Note: This column represents the opinions
of the writer and as such, is not represented as fact
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At last,
the contents of Aardvark's "million-dollar ideas" notebook
are revealed for all to see!
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More of the wierd, whacky and wonderful stuff that's hiding out there on the
world wide web.
Nude Women In The Dominion/Stuff!
An alert and highly observant Aardvark reader spotted the nude woman in this
picture published by news-provider INL. I've made it easier for you to spot.
Turbo Powered Barstool
New Zealand has the distinction of having the world's first
jet-powered beer cooler
and this turbo barstool has to be the ideal accompaniment don't you think?
Need Cutting-Edge Copy?
As NZ's longest-running online commentator, I'm looking for
extra syndication opportunities for this daily publication -- or I'm happy
to write casual or regular material specifically to order for print or
Net-based publications. If you're
interested, drop me a line
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Of Frying Pans And Fires
In a much anticipated move, Telstra has purchased Clear Communications
for the paltry sum of less than $500m.
While the spinmeisters are already telling us that this can only mean
good things for NZ consumers and that it will ratchet up the levels of
competition -- I'm not so sure.
One area where we're unlikely to see any improvement is the supply of DSL
services.
If reports are to believed, Telstra's DSL pricing and performance levels are
even worse than Telecom's -- so neither has any real incentive to improve
do they?
However -- if you check out Monday's Aardvark, you'll find that there is
a new non-ISP-dependent broadband internet service about to be announced
that could give both Telstra and Telecom a bit of competition.
It's not a new service -- but the offering is new.
Arse-kicking Time
While reviewing a long list of local websites recently, I noticed a very frustrating
and annoying flaw.
A huge percentage of sites that offer free email "newsletters" are providing
no privacy policy. Neither do they indicate the frequency and form of their
mailings.
Signing up to these lists is a bit like playing Russian roulette:
- will your mailbox be deluged by daily MS Word files of several hundred Kbytes in size?
- how easy is it to unsubscribe?
- is this a double-opt-in list or can you sign up your friends/enemies too?
- will your name become part of some larger list sold for a profit to spammers?
My advice to web-designers is that they should always include a privacy statement.
Even though such things are covered by law in NZ, not all your visitors will be
aware of that -- particularly if they're overseas. Also make it clear exactly
what form and frequency your emailings will take and why not make the point that
you're running a double-opt-in system as part of your responsible anti-spam attitude?
My advice to Net users is to avoid handing over any information (including
your email address) to any site that doesn't have a clear and simple privacy
policy -- or which doesn't offer any indication as to what signing up to their
emailing list will expose you to.
Save The Aardvark Fund
Yes, I have had several donations to the Aardvark fund and I thank those
who put their money where their mouse is :-)
If guilt is gnawing away inside you then there's still time to donate.
Just drop by and
hand over your loot.
Add Aardvark To Your Own Website!
Got a moment? Want a little extra fresh content for your own website or
page?
Just add a
couple of lines of JavaScript
to your pages and you can get
a free summary of Aardvark's daily commentary -- automatically updated
each and every week-day.
Aardvark also makes a summary of this daily column available via XML using
the RSS format. More details can be found
here.
Contact me if you decide to use either of these feeds and
have any problems.
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Did you tell someone else about Aardvark today? If not then do it
now!
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There are new Vacancies Last added 2 Oct In The Job Centre
There are 14 Domain Names for sale
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