Super Volcano at Stardome

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Went to see the Super volcano showing at Stardome.

It is an older (2005/2006) film projected on to the dome ceiling of the Star dome. Being part of Stardome’s School Holiday Program, Family groups with Kids are likely to derive the most enjoyment from it.

The actual “Super Volcano” film clip (as shown in the trailer in the aforementioned link) runs for about 23 minutes starting from Indonesia and describing it’s lasting effect on the world, through the “Great Dying”, before zooming out and examining the volcanoes of other planets.

The remainder of the time was utilized as a generalized star light presentation of the Solar system, aimed primary at younger kids interested in astronomy. Total Run time for the content by itself is 40 minutes (Super Volcano film + Solar system presentation). No photos to show this time (as photography is prohibited inside the Stardome room itself)

May be alright value with Family groups on a $40.00 (+ Booking fee) Family pass. (In contrast to say a group of Adult aged friends at 13.50 each where it perhaps falls on the expensive side)

Super Volcano at Stardome

Valve’s Steam gets their own chat

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Steam gets their own chat. Adding to the plethora of non-interoperable, walled off, segregated proprietary instant messaging solutions that seems to be a dime a dozen.

Steam Chat interface, that suddenly popped up upon logging into Windows 10

The above window appeared shortly upon logging into my computer this evening. As I haven’t used Steam for ages, let alone gamed for quite some time, will probably uninstall Steam.

Valve’s Steam gets their own chat

Internet use reduction

Fergus YoungLeave a comment

More of a “Cool Story Bro” type of post… As per an earlier decree, I have begun reducing my time spent on the internet in general during the evenings and weekends  (during my own time) and confining any use to Administrative functions (such as banking, paying bills, some internet shopping) and the keeping in contact with family and friends (where possible, using inter-operable, federated and self hosted solutions). Continue reading “Internet use reduction” →

Internet use reduction

Fibre Broadband ONT Installed

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Fibre is finally installed after being convinced by a passing Chorus Man in a Van to get connected. So which provider to go with, I wouldn’t know. Still on my ADSL1 copper connection.

Chorus Fibre Termination point.

After a few false (scheduling) starts, the Chorus Technician managed to eventually come along, lay down the Fibre and install the Optical Network Termination (ONT) box. The job he did looks pretty professional overall.

Probably alone in feeling this way, but would be keen to learn more utilizing Fibre’s potential towards improving people’s lives overall, through initiatives such enabling more to work from home and improving of connectedness between friends and family, etc (and perhaps less about it simply being another means of “Feeding the masses a steady diet of Bread and Circuses” in terms of piping passive Entertainment and Professional Sports into People’s homes).

 

Fibre Broadband ONT Installed

Quick visit to Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens

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Quick Drop in visit to Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens en route back to Auckland. Click Photo below to access the gallery…

Kaipara Coast Gardens in Fall

They recommend about 1 and half hours to walk around. Could easily spend 3 hours there if you include Don’s loop at a leisurely pace. Hills are moderate (Easy for a seasoned hiker, may be challenging for though for the less fit)

Quick visit to Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens

Gradually backing out of Harmoney

Fergus YoungLeave a comment

I have been an investor for a while with Harmoney. They seem alright to date, however will admit that I have started to feel unease at the amount of “Charged off” loans appearing on my books. Interest rates seem to be trending downwards for across all risk grades with a feeling that the platform fees are gradually edging up, slowly putting the squeeze on any NET Returns. I have also noticed that the Platform RoR is also gradually declining.

As such, I’ve now decided to stop reinvesting the proceeds and started backing out by way of their Auto-Withdraw facility as I feel the risk reward has gradually become less favorable.

Gradually backing out of Harmoney

Fieldays 2018 Adult Entry price increase

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Update 14/06/2018: Will no longer be attending this year’s Fieldays, everyone who had expressed interest to attend Fieldays with me have all since pulled out. Not worth me driving down there alone from Auckland.

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Noticed that the Incorporated Society behind the National Fieldays has increased the Adult ticket price for this Year for those booking online via Stream Ticketing from $20.00 per Adult (+$5.00 booking per transaction) to $30.00 per Adult (+$0.90 booking fee per ticket). This represents roughly a 50% price increase over the preceding year if taking the scenario of booking online for a group of 4-5 together. Continue reading “Fieldays 2018 Adult Entry price increase” →

Fieldays 2018 Adult Entry price increase

Waikato in the Autumn

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Random spur of the moment Road trip down to Hamilton and surrounds. Click picture to access Gallery…

Waikato River from the Italian Garden, Hamilton Gardens

While the Olympus TG-3 has served me well, the camera equipped with my Samsung S7 Active phone seems to have the TG-3 beaten hands down in the image quality department. The only thing the TG-3 has over my Phone is optical zoom. The Dynamic Range on the S7 Active is so far the best I’ve seen from any camera I’ve owned.

Waikato in the Autumn

Ground Hog Day on Auckland Transport Crisis

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Short of a population contraction. Auckland transport crisis I feel is NOT going to be measurably alleviated in the next two decades for the average resident.

Auckland as a city is already on the back foot due to decades of laissez faire planning and the damage has unfortunately been done decades ago… it’s going to be difficult to reverse the effects of this through conventional means.

We have key zones scattered all over the place with reckless abandon, with absolutely no forethought for the longer term. We are continuing to build swathes of urban sprawl without any adequate transport infrastructure to go with it, continuing to repeat the same mistakes in the short term with long term consequences.

Bring up a map of Auckland and compare it with say Perth, Melbourne or Adelaide  and in contrast to the semi grid type layout of the aforementioned, Auckland’s roading layout frankly more closely resembles a city in a developing nation (Bali, Indonesia; Port Vila, Vanuatu). Roads placed seemingly at random with no planning what so ever.  Any buses that we introduce are made to zig zag all over the place in a vain attempt to capture the key zones. No regard for putting in proper rail corridors to new greenfield development sites.

This 28 Billion that the Labour government is planning to pour in, should they suggest conventional public transport measures again, I fear will tragically could end up being a gratuitous waste.  I strongly feel Auckland requires a more tailored approach in order to have any hope of mitigating the transportation frustrations facing residents in this city.

Ground Hog Day on Auckland Transport Crisis