Posts by FletcherB

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  • Stories: Bastards I Have Met,

    How about....

    a flat-mate, who, whilst generally a completely non-bastard..... would purposely fill up his two young kids with Fanta before the ex-wife collected them?

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Some things you may not know,

    The best poetry and art generally is done for the sole reason that the artist wanted to do it for itself. The profit motive will always distort the art,

    Then surely.... the artist with no money may well already be distorting their art in order to survive, and equally, an artist that wants for nothing, can surely also do thier art for its own sake?

    It is reasonably true that many great artists have known poverty at some point....

    But it doesnt follow that you have to be poor to do art for its own sake.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: A lot of money and a bit rich,

    If the maximum possible fine is $100,000, it could be cheaper to just broadcast the ads from NZ."

    Unless its $100,000 per Sunday, or per ad break, or per ad...

    Can you pay fines concurrently?

    I mean, If I can serve 3 ten year sentences at one time, surely I can pay three, or thirty, $100,000 fines with one $100,000 cheque, right? :)

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Phew, what a scorcher?,

    All I'm saying is if the predicted outcome doesnt come to pass..... it might be because the prediction was completely wrong, or it might be because steps were taken to avoid the outcome.

    Frequently, bad things are predicted precisely so that avoiding steps will be taken...

    Yes, doom and gloom merchants often over-state the case, or state worst-case scenarios.... and frequently mass media, over-hype those predictions, either through mis-understanding or need for sensationalism.... and this should be avoided if at all possible.

    But some of your examples were of real problems, where the extent of the problem was minimised or removed precisely through the publicity associated with it. Y2K "bug" specifically. Many computer systems WOULD have crashed or behaved in unpredictable ways, IF software fixes hadnt been developed, released, and implemented.

    How did you know there was a bug-fix to download and install? Publicity.

    And I'm still at a loss to see how whether or not the TAB will take a given bet, has anything to do with whether predicted outcomes that are avoided by taking action are the same as wrong predictions.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Phew, what a scorcher?,

    "Let's see, Fletcher. If I go into my local TAB and ask to put a bet on the AB's to win the World Cup, but only on the assumptions that none of their players will get injured during the tournament, that the grounds will be firm, and that the other teams won't be at their best, the TAB will accept my bet, right? Thought not."

    I'm not sure what the TAB has to do with it...

    But.... my point is, if all those precursors to your prediction dont come to the party.... then the result is that we dont know if your prediction is correct or not..... as opposed to knowing it was wrong.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Phew, what a scorcher?,

    Ron.... If I predict you'll crash your car if you continue driving with your eyes closed.... and you open them and dont crash.... does that mean my prediction was wrong?

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Brimful on the 45,

    Sinclaire ZX80 came out in 1980.... most people never heard of it or saw it... a friend had one.
    Sinclair ZX81 came out in... hard to believe, 1981. Huge success, millions sold...
    ZX spectrum replaced the 81.... I dont remember what year it was, but I'm pretty sure the 81 was on the market for at least a couple of years before the spectrum came out... so I doubt 82?

    Also, a lot of those early home computers,... you can guess about when you bought it if you can remember the price.... they frequently started out in excess of $1000 and ended their retail lives at sub $200 about five years later :) (much like playstation, X-box, etc. I guess?)

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: In the Music,

    It occurs to me, that if you are a creative person, and want copyright protection to stop your works being ripped off.... it would be really handy to have some sort of proof that you are indeed the originator of any given work... some sort of official record of what you've made.... so anything new can be compared to it to make sure its not a copy or your stuff.

    If you didnt have such, someone could copy your stuff, and then accuse you of copying them...

    it occurs to me, that if you are such a creative person, giving a copy of your work to an official archive might actually be in your own interest?

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Brimful on the 45,

    Happy Birthday RB.

    I particularly like question 25- should we have asked any other question- have your say....

    In this particular instance, I didn't have anything to add myself, but so many surveys DO leave me wanting to say more, and I've never seen one of those before... I wish more surveyors would include one, well done.

    I had a Commodore Vic 20 !

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

  • Hard News: Just some links, really,

    "As far as I know, New Zealand is the only place in the world where lattes are commonly (but not exclusively) served in a bowl."

    I beleive I read years ago (Metro maybe?) that that all started when Cafe DKD behind the Civic in Auck decided to offer Latte's but couldnt source commercial quantities of the traditional latte cups and so use bowls instead.... and then (nearly) every other cafe followed them....

    It became a trend thats still followed more or less to this day, despite the correct crockery now being available...


    Any one else love DKD's "fish in a bowl" ? (a mocha-latte with a chocolate fish in it, all in affore-said bowl)

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report

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