Ford’s Brazilian line-up, 2021. Once upon a time, there were locally developed Corcels and Mavericks; even the EcoSport was a Brazilian development. Today, it’s Mustang, a couple of trucks, and a rebadged Chinese crossover. We heard a lot about the demise of Holden as GM retreats from continents at a time, seemingly in a […]
Read More… from Have you driven a Ford … lately? Probably not
Above: Coverage in Business Desk, with me pictured with Lucire fashion and beauty editor Sopheak Seng. Big thanks to Daniel Dunkley, who wrote this piece about me and my publishing work in Business Desk, well worth subscribing to (coincidentally, I spotted an article about my friend and classmate Hamish Edwards today, too). I […]
Read More… from On publishing in 2021, as told to Business Desk
A couple of years ago, friends in Wellington, who own a business—let’s call it X—were approached by a US company with the same name, though in a slightly different industry. They wanted my friends to give up their page name facebook.com/x to them, and suggested that they should be facebook.com/xnz. No suggestion of […]
Being self-employed my whole adult life, I haven’t exactly been let go from actual employment, but there have been some gigs, paid and unpaid, that came to an end without me expecting it. I’ve never been sore about losing them, but I don’t agree with the way they were done. Gig 1. Did […]
After three messages I decided I would answer one of those Gmail users asking about advertorial. And from now on I’m just going to copy and paste this to anyone else asking, ‘Why won’t you answer me?’ Dear [redacted]: Sorry, this is why I haven’t answered you (and this is not because of you, but […]
Read More… from Dear Gmail user: your industry has worn me down
I’m not exactly proud of this, but last month I finished replying to all my emails from 2005. That year I was stuck in Auckland for an extra day due to the airport there being fogged in. I said to another traveller, ‘Well, I won’t catch up on emails now till the end of […]
Read More… from Finished replying to my 2005 and 2006 emails
Why are there antitrust or monopoly laws? Why is the usual interpretation of the Chicago School really, really bad for the United States? Umair Haque’s latest post spells it out pretty well, in my opinion. Just an idea: let’s not import any of their dangerous ideas into our society, or allow their ever-growing giants […]
Read More… from Facebook goes even more pro-bot with change in group policy
Demolition has commenced on 1–4 Māmari Street, across the road from where I lived for over three decades. I’m not against change and my feelings toward the development have already been recorded here. It was with a tinge of sadness that I saw the demolition crews there and the only wall left standing […]
During the course of the 2010s, I came across two con artists. One thing that united them was they were men. But they could not have been more different: one was rather elaborate and was the subject of a Panorama documentary; the other was a rank amateur and, at least in the situation we […]
Which club is the better one to belong to? The ones who have bent the curve down and trying to eliminate COVID-19, or the ones whose curves are heading up? Apparently Air New Zealand’s boss thinks the latter might be better for us. From Stuff today, certain ‘business leaders’ talk about the New Zealand Government’s […]
Read More… from If you’re in the ‘New Zealand can’t’ camp, then you’re not a business leader