Avira dishonours paid subscription, blames it on the customer

I see Avira has downgraded me to their free version despite my being paid up. As far as I can tell, this has been the case for months, and I remember Tweeting them back when Twitter was a thing. I can’t log in at all, and it keeps showing a ‘Get Prime’ button to force […]

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One award, one interview—positive publicity for May–June 2022

  On to more positive things. Earlier this year, Luxlife got in touch with us, to say Lucire had been shortlisted for their awards. It was later confirmed that we had become their ‘Most Pioneering Online Fashion Magazine 2022’, which I was very happy about—especially as we started 25 years ago. The judges did know […]

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GM and Ford keep falling down the top 10 table

It’s bittersweet to get news of the Chevrolet Corvette from what’s left of GM here in New Zealand, now a specialist importer of cars that are unlikely to sell in any great number. And we’re not unique, as the Sino-American firm pulls out of entire regions, and manufactures basically in China, North America, and South […]

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Is the sun setting on Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei?

It does seem the sun is setting, after 25 years, on Alarm für Cobra 11: die Autobahnpolizei on RTL.    Last week, the network released three episodes from 8.15 p.m., and to heck with the low ratings of the last episode which would be far too late for younger viewers. They’re doing the same this […]

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Brand, sub-brand or model? China’s getting into a confusing phase

The Dongfeng Aeolus AX7. But just where does Aeolus sit when it comes to indexing in Autocade? This is something that might have to come out in the wash, and it might take years.    I think we can all agree that Ssangyong is a marque or a make, and Korando is a model. Never […]

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BMW, then and now

This isn’t progress. Nice one, as always! Makes me wonder what was wrong with this credo: "Fashionable styling gimmicks are entirely absent, and the dimensions suit the traffic conditions of today." pic.twitter.com/XhpyW6P1Bs — Kolbenkopp (@kolbenkopp) January 7, 2021 You may also like Rocketman’s most annoying scene Fun for car anoraks—till you get to the factual […]

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This was the natural outcome of greed, in the forms of monopoly power and sensationalist media

I did indeed write in the wake of January 6, and the lengthy op–ed appears in Lucire, quoting Emily Ratajkowski, Glenn Greenwald and Edward Snowden. I didn’t take any pleasure in what happened Stateside and Ratajkowski actually inspired the post after a Twitter contact of mine quoted her. This was after President Donald Trump was […]

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The Grundig parts’ cache time capsule

When Dad was made redundant from Cory-Wright & Salmon, which had purchased his workplace, Turnbull & Jones, he bought all the Grundig equipment and accessories, thinking that he would find it useful. And for a while he did. The odd one he cannibalized, while the parts were used and adapted. Cory-Wright wound up contracting him […]

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COVID-19 stats’ update, April 16

Don’t worry, I won’t make this too regular, but as I had done some more number-crunching of the available stats during the daytime, I thought I’d share them. I’ve noticed that some countries update their test numbers on a less regular basis, e.g. France, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland, though Worldometers now has updated ones since […]

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COVID-19 infections as a percentage of tests done: April 13 update

I can cite these COVID-19 calculations (infections as a proportion of tests done) with a bit more confidence than the last lot, where many countries’ testing figures had not updated. I see the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has released its total test numbers now, and they show a pretty good result, too.    Compared to […]

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