Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Improving quality by cutting service

Shep Cheyenne

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:02:48 +1200

We had end of season dinners in honor of the Civil Servant who built the rowing pontoons & course at Ruataniwha. He lost his job over it but his pragmatism gave NZ world class infrastructure (at no cost ;).

There is a history of Rowing Officials dodgy dealing to 'get things…

Holly Johnson

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:27:46 +1200

"PM blocks pensioner's parking ..." You're exactly right, Stanley Pointen, that was an outrageously misleading and mischievous headline from the Herald. The Stuff site had an identical headline. I was going to mention them, but they disappeared quickly.
And today, on Stuff, is this:

**Former RNZ boss admits using forged…

simon g

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:06:16 +1200

More sub-standard-editing:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4605094a10.html

Expert says: Migration will be an election issue.

Headline says: Migration will increase.

Two different things.

See also Herald, TVNZ, also failing basic reading comprehension test.

Steve Ballantyne

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:29:45 +1200

The part about Fairfax's scheme to do away with numerous subs being accidentally leaked through Fairfax's intranet is wonderful — where other organisations have been known to set up their intranets as portals to useful information, Fairfax's version is not much more than a corporate noticeboard coming between users and…

Lyndon Hood

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:20:25 +1200

Apparently Fairfax have already cut back on proofreading for their press releases:

Fairfax Media, New Zealand's largest newspaper, magazine and web publisher, is again seeking the country's young journalism prospects for its journalism intern scheme and, after training at five leading journalism schools, to join publications or websites of their choice.…

Kracklite

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:26:02 +1200

Erratum: Trofim and Feynman for what its worth.

Wiki entries for Lysenko here and Feynman over here.

Kracklite

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:21:22 +1200

But the big problem for the rest of us is too much 'science knows best' talk which feeds a spiral of disengagement from scientific knowledge.

Agree and disagree, Donald. It's often a case of Feinman versus Lysenko, with Lysenko losing, or rather, as Richard Feinman put ti in the press…

Peter Ashby

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 19:14:06 +1200

@ Donald Mathieson

I wish them well, but hope they can broaden their efforts beyond just promoting scientists to also involving more people in scientific knowledge generation.

What's stopping you? There are a number of people without institutional affiliations getting FoRST etc grants and doing research. If you have a…

Sofie Bribiesca

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:15:24 +1200

thanks peter for covering my echo.

heh, I thought it must have been the new lightbulbs. ;)

Rex Widerstrom

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:13:32 +1200

First off, bias isn't sloppy subbing, it's bias. Personally I'd be happier if the various news outlets who've abandoned any pretence of objectivity just admitted it. The UK has survived with the Independent obviously leaning left and the The Sun leaning right etc. People know what they're buying and filter…

Paul Dowden

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:09:59 +1200

I replaced all the lights in my house with CFLs last year. The place was built in the 80s so I used the occasion to remove all the bloody dimmer switches too. Does anyone actually like them? I use candles sometimes, they actually are romantic. Unlike my pre-3rd Form violin…

samuel walker

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:04:05 +1200

thanks peter for covering my echo.

Peter Martin

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:52:54 +1200

*l*

Peter Martin

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:52:08 +1200

Oooh, it appears that romance isn't quite dead...yet.

One manufacturer's FAQs include this :

Can I use a compact fluorescent light bulb with a dimmer switch?
To use a compact fluorescent bulb on a dimmer switch, you must buy a bulb that's specifically made to work with dimmers (check the…

samuel walker

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:51:17 +1200

it IS the end time.

But luckily we will have dimmers until our last guilt ridden gasp;

ryness.co.uk

aaaaaand

varilight

i dont think any are available here yet......but they soon will be i warrant. by the looks of it the tricky thing will be working out whether to call them…

Evan Yates

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:49:24 +1200

But dimmers are toast. The end of civilisation is nigh.

You can get CFLs that work with dimmers (using a special ballast) BUT they will be more expensive.

From the GE Lighting website :
__To use a compact fluorescent bulb on a dimmer switch, you must buy a…

Kyle Matthews

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:40:09 +1200

IMO, "they" should phase out anything over a certain wattage, regardless of what sort of bulb.

I'm no electrician, but I presume they need larger wattage bulbs for commercial etc use. Warehouses and whatnot.

Sofie Bribiesca

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:22:12 +1200

IMO, "they" should phase out anything over a certain wattage, regardless of what sort of bulb.

About light. General consensus from acquaintances is the energy efficient ones many have changed to, has made it difficult to read. I discovered t'other day that a piece of art I made with a…

Kyle Matthews

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:14:06 +1200

The open fire is already on the way out. Now dimmers. Before you know it, romantic evenings will be mere history.

Maybe we'll all need to take up the violin.

Matthew Poole

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:06:20 +1200

But dimmers are toast. The end of civilisation is nigh.

The open fire is already on the way out. Now dimmers. Before you know it, romantic evenings will be mere history.
Of course the end is nigh!

andrew llewellyn

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:38:15 +1200

But dimmers are toast. The end of civilisation is nigh.

andrew llewellyn

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:36:17 +1200

the Herald overlooked the fact phasing out incandescents will mean a 20% power saving.

Is that overall power savings? Asking because the long life low watt bulbs claim 80% saving.

IMO, "they" should phase out anything over a certain wattage, regardless of what sort of bulb.

And I checked, you…

Steve Withers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:30:41 +1200

Holly, and here's another from the Herald of 28 June 2008: "PM's blocking of disabled carpark 'unacceptable', says pensioner." [...] Does the headline imply the the PM has little regard for the little people, like crippled pensioners? Yes. Is this quality journalism? Over to you.
This was disgraceful. In the…

Steve Withers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:21:51 +1200

Matthew: As far as i can tell, it was the Pentagon that told the NY Times it was a practice run for attacking Iran. That's why they leaked it.

http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL22601515.html

Citing unidentified Pentagon sources, the New York Times said on Friday more than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 jets took…

Alison McCulloch

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:14:38 +1200

There's a v. funny critique of the sacking of sub-editors (aka copy editors in the U.S.) here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/19/AR2008061902920.html

dc_red

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:43:21 +1200

Holly, and here's another from the Herald of 28 June 2008: "PM's blocking of disabled carpark 'unacceptable', says pensioner." Did the PM block a carpark? No. Was the PM aware of what her security detail were doing with the cars outside the venue? No. Does the PM drive herself? No.…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:22:32 +1200

Israel conducted a 100-aircraft dry run of an attack on Iran over the Mediterranean two weeks ago.

Wasn't it a drill for long-distance operations, as opposed to some firm plan for attacking Iran? Not that the two are exactly distinguishable at this stage (Israel's only long-distance target right now is…

Shep Cheyenne

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:55:41 +1200

"And didn't the Celts bring the rat here in 1120?"

Scott won't give you credit but are always quick to take it ;)

Massey thought he was from Israel – these dudes need a Geography lesson.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Israelism

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:34:51 +1200

If you want to talk about headline writers making the case for random workplace drug testing, is it an urban myth that the New York Post once ran a front page headed HEARTS GO OUT TO BRAINLESS BABY? (To which the only sane response is, "You're dead — baby still…

Steve Withers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:27:40 +1200

As for Iran, the same steps are being followed now by Bush and the Israelis as were followed prior to invading Iraq.

The IAEA is being used as a propaganda tool by the US and Israel. The IAEA have said they have found nothing that supports any claim Iran is…

Mark Easterbrook

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:26:57 +1200

This one's live on the Herald site right now:

Funeral service theft 'extremely low' – police

What a relief. I thought I ran a high risk of having something stolen at the next funeral service I attend. But apparently, that's highly unlikely.

Steve Withers

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:15:23 +1200

Fairfax already uses "Stuff" to impose what might be described as a centralised editorial interface. The CanWest newspapers in Canada (canada.com) provide a pointer to where this leads. The same folks own TV3 and C4 here in NZ (and may still own many radio stations?). It looks a lot like…

Paul Campbell

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:56:46 +1200

My fave headline was from the ODT 25 years ago "Police stoned during IRA raid"

Matthew Poole

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:44:53 +1200

Perhaps burying the Iran story is because they know it's saber rattling? I'm fairly certain that if the Israeli armed forces were actually "secretly" planning a strike, it wouldn't be all over the Associated Press.

When it comes to the Israelis, never underestimate how far they'll go. They bombed Iraq's…

Stanley Pointen

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:39:49 +1200

Holly, and here's another from the Herald of 28 June 2008: "PM's blocking of disabled carpark 'unacceptable', says pensioner." Did the PM block a carpark? No. Was the PM aware of what her security detail were doing with the cars outside the venue? No. Does the PM drive herself? No.…

Matthew Poole

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:39:12 +1200

Here's an example of APN's new-era of sub-editing, from the lead story on the current front page of the Herald's website.

The Herald's great for fuck-ups by subs. I've got a couple of favourites.
One was this, and another was here in the coverage of the '06 blackout of Auckland where…

Gareth Ward

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:28:21 +1200

Perhaps burying the Iran story is because they know it's saber rattling? I'm fairly certain that if the Israeli armed forces were actually "secretly" planning a strike, it wouldn't be all over the Associated Press. The rattling in itself is a bit of a story though I suppose...

Donald Matheson

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:31:29 +1200

Re the media science centre run by the Royal Society and some of Russell's mates:

I wish them well, but hope they can broaden their efforts beyond just promoting scientists to also involving more people in scientific knowledge generation. The big problem for scientists may be getting publicity so they…

Paul Campbell

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:29:05 +1200

back in the mid 70s I had a summer job working in a paper – in the last days of hot metal – it was a wonderfull place that sadly really doesn't exist anymore – at the time computers were on the horizon, everyone was nervous but they had a…

andrew llewellyn

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:17:59 +1200

Why don't recyclers take polystyrene anyway? I thought it could be recycled.

And didn't the Celts bring the rat here in 1120?

Craig Ranapia

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:17:50 +1200

It's tempting to suppose that Fairfax looked at APN and thought ""well, they got away with it …"

The market isn't being quite so generous. I'm not really up on the sharemarket, but surely isn't not a good thing when your shares fall from 4.91 to 3.83 inside of three…

Holly Johnson

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:12:22 +1200

Whoops. "New era" shouldn't have a hyphen. It just confirms that everyone needs a sub-editor.

Holly Johnson

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:10:50 +1200

Here's an example of APN's new-era of sub-editing, from the lead story on the current front page of the Herald's website. A full-stop and a comma would make a big difference, plus there's a "who" missing as well:

Mr Bolger also chairs Kiwibank and New Zealand Post Finance Minister Michael…

Paul Campbell

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:02:49 +1200

oh yeah – and I need a subeditor

Paul Campbell

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:00:45 +1200

There's lots of other things you can put in bug wheelie bins – for example one can fit two students – it's not always such a good idea

Public Address

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:00:45 +1200

Discussion from blog post.