Discussions about the media, journalism and news.
A week and a half ago, I appeared on Back Benches to talk about Winston Peters MP’s “two Wongs” joke, and confined my comments to that. My response, ‘There are still people who enjoy watching Rolf Harris, just as there are still people out there who enjoy listening to Winston Peters.’ And, ‘We have […]
Read More… from I thought political division got you nowhere in New Zealand
A Kiwi friend, based in Australia, and I were discussing the General Election yesterday on the phone. First, I told her, you wouldn’t know one was on. It’s like Christmas when the global financial crisis hit: people weren’t in the mood. Secondly, minor parties like Internet Mana are probably doing better than the […]
Read More… from The 2014 General Election: the impressions the parties have left, so far
Those of you who follow this blog know that I believe Facebook’s servers are reaching their limits. In June 2014, when there was a 69-hour outage for me—and at least 30 minutes for most other Facebook users—I noted I was recording a marked increase in Facebook bugs before the crash. And the even longer outage […]
Read More… from Has Facebook admitted its servers ran out of resources?
The contributors or editors of Wikipedia are often quick to make changes after errors are pointed out. A recent funny one was for the suburb of Cannons Creek, in Porirua, when Wikipedia told a friend’s son: Cannons Creek is a suburb of Porirua City approximately 22km north of Wellington in New Zealand. The citizens attempted […]
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 […]
As Google Plus nears yet another anniversary—I believe it’s its third next week—it’s interesting to reflect back on the much-hyped launch. Or, more accurately, on the number of people who drank the Google Kool-Aid and believed this would be the biggest thing since Facebook. Have a glance at the cheerleading: a handful of links I […]
Read More… from Google Plus is about to turn three: will media remember the hype?
There have been a few articles lately on the polarization of politics in the US, where the middle ground—people with views from both Democrat and Republican sides—has been eroded. William Shepherd linked this one on Twitter, from the Pew Research Center. My theory, sent on Twitter, was this: You are correct, and it is […]
My friend Lou, who I enjoy winding up, just arrived in Belfast on holiday with her fiancé. I wrote on her Facebook the following slice of forgotten Irish television and film history. If I was in Belfast, I would be rapping. I pulled up to the house about seven or eight, And I yelled to […]
My friend Stephen Smith filmed the following in Cuba, looking at the pre-1959 US cars that are still running (mostly on non-original engines) there. It’s also interesting for the odd non-US car that you see: various Ladas (the original Zhiguli shape), a Volkswagen Gol in one scene, and an Emgrand EC8. Steve and his wife […]
Polity has gone through the MFAT OIA documents relating to Judith Collins’s visit to China, where she met with Oravida thrice. I’ve been reading them but out of order (the second bunch only) and their summary of what I have read gels with my take on things. These matters have been covered better […]
Read More… from This government’s comedy of errors lately—and few to capitalize on them