When it comes to convention centres, it pays to think ahead

The New Zealand International Convention Centre has been announced in Auckland. In 2010, my campaign team proposed a convention centre for Miramar Wharf, which would include a technology complex, in a format that could have been licensed to other countries, earning royalties for the Wellington business that came up with the idea. The location was […]

Read More… from When it comes to convention centres, it pays to think ahead



It’s Miller time on the Sherlock bandwagon

Elementary is an modern-day, American TV version of Sherlock Holmes. It’s not an American remake of the Steven Moffat–Mark Gatiss update, which I love, and some might say it has taken too many liberties with the original. Watson is now female.    I’ll leave you to comment, but I don’t make my thoughts of remakes […]

Read More… from It’s Miller time on the Sherlock bandwagon



Endgame: Saab files for bankruptcy

If you’re a car nut, then you won’t be mourning, too much, the passing of former Czech president Vaclev Hável. Or, for that matter, Kim Jong Il. It’s Saab that has finally died as it files for bankruptcy after GM, which still licenses key technologies to the Swedish firm, vetoed its sale to Zhejiang Youngman […]

Read More… from Endgame: Saab files for bankruptcy



Intellectual property doesn’t deserve a black mark, but some powers-that-be do

After being interviewed about the outcome of the ‘Wellywood’ sign vote yesterday (a summary of what I told Newstalk ZB can be found on my Facebook fan page) I was reminded about how a few Wellingtonians, who supported my quest to stop the sign in 2010 and 2011, were not that thrilled that I used […]

Read More… from Intellectual property doesn’t deserve a black mark, but some powers-that-be do



Innovation is the way forward for New Zealand, says Prof Sir Paul Callaghan in Chancellor’s lecture

Prof Sir Paul Callaghan’s address for the Chancellor of Victoria University, Ian McKinnon, held at a packed-out the Wellington Town Hall, was inspirational, and I felt that he confirmed a lot of my thinking for this city.    It’s great we have free wifi in certain parts of Wellington now, and in our libraries, because […]

Read More… from Innovation is the way forward for New Zealand, says Prof Sir Paul Callaghan in Chancellor’s lecture



Why do the major parties insist on holding us back?

  In 2002, I did something really stupid. I bought a brand-new, 750 Mbyte Zip drive.    After all, I had had three years of use out of my 100 Mbyte one, and since 750s looked like the way of the future, I had one installed.    I can still count the number of times […]

Read More… from Why do the major parties insist on holding us back?



Wellington Airport flip-flops again, but pennies drop more quickly in Queensland

Today, those of us on the anti-‘Wellywood’ sign page got some welcome news: that Wellington Airport would reconsider.    But, I had to point out, this is again déjà vu. Last time, the Airport flip-flopped as well, and said it would consult the public.    Given that the resource consent for ‘Wellywood’ was for nine […]

Read More… from Wellington Airport flip-flops again, but pennies drop more quickly in Queensland



Time to fight the Wellywood sign—again

Wellywood sign: see blog posts from last year (like this).    You’d think Wellington Airport would know that the majority of residents are against this awful idea. An intelligent person would think: floating an idea in 2011 that was nearly universally rejected in Wellington in 2010 isn’t smart.    Yet that’s exactly what they’ve done. […]

Read More… from Time to fight the Wellywood sign—again



One year on, the same issues remain pressing

In 2011, the issues that I spoke about during my campaign remain as pressing as they always did.    We still need better, wider and earlier consultation, whether we streamline current processes or create new ones for citizen engagement.    We still need to build a city-wide wifi network, one which exists but needs a […]

Read More… from One year on, the same issues remain pressing



National thinks the internet is ‘Skynet’ as copyright amendments pass second reading

This would be humorous if the implications of the copyright amendments were not so serious: Also speaking in favour of the bill, National MP Jonathan Young compared the internet to Skynet, the fictional artificial intelligence network in the Terminator movies that tried to destroy mankind. That was in the National Business Review.    I believe […]

Read More… from National thinks the internet is ‘Skynet’ as copyright amendments pass second reading