University of Canterbury, Christchurch — earthquake damage. Just two of the shots … Imagine if it had struck at 4.35 PM instead of 4.35 AM. Imagine if that was your workstation. So lucky. Photos: University of Canterbury, via NZ Herald (click for more).

This is so good… … just take the 4 minutes and 8 seconds to watch and listen to this. What a great use of bandwidth. Thank you Rhian Sheehan. Thank you for giving your gift. Watch the video below the fold …

I just wanted to share this pic from a walk yesterday. The sight of new blossoms springing from an old, severely-pruned (hacked?) tree near Macleans Reserve spoke to me. Not in a melancholy way — although it was my second Father’s Day without one, which I felt — but in an encouraging way. That gnarled [...]

To quote Robbie Burns: Oh wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursel’s as others see us! It wad frae monie a blunder free us, And foolish notion. With appreciation to Steve Goodey for offering me a gift this week. I mean it. Thanks for the feedback. Steve still hasn’t published my 31 [...]

Read this blog post from Roger Ebert. Wow. In part, discussing the hateful manipulation of segments of the public by so-called ‘moral leaders’ Ebert refers to the billionaire who said closing tax loopholes was like invading Poland. Hyperbole and exaggeration are good indicators of a ‘con’. Seriously, read it here. One of the best lines: [...]

I heard about this charges-laid-charges-dropped-investigation-re-opened circus targeting whistle-blower Julian Assange on the BBC … crikey! Remember TIME magazine’s little put-down about his mental state? Paranoid? Oh really? This extraordinarily courageous man wears a bullseye on his back. I wish him well. He’s up against people and organisations who present fake documents/bogus ‘evidence’ and pretend things [...]

Well, the reviews are in: Wellington property spruiker and US tax liens “educator” Steve Goodey tackles the complex and intellectually demanding task of identifying the raison d’être of www.thePaepae.com. (If the name is familiar, I discussed some of his past … um … ‘activities’ in this post Property spruiker Steve Goodey: let’s join the dots.) [...]

How cool. Asperger’s poster boy Jim Parsons has won an emmy for his role as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory: Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series. I applaud this talented comic who has been a real ambassador for geeks and people with Asperger’s everywhere. Along with the cast and creators of the [...]

From a review of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life … It’s full of tips and advice but the one I like best comes from Buffett via Dale Carnegie, author of How To Win Friends and Influence People: “Criticism is futile, said Carnegie. Rule number one, don’t criticise, condemn or complain.” … [...]

Oh boy. John Stewart (in fine form) revs up on the plan to locate an Islamic community centre (Mosque) two blocks from the site of the World Trade Centre. I like his take, as usual … and his roasting of the Fox News phoneys on their lack of consistency. And then there’s a squirmy/bad taste [...]