Posts by Ben Austin

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  • So what happens this time?,

    I've heard it said that the only really sure way for an incumbent to lose his seat in the Congress is for him to be caught in a sex or corruption scandal.

    Anyone monitoring the IRC political chat channels right now? I'd imagine that the big nets like undernet/dalnet/efnet etc will be going mad with raw debate based on happenings on the ground. If you do have access to IRC I suggest connecting to Undernet - then join these channels: #politics and #political - the former is focused towards right/Republican/libertarian voters, the latter is libertarian/Democrat/Left. In past elections they have been a great barometer of US political views sans media influence.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Ihug: still screwed?,

    I've never found Ihug particularly good at responding to technical issues, nor any other ISP I've had experience with - Xtra, Paradise etc. Part of that is due to the fact they have to abrogate a lot of control to Telecom for ADSl, part of it must be I don't spend enough for them to really care about my service.

    I've had a technical issue with ihug for the last 4 months, they've known about it for about the same length of time as customers have complained vocally, we have yet to recieve a specific, or indeed generic response to our queries. I'm not sure if they can even fix the problem, since the issue relates to one of their off-shore bandwidth providers (asianet) but they could at least give us a response or something, even if it is just to say "we are not going to do anything".

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • So what happens this time?,

    About this time last year I did a basic comparison of the most recent three elections in the US, Australia, UK and NZ to see roughly how many contested seats (MPs/congressmen) changed parties or representative. The results shocked me, although sadly I can't find the report I wrote.

    From what I recall the US has had in the last three terms something like a 1-3% turnover rate, compared to 10-25% rate in the other three countries looked at. There could be several possible reasons for this: high satisfaction with incumbants, strong support for one particular party, corrupt practices at the voting booth, low voter turnout or gerrymandered districts. Possibly all are present in some degree. I suspect that gerrymandering has played a large part in this, and that in fact many congress districts are practically invulnerable, even in a climate of great disatisfaction - hooray for a largely politicised electoral districting process. Some groups in the US are working on changing this, but it won't be easy.

    I had a brief look at the Congressional districts today, and some of them do look rather odd to say the least. Take a look at some of the bigger states, where there are large, diverse populations:
    COngress District Map site: http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/congress.html#ca

    Links about redistricting and gerrymandering

    Article on Gerrymandering: http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/15878
    Redistricting Resource Centre: http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/redistricting.html
    Report on Redistricting: http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/redistricting.html
    Wikipedia definition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Something up with Apple?,

    I purchased an ibook about two and a half years ago in Melbourne while on holiday (at the time the cost of the laptop + flight to Melbourne was slightly less than the NZ price of the same laptop), and it has been working very well since then, as both an educational tool and a portable games machine (no, really!). At the time the price difference between Australia and NZ for ibooks was huge, and nearly non existent for Windows laptops. When I looked last week for a friend online I noticed the difference was still marked.

    Same model, different country

    NZ entry level Macbook: $2,359 (NZD)
    Au entry level Macbook: $2,019 (NZD)
    US entry level Macbook: $1,641 (NZD)

    (figures sourced from Apple's country online stores, currencies converted by XE.com)

    Now I know there are regional factors that mean one can never offer a straight comparison between pricing. Things like taxes, transport costs must be factored in, but wow, it is still a huge difference! I can't help thinking that a large part of that cost difference must just be the reseller's margin, and if they can operate a growing business on that margin then good for them. But I'll never buy a Mac laptop in NZ while they do, I'll just get one from Australia or the US and rely on the international warrenty. Hell, once you factor in the GST claimback at the airport in Australia the difference is greater still (if that dodge still exists).

    Oh, and I've always found Magnum Mac in Wellington really professional in terms of sales support and servicing my Apple products. I'd buy my next Mac off them if it wasn't so much cheaper overseas.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • If the Straitjacket Fits ...,

    Raising the drinking age to 20, or banning all fireworks are attractive because they offer quick, simple solutions to problems that have a high profile in NZ. In the case of the drinking age change, well, how that, or Russel's split system will effectively stop the problem of teen alcohol abuse in the home, at parties, or in any number of unsupervised locations still escapes me (I turned 20 two months prior to the age dropping to 18 so I remember how we used to drink).
    But it will be a very visible sign of action on the part of the government, and far easier than changing the cultural practices of a nation, since that is by its nature a long term project that requires public resources and the participation of all sectors of the community.

    Far easier just to raise the age and be done with it eh?

    When given the choice between two solutions, one that is relatively quick to implement and that promises some immediate benefit ifnot a full solution and the other that might fully solve the problem over a much longer time, people usually go for the easy, fast option.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

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