Posts by Dan Horne

  • Hard News: Mediaworks: The only horizon…,

    I've now no reason to watch TV3 at all - Campbell was the last terrestrial show I had an interest in. My 8 yr old watches zero TV and seems only interested in Youtube content generated by age group peers and teenagers. Not one of his friends that I've spoken to watches TV at all either. I know that this is simply anecdotal, but I can't help but feel that there's a generation (of boys anyway) whose parents will be imploring them to spend more time with broadcast TV in the same way mine told be to head outside for fresh air - "C'mon ... Watch Spongebob with me ... You'll love it."

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: TVNZ: Emptied out,

    I'm curious to know TVNZ's viewing numbers. I occasionally watch TV3 news, but I watch no other traditional terrestrial TV. I know stations are fighting for a share of the pie, but is the pie getting smaller? My boy's 8 and has zero interest in television at all. Is there a whole generation growing up solely on Youtube and Net-based entertainment? If so, what value could TVNZ ever offer a potential buyer if their audience in 10 years will be limited to those aged 40 and above?

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Feed: My Life in Curry, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    Wellington’s Malaysian curry houses must be mentioned!

    Can you recommend one or two? I was a big fan of the Sri Penang on K Rd before moving to the capital. I tried a couple of places down here that didn't grab me - but I know that it must have been bad luck on my account

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Making it up on smacking, in reply to Kyle MacDonald,

    but if you accept that the psychological evidence is that ALL physical punishment can cause damage

    Er, I don't. Or at least, I haven't seen that eveidence

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Friday Music: Dancing Fool,

    My epiphany came watching the high school reunion in Grosse Pointe Blank. No one had progressed beyond their 80s moves. I remember thinking "Oh ... My .. God ... that's how I still dance." I've never been on the floor since.

    Since then, I've seen the Eddie Murphy stand-up routine where he illustrates how white people dance. It hurt cos it was so true.

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Joining the conversation,

    Hmm, I subscribed to the Listener precisely because I couldn't get its at its online content in a timely fashion. But then again, I'm old skool - I'm quite happy to pay for content to keep our writers and musicians in coffee money, even though my small contribution won't clothe or shelter them.

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: At Last, David Haywood's 2010…,

    I like books as objects, and I also like vinyl records as objects, but the fact is I buy more ebooks for my Kindle and "albums" from iTunes than I do their hard copy equivalents these days. I would be more than happy to purchase electronic editions of NZ books. I move quite often, and packing and unpacking my books is a royal pain in the arse, so I buy ebooks where possible.

    I think that 50c commission for an online bookshop is quite light. Generally, payment gateways charge more than this as a fixed charge, plus a percentage of the purchase price. Then there's the cost of the servers, security, server administration, account management. And a big issue is chargebacks. If someone complains that their credit card was used fraudulently, you've lost the item itself, you have to refund the purchase, and there can be an extra payment to the gateway provider for performing the refund as well...

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Southerly: Confessions of a Social Retard,

    I just short circuit everything and get straight to the point: "Hi, I am a software developer and am classified as INTJ by the Meyers-Briggs tests. Google 'Myers-Briggs' and 'INTJ', and you will understand why I'm not having a real conversation with you right now."

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: iPad Impressions,

    How did you purchase a Kindle book from Amazon? When I tried, it said my NZ address and/or VISA was invalid

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply

  • Field Theory: The Sad News Springboks,

    In The Departed, Matt Damon packs down in the scrum wearing No 10 on his back. I thought Scorsese would have paid more attention to detail. But maybe a flanker got sent off in a deleted scene, and they needed the first five to join the pack....

    Since Jan 2010 • 10 posts Report Reply