Author Archive
… actionable copyright infringement?
I just read an interesting side issue to the Apple v Samsung IP lawsuit about the iPhone/iPad. The case itself is interesting, but Nilay Patel raised an issue about Apple’s lawyers’ without permission use of two images from websites in their documentation for their claim. So as I noted in my breakdown of Apple’s lawsuit […]
Despite that, your honour, I wasn’t ACTUALLY there
A few years back, if I recall correctly, a man was convicted for stabbing a woman in Fort St, downtown Auckland. He had an alibi that placed him somewhere else — someone who said: ‘He was wiff me, guvnor.’ But the Crown prosecutor produced evidence from a phone company’s cell tower records that showed that […]
Compulsory ‘uncovering’ of sin
I read this article last week with a shudder. A mother has been jailed after her conviction for child neglect: A mother who knew her partner was sexually violating her two daughters has been jailed for a year for failing to act, in an unprecedented case of child neglect. So, effectively, this individual has been […]
Carumba! Scott Adams defends himself using sockpuppet? Yes.
From the ‘Huh? Wha? Dang!’ files and following on from my post: ‘Is it worth dishonestly defending a reputation? No.‘ It’s emerged that Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, has slipped into the same category as property spruiker Sean Wood — using an anonymous sockpuppet to defend himself from criticism/discussion online. (OK, Adams is not quite as […]
RIP Kerry Smith
I was saddened to hear yesterday that Kerry Smith had died. Like many, I’m sure, I liked her. As a broadcaster, Kerry was a true professional: warm, engaging, endlessly versatile and competent. As an actress she came across as wry and very funny at times, but, to me, always retained an edge of well-presented class. […]
A sad case of amateur signwriting
Spotted on a walk near Burswood the other day… Oops. (Same on both sides!) Where’s a good proofreader when you need one? -P
The stain never leaves you
Just saw Terry Pratchett say in a TV interview: “… I still am a journalist because the stain never leaves you.” Yup. I know just what he means. He also said he declared his Alzheimer’s because as a former journalist he “believes in the truth”. All cynicism aside for a moment: Ditto. – P
Unjust enrichment? Well, yeah, maybe.
Remember when Arianna Huffington and her co-owners sold The Huffington Post to AOL for $315 million? And remember how some of those who blogged and contributed to the site out of a sort of collective, we’re a left-wing blog in a world of right-wing media altrusim felt a bit let down? Like the last thing they […]
What NOT to do with your ‘charisma’
Business Insider reports on the downfall of a charismatic figure who travelled the world … Hmm, that reminds me of …? Oops. Three to nine years prison. (Oh — and an internet ‘reputation‘ — beyond the reality TV show.) – P
Richard Griffin: charisma and connections
Congratulations to my old boss ‘Silver fox’ Richard Griffin on his appointment as chair of Radio NZ’s board. A bunch of critical people are acting as if they can already read his mind. We’ll see. And then there’s this from John Drinnan’s piece: Griffin is well known in political and media circles with close friends including […]
A voice in the wilderness? Or reclaiming the Grey Power mantle?
‘Peters launches his comeback with punchlines’ — Dominion Post 16 April 2011 Read Kay Blundell’s article and tell me one other contemporary Kiwi politician who would talked about this way. This man has come back from the dead before. (Just sayin’.) Don’t underestimate his political instincts and populism. How much traction he gets in the media […]
Copyright moves
Here in New Zealand, our Parliament has just passed an amendment to our copyright laws which sets up a system of new fines and warnings to illegal file-sharers which, if they repeatedly ignore them, can see them disconnected from the internet (Quelle horreur!). People who breach copyright through illegal file-sharing could be fined up to […]
A development in Singapore for Shaun Stenning Twalk refund seekers
Spotted this refund development on Facebook today … … that seems like a reasonable offer from the promoter to me. I would assume they split the ‘proceeds’? Success Resources were also promoting the Stenning performing troupe in Malaysia, I believe. Any word from there? Thoughts?
