So tonight was the Silicon Welly magazine launch party (which we twittered about yesterday), and naturally I was there, representing for the Wellingtonista. I was interested to see that in this IT networking occasion, the ratio of guys to girls was about 7/2, and in talking to the rare woman there, I found that – like me – the majority of them worked in project management, comms or organisation. As Wellington’s official Queen of the Geeks Brenda has asked before (sorry, I can’t find the link, maybe she’ll comment with it) – where are all the female programmers at? And if you look at the cover of this issue of Start-Up, you’ll see that only ONE of the Silicon Welly honorees is female. What’s going on, people?

I don’t have the answers, so I suppose all I can do is promote some gender-separate events. Pretty Pretty Pretty which is the girlie site I run with Welllingtonista PAG Amy, is having a big girlie party to celebrate our third (month) anniversary, and if you’re a lady, you’re invited. Meanwhile, in response, the boys are holding another Chap’s Night that you might happen to come across. Enjoy!

I’m a big fan of real-time bus information – electronic signs that use GPS technology to tell you precisely when the next bus is coming, rather than having to rely on the theoretical arrival time of the printed timetable.

These have been up and running in Auckland for a few years now, and when I was living there it made catching a bus just that much easier.

For example, I could avoid sardining myself into a packed bus if I knew there was another one coming along soon. And instead of just waiting at the bus stop, I’d know if I had enough time to grab a coffee or browse in a shop before the bus came, or even walk for a bit to the next stop. And if a bus was running late, I’d know that too.

So it’s exciting to see that the Greater Wellington regional council are in the process of planning a real time bus info system. They have a survey up (running until July 20), wanting to know what sort of information you’d like, how you’d like it delivered, etc. And there’s also the possibility to register interest in being part of a focus group.

Take the survey now plz.

For those of you who’ve never heard of Nanook, Thursday night’s screening at the Film Archive is unmissable.

Widely considered the first feature length documentary ever made (shot in 1922) it’s an exceptional account of Inuit life on the ice.

Using traditional methods (including killing large fish by biting the back of their heads/necks? whatever you call that bit at the top) and hanging out with his “wives” in the harshest of climes, this snapshot of Nanook’s life is even more poignant as he died two years later, lost in a snow storm.

The film later went on to be discredited for “setting-up” traditional hunting methods, raising interesting questions which fit perfectly with the current mediagallery exhibition by Wellington artist Sarah Jane Parton.

She’ll be performing a response to the film live with the musical back up of Henderson/Beban/Crewdson

THIS THURSDAY, 7PM, AT THE FILM ARCHIVE
TICKETS $8 / $6

Film Archive events calendar

The NZ Herald reports that a company named RCG, who are “retail experts” have given ratings to the malls of Aotearoa because, “We thought it timely.”

So I thought it was timely to take a look at what they thought of the malls of the greater Wellington area. Do any of them equal Auckland’s mighty four-star Westfield Albany?

The article is skewed towards Auckland Malls, but it does mention poor North City in Porirua, which is only worth two stars as it is “struggling to achieve good sales”. The article also says that Lower Hutt’s Queensgate “made a big statement” (What, “I’m a mall in Lower Hutt!!!”?), but doesn’t say what the rating is.

But most interestingly, the article notes that the researchers found that “Wellington was bereft of malls”, like that’s a bad thing.

Perhaps it’s because Wellington’s inner city street shopping works so well it hasn’t created a demand for giant malls lurking out in the suburbs.

We have Cuba Mall, and I reckon that’s worth more stars than any dirty ol’ suburban mall out there.

Photo courtesy of Solid State.

We mentioned it before (and reviewed a previous dinner), but if you need further convincing, here’s the menu for the Cellar-Vate Nga Waka dinner on July 9

Nga Waka Three Paddles Sauvignon Blanc ‘07
Corn, capsicum and parsley risotto with goats cheese

Nga Waka Riesling ‘03
Skin-on Terakihi, watermelon, red onion and dill salsa

Nga Waka Martinborough Chardonnay ‘07
Ginger, soy and chilli chicken pieces

Nga Waka Home Block Chardonnay ‘04
Sliced pork ribeye with Dijon, cream and white wine sauce

Nga Waka Pinot Noir ‘06
Rabbit pie, mash and jus

Nga Waka Late Harvest Riesling ‘04
Coconut panna cotta

You don’t get huge portions of anything, but you do get lots of tastebud parties in your mouth, and stimulating conversation. There are still some tickets available for this tasting. Bookings can be made by e-mailing Rebecca – becs[a]cellar-vate.co.nz. The event costs $40.00 a head and starts at 6pm in the Cabinet Room (function suite above the Backbencher).

Congratulations to team Puppy Guts who have only just gone and won the grand final of the 2008 48Hours film competition with their dance short F*DANCE, making them the first Wellington team to do so.

F*DANCE is the tale of a bad-ass finger dancer (you know, when you make dance moves with your fingers) who loses his mojo and must learn the hard way how to finger his way back to the top.

The film impressed the judges enough to make it to the Wellington finals, and was a Peter Jackson wildcard pick (oo-ooh!) for selection in the national finals.

So what impressed the international judges? Was it the humour? The finger dancing? The special effects? Or was it the splendid montage training scene that featured a gruelling finger-run up the Civic Square steps?

Well, whatever it us, team Puppy Guts have done us proud.

As the killer Wellington wind stalks the Wellingtonista towers by day we’ve been seeking solace in beautiful music, as you do. And since a copy of Cassette’s brand new EP Cancer landed in my cold little hands I’ve been able to listen to very little else – other than the howling wind, natch. As their press release says, “If you like eagles, there’s 3 on the cover”. And if you like Cassette, you can catch them at Bodega next week to launch those very same eagles.

Details after the leap

This particular Wellingtonista was sitting at the bus-stop last night, when a lad on a motorbike scooted up, and asked me if I wanted to make use of his now unneeded daytripper pass. Of course I did! $2.80 saved (the cost of a click on my 3-zone ten-trip)! Score!

This led to some discussion on the Wellingtonista list as to other acts of kindness/generosity you can perform for your fellow citizens without any great opportunity cost of your own.

The other obvious one is parking coupons. Got half an hour left when you go to leave? Just roll the ticket up and pop it in the coin slot of the vending machine. Next person to come along will (hopefully) realise they’ve got a freebie, and everyone wins (except the council revenue department, I suppose).

Might I also remind our readers that while the library doesn’t send out overdue reminder notices until after your books/cds/dvds/whatever are overdue (and thus already accumulating late charges), you can use the Library Elf service to send you reminders before the due date. This has saved my family literally hundreds of dollars over the last few years.

Any other suggestions for ways to save people money or, indeed, just to make their lives more pleasant, with a minimal amount of effort on your own behalf? Pop ’em in the comments.