Author Archive
Picked up in the Howick Library … Crimestoppers
This eye-catching card, um, caught my eye at the Howick Public Library this afternoon. It reminded me of my post: Why speak up? — in part because it assumes a public duty to report crime, or at least share information about it … and recognises there’s a ‘risk’ in standing up. It only makes me […]
That’s not a bad camera on your phone, buddy…
Photographer Pete Belanger used an iPhone 4 to take his cover shot of … an iPhone 4. Read all about it at his blog. There’s a photojournalism maxim: ‘Q: What’s the best camera? A: The one you have with you.’ With one of these in your pocket, well, not bad… Thanks to John Gruber (again).
OK. I’ve heard of selling your grandmother …
Oh boy! The first ever ‘All-Conservative Email Service Provider’! YOUR NAME@Reagan.com Don’t miss out! [snort] Send Michael Reagan $35, get a Reagan.com e-mail address! by ALEX PAREENE Salon.com 30 Jul 2010 For the low, low price of $35 a year, you can trade in your tired old “free” Gmail or Yahoo or Hotmail e-mail address […]
“God is on OUR side…”
Here’s what that got me thinking … some new posters for some classic movies including this: During the first and second World Wars, both (all) sides told themselves they had God on their side. The Armed Forces had padrés and priests in place, performing their pastoral duties and administering their religious services and last rites […]
Snapshot
Hey, I like Google’s new image results page… ‘endless’ images like Bing. Here’s a snapshot of ThePaepae.com‘s result today — although they’re not all actually from ThePaepae.com* (click to enlarge): It provides a nice retrospective, doesn’t it? – P (* Most are. I don’t know how they select which images to display. There must be […]
‘Wretch of the week’ — that’s a nice phrase
I enjoyed satirist Steve Braunias talking with Radio NZ’s Jim Mora on his Eight months to Mars slot this week. As part of it, Steve described his own ‘The Secret Diary of …’ column in the Sunday Star Times as ‘Wretch of the Week’ and disclosed that in getting the voice of the subject right […]
Not a bad ‘hands-on’ review of the iPhone 4
New iPhone 4 – the verdict is in By Stephen Fenech, National Technology Writer The Daily Telegraph (AUSTRALIA) July 30, 2010 WE’VE heard a lot about the iPhone 4 ahead of its launch in Australia today – and not all of it has been good. I knew it would be impossible to review Apple’s new […]
Pattern recognition
An ADHD friend of mine, a medical doctor from New York, once described medical diagnosis as ‘pattern recognition’. That’s why, he said, a competently written computer-based questionnaire can actually be more effective at diagnosing medical conditions than a human being: because the computer will ask ALL the relevant questions, not skipping some that don’t seem […]
Impressive
Blimey! Kiwi super hacker wows Vegas By Alice Neville | NZ Herald Thursday Jul 29, 2010 Kiwi Barnaby Jack wowed an American crowd this week by making cash spew out of an ATM machine like magic. But although he was in Las Vegas, Mr Jack is no magician – he’s a super hacker. … A […]
Why speak up?
Recent events have seen me revisiting a theme (or meme?) of this blog — and central to my own thinking: WHY SHOULD one speak up about perceived wrongdoing? Let me start by saying this: Life is complicated. Sometimes people and things can appear to be one thing on the surface but as you look closer, […]
Ode to a whistleblower
I’ve only met Bruce Sheppard once — at a Howick school gala one wet Saturday, but I’ve read his columns and long admired his outspoken advocacy for small shareholders. Now, apparently, he’s been snaffled up to be part of the new Financial Markets Authority’s establishment board and is leaving the Shareholders’ Association. Sheppard said he […]
Tumbleweed Dean Letfus pitches the next ‘goldmine’
I take no satisfaction in being proven right (again) about ‘Tumbleweed’ Dean Letfus, the itinerant get-rich-quick spruiker who from time to time features in these pages. I observed earlier “He seems to flit hyperbolically from one cash flow generating event (for him!) to the next without much regard for consistency …” This afternoon a friend […]
Still one of the best
This back page ad from TIME magazine is still one of the most memorable for its ‘tone’. It was part of a ‘A True Story’ campaign in the late 1990s by the mighty American Express to show their services are more than just a credit card…. that they really do try to serve international travellers’ […]
Why not say it with style?
Here’s a funny and pointed video making a series of good points stemming from the unrealistic, unattainable ‘beauty’ images young women are presented with every day … and the ‘deception’ effect of make-up. How to trick people into thinking you’re good looking is a good-hearted (be warned: foul-mouthed) ‘tutorial’ for young women by Jenna Marbles […]
