mai; vata kei na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama nei koya na dau ni vakau motoka. Traditional kava-drinking, cognition and driver fitness [Fijian] E robota vakarabailevu na Pasivika na tubu ni itei ni yaqona, se ‘na nodra itei na Kalou Vu’. E vakayagataki me wainimate vakaViti, e tuki tale ga na wakana ka lose ena waidroka ka tauvuloni me gunuvi ka igunugunu veivakacegui. E tiko na ikilai vakavanua ni yaqona, ia baleta ni sa gunuvi vakasivia ena loma ni vica na auwa, sa vure cake mai na kauwai ena vuku ni kena revurevu ki na nodra tataqomaki na draiva. A sa vulica o Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, e dua na Research Fellow ena univesiti ni Waikato e Niusiladi na revurevu ni kena vakayagataki vakavanua na yaqona ki na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama kei na veika e vakavurea ena ituvaki vinaka ni draiva. E vulica o Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa na revurevu ni vakayagataki vakavanua ni yaqona ki na ituvaki vinaka ni vakasama kei na veika e vakavurea ena ituvaki vinaka ni draiva. 

(Kava, or ‘the plant of the gods’, grows widely across tropical Moananuiākea (the Pacific). Used in traditional medicine, its roots are also pounded and strained through water to make a drink with relaxant effects. Kava has deep cultural significance, but because it is drunk in large quantities over several hours, concerns have been raised about its effects on driver safety. Dr ‘Apo’ Aporosa, a Research Fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, has studied the impact of traditional kava use on cognition and its implications for driver fitness. The findings of that research are presented here in the Fijian language.)

year: 2023

title: Adaptive user interfaces for the Semantic Web

authors: Turner, Emmanuel King

subjects: Semantic Web

abstract: The Semantic Web aims to democratise data by making data open, shareable and recombinable (Berners-Lee, Hendler, & Lassila, 2001). To achieve these characteristics, Semantic Web data, different to data on the web, is structured. However, unlike traditional databases, the structure of Semantic Web data does not have to follow a single predefined schema. we believe that approaches for building user interfaces for data with a known structure are inadequate for the Semantic Web. In this thesis, we propose an adaptive user interface that categorises the Semantic Web data into groups and orders data according to user preference. Placing similar data items close together may make it easier for users to locate data items.

text: Adaptive user interfaces for the Semantic Web The Semantic Web aims to democratise data by making data open, shareable and recombinable (Berners-Lee, Hendler, & Lassila, 2001). To achieve these characteristics, Semantic Web data, different to data on the web, is structured. However, unlike traditional databases, the structure of Semantic Web data does not have to follow a single predefined schema. we believe that approaches for building user interfaces for data with a known structure are inadequate for the Semantic Web. In this thesis, we propose an adaptive user interface that categorises the Semantic Web data into groups and orders data according to user preference. Placing similar data items close together may make it easier for users to locate data items.

year: 2018

title: Virtual hākari:  Sharing Māori culinary traditions in online communities

authors: Muru-Lanning, Charlotte

subjects: Kai Māori

abstract: For Māori, kai is a vital expression of identity, community, place and whakapapa. Traditionally, knowledge about kai is transmitted through customary community groupings and culturally embedded practices. However, with the rise of digital platforms, new spaces have emerged for Māori to gather and to share kai in virtual forms. 
This thesis observes how two Facebook groups – Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ – operate as contemporary spaces for the transmission of Māori culinary knowledge and cultural identity. Kai Māori is considered alongside global studies of culinary traditions and understood through the notion of kai as whakapapa. The thesis addresses two core research questions: 1) How do Facebook groups contribute to an evolving concept of kai Māori? and 2) What kinds of relationships define these online kai communities? 
Guided by Māori data sovereignty (MDSov) principles, I observed interactions on both Facebook pages in two phases – one involving selective data collection over a twelve-month period from January to December 2024 the other involving systematic data collection over a four-week period from 10 December 2024 to 10 January 2025. The observation periods yielded 115 and 1293 posts respectively. A covert digital approach of ‘lurking’ was adopted as seeking prior consent may have affected the quality of the data and disrupted group dynamics. Lurking, as a method, sits uneasily alongside MDSov principles, particularly the principle of manaakitanga, requiring free, prior and informed consent. To address this I safeguarded the confidentiality of community members by seeking consent before reproducing content, removing group members’ names and excluding sensitive information. To analyse posts I used Ethnographic Content Analysis which allowed me to conduct a reflexive, iterative analysis of the posts in a way that was sensitive to the context in which the content was created.
These digital observations show that these groups serve as platforms for the transmission and innovation of kai Māori, encompassing edible components as well as the values enmeshed within these culinary traditions. Despite the mediated nature of these exchanges – where food is virtually consumed rather than physically shared, separate from traditional notions of community – these groups nurture meaningful connections among members, including those physically distant from their whenua. Through recipes, photos, stories, and commentary, the members of Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ cultivate community identity and belonging via common cultural understandings, sharing of knowledge, a general spirit of sociality – and, importantly, a mutual love of kai.
I conceptualise these online spaces as virtual hākari, where the act of sharing virtual kai becomes an affirmation of identity and a form of cultural resistance. While online sharing may risk distancing kai practices and knowledge from traditional sites of transmission, the data suggests that these platforms may serve as conduits that encourage deeper cultural engagement offline. This thesis highlights the centrality of food in Māori cultural survival, sovereignty and resistance. In these digital spaces, kai Māori is not only celebrated but continually reimagined – reinforcing that to prepare, share and celebrate kai as Māori is to actively participate in the continuity of cultural identity.

text: Virtual hākari:  Sharing Māori culinary traditions in online communities For Māori, kai is a vital expression of identity, community, place and whakapapa. Traditionally, knowledge about kai is transmitted through customary community groupings and culturally embedded practices. However, with the rise of digital platforms, new spaces have emerged for Māori to gather and to share kai in virtual forms. 
This thesis observes how two Facebook groups – Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ – operate as contemporary spaces for the transmission of Māori culinary knowledge and cultural identity. Kai Māori is considered alongside global studies of culinary traditions and understood through the notion of kai as whakapapa. The thesis addresses two core research questions: 1) How do Facebook groups contribute to an evolving concept of kai Māori? and 2) What kinds of relationships define these online kai communities? 
Guided by Māori data sovereignty (MDSov) principles, I observed interactions on both Facebook pages in two phases – one involving selective data collection over a twelve-month period from January to December 2024 the other involving systematic data collection over a four-week period from 10 December 2024 to 10 January 2025. The observation periods yielded 115 and 1293 posts respectively. A covert digital approach of ‘lurking’ was adopted as seeking prior consent may have affected the quality of the data and disrupted group dynamics. Lurking, as a method, sits uneasily alongside MDSov principles, particularly the principle of manaakitanga, requiring free, prior and informed consent. To address this I safeguarded the confidentiality of community members by seeking consent before reproducing content, removing group members’ names and excluding sensitive information. To analyse posts I used Ethnographic Content Analysis which allowed me to conduct a reflexive, iterative analysis of the posts in a way that was sensitive to the context in which the content was created.
These digital observations show that these groups serve as platforms for the transmission and innovation of kai Māori, encompassing edible components as well as the values enmeshed within these culinary traditions. Despite the mediated nature of these exchanges – where food is virtually consumed rather than physically shared, separate from traditional notions of community – these groups nurture meaningful connections among members, including those physically distant from their whenua. Through recipes, photos, stories, and commentary, the members of Kai Maori and KAI Basket NZ cultivate community identity and belonging via common cultural understandings, sharing of knowledge, a general spirit of sociality – and, importantly, a mutual love of kai.
I conceptualise these online spaces as virtual hākari, where the act of sharing virtual kai becomes an affirmation of identity and a form of cultural resistance. While online sharing may risk distancing kai practices and knowledge from traditional sites of transmission, the data suggests that these platforms may serve as conduits that encourage deeper cultural engagement offline. This thesis highlights the centrality of food in Māori cultural survival, sovereignty and resistance. In these digital spaces, kai Māori is not only celebrated but continually reimagined – reinforcing that to prepare, share and celebrate kai as Māori is to actively participate in the continuity of cultural identity.

year: 2025