It’s as though Statistics New Zealand set up this year’s census to fail

You have to wonder if the online census this year has been intentionally bad so that the powers that be can call it a flop and use it as an excuse to delay online voting, thereby disenfranchising younger voters.    It’s the Sunday before the census and I await my access code: none was delivered, […]

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Social media: not the evolution you might have expected

I’m getting a buzz seeing how little I update social media now. Around February 2016 I began updating Tumblr far less; I’ve gone from dozens of posts per month to four in December 2017 and seven in January 2018. (Here’s my Tumblr archive.) Facebook, as many of you know, is a thing of the past […]

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The last American Falcon

  I’m fascinated by the 1970½ Ford Falcon for a number of reasons. The first is the obvious one: rarity. This car was built for only half a model year, from January to August 1970. If you think it looks like a contemporary Torino, you’re right: it’s basically a very stripped-down Torino. Yet you could spec it […]

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Zuckerberg wants to fix Facebook: too little, too late

WTF: welcome to Facebook. (Creative Commons photograph.) Mark Zuckerberg’s promise to fix Facebook in 2018 is, in my opinion, too little, too late.    However, since I ceased updating my Facebook profile last month, I’ve come across many people who tell me the only reason they stay on it is to keep in touch with […]

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I don’t do paid blog posts here (so don’t ask)

  I know we all get these emails from time to time, but they still annoy me.    If ‘Peter’ had visited this blog, he would know that every single post since 2006 has been my own, unpaid, unsponsored thoughts. Why would I change that now?    You may say it’s a fair question, and […]

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All I really know is who I won’t vote for

One thing I love about New Zealand is that we’re not mired in an election cycle years before the event. We’re three weeks or so out from our General Election, and only now am I feeling things are heating up.    It’s not that we haven’t had drama. Weeks ago, Metiria Turei was co-leader of […]

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How I answered Facebook Business’s survey

Facebook sent me a survey as one of our businesses has bought advertising with them. I’ve detailed my responses below, with a few notes. I’ve included Instagram in this, since their own advertising platform allows us to reach that. What is the most important thing that Facebook can do to improve your advertising experience? Some […]

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Give nothing to racism

What an honour it was to appear as one of the first batch of people in the Human Rights’ Commission’s Give Nothing to Racism campaign. Taika Waititi, New Zealander of the Year (and a Lucire feature interviewee from way back) introduced the campaign with a hilarious video, and it was an honour to be considered […]

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Avon walling

A week ago, Avon found an inventive way to get its brand noticed in peak-hour traffic.    I could make this about how people don’t know how to drive these days, or about the media fascination with Asian drivers when the reality does not bear this out, but let’s make it all about Avon—since they […]

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Facebook’s ad targeting: evidence now filed with the Better Business Bureau

As of today, I’ve sent off my evidence to the US Better Business Bureau so they can continue their investigation of Facebook. The DAA was too gutless to investigate but the BBB, by contrast, gives a damn.    Let me note here that I have nothing against Facebook making a buck. I just ask that […]

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