Posts by Carol Stewart
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Hard News: London's Burning, in reply to Lilith __,
Wind-up torches are great! Is it possible to get them without sirens in, though?
We have some great little wind-up torches made by Quechua (no sirens). They were bought overseas though - don't know if they are available in NZ.
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Hard News: Science: it's complicated, in reply to James Bremner,
More disingenuity from you, James. Don't expect anyone here to be impressed by references to Anthony Watts. Of course you know that his scientific credentials are as a ... television weather presenter, don't you?
So outraged was Watts by the whole concept of human-induced climate change that he set up a network of weather stations across the USA, to prove that the official temperature records are biased. So far, he has failed. In fact, several studies showing that he has failed have been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.PS Watt's 'publication record', as shown in the paper cited, is rather illuminating: here's the whole thing:
Watts, A. (2009), Is the U.S. Surface Temperature Record Reliable?,
29 pp., Heartland Inst., Chicago, Ill. -
Hard News: Science: it's complicated, in reply to Katie R,
katie, I don't think the story about ghostwritten articles being passed off as the work of influential researchers is a problem with peer review as such. It's an issue of fraud.
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Hard News: Science: it's complicated, in reply to Katie R,
On a side note. I have to say I did find it very interesting that NZ's most trusted this year were all scientists:
I thought the most interesting thing about that poll was how utterly pointless and spurious it was. here are the top 10:
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1. Sir Ray Avery, scientist, inventor, New Zealander of the Year 20102. Sir Peter Gluckman, chief science advisor to the prime minister
3. Sir Paul Callaghan, physicist, New Zealander of the Year 2011
4. Justice Helen Winkelmann, chief High Court judge
5. Roger Hall, film, TV and theatre actor, playwright
6. Bret McKenzie, comedian, actor, musician
7. Denise L'Estrange-Corbet, fashion designer
8. Jemaine Clement, comedian, actor, musician
9. Simon Gault, celebrity chef, MasterChef judge
10. Tony Kokshoorn, Grey District Mayor
'Most trusted'? WTF does that mean anyway?Sorry Katie, not meaning to sound too harsh here, I've enjoyed the rest of your musings.
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Hard News: Vanilla Buffalo Yoghurt, in reply to Aidan,
Some bikes just “feel right” and others don’t. I reckon.
Totally agree, Aidan. Comfort is everything with bikes and you just have to get around and try them out. Beats me why anyone would buy a bike, sight unseen, from Trademe.
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How about one of these?
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A great mystery to me is why cherry tomatoes are so expensive to buy when they are so easy and prolific to grow - even in the horticultural wasteland that is the top of the Brooklyn hill, they do OK most years.
Bart?
Anyone? -
Hard News: Vanilla Buffalo Yoghurt, in reply to Aidan,
Awesome! How long did that take?
Yes, it really is a great ride, and I'm looking forward to doing it again soon - though probably on a full suspension bike now that I am middle aged and wimpy!
here is some info about the three season trial that DOC are operating, for shared use of the Heaphy between bikers and walkers. It's open till the end of September.It took a day and a half - one day from the Golden Bay track end over to Lewis Hut, this was a very long day that started and finished in the dark. Then a reasonably cruisy day from Lewis hut out to the karamea end, and - oh joy - 15km more on the road to Karamea airport.
Logistically it is quite complex - you need to take everything you need (ie sleeping bag, food, spare clothes, tools etc) on the bike - I forget how we did it now, I think I had a rear rack on the Yukon with a dry bag strapped onto it, or something like that - nicer than wearing a weekend-sized backpack.
Transportwise, the only real option unless you can do a car swap or something is to fly back from Karamea to Takaka airport. In our case we were lucky enough to land in a paddock at Bainham which is close to the track end.
For Wellington folks, Golden Bay air offer a transport package which is not cheap but a pretty good time saver.
It's a lot of fun, recommended. -
The bike I had before the current one (which I bought second hand) lasted me 17 years
I bought a Giant Yukon in 1995 and it still goes fine. There's little to go wrong with it - no suspension, no disc brakes. It was fine for biking the Heaphy (well, OK, it was a little bumpy).
I got a GT Avalanche about 4 years ago - and now the front shocks are munted. Thinking about getting a full suspension bike now.I really think two bikes (at a minimum!) is the way to go - good road bike and good off road bike. But it all depends on how you use 'em.
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Hard News: How much speech does it take?, in reply to DCBCauchi,
The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins. -- Oliver Wendell Holmes