Monthly Archives: May 2009

Stuff – remove the TVNZ video on Bridget Saunders

Posted on May 19, 2009 by

I’d heard about the Close Up interview with Fairfax’s recently departed Sunday Star Times About Town gossip columnist Bridget Saunders. It looked like it was a bit of a hit-job. The last place I would have thought to see it … Continue reading →

Posted in fairfax | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Negative political tactics make you look dull

Posted on May 17, 2009 by

I admire democracy – after all the alternatives are much worse. I also believe that a robust ‘loyal’ opposition is a necessary part of a healthy democracy. But it all falls apart when an opposition chooses vindictiveness and obstruction over … Continue reading →

Posted in NZ Business | Tagged , | Leave a comment

eBay UK stacks it high and watches it fly

Posted on May 15, 2009 by

eBay have taken a leaf out of 1-day‘s playbook and have launched a Daily Deal on their UK website. The idea is simple – offer a compelling deal from the homepage, drive traffic to the site each day and sell … Continue reading →

Posted in auctions, Trade Me | Tagged | Leave a comment

BMW’s new bike – the S1000RR

Posted on May 12, 2009 by

BMW has just released the street version of their Supersport bike. This is an important event in the decade long takeover of the marque by horsepower crazy hoons. Those hoons still believe in ABS and traction control – this bike … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Motorcycling | 1 Comment

Uncovering the truth behind “50% of teens post senstive information”

Posted on May 12, 2009 by

Last week we saw a plethora of New Zealand headlines bemoaning the poor behaviour of ‘kids today’ – this time in how they handle their sensitive information online. The punchline was that one in two students had posted sensitive information … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, media | 9 Comments

The spectrum of blogging engagement

Posted on May 11, 2009 by

While I may not agree with it entirely, Mikearauz has come up with a useful way to look at the way casual interest can turn into advocacy online. Since I don’t agree with it – I decided to have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, media | Leave a comment

2 shots were fired

Posted on May 11, 2009 by

I am immensely proud to live in a country where, when faced with a well trained and armed guy fortressed in a house, the police acted in a responsible manner. Even after the provocation of seeing one of their number … Continue reading →

Posted in Life | Tagged , | 6 Comments

67 is the new magical number

Posted on May 11, 2009 by

photo, originally uploaded by LanceWiggs.

Posted in NZ Business | 2 Comments

The XT network debable – Winners and Losers

Posted on May 7, 2009 by

I was pretty angry at Telecom yesterday when I wrote Pay the $900,000 Telecom you cheap sods, but a day later it seems that they will do so. Good. Now that the debacle is over, let’s check the winners and … Continue reading →

Posted in media, telecom | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Spend the $900,000 Telecom – you cheap sods

Posted on May 6, 2009 by

Sigh. And there I was praising Telecom the other day – praise it seems that was all too soon. I am concerned that recent behavior is indicating that Telecom is back to its old monopolist ways. I write of course … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadband, Internet Business, NZ Business, telecom | Tagged | 11 Comments

The media is no longer the message

Posted on May 4, 2009 by

An interesting survey by eMarketer, via WebProNews: Stop. Don’t look too hard at the table. This survey is fundamentally flawed. The flaw is simple, and it reflects an old mode of thinking: These days the media is not the message. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Internet Business, media | Tagged | 6 Comments

Lingopal is big in Japan

Posted on May 3, 2009 by

Lingopal translates between 42 languages – and can be operated in any of those languages as well. That means it is of use to people shopping on all of the Apple iTunes stores. So it was always going to be … Continue reading →

Posted in NZ Business | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Importing MYOB data into Xero – opportunity?

Posted on May 1, 2009 by

I’m trying to convince my mother to switch to Xero from MYOB. The unfortunate problem is that all of her history is stored in MYOB, and so switching requires re-keying of invoices and the like. The solution to this is … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia Business, Internet Business, NZ Business | Tagged | 8 Comments

How Baupost’s goresight let them weather the storm

Posted on May 1, 2009 by

Notes from Seth Klarman’s speech at Columbia Business School is, interestingly, the most popular clicked-on link from here, coming from The Baupost Story post. So let’s do a round up of coverage, find some more reading on the Baupost story … Continue reading →

Posted in Investing | Leave a comment