Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Dear Prudence

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  • Kyle Matthews,

    What do you think? It clearly benefits the lucky punter who gets a PVR, we get a little money, and -- hopefully -- the conversation is worthwhile.

    What Giovanni said. I'd add, be not only upfront to us, but to the rest of the world about how it works. "We" are all familiar with you and your work, but Drinnan can post that story and probably get support from people who aren't us. Probably not a big thing, but there's potential PASers in that group which is part of your business community.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Paul Williams,

    What do you think? It clearly benefits the lucky punter who gets a PVR, we get a little money, and -- hopefully -- the conversation is worthwhile.

    If nothing else, this is the point Drinnan misses in his piece. The discussion will inevitably include comments critical of powershop which makes their approach more interesting.

    I take Russell at his word that the appeal was about pioneering unique campaigns focused on independent (online) publishers. Frankly, as most of my media consumption is online or via the public broadcaster, it's the only way they'll get me (ignoring for the moment that I'm resident in Sydney).

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report

  • Kyle Matthews,

    This live update of NZ power usage is geeky cool.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report

  • Glenn Pearce,

    But is contacting and making offers to customers on this basis anti-competitive, or just good retail competition?

    In the outbound call centre business I think this is know as "Retention". There will be whole department at Mercury devoted to just this.

    Auckland • Since Feb 2007 • 504 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    While we're about interacting with our corporate overlords, I forwarded Graeme Edgeler's observations about his new Zinwell Freeview DVR to Freeview, and have finally just received this back.

    I suspect they were waiting till they had a happier story to tell -- which they have, via an over-the-air software update for the Zinwell.

    Q&A below the line:

    ----

    Every so often it just loses a whole bunch of my series-linked series and I have to enter them all in again!

    Fixed.

    Whenever it starts recording a programme, it switches to that channel, even if you were watching another one.

    Fixed unless you are recording something else as well (only 2 tuners available so if already recording it must change the 2nd one to record the new programme)

    You can't just rewind what you're watching (if you want to be able to rewind "live" TV you'd have to record it, and then start watching that recording)

    Not fixed sadly. This wasn’t mandatory in our spec but I’ve encouraged all manufactures to include this. One of the new units available soon will have the feature.

    If you are watching the recording of a programme that is still being recorded (i.e. you are watching it time-delayed) and the recording finishes it quits out of your viewing and goes back to live TV, it then doesn't remember where you were up to and you have to fast-forward/"chapter"-skip to that point to continue watching it.

    Fixed

    If you're recording one programme after another on the same channel it doesn't do its usual tape 3-4 minutes before it starts and 10 minutes after it ends, so while you'll tape both, the file of the recording might have the start (or end) of one programme in the file of another.

    Not fixed. The buffer can’t be applied in this situation but real time start/stop times will be implemented soon. This will use the actual times from the broadcaster playout equipment so recordings will never be cut short.

    You can't tell it to record on a specific date and time; you can only record material off the EPG. What if I'm going on holiday for a fortnight and know that some film I want to see is on during the second week of my time off? Well I can't record it, even though I know exactly when and where it’s going to be, because the EPG only sees eight days into the future.

    Sadly not fixed but again will be available on models to be released soon.

    The position of the play and pause buttons on the remote is the reverse of what it should. I record World News with Charles Gibson on TVNZ 7 every night, and it tapes it at both 5:10pm and 11:35pm (also I get multiple copies of Media 7 every week). I record The Daily Show every night and it only records the 10:30pm showing, not the day after repeat.

    Fixed

    Some programmes are listed on the EPG as blocks. I don't want to tape five hours of BBC World every time it has a documentary I want to see on it; the Simpsons block on Sunday nights is just also a block - what if I only want to tape the new episode? And why won't the guide tell me what each of the episodes is, only the first one?

    We are encouraging the broadcasters (TVNZ in this instance) to break up these programmes but at this stage this is not achievable.

    One bonus: it says it can record two channels at once, and will allow you to watch a recording while that is going on; it does slightly more - if those two channels are part of same channel (e.g. TV3 and C4, or TV One and TVNZ 7) then you can also watch something else, and you can also watch a sister channel of either of the channels you are recording.

    :)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Martin Roberts,

    I have always felt that "green" electricity has limited meaning until sufficient people take it up to outstrip NZ's existing low-emissions generation. I live in hope that by signing up we encourage anybody deciding what type of generation to build next. That said, our household cheerfully banked a zero in that category of our emissions audit.

    As for retailers, they also compete on how well they can predict the power they will sell. The better their prediction, the less they have to buy or sell on the short-term markets and overall the less they ought to pay. Powershop appears to offer you a chance to do some of that prediction (and management) yourself, taking on time and risk commitments in return for lower prices.

    (The big gains from retail competition come for larger customers, whose usage is measured more closely and can often be shaped with suitable incentives. Net result: the vast majority of people have only seen the downside.)

    Thirdly, and finally, my wife reckons that the man on the Powershop ad looks like Baldrick.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 93 posts Report

  • Steve Withers,

    I signed up for Powerpoint. had heard about it a few weeks ago and it sounded like a great idea. Thanks for facilitating the process. :-)

    Here was me thinking the NZ Herald has been editorialising for months to talk up the housing market in order to pump up real estate advertising.

    Must have been my imagination.....

    Auckland • Since Mar 2008 • 312 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    We just left Genesis and nobody called, nobody showed up, nothing. No tears, no goodbyes, we just got a final reading. I feel a little offended now to be honest.

    Years ago when Transalta was going under I recall this letter we received, pre-empting (or possibly post-empting) our switch, in which they boasted having supplied New Zealanders with "high quality power". Obviously they were using superior electrons imported directly from Canada.

    I signed up for Powerpoint.

    Speaking as somebody who has Powerpoint-induced nightmares, I hope it was an elaborate typo.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Paul Williams,

    I have always felt that "green" electricity has limited meaning until sufficient people take it up to outstrip NZ's existing low-emissions generation.

    Which is why it's big business in Australia where 75 per cent, or thereabouts, of electricity generation is by way of coal.

    Sydney • Since Nov 2006 • 2273 posts Report

  • Jan Farr,

    Thanks for the tip about Rockstar Energy Drinks. I will advise my three Facebook Friends - who with a bit of luck may have more friends than I have.

    Carterton • Since Apr 2008 • 395 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Kyle and Paul. Thanks for the feedback.

    I was talking last week to Steve Adams from MFNZ/Ffunnell, who's working on a proposal with a certain company where they put up the CEO and/or several expert staff to be questioned by our readers.

    They were a little nervous about putting up expert staff.

    But what really freaked them out was that Steve said part of the plan was that it would all be plainly explained to the readers (he anticipated my view on that, basically) -- including the fact that the client company was paying for the privilege of reaching the audience.

    You mean ... we'd actually tell people what was going on?

    Heh.

    To be honest, I still haven't reached a completely comfortable view about how this stuff gets presented, and how to avoid mixing up straight editorial and conversational media. I'd be happier for the commecial conversations to have a separate place, but I'm not quite sure where. But the motivation is that there must be something better than more useless banner ads .

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • Russell Brown,

    Also: I think Powershop did themselves quite a lot of good with the geek/blogger scene when they pitched in on the 92A blackout. That was clever, but not without risk for them.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    But the motivation is that there must be something better than more useless banner ads

    My humble view is that so long as we must have corporate overlords (which, clearly, we do), it would be nice to be able to talk to them every once in a while instead of having them talk at us the whole time via their marketing people and advertising agencies. Fencepost those spaces however you like, but they will be a more valuable addition to the site than the ads, unobtrusive as the latter might be.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • JoJo,

    We just left Genesis and nobody called, nobody showed up, nothing. No tears, no goodbyes, we just got a final reading. I feel a little offended now to be honest.

    Be grateful, my friend. We switched because Genesis couldn't send us an accurate (or timely) bill, and after 13 phone calls to them we were kinda sick of it. They have since sent us three teatowels, each one welcoming us to the 'hood and asking us to call them to connect our gas and power.

    Wellington • Since Jul 2008 • 95 posts Report

  • Alastair Jamieson,

    So, how do I, as an existing Mercury customer, get this $50 credit? They'll just credit my (and everyone elses) account? Yeah Right!
    Phone them up and tell them I'm thinking about switching?

    If you phone them up, they'll put you on hold for about 5 minutes to talk with their manager. Then, they'll tell you the $50 credit offer only applies to customers for whom they've received a switching request from another retailer. True story!
    The no-price-change until April 2010 applies all their customers though...

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 99 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen,

    Paul

    you wrote

    What I'd like to see is an electricity scheme that includes the cost of pushing those electrons across Cook Straight

    And as a Jaffa I just wanted to say "bite me".

    But you are being serious. So it's a serious answer. If as you suggest you encourage industries, those that use lots of electricity to set up in the SI the yes you will use the electricity more efficiently.

    That is after all the logic behind the Aluminium smelter.

    BUT if you do that then you have to transport the raw materials to the factory. Note most times that will mean from the Port of Auckland to the SI at huge energy costs. And then when you've made your widget you have to ship it back to Auckland where it either gets sold to the one third of consumers in NZ or shipped overseas.

    There are a few industries where the energy costs work out in favour of using the energy in SI. But for most it's a colossal waste of energy and it is much more energy efficient to move electrons down a wire.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • Paul Campbell,

    Bart: doesn't just have to be industries - people too otherwise Auckland becomes an ever increasing black hole and the rest of the country empties out - Kyle's link showing spot prices implies that if you can play in the market with the big boys you can get power here for $26/MWh while in Auckland it's $44/MWh if you're exporting that's probably worth considering - maybe if Powerstation gets big enough we can all play in that market

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report

  • Bart Janssen,

    You say having the rest of the country empty - like it's a bad thing?

    Having most of NZ empty is one of the best things about NZ. I can drive out of Auckland and go to place that aren't buried under people and their stuff. Seriously we don't want high density urban populations all over our country.

    But yeah I admit in some cases it makes sense for some stuff to move south. But be careful what you wish for. If that really came to pass it is probably the dirtiest stuff that would want to move.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report

  • johnno,

    Presumably someone form the Granny reads Public Address, because Drinnan's online piece now refers to "Hard News" rather than "Hard Copy".

    wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 111 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    Presumably someone form the Granny reads Public Address, because Drinnan's online piece now refers to "Hard News" rather than "Hard Copy".

    Most factual it's been all day

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    [OT] but of interest to some here:

    Autism Science Foundation Launches Operations; New Advocacy Group Will Focus on Non-vaccine-related Autism Research

    The Autism Science Foundation, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and funding autism research, launched its operations today, debuting its web site (www.autismsciencefoundation.org) and kicking off its "First 100 Days" fundraising drive. ASF's mission is to support autism research by providing funding and other assistance to scientists and organizations conducting, facilitating, publicizing and disseminating autism research. The organization is co-founded by Alison Singer, formerly Executive Vice President of Autism Speaks, and Karen London, co-founder of the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR). The Autism Science Foundation will focus on non-vaccine-related autism research...

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Heather W.,

    Hey, that's almost me!

    It's okay Michael Savidge, the other Michael Savage was born Michael Alan Weiner.

    Aardvark is not a supporter of Powershop - his version is that the green option is not green production but is instead 'plant a tree'.

    On a more positive note the Detroit Free Press mentioned elsewhere months ago won one of the Pulitzer prizes for Journalism

    North Shore • Since Nov 2008 • 189 posts Report

  • Heather W.,

    Mark,

    When there are groups like Generation Rescue that say they have research that vaccines increase Autism rates there is certainly more science required.

    North Shore • Since Nov 2008 • 189 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    Personally, I'd tend to take the other side of any argument that had Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey as its proponents.

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

  • Mark Harris,

    Waikanae • Since Jul 2008 • 1343 posts Report

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