Monthly Archives: February 2012

Feb 20 2012

Commercial Ventures and the Public purse – #6 – Kiwi FM Radio


Radio Broadcast Studio
Radio Broadcast Studio (Photo credit: Leonardo Rizzi)

An ailing radio station given $300,000 a year in government funding to play exclusively Kiwi music will bow to commercial reality today and play overseas bands. via Kiwi FM Radio Station to Play International Music | Stuff.co.nz.

The station, which receives $300,000 a year from New Zealand on Air, never reached above 0.4 per cent of the listening audience and was currently at 0.1 per cent, Andrew Szusterman, of MediaWorks Radio, said.

Kiwi FM was launched in 2005 but failed to gain a large-enough audience and the next year the Government stepped in to save it by giving it new FM frequencies.

It’s been broken for 7 years!!!

Using some dodgy maths lets say 7 years 300K = $2,100,000.00 That’s a fair crack of the whip for a lame idea from a lame company and those making the decision need to really think through what it is they’re buing into.

The article quotes “There were not enough radio-quality acts in New Zealand to keep a station afloat. “The quality [of New Zealand music] has got better … but there’s not a huge number of acts.”"

What he doesn’t say is that  There are over 70 New Zealand radio stations that stream on-line content! Who knew! In Auckland alone there are 53 Radio stations to listen to, never a dull moment ! And it appears that’s out of a total of more than 130  in NZ

I don’t know where to begin with that, simply put there isn’t a commercially viable amount of music to play, not historical, not current, just not. What kind of poor business decision is it where you all sit around a big table and the big talking head says “all kiwi, all the time” and everyone nods and mumbles. Madness.

The fact that it’s costing $300,000 and the 0.4% is probably the WAG’s of the DJ staff should indicate the next best business decision they should make, which is pushing the BRB (Big Red Button) and putting everyone out of their misery. This is a minorities station of the wrong sort, and the money would have been better going to student radio stations such as bFM for a slice of their time and a niche show, not some full funded run-around-the-block.

I’m annoyed that this again is a public venture, a for profit venture, one with share-holders behind it, that relies on a public handout to operate, it’s not a charity. Or where do I sign up?

Feb 20 2012

Growing up and letting go – sporting your life vicariously


At 17 it’s come down to a battle of wills.

Miss does not want to play club hockey this year. We already agreed that the representative competitions weren’t going to be a feature, it still  seems to be about favouritism and who knows who, who’s the coach and who’s the manager, I’m not saying that the daughters of the various “officials” get picked, it might be the other way around, that it’s accidental that the players are picked then oh can mum or dad be the coach/manager/etc.

Anyway we long ago decided that it wasn’t fair or proper to insist on Miss participating in a short season of representative grade hockey, and frankly it’s a cheaper option.  She has played for various A grade and occasional B grade teams over many years, and this year enough is enough, there wasn’t going to be enough excitement in it. Besides which it could encroach on earning opportunities and a part-time job

School Hockey is fine, we’re down with that, and I think she was hoping to be captain of the 1st XI this year, secretly if not openly. It may come to pass, she has a reasonable chance, but then it’s down to the coach. And the coach is the same one that coaches the rep team. We’ll see how that plays out.

But club hockey is another thing altogether. She played for the championship winning team last year, as probably the youngest team member, alongside a couple of very good current and ex black-stick and junior black-stick players, acquitted herself well, scored a couple of goals and generally seemed to enjoy it.

This year though after the summer break it seems that the fun isn’t there any more.

And this is where, as a parent, it gets tough. I think we’ve been pretty fair and even in pushing and insisting on sports and achievements. Not to the point of forcing her to play, but making sure that we supported and encouraged where possible and supported the decisions that she wanted to make. It’s cost us a fair bit of money too, it’s not cheap, kit, travel, turf fees, club fees , physio visits, gym memberships etc.

With age and experience I’d prefer that she continued, at least for this year, at least untill she went to University, or got a job, and then I’d be happy to let it go. Accept that adulthood and decision-making has arrived and needs to be respected. I’ve even suggested that she start the season and then decide.

On reflection though this would be quitting, and I’ve never let my children quit half way through a team commitment.

So I have a quandary, give up and let go, or push because that’s what I’d like to see happen.

Feb 18 2012

No Bain no Gain


I was spurred on by this today about David Cullen Bain :  David Bain Defence Still Less Than Convincing | Stuff.co.nz.

I’ll put my stall out before I get to the article;

My opinion on this is that Robin didn’t do it. Despite insinuation and denial it’s not that cut and dried. It could have been if David had testified in the re-trial, which he chose not to do, relying on fear, uncertainty, doubt and liberal attitudes to sway an unpredictable jury.

For me the key piece of doubt relies on the time that the computer was switched on.

The time. What exactly was the time, compared to what time, there was no “reference time”, everyone looked at their own watches and decided that was the time. It’s was a nonsense from the get-go

So how do you tell when a computer was started, I might have missed a trick or two but I still do not know how or where a computer of that age would have stored that kind of information, and I then assume that it was a guess. A guess based on some “expert” pressing the go button and timing with a stopwatch the time it took him, an expert, to type in the mystery message. Like a said a nonsense.

Lets assume that there was a record, somehow, in a history boot file, or something unknown to me, that only tells us a relative time, it’s not “the time” it’s the time that the computer thinks it is.

If I could get that answer straight in my head then I’d be happier. I might be the only on banking on that drum though, the prosecution and certainly the defense don’t want to answer  the question. I even asked the defense team once and got a very off hand reply.

Any way via David Bain Defence Still Less Than Convincing | Stuff.co.nz.

The second item of key evidence is the bloody footprints found in the Every St house. Clearly, if Karam can show the footprints were made by Robin Bain, then he is home and dry. This is because Robin’s socks, when he was found, had no blood on them, showing he must have changed them between shooting the family and then himself.

Robin’s foot was 270mm long and David’s 300mm. A bloodied footprint in the house measured 280mm, but the scientist who did the testing stressed the footprint might not show the “extremities of the heel and toe”.

Karam hangs his hat on testing done by both defence and prosecution experts who had subjects dip their feet in a tray of pig’s blood and then walk on various surfaces.

These tests showed it was very unlikely a person with a foot of David’s size would make a 280mm print under luminol testing (it is usually larger). As with most reconstructions, this testing was flawed from the start. The variables were huge. Were the socks the same? Was weight put on the feet the same? Did the carpet in the tests match the Every St carpet? Was the amount of blood on the socks the same?

…

At the trial I counted at least 20 items of important evidence which, in my view, pointed to Bain’s guilt. According to the book, they all have innocent and logical explanations, but key points such as the damaged glasses found in Bain’s room, sister Laniet’s gurgling, the fingerprints on the rifle, the blood on Bain’s clothes and the bruises on his face are formidable although admittedly not unimpeachable pieces of evidence.

Interestingly, Karam does not mention the bizarre if not ludicrous scenario that would have played out if Robin had been the killer. This involves Robin putting his bloodied clothes in the washing basket and then changing his clothes and socks before killing himself in a highly unusual way.

The trial-by-ambush scenario as trumpeted by the title of the book is not sustained. I had to wonder if this was because the defence was not immune to springing things on the prosecution and had to be counselled by the judge on several occasions.

…

Karam is right about many things in the Bain case. Some of the police bungles were inexcusable, but neither was it the shoddy inquiry he makes it out to be. It’s true some tests, if done, might have exonerated Bain, but also they might have supported his alleged guilt.

I doubt this book will change many minds. Karam has once again done a superb job for David Bain. Perhaps more debatable, in my opinion, is whether he has done such a fine job for justice.

I’ve been known to change my mind before, on many thing’s, and I’ve read the books, read various web pages, articles, Wikipedia entries, and pro and anti sentiments. The family was dysfunctional and Robin was a “strange egg” but whilst it’s not unusual for the police to get the wrong man, for me in the case they didn’t and we’ve had an ongoing tragedy played out before us.

I wish David well, I have no personal malice or desire to cause him hurt harm or distress, only he knows for sure, and only him, and he had the chance to say, and he chose not to.

I rest my case.

Related articles
Feb 17 2012

Beer – #11 in a series – Renaissance Man


Today it’s a bit of a dash with Renaissance Paradox Blonde

Renaissance, a Craft Brewery based in Marlborough, New Zealand. Brews include the Winner of Best Stout at the AIBA 2011. Loving creator of ales for the enlightened palate.

The Paradox Blonde. Well blow me down if this isn’t one chuffing good drop of beer. What have been doing dancing around it for so long? The label says, and I have to agree, that this is a Quaffing beer. And in a pint size and at the lower end of the alcohol level (4%) this would be a beer for the evening.

seriously a 9 arbitrary stars out of 10 arbitrary stars on the arbitrary pdubyahometer. Get some at all good places, I got mine at New World, and they have the whole range, this could be an adventure!

Related articles
Feb 16 2012

It’s not what they say it’s how you read them – Personalised Plates


I’m curmudgeonly at best, according to MrsPdubyah, but as age and reason take over youth and exuberance I find myself questioning a few things. So then  Personalised Plates

I was driving home recently and was driving behind a Black Kia Cerrato what had the number plate “SHITOT” I know it’s a Black Kia because I looked it up on carjam.co.nz :-)

The next day I cruised up behind a blinged up Honda Civic

Being a bit of a curmudgeon I thought I’d look to see what constituted offensive and inappropriate in terms of what you can and can’t have as a number plate. Seems you can’t have a number plate starting with  ARS, BUM, CUN, DUM, FAK, FAT and FUZ which are among 25 of those that the NZTA has banned already.

Stuff.co.nz reports :

From July 2010 till August 2011 the agency blocked six plates from being made after it was contacted by Personalised Plates Ltd. The agency also recalled a further six after complaints from the public.

Of the dozen plates, three used the c-word, including one in Afrikaans, which was recalled after it was issued. A Broadcasting Standards Authority survey last year found the c-word to be the most offensive swear word in New Zealand.

Two featuring the f-word were banned, and three with racist references to black people were recalled, as was CTKLR (cat killer).

A plate referring to the Hiroshima bombing in 1945 was blocked from being made.

Message plates allow smaller lines of text to be written above and below the central word, so the plate would have read “The Big Bang Theory ENOLA Gay”.

Enola Gay was the name of the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which killed about 140,000 people. After a second bomb dropped on Nagasaki killed about 74,000, the Japanese surrendered and World War II came to an end.

The plate was blocked before it was produced because it was “likely to offend”, Transport Agency spokesman Andy Knackstedt said. A plate that said only Enola was allowed.

Also reported elsewhere Personalised plates which have not been allowed include FNC0LD and OHCOCK, while RDY24Q and DARKIE are among those which have been recalled.

But it seems SHITOT is ok, as is BOLX. In an email exchange with the Plates.co.nz people they said that SHYTOT was still on a vehicle and  that  B0LX could be B naught Fity TEN  maybe a dairy farmer.  – who knew that B0Lx was a dairy term.

I’ll concede that SHYTOT could be just that a SHY TOT – tot of course being a slang for a young child, I did check and SHYBOY isn’t issued but that SHYGAL is (i’ve done research!).

Like I stated with I get the desire to have an expression that in anarchic, a finger to the establishment, and fair play if you can get one past them, but  I’ve now contacted the NZTA and have to write to them with a complaint, this will calm the inner crank in me.

Feb 15 2012

Mojo Mathers – Moments of Madness


All this despite the Green party having fore-knowledge and already having access to a taxpayer-funded budget of $5,600,000 over the term of parliament to provide MP Support.. read on..

There was a furious display of Faux Outrage yesterday over a news item that appeared, purporting to indicate that the Speaker of the House of Parliment in New Zealand had told a new MP, who happens to have a disability of profound deafness, that Parliamentary Services would not fund a “note taker” to the sum of $20-30,000, and that she had “to fund it herself”

MPs gets funding to cover 80 hours of staff time a week, or two full-time equivalent workers, for assistants inside and outside Parliament.

Mathers estimates she needs 1000 hours a year for staff to send an instant transcript of proceedings in the debating chamber to a laptop on her desk.

However that’s not quite true, The Original News Article is here “The Green Party reacted with outrage today after Ms Mathers was told she would have to fund her note-taker from her MP support budget, or that the party would have to fund it.”

I might be wrong but a “note taker” is a physical person who in real-time transcribes what is happening in the debating chamber so that the MP can participate in the debate. And it was pointed out by someone on Twitter “Can I just point out. NZ govt sits for approx 352 hours/yr = 30k/352hrs/3 = $416/hr/govt term. THATS EXPENSIVE!”

The Speaker of the house, Dr Smith, said “while Parliamentary Service paid for the technological support, the actual note-taker was a staffing cost, and he did not have the authority to approve such funding.

“Staff time like that, or support like that, is not something I can just ask the Parliamentary Service to provide,” he said.

“Support for Members of Parliament is something that’s spelt out in the Speaker’s directions, its separately appropriated by Parliament. I can’t, under the law, simply say ‘oh, forget about that, we’ll put a bit of money in from here or there’, it’s something I have to consult on.”

The NZ HErald are  having a poll on the issue today:

And WhaleOil on his blog today posted this  Questions for the Greens.

Why are the Greens not telling anyone that she worked for 5 years as a senior policy advisor for The Greens?

She was also a parliamentary advisor at one point.

That means she was well aware of the Parliamentary environment.

I wonder whether she or the Greens have previously paid for her to have an electronic note taker in that environment before?

Clearly the Greens are using disability as a means to grandstand

It’s also been pointed out variously that this requirement hasn’t come as a surprise, it’s been known about for months, at least since the election in 2011.

Personally I don’t think this is an issue of making the proceedings of the chamber of the house of parliament accessible to 700,000 hearing impaired individuals in NZ, but the introduction of close captioned coverage, I think this the Green party (it could have been any party) pushing the envelope and making an issue to be able to maximize their already generous $5.6million budget, it’s not an attack on the disabled, or one person with a disability, it’s not about the rights of the individual. It’s about troughing.

Nobody that I know of is denying that Mojo Mathers should be able to participate fully in a role as MP, which means that she has a special and specific need, not currently funded or provided for by Parlimentary Services. To me its not a big deal. There is taxpayer funding provided to all parties for MP support, taxpayer funding that they, the MP’s have variously voted for and increased over the years.

Nobody should compare deafness to mobility disability, wheelchair access is provisioned for and is included in the legal requirements for buildings. Deafness and Wheelchair not the same. Not close.

Twitter and various blogs got into a major tizzie over this, and it’s doubtful, today, if any of them have had second thoughts, pause to reconsider or indeed feel sheepish enough to actually agree that what happened wasn’t what they thought, which included the end of the world, end end of democracy, vicious and deliberate disability bashing, wilful and negligent callousness etc etc.

I doubt it.

Related articles
Feb 12 2012

Trying Teen Times – the grown up one – A New Car revisited.


*Insert swearing word here*, well insert a few.

Seems that although superficially the new to you car was pretty tidy turns out it was just waiting to blow up. Firstly it took to popping the overflow radiator hose thing off, then the top radiator hose done and split, which meant a tow truck lift home.

The mechanic fixed that, tested it for a head gasket leak, which seemed to show that it was all hunky dory, until the next time it was driven where upon it’s done it dash and now refuses to work.

The cylinder head has been at the testers who report back that the “head is soft” which can’t be a good thing, and that it’d been taken off and repaired previous. Repairing it again might make it last 2 weeks, two months or two years, or never need doing again.

So as a lesson in trusting the person you’re buying from this has come as a bit of a blow, as does being seduced by pretty things that look nice. I guess if they were honest they’d still own the car, and that wasn’t their plan.

On the upside although it was a couple thousand dollars invested in what essentially is a road side ornament it’s not a life shattering send me in to poverty spiral amount of money.

On the downside that was the contingency fund spent, and there isn’t another stash of cash that we can flash on a new car.

The repair cost for the red roadside ornament would be equal to the amount that we could get in a return for the repair, $2000 to repair a car that when repaired would be worth $2000. But there are alternatives, one of which a replacement engine or head. The mechanic is going to let me know.

So I think we’ll have to fall on the mercy of the bank manager to top our mortgage a little, get something that comes with a bit of a guarantee and accept that this time it was a “swing with no ding”

So anyone want a red roadside garden ornament, does have a WOF :-)

Feb 9 2012

Cricket for the Layperson


Cricket strategy requires creative use of the ...
Image via Wikipedia
  • You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
  • Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.
  • When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
  • Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
  • When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
  • There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
  • When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
Feb 8 2012

Beer – #10 in a series – Introducing the Bishops Finger


I look like a bit like someone who’s escaped from somewhere, can’t help that. Tonight it’s the Bishops Finger, a dark Kentish Strong Ale.

The local New World supermarket seems to have cottoned on to the “luxury” end of the imported beer, and have such a wide range and choice that it’s hard to maintain a sense of normal and only spend enough for the night in.

Tonight, then, the Bishops finger, a  5.4% Ale in a handy pint sized bottle. It’s $8.00 a bottle, which is sort of about right price, I guess.

The label describes Toffee and Berries, I just smelt a rich bitter beer smell that so reminds me of English pub ale. It pours well and it drinks just great. You can tell that I’m wearing a real shirt with buttons, it’s a work night, and it may not end well.

On the arbitrary stars-0-meter this would an easy 9 arbitrary stars out of 10 arbitrary stars. It’s good.

Related articles
Feb 7 2012

Who you going to call? – Ghostbusters (of Auckland)


There is a new “professional” team of Ghost Hunters in Auckland. They had a live tweeting of an “emergency” investigation on the 5th February, at night of course.

Anyway I was on twitter and I was following their commentary. And of course I asked one question too many, well I asked a couple of questions but mostly I was being wildly critical. The result was they “blocked me”

The emergency was at one of their own team houses, a 16 year old “new” house where Heather from Henderson lives , “She has lived in a haunted house as a child, and now lives in another haunted house; complete with ghost cat and a Shadow Person“. So straight off the bat you have someone convinced there is a “ghost” and they are taking part in the investigation.

But that’s ok because “She has an analytical mind, which is good for debunking”

So then to the science.

They use an Iphone app iOvilus - which is listed under “Entertainment” on the Itunes Store.  It has a 1000 word dictionary and it listens to the environment and then comes up with a word

“The iOvilus is based on the same method of ITC communications as the highly controversial Ovilus.  The iOvilus produces speech based on changes to sensors in the iPhone or iPod Touch.  Simply, the idea is that an outside force can affect a change that registers a response. Instrumental Trans Communications “ITC” is not new, however, the methods used to try and achieve it are changing greatly.”

The Ovilus, or Puck, is an electronic speech-synthesis device which utters words depending on electromagnetic waves in the air, by using an EMF Meter. The device was created by Bill Chappell, a retired electronics engineer interested in the paranormal who creates devices for the field.

Due to the random nature of the replies, many paranormal research groups have stopped using the Ovilus because too much is left to chance. It is posited that a person could pull random words out of a hat and get the same response as what comes out of the Ovilus. Many liken it to an electronic 8 Ball or Ouija Board

They also cracked out the scientific dowsing Rods

To say that I’m less than impressed is to make a huge understatement. To block someone from twitter because they are being contrary to your beliefs isn’t professional that’s just not engaging in a conversation with you, and that’s not science is it?

The Photographs: I’m going to add some of the pictures they posted on twitpic, I’ll include the links so you can see for yourself.

I give you the links here : Ghosts Of Auckland presents

#Ghosthunt#Paranormal above Jennifer’s head http://twitpic.com/8fzwax

#ghosthunt#Paranormalhttp://twitpic.com/8fzvlc

#Paranormal#Ghosthunt still there… http://twitpic.com/8fzv0b

#Paranormal#Ghosthunt Andrew has a hitchhiker… http://twitpic.com/8fzugt

Big orb #Ghosthunthttp://twitpic.com/8fzdw8

http://twitpic.com/8fzatx – 3 orbs, in a line going across the entry to the closet

#Ghosthunt orb wth ripples? http://twitpic.com/8fzcpn

#Ghosthunt here’s a nice orb! http://twitpic.com/8fzatx

So you’ll see all the “orbs” are in the same plane and all the same size in all the photos. But they are “orbs” of course. Of course. Not light on the lens, a reflection or anything mundane but proof positive.

I’ll leave it there as I’m laughing too much and I’ll end with a few snippets of an “investigation” courtesy of the Ghost of Auckland Website

Q. Why mention this? IS it to prove that you are sceptical or analytical  –  “A few EVP sessions were done, to which I don’t know the results as yet. I sat in the corner at one time and felt an icy cold spot to the right of me. I checked around and noticed the window behind me, so I’ve put it down to that.”

Q. Really, this happened without corroboration or independent witness, or replication? “On first opening the door to the kitchen during the walkthrough, a shadow was seen darting into the corner. So some of us had quite an interest in this room. Later on I was in this room by myself. As I sat there in the dark, I heard what sounded like running water and a dripping noise. I shone my torch to where the noise was and saw there was a sink there. I checked the sink and there were signs that there never has been running water in it for years. Dry!! I later found that the tap doesn’t work either. This is a possible paranormal event. “

Q. Again the Question is “You’ve gone here expecting a result” “I was leading a team member to where the next spirit could be and I sensed that the study is where there was one [...] I started to feel energy building at the back of my head, which is a signal that someone wanted me to channel them [...] The chill then backed off. We later left, and I said I got the impression that the spirit was of an older male, taller, had white hair and beard, 60s to 70s. In the base office I saw a photograph of the family and pointed out the picture of the Reverend Lush himself. This picture was the spitting image of the person I sensed”

It beggars belief, and should end with “Which I hadn’t seen before or anything, and as I had no expectation of seeing, sensing or having an “event” I can’t explain how this happened”

So there you have it, science in action, involving people who want to and firmly belive in ghosts, spirits and the paranormal as seen on TV.