Posts by rodgerd
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(As an aside, Hibbert makes one point which is sad: it's been a while since the computers your kid would be likely to exposed to, consoles, Windows PCs, had a simple, free programming language as part of them at all, never mind as prominently as BASIC on the old 8 bit machines. The world has, in that regard, gone backwards.)
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Oh, and while we're wallowing in nostalgia: M J Hibbert's nostalgia piece, Hey Hey 16K. Do not overlook the sheer genius that is Rob Manuel's video for same.
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I got a ZX Spectrum in 1983 or 1984; the 48K, happily. I mentioned loading programs off tape to a friend in her early 20s a couple of years ago and she thought I was taking the piss.
My earliest memories go before that, thought - things like my Dad bringing home an incredibly sophisticated terminal-in-a-big-briefcase setup so he could dial into work with an acoustic coupler modem in the late 70s.
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Gah. One t in incarceration, please.
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If you're old enough to vote you're old enough to go to jail!!
No incarcertation without representation!
/me throws tea into harbour
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It seems to me that this has profound implications for our economy, i.e. that we can achieve significant economic growth by investing in technology that has a higher exergy conversion efficiency -- something that there is massive scope for in this country. It also raises the question as to whether economic growth, etc. could be managed by controlling the flow of energy within the economy, e.g. by having something like an 'energy reserve bank'.
Rod Oram did a column last year where he noted that Claifornia had achieved it's economic growth from the early 1970s, when they began serious state legislation to require cleaner cars, energy conservation, and so on, until now with much the same level of energy consumption. He was contrasting this with New Zealand, where our energy consumption has increased significantly in the same period, with much poorer growth.
Oram is not as widely publicised, sadly, as those members of New Zealand's business community who believe anything that inhibits a pollution rich, poor-worker race to the bottom is a DISASTER FOR THE COUNTRY! AND I"LL PACK MY TOYS AND GO TO CHINA!
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Here's the real kicker. The Bill also lowers the age of criminal responsibility for "serious crimes" (with the same definition as before) to 10 years old. So this means that, were the Bill enacted (God help us all) we would see 10 year olds standing on stools so that they could be seen over the top of the dock in the number one courtroom at Auckland District Court. Did anyone actually bother to check this thing before hitting send?
I have a simple solution: We link Kedgley's desire for a review of the voting age to Marks' bill. You can vote at whatever age adult criminal responsibilty begins. Problem solved!
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Every age is a good age. Really. And the older they get, the quicker those ages pass. Unfortunately that's something you can only appreciate after it has happened.
The best bit of prenting advice we got - from numerous sources - that turned out to be completely correct was to enjoy the now. People would explain how often they, themselves had been impatient for the "next stage", only to disocver they missed the last one, and felt they hadn't enjoyed themselves enough during it.
I was delighted when my daugter was old enough to greet me with paroxyms of joy when I got home from work - but I also miss the time during the first couple of months of her life when the most magical thing in her little life was Daddy's big, strong, safe chest. Apart from hunger there was no upset, no hurt, no distress that could not be cured by snuggling on down on Daddy. Her increasing complexity comes with many delights - the beginnings of speech, playing with drums and maracas, learning to enjoy the company of others, being excited by books and reading time - but I'm a little sad that complexity also means her needs and wants are no longer so heartwarmingly easy to satisfy.
And after that, obligatory funny.
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There seems to be a "They shouldn't be worried about that <insert topic>" meme that surrounds the Greens whenever there's some kind of policy win.
After the last election there was some commentary to the effect that National was failing in MMP because various people in key positions (McCulley, Bassett, et al) hadn't gotten their head around the fact that National is no longer a natural party of government, and that it could not, in MMP, expect to control the house and run FPP-style elected dictatorships; it had to cultivate its natural allies.
From some of the commentary here, I'm inclined to think that there are some in the Labour prty and its supporters who haven't grasped the reality that they are not entitled to 100% of the leftish-flavoured votes, either in the house or the electorate, or to dictate which issues those voters and reps consider important.
If we're talking about mis-use of political capital, perhaps we could discuss how Labour have ended up with Dunne's Future and Winston First, after all.
That said, I'm dissapointed with this outcome. Less than some, because, as it happens, I'm not sure I'm thrilled with a regulatory body which would likely be dominated by a country who sold it's independence in medical matters as part of a free trade agreement with the US (although I'm confident John Key will align us to that position given half a chance), but I do think people who wish to make huge sums of money selling things which purport to have theraputic value ought to at least be held to the same standards my local kebab outfit or Dick Smith's store are when it comes to the quality of teh ingrediants and the product performing as advertised.
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Possibly the worst "classic" to read in public if you don't want to be accosted by dodgy strangers is that famous one by Nabokov,
American Psycho might not be a great one to read if you're trying to pull, either.