Author Archive
No religious bigotry, pornography, or fart apps — OK?
Apple has published some guidelines for software developers — telling them (broadly) how it decides which Apps/programmes can be sold in its App Store. Among them, this: In the guidelines, Apple draws a line between broader expressions of freedom of speech and the App Store. “We view Apps different than books or songs, which we […]
Eight in a row!
I celebrated last week Jim Parsons winning an Emmy for his role as Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory. Cool. This news that Jon Stewart and The Daily Show won an EIGHTH Emmy for Best Variety Show somehow slipped past me. That brilliant, vital show deserves them all. Dumb sentence of the week award goes to […]
‘Vendetta’ and ‘hate campaign’?
Interesting to see Brian Edwards recently accused of these ‘failings’ with respect to Paul Henry by anonymous commenters on his blog. (Unless ‘Dwossie Bleu-Bleu’ is a name?) My own views of Paul Henry and his (un)suitability for TV are summed up in Say goodbye to Paul Henry the abusive try-hard. But I’m not running a […]
Transparency journalism
I hadn’t heard this term: The insider described transparency journalism – a phrase not used by the [WikiLeaks] organisation until today – as ”journalism that tells a true story and then backs it up by publishing source documents that also provide the truth.’‘ I like it. Source: WikiLeaks founder to stay – insider — Sydney […]
Making things happen
I’m reading a book of John F. Kennedy quotes with a foreword by Desmond Tutu and good biographical introduction which touches on Kennedy’s life. It highlights how his struggles with health and his father’s ambition were part of what led to his aspirational speeches and his call to work for ‘peace’ with ‘courage’ — real […]
Cameron Brewer — a fresh face
I had the pleasure of Cameron Brewer‘s company at a looong lunch at the Auckland Club a while back — a gaggle organised by David McEwen. (Thanks again, David.) He’s an ebullient, engaging guy — and pretty clean-cut, it seemed to me. Just like his well-designed billboards, one of which I spotted yesterday. I may […]
Blimey! Lucky.
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).
Take 4 minutes …
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 …
New blossom springs from old tree
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 […]
A gift
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 […]
The truth can be harsh
Respected business journalist/commentator Rod Oram’s assessment of the collapse of the HUGE South Canterbury Finance and supremo Allan Hubbard’s role in the demise is less confrontational than Bernard Hickey’s Please say sorry and thanks ‘open letter’ piece — but in its way, just as scathing. Failing to respond to criticism has become one of the […]
Te Radar’s Eating the Dog — well done
Last night I was packed into a school hall with a bunch of my neighbours — not because we’d been evacuated from earthquake-damaged homes like the afflicted of Canterbury, although they were on our minds — as part of the audience of a very clever, well-written and well-delivered ‘romp through the pages of our history’. […]
Celebrating quirkiness
I’ve just set up an album on The Paepae’s Facebook page to collect and display those quirky error messages etc. Feel free to contribute any more!
