Posts by Rich of Observationz

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  • Random Play: The Key’s under the Matt,

    talkback radio which, whether we bloggers like it or nor, is still a good way to get the pulse of what many people are saying and thinking

    I do hope not. That would mean that "many people" are bigoted, ignorant morons with speech impediments. Not that there's anything wrong with having speech issues or mental disability

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Hard News: Just Friday,

    Russell can correct me, but isn't the usual process on student radio stations, who can't afford a news gathering team or even Reuters/NZPA, to source stories from other media and put them in the journalists own words.

    I'm thinking that's all Noelle was doing, just in a less relaxed environment.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Hard News: The smart thing to do,

    ... before it goes random and starts posting 10,000 word exerpts from Ayn Rand books. Torybots do that if misconfigured, you know.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Hard News: The smart thing to do,

    About time ACT debugged their Torybot.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Speaker: Database Nation,

    get yourself a temporary British passport over the counter

    British Visitors Passports had photos and were valid for travel to a range of European countries. If the UK had joined Schengen, you wouldn't even need one as there would be no border checks.

    The common denominator with countries that hassle visitors seems to me to be speaking English. Non-English speaking countries, even if they are otherwise police states, tend to wave visitors through with a glance at the passport. It's only English-speaking countries where they try and give visitors the third degree.

    It's all theatre. I'm sure that actual miscreants know what border staff look for and present in one of the "safe" categories (family on holiday with kids, couple on honeymoon, man in suit on a regular business flight).

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Speaker: Database Nation,

    told me that NZ had never suffered an attack with 3000 deaths

    - 20,000 died in the Musket Wars
    - 2,700 died at Gallipolli

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Speaker: Database Nation,

    I believe the telcos would like to have customer names and addresses for commercial reasons (i.e. to try and sell stuff). Against that, it's a lot easier to ship boxes into the supply chain and not worry about where they go than to have to operate a registration process. Particularly if your customer service is dysfunctional anyway, like Vodafone's.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Speaker: Database Nation,

    I am one of many many people in NZ who has been troubled by obscene and/or threatening text messages sent from an unregistered prepaid phone.

    Or simply allow any mobile user to killfile a phone number easily.

    I suspect that if criminals want untraceable phones, they will simply steal them.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Hard News: Flu diversions,

    No idea what the C stands for, but the LH likely stands for Lower Hutt, and it'll be about some grand scheme to bring trolley buses to the benighted northern lowlands.

    The LHC is the Lower Hutt Collider. It's a particularly badly designed road junction, which, coupled with the driving abilities of bogans, leads to much work for the panelbeaters of Petone and Seaview.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

  • Hard News: Flu diversions,

    It's all to do with the difference between acute and chronic stress and how your immune system reacts to them. When we encounter an acute stress, like say moving house, then our immune systems ramp up in response, so we fight bugs better (it's also why being fit is good for your health). However if the stress continues for too long (or you over train) then the immune system can't sustain the effort and actually declines.

    Care to clarify this in biological terms? Are we talking about more leukocytes being produced in response to stress? How does the bone marrow perform this?

    Got a reference?

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report

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