Posts by Don Christie

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  • Hard News: Sportsball Special!,

    "Tracey Nelson has done the numbers" Good lord, haka.co.nz is still going. Copyright 2000 Catalyst.Net Ltd. Halcyon days.

    And....nice work Tracy!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Circumstance and coincidence,

    I don't think the USA needs a "special" reason to go after Dotcom, as suggested by Paul and Peter. The excessive zeal with which they have proved willing to hound alleged copyright offenders is well documented. RIP Aaron Awartz.

    The current regime has its roots in Bill Clinton's administration who decided tat America's future was not in making stuff but in protecting ideas. This has turned out to be an economic falsity but US corporates are now so wedded to the model of extreme IP protection that much of the apparatus of the state (including the NSA and 5 Eyes) is designed to enforce that regime.

    And that is also why Joe Biden is so strongly identified with current idiocies.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Circumstance and coincidence,

    at the behest of the US, which wanted to refocus its intelligence activity towards the protection of intellectual property interests

    This is the pattern of everything we have seen coming out of the US for at least a decade. The power they are seeking, and have achieved, over all internet users is scary. It has been carried out behalf of private enterprise. It has nothing to do with public interest or even, good economics.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Language of Climate,

    Coming here a little late. I was in London when the Saraha storm hit. I didn't really notice it. But I do know that, thanks to congestion charges, London is a much nicer place to be and travel around then it has been for a long time. In other news the UK's greenhouse emission levels have:

    "been falling gradually over the last two decades, by around 21% since 1990, as energy efficiency improved and the use of gas power displaced more carbon intensive coal. "

    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/27/greenhouse-gas-emissions-fall-in-the-uk

    Dear New Zealand, that's what happens when you show leadership.

    In related news I did fly here, and do so every 9 months or so. The Internet is brilliant and does reduce the need for face to face meetings but it is still very hard to reproduce the connections and more constant flow of discussions that you can get from personal interactions...Hugging is harder.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: How I Became a Grumpy Old…,

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Busytown: School bully,

    Education policies come and go. The one thing they all have in common is that they are always contentious. The one thing successive governments have failed to do is spend enough money on the sector. By a long way.

    I wrote about this, twice.

    Big Education, not Big Government

    Big Education, the reprise

    tl;dr "If we want a better education system (and we know this creates better economic and societal outcomes) we need to be prepared to spend a tonne more money on it, everything else is a side show."

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Web, in reply to Peter Darlington,

    then moved fairly quickly to Planet Nelson run by the anarchic and lovely Chris O'Donoghue.

    This was just worth repeating.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: TPP: Error Correction, in reply to Stephen R,

    The key thing that will cripple Pharmac is patent related extensions. Also allowing new patents if an existing drug has a new application.

    That would severely reduce the availability of generic drugs to NZers and drive the cost of drugs up to the sky.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Capture: Laneway 2014 + Lorde,

    Thanks for the pointer to Savages. I like them.

    And here's some Siouxsie And The Banshees. :-)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: We're back!, in reply to Paul Williams,

    Paul

    http://www.maoritelevision.com/ is extraordinarily comprehensive. Russell will be in good company.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report Reply

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