This might be a dumb question, but how does one run this at home? I guess I have to install a language or something?

You can change the settings in f.lux quite easily - the newest version, which came out only a week or two ago, lets you set it to some quite extreme colour schemes, if you want. Maybe the Mac version is different, I dunno - but it's one of the best pieces of software I've ever come across!

I haven't really got time to go into much detail - supposed to be working right now - but I'm a recovering insomniac and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. In my experience, the best thing you can do is stay well away from GP-prescribed medication (which they dish out like candy, and will even give you stuff you've researched on the internet, if you just ask for it) and get cognitive behavioural therapy. You can get four sessions a year funded through your local medical provider, though they don't seem to advertise that at all.

There's a lot GPs don't seem to understand about insomnia, and I was told a lot of stuff that was quite plainly nonsense - like it's perfectly safe to take zopiclone for decades if it helps you sleep (I lasted about six weeks before getting chest pains). Some didn't even know about how blue light affects your body clock.

The other thing is getting something like flux for your laptop or phone to eliminate that blue light. Even if you don't sleep well, it makes using devices late at night that much more pleasant.

If anyone's interested, I interviewed a sleep expert last year for work, and wrote a story combining my experiences and his knowledge - http://www.3news.co.nz/Insomnia---the-dos-and-donts-of-a-modern-epidemic/tabid/423/articleID/246659/Default.aspx

Hope that helps anyone who might be suffering with insomnia!

47 percent

It's a little pluggy, but perhaps appropriate - myself and others', some you may have heard of, top albums of the year. I'd do the proper HTML thing if it would work, but it won't for some reason.

http://www.3news.co.nz/tabid/418/articleID/84930/cat/55/Default.aspx

Comic Mischief would make a totally awesome band name.

How many of those think updating their Facebook/Bebo status is 'blogging', though? I often seem to run into people who don't even know what a blog is, so the figure seems suspiciously high.

Auckland hasn't descended into an alternate reality: we're all going 'huh?' too. I do wonder where these 50% of the country that are Nats supporters are though, I certainly don't know of any.

I'm not so much a vinyl lover as a music lover, but I digress... those 'shops were some of the best I've seen on the subject, at least they were until about 14 pages deep...

And I hope they don't change the museum too much. I don't go too often to be honest, but when I do, I love the sense of majesty and history the place has - there aren't many places you get that in NZ.