Greg's Blog

Tarp Surfing! - Catch Yourself a Slab !

2010-07-29T12:31:00.005+12:00

Tarp surfing is 'blowing up' right now

A fix for the locals maybe? Any warehouse car park is looking good for this.

Grab a tarp and catch yourself a slab!

Great track too.

Awesome Year of the Tiger Photos

2010-02-18T10:18:00.003+13:00

See the set here

Rocket Boots - Hey Visa! What you gonna do with those?

2010-01-29T10:39:00.006+13:00

Dreams of flying have captivated human imagination since prehistoric times. Even with the advent of aircraft and the increasing availability of air travel, the ancient question stays with us: What if we could simply spread our arms and fly like a bird?

If you've ever dreamt of soaring through the air like a superhero? You're not alone.

Flying men (and women) have become a natural reoccurring theme here at Greg's blog. So I'm going to roll with that.

A Stimulus Story

2009-10-23T09:00:00.003+13:00

It is the month of April, on the shores of the Black Sea. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit.

Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town.

He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one.

The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher.

The Butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig grower.

The pig grower takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel.

The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her "services" on credit.

The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there.

The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter. At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town.

No one earned anything.
However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the Government is doing business today.

-Thanks to Johny who once put $100 on the bar, went to the loo and was never seen again.

Clean, green mining? Yeah right.

2009-10-19T16:47:00.003+13:00

Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee’s plans for a “stocktake” of mining opportunities in our most precious conservation land, including national parks , have deeply concerned our members. Despite subsequent attempts by the Government to play down suggestions that it will open up protected conservation lands to mining, this proposal is still very much alive. We need your help to let the Government know that our protected forests, mountains, wetlands, beaches and seafloor are too precious to be handed over to the mining industry. Please help us by emailing Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee (g.brownlee@ministers.govt.nz ) to let him know you oppose mining of our core conservation lands. You could make some of the following points:

• Mining of core conservation land will directly threaten New Zealand’s 100% Pure brand and its $20 billion tourism industry.
• Mining cannot be “surgically” carried out in fragile conservation lands – it has long-lasting and significant impacts on the environment and wildlife.
• Burning mined lignite will be a major source of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.

Thanks to Corona, who points out that 'If we do or say something appropriate before or when it is necessary - and that often does not require much by each person - we may avert an environmental situation in New Zealand that many do not want, and we will not be able to undo if it comes into effect.'

I'm emailing Gerry right away and so should you!

The news came from Forest and Bird enews.

Jet Powered Hurricane

2009-10-09T11:31:00.005+13:00

This is the old and just got boring hurricane ride, famous for getting crushed by the fatty next to you then flinging your breakfast on your mum watching from the crowd.

If you're a Carnie and if you loved me like a brother - You'd bring the 'jet powered hurricane' to town. Bigger than this one please so we don't burn each others eyebrows. See video for afterburner.

Teach Me Fast

2009-09-14T07:43:00.002+12:00

Do you shave? If this works we win!

If you get holes in the arse of your pants, you're doing it wrong..

From the Teach Me Fast Contest!

Three .orgs To Change the World

2009-09-04T08:51:00.008+12:00

A few organisations that foster powerful change! They all use Internet to connect you to their projects and the people. The old-school of 'post and stamps' for making change are soon to be gone as we become more connected then ever before..

kiva.org lets you lend money to a specific entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty.

Acumen fund Seek to prove that small amounts of philanthropic capital, combined with large doses of business acumen, can build thriving enterprises that serve vast numbers of the poor. Investments focus on delivering affordable, critical goods and services – like health, water, housing and energy – through innovative, market-oriented approaches.

The Girl Effect One of every six people in the world is an adolescent girl living in poverty. That’s 600 million people – twice the population of the United States. Each one could change our world for the better, if given the chance.

Are you affiliated with any of these yet?

Dangers in the Deep: 10 Scariest Sea Creatures

2009-08-30T17:13:00.004+12:00

An entertaining look into the the 10 scariest sea creatures here.

I had no idea that fatal shark attacks were so low and eating blow fish puts your life is in the hands of the chef ( you really hope he's having a good day.)

Nice Parking !

2009-08-19T16:20:00.002+12:00

When you're good at something I suggest you ride it for what you can, then apply the skills to a new thing.

I reckon daddy should buy his boy a jet-boat!

Imagine that!

(If you're reading this in your email you may need to click the title to see the video)

Witty Interludes.. Got any?

2009-08-12T09:24:00.012+12:00

My hand has been 'held up' to provide for joke of the day. Funny, since I have joke retention levels of a deaf fish! The fix - get gathering now so I can get a holiday in later.

I've created this form so I have a place to drop and forget again. You can help to and preserve your classics forever.

Go forth! plagiarise, borrow, embellish and hit me with your jokes and other witty interludes.

Those of you that become the main contributors will be famous (in my eyes anyway) and maybe we'll all go out together for a night of shenanigans? Maybe I'll just go out alone?

Enter the form directly by clicking here, bookmark this and use it a lot.

I'll post excerpts here occasionally, but not today...

Loading...

Search Bar

2009-08-03T16:30:00.002+12:00

After a 5 minute hunt for a post I wrote last year. I decided it was time for a search tool - an easier way.

I've added a 'search this blog' widget on the blog page. Give it a crack!

(If you read this in your email inbox you'll need to click the heading or here to see the blog page.)

A Best Kept Secret - Beach Road Deli

2009-07-28T08:43:00.004+12:00

North of Wellington you find Paekakariki, and the Beach Road Deli.

These guys are serious about quality and attention to detail. They've a kick-arse selection of fine ingredients and obvious passion for Italiano. Just try the savory pinwheel WOW this thing weights more than you'd expect. BRD do wood fired, thin crust real Italian pizza. You'd need to be somewhere in France or Italy to compare.

The last time I was there I mentioned that 'your place is a best kept secret' and I was politely asked not to kept it a secret. So here we are. Go see! tell me what you think.

When a business sets out and becomes the best at what it does, how far will you go? I often drive by 3 outlets of coffee and food for BRD. I don't even think about it.

Do you ever buy a coffee or a meal from the 2nd or third best place when #1 is just up the road?

Trying to Please

2009-06-19T16:06:00.005+12:00

Amber sends this great quote.

'I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure - which is: Try to please everybody.' Herbert Bayard Swope

This resonates with comments made by an ex employer of mine - Alan Boyd. It was just after an irate customer had called him complaining on something I'd said or done.

More recently I failed in the parking warden department too, no new friends made there either.

How about you? Who didn't you please lately?

And the mob forms!

2009-06-10T22:33:00.005+12:00

Seth just brought this to my attention. Rock on Seth!

Anyone recognise the beats? I want some!

Praise

2009-06-03T09:00:00.003+12:00

Why is it that most people would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism?

See What You Get! NZ Broadband

2009-05-20T18:56:00.004+12:00

Check this out! The State Services Commission and SilverStripe have mashed google maps to bring us the National Broadband Map, - a nice and easy way to find who's got decent data connectivity in your area - who's got fibre or radio etc. Judging by the suppliers who are not on the list, one can work out who's not being transparent about their capabilities. Genius! Hats off to you guys!

Now all we need is someone to use this as a base (it's open source) and allow the general public/user to contribute, compare the different broadband suppliers, their service, real connection speeds and costs. I'd love to know who's got a better connection in my area and tell others about mine too. Like foodspy.co.nz but for broadband with a map.

Any takers?

Google Carbon Emissions

2009-05-14T09:45:00.006+12:00

The media is having a field-day exposing research on google as a carbon emission concern.

"Performing two Google searches from a desktop computer can generate about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle for a cup of tea, according to new research." From times online (hit this for the low-down)

Google responds by comparing a Google search with other daily activities, here's the top of it.

"Our engineers crunched the numbers and found that an average query uses about 1 kJ of energy and emits about 0.2 grams of carbon dioxide. But those raw numbers don't really put the environmental impact of searching the Internet into perspective. To add some context, below is data about the C02 impact of some everyday activities and items compared to Google searching:"

Activity	Google Searches
CO2 emissions of an average daily newspaper (100% recycled paper)	850
A glass of orange juice	1,050
One load of dishes in an EnergyStar dishwasher	5,100
A five mile trip in the average U.S. automobile	10,000
A cheeseburger	15,000
Electricity consumed by the average U.S. household in one month	3,100,000

See Google's post Energy and the Internet.

So how about what's in the technology that powers the Internet?

Here's another real insight into side effects of our technological advancements - Tantalum for example is a super capacitor used in many electronics from mobile phones to servers. Congo knows all about Tantalum, so do the people that bring our household electronic brand names, consoles, phones, dvd players etc.

Thanks to a greedy group of individuals we all have blood on our hands already. Maybe the media would push that as big news? probably not.

Slap Chop - Rap Chop

2009-05-10T23:30:00.003+12:00

The person that brings me one of these (think birthday) gets their punch fruit slap-chopped on the house! You'll be a legend!

If pigs could fly..

2009-04-28T17:14:00.006+12:00

On opening my complementary paper, it's obvious the real important news-on-paper is H1N1 swine flu.

We just had squeeze bacon and bacon vodka, they were cool. While what swine flu presents to us is nothing that new, it certainly is not very cool sounding.

Anyhow here's your new best mate if you're planning on keeping a low profile. No room at my place I think someone tagged the neighborhood.

View H1N1 Swine Flu in a larger map or get the low-down here

Welcome Winter - Snow flake

2009-04-23T09:03:00.011+12:00

I once spent time on a dairy farm on the outskirts of Brough - pronounced 'b ruff' near the Scottish boarders. It was cold and came with a lot of ice, snow and salty road grit. I had a few months to fill while waiting for the summer camper-van trip and with a 'what the heck' moment I was up to my ears in cow. Working my arse off on Helbeck grange, it was good comparison to working in telco.

Days were long, sunrise was late and sunset even earlier. Sun skimming the north-west horizon to be gone around 3pm. The cows were in-doors all winter. It was sub zero mostly. I once joked with the farmer that if he showed the people where their milk came from, they might not drink it. He replied, 'sadly you're probably right' Cold, hard, long days, these people are real grafters.

One afternoon it was about minus ten degrees celsius and the snow changed. It appeared to be fluffy, pop-corn like. It was as light as the air and went where the wind went rather than to the ground. It was different and I wondered why. Today I stumbled across the morphology diagram It explains a lot to the cow-cocky I once was.

Photos taken by Kenneth Libbrecht of CalTech, using a specially-designed snowflake photo microscope. Smart-guy!

If you haven't seen enough snow for a lifetime (I haven't) see his snow crystals pages.

Free Newspapers

2009-04-16T09:59:00.003+12:00

When the news papers are gone what will the dog will pee on and what are we going to light the bbq with?

It seems that our local Dompost are getting creative in their bid to increase subscribers. Free news papers for three weeks, delivered to the door every morning with a letter offering the service of long term subscription. The letter has the usual contact details phone, fax, physical address but no email or website address. It seems that they still don't get it. Still trying to preserve the status quo. Hide the web and control the news.

The puppy dog sale
- an old story that has its merits
A couple take their children to a pet shop and are viewing the cute puppies for sale, the shop owner notices they're interested in the puppies and suggests they take one home for the weekend with no obligation to buy. Try it for free and bring it back if it doesn't work out he says. Do you think those kids are going to let Mum and Dad take the puppy back? If they walk out with that dog they're very likely to buy later.

Free news paper for three weeks could be viewed as a puppy dog sale - a desperate move, a sign that they haven't yet read the news - The news is the important part of News Paper, not the paper.

If I were our local paper I'd be leveraging my current ability to reach masses. I'd invite my readers to contribute to the massive change at hand and tell me what to do - give choice and control. I'd use the Internet to connect the people with their news and I certainly wouldn't be hiding my website address.

Fishing?

2009-04-06T09:51:00.002+12:00

When you're passionate about something and you have skills that others don't, it's easier to do something that makes a difference, to do something good for your subject.

If you're passionate about fishing in Eastbourne Wellington, Tim has put up this fishing chart to increase your chances in getting lucky.

You might even see us here on a good day! We'll be the ones goofing off, catching really big fish and drinking the odd beer.

I have photo of a really big fish somewhere :/

People that get on in this world

2009-03-30T07:58:00.002+13:00

The people that get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.

~George Bernard Shaw

A long Tail

2009-03-19T11:17:00.004+13:00

A few close friends have asked me what's the point of my blog - why am I doing this?

A few reasons, here are some;

A Place to Share Ideas is for sharing things that catch my attention, humor me and are worth talking about. I'll tease and provoke. I probably enrich you with some half useful information somehow too.

I wanted a place to share ideas where you can comment, enter discussion and provoke me if you want to. It's also about something permanent that I care about - a 'tail' that will last forever. Content is mashed from news and blogs and sometimes original.

I do it because I never could before, I was unaware of the technology that makes it so easy. If you know me personally, you know my passion for new ideas, different (better) ways of doing things and that I allow good ideas to change me (for the better mostly) then I talk about them TALK, TALK, TALK! Here, you can have your say too and yes, it was a hubcap.

Seth is one switched on cookie. This is the short end of what will be a long tail.