tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29143101735900754892011-11-28T13:49:34.020+13:00A blog of lightly opinionated discussion, of interesting things found on the internet, and the odd bit of seriousness.Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.comBlogger321100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-16058587521199125102010-02-03T22:57:00.000+13:002010-02-03T22:57:13.746+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/3289274/Bank-worker-caught-ogling-pictures-live-on-TV http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3289687/Internet-linked-to-depression One article describes a person who uses the internet to 'combat depression' on live TV, while the other explains internet addiction and linked effects. Hm.

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-81156159419567638632010-01-30T18:16:00.001+13:002010-01-30T18:17:59.029+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10623042 'Defriending' spats are usually reserved for teenage whingers and drama-seeking normal-phobes, but it appears that the people who are meant to be leading our country into the future are not immune from senseless dramatic conflict either... It gives the term 'Government Censorship' a new meaning =P and the followup... http://

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-31424924564952420722010-01-29T15:52:00.001+13:002010-01-29T15:52:27.499+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10622940 49.8% of NZers surveyed indicated that they wanted cigarettes banned within 10 years. Is it really a case of arguing for civil liberties when the nicotine is known to be addictive and the smoke is known to be harmful to not only the smokers but also to those around them? Or perhaps NZ should maintain it's personal freedoms

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-12133617125024497152010-01-27T12:54:00.000+13:002010-01-28T00:59:03.416+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10622596 25c. Labour says it's not enough, but we didn't get any increases from them until right before election time in their third term. If the Govt. says that it's all we can afford at the moment, I'm prepared to believe them. Right after an 'economic crisis', having ANY wage increase is better than having it decreased, having

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-88829963500601741162010-01-26T21:44:00.000+13:002010-01-26T21:44:29.086+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10622347 OMG.... these look soooo comfortable, except to get one all to yourself you have to pay 2.5x the normal fare (although you could possibly divide that between two people) - is it worth it? I spend most of my long-haul flights watching stuff on the nifty little screens in front of me - how long would I spend actually

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-4020979034043318562010-01-25T14:39:00.002+13:002010-01-25T16:20:21.133+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10621725 Hey, in the future we might not lose any lives at all when we have wars, we can just make the robots go fight each other. Or alternatively, we could lose even more lives, when the robots kill indiscriminately and have no moral or ethical compass. Who knows? All we do know is that the militaries of the world are

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-69748945465314266742010-01-24T13:06:00.003+13:002010-01-24T23:19:11.992+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3256684/I-m-okay-Apiata-tells-worried-family As stated in the article, there have already been hundreds of photographs and videos of the man posted on youtube and in other newspapers. The history of the SAS in Afghanistan has been tainted with numerous security leaks where the information of their existence in A-stan has been leaked, and usually by very high-level

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-59157928829887192882010-01-23T14:01:00.000+13:002010-01-23T14:01:59.465+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10621866 I would've thought that the behaviour that led to the order was extremely social, but apparently the British judge disagrees with me. The judge said: "It needs to be a prison sentence because you need to be deterred," - It's hardly like she's going to be rehabilitated by being in prison... Hopefully this woman catches a

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-55763806217093361482010-01-22T00:37:00.001+13:002010-01-22T00:37:00.126+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/celebrities/3241370/Shakiras-pledge-to-shop-more-often It really is a thin line between "saving to conserve funds and reduce wastage" and "spending to stimulate and support the economy". Sometimes frugality is great for the public and the economy, at other times it can be a disease where the only cure is more spending -Which side are you on? Post a comment

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-1022679725687716792010-01-21T11:40:00.000+13:002010-01-21T11:40:00.580+13:00

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/7018801/Outrage-over-Air-New-Zealand-cougar-advert.html It's like the media are now marketing towards a specific demographic, with all this mentioning of cougars recently. They're all over the place, and their poor cub prey are getting hit left, right and center. Apparently this new advertising campaign is offensive to

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-20959568854408097042010-01-20T13:03:00.006+13:002010-01-20T13:03:00.155+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10621068 Call me an extremist, but frankly, I don't think someone should get three chances before they get the 'maximum sentence'. I think that New Zealand needs to get WAY tougher on it's sentencing laws, and give criminals the maximum sentence on their first or at the most second offense. The Act Party kept spouting statistics at

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-460670534883965222010-01-19T15:40:00.001+13:002010-01-19T15:40:00.156+13:00

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126335633266727463.html?mod=WSJ_business_IndustryNews_DHC Remember about 9 months ago? Swine flu pandemic comes out of Mexico and starts taking over the world. 2/3rds of New Zealanders estimated will contract the disease before the pandemic ends. Schools closed and sanitation departments working overtime. Travellers put into home quarantine by Ministries/

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-89924706198356178102010-01-18T13:17:00.009+13:002010-01-18T13:17:00.436+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10620554 YES WE CAN HE SHOULD!!! John Key should get the diplomatic protection service to rock on up to the north and claim some revenge for attacking him last year at Waitangi. If these two blokes think that they can get away with assault just becuase their ancestor's lands were unjustly taken away from them hundreds of years

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-2703529006206095042010-01-17T13:51:00.007+13:002010-01-17T13:51:00.606+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10620509 Whatever happened to "till death do us part"? New Zealand has become a loophole in the system, allowing rampant manipulation of the system and once again proving that sometimes, money really CAN buy limited amounts of happiness. This is like that movie with that woman and that guy that I totally can't remember the name of,

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-58800695237170369332010-01-16T21:39:00.000+13:002010-01-16T21:39:18.254+13:00

Today's xkcd is quite simply full of win: http://xkcd.com/688/ If you've never explored the xkcd comics before, get yourself over there and start reading them from the beginning. Best webcomic for the mathematically/scientifically/engineeringically UNchallenged. =P

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-47821128854296983802010-01-16T14:02:00.001+13:002010-01-16T21:11:47.350+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10620406 Hey, nice try dude, but the ERA aren't all idiots. Who did you think you were, the guy who scammed $3 million of superannuation money from work and income? No,it's pretty hard to prove that you were wrongfully dismissed if you were never legally employed in the first place. So, sorry. Not even close at all. Not even close

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-89907353670006959262010-01-15T11:50:00.001+13:002010-01-15T11:50:47.777+13:00

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2010/01/12/3747971-nkorea-envoy-seeks-parallel-talks-on-nukes-peace Basically, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea), is saying that they will return to negotiation talks with the six-party group (two Koreas, Japan, China, Russia, and USA) ONLY if the other countries remove the sanctions that are currently in place (which ban things like

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-84920977770413616532010-01-14T21:03:00.000+13:002010-01-14T21:03:16.109+13:00

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1420534.html Well duh, cougars are dangerous! They bite and maim people and- oh. Right. That kind of cougar. OH NOES! Where is Tiger going to find Cougars to become a Cheetah with? /bad media puns. It's amazing how one group being turned down (potentially for a very legitimate reason, like "we're already booked at that date), can be blown up by

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-61123152389260062232010-01-13T15:34:00.000+13:002010-01-13T15:34:57.004+13:00

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/749858--google-threatens-to-leave-china-report After several years of being hounded by human rights activists and libertarians, Google is now finally fighting against China, after having their gmail servers hacked and tracing the attack back into China. In a tit-for-tat style of warfare, Google has announced that they will no longer censor any results on

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-62318464828445024722010-01-12T16:50:00.001+13:002010-01-12T16:50:59.787+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/3224198/Twitter-link-to-US-murder It's not the first time someone has died as the result of a confrontation on the internet (other notable examples include a Japanese man who murdered a woman in real life after they broke up in Second Life, and a Chinese teenager who killed another for stealing his valuable sword in World of Warcraft...), but the increasing

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-3920104601300778462010-01-12T13:13:00.003+13:002010-01-12T13:14:54.152+13:00

http://news.bostonherald.com/track/celebrity/view/20100111lawyer_says_sarah_palin_takes_fox_news_commentator_job/ "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news." - PAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. This is Fox news we're talking about - fair = Republican. "Palin will offer political commentary and analysis" - Presumably after she's got her facts and general knowledge sorted out.

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-21741183904333059162010-01-11T20:01:00.003+13:002010-01-12T16:51:47.525+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10619503 I was walking down to the Sky City Cinemas when a bunch of kids mobbed me outside the ASB centre and started waving pamphlets in my face, with their parents looking adoringly on from a distance. I had a quick glance at the pictures and text, and then as soon as I was out of sight, threw it in an Auckland City Council rubbish

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-57884577569660737182010-01-10T20:41:00.004+13:002010-01-10T20:56:29.819+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/gadgets/3218647/Lady-Gaga-joins-Polaroid The main problem that I have with Lady Gaga is that she succeeds in confusing me. Which is good for her I guess since that's what she tries to do, but for me and my neurons, sitting here trying to figure out why the hell she's just done what she's just done... it's like being bathed in a vat full of hydrofluoric acid and

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-45573037975931827122010-01-10T15:22:00.012+13:002010-01-10T15:36:21.251+13:00

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/01/web-censor-hack/ Human rights may not be one of their strong points, but making cheap copies of everything that they can reverse engineer is; if you've invented it, expect it to be copied by someone in China, rebranded (usually badly) and sold at a fraction of your price. It's funny that with a country of 1.3 billion, the Govt. couldn't get enough

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-30286472782716956922010-01-09T19:50:00.008+13:002010-01-09T21:02:31.716+13:00

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/3218043/Govt-mum-over-US-dropping-military-exercises-ban Wait, there was a military exercises ban between the US and the NZ? I'd hardly even noticed. This ban has been in place since 1985 when we refused to allow nuclear armed/powered US vessels into our waters (even though they probably could ship them through and we wouldn't notice, cause it's not like

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-86929362227910349182010-01-08T17:44:00.004+13:002010-01-09T20:15:29.506+13:00

Please hold as all of our representatives are currently handling other calls. *insert clappy hold music here* "Hi, this is *insert name here*, how can I help you?" "Hi, I'm trying to enroll into my courses at the moment, but the system has said that I'm starting in Semester 2 instead of Semester 1... is there any way that that can be fixed?" "Oh sure, let me just contact the nDeva staff. Please

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-62024727318888929252010-01-07T23:30:00.005+13:002010-01-09T20:06:45.394+13:00

http://www.webmd.com/alzheimers/news/20100106/can-cell-phones-help-fight-alzheimers You really can fund find a study to support any viewpoint these days... "Cell phone exposure may be helpful in the fight against Alzheimer's disease, a new study shows." Apparently, the electromagnetic waves, which other studies suggest cause brain cancer, can help protect the memory of lab mice and even REVERSE

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-58813006378010054152010-01-07T16:55:00.004+13:002010-01-09T20:05:51.500+13:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=9491638 Seems like an interesting advancement in personal entertainment - taking 3-D out of the cinemas and into the homes of millions of people around the world for an even MORE lifelike and realistic experience. Apparently it's been possible for a long time, but there's been a lack of 3-D content to broadcast. It's all about to change, with ESPN

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-22458291136470360872010-01-06T20:01:00.007+13:002010-01-12T17:41:46.032+13:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/399513.stm NOT THE END OF THE WORLD" reads the headline from the BBC. "Scientists have quashed suggestions that a £350m experiment planned for the autumn could cause the destruction of the Earth." Sound familiar? The catch is that this article was published July 22, 1999. It was regarding the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) on Long Island in New

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-30325125253836412252010-01-06T16:09:00.006+13:002010-01-06T20:17:13.905+13:00

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10618659 Seriously, how stupid do you have to be to get into this sort of thing? Having a problem that causes you to require autoerotic asphyxiation to 'get off' is one thing (at least usually they're doing it safely), but choking your friends until they pass out just for kicks is a complete no-brainer. Doctors have apparently

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-62249637472543377932010-01-05T15:31:00.006+13:002010-01-09T20:10:20.789+13:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1240174/Why-Ant-live-longer-Dec--A-beginning-D-wipe-10-years-life.html Interesting how useful the internet can be... my mum reads an article from an online Taiwanese newspaper, and tells me about this interesting article that she read. Then I type in the general gist of what she was talking about into google, and BAM - original English article appears.

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2914310173590075489.post-88398163989649819742010-01-05T14:25:00.001+13:002010-01-05T15:49:30.116+13:00

FIRST! And this is a blog. Where I will be posting the occasional thought that sometimes occurs when the neurons in my brain happen to meet up and have a nice tea party in my hippocampus. I am currently in a holiday break, moving to become a first year university student at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, where I will be studying a conjoint degree of Engineering and Commerce - however

Bobsalivehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14644479807833354306noreply@blogger.com0