Wow! The internet works
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Only in New Zealand
It’s been an interesting experience dealing with different internet service providers here in Wellington. Capital city, you’d think you could get a decent internet connection. We’ll skip the whole two pieces of wet string connecting NZ to the rest of the world, and Ultra Fast Broadband that the Govt is pumping Billions of Dollars into – ultra fast to where? Jeez, I’d go for an internet connection that doesn’t need resetting multiple times a day.
So it was with some trepidation that we decided to watch X-Men: First Class through iSky. This is the Sky thingy that allows you to watch movies and other box office stuff, through your internet connection. In this enlightened age, our ISP wont even charge us for the data downloaded, it’s gratis!!
Now, normally if we try watching a few minutes of something on YouTube (not breaching any copyright there naturally), we have to let the video stream down and then watch it. Rather than watch it there and then. It’s an inconvenience, but ho hum. You can hear the cogs whirring.
Two hours of a movie via the internet?? It seemed to be asking a bit much. Hamsters can’t run that fast!
So it was with some incredulity and surprise that we watched the whole thing, with some pauses for a coffee break, without a hitch. No pausing, no buffering, no glitches, no having to refresh the browser etc. While the download clearly didn’t like fast on screen action, with the picture jumping around a bit, it still worked.
Which got me thinking. Clearly it’s possible to provide a decent internet service capable of delivering 2Gb+ of data within two hours. So why did it take me over eight hours the other week to upload 3Gb of data? Why can’t the internet service be this reliable the rest of the time? We’re already paying for the internet connection, why is it we have to pay for extra content before we get a decent service?
Or perhaps it’s that the internet is being swamped by so many people watching (paid for and copyright respected) content, that the rest of us plebs have to make do with the left over bit of wet string.
And oh the irony. We finished watching the movie, went to check email, and the connection died.
Time for another reset. Should have kept the movie streaming…
No Friday in Samoa
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
Today (Friday) does not exist in Samoa. Without the aid of a parachute or safety net, Samoa is jumping the international date line (IDL) and joining NZ, Fiji & Tonga on the other side of the date line.
I can see the sense in this, with so many holiday’s from NZ & Aus, plus lots of business, being out by a day is a real pain. I once spent many hours trying to rack my brain around which flights we needed to get from Auckland to Samoa, plus how many nights accommodation we’d need in Samoa – compounded by then trying to figure out which day we needed to fly to and from Wellington-Auckland for the domestic connecting flight – all darn confusing. Plus of course, with AirNZ providing flights at awkward times anyhow, the knots got worse trying to figure out if we actually needed a hotel in Auckland coming back - arghhh!!! it was just all too confusing. Fiji was easier.
Which is really the point.
And with American Samoa staying where it is, some people are already eying up the options to spend New Year in Samoa, then take a quick flight to American Samoa and party all over again.
After a hundred or so years of being one of the last place on Earth to see in the new year, they will suddenly become one of the first. Although I’m not sure whether you’d consider it the East or West side of the IDL, look at a flat Mercator projection map, it’s on the right, therefore the East. Look at a Pacific map and it’s on the left, and thus West of the IDL. Either way, I think Kiribati still takes pole position, being 13 hours ahead of GMT.. Wrap your brains around that one.
Vote here!
One of the positive things about the NZ Voting system is that they’re inclusive. Lots of avenue’s are provided for everyone to vote.
Postal vote (counted up to two weeks after the election date), fax vote, advance vote (up to two weeks before the election for those who can’t get to a polling station on the day) and in person. As a kiwi you can even vote from the NZ High Commission in London (and elsewhere). If only Brits could vote from the UK High Commission in Wellington. But apparently that’s too complicated and wouldn’t make it a ‘secret’ ballot..
Anyhow, if you happen to find yourself on holiday around the world in obscure places you can vote in the NZ election.
Including Scott Base in Antartica. In person.
How cool is that?
The joy of a $5 bookshop
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand
Along with hideous (for us) quantities of money being spent on stuff in Melbourne, I also spent some time hunting down cheap books.
As you’ll be aware, this is one of our pet peeves with NZ – a ‘cheap’ book is only $30 for a normal fiction paperback. ’only’ $50 for a fiction hardback. When compared to the whole 3for2 at Waterstones, reading becomes an expensive dalliance. It’s also no wonder that Borders & Whitcoulls in NZ have gone bankrupt. Try selling over priced stuff, just because you think people will pay for it? Nope – that’s the magic of internet shopping.
Even second hand books are pretty pricey, which probably reflects the retail price of new books. Arty Bees in Wellington – an emporium for booklovers and stockist of impressive quantities of Sci-Fi and Fantasy will charge $15 – $20 for a second hand novel. Up a bit from the 50p we would be paying at a UK Car Boot Sale.
So it was with some pleasure that in Melbourne I spotted a $5 bookshop.
Now its set against Minotaur, where I spent the best part of an afternoon just oggling books. And that was before I looked through all the other merchandise; or Of Science & Swords, with too many cool t-shirts too! I wasn’t expecting much in the way of Sci-Fi at the $5 shop. So I wasn’t disappointed on that score. They did have a large selection of general fiction though. So it was nice to browse around and wander through a bookshop that had more books than we do at home.
My bargain for the day – Jonathan Stroud’s Ring of Solomon. UKP5 at Amazon, NZD30 in the shops here. AUD5 over in Melbourne. So that’s one thing off my Amazon wish list.
Guilty ‘cos I say so
Filed under: Cost of living, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand, Only in New Zealand
If there was ever doubt that legislation could be bought in NZ, then the Copyright (Infringement File Sharing) Amendment Act 2011 demonstrates that sufficient money can buy you legislation. The RIANZ official line on this can be found here. Avalon’s Guide is not of course advocating the illegal sharing of copyrighted materials.
We never give away second hand books for free. Unless it’s to charity, or friends, or colleagues or indeed anyone else who can’t afford to buy books as much as we do. And that’s why (illegal) downloading is such an issue in NZ, buying ‘original’ is just too expensive for a lot of people. Especially given that so many people (especially those on low incomes) do not have access to Debit or Credit cards and can’t buy over the internet and access cheaper overseas prices.
Most copyright holders don’t make their material available online if you’re in NZ. Just try watching The Big Bang Theory on CBS’s website for example. So instead you have to pay for overpriced copies in the shops. {Not that I feel TBBT is overpriced, it’s the most laughter packed into 20 minutes every episode we seen in ages – but why on earth would you pay $67 for Season 4 at Whitcoulls when it’s just $30 from Amazon?}.
Anyway. This is probably going to be a complicated post with lots of links, so bear with me on this. There’s plenty of blog posts out there in the interverse that discuss different aspects of the legislation, I’d recommend Sophos, The Register, plus of course Google is your friend.
I would also recommend you consult with your ISP and their approach to the legislation. Vodafone’s can be found here, which gives a good explanation and some pictures to go with it. Telecom here, I can’t find 2Degrees or Telstra’s info – although I’m told the latter have a good description.
The Act itself has picked up a variety of nicknames; the SkyNet bill, the anti-piracy act and so on. It’s even generated some attention from Anonymous. Beyond the posturing from different interest groups, what does it come down to? And how will it effect you?
1. The legislation makes it illegal, subject to civil penalty, for making available for download copyrighted material. i.e. Illegal Sharing.
Right – this is the first important thing. If you download something, this legislation doesn’t apply to you. If you share something – you’re in the spotlight. It’s only those who are sharing the stuff that the copyright folks are going after. Which makes sense. Stop the stuff being available, rather than going after the larger number of people who consume it. If the information you are sharing isn’t copyrighted, or is subject to Creative Commons, then you’re (probably) okay.
2. It applies to all copyrighted material, CD’s, DVD’s, Books, Pictures whatever.
Again, while the focus has been on people downloading bootleg copies of Lady Gaga albums and so on, the legislation applies to anything which is Copyrighted. It can be exercised by anyone who owns that copyright. So on the plus side, if someone who has bought a softcopy of Avalon’s Guide then makes it available for download, we can take the matter up with their ISP.
3. It only applies to land lines – at the moment.
So if you’re on a wireless broadband connection, such as we are with WizWireless, then we’re currently not in the spotlight. Also, if you’re using a mobile broadband connection for your laptop you’ve got until 2013 to stop sharing stuff out.
4. It does apply to businesses. And Universities.
So if people come into work and make stuff available for sharing, you as the account holder as far as the ISP is concerned, are liable. Not the business owner, not your manager, not the guy in accounts who pays the ISP Bill. You. The name on the account. So, don’t let anyone put your name on the internet account at work. 
5. It doesn’t apply to schools.
In an attempt to demonstrate their ‘we’re here to educate not disconnect people’ credentials, the RIANZ have said they wont take schools to task if illegal sharing is found to be happening from schools. They’ll help them, educate them etc. Which is kinda funny, as the rural component of the Billions of dollars being invested into fibre for NZ’s cities is actually going to be over Vodafone’s wireless service. So they’re not in the spotlight yet anyway.
Not that any school children (or University students) would be as irresponsible as to copy CD’s and share them with their friends. ’Course not. And parents wouldn’t dream of sneakily heading to the school to download the latest episode of Game of Thrones. Clearly.
6. You can’t be disconnected – yet.
The other big headline related to this legislation is that the final penalty will be that your internet is disconnected. After you’re paid a bundle of fines etc. Only the ‘disconnection’ penalty isn’t active as an available option yet. For the moment you can only be fined. The disconnection option is in the legislation, so it’s something that can be enabled. But it’s not an option available to the copyright holders or the Copyright Tribunal yet.
7. Remember the Copyright holder has to prove themselves.
While the issuing of a notice from your ISP is the bit that makes you guilty until proven innocent, the Copyright folks still have to prove to a tribunal that you did make their material available for download. You get to challenge their claims. So the burden of proof is still with the Copyright holders and you still get to have your say. Eventually.
8. It’s an Award not a Fine. NZ has this pay or stay legislation. If you owe fines for speeding, parking, child support, or other court fines, then if you try flying out of the country on holiday you can be stopped. And you have to pay up. Interestingly enough this legislation has resulted in a whole load of outstanding fines being paid. It seems people heading away on holiday can suddenly find the money to pay fines they hadn’t previously been able to afford. Shocking!.
Anyhow.
The Copyright bill penalty is an Award. This means that if the copyright tribunal decides you are guilty, they make an award to the Copyright holder. That Copyright holder still has to try and get the money from you. So by the looks of it – having an outstanding Award against you won’t stop you going on holiday. This all begs the question of why overseas mega-corporations can send you warning letters and attempt to fine you without having to prove their allegations first – yet I as a New Zealand citizen cannot take Agile Property Services (Eric Voice) to the disputes Tribunal for ripping me off and letting his mate live rent free in my house because he refuses to acknowledge my dispute.
Money talks – in New Zealand more than most places.
9. There are so many loopholes it’s just funny.
I think this is where the folks involved in drafting this legislation on behalf of RIANZ have fouled up. There are so many way’s around this legislation, and so many opportunities to challenge it should you get a Detection, Warning, or Enforcement notice. Clearly they’re not really thinking like a pirate and trying to really stop this activity, they’re only worried about getting their money back.
I wont go into the detail of all the loopholes here. ‘Cos that would be irresponsible and I might need them for my defence. Since my name is on the ISP bill at home and all the LoL cats living here seem surprisingly adept at using the internet.
In the end, it’s just another badly written law that makes no sence. And in New Zealand, a country where we cannot legally buy tv shows or films online, and are forced therefore to pay rip of prices for DVDs – surely the simple answer is just to make content available legally – online – and let us pay for it at a reasonable price? But hey – why do that when you can turn the population into criminals?
Immigration equality
Since April 2011 British immigration rules have tightened up. Kiwi’s, Aussies and other Commonwealth countries that have previously enjoyed very favourable immigration status in the UK, are being put on a more measured footing. While as Brits emigrating to NZ or Australia there’s a limit on the number of places, we have to demonstrate our worth and in most instances have a job to come to (or stacks of cash), the same hasn’t been the case if you were a kiwi heading to the UK.
So what’s different if you’re heading to the UK?
Well, for a few years now you’ve needed to apply for a visa anyhow. It’s not been granted ‘as of right’ when you show up at a UK airport fresh off the long flight. At the time, the requirement to get a photo taken for your new visa was predicted to kill off all and any OE’s & working holidays to the UK. Only it didn’t. And the new rules will have a similar effect, people will just work with them.
Existing visa’s granted on the basis of ancestry are unaffected. It’s just those people coming to the UK who wont be on a temporary (albeit two year long) working holiday visa, will now have to jump through similar hoops that Brits coming to NZ do.
So now, prospective kiwi’s wanting to spend 2+ years in the UK working will have to have skills. Plus a job offer from a legitimate company for a job that is in high demand in the UK. And they’ll need to apply early as there’s an annual cap of approx 20,000 places available. And the job will probably have to have been advertised across the entirety of Europe for anyone there to apply ahead of you.
Sounding familiar?
Now, there’s a lot of Kiwi & Aussie interests who are crying foul about this. Yet, I don’t see an issue with it. Although this sort of system is never going to solve the domestic problems the UK has due to immigration – with 350 million+ Europeans having the right to enter the UK and apply for any job, limiting the potential for 25 million Aussies+Kiwi’s to enter the UK isn’t going to prevent an overwhelming flood.
Sure it means Kiwi’s & Aussies might be more likely to only stay for two years. Surely that’s a good thing though?
NZ & Australian Govts. spend a lot of time and money encouraging ex-pat kiwi’s & Aussies to return home. They have skills the home country needs, there’s loads of jobs etc. So while these people have gained valuable European working experience, <rant on> which somehow never translates into better salaries once you return home mind you because none of that is suddenly apparently relevant to the home market <rant off>, suddenly bringing these people home to share their skills & experience is an unfair thing?
Compared with the UK, neither NZ or Australia have a significant unemployment problem. Sure there are certainly groups in all societies who have higher unemployment than average. The social engineering that is UK immigration policy is much bigger than simply unemployment.
Compare & contrast; in Wellington we have a few dozen people peacefully camped out as part of the ‘Occupy’ movement. While in London a few months ago you had thousands of people rioting and pillaging for nights on end. While there’s no excuse to steal stuff from the One Pound shop (read $2 shop), it reflected discontent, inequality, general grievances with the ‘system’ and the Government. And at last count there were hundreds of people camped out in front of St Paul’s cathedral in the heart of London.
We’ve got it good. We don’t really appreciate how good. Whether that’s in NZ, or as Kiwi’s heading to the UK even under the new immigration rules. Let’s just get on and make the most of what we’ve got.
Survey time – licensed Immigration Advisers
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Immigration Advisers
The IAA has just published the results of their third annual survey of client satisfaction with licensed immigration advisers. And what a fascinating read it is – No really, I mean that.
There were 5,781 immigrants invited to respond and 721 of them responded. So, the satisfaction of 721 people out of approx 45,000 emigrants to NZ are intended to give us a representative picture of how much better NZ would be if only everyone used a licensed immigration adviser.
The visa types for these 721 people is also interesting. 40% for Work visas, 20% Student, 20% Residency(what were the other 20%? ). So at least 60% of the survey respondents were actually applying for a Temporary visa. Not Permanent Residency. Seems like a lot of temporary visa’s still being dished out with a chunky advisers costs attached.
Oh and 5781 people, across approx 500 advisers. So that’s an average of just eleven clients successfully through the end of the immigration process a year. Sheesh – no wonder immigration agents have to charge so much if their professionalism & efficiency only manages to succeed with eleven clients in a year.
Lets put that into numbers shall we?
Just 12% of emigrants, including those on temporary visas, decided to use a licensed adviser in the past year. For a service which is supposed to be made sooo much better and easier by having a licensed professional on the case for you..
Anyhow.
The Executive Summary can be found here. It must be the only exec summary I’ve read in the past five years that goes on for eight pages.. Executive = doesn’t have the time to read the full report and needs a one page summary.
Ho hum, then again I am the sort of person who will read the whole 50 page report with appendices of statistical analysis. Short of conducting the survey myself, reading the full report is as close as you’ll get to doing original research – rather than parroting the officially approved line.
Still, moving on.
The actual summary page, first link above, provides some interesting snapshots.
The satisfaction benchmark is 65%. Hmm, seems a bit low. One in three customers not being satisfied is acceptable performance? Most customer sat surveys I’ve seen or heard companies rave on about set a benchmark of at least 80%.
In terms of Adviser Performance I find it most interesting that there are two area’s showing ‘below’ satisfactory performance;
information about Treaty of Waitangi and Maori customs/traditions (44%); and
providing services for a reasonable cost (64%).
Hmm – so irrespective of whether you were happy with your adviser or not, Price is still one area that advisers don’t even meet the paltry 65% satisfaction level.
The next nugget is even more fascinating, the satisfaction with exempt advisers.
It is just as good as with properly “professional” licensed advisers..
You what?? After all the rigmarole about how fantastic it must be for emigrants to use properly licensed advisers, they don’t actually do a better job than a random lawyer or Citizens Advice Bureau adviser? (clearly this does not apply to “advice” you can get for free off immigration forums or blogs – that would obviously cause you a great deal of harm and cause your intestines to explode through your eyes.
)
Still, the highlights tell us that in all the important scoring area’s there wasn’t anywhere that exempt advisers scored better than properly licensed advisers.
Except when you look at how many people were ‘very satisfied’. This is your 80% customer satisfaction benchmark, and only 43% of people using a licensed adviser were very satisfied. Compared with 50% who used an exempt adviser.
Interestingly, when Avalon wrote to the Immigration Minister a second time on this issue after receiving the obligatory fob-off and they tried to use the current sat survey to impress upon is how good these advisers were – she said:
In fact the survey also shows that Immigrants prefer the service given by the Exempt agencies – so once again – it’s hardly something the Immigration Agent Industry should be proud of. It suggests that potential immigrants would be best advised to employ the services of a lawyer and stay well away from Immigration Agents.
Hmm -looks like the situation has not improved in the last 2 years then. And they have some way to go then on more than meeting a clients expectations and really delivering a high quality professional service then! Overall satisfaction still remains at 75%, so three years into a licensing regime and those licensed advisers aren’t doing much better overall.Also – I just love it when statistics don’t actually show what people tell you they show – and I really dislike that the people tell us hope we are too dumb to notice.
Still on the positive side, the survey does show that an increasing number of clients of licensed advisers are satisfied with individual aspects of what their adviser does. Which in itself is a good thing, but still doesn’t answer why the vast majority of emigrants still don’t bother with licensed advisers. Presumably becuas ethey know its a rampant rip-off. And to be honest – most of the people that do really don’t need to. There just isn’t enough added value to justify the amount of money it will cost you. The actual step-by-step process to migrate to New Zealand is not that complicated. The thing that makes it hard for some people is the shite service and behavior of INZ – and no “adviser” is going to make that easier to deal with. I have still not met a single migrant whose agent actually dealt with the issues rather than just pass the crap back to the migrant to deal with.
Save your $$$ – you will need it to buy coffee with!
Driving in Fiji
easy eh?!
This time around as the weather was really crap we decided to grab a hire car and go for a drive along the Fiji coast. I soon got the hang of Fiji driving, a perspective you don’t quite get as a passenger in a taxi.
So here are the simple things to keep in mind;
1. The roads aren’t fast, wide or good. So to help you keep your speed down, there are speed bumps.
2. Fiji has gone for the older version of the speed bump, which is more portable, a lot more effective at slowing traffic and a more efficient with tarmac. Us European types would call it a pot hole.
3. The white lines down the middle of the road – are there to tell you where there aren’t any potholes.
4. The safest part of the road to drive on, is to the left, or the right, or straddling, the white lines. Whichever bit of the road has fewer pot holes.
5. The car, bus or truck driving directly towards you is not in fact trying to kill you. They’re just being friendly and showing you that there are fewer potholes on your side of the road than theirs, so you’d better stick to this side.
6. You will often meet random cows, horses, dogs and people wandering in the roads. They are admiring the potholes.
7. Be aware that occasionally you will come accross a real speedbump. Not for any particular reason, like needing to slow down for schools or suchlike – but just becasue. It will likely be followed by the mother of all potholes.
8. Do NOT get complacent when you finally find a stretch of road with no potholes. It will be immediately followed by half a mile of non-stop potholes.
9. The national speedlimit is 80kph, which for those of who think 100kph is bad enough – is painful. But not as painful as flying over the potholes at 100kph would be.
Auckland joins the 20th Century – just in time for the rugby
Filed under: Cost of living, Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views
One of the really odd things we found on our initial trips to NZ was the lack of an airport hotel at Auckland. With the number of international flights getting in at unsocial hours of the day, it seemed a big opportunity was being missed.
Now when I say airport hotel, I mean a hotel which is within a five minute walk or taxi ride of the terminal buildings. Not the closest hotel to the airport being a 20 minute taxi ride away. Which is what the situation at Auckland has been up until May 2011.
Plus of course as we have now discovered, the propensity of AirNZ to cancel direct flights to and from places (Wellington to anywhere out of the country for instance) and insisting that you have to bounce via Auckland to get out of the country. This means you fly back into Auckland really late, and either face a night in the terminal building or a journey of half an hour each way to get to a hotel. Because of course, AirNZ insist on booking you on the first (antisocial) flight out of Auckland to your onwards destination.
Arriving Auckland midnight sir? You’ll be wanting the 0630 flight on to Wellington then wont you?
Seriously, do these people not think! Six hours is too long to comfortably spend in either terminal overnight, since they do actually shut the things down as the traffic volume is nowhere near enough to justify keeping them open 24 hours – unlike Heathrow or Gatwick for example. But also too short to actually get somewhere else and get a decent amount of sleep.
<rant off>
We are now blessed with a Novotelat the airport. Which is within a 2 minute walk of the international terminal. Really, it is. They’ve built it at the end of the terminal where everyone piles out of customs & baggage reclaim bleery eyed and wondering where to go next. In fact, it’s between the ‘pay for your parking here’ parking meters, and the car park.
And it’s swanky. Somehow we got a room on one of the two ‘Premier’ floors, which seem to equate to the Executive rooms listed on the hotel website. Kudos to the receptionist who greeted us at somewhere around 2:30am in the morning – boy was he bright eyed and bushy tailed! Which was really nice to have someone checking us in who didn’t give off the ‘I’m on nights and I’m going to distribute the surliness around‘ attitude that you sometimes find. But also attentive enough to understand we were at the opposite end of bright eyed and that if a pillow had been placed on the counter we’d have probably fallen asleep there and then.
Very nice rooms, the latest entertainment options thought of etc. So if you happen to have a laptop or portable DVD player and want to watch a movie you’ve bought with you, you have all the normal cabling options available so you can plug the thing into the large screen TV in the room.
Plus the bar was still open gone 2am in the morning when we arrived on a delayed Fiji flight, with the coffee machine up and running at 6am at the bar in the morning when we have to ship out again for our Wellington return leg. When the website says it’s a 24 hour bar – its true.
Oh and they have very nice showers, with really good sound proofing in the rooms so we didn’t hear a single lift door go bing all night even though we were in a room next to the lift lobby.
Plus, like the Singapore Changi airport hotel, they’ll do rooms for during the day – but not buy the hour. Which is really handy for those late night flights out of Auckland which will take 12 sleepless hours to get anywhere.
So finally and just in time for the rugby world cup, Auckland has a decent airport hotel, yippeee!!
IRD denies excess. . .
As new staff car park is opened.
In the foyer of the new IRD offices, aka the Asteron building in Wellington yesterday were;
A black Bentley, A white Lamborghini, a Yellow one, a Silver Aston Martin V8, plus a Grey Aston Martin Visage. Nice, the latter two Aston’s that is, not the others.
Avalon’s Guide On Facebook
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