A belated thank-you to independent software creators

When I had to reinstall everything late last year, I didn’t thank the software developers for making it easy for me to get a new ID. I got personal replies from the programmers behind Barcode Maker 3 and SayNow, and found it relatively easy to sort out registration for FontLab and Gammadyne Mailer. The rest […]

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Wellington wants free wifi

While I’ve been a LinkedIn member for many years—my LinkedIn ID has six digits, which gives you an idea of how long ago—I have to confess that I did not browse the brilliant Wellington, New Zealand group till quite recently.    And free wifi is being talked up there, too, as something Wellingtonians genuinely want. […]

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A way to delete your Google Wave account?

For those trying to leave Google Wave—and who have had no satisfaction whatsoever from the Google forums (what a surprise)—there might be one way.    There are quite a few reasons people want to leave Wave. One netizen had this concern: ‘It appears I have been linked to former associates who I have kept in […]

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More Google privacy breaches in Reader?

Tonight, I removed every single blog I followed—including my own—from Blogger. My de-Googling continues. I’ve also taken myself off as an author on some Blogger blogs as of tonight, as an intermediate step of ending my association with Blogger altogether.    I had hoped that deleting my Blogger reading list would get me off the […]

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Google might have signed you up to stuff you never asked for

I was getting annoyed at Google for the services it counts as part of my ‘products’, but that was minor compared with what Harriet Jacobs has gone through with Google’s new Buzz service—which appeared to have put her personal safety in jeopardy (hat tip to Simon Green).    From what I can tell, Buzz shares, […]

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I do not stand for John Key’s defeatist talk

I’ve heard it all before. In the 1980s, the New Zealand Government promised that, with the introduction of Goods and Services’ Tax (GST), people would be better off, because it would mean more money in our pockets.    With the proposal to hike GST to 15 per cent under the current government, Prime Minister John […]

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Surprises on the press freedoms’ map

This map (via pedroelrey on Tumblr) is food for thought, about international press freedoms:    Those of us who enjoy a free press need to use it and not take it for granted. We might not always like what’s being said, but we should embrace the fact that we can say it at all.   […]

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Toyota’s troubles stem from forgetting its principles

I was surprised to learn that Toyota still has not issued a worldwide recall of its troublesome Prius NHW30 model, even though one had gone out in New Zealand.    In layman’s terms, the brakes allegedly don’t work when you want them to. In more complex terms, the software has trouble distinguishing between different types […]

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Best quotation on the Howard Stern–American Idol tie-up

The best quotation in the American media this week? In my opinion, it would have to be this: Howard Stern is being considered to replace Simon Cowell when he leaves “American Idol” after this season.    Apparently Satan was out of Fox’s price range. From Tony Hicks in the Contra Costa Times. […]

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