RobiNZ Personal Blog

Symptom of the Auckland Housing Boom?

Can relate to this sign, seen on a letterbox today. Sent from my Lumia 1520 Windows Phone Read more →

TEDx Auckland 2015 Victorious? | #TEDxAKL @TEDxAuckland

My notes & photos from TEDx Auckland 2015. I only took the phone (for both notes & photos) and was sitting right at the back of the hall so my shots are a bit ‘distant’. The italics are the speaker profiles sent out by TEDx Auckland The bullet points my OneNote notes taken on the day (which may contain errors) and a few post-TEDx thoughts after. SIOUXSIE WILES Award-winning scientist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles describes herself as a microbiologist and bioluminescence enthusiast but to others she is “that pink-haired science lady”. She believes that playmakers like Lego should lead the way... Read more →

TEDx Auckland 2014, unexpected Himalayan cycle tour preparation!

When I saw TEDx Auckland 2014 announced I really wanted to go but was a bit torn. I loved the 2013 event but it meant a precious day of weekend gone. Weekends were crucial as I was trying to get fit for a rather demanding cycle tour in the Himalayas. The TEDx 2014 theme was ‘Ascending’: Ascending is about individuals and society rising to a higher level of consciousness. Ascending is about finding the positives in any situation and building on them to make our lives, community, business and planet better. As it turned out, the day spent at TEDx... Read more →

TEDx Auckland — 2013 remembered, bring on 2014!

While buying my ticket to TEDx Auckland 2014 remembered I’d never gotten around to writing a post about the 2013 event. Earlier this year there was some flack about TED, prompted it seems by some ‘dubious’ TEDx events. From my experience at TEDx Auckland it certainly wasn’t one of those. The Aotea Centre was full, the speakers uniformly excellent and it covered a wide variety of topics. In his intro MC @VaughnDavis (below right) made a comment which summed up my TEDx experience. He said with TED on-line you tend to self censor, focus on the familiar, topics of interest.... Read more →

John Key’s affordable housing solution?

Seen in Huapai, his electorate, today. A reasonable re-locatable family home that should be quick to build. Auckland and Christchurch housing problem sorted. Read more →

Sir Paul Callaghan, should be Prime Minister

I cant embed this video but click the link to see why this man should be running New Zealand. From his Bio on sustainablefuture.info Sir Paul Callaghan (GNZM, FRS, FRSNZ) is Kiwibank’s 2011 New Zealander of the year, for his service to science in the fields of nanotechnology and magnetic resonance. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, was made Professor of Physics at Massey University in 1984, and was appointed Alan MacDiarmid Professor of Physical Sciences in 2001. Paul is the founding director of both the multi-university MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology and... Read more →

The Onion’s Apple Friend Bar, and an alternative to Mr Key’s Kiwi/Panda swap?

This Onion piece was pretty good but the follow up headline that ends the item really hit the spot. I saw it when New Zealand was gripped by our PM’s daft idea of swapping Kiwi (birds) with China in return for Pandas as “an extension of the bond" between the countries”. Perhaps we should get a Tibetan Monk instead? New Apple Friend Bar Gives Customers Someone To Talk At About Mac Products Read more →

Getting Wellington out of debt, with intelligent growth « Jack Yan

Is it worth moving to Wellington, just to BACK JACK? I love point three in his post as it seems to sum up the national, actually the National, economic strategy: 3. You can keep praying that the Rugby World Cup will give a temporary boost and hope no one notices that the other years aren’t as prosperous. Click through to see Jack’s vision which is far more inspiring than the moronic credit card shredding and Olympic fantasy the Queen city is being offered. Pity about the Wellington weather otherwise… Getting Wellington out of debt—by growing the right businesses « Jack... Read more →

BACK JACK - A campaign fund-raiser on Thursday night

Click for details Wellington Mayoral Candidate Jack Yan’s campaign fund-raiser on Thursday (15-04-2010) night Read more →

Help (via Forest & Bird) save our national parks from mining

As sent via the on-line submittal form at Forest & Bird’s site: To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Our national parks are too precious to mine Dear Prime Minister, I was annoyed to hear your "well they would be opposed wouldn’t they" comment on Radio Live this morning (2010-03-15) regarding this Forest & Bird campaign. It is possible to be supportive of economic development (including tourism) and regard mining in conservation areas to be a stupid move. These special parts of New Zealand will create far more long-term wealth through tourism than they will ever do from traces of minerals. Low-impact... Read more →