Mike Riversdale

Of course it's Anika Moa ... *sigh* (and yes, I do know ) ... from her awesome new CD In Swings The Tide Enjoy Dreams In My Head

Now at Enterprise 2.0 Kiwi style: 2008 Web Predictions

Ubuntu is loaded and I am sooo happy. As I said previously it was a painless installation however it only took about 45 minutes (not the 1.5-2 hours, I was wrong) to get from there to here. Weellll, maybe not quite 45 minutes, here´s the full story. I spent all day Thursday (around 10 hours) making sure the ¨PC¨no longer had anything I wanted to keep saved deep within it´s hard disc . As you may know we Riversdales live our e-life online and so this should have been a 5 minute job. It took all day. Home DVDs Our camera stores it´s movies onto little itty bitty tapes. I then download these tapes using Microsoft Movie Maker (takes about an hour and half) which creates one large .WMV file. I had two tapes to download before I could start with what was already there. I made 2 DVD´s (took about 2 hours each) but then ran out of patience and just bunged the .WMV files onto a ´data' DVD. Let´s hope I can make them into DVDs for us to watch. Music CDs Aha, there were a couple of music CD...

Drinks at D4 today (come and join us) / lazy around tomorrow in the sun / fly down to Christchurch to join Liz, Jack, Meg and the whole whānau for the Yuletide / back in Wellington 2nd January

All done ... took about 1.5-2 painless hours and we´re almost back to where we were (functionality) and when I come back from Christchurch I´ll be having loads of evening playing and making it go all fabulously. I will be getting Beryl

for 4 servings 1/4 cup milk 3/4 cup rolled oats 1/2 cup flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2-3 Tbsp sugar 1 egg 2 Tbsp butter Pour the milk onto the uncooked rolled oats and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, sift the flour, baking powder and salty into a medium-sized bowl. Add the sugar and egg to the milk mixture and beat with a fork to mix. Melt the butter, and pour the oat-milk mixture and butter into the dry ingredients. Stir until mixed but not smooth. Add a little more milk if necessary to make a batter slightly thinner than piklet batter. Spoon or pour the mixture onto a lightly greased, moderately hot frying pan. Turn when bubbles appear and when the underside is golden brown. Spread with a little softened butter and stack two or three pancakes together. Service with golden syrup, honey, maple syrup or Mock Maple Syrup. Note: For speed and ease, measure all ingredients, without sifting, into a food process bowl, and process very briefly.

Yep, after dumping Microsoft Office all those years ago I am now taking the last leap away from crap software and putting Ubuntu 7 over the top of the Windows XP on this Dell PC. And the word is 'crap', not Microsoft or 'vendor' or anything like that. Nope, I'm moving because I don't need to put up with crap software I'll let you all know how it goes on the other side of this posting ...

[Updated at 11pm (24hrs later)] The story is now at: TV3 News Stuff.co.nz TVNZ NewstalkZB NZ Herald (2nd email) Google blogsearch 'gourmetfood + email' And then there's the case of the Warehouse worker fired for chatting on her Bebo account . What do you think about it all? [Updated] Have just got the whole email conversation sent to me (happy to pass on). I give it until Saturday before it's in the news, earlier for non-NZ based media. [Updated again] Old media is catching up - story is on NZ Herald . And here's the KiwiBlog entry that I'm sure will be how most bloggers get to hear about it. [Updated one more time] Spare Room has further evidence of this lady's email rudeness that now appears on websites near you ----------------- This from Spare Room via Martha : Just like the marquee company who called their client’s wedding ‘cheap and tacky’ in an email, the owner of the Gourmet Food Store Margaret McHugh shows little restraint in an email wit...

Play it , you know you need to - click the picture to enjoy ...

I suspect it's a wee bit late as my letter to Father Christmas was posted some time ago ... this lot is part of the Time magazine's Top 10 Gadgets for 2007 list * #2. Nikon Coolpix S51c Have you ever maxed out your digital camera's memory card midway through a vacation? The 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix S51c point-and-shoot is tricked out with built-in wireless capability, so you can email your images or beam them directly from the camera to your Flickr account or to Nikon's own online photo bank. It's also got a 3x zoom and a roomy 3-in. LCD screen — and it comes in black. #3. Netgear SPH200W Wi-Fi Skype Phone This cordless wi-fi phone comes with Skype software already built in, so you can log in to an existing account and start making cheap Internet calls immediately. If you've never used Skype before, do not fear: It takes a few moments to create a new account and you can do it right from the phone's keypad. (The first 10 minutes are free; after that, you...

Back in March 2005 I got a particularly disappointing bit of 'letter spam' from a David Rhodes in Perth ... well, he's back but this time he's communicating with Liz. As back then the actual letter is v sad with little humour to report. The names at the bottom this time are: C King, 59A Cornwall Street, Masterton Z Urlwin, 45 Wiseley Road, West Harbour, Auckland J Hughes, 1277 Main South Road, RD 28, Manaia M Firman, 36 Weaver Street, Oamaru R McMurtrie, 1/333 Waihi Road, Tauranga Unlike 2005, I can go a little further with my request that spammers and other such nasties do not take those addresses and use them for nefarious dealings, I can link them to a Google Map just to make sure you know where to avoid. Be interesting to know if the addresses (all of which do exist) are occupied by the names given - anyone know how to check that out?

Found from information aesthetics which is a great blog for stretching the mind and getting creative amongst the drudgery

I'm sending Chesterfields to all my friends. That's the merriest Christmas any smoker can have - Chesterfield mildness plus no unpleasant after-taste. Ronald Reagan

StumbleUpon* lead me to this Your small people will like it and it seems to get money to a hospital somewhere in the world * Sorry!

Quite possibly one of the finest 'crap-o-grams' I have received into my InBox in a long time. The use of some 1950's machine to translate from the origin spammer's language into something close to English is fantastic. I've tried to colour code the funniest bits but it's really to be taken as a comedy (w)hole. My Dear , Am, Ms. Tracey Williams 34 years old, citizen of London United Kingdom, a Purchasing Manager to a company here called BRADFORD FARM PLC BRAC KEN PLACE CHILL WORTH SOUTHAMPTON S0164RB SOUTHAMPTON UNITED KINGDOM. Kindly give attention to this letter, though it will bring surprise to you as it comes from a strange person. Due to my condition now, i honorable demand for your co-operations, honest, reliability and sincerely on this transaction as a Friend / business partner, i have deliberated it in my mind and decided to contact you and offer you this business proposal. I have decided to intimate you personally and discreetly with...

Pohutakawa tree ("New Zealand Christmas Tree") Originally uploaded by Miramar Mike. My new PC wallpaper - I've tried to move away from "snow" and "darkness" as it's summer here in NZ! But, I suspect I'll be back to what I know is Christmas (cold, hot dinners) by the end of the week. Hope everyone's having a cracking time.

It's all about the pride which you can hear in my national anthem as discussed by Robert Paterson in his The best national anthem on the world posting (thanks Dave S for the link)

Click for bigness: [19-Oct-2024: Who knows what this image was]

What can I say, get yourself along to Craft2.0 at TheNewDowse in Petone ( ZoomIn map | Google Map ) on Sunday (11am-2pm) to meet creative people with quirky, unique and locally made crafty-items for you to pop into someone's Christmas stocking. Oh, and meet many of the Wellingtonista crowd as well ... Christmas shopping made fun

As is becoming something of a tradition here at MiramarMike, this is my Yuletide posting about all that you should know for Christmas. But let's just take a moment in the busy day to remember what it's all about - the people you love. I'm thinking of the people you love right now ... are you thinking of mine? Of course, it's not just about family and friends (if that's who I was thinking of) but also presents, alcohol and oodles of sitting around in the sun (hardy har har Northern Hempishpereans!) If Jesus is you thing, I mean, if he's your bag, what you're into man then do the religious thing as well. Just don't get all "God" over Christmas and try to remember that it was originally a pagan festival around the longest day, certainly don't want you Christians foisting your ideas on people and trying to subvert the real message! Fun. that's the real message. Believe in Father Christmas (who shats all over Santa) and have too much laught...

Google has it's 2007 Zeitgeist [ defined ] out and Britney Spears was NUMBER 3 'newsmaker' ... for lawds sake, stop doing searches for her ... YOU, right now, stop it! These are nice, from the "Top of the mind" section : Who is... 1. who is god 2. who is who 3. who is lookup 4. who is jesus 5. who is it 6. who is buckethead 7. who is calling 8. who is keppler 9. who is this 10. who is satan What is... 1. what is love 2. what is autism 3. what is rss 4. what is lupus 5. what is sap 6. what is bluetooth 7. what is emo 8. what is java 9. what is hpv 10. what is gout How to... 1. how to kiss 2. how to draw 3. how to knit 4. how to hack 5. how to dance 6. how to crochet 7. how to meditate 8. how to flirt 9. how to levitate 10. how to skateboard

Most of my online friends (that happily are becoming actual friends) rarely limit themselves to one online presence for a many reasons - one service rarely does it all, you need to protect your online presence from ID theft and we are generally early adopters and try a gazillion services before settling on one. I'll use myself as an example - you can find me actively online at: this blog Flickr for my photos delicious for my bookmarks YouTube for uploaded videos Wellingtonista for my Wellington blogging Facebook for my "this is me status" And that's just the day-to-day active ones - I'm 'at' a lot more places . Whilst I've set-up a few RSS feeds for some of the more useful ones wouldn't it be grand just to subscribe to one feed and it all comes through? And that's the same for nearly everyone I know. FriendFeed is such a service that I have been running with for a month or so. After you sign-up* it is extremely easy to click and add the servi...

Article now at Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style: Watch out Xero, here comes Google

What more can I say apart from, about time! It will also be interesting to see how local (and very cool) competitor ZoomIn copes: From the Official Google Blog posting : Today we're pleased to announce the full launch of Google Maps in New Zealand . Although we've offered basic mapping in New Zealand for some time, today we're unveiling a localised and customised site for our users in New Zealand. We've added full local business search capabilities, plus the Local Business Centre , so that any Kiwi business can get a free listing. While we know New Zealanders care about a lot more than rugby, racing and beer, we're pleased that now Google Maps can help you find the nearest place to do any of those things. Plus, you can find a cafe in Ponsonby , an Indian restaurant in Wellington , a plumber in Dunedin , or a great hotel for your next holiday . All available on a PC or mobile phone near you! And of course, Kiwis can also use Google Maps to look up an address, get...

Webstock (Feb 2008) is THE New Zealand web conference* and they are always pushing the boundaries. This year they were going to have a day-long workshop with Heather Champ and Derek Powazek but unfortunately they have had to pull out. And so, those creative types over at Webstock Towers have come up with: Webstock 2008 Photo Exhibition: Freedom All run on Flickr and open to anyone (attendees or not) - here's their blurb: In the original Webstock line-up, Heather Champ and Derek Powazek were going to lead a photo workshop. They aren't able to make it to Webstock anymore, but we're going to have a photo exhibition and walkabout day anyway. Photos will be displayed digitally at the conference venue and archived online as a set. The theme of the photo exhibition is FREEDOM. Interpret it how you like, but the basis of this comes from Webstock: Code For Freedom so we'd like photos that are conference theme related as well as ones that interpret this laterally. To submit p...

He's four and half (the half has become important recently) and he's suddenly taken it upon himself to tidy his room up before putting himself to bed. Liz and I take it in turns to read a story or two to Jack (the other gets Meg) and then we leave him with a kiss and a promise to come and turn his light out later. Around 30 minutes after this he now goes around his room, cleans up everything on the floor, hops into bed and nods off. What a stunningly gorgeous and fabulous person I am joyed to know.

Article now at Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style: Social Networking in Plain Englis

Whitetail in Snow Originally uploaded by Hard-Rain . I suspect I'll be changing daily ...

I can then buy it for my wife. Leave a comment using the form below (anonymous is fine)

For charity! Go to SellMeFree.co.nz and put ya hand in your pocket to get a personal tour of the Weta Workshop in Wellington with company director, Richard Taylor. Last I looked it was only $261 Thanks SciFi Wire for the heads-up

I love this (fairly old) news that Weta Workshop, the effects company based in Miramar, is working on the effects for the mid-march 2008 concerts - the whole posting : WETA BUG SCOOP: 19 Nov 07 You wont believe what we're working on at Weta this time! Special effects for the upcoming KISS concert here in NZ! Last week, Capital C: Concerts announced it had signed the legendary group KISS, to perform in New Zealand. And this week, we can reveal that Weta Workshop will be working the gig, too! Promoter Phil Sprey of Capital C: Concerts made the surprise announcement to an international group of entertainment investors over the weekend adding, “Being resident in Wellington, New Zealand is like living in the most creative spot on the planet. When we approached Richard and the team at Weta Workshop, they were very enthusiastic to add their design skills to the concepts we had in mind." "The result on March 22 & 23 next year will be awesome - the Westpac Stadium will be tr...

Sort of ...

The Wellingtonista 2AWA Gala Night has made the Dominion Post (page A3, top left) thanks to attendance of Giovanni Ribisi who's over in Miramar filming Avatar. Of course you can imagine how Hadyn feels about not making the cut (literally) ;-)

Since 1955 NORAD * have been tracking Santa for all eager young minds and 2007 will be the same. However, this year it is even easier as they have teamed up with Google to create a layer for Google Earth AND a Google Gadget (use on iGoogle or any other site that can interpret XML). Not only with you be able to whizz around the world with Santa but NORAD and it's series of satellites will be taking pictures of the fat red fella in action! Sites you need for your child and/or the child within: NORAD tracks Santa Add to iGoogle Google Earth It all kicks off in 15 days time! * NORAD = North American Aerospace Defence Command

Thursday and Friday had taken a lot out of me and after nearly falling asleep on the toilet in the morning (I had been Christmas shopping with the kids whilst Liz snoozed it up big time) you can imagine how relieved I was when we finally dropped Jack and Meg off at friends for a whole 24 hours of kid-free fun time at the Fronde "Froscars" night. We checked into the hotel (along Oriental Parade, where Beckham stayed) to a small-ish room on the 3rd floor and so the view wasn't quite as wonderful as we'd hoped (nothing like the Khandallah flat view which was, I think, Liz's dream). Not that it mattered as I lay back on the bed with a red wine in my hand I let my eyes close for a few minutes. One and half hours later I woke up. Clothes on and off for something cheap and cheerful to line the stomach. A great burger and a fine Guinness pie was had by us at Kitty's, along with a couple of pints of the black stuff to wash it all down. Nice. Back to the hotel to tart...

Article now at Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style: Friday - Agile Barcamp

Wot a night at Mighty Mighty! Awards, fun, frivolity, beer, beer and more beer, music and fantastic people. The AWA (Annual Wellingtonista Awards) winners have all been posted - congratulations to the winners and to all those nominated! Best cultural venue - A. Film Archive Best apparel store - E. Madame Fancy Pants Best UnCheap Eats - C. Matterhorn Best Breakfast - E. Epic Best public space - E. The Botanic Gardens Best Cheap Eats - C. Satay Kingdom Wellingtonian of the year - D. Jemaine and Bret aka. Flight of the Conchords Best Non-Drinking Venue - E. Wellington waterfront on a sunny week day Hottest Hospo of the Year - C. The staff at Mighty Mighty Best Suburban Venue - D. Karori Wildlife Sanctuary - Karori Best 2007 Wellington-based Event - B. Cuba St Carnival Most Needed - B. Light rail to the airport Best Building - D. Wellington Central Library Wellington Supervillain of the Year - D. Kerry Prenderghastly Best Dub Dub Dubber - A. "Cracker" - Damian Chri...

Yep, all of you that voted in the Second Annual Wellingtonista Awards will get to find out who has won Best Breakfast and Best Suburban Venue from yours truly around 7pm-ish. And, as none of the people opening the envelopes know the contents, it will be as much as a surprise to me as it is to you to find out where Liz and I will be having breakfast on Sunday morning. My advice is to get to Mighty Mighty [104 Cuba Street, ZoomIn map ] as early as you can (aim for 6:30pm ) but the main thing is not to miss out on tonights party, it will be large! Oh, and don't forget there is a $15 door charge ... unless you're a nominee and have already told us you're coming. And it's not just the giving of 2AWA awards, there's also: spot prizes a celebrity quiz hosted by Russel Brown (to be recorded and popped onto the radio later this year) Blam Blam Blam playing later in the evening (fronted by the highly talented Don McGlashan ) and possibly much much more And finally, bri...

But I think they are hilarious - my 3 favourites are:     The rest I received from Adam's Jokelist email are:

This article now at Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style: 5 articles about keeping your identity ("persona") safe

[Updated] Dom Post has a little write up and 2 great pictures of these boats sinking into the waves at a cost of around $30,000 to the Wellington ratepayer.     As r eported a few weeks ago , the Miramar "boat yard" is slowly emptying of the rusting hulks. Rod Drury has a great picture of 2 (out of 3) boats being dragged away by the cool-as red Wellington tug boats* * Red tug boats are up for sale - what a Christmas pressie that would make someone

A game for 4-8 honest adults. The game is best enjoyed with good friends but is also an excellent introduction vehicle for new people joining the circle. Fine wine, good food and a roaring fire have been known to assist with the play. Objective To gain the most number of points AND/OR to find out as much as possible about everyone playing. Equipment pens for all, 3-7 small(ish) pieces of paper per person a hat/container to hold the folded paper Game play Question round This round starts with one person and continues until all players have asked a question. The first player is usually the one that's got that burning question and can't wait to blurt it out. Everyone thinks of a unique question to ask. The more provocative the question and the more likely the question to reveal the better. A person asks their question out loud. Everyone, including the questioner, writes onto a piece of paper: The question (or a shortened version) Their own answer All p...