Posts by Andrew Stevenson
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Is the restraint slipping?
I don't want to undervalue the sterling work of the Inquisition, but the accusation that got you booted and pressed and ducked and hanged probably came from your neighbour.
Don't they (sorry) also say that the property of the accused was forfit to the Inquisition/witchfinder - pays to get the incentives right.
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I try to restrain my inner crazy ranting bitch for you guys.
But why?
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Two things struck me as I read this column, one being Emma's general awesomness
The other is how it links to work by Noam Chomsky and John Pilger (I can't remember what bit to attribute to who) about how control of the media leads to control of the words used to describe people ie freedom fighter versus terrorist etc. Which in turn helps shape public awareness and debate on issues.
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My eyes haven't really changed in the last 15 years, which is probably why I don't get them any more.
I'm really short sighted - so my eyeballs are longer then normal, ie stretched, so increased risk of things pulling apart.
If you're really long sighted then you don't have the same risk, as the eyeball is a different shape with less stress on the retina -
I hated eye tests when I was a kid, they often used eye drops that made the world far too bright and had to spend the rest of the day with my eyes closed.
Those are good. I have to have them every year or so becasue my eyeballs are so distorted there is an increased risk of retinal detachment.
You wander around with fully dilated pupils and get the strangest looks from people.I love the part where the optician says 'Is this one better? Or this one?
It took me about fifteen years to realise I could answer "red or green?" with "no idea". My optomertist now asks "red, green or no difference?"
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Colour blindness tests were like that for me. 'Oh, I've never had anyone fail *all* of them before, Doctor, come and have a look at this.' Curtailed my flying career and electrical work still a weak point on the DIY front.
Don't let that get you down Don, when I started work on Auckland's power system we had a guy in the office who was colour blind. Always checked his work very carefully...
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My parents realised there was somthing wrong when as a child I replied "What mountain?" to a question about the view.
It also explained why I was afraid of dogs and slides; one I couldn't see until it they were too close, the other I couldn't see the end of...The rate my eyes were getting worse should have made me blind at about 15. Of course I was not told this, my parents just made me do lots of things I didn't like so I would have the experience before I lost my sight. Luckily the eyes stabilised as I grew up and are now at -16 (I can read newsprint if it is closer then the end of my nose).
it was like going from an impressionist scene to a realist one
Oh yeah, those impressionist ones with the REALLY fuzzy edges
My glasses are so thick they produce rainbows around the edge of windows. Moving from these to contacts was a life changing experience, we'll forget about the 2 hours of agony as the opthalmologist tried umpty million different lenses to find a pair that fit my distored orbs. Yes a hair behind a hard lens is whimpering on the floor painful, but a series of ill fitting lenses worse IMHO. On the positive (and far outweighing the pain) my field of view increased by about 100% and I could play sport,swim and vastly improve my safety on the road (try doing a paper round in the rain with glasses).
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"When the going gets weird the weird turn pro" Hunter S Thompson
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Don't poke him Kyle, he enjoys it.
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Kicking the tires again...
Funding for the ACMA-like body, any heinously complicated process is going to cost money to administer, where is it from? Modem tax, levy on ISPs based on traffic volumes, from the general tax fund, wave a magic wand?
Location of the ACMA-like body in government? Is it an independant body like PCE, not independant but seperate like the Electricity Commission, part of the Ministry for Odds and Sods (sorry - Internal Affairs), a division of the Police? How will this choice affect its operations?
Given dealing with the whole technology/content/ internet thing is a fairly dynamic process, how confident are you that a government body can police the Emma Solution effectively? Reference to earlier PA discussion on the public service here