Plucked from the headlines, online and in print
I have never been a fan of Slingshot’s method of marketing but I’m even less inclined to think kindly of them after the recent news that they were regularly breaching Telecom’s security to gain an edge in the poaching of customers. Sales staff for Slingshot say they would use Telecom’s Wireline database sometimes thousands of times […]
Marketing: how not to do it Read Post »
It looks like Oprah’s trip of Oz has been a big boost for our neighbours, with web traffic to the australia.com website up 120 percent in America after her first Down Under episode screened last week. Maybe we need to encourage her to visit us … boost our own tourism industry. No, not New Zealand,
Dear Oprah, got any holiday plans? Read Post »
In my Online column this week, I linked to the infamous “stupid woman falls in fountain as she walks and texts at the same time” video (click here and scroll down). Now the news is out that the aforementioned stupid woman is planning to sue the mall because no one came to her aid. Well,
Fountain attempts to drown passing woman Read Post »
The news last week that the Dire Straits song Money For Nothing had been banned in Canada came as no great surprise but did leave me feeling a bit sad. And it was the confirmation that we are so ridiculously politically correct was the reason for both my lack of surprise and the wee twinge
Censorship: does it really help? Read Post »
You can’t help but feel sorry for the Queenstown bloke who came home from holiday last week to find his new flatmate had trashed his house. The roomie from hell moved in before Chrismas and the landlord/homeowner buggered off on Christmas day for a couple of weeks. He came home to a damage, dirt and
A cautionary tale of flatmate woe Read Post »
Listen up Posh and Becks: the Pope has had enough of parents opting for trendy, silly names. I never thought I’d see the day, but here I am agreeing with a man in a frock. Who’d have thunk it? Pope Benedict the 16th-ish (I think) has called on parents to use proper Christian name for their
Pope pleads for proper names Read Post »
Okay, I’m confuddled. It seems a nice bloke from Christchurch (well, I’m assuming he’s a nice bloke, but in actual fact he could well be a total arsehole … but for the sake of this post let’s just continue to assume he’s a nice bloke) … now, where was I? Oh yes, the nice bloke
Million-dollar confusion Read Post »
These days we do so much of our living online I suppose it should come as no surprise that people are now choosing to die online. Bill Zeller chose to end his life in a very public way: he went to his Facebook account and wiped his entire profile, leaving in place a letter that explained
Living (and dying) online Read Post »
