Posts by Zach Bagnall
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Surely voting distortion due to Canada's numerous timezones pales in comparison to the distortion caused by their FPP electoral system..
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Existing Spotify subscribers don't have to link with Facebook.. yet. I've been a paid up subscriber for a year or so now. If they force me to link my account with Facebook (*), they're gone. That will make me sad and mad.
Some big companies who should (ie. do) know better are pushing the envelope in an ugly direction. Taking advantage of users' naivety on privacy issues to push through app linkages without explaining the data sharing. It's practically malware. Here, read this guardian article but before you do just click this wee button first..
Websites bend over backwards to explain cookie usage - and in the UK will soon be forced to make all cookies OPT-IN - but the privacy implications of agreeing to an "app" link in Facebook are pretty much swept under the carpet.
* A friend of mine recently did enable the spotify-facebook link. it immediately flooded the facebook timeline with every single track he played/changed. How is that useful?? For a smart company spotify sure does some stupid things.
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Hard News: I'm not a "f***ing cyclist".…, in reply to JackElder,
Those opinion pieces are gross.
It's a lovely day out there, by the way. Get on yer bike and get some fresh air.
I did! Had half a day to kill in Auckland so I hired a bike from BikeCentral in Britomart and hit the road - along the waterfront to St Helliers and back then up to the museum and over and up to the top of Mt Eden. Paced with some guy in sponsored gear for a while and had a day of it. Drivers were generally courteous with just two cars passing much too close - there was a painted median strip so plenty of room for them to move around.. it's like they couldn't bear to be seen to yield space to a bike (speculation).
I'm off to Wellington for the weekend tomorrow. Might be worth hiring a bike there too?
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Ride in a straight line, far enough out to be safe from unexpected doors. If you get in someone’s way it is because they don’t have room to pass you safely. This is not your problem unless you are a road engineer.
This. Which is why marked "cycle lanes" on the road are a controversial measure: they encourage new cyclists to ride up against cars/curb to the left instead of claiming the "primary position" when necessary. Trying to be inconspicuous is the worst possible thing for cyclist safety. It also gives the impression cyclists don't belong on roads without a cycle lane - ie most of them. Road sharing is the way forward.
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Hard News: I'm not a "f***ing cyclist".…, in reply to Petra,
Never had those issues cycling in London, Germany or Holland. Even in London(!) people cared about you on the busy city road.
I cycle 100+ km in and around London every week and aside from the odd jerk who decides to turn into a side street without indicating, most drivers are simply resigned to sharing the road with bikes. Aggressive drivers are few and far between. It seems Auckland is just beginning this transition to road sharing but it is absolutely inevitable. Already I see many more cyclists on the road than I remeber 3 years ago.
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Hey it's been rather more than a fortnight this year - t-shirt weather since June.
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Meanwhile others are calling the death of photojournalism.
Dead as a viable profession but as a practice, never been better?
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I'd make a couple of points about the BNP. If they represent the views of enough people, then we have to give them a voice in Parliament. That's fundamental. But if Labour and the Conservatives have even the slightest bit of moral fibre, they should both refuse in advance to even consider dealing with them.
That's my take on it too. The idealist in me thinks better to be representative and let things shake out as they will than the warped and stagnant setup we have now.
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I do however actually feel grateful that first past the post kept those loons away from the levers of power.
My UK native flatmate is highly skeptical of proportional representation apparently because she's afraid of the influence fringe (but increasingly well organised) parties like the BNP will have on policy if given fair representation.
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I trust Brooker's piece will be on youtube by morning. It's past midnight here and I'm hitting the sack. Haunted elephant made me choke!