Free Wellington: on your phone!
Okay, you know how the Wellingtonista have a twitter account that you can sign up to in order to receive updates to your phone about what’s going on in the city? Yeah, I suppose I should be the first person to admit that doesn’t go so well. You see, despite the fact that all Wellingtonistas know the login and password for it, there are only a small handful of us who use Twitter, and all of us therefore have our phones configured with our personal accounts, which means any updates to the Wellingtonista Twitter have to come from online, which means we’re tied down to a computer.
Well, clever people have come up with solutions to let everyone use their own personal accounts to update one main twitter. I first experienced this at Webstock, with the Webstock Twitter bot which ran hot during the conference. Now there’s the Free Wellington account, which will send you updates on things to do for free or under $10 in Wellington. But here’s the trick: you can update it too. Just follow FreeWellington on twitter, and preface your updates with an FW, and everyone will be able to know what the water’s like at the beach, or why they should be staying the hell away from Waitangi Park…
It’s a genius scheme. Now we’re just hoping that the Wellingtonista will get a bot of its very own for Xmas!
Fire! Explosions! Twitter!
Sometimes, we receive our news about Wellington from Twitter:
And then we follow it up with emails:
10:05 am (7 minutes ago) llew:
Quay Corporate told me that something near them is on fire – they’re very near Real Groovy
And more emails:
10:06 am (6 minutes ago) James Guthrie:
yep. 2m flames coming from a bust pipe.
10:08 am (7 minutes ago) Hadyn Green:
that’d be why power was out everywhere*.
blog it!
And now we need you to fill in the details for us!
* That explains why the bus wires were down this morning. Sigh. It’s hard to be passionate public transport advocate sometimes.
Hurray, it’s Webstock Week!
So, we didn’t post in advance to tell you about Webstock, because it’s sold out.
We do think you should know though that if you’re seeing a large number of people around the Town Hall this week carrying these sexy-ass satchels, they’re Webstockites, and they’re all about the peace, love and internet. You may also be able to recognise them by the shiny gadgets they carry that feature pictures of apples prominently, the coffees they’ll be knocking back at an alarming rate, and the excited, enthusiastic and emphatic conversations they’ll be carrying out with people who were complete strangers an hour earlier.
So, if you’re not a Browncoat brownbag carrier, we suggest that you lock up your sons and daughters, unleash your networks and put some more beer in the fridge for us. Cheers!
Bloggers Predict: 2008
So last night, the good people of Unlimited Potential held their annual Bloggers Predict event, in which they get a bunch of guys (emphasis on the all maleness of the event) to say what they think is going to happen over the year.
The Bloggers
- David Farrar, of Kiwiblog fame
- Mauricio Freitas, Geekzone Guru
- Hamish MacEwan, local visionary
- Philip Fierlinger, turntable technologist
- Tom Beard, Wellurbanite
No doubt those nice people will post about what their predictions were, so let me instead tell you what my predictions are, and then after the jump, I will share with you my thoughts on the night in note form.
My predictions
- Hopefully they’ll try harder to get a woman on the panel. “They’re all at the Linux Conference” is not good enough, because while I do love Brenda, turns out that there actually are other females interested in technology in Wellington. I suppose they could argue that no women approached them in 2007 about doing it, but meh.
- Face to face contact will make a comeback, facilitated by internet arrangements, like Facebook Events, etc. The stigma of meeting someone over the internet will be almost entirely gone.
- All new workplace Codes of Conduct will specifically mention blogging
After the jump, my nonsensical (did I mention there was free beer?) notes from the night.
(FTW) Wigs for Whigs
Let’s say that you have a dress-up party to go to, maybe with an ‘American Mistakes’ theme, and maybe you want a blonde wig to go with your red dress so that you can be Anna Nicole Smith. Where should you get that blonde wig from? Well, if you’re a public servant at the Molesworth end of town, you might head down to Creative Show Off Costume Hire on Thorndon Quay, and pay $20 for a wig. But if you’re smart, you’ll go to the Costume Cave on Wakefield Street instead, and only pay $10. Costume Cave for the win!
Patting ourselves on our collective back. Again.
So, 2007 has pretty much kicked some ass, and sucked some ass, but let’s concentrate on the goodness.
In 2007, the Wellingtonista:
- Gained eight new members (Anna, Che, Dan, Kimberley, Kowhai, MG, Mitch, Stephen and Sue)
- Got four new dayjobs (Me, Llew, MG, Noizy)
- Grew one baby (Kimberley)
- Opened one shop (Martha)
- Launched one magazine (Mitch)
- Got Russell Brown drunk a couple of times
- Hugged Blam Blam Blam
- Made a total of at least six appearences in the Dom Post, not counting Kimberley’s stories
- Got on the bad side of Rex Nicholls and John McGrath
- Had a 1100% increase in voting for our awards.
Yay for us! What are your predictions for 2008?
Embracing your inner show-mom
Late notice but tonight at the Film Archive, cnr of Taranaki and Ghuznee Streets, at 6:30pm the Friends of the Film Archive present a special insight into baby contests, beauty competitions and screen tests from yesteryear. It’s free. It’s hilarious. Here’s the blurb:
“Contest Films from the silent era and the 1930s are presented afresh. Struggling early New Zealand film makers made a living with their cameras putting the faces of the young, beautiful and talented on the screen to be judged by popular vote.â€
Auckland vs. Wellington
A different long weekend away provides another opportunity to reexamine the age-old battle. After our first chapter, Secret Agent Robyn came down from Auckland to check out our city. This is her report…
Getting there: The airport bus runs past my place every 20 minutes. I waited for 30 minutes, but there was no sign of the bus. I started to panic and called a taxi. $50 later I was at the airport, but too late for check-in. Oh no! But fate smiled upon me – due to ‘weather’ in Wellington, the plane was late, so they could check me in after all. In Wellington, the taxi to my hotel was cheap, but slow in a way that proves the bypass was a dumb idea. Wellington wins this one for delaying my flight.
Wellington vs. Auckland
A long weekend away provides the perfect opportunity to re-examine the age-old battle. In our first chapter, our agent goes to Auckland. In our next chapter, an enemy agent will come here…
Airport access: Getting to Wellington Airport, from Thorndon via a quick stop in Hataitai to pick up my suitcase took less than half an hour, and the only cost was some grovelling to my mother. Getting to the CBD of Auckland via a shuttle took an hour and cost $26 – that’s 15 minutes longer than the actual flight, and only $13 less than the ticket. Wellington 1, Auckland 0.
Airports: Wellington airport has only one terminal, which is blissfully fast food chain-free and it’s a sexy big space. You can get Fuel coffee, and Wishbone food (which caters to a wide range of dietary requirements) but it’s loud and bustly, and the stools they have at counters are shiny metal and you slip off them. Meanwhile, Auckland Airport may have Burger King and MacDonalds, but they also have a juice bar with those posh award-winning recoverable design style chairs. A tie.
Who’s going to drive you home tonight?
So by now, you’ve voted (you have right? Voting closes today!) and picked out what you’re going to wear to the awards (and if you wear a magenta dress too, I might just have to cut you), so have you settled upon your public transport options as to how you’re going to get home afterwards? If you’re going to be drinking, you of course can’t drive. And we’re not recommending you leave before midnight, so that means the buses are out. Unless you’re planning on walking (which we advise you to do in pairs, naturally), you’re probably going to get a taxi. How about you try out a Green Cab? Their all-Prius fleet and commitment to planting trees to offset their carbon, along with their “ ‘ethics first business second” mantra sits happily with the dirty lefty hippies of the Wellingtonista. Plus, their cabs stand out, so if you take one home in a less than awake state, you’ll know who to call in the morning if you leave something in the cab, and their police-checked drivers should mean you’ll get safely home.
Disclaimer: I’ve never actually riden in a Green Cab. Yet. But I like the idea. And they have a free number to call – 0508 4 47336 (0508 4 GREEN), which is great for those who are creditly challenged!