Posts by Rich of Observationz
-
Hard News: Steve, 1999, in reply to BenWilson,
I've got a project on the shelf at the moment involving coding for the ATTINY13A , with a generous 1k of ROM and 64 whole bytes of RAM.
-
people are plain scared of him
At least at Apple (and in most American and British companies) senior management actually talk to people.
I've worked for at least two largish NZ firms where I've never met my direct manager's boss. It's wierd and dysfunctional.
-
they have very good incomes
Actually their household incomes are about 50% higher than NZers. When you adjust for living costs and the huge lump of super payment, they're probably worse off than we are.
(Obviously expat bankers and the like make huge dollars, which might explain why people think the Singaporeans are rich).
-
Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to chris,
The Singaporeans also take 35% of everyone's income into a super fund. They can do this on account of not really being a democracy.
All issued Singapore dollar currency in circulation is fully backed by international assets to maintain public confidence
So (in theory) all the money is just tokens for an undisclosed collection of dollars, euros and yen sitting in the <strike>government's personal Swiss bank accounts</strike> sovereign wealth fund.
That's kinda similar to a simpler alternative (as used by Kosovo, Montenegro, etc) of just leeching off another currency. Kosovo doesn't print any money, and it isn't a member of the EU/Eurozone. It simply has the Euro as legal tender, and imports the physical currency it needs on an informal basis. Iceland considered doing the same, and it's also a possibility for countries like Greece.
-
Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Yeah, I'm wondering about whether that's a cue to buy Apple stock. Even if the new guy does nothing creative, they've got a good few years of coasting in them,
(Of course, they might instantly go down the HP path(1). If I bought stock, I'd confidently expect them to put in a bid to buy Acer within the year).
1. For the younger ones, HP used to be this great company which made stylish and innovative gear and was a smart place to work. Then they bought Apollo, Dec, [Compaq], Tandem, EDS....
-
Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Russell Brown,
NZ has agreed to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. That places obligations on us to admit genuine refugees who would be in danger in their homeland.
Liberal thinking also (pretends to) subscribe to the idea that one man is as good as another, and we shouldn't discriminate according to the colour of their skin, or whether they grew up in Rostok, Jakarta or Taranaki.
So how is it justified to say that an NZ-born violent nutcase is entitled to the full benefit of the law, but a refugee (who, remember, has been conceded the right to come here based on international law) is judged by a different standard.
-
Anyway, I digress.
If one believes in managed capitalism, a firm but fair approach to keeping the Bad Guys inline and that such measures can ensure a continued supply of exciting new consumer goods, then Labour is a good party to back. Or National, if your parents were farmers rather than public servants.
If you don't buy into that, then voting for Green or Mana doesn't actually detract from Labour's chances of winning an election.
-
Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Russell Brown,
What was the offence? Conspiracy to murder/injure/cause explosions?
Where was the evidence? Witnesses?
If a New Zealander was suspected of terrorism, that would be rightly required in order to convict them.
For a foreigner, a collection of scuttlebutt is enough. Sure, it was documented scuttlebutt, but they didn't have anything that, even if proven, would have convicted Zaoui for an offence.
-
Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Russell Brown,
What policy change would you propose here?
As a minimum, that if a refugee is believed to be a terrorist or other danger to NZ, that they be charged, indicted and tried in open court, with a jury, for a real offence.
(That is no more or less than the rights a New Zealander has. If [insert right wing crazy NZer here] were to head off and train with a militia in Idaho for a few months, then hang out with neo-Nazis in Germany, topping their holiday off with a sojourn with the EDF, the government couldn’t do any more than keep an eye on them).
More radically, I’d like us to close down NZSIS and GCSB and replace them with accountable groups within Police, Defence and MFAT.
-
Serious question: which policy are you referring to?
The jailing of Ahmed Zaoui.
... Goff has publicly opposed the redeployment of the SAS to Afganistan since 2009
Which is good. But Labour in power has shown itself to fall quickly under the thrall of the securocracy and the free-trade advocates. Standing up to a soldier, diplomat or secret policeman and saying that we won't do that, we will never do that and if you think we should do that then I want your resignation is not in Labour's makeup.
[labour leadership] [greens polling]
In 2006 it looked like capitalism was beebling along nicely. Now, we've had bank collapses, rioting in several European countries and the likelhood of a major OECD state defaulting. How have Labour's polices changed? - marginally, if at all.
I'd assert that if Labour were to turn themselves around and advocate truly radical policies, they might be surprised at the support they'd get.
If they don't, I think the Greens will overhaul them within a couple of election cycles.