Coronavirus: the weakening of globalization, and the lessons to learn

12.03.2020/10.19

A generation ago, I don’t think many would have thought that globalization could be brought to its knees by a virus. They may have identified crazy politicians using nationalism as a tool, but probably considered that would not happen in developed economies and democracies sophisticated enough to withstand such assaults. This course correction might […]

In the 1980s, I thought society would evolve to become more efficient and smarter

15.02.2020/07.24

Growing up in a relatively wealthy country in the 1980s, after getting through most of the 1970s, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the world would just keep getting better and things would make more sense as humans evolved. From a teenager’s perspective: home computers, with a modulator–demodulator (modem), could bring you information instantaneously […]

CSR is already woven into Māori leadership

23.04.2019/10.01

I was fascinated to read a New Zealand Herald story on the Māori asset base, though it wasn’t the financial part that hit me. What was more significant were the principles behind Māori businesses. About 15 years ago, when chatting to a woman representing a Māori winery, I said that she had an amazing […]

Autocade turns 11 as the web turns 30

12.03.2019/13.12

The latest model to appear on Autocade today: the Mazda CX-30. It’s March, which means Autocade has had another birthday. Eleven years ago, I started a car encyclopædia using Mediawiki software, and it’s since grown to 3,600 model entries. The story has been told elsewhere on this blog. What I hadn’t realized till today was […]

It can’t be that hard to rank media meritoriously, if only the big players had the will

14.03.2018/09.20

US Department of Defense Keen to be seen as the establishment, and that means working with the military–industrial complex, Google is making software to help the Pentagon analyse drone footage, and not everyone’s happy with this development. The World Economic Forum’s ‘This is the future of the internet’ makes for interesting reading. It’s […]

Developer creates a tool to expose bigoted, fake Twitter accounts; Twitter bans it

28.12.2017/13.12

In theory, one of the positive things about social media should be the fact that a company has as much chance of succeeding as an individual. Another is that it shouldn’t matter who you are, you have the same opportunity to get your word out. No one should get special treatment. But, on Twitter, […]

Endorsing Laurie Foon for Southern Ward

16.12.2017/11.43

While I no longer live in the Southern Ward in Wellington, I know whom I would vote for if I still did. It’s after a lot of thought, given how strong the candidates are—I count several of them as my friends. One stands out. I have known Laurie Foon for 20 years this year […]

Being an optimist for a better post-Google, post-Facebook era

15.12.2017/13.55

Interesting to get this perspective on ‘Big Tech’ from The Guardian, on how it’s become tempting to blame the big Silicon Valley players for some of the problems we have today. The angle Moira Weigel takes is that there needs to be more democracy in the system, where workers need to unite and respecting those […]

Saving the internet from itself—Sir Tim Berners-Lee sees the same dangers

18.11.2017/12.22

Above: The Intercept is well respected, yet Google cozying up to corporate media meant its traffic has suffered, according to Alternet. There’s a select group of countries where media outlets are losing traffic, all because Facebook is experimenting with moving all news items out of the news feed and on to a separate page. […]