Posts by Russell Brown
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Try Kids Programming Language. I haven't looked at it in any depth myself, but someone i know was saying nice things about it.
Karl from CactusLab has been doing some work with Leo, and we found that specialised kid stuff like Phrogram, for all its merits, falls down because it's not the real world -- you can't share the stuff you make. OTOH, Flash -- that's fun, not too hard to learn, and any browser runs it.
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It is curious that every time I have heard/read Nandor Tanzcos ideas/perspectives he has sounded so reasoned and reasonable. Imagine what the level of debate would be like if the shouters and pointscorers in Parliament had to lift their game to his level!!
I've noted before that he's much more enjoyable to interview than most MPs, because he's willing to engage at an intellectual level and discuss ideas, rather than just politicking.
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It's pretty tough to expect teachers to be at the bleeding edge of technology. Consider the demographic from which they are mostly taken (old). Then consider the demographic of the people who design the curricula (even older). Also consider how much they could be getting paid doing something else if they were at the bleeding edge.
But they're teaching kids to shoot and edit digital video using modern computer-based tools -- just not an important distribution (and-self-marketing) skill that would make the editing skills more relevant.
And I really strongly believe that it's useful for kids to be encouraged to think and talk about the media they're most likely to be using. And, even more so, to be taught how to assess information, which IMO is a critical task for modern education.
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And perhaps proof-reading HTML would be a good skill to teach, too ;-)
Why bother, when I have the wisdom of the crowd to guide me?
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Our crack (sp?) team of Nigel McCulloch and Josh Thompson brings you the magic of the New Zealand Music Awards. Featuring interviews with the Mint Chicks, Hollie Smith, John Psathas, Evermore, PNC and more.
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Lordy... looks like Te Quaeda don't have to do a damn thing - Mongrel Mallard and Testosterone Tau are going to kill each other first...
Truth is not only stranger than fiction, you couldn't make it up without being packed off for a psych evaluation...It's alright. They've shaken hands and made up now. Because it's not okay ...
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__But is it a good idea that cheap, fast net access is only available for (relatively) wealthy urbanites in smart inner suburbs.__
Hey I've got your number pal -- ya damn lousy commie! If you think us taxpayers are going to pay for those dole bludging terrorists in Tuhoe to get a wireless network so they can hook up with Al Qaeda ...
Heh. On the other hand, there are still (and I hope there always will be) Housing NZ tenancies here -- six in our little street. And we're not that far from McGehan Close, as the Wi-Fi crow flies ...
OTOH, all those immigrants and bludgers over in Mt Albert have a much shorter copper run than us. Bloody socialism.
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And before anyone plays the race card and sez it was only Maori who got stopped and photographed ... this is not the first time the Police have photographed people en masse. Last time it was the (predominantly) middle class whitey
Ah yes. That was a strange one.
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Radio NZ interview with Rongomai Bailey and NZ Herald report on his press conference.
On legal advice, he wouldn't discuss the firearms charges or whether he'd been to the training camps, but came across as gentle and sincere; naive even. The judge who granted him bail presumably thought something of the sort. (Even the cops who knocked on his door and arrested him seem to have been nice.)
If all the cops have on him are photographs that possibly include him and weapons (I undersand photographs at the camps are a key part of the evidence) I hope they do the decent thing and don't make him wait two years for bugger-all.
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IMHO I think we all have a bit of a choice to make.
Up until now the default position for people like Russell, Bomber etc has been "well the police must have something" well so far even the best informed speculation boils down to people running around the hills, some loose words and a, rather weakly put forward "attempt" to buy a rocket launcher.
Bomber knows a lot more than me; meaning he knows some of the police surveillance evidence, because he has been privy to conversations in the activist community. I suspect he has also gained an impression of the veracity of that evidence through those same conversations. Chris Trotter may be in the same position.
Bomber's position seems quite reasonable: the plotting was probably bullshit talk, but the police were obliged to get involved.
Judging by the evidence leaked to the Dom Post by one of the defence lawyers, Iti did seek to obtain a grenade launcher from an Auckland arms dealer. I can't help but take a dim view of that.
My sense is that most of what has been leaked to the papers (discussion of simultaneous attacks, etc) will be borne out to a greater or lesser degree by the evidence. The cops wouldn't have leaked it otherwise. What the context is and how seriously it ought to be taken, I don't know. But I really fucking hate the fact that this information is being disseminated by leaks rather than placed in front of a court.
On the other side anyone who finds out the names of some of the people arrested says "no way in a million years is x a terrorist"
Without wanting to appear a smartarse, that line of argument doesn't usually play very well in court.
If you haven't read Graeme's highly informative posts on the TSA, go and read them. The cops have already cleared a few hurdles. And let's not undervalue judicial process. It's what we all wanted for Zaoui after all.
It's not a game, people are locked in prison tonight and may spend the next two years there if they do not get bail. Lives are being ruined and friends and family living in fear.
I think it's appalling that we face the prospect of not having the facts presented for that long, not only because it's so hard on those involved, but because this will be an issue still unresolved by the next time we vote.
So it is get off the fence time.
Which side are you on?
Take a "side" if you must. I'm just trying to work out what I think. It would be easier to eff and blind about state terror, I know.
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