Posts by JonathanM
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Really the only way Lightbox et. al. can compete with Netflix US et. al. is to provide a better platform. That might include more local content. Or better presented and curated content. Or more convenient features in your apps (e.g. complete device transparency).
Add value and you'll get customers. Don't and you won't.
I appreciate that this is really hard right now for them - they need to get in the game now or risk missing out, but at the moment they're beholden to the old model of false exclusivity. I guess they have to make investment decisions as best they can based on their knowledge of that - if the false exclusivity isn't worth the money asked, then don't provide that content.
That taking legal action against something that is perfectly legal seems like a sure-fire way to never get my custom though.
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A bit later on (after PSTN) you could do another trick to get a dialtone on a payphone. You dialed an 0800 number to get a connection, then you disconnect and reconnect the line (cable to phone). This worked on payphones, but did require cutting/intercepting the cable so it could be tapped out and back on again. This was generally pretty easy, as payphone boxes used to be colour-coded yellow+black, so if one pulled up the nearby phone lines box (grey tube) the phonebox line was pretty quickly spotted.
Er, or so I heard.
I recall someone installed a switch under the phone jack of a payphone at a certain university's halls of residence to enable free calls using this technique.
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Hard News: The sole party of government, in reply to David Hood,
David: In case it's useful, that data in CSV for party + electorate vote is here:
party and electorate vote 2011 and 2014
Parent folder has the R scripts.
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Interestingly, huge increases in NZFirst party vote in the Māori electorates (3 - 5% absolute)
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In case folk are interested, the party vote swing is available here:
Large swing against Nats in Christchurch East, Helensville, Rimutaka, but the benefit isn't Labour.
I'll see if I can pull out the candidate data and do a similar thing sometime this week.
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Hard News: The sole party of government, in reply to Euan Mason,
Agreed. Unfortunately, the Nats could keep just saying it over and over again (Kim Dotcom!) and if you repeat it enough, it embeds in folks minds.
Anecdotally I met a bunch of people who were turned off the left by that. Not that it's an excuse: regardless Labour's result is dismal.
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"The “swing” towards National in Mt Roskill was actually a matter of Labour’s voters staying home."
Nope. Total voters were down in Mt Roskill, but Goff got almost the same proportion (very slightly lower) as did the Nat candidate (very slightly lower) with a slightly higher proportion going to Coates compared to Genter last time. However, the party vote change is a swing: While Goff is liked, his party isn't. A higher Green vote in Mt Roskill, so Labour looks like it's lost net support a little to Green but mostly to Nats.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the Electoral Commission's guidelines are implemented this term. It now clearly benefits the Nats to do so (Conservatives will get across next time at 4%, no advantage at all in the last 2 elections to coat tail).
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OT: Regarding the herald article, I saw the comment about Key confirming the probe on the cable yesterday, but the article was then updated with info from Southern Cross who said that wasn't possible. The corresponding Stuff article was updated at around the same time, and I can't get to the original there.
Interestingly, the link in the post above contains the comment from Key. Weird herald linking/updating stuff.
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Hard News: Privacy and the Public Interest, in reply to izogi,
How do people find out about these meetings? Am I meant to be buying the DomPost and reading each day’s Public Notices section? Some type of central database of public meetings which people can attend is something I thought the Electoral Commission, or similar, would be doing. Not as far as I can see, but if anyone can point something out it’d be great.
I just wanted to repeat this: It seems like a (relatively) simple thing that could be done to improve participation. I'm relatively well informed about politics, as I find it interesting, yet I constantly see how so and so had a town meeting in my area - always after the fact. It seems to me that a website offering where political meetings are happening in each area would help - somewhere where those of us more interested in general could point friends towards.
On another note, we've had one visit at home by a party -- the Green's. And they don't even have a local candidate in our electorate.