Five predictions for 2008

 Maybe not the most courageous predictions, but predictions none the less.

1. National wins more party votes than Labour but will struggle to form a coalition. 
2. Closer to home, Grant Robertson wins Wellington Central.
3. David Bain gets convicted (again) of murdering his family (for extra points – Joe Karam is admitted to hospital with heart pains within a month of this).
4. Flow on effects of US sub-prime crisis cause more trouble for the world economy than they did in 2007.
5. Backgammon makes a comeback.

Ultimate slow news day

DominionPost condemns Che Tibby’s posts on cooking.

I’ll stick with the first one

Having read another Second Life story, I thought I’d give it a go.  Admittedly I went in skeptical. 

The first things you come across are the blocky graphics and the ordinary interface.  A search engine lets you find things and then teleport anywhere.  

After a bit of searching and teleporting I became rather bored.  There didn’t seem to be anything in Second Life I couldn’t do elsewhere on the net.  Elsewhere I also wouldn’t have to deal with the clunky interface and won’t be stuck on one firm’s servers.  

 

Perhaps Second Life is ‘virtual world’s’ AOL, there’s better to come.

The Family Party official launch

The Family Party officially launched on Saturday with a rally in Mangere and its new website complete.

Unfortunately for them, the major media outlets almost totally ignored the launch.  I think I saw one news ticker item on the TVNZ website saying they were going to launch, but no coverage of the event itself.  They must be a bit disappointed.

The well made website tells us something that will surprise few people.  The party’s policies are almost identical to the now defunct Destiny New Zealand party.

My significant other (bank) isn’t telling me everything

Internet bank Raboplus has been a teeny tiny bit disingenuous.   When comparing the returns on their new Cash Advantage Fund they’ve compared it to a standard 8% deposit.  As their standard deposit rate is 8.2% their comparison is entirely realistic. 

Admittedly, the real world example would show only a marginally worse comparison.  In their $100k example there’s only $120 difference.  

What they do under sell is the change in the after inflation return.   Without considering inflation their example shows the cash fund offering a 14.75% better return.  Using the real world example with inflation considered gives a 18.75% better return.

It wouldn’t happen in Cuba!

 Is it just me or there a bit of irony in a cafe that’s called Fidel’s complaining about it being a police state in New Zealand?  Maybe they should have just stuck to moaning about the nanny state, it’s not like a $600 fine is the equivilent of being  imprisoned for political crimes.

 Disclaimer:  I really like their brunches!