Bill Bennett

It’s easy to tell when I have a full work load: my social media output drops almost to zero.

Often when I read about US politics in 2024 I think back with nostalgia to that scene where the Blues Brothers drive the Nazis off the bridge.

They don't make newspapers like they used to

I’m so pleased this had nothing to do with me. This was published in _The Australian _ 15 years ago and spotted by Mumbrella.

So let’s do some role playing. You’re a sub on The Australian.

Your boss has just given a speech about the health of newspapers.

You’ve got to put a headline on the speech.

Do you a) Check the spelling of the word “newspapers” in the headline or b) Not check the spelling of the word “newspapers” in the headline? Remember, your career may depend on the choice you make.

Do people outside the US still care about Chromebooks? Back in the day I’d get huge amounts of local traffic when I wrote about them, then, almost suddenly, crickets.

Am I alone in thinking Bing Webmaster Tools is utterly worthless or are there stealthy fans out there?

Earlier this year I looked at whether New Zealanders pay too much for broadband.

billbennett.co.nz/reflectio…

Farewell Computer Music magazine

Although I mainly worked for newspapers, I spent a few years working in magazines too so it’s always sad to see one go. This was the last what might be loosely described as personal technology magazine I can think of. It’s certainly the last title I read. While there may be a few limping on unseen elsewhere in the world it feels like the end for the entire genre.

www.synthtopia.com/content/2…

From ten years ago on my site:

At the time Chorus struggled to pay for the fibre build.

billbennett.co.nz/chorus-au…

Predictions for Premier League Match Day 8

Tottenham West Ham Home
Fulham Aston Villa Draw
Ipswich Everton Draw
Man United Brentford Draw
Newcastle Brighton Home
Southampton Leicester Away
Bournemouth Arsenal Away
Wolves Man City Away
Liverpool Chelsea Home
Nottingham Crystal Palace Home

My track record so far is not great:

Week 4 predictions: 6 out of ten correct.

Week 5 predictions: 4 out of ten correct.

Week 6 predictions 5 out of ten correct.

Week 7 predictions 6 out of ten correct.

52.5 percent right so far.

Reading a series of movie reviews where variations on the phrase “it doesn’t completely suck” keep appearing is not filling me with confidence.

Ten years ago on my site I wrote about the launch of MyRepublic as a fibre-only ISP. The brand no longer exists.

billbennett.co.nz/myrepubli…

Was thinking about food miles. I’m not sure if they contribute much to global warming, but now temperatures are higher, it’s possible to grow bananas in Auckland, I guess custard apples and mangos can’t be far behind. Done well, tropical fruits could make economic sense in northern regions.

Was looking at a post on my main site and realised it is now 16 years old. This story was posted before the iPad arrived. It still has some relevance, but not so much now that voice recognition actually works most of the time.

billbennett.co.nz/touch-typ…

Do you normally get answers if you submit a bug report to Apple?

In general I’m a touch skeptical about using ChatGPT in my work, but there is one area where it really shines: Getting better answers to specific and narrow questions than Google search can manage without lots of stuffing around with complex queries and wading through SEOed-to-death nonsense.

I’m disproportionately cross after buying what I thought was a low priced 1kg block of Tasty cheese in my local supermarket only to discover when I got home that it is in fact a 800g block in identical packaging to the almost finished 1kg block still in the fridge. Feel cheated.

Luxon meets Modi

Of course it is good for New Zealand’s prime minister to meet Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister.

We should have strong diplomatic relations with the world’s most populous nation. And India is a major source of immigrants to New Zealand which makes meetings like this important.

Yet even the most skilled NZ diplomats would struggle to get a good free trade deal with India. There are huge potential conflicts over dairy and while India has a handful of small FTAs, it remains relatively protectionist. It is certainly not another potential China.

www.rnz.co.nz/news/poli…

Ended up finishing a whole bottle of Garage Project Mon Petit Chou from Beer Spot this evening in a single sitting while watching the final episode of Slow Horses. Never felt more in tune with Jackson Lamb.

I wondered how cheese shipped from the other side of the world sells for less in Auckland supermarkets than the cheese made just down the road. This goes a way to explaining that:

www.farmersweekly.co.nz/markets/p…

Predictions for Premier League Match Day 7

Crystal Palace Liverpool Away
Arsenal Southampton Home
Brentford Wolves Home
Man City Fulham Home
West Ham Ipswich Home
Leicester Bournemouth Draw
Everton Newcastle Draw
Aston Villa Man United Home
Chelsea Notts Forest Home
Brighton Tottenham Draw

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My track record so far is not great:
Week 4 predictions: 6 out of ten correct.

Week 5 predictions: 4 out of ten correct

Week 6 predictions 5 out to ten correct

50 percent right so far.

I’m very interested to know if the telecommunications network resiliency lessons learnt after Cyclone Gabrielle will mean the folk in Otago and Southland will suffer less outages as the weather crashes into their regions.

The killer app for cryptocurrency was cybercrime. Sometimes I have a feeling that things could be heading the same way with AI.

I think we’ve all been there:

Evidence of ‘Negative Time’ Found in Quantum Physics Experiment.

Somewhat disturbed to learn multiple reminders for my company’s annual return all went through to junk mail and we are now past the deadline day.

If I offer an excuse, it’s going to sound like the modern version of “the dog ate my homework”.

Kim Dotcom's extradition

From the NZ Herald:

A survey collecting Kiwis’ thoughts on the fate of Kim Dotcom reveals 46% of more than 1000 respondents believe the Megaupload founder should be extradited to the United States.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politi…

It is possible to have a more nuanced view of Kim Dotcom.

There’s no question he did what he is accused of. His Megaupload site was all about pirated music or movies. Dotcom and his team deliberately encouraged people to contribute copyright material to the site.

That much is beyond dispute.

But although it was done at a huge scale, the ‘crime’ of copyright theft is relatively minor. It should not involve armed police. The raid on Dotcom’s home was out of proportion. He wasn’t running cocaine shipments or getting involved in shoot-outs.

The amount of resources squandered on this case is also disproportionate. It may amount to more than the proceeds of Dotcom’s offending.

Tech giants including Google and Microsoft were actively allowing similar copyright piracy on their sites at the same time. It appears Dotcom was singled out for severe treatment. He was a much easier target.

Of course we can have arguments about copyright law. But that’s neither here nor there. He broke the law as it stands. You may feel it is unjust, but the case is about law, not justice.

That said, Dotcom is a minor crook, not a master criminal. A suitable punishment would be 400 hours of community work, not rotting for decades in a US jail.

Yet, Dotcom is unlikable and loud mouthed. When he still had it, he flaunted his wealth. He snipes at politicians and the New Zealand public. That has made him unpopular.

If he had spent the last 12 years under the radar, he might have more empathy from the New Zealand public. The survey in the Herald story shows that’s not the case. People don’t like him and want rid of him. It looks like they will get what they want.