Google Transit

I was most exceedingly happy to hear about this yesterday. I am, after all, something of a Google fan.


My happiness, however, turned to ecstatic delight when I realised that Google Transit is far, far better than the Metlink website. A thorn in my side, I find the journey planner on Metlink's website silly - it requires that one have the correct street number if it's to find a bus stop, for crying out loud, rather than simply pick up up stops in the area of the one requested. in a move of quite stunningly bad programming, it's more likely to try match street numbers than street names, leading to a great deal of gritted-teeth frustration...

Honestly, one would think the search and databasing advances of the last x years have never happened, with the required follow-up of 'y'?

Transit, however, has Google cleverness built in. How absolutely tech-tasty, and a godsend for those of us stuck with crappy transport information systems. Now, of course, all we need is to be able to check bus times - my bus, for example, is 5-15 minutes late almost every day, but, well, I can't exactly take it for granted, can I? Sod's law always applies, and I'd rather wait for 10 minutes before hand than half an hour afterwards...

Aah, I miss TFL sometimes. OK, so it didn't always get the shortest route right, but it did keep track of what was running late. Then again, I've heard that Wellington buses are beginning to have GPS trackers installed which should help the problem, although then again, possibly not - after all, it's not just the data itself, but what's done with it, that makes or breaks a system (see above paragraphs).

So yes - I'll be waiting (inevitably, given the buses here) to see what happens, but in the meantime I'm glad that I can at least find bus routes without having to try magically figure out which street number will give me a result...

The value of knowledge economies

Rod Oram, of the Sunday Star Times, recently wrote this piece.

In it, he basically lays out why a knowledge-based (or at least heavily contributed to-) economy is something New Zealand should be striving for.


And I have to say I agree: this idea that one must make things in order to be a wealthy economy is, well, extremely outdated - certainly, it seems to have landed NZ in a bit of a pickle economically. I remember being told years ago, while studying business, that manufacturing and farming-based economies would contribute an ever-decreasing amount of wealth to the economy due to, well, a number of reasons really, including the ever downward pressure on commodity prices, manual labour, and, frankly, China.

Or, think of it using the internet vs print as a paradigm: the people who generate content (goods) are increasingly squeezed, while the people who can add value to the content, like coders and tech companies (services) find themselves doing increasingly well.

So yes, a knowledge economy it is! And it's something other countries, including India and Singapore, cottoned on to some time ago.

The only thing is: how to get one (properly) going here? Of course, we need skilled people - not that they necessarily have to have degrees, mind you. But highly skilled, yes. And, and this is simply a perhaps (and one written from a non-kiwi point of view), perhaps we need more people? I know that the kiwi government makes it pretty difficult for people to come live here and while I can understand that attitude for minimally skilled people, I tihnk that they may want to consider loosening things up for young/older highly skilled people who can both contribute to the market, but also help increase the market size itself (a significant issue here).

And the industries themselves? Well, they're likely to be in tech, design and science, predominantly (and, of course, in the intersections between the aforementioned) - these industries really do foster knowledge economies, and government investment in them is very important. Let's hope the government realises that.

Gadgets, Games and Geeks 09: The Future of Innovation, Shatter, Weta and pizza

A couple of days ago (Monday evening, to be exact), I attended GGG09 - Gadgets, Games and Geeks 09 (note: a logo would be a good thing, guys).

And yes, it was pretty interesting.

The highlight for me was Bill Reichert's talk, 'The Future of Innovation: Entrepreneurship, Venture Capital and Emerging Technologies' (if you're interested, you can find the talk and accompanying slides on the SMC's website, here). He's a very engaging speaker, and had some great pieces of knowledge to impart.

Certainly it got me all inspired again about entrepreneurship - a subject close to my heart as it forms one of my qualifications. And, while much of it absolutely seemed like common sense, there were a couple of surprises, particularly the 'change takes time' point he makes (point 9 in his talk). Essentially, he says that we've talked ourselves into believing that the pace of change is accelerating, but that it simply is not the case. We simply need to look, he says, at how long it has actually taken us to get, for example, to high bandwidths and oodles of storage or, for that matter, electric cars which aren't completely useless (or incredibly expensive). Other examples abound (really, have a look at his slides).

I also found his point about Twitter very interesting (towards the end of the session, in response to a question from the audience). He said that his issue with Twitter was simply that it gave entrepreneurs the wrong idea: that they could come up with a clever idea, get a few million 'eyeballs', and as a result make (lots of) money off it. After all, the jury is still out as to whether Twitter itself can make money, and how.

Having said that, it was definitely encouraging to hear that it's not all doom and gloom - actually, a personal belief I've heard mirrored many times is that tough times actually enhance creativity by shocking everyone out of their bubbles. So we should have lots to look forward to.

(note: as usual, clicking on the logos will take you to the appropriate sites)

I also found Sidhe's talk very interesting (I have recorded it, and can put it up if requested - the slides can be found here). James Everett did a great job of explaining who Sidhe are, why they want more game developers in Wellington (amusingly, 'because it's difficult to poach from yourself'), and where they're hoping to go in the future.

And I am definitely intrigued by there idea: shorten development times, shorten game lengths and bring down prices. Sounds like just my type of gaming. And Shatter really is very, very cool. Yes, it's pong, but it's new pong, and gosh is it pretty. If only it was available for PC...




Sadly, I found the talk by Tim Lauder of Weta Cave a little less thrilling than the previous two, although, as a lifelong fan of steampunk, I did enjoy the whole Dr Grodbert's thang (I almost bought a lapel pin!)




I think my only real complaint was that I think there could have more exhibitors. I have some theories on why there weren't (nothing I'll air, of course), but it really would have been a wonderful way to showcase some more work. For example, I know a guy up in Palmerston North whose company, Unlimited Realities, has been developing Dell's new touchscreen software...

On the other hand, the enormous slices of pizza which rounded (haha) the evening off were brilliant.

So yes, here's to GGG09, and hoping that GGG10 is even better!

Sunbed silliness

I will admit to being slightly biased on this one, having heard many, many years ago about the entirely legitimate concerns about the cancer risks through UV exposure associated with their use.



And it's become a rather heated (haha) issue here in New Zealand, particularly as it's now been confirmed that sunbeds are, well, synonymous with cancer causation. The IARC is behind the research and they tend to know what they're talking about (in fact, they're the WHO's agency committed to looking into human cancer).

Some countries have legislated around this, either by banning their use altogether, or by requiring that it is confined to adult use. In other cases, they allow teenagers to use them, but only if there has been adult consent.

But in New Zealand, none of this is the case. The sunbed industry here operates under a voluntary code (generally code for 'pays lip service to'), which precludes people under 18 using the service. In addition, a spokesperson has said that people are aware of the risks, but choose to use the treatments anyway.

Now, however, an article on Stuff has shown that this isn't the case at all. The investigation carried out as part of the article showed that most of the sunbed operators looked into showed no signs of abiding by the voluntary code: they allowed underage clients to use them, and in many cases did not tell people about the associated health risks or even warn them to use the goggles provided.

Not OK, guys, not OK at all. After all, having your clients die is generally accepted, even in our gung-ho world, as bad (or at least unsustainable) business practice.

Emissions target 2020

At 4-ish pm today, Climate Change ministers Nick Smith and Tim Groser announced government's emissions reduction target for 2020. 10% - 20%. This neatly encapsulates the 15% which was widely expected (although the ministers did say that no such thing had been implied), but is nonetheless a pretty broad range. Here's a more detailed graphic of it, as well.

It's also somewhat below what Greenpeace had been vying for with it's 'Sign On' campaign (although we won't even get into that particular debate between Greenpeace and government...).



The reduction target is going to be tabled at tonight's talks in Bonn, Germany - for those not clamped in fascination to the workings of the UNFCCC, these are one of a number of meetings being held in the run-up to Copenhagen at the end of this year. Copenhagen should be very interesting, although I've heard mutterings saying that we shouldn't be too hopeful about the talks...after all, climate change and emissions reduction is a thorny issue for, well, everyone.

And it's a very tricky issue, not only internationally, but intranationally (my fancy way of saying 'here'). New Zealand certainly has a clean, green image, but this hasn't been borne out by fact recently, so there's a great deal of work to be done. Costly work. We're also an agricultural nation, and methane is not exactly the least important of the greenhouse gases.

So there's a great deal of push and pull between economic and environmental concerns. Then again, one could always argue that, as with most things, there is a middle way. With appropriate R&D funding, means of being green could become sources of income. Forestry. Windmills. GM cows and their gut bacteria...

For some (far more) expert commentry on today's announcement, mooch on over to here.

South Africa in space...?

This just in (well, sort of). South Africa has plans to become a regional centre for space technology! A quiver of, well, I'm not sure, but possible pride, runs through the ol' veins. Hooray for my country-folk!



It seems that investment in space is all the rage these days. Well, apart from America - perhaps a case of 'been there, done that, have the rusting Saturn Vs'. (I am being flippant, I realise, and I know that far more complex excuses than this have been used).

Australia is also investing heavily (some $88 million) in space research, although they admit they have somewhat missed the boat in terms of world leadership, having done, well, not very much since they were instrumental in the broadcasting of Apollo 11's famous landing. Anyway, a large part of the decision is because they want the contract for the SKA, which they have already started building...

Even New Zealand also has its own burgeoning space industry. Small, yes, but pert (to copy shamelessly a local, but amusing, ad). In fact, our first space mission is imminent. And very exciting. Oh, to see it...

To get back to the SA situation, though: while it's laudable, and definitely heart-rate-increasing for those of us who still get dewy-eyed at the thought of the whole space thing (blame too much Star Trek, if you will), it doesn't seem, well, appropriate.

South Africa has many problems. Many of them centred around health and education. And I just don't know that spending money on a space programme is entirely the right course of action or, for that matter, terribly useful, for a country with as many other problems as South Africa. I think back to my own experience working in Africa's only neural regeneration lab - a lovely idea, but really, it simply wasn't a priority there. As a result, of course, we battled.

Add to that the fact that the SA government is not terribly good at managing projects. Ideas, yes. Practicalities, not really. We will simply have to see whether they can, and will, follow through on their sweeping statements of intent.

And finally: it's competing against Australia for the SKA...

TED science talks

TED is, by far, one of my favourite websites. As it should be yours. For those of you not familiar with it (gasp), TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Each year, it brings together some of the most interesting people in the world, puts them on a stage, and challenges them to talk about why they're so interesting.

As usual, click on the image to go the site...


Their talks are fascinating, and far-reaching in their content, from Ray Kurzweil and his Singularity University to The Raspyni Brothers' juggling act, and everything in between.

Since this blog is devoted to all things sci-tech (and I'm going to be including architecture in this, I must warn you), I would point you, dear reader in this direction: 5 TED talks devoted to science which are, well, brilliant.

Marvellous stuff.

A dream, certainly, would be to attend this illustrious event in person. To fall at the feet of the other delegates only to whisper 'you're quite, you know, cool'. Who knows, even to give a talk (topic TBA).

As a sidenote, and for those of you fond of filling out long, long forms, a TEDx event is being held in Auckland in October. TEDx is a sort of franchised TED event aimed at spreading the word, and events are being held all over the world. Yes, I would love to go...