Author Archive
What is holding these yachts on the water? Just gravity?
I am digging the America’s Cup races so far. But one thing that perplexes me is how far out of the water these catamarans ride. (That, and their astonishing speed.) At one point in one of today’s races, the Team NZ boat made a turn (tack? sorry, I’m not up on the nautical terms) and […]
Subliminal messages
So, what messages is this law firm sending by having such an expansive “reception area”? Looks expensive, huh? (It’s just me sitting here at the moment.) – P
Oh dear. Is the N.S.A. out of control? (Hint: Yes, I think so.)
In Der Spiegel … The United States’ National Security Agency intelligence-gathering operation is capable of accessing user data from smart phones from all leading manufacturers. Top secret NSA documents that SPIEGEL has seen explicitly note that the NSA can tap into such information on Apple iPhones, BlackBerry devices and Google’s Android mobile operating system. The […]
Greetings, gentle reader
I’m not snooping, I promise… but I love seeing what others are (anonymously) reading on my blog (see the ‘Recently Viewed’ list in the sidebar on the right) … today someone(s) read my post about the uncomfortable-for-both-parties situation where police powers are applied to sickly white liberals (er, like moi) discussed in Put yourself in […]
Perception vs reality
He wasn’t the first to say it, but he was the first I heard say it, and he said it with such passion. Then Prime Minister1 Geoffrey Palmer, whose book Unbridled Power? was one of the texts I’d studied in politics at Victoria University, said, with feeling: “In politics, perception becomes reality.” — The Right […]
Our American cousins and their approach to the English language
I love words. Here’s the difference between the Oxford ‘British English’ Dictionary entry for the word antithetical* and Oxford’s ‘US English’ entry (arrowed): Quirky! Of course, when I think about it, a word like ‘syllabification‘ simply had to exist — but I’d not encountered it. (Perhaps I’ve led a sheltered life.) – P * a […]
Sharing secrets? Isn’t that kinda antithetical?
I spotted this graphic in an All Things Digital article about Whisper: Why Should You Care About Whisper, the Secret-Sharing App That VCs Are Pouring Money Into? And thought, yeah, it’s amazing how quickly ‘gossip’ (however you define that) gets around. If it’s a ‘secret’ people shouldn’t blab — but they do. There’s this irresistible […]
Good intent
I had my phone playing songs in alphabetical order on this morning’s loooong walk around the coast, thinking about aspects of online and public reputation … when this cool song, Good Intent by Kimbra (from her album Vows) played. – P PS Another version of the song here as a comment on my post Let […]
“… serious criminal offences …” *
From ACT Party insider Simon Carr’s slender volume The Dark Arts of Politics… In the end, despite attempts at distraction (or bluster) the evidence speaks for itself … and is often inescapable. For my own part, I try to be a reasonable person, remaining open to negotiation where possible. But only up to a point. – P […]
Oh zing!
Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber cherry-picks a review of Samsung’s ‘smart watch’ (for the full review, see: Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Watch) then sums up: About the best you could expect from Samsung without having anything to copy from Apple: overpriced, ugly, laggy UI, terrible battery life, dubious utility. Oh. – P
Unspeakably good satire about a serious matter
Ben Uffindell of The Civilian blog is seen as our latest Bright Young Thing of political satire — and rightly so. With his delightful mimicry of the ‘voice’ of news reporting (much like The Onion, although he’ll perhaps be tiring of that comparison) Ben manages to produce satire that is so soaked in verisimilitude that […]
Memorable quotes
“Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” – Oliver Hardy, from the movie Sons of the Desert, 1933.
Speak up to save a life. (It may be your own.)
Here’s the link to the It Can Wait documentary
Fighting fire with fire. It may not always be effective, but one can understand the urge.
Auckland Law Revue parody of Blurred Lines. Entertaining and edgy. Good work. – P via @CaitinMoran Update: according the the NZ Herald, the three women are: Adelaide Dunn, Olivia Lubbock and Zoe Ellwood. Excellent. (Note the beefcake doesn’t get a credit.)
Honourable
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him; The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones, So let it be with Caesar … The noble Brutus Hath told you Caesar was ambitious: If it were so, it was a […]
