Posts by David Hood

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  • Hard News: "Creative" and "Flexible",

    Does commercial control of the distribution of dance music affect people's ability to dance to the music?

    My daughter is trying to come up with music for a school disco at the moment. For a moderately diverse group of 10-12 year olds, there is not much on commercial radio that she thinks would be danceable. Of the current commercial crop, she is keen to include Muse- Uprising, but her other choices are less likely to be on the radio.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Island Life: Anyone can do design.,

    And this is my issue with the Auckland logo contest, is it:
    a)Intended as external marketing for the Auckland area.
    b)Intended as a recognisable symbol for stamping on Auckland council property
    c)Pseudo-corporate indulgence from people who have been reading books titled "Market yourself to a slimmer council in 60 days"

    I would suggest that a) and b), while both council functions, are pretty hard to reconcile in one single logo, as a) needs to be big and simple to emboss on sewer entrances and rubbish bins while the current vogue for b) involves multiple shades of colour and detail work.

    Now a public contest is a perfectly fine way for a sampling of initial designs that could be worked up into a) or b) {and probably, sadly, c)} but in light of the issues around the lack of democracy and transparency in the process, I would suggest it is more importantly d) an opportunity for people to try and hijack the process for their own ends.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Hard News: "Creative" and "Flexible",

    It's always the harpsicordists, isn't it? That's why you can barely find one these days.

    You fools, you should be throwing the viola player overboard.

    I don't know the "saying it should be tax supported means you want other people to pay for your indulgence" argument holds any weight, particularly if it is recast as "we think these cultural institutions, which are beyond the ability of individuals to perform on their own are a good thing, and we think a very small part of the collective effort of our culture (as presented by taxes) should go towards preserving it". Different people advocate what's important to them (Or its removal in the case of the libertarian fringe), and that process makes culture. If I was prioritising the Concert program would rate as far more important than the Rugby World Cup, or the ability to increase my personal savings to one day buy a yacht.

    If I could characterise the government's strategy, it would be one of malign neglect- don't want to fund the service to the level that a chunk of the population expects, and will try to offload the onus of failing to meet those expectations onto Radio New Zealand.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Island Life: Anyone can do design.,

    I've done a very quick (4:12) tutorial on using Inkscape for making logos.
    youtube link

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Island Life: Anyone can do design.,

    No, No, you arenʻt seeing my logo _properly_. I blame New Zealanderʻs poor visual literacy for failing to see the overall heart in this piece of quasi-corporate self-indulgence.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Island Life: Anyone can do design.,

    Andre wrote:

    I spent a couple of hours attempting to draw penises in MS Paint. Harder than it looks!

    Thatʻs because you are using the wrong tool, for logos I suggest a vector graphics program like the free Inkscape one. For example my attempt at an Auckland city of sails logo:
    looks something like this

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Island Life: So, what do you think of…,

    I have just looked at my watch and it is now almost March, 2010

    why am I not surprised yours tells time in months and years :)

    My calendar is saying it is 12 . 19 . 17 . 2 . 6, among various other nomenclatures. Getting slightly more off-topic, Iʻve found that the best thing to say to those who claim the world will end in 2012 is this sentence:
    Mayan scribes marked out the date of the anniversary of the accession of K'inich Janaab' Pakal for the first anniversary to occur in the next piktun, which is a calendar step higher than a b'ak'tun.
    To which I add:
    If you donʻt understand what that means, you probably shouldnʻt be trying to interpret the Mayan calendar, but the short explanation is Mayans were leaving notes for people more than 2500 years in the future from today.
    Now, I donʻt know if this changes their mind, but the people certainly stop talking to me about this.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Hard News: Research Fail,

    Stephen, would that be
    this link

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Hard News: Research Fail,

    Having read through the report, I don't see anything that would be expected to improve the learning outcomes for my child (not that I did expect I would).
    I also suspect that over the next few months many of the critical details that would make it a clear, rational, measurable, policy will be filled with handwavium.

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

  • Hard News: Start with your conclusion,

    I always suspected there was something iffy about that Fleetwood Mac album

    If you play it backwards it promotes vaccinations, harm-minimisation drugs policy, and critical thought.
    But will the mainstream media report this attempt to influence our impressionable youth against community values? No!

    Dunedin • Since May 2007 • 1445 posts Report

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