Chatting to TV, radio and internet journalists for the mayoral campaign

There have been a few times in the history of this blog where I stepped away from writing regularly. At the end of 2006, I had a pretty good excuse: I was in France. This time, my reasons for stepping away for a few weeks do not include: (a) I was spending too much time […]

Read More… from Chatting to TV, radio and internet journalists for the mayoral campaign



On Wellywood, Murdoch and English accents

The good news today is that Wellington Airport is officially in two minds about what type of sign it will put up on the Miramar cutting, which means that the ‘Wellywood’ sign protest has had a victory of sorts.    I’m thrilled at the news because it shows people power—especially people like Anthony Lander who […]

Read More… from On Wellywood, Murdoch and English accents



Didn’t take long to find Sonico’s limits

I seem to be on a lot of social networks (Facebook, Bebo, MySpace, Vkontakte), so I thought I’d look in to Sonico. I can see why it’s not as big as the others.    For a start, there seems to be insufficient globalization of its features. Try entering a Chinese film in to the favourite […]

Read More… from Didn’t take long to find Sonico’s limits



Google Docs doesn’t want bad news

This is a bit odd. I was asked to fill out a survey regarding Google Docs, which I promptly did. I didn’t give it very high marks, and after clicking submit, the response was ‘You have indicated that you do not use Google Docs.’    I beg your pardon?    I indicated that I had […]

Read More… from Google Docs doesn’t want bad news



Toyota’s recent “30-degree” scandal in China

Sam Flemming in Advertising Age mentioned the scandal that Toyota has been embroiled in inside China, before a lot of the bad press it received in the occident over “unintended acceleration”.    This involved a netizen, an owner of a Toyota Highlander Sport, filming that his SUV was unable to get up a 30-degree incline, […]

Read More… from Toyota’s recent “30-degree” scandal in China



An unplanned post about Google (Friend Connect this time)

The disappearance of my Google Friend Connect gadget from the right-hand column was not part of my plans to de-Google my life: after all, it took me a while to amass the followers there (I think I had a mere 18, but some of them were friends).    From my Google Dashboard, I noticed there […]

Read More… from An unplanned post about Google (Friend Connect this time)



Back on Firefox 3·0: I have had enough of the daily crashes

As of today, I am back with the reliable Firefox 3·0 on my desktop machine as well. Firefox 3.5 would generally crash daily, though I remember there was once a three-day period in January when it did not crash at all. (There were other days when it would crash two or three times, just to […]

Read More… from Back on Firefox 3·0: I have had enough of the daily crashes



It’s hard finding the old stuff on Google

My Wired for March 2010 arrived today (things take a while to reach the antipodes), with the most interesting article being on the Google algorithm. And hold on, this isn’t a Google-bashing blog entry.    Steven Levy’s article was probably written before the furore over the Google Buzz privacy flap. And it points out how […]

Read More… from It’s hard finding the old stuff on Google



More Buzz, a small buzz, and my real and virtual lives meet

My friend Pete informs me of his Google Buzz experience, and it’s not positive, either.    He is no stranger to technology and is more expert than I am on these matters. He had turned off Buzz, and was surprised to find that it was still taking his information and publishing it to his followers. […]

Read More… from More Buzz, a small buzz, and my real and virtual lives meet



The 10 types of Twitter account I am unlikely to follow back

I’m getting fussier about whom I follow back these days on Twitter, and have noticed myself removing some people I followed.    Initially, my rule on Twitter was to follow back only people I knew in the real world. Eventually, I opened that up and even went back among the following to include people I […]

Read More… from The 10 types of Twitter account I am unlikely to follow back