New UK RFID Passports have been cracked with 48 hours of code and a few seconds in front of a scanner. We’ll be getting something similar here in NZ, and it’s not making me feel secure.
Author Archives: Lance Wiggs
“Inside” the US prison system
“Inside” – prisoner Michael Santo’s book about his 18 years in the US Federal prison system is staggering. Terrible stories and jokes about life behind bars in the US system have crept out over the years, while Amnesty International, amongst others, has condemned the abuse. But what Santos does is personalize it – through stories …
Code sharing good, tourism good. Reconcile.
Qantas and AirNZ will not code-share. Thank goodness. Code-sharing is undoubtedly good for the airlines as it allows them to load their aircraft more and increase prices to closer to the monopoly price. Unfortunately the societal cost is large – not only do travelers pay more per flight, but they also spend our flying time …
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PS3 sales banned on eBay UK, restricted on eBay USA
Stupid. Really stupid. eBay USA is restricting sale of Sony PS3’s to members with high feedback, and even then only one per member. eBay UK is prohibiting sale of PS’s until pre-sales commence next year. Thus does eBay, which normally serves to reduce barriers, prevent trading across borders. The obvious play is to buy PS3’s …
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Overstock.com – and why it does not work
eBay wannabe competitor Overstock just had a horrible 3rd quarter, with revenues down on the previous year. Although it’s a cyclical business, pundits are concerned that revenues fell despite better internal operations. In the last quarter the conversion rate, and Google ads were less effective. Meanwhile the brand suffers (while attracting the morbidly curious like …
Job advertising
Surprisingly only now has the number of job listings online in New Zealand overtaken the number of job listings in newspapers – thanks to the launch of Trade Me Jobs. Source: ANZ For now the entry of online players has increased the size of the market, but that downward slope of newspaper classifieds must have …
Christmas shopping
Unsure about what to buy for Christmas? Worry no longer
Peter Jackson (auto)biography
Just finished Peter Jackson’s (semi auto)-biography. It’s a remarkable journey he has made, from struggling apprentice printer to mogul. Three things struck me The first is his overwhelming passion for movies – passion that led him to just do it, rather than learn first by going to university. The results speak volumes, and he is …
cars
Just had a marvelous dinner with a four folk that all just happen to be into cars. Actually I was easily the least informed on the subject, and that includes the two women in the room. Luckily these folk are car enthusiasts, and buy great cars at good prices. So how do you get a …
vista’s sound
Vista’s startup sound just sounds horrible. Irritating as anything , at least to me. I sincerely hope that Vista is stable, and that sleep works properly, so that legions of windows users don’t get that ghastly agonising sound each morning or, worse, after a crash.
NZHerald is Stuffed
A week or so ago NZ Herald either made a change, or someone (like Telecom) made a change for them, and as a result it often loads glacially slowly. It’s so bad that it essentially renders the site unusable for some folk. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it is because they have succumbed …
Daily Show Global Edition
Here in NZ we are unable to get the Daily Show through broadcast/cable TV. We can only get the dramatically compacted “Special Edition”, which plays just once each week. Not only is most of the content missing, but it’s also very late, so timeliness, the essential element of news, is gone. And forget the Colbert …
Marvin Bower
These are the attributes that McKinsey’s Marvin Bower apparently had. – Integrity/trustworthines (A) – Fact based visioning, pragmatic approach (B) – Adherence to principles/values (C) – Humility & unassuming respect for others (D) – Strong communications/personal persuasiveness (E) – Personal involvement/demonstrated commitment (F) My first thought is that despite her 11 years in the firm …
Motorcycling is the safest way to travel: #1
Sure you say. But it is my belief that motorcycling is the safest way to travel in foreign countries. This will take a while to explain, and there are some caveats – so I’ll take it a piece at a time. #1: You are the driver In many countries the roads and traffic is chaotic, …
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blogging
This is my 3rd or 4th attempt at a blog. Previous versions have failed after I either lost energy because my circumstances changed, or I was unable to easily update the blog through a plethora of technical issues. Let’s see how this goes.
Lance Wiggs 