Posts by Greg Dawson

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  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    But that doesn’t mean it’s not utterly stupid to publish information about network connection points and other such details.

    A good point, but balanced by the limitations of relying only on those inside the trusted circle to point out flaws in your strategy, where others might notice things they didn't.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Gordon Campbell suggests that he may have left because the govt is looking at merging the GCSB and SIS.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Dirty Politics, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    The director of the Government Communications Security Bureau says he can’t say how Cortex will work or exactly which organisations will come under its protection. To do so would risk exposing vulnerabilities, he says.

    Does anyone seriously still believe security-by-obscurity is a viable tactic? I have to wonder what other wonderful pre-internet security approaches are being implemented at enormous (secret) cost.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Incomplete, inaccurate and misleading, in reply to BenWilson,

    Which part, btw? It’s quite a long Act.

    I'd assume the bit about not chucking out any document (physical or not) that might even vaguely be related to public interest and public roles, for a ridiculously long time. Can't quote you a paragraph, am going from own workplace training, not legal expertise :)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Song of Angry Women,

    One more comment about PAX last weekend -

    The gender balance was not at all what I expected, especially as you worked down the age groups there. A lot more girls in gaming than you'd think from the average gaming community online.*

    This may have been a contributing factor, but the overall feel of the audience? Not gamergate trolls. Not at all. To the point where I definitely got the impression that the majority there were just as pissed off about it as I am. Which was really, really reassuring. After the past few months of absolute horror on the internets, hanging out with a bunch of gamers in person and being reminded that the horror is a minority was fan-fucking-tastic.

    The three most packed out panels that I went to were Good Game, Playing as a female character, and Women in video games - Improving things for everyone. I think that a discussion about why women are critical to the industry was more packed out than the Bioware panel re: storytelling and DA:Inquisition is a good sign.
    And no, the audience wasn't there to troll - they were there to engage, and in a few cases to try and understand.

    As I may have said (repeatedly), it was a really nice thing to be at, after #gamergate for so long.


    *re: gender balance - I get the impression that there is a countdown timer on the worst sides of gaming right now. Janet Carr mentioned at one of the panels that the (child, not parent) audience for their younger gamers show is 47% female. Might explain the fear driving the reactionaries right now.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Up Front: The Song of Angry Women, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Buy a game you know these guys would hate. Developed by at least some women. A game with a female protagonist. One with a strong, affecting storyline.

    Gave this a spin at PAX - http://www.disparitygames.com/ninja-pizza-girl/

    Definitely worth a look in: good platforming mechanics, many lols, much fun. Also, local-ish.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Southerly: This Week in Parliament: 20…, in reply to Katita,

    Ever noticed how eerily similar she looks to Vladimar Putin ? Put a blonde wig on him and you couldn’t tell the difference.

    And some provocative Victory Red lippy

    Or.... we could focus on how she's not a very effective minister, and she has a surprisingly dodgy portfolio of extramural activities given the scope of her ministerial role. </sjw>

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Friday Music: There have been…,

    The streaming music era is fairly rushing up and it’s not really clear how it’s all going to work out.

    Mark Mulligan at the Music Industry Blog has some numbers and thoughts on the streaming side here, and he's been posting an interesting series on the problems with how streaming is working at the moment, the tyranny of choice, the resulting benefit concentration in the established megastars and publishers, and possible avenues to fix it. Worth a browse.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Doing over the witness,

    Where was the thread where we were talking about the barely buried preference for authoritarianism in NZ?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

  • Hard News: Doing over the witness,

    It is sad that the upper echelons of the police continue to successfully portray the entire force as thugs and bully boys for whoever is in the beehive, at the expense of any trust remaining to them in the community.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 294 posts Report

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