Owner: NZS.com Blog : New Zealand Internet and Web Space Blog URL:http://www.nzs.com/blog/ Join Date: Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:13:57 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Bringing you news and information on the New Zealand Web space, the NZS.com blog will inform, entertain and make you think. Posts feature interesting NZ sites, useful online resources, technology news and what’s new in the NZS.com directory. Site statistics:Click here
Buy New Zealand made: it’s good for us 2007-08-19 16:39:24 Now, I’m not commenting on recent news items, but the option of buying New Zealand
made products is looking more attractive by the day.
You’re probably familiar with the little red and blue kiwi emblem that signals a product is made right here in New Zealand (it’s part of the Buy New Zealand Made programme, which has been running since 1988). And you may have heard rumblings from our government over the last few years about the importance of buying items that are true blue New Zealand made. The government Buy Kiwi Made scheme was formed as part of post-election negotiations between the Labour Party and the Green Party. Around $11.5 million has been spent on supporting manufacturing initiatives and promoting the buying of New Zealand made goods.
If you shop with an eye out for the kiwi, you’ll help:
Increase our country’s manufacturing capabilities
Create employment opportunities for New Zealanders
Build brand loyalty for Kiwi brands
Reduce consumption of
Is your site part of the invisible Web? 2007-08-26 19:27:36 NZS.com has dedicated a lot of time to finding New Zealand online content. It’s become evident to us that a lot of Kiwi sites are jolly hard to find. We regularly meet people at events etc that hand us their business card with their Web site on it. You take a look and see the site has no Google PageRank. This is generally because their site has no links to it from anywhere on the Web at all!
It’s a real shame to see this, because often they’ve spent thousands of dollars creating a site that looks pretty swish. It’s just marketing money down the drain, and in the end gives the Web a bad rap. I can imagine them saying at some point “We’ve spent a lot of time and money developing this site, but we get nothing much out of it, the Web is a waste of time.”
To stop your Web site being invisible
, make sure you get it linked from high profile directories and content sites. What’s the point of having a site if people can’t find you?! Also, if
New Apple iPods anyone? 2007-08-29 23:05:10 Rumours are swirling in the techno-loving world that Apple
are about to release a bevvy of beautiful new iPods.
Amongst possible new music gadgets on offer are a large touch-screen video iPod and a revamped iPod Nano (perfect for the Christmas stocking!). Apple’s iPod dominates the portable music player market; these stylish little MP3 players have great functionality and are intuitive to use (even if you’re an iPlod like me).
Late last year, iTunes finally made an appearance on our shores, giving Kiwis the chance to stock up their iPods with hours of fine music. They’ve got more than two million songs to choose from, so your ears will never be short of fresh tunes! And these days, with portable devices having a capacity of up to 80GB, it’s not just music but movies, podcasts, audiobooks and photos that can be stored on your iPod for easy transportation, listening and viewing.
Check out the range of MP3 players in our directory, and take your pick for music good
The specifics of successful searching 2007-08-29 21:09:36 If you’re looking for information about businesses or services on the Internet, you may (like 85% of Internet users) start your search off by using a search engine. Search engines are amazing tools that are designed to retrieve and display information.
Getting the results you want
To get the most relevant results from search engines, you need to be quite specific about the ‘keyword search phrase’ you type into the search box. In this example, you have decided to use NZS.com to help you find out where you can buy piano music at a reasonable price. You are based in Christchurch (the city in New Zealand, not the town in England). The words you might choose to include in your search term would then be: “second hand piano music christchurch”.
By being so specific about your search, the search engine can pull up what it considers to the best and most relevant result to answer your query.
Searching for New Zealand Web sites
If you’re interested in searching
Kaitaia UFO… an encounter in the Far North? 2007-08-29 16:15:45 Ah, we may be at the bottom of the world, but we’re on the aliens’ radar.
A mysterious, dome shaped object was spotted in the sky near Kaitaia, in the Far North
if New Zealand. Our buddies at UFO Focus New Zealand have taken a look at photographs of the as-yet-unidentified-flying-object and declared that the object seems to be a craft, a view backed up by an international expert. Dr Bruce Maccabee said the craft appeared to be of a circular shape, with a dome shaped top.
The lucky onlooker who captured the UFO photos watched the UFO for five minutes as it manoeuvred north, before eventually disappearing. Adding to the ‘mystery’ factor, there were no scheduled flights in the area at the time and the Carter Observatory has ruled out the possibility that it could be a meteorite or space junk.
While there’s no comment on whether the photos may be a hoax, the series of images would have required hours of work to pull off. Until further information comes to ligh Read more:hellip
Go the All Blacks! Get set for the Rugby World Cup 2007 2007-08-28 21:43:00 I love seeing New Zealanders do well on the world stage. Or the field.
Our favourite boys, the mighty All Blacks
, are heading off to win the RugbyWorld
Cup in France. They jet out of Auckland tonight, all fired up to bring the cup back home after a twenty year drought. This’ll be the year, for sure. Team coach Graham Henry and Captain Richie McCaw will depart with the squad to Corsica, before heading on to Marseille, their first World Cup base in France. Training begins immediately for the team, with their World Cup 2007 debut against Italy on the 8th of September.
For those of us stuck at home (and unable to swan off to France!), there are heaps of rugby websites to keep us entertained. Our favourites are:
The official All Blacks site, where you can catch up on the latest news, player profiles and videos. There’s even a weekly podcast!
A little slice of Rugby Heaven featuring indepth rugby news ‘n’ views.
The site for fervent fans and certified All Blacks Fan
The vegansexual debate 2007-08-28 16:26:50 It was amusing to see the vegansexual debate raging in New Zealand in few weeks ago. It all started with Annie Potts, co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human and Animal Studies at Canterbury University, doing research on the lives of “cruelty-free consumers.” Then the Press published an article called ‘Carnivore Sex Off the Menu‘ featuring vegans Nichola and Hans Kriek, which led to a large amount of feedback in New Zealand and offshore.
Myself, I’m not a vegansexual, though I take my hat off to them for following their values. I’m a vegetarian who goes for a bit of cheese on my pizza, so I’m the more laid back vegosexual variety.
Personally, I think the vegan no-sex-with-meateaters thing is a bit of a rare case. For starters, there are a lot more vegetarians than there are vegans. Second, I know of a lot of vegetarians that would happily get with meateaters for a fling, but when there’s steak and kidney in the fridge, it’s
European Space Agency tracking station in Awarua, Southland, New Zealand 2007-09-02 17:10:54 On March 29th, 2007, The EuropeanSpace
Agency (ESA) signed an agreement for the installation of a transportable telemetry station at Awarua. Southland is located on the launch trajectory of ESA’s Spaceport launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana. Located just south of Invercargill, the tracking station will be used to track the Ariane 5 launcher as it manoeuvres its payloads to the International Space Station.
After extensive preliminary analysis, the Awarua site was selected due to its excellent visibility of the Ariane 5’s trajectory. Civil works, road adaptation, concrete platform, power, telecommunications and fence construction started in January, 2007.
It’s superb to see Venture Southland take an active interest in pursuing space science projects. Robin McNeill from Venture Southland sums it up nicely in a Listener article quote:
“Most Kiwi kids feel that space science is something that happens overseas. But it’s happening here in Southland - that Read more:Zealand
, New Zealand
Ranfurly Shield goes back to Canterbury! 2007-09-02 17:02:04 When his team faced off against Waikato on Saturday night, Canterbury captain Corey Flynn had a feeling something special was in store.
The mainlanders scored an impressive five tries in the first half, giving them a 33-13 lead at halftime. By the end of the game, Waikato had gained some ground, but only enough to bring the final score to 33-20 and not enough to hold onto the prized Ranfurly Shield
.
In excellent form, the Canterbury Crusaders dominated the match (three tries in fifteen minutes isn’t half bad!) even in the presence of a near-capacity home crowd in Hamilton. Their win brought to an end Waikato’s seven day Ranfurly Shield tenure (the shortest on record in the history of the prize) and was a sweet victory for the Crusaders after losing the Shield to North Harbour last year. Stand-out performances were seen from Stephen Brett, Hamish Gard and Scott Hamilton.
Check out information on regional rugby in New Zealand on NZS.com.
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Wild walking, part 3: more on how? 2007-08-30 23:30:49 How do you go tramping? As well as knowing what to take, you need to know a few skills.
First, you need to know how to read a topographical map. These maps require a bit more skill to read than your average road map. One of the best ways to learn map reading is to go tramping with somebody who knows how to read one and learn from them, or do shorter walks that you already know and stop to study the map every so often to determine how the symbols on the map relate to the terrain around you. The entirety of New Zealand is mapped out in 1:50,000 detail (that’s 2cm on the map to 1km in real life). You can see these maps (and print them) freely by visiting NZTopoOnline and you can also buy them at many outdoors shops.
Another important skill is reading a compass and/or using a GPS. These tools help you go in the right direction when you otherwise wouldn’t know which way to go (for example, in poor visibility conditions such as night-time or cloud). They are most useful in combin
Who mentioned Hoodia? 2007-08-30 23:22:22 Yesterday the #1 searched phrase on NZS.com was “hoodia.”
It’s always a laugh seeing something turn up as the most searched term in a day when you have absolutely no idea what the term means.
After some quick research it turns out Hoodia
(otherwise known as Hoodia Gordonii) is an as yet unproven weight loss appetite suppressant made from a specific cactus-like plant that grows in the Namib Desert (or so Wikipedia tells me).
So who mentioned Hoodia to have New Zealanders searching for it?
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Congratulations on NZ Standards OpenXML decision 2007-08-30 23:16:46 Recently, there has been a move made by Microsoft to get their digital document format OpenXML accepted as a standard by the International Standards
Organisation (ISO). There have been many descriptions of how this format contains components that are proprietary and can’t be implemented by anybody other than Microsoft. Acceptance as a standard means that a government may, more easily, accept and prescribe it as mandatory for any communications. This, in turn, will mean that anybody who communicates with that government must use Microsoft’s software.
So, this can mean only that: the user’s choice is more limited, innovation is stifled, and the government is left vulnerable to the vagaries of the vendors’ business decision
s in the future.
Yesterday Standards NZ decided to vote ‘no’ to the OpenXML standard proposed by Microsoft in competition with the present ODF standard. Congrats for making the right decision in the face of a tirade of PR noise. Let&r Read more:Congratulations
Protect your bananas! 2007-09-27 18:08:23 From the weird, wacky and wonderful file…
This site asks the question that’s on the lips of many a banana-toting New Zealander:
“Are you fed up with bringing bananas
to work or school only to find them bruised and squashed?”
The unique, patented Banana Guard device allows for the safe transport and storage of individual bananas, letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere. They’re designed to fit “the vast majority of bananas” and feature “small perforations to facilitate ventilation…preventing premature ripening.”
Well, I’m glad someone’s got their priorities straight. Go mad in our fresh produce section and grab yourself some fresh (unbruised) bananas.
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Ruapehu eruption 2007-09-25 16:04:30 Mother Nature’s always keeping us on our toes and catching us by surprise…
Last night people fled from the slopes of Mount Ruapehu, as an eruption shook the area at around 8:20pm.
A 22-year-old climber was rescued from the mountain and is recovering in Waikato Hospital from leg injuries and hypothermia. He was injured when a rock fell through the roof of his hut where he was staying with three friends. There were no reports of other injuries.
The volcanic eruption sent two lahars (muddy torrents) down the northern and eastern slopes of the mountain, taking out a monitoring hut near the crater lake. The geothermal activity sent plumes of black smoke into the air, which were seen by pilots flying in the area. Skifields and ski lodges were evacuated, and roads and rail links closed last night.
The eruption has been described as a ‘blue sky’ eruption, as there was no prior warning or indicator that an eruption was imminent. It was similar to eruptions in 1969 and 1
Carbon Crusade for the environment: every step counts 2007-09-24 20:22:18 Here are two words for you: Personal. Responsibility.
As an advocate for the environment, I also harp on about personal responsibility when it comes to these things. If you’re not going to do something positive, then those around you won’t bother either. But if you do take positive action, then others around you may be inspired to do the same (think how wide your social circle reaches). On a larger scale, if people take action on an issue, the trend will gain momentum until it’s a fully-fledged social movement.
Now Hubbards (yes, the friendly face of breakfast cereal) has launched the CarbonCrusade
, with lofty ambitions to battle climate change. Er, I mean Climate Change. Yes, it’s big, but they’re doing it one step at a time with the philosophy that every
step counts.
They’re organising a series of off-road running and walking events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Each participant will walk or run a 13-15km course, stopping halfway to pl
Flight of the Conchords: they’re funny in anyone’s language 2007-09-23 17:07:03 Am I the only one who feels a tingle of pride when Kiwis make it big overseas? We can all bask in the glow of successful, talented New Zealanders like Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, otherwise known as the Flight
of the Conchords. (Yes, I have been heard to rave about Clement’s performance in Eagle vs Shark).
This comic musical duo has hit the bigtime in America, a notoriously difficult market to crack. With humour that’s refreshingly dry, the series has attracted a cult following in America, the United Kingdom and at home. Sure, they’re funny to us, but it’s rare for our comedy to translate so well globally. Defying the odds, the show has been dubbed “a very smart, very funny show” by reviewers (and viewers) everywhere. All those YouTube clips, ringtones, t-shirts and ‘Conchordisms’ being thrown around are sure signs these Kiwis are soaring to heady heights.
Now, I’ll admit I heard the hype long before I laid ears on the dulcet Read more:language
NZ Daylight Savings changes - is your PC confused? 2007-09-20 23:13:35 The extension of daylight savings this year is being welcomed by most New Zealanders, but it’s already causing lost sleep at night for some software providers, as computers are set to automatically change the time based on the standard time changes
to date.
So, what to do about it? The New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs has written to key software providers about the change, although we can all imagine how slow that update is going to be!
On the DIA website you can find a link to Microsoft Resources for updating DaylightSavings
changes.
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, Daylight Savings
Ah, if only Sundays came round more often 2007-09-20 16:04:14 Heading into the weekend (is it just me, or do they never seem long enough?) this tidbit definitely fits the bill.
What if every second day was a Sunday? Well, it almost was for one lucky person. Scott, an Auckland bookstore assistant, wrote to the NZ Herald saying:
“A customer returned with a 2008 diary he purchased on the weekend. As he was flicking through his diary, he was dumbfounded as every other day seemed to be a Sunday. He told staff he thought he was going mad. But we realised he was quite correct… Sunday, Monday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Friday, Sunday, Sunday, Sunday… We found that it was a huge printing error and were told to destroy it. Just think how wonderful it would be if every other day was a Sunday.”
I couldn’t agree more.
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, round
Fashion charity auction for dapper do-gooders 2007-09-19 16:23:23 If you’ve seen the stylish rags on show at Air New Zealand Fashion
Week, you might be interested in bidding in the fashion charity auction run by a popular online auction site. Not only will you be impeccably dressed, you’ll be supporting New Zealand’s nationwide rescue helicopter service.
Bidders have the chance to get their mitts on the latest in couture t-shirts, singlets and dresses made by six top Kiwi fashion designers: Elusiv, Federation, Love Lies Bleeding, Salasai, Lonely Hearts Club and Chelsea Thorpe. Both women’s and men’s items are available in a selection of styles and sizes.
Bid generously to support the rescue helicopter service - they rely on corporate sponsorship and public donations to keep their choppers in the air.
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Air New Zealand Fashion Week takes flight 2007-09-17 16:33:30 So, another example of Kiwi cool that just can’t be cringed at!
Air New ZealandFashion
Week is an annual event, now confident and unabashedly proud in its seventh year. The event showcases the best of contemporary Kiwi couture from both emerging and established designers. We may be all the way downunder (far from the catwalks of Paris and Milan), but it turns out we do know a thing or two about style, glitz and glamour.
Creativity, amazing talent, celebrities, beautiful fabrics, edgy designs, trend-setting garments - NZ Fashion Week has it all. Buyers and media come from throughout New Zealand and around the world to see what’s on offer. My picks for what to watch?
Cybele - a conceptually focused brand with a range characterised by unconstrained imagination.
Love Lies Bleeding - a fresh, new label that has hit the ground running, getting inspiration from the world of contemporary and pop art.
Juliette Hogan - just think simplicity, style, practicality, sophistication and
Wild walking, part 4: Who? 2007-09-16 23:00:06 Who do you go tramping with?
People you can get along with, and who are reliable, and have good judgement.
You will be spending most of the time on your tramp in the company of your tramping partners. Sometimes, tramping can be pretty miserable - you can be tired, wet, hungry, frustrated, and worried, all at the same time. Such situations tend to bring out the best and worst in people. You will also have times on a tramp where you are witness to breathtaking natural beauty. These times seem better when shared with a friend you trust.
A good selection of people with the right qualities for tramping partners can be found, unsurprisingly, in a tramping club. Often, you will be able to learn much from more experienced members of tramping clubs. Mind you, there often seem to be one or two people who rub you the wrong way.
I’ve found tramping with family a good way of enriching family relationships. I started taking my kids on overnight tramps when they were about 5 or 6 years old and
Ahmed Zaoui given the all clear…officially 2007-09-13 00:52:44 The ongoing saga of Algerian refugee, Ahmed
Zaoui, continues. In a sudden about-face, the Security Intelligence Service has withdrawn the security risk certificate earlier issued against him. The story first aired in March 2003, when Zaoui was declared a security risk. For the refugee and his family, there’s been nothing but media scrutiny, delays, uncertainty and ongoing legal action since.
Why has this story been in the spotlight? I guess the plight of this single man has raised the idea of ‘freedom’ in New Zealand’s consciousness. What freedoms do we take for granted? How do we measure our rights to freedom? And how can we grow into a tolerant multi-racial nation? Freedom of speech and freedom of belief are values that characterise us as New Zealanders (think: our anti-nuclear policy, the Springbok tour protests, our stance on the war in Iraq).
So, what now for New Zealand’s most famous refugee? Zaoui hopes that his family will soon join him here and (a Read more:hellip
Creating a life plan 2007-10-01 18:44:37 Last night I gave a talk about my space and Internet activities to a group of twenty-somethings at ConnectioNZ. I touched on the usefulness of having a life plan and was extremely surprised when I asked who had one - not one of them had a life plan!
I believe creating a life plan every two years is the single most powerful thing you can do to achieve your goals; it will help you get clarity on your career, health and relationships. There are heaps of ways to approach a life plan, and if you do some searches on ‘creating a life plan’ you’ll get numerous sites, but for starters, two great exercises are:
1. If you had just three years left on the planet, what would you really want to achieve?
2. Visualise yourself at 80 years old, reflecting on your life. If you follow your current life path, think about the things that are likely to happen to you and then contemplate; Is that the life you would have wanted to live? Do you have any regrets? How could you improve things?
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New Zealand movie industry has a ton of talent 2007-10-01 16:15:41 All the doomsayers would have us believe the New Zealand
film industry
is dead, and that even if it wasn’t, there’s been barely a peep since the outstanding success of Lord of the Rings. But Peter Jackson’s success might just have overshadowed the success of subsequent (and previously released) New Zealandmovie
s, or at least left some VERY BIG shoes to fill.
When Statistics New Zealand asked about Kiwis’ film watching habits, they found that just over 800,000 of us had been to the movies in the four weeks prior to the survey. The movie-going habit was split evenly between men and women, but was most popular with those in the 15-24 age group.
How many of these people went to a New Zealand film? My guess: Not many.
But we should be watching homegrown films, not because they’re New Zealand made, but because they’re good. Really good. Here are some of the classics and some of the new in Kiwi movies:
Sione’s Wedding: a New Zealand film that’
Where is the New Zealand property market headed? 2007-10-11 19:44:37 Getting a property
valuation used to indicate the amount you could expect to receive when selling your home. But what can you expect the value of your home to do in today’s property market?
According to some commentators, the New Zealand
property market has entered a period of consolidation (that’s flattening off to the rest of us) after a time of unprecedented and sustained rises in property prices. Most real estate experts don’t expect the market to crash; current real estate trends indicate a more stable property market.
In real terms, this means the real estate industry is not quite as booming as it once was - there are fewer houses being sold and prices are not continuing to rise at the same heady rates as they have for the last few years - but there is still a healthy demand for properties nationwide.
If you’re looking to buy or sell real estate, this can all be a little unsettling. Luckily, there are plenty of real estate resources to keep you informed:
Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) in .nz 2007-10-09 20:26:25 The New Zealand Domain Name Commission (DNC) has begun consultation through a working group established by the InternetNZ committee responsible for the .nz domain space.
As written by the DNC;
Some countries are beginning to implement Internationalised Doman Names
(IDNs). IDNs allow the use of virtually any internationally recognised characters. This enables the registration of domain names in languages that use non-English characters, such as Te Reo Maori.
The working group is looking for consultation on a range of topics;
What issues do you think are associated with implementing IDNs?
What is their impact, and how do you think they should be prioritised?
What other matters do you think the WG should consider?
You can have your say through submissions to the DNC website.
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New look and new face for NZS.com 2007-10-09 15:39:58 I’m the newest recruit to the NZS.com team adding five years Web development and design experience.
With an excellent eye for design and top programming skills, I have played a pivotal role in the design of NZS.com’s fresh, new look.
So if you like it, love it, or just plain hate it please let us know your thoughts through our Suggestion Box.
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NZS.com launches a new look… 2007-10-07 20:35:16 A brand new look for NZS.com was launched this morning. We hope you like it!
The team here have been working hard in the background for a few months to bring the new look and feel to fruition. Along with the cosmetic update, the structure of the site has also had a good re-work, so you’ll find the site faster to load and easier to use across the board.
A special thanks goes to Zane, Greta and Steve who have worked so hard to bring you the next step in NZS.com’s evolution.
We’re all excited by the outlook for NZS.com as we start a new phase of development towards mapping out the entire New Zealand Web. The goal we’re driven by is the aim of providing you with the simplest and quickest way to find the website or content you’re looking for on the New Zealand Web.
If you have any feedback or suggestions about the site, we’d love to hear from you. Let us know what you think through our Suggestion Box.
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New Zealand in mourning as All Blacks head home 2007-10-07 18:12:34 Black is the colour of both mourning and of the All Blacks
‘ shirts, so we can show our support and our grief by dressing in black for a month. At least.
A moment’s silence is definitely in order after our graceless exit from the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals. Here we all were (even those of us lacking in rugby nous) assuming we would at least make it to the glory of semi-finals (we were even favourites for the big win!) but instead we wowed the world with our worst ever World Cup performance.
There they were in a line at the press conference - coaches Wayne Smith, Graham Henry and Steve Hansen - served up to the waiting media, grief-stricken and downtrodden, with a sprinkling of shame for good measure. The New Zealand
Rugby Union has announced a review of the team’s performance, putting the jobs of coaches and senior management on the line. Wayne Smith said their pain was made worse by the fact that the New Zealand
public were hurting too:
“We are grieving. We
Who remembers Passchendaele? 2007-10-04 15:17:53 Continuing with the theme of history and heritage…
Every year on Anzac Day, Kiwis remember those who gave their lives for our country on April 25th, 1915, when Allied soldiers landed on the shores of Gallipoli. This day has come to stand as a memorial for all those killed in World War One and in subsequent wars.
But while Gallipoli and the symbol of the red poppy for Anzac Day ring a bell for all of us, how many of us remember the battle of Passchendaele in World War One?
The Passchendaele campaign began on October 4th, 1917 - in the second assault, on October 12th, New Zealand experienced its bloodiest day ever on the battlefield. On that day, 845 soldiers were killed, many went missing in action and hundreds more died later from their injuries. More than 2,000 soldiers were wounded in the two battles.
Kiwis, including Prime Minister Helen Clark, gathered at Tyne Cot cemetery in Belgium to commemorate the 90th anniversary of this bleak and violent day in our history. At the ce
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