Posts by Evan Yates

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  • Island Life: Anyone can do design.,

    There is nothing to stop professional designers working their mojo in getting a logo on the gogo.

    All the new body is doing is saying :
    "We don't want to pay hefty fees for the thinking up bit. When we have done that in the past we have been gouged and then laughed at. You do the inspiration bit first for free and then we might reward you with small cash prize and a further opportunity to sell us other stuff along that same theme"

    I think it is a stroke of genius.

    The issue over whether it will be any good comes down to the judging panel. If they can't find anything good then I hope they have the stones to chuck the lot and start over.

    A crowd-sourced car-park might fall over and kill people, costing the rate-payers a fortune in compensation payouts. A crowd sourced logo may at worst invoke ridicule (which a large chunk of the population is going to do regardless..). They can't lose.

    Even if the entered art-works are a bit rough, if the panel like the concept, then they hire a professional to spruce it up.

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: Go Figure,

    Our house was Nielsen Peoplemeter'ed for 12 months around 2003-2004. Back then they seemed to have trouble putting a channel detection probe into our Sky Satellite box. They could tell that we were watching SKY, but according to the tech-installer-dude, couldn't readily tell what channel. Because of poor VHF reception we tended to watch all our programmes through the satellite receiver.
    I was never quite sure what value Nielsens got from us and we were booted off the scheme after 12 months.
    Their "rewards" scheme was pretty naff as I recall. It just didn't seem worth the bother to log ourselves in and out every time we entered or left the room. I'd say that my innate laziness probably meant that our household was correctly registered against our viewing habits about 60% of the time...
    Draw your own conclusions.

    P.S. On my Panasonic HDD recorder at Fast Forward speed no. 3, I can hit the return from ads to programming almost exactly every time by mentally counting "1 banana 2 banana 3 banana 4 banana 5 banana 6 banana 7 banana - PLAY". I don't have to watch them whiz by at all...

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Field Theory: The Sad News Springboks,

    Breaking Away was the film that caused me to save up my pocket money and buy my first 10-speed "racing" bike. I tried to draft a big truck and get up to 60mph like Dave did... but all we had up North were cattle trucks and I just got a mouth full of flying cowshit spraying off the wheels when I got too close. No effluent tanks in those days...
    ...plus I was a tubby kid and couldn't sustain the pace anyway.

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Honours,

    If there are really obvious omissions, you can do something about it.

    Fill in one of these forms and then convince (in whatever form and means you find capable) these people that it is a good idea.

    It is probably not socially acceptable to game the system in a grassroots/astroturfing 'Net campaign style, but with enough support from eloquent and driven PAS readers we could probably have Sir Russell Brown in time for Queen's Birthday. (although all nominees have the right to refuse)

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Speaker: The system's pretty good, the…,

    Once you are a fat person it is HUGELY unlikely (perhaps 95% unlikely?) that you are going to lose large amounts of weight and keep it off permanently.

    Bugger...
    So I'm 95% likely to remain a Foxtrot Bravo * for the rest of my shortened miserable life.... And I just blimmin' spent $300 getting my poor bike un-mangled...

    Ever thought of becoming a motivational speaker?

    Sod it. I'm off to deep-fry a Mars bar.


    *NATO phonetic code for Fat Bastard

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Let's lynch the liberals!,

    BTW where do you think our 'cousins' over the Tasman will want to move when life on the 2nd driest continent becomes untenable?

    ...nearer to one of these, perhaps?

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Something Completely Different,

    I love rockets.
    I go to the National High-Power Launch days to watch the big boys fly their missiles. I witnessed a rocket called "Sugar Rush" fly on a shot of homemade fuel mainly composed of (funnily enough) sugar. It blew over the steel girder launch tower as it headed for the clouds with a mighty roar. All the spectators (keep well back, you rabble) were on their feet in case a speedy dodge of a mis-guided missile was required, but with the speed it took off you wouldn't have even had time to blink before being spifflicated if it came your way.
    It. Was. So. Cool.
    The owner didn't find it for 3 weeks...

    My favourite ever Top Gear episode was the one where they tried to launch a Reliant Robin as a cheap-as British space shuttle. It almost worked (Boooommm!!) but should really be filed away under that peculiar-to-Japanese-philosophy category of "Magnificent Failure"

    One of these days I will get to Florida and watch a real launch (Space Shuttle is being scrapped soon. Better hurry!)

    Best of luck to RocketLabs. "Per ardua ad astra" and all that...

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Short and Long of It,

    PA (and PAS) has been so popular for me that my workplace has now blocked the whole domain.

    I have to wait until I get home to read it now. My commenting (while never hugely frequent or insightful) has dropped right off. I never seem to have anything new to say that hasn't already been said by someone on the long journey to page 8 of the comments...

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: The Peter Principle,

    I can see the idea behind producer-based funding from the NZFC. If you are doling out public money and have to give reports to your political masters about where that money went, you'd want to entrust the dosh to a person who is used to controlling the money side of film-making.

    I think the commission was afraid that the creatives might just take the money and scurry off to do cool stuff. Their reports would read something like "Oh, yeah, money... right... yeah, we spent some getting some cool shots of sunsets off the Coromandel. Didn't end up using it but it looked fabulous!"

    Try tabling that before the Minister of Arts.

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: On the Waterfront,

    A swim in the tide.
    At lunchtime.
    That would be cool.
    And unique.

    I took a dip in the waterfront tide once.
    After a dragon-boat race.
    I stank of diesel.
    For some time.

    Hamiltron, Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Nov 2006 • 197 posts Report Reply

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