Author Archive
Upskilling New Zealand’s spooks & spymasters
The New Zealand government is looking for ways to upskill its spies and those who supervise them. A recently-advertised pre-tender document calls for an innovative supplier of training services (which is how it got to me) to equip ‘senior officials’ and ‘executives’ within ‘the security sector’. According to a Notice of Information published by the […]
Back from Hawkes Bay
I took off to the beach for a break over Easter, and got back tonight. Hawkes Bay still looks pretty damn dry to me with the drought, but a friend who is a local farmer told me things are greener — then mentioned he had gotten rid of all his stock to reduce his stress […]
“Less apps, more apples.” What a lovely spoof.
Wonderful! “Single core, dual core” did it for me. via Gizmodo – P
Morning and night
Someone asked me this week why I chose Howick as a place to live. Mainly because we had friends in the area, I explained, and being from Wellington, we needed to be close to the coast. This is the view from my kitchen yesterday morning and last night with the full moon. I find it helps […]
Media3 on the one stop shop for media regulation
There’s a slightly scrappy but nonetheless interesting discussion about new media regulations suggested by the Law Commission’s report The News Media Meets ‘New Media’: Rights, Responsibilities and Regulation in the Digital Age coming up on Russell Brown’s Media3 tonight on TV3 (or online later). I wandered along to the taping of the show yesterday evening. […]
Boris Johnson plays the ‘What people really want to know’ card — futilely
Eddie Mair presents an afternoon news and current affairs show, PM, on BBC Radio 4 which I listen to two or three times a week on my TuneIn Radio app. Mair is undoubtedly one of the best interviewers I have ever heard, and I’ve worked with/for a few good ones in my time. He is […]
Why pussyfoot around?
From a (quite sharp) Canadian public health/awareness campaign. Dark. Here’s a compilation of Top 40+ Creative Ads Made to Stop You Smoking including this one: – P
Smart watch?
I own several watches. The one I use the most has a self-charging mechanism (no batteries, ever) driving a dead accurate quartz movement in a titanium and gold case with matching t&g strap. It’s very light and unobtrusive, except sometimes at night. The watch face glows in the dark — not the hands and numbers […]
Judith Collins promotes her tame attack blogger
In a cold, lonely world, it’s good to know there are some things you can rely on. Like the visceral partisan loyalty of National Party attack blogger Cameron Slater. Cameron demonstrates his earnest support for his pick for next leader of the National Party: Papakura MP Judith Collins. Strictly speaking, Ms Collins is only his […]
Earthquake engineering in action
I spotted this building under construction in Manukau yesterday on my way to Whitcoulls Distribution Centre with boxes of books. I’m not the civil engineer in the family, but boy, look at the earthquake resistant support structure there! Those diamond-shaped frames at the right, and the massive reinforcing in the concrete wall beside the stairwells. If […]
Misunderestimating* a player’s willingness to ‘burn the rules’
Reading a quite good column from Marco Arment about the Google Reader shut down, emerging competition and ‘free’ services (he’d earlier said, and I agreed: “It may suck in the interim before great alternatives [to Reader] mature and become widely supported, but in the long run, trust me: this is excellent news.”) I came across […]
Skincare secrets of the hard to live with
Well, if it’s good enough for my favourite right wing vixens (see My favourite right wing vixens branch out) … it’s good enough for me. Here’s a shot of my skin care products … still wet from their use just now this morning. The three speed motorised vibrating shaver might be something the girls wish […]
Rain, followed by an earthquake. Hello Auckland.
This rain is a blessed relief. The small earthquake centred on Motutapu Island apparently (er, just out the window) was not. Still, small potatoes compared to Christchurch. I can’t remember the last earthquake in Auckland. – P PS Here’s how the course looks ‘normally‘.
