Posts by Rob Stowell
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Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Just a note we are now in the process of firing scientists from our CRIs while the accountants and management get pay rises.
And ... we are now in the process of firing academics from our universities while hiring more accountants, marketers, managers and micro-managers.
It's knowledge bro- but not as you knew {true = no; belief = yes; reasonable = who cares} it :)
Shocks me too. But then, I would never advise any child, anywhere, any time, to study accountancy or commerce. Cruelty to children is a step too far. -
Hard News: The Vision Thing, in reply to BenWilson,
I say this in the vague hope that Labour isn't really neoliberal at heart now, which is what this speech sounds like to me. If Shearer actually did nothing more than what he says here, it would only be better than National because it would not involve selling family silver and harsher criminal penalties.
Yeah- the stuff about becoming techno-whizzy innovators and thence all wildly wealthy is more-or-less the same stuff we've been getting from eg Stephen Joyce- with a super-sized dose to come, no doubt. Shearer didn't address social justice, inequality, labour law, or market regulation. I think he missed the moment, but he clearly signalled he's looking away off into the distance (isn't that where you see visions?).
We share doubts, I think, Ben, about whether NZ can reasonably expect to "grow the pie" that much- and for how long. My sense is that how we divide it will become more and more important in shaping the society we inhabit. Aspiration is fine and dandy, but this Govt shows how silly it becomes when it gets unhooked from reality. As a nation we seem a bit like a no-hoper who's always reading self-help books :( -
Hard News: The Mega Conspiracy, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Not really. There is a set amount returned from an album sale and the pie doesn't get any bigger by adding more songs.
So why are albums all different prices then?. Is it that they guess at how much they can gouge the fans for and go with that number?.
Not a set amount; a set percentage of the wholesale price.
it's a statutory percentage of the price ( I think its still 8% of wholesale but about to rise). So if an album wholesales for $10, the writers get 80c divided by the number of tracks.
Retail prices (50% mark-up is common) can vary after that- but it may be that wholesale prices can vary as well, over time or different markets, and still a set percentage of that price be put aside for the artists.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to DexterX,
link is far more fun
Still giggling, much to the annoyance of my trying-to-sleep beloved. I'm blaming you, DexterX, and your 666 posts :)
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Capture: EQNZ Remembrance, in reply to Gudrun Gisela,
Lovely :)
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Up Front: Safety Net, in reply to Roger,
The GP ‘failed’ him the medical and then rang both his employer and the local Police Senior Sergeant
Is this legal? Or against the oath, or something? 'Cos it's a terrible story.
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Hard News: A storm in any port, in reply to Gareth Ward,
Presumedly it’s somewhere in the middle…
POA management don't seem the sort to seek a happy middle ground. It probably includes a pro rata management fee :)
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This struck me from the Metro editorial.
POA is carrying so much debt and is required to pay such heavy dividends it cannot invest in its own future properly. Last year, interest on the debt was $20.7m
Love to know how the debt was accrued- and what the figure (whatever it is) for POA ‘equity’ is based on. ROE appears to be one major factor in the dispute- which raises the question: how has ‘equity’ been defined and assessed?
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@Joe:
No, it’s totally non-destructive (though there are things you could do with it that might be, and it probably screws your warranty.) It sits on the SD card, and you use a combination of buttons to activate it. If you don’t, the camera just operates as usual. Takes a bit of getting used to, but can do some cool stuff (Not that I’ve achieved much- I’ve seen other peoples shots- eg there was a thread on the wiki where people were showing off their lightening pics- some great ones.) -
Capture: Roamin' Holiday, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Some great photography here, I am in awe :)
Our cheapish Canon Power Shot A470 is all good.
Do you use CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit)? I have a beaten up collection of such cameras (canon made lovely 5 Megapixel chips) mostly for mucking about with timelapses. But CHDK does a lot more- bracketing, exposures as long as you like, raw files- they've unlocked the hardware in a really cool way.