Archive for December, 2010

Apple cuts off Wikileaks

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Apple is the latest company to cut ties with Wikileaks by removing an online application which gives access to the leaks.

What was the reason? Apparently Wikileaks has violated the developer guidelines, says Apple, without giving further specifics, other than to say that users of the App Store cannot “put an individual or targetted group in harm’s way”.

And the public backlash which has happened against other US companies which have turned against Wikileaks? Well this hasn’t happened yet, but watch this space…..

The full article on stuff.co.nz.

Kiwis want cold cash for Xmas

Friday, December 17th, 2010

Forget the feel-good love of home-made pressies, or the thought and effort behind picking a gift for a loved one,  the Great Kiwi Christmas survey shows that 44 percent of recipients want cold hard cash for christmas, or vouchers.  Only 12 percent want home-made gifts.

On a more environmentally friendly note, only 22 percent of those surveyed will buy a real tree, with the rest buying a fake one.  Perhaps good news for the environment?

Also, keeping the faith alive, one in three New Zealand households will still be leaving milk and cookies out for Santa.

The full article is available here.

Top Google searches in New Zealand

Friday, December 10th, 2010

As the end of the year nears, Google releases its lists of most-searched phrases, places and people.

Some highlights:

  • Are Kiwis increasingly becoming cheaper? Perhaps so, with website Grab One being popular in the searches for its online deals.
  • Paul Henry’s antics also got him high on the list of people to be Googled.
  • TradeMe increases in popularity, being the third most searched for social website after Facebook and Twitter.

But just to show that USA is always on the mind, Kim Kardashian was the most searched for celebrity, by New Zealanders.

View the full list of popular searches published on Stuff.

NZ makes the switch to digital TV

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

Finally, digital TV is here and there is a $13 million campaign to make sure people understand how to use it.

30 percent of NZ households will need to switch over to the digital network before 2013.  The remaining 70 percent are already on the network through Sky, Freeview or TelstraClear.

The Going Digital campaign has a handy website where queries can be made, as well as a helpline.