Capricious Cortana

23.11.2015/14.56

I have never seen a program as inconsistent as Microsoft’s Cortana. We were always taught that computers were very logical, that they all followed a certain set of code each time. Not so Cortana, which has had more different behaviours than anything I have ever seen. When I run into technical issues, […]

There can be only one, unless you forget to register your design: the Range Rover Evoque and the copycat Landwind X7

21.04.2015/03.04

The stunning original: the Range Rover Evoque. There has been a lot of ongoing press about Landwind’s copy of the Range Rover Evoque (a road test of the Evoque comes next week in Lucire, incidentally), one of my favourite Sloane Ranger SUVs. There’s no way Landwind would have come up with the design independently, and, […]

Read the report: Deloitte actually doesn’t blame migrants for increased corruption

26.03.2015/11.06

Deloitte has published a report on the increasing corruption in Australia and New Zealand, which Fairfax’s Stuff website reported on today. Its opening paragraph: ‘An increase in bribery and corruption tarnishing New Zealand’s ethical image may be due to an influx of migrants from countries where such practices are normal.’ The problem: I’m […]

John Cleese is wrong about humour

26.06.2014/10.12

Has John Cleese become embittered? He suggests that the Bond films after Die Another Day (his second and final) were humourless because the producers wanted to pursue Asian audiences. Humour, he says, was out. ‘Also the big money was coming from Asia, from the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, where the audiences go to watch […]

Joan Rivers had better facelifts, but it’s the future of the black cab

06.01.2014/11.59

Part of me admires Nissan for going after the taxi market in a big way in New York and London. Another part of me wonders why on earth the London Hackney Carriage solution is so ugly. I think Nissan should have asked Mr Mitsuoka for advice on how to Anglicize one of its […]

In praise of Zoho Mail

31.03.2013/08.44

Now that all of our email, bar a handful of client accounts, are going through the paid version of Zoho Mail, I couldn’t be happier. When we shifted things over, my friend and web development expert, Nigel Dunn, suggested either Google or Zoho. He’s a big fan of Google, and I can see […]

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Optimism marks out the Indian decade

17.01.2012/10.06

Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication I’ve had a wonderful time in Pune and Mumbai, two cities to which I had wanted to go for some years. Like some New Agers say: be careful what you put out into the universe. It can come true. My main reason for going was to address the […]

Finishing off 2011 with the most fun radio interview I have ever done

31.12.2011/09.29

Photo by Xavier Collin/Snapstar Live Friday morning’s interview with Sonia Sly on Kiwi Summer was the most fun I have ever had on radio. Radio New Zealand National was the most fair and balanced medium I dealt with when running for Mayor of Wellington in 2010, and I was glad that Sonia thought of […]

Source4Style launches today, seeking to revolutionize the business of fashion

19.12.2011/10.19

[Cross-posted] Summer Rayne Oakes and Benita Singh’s Cartier award-winning venture, Source4Style, which helps designers source sustainable fabric through a well designed, transparent website, launches its second version today. Lucire has the low-down in the main part of the site, and this story forms part of some of our next 2012 print and other non-web editions. […]

Fifty minutes to ﬁle a bug report at McAfee

16.06.2011/12.28

Being a helpful netizen costs too much sometimes. I found a very tiny bug in McAfee’s latest version. In Eudora, instead of ‘McAfee Anti-Spam’ in the menu bar, the latest update has caused those words to read ‘%COMPANY_NAME_NEUTRAL%Anti-Spam’. To be a helpful netizen ﬁling a bug report (and I am used to that […]