It’s true – Skype works . I spoke to my brother in Aus and the line was crystal clear – no issues at all. I recommend it for free calls to other skype users. No hassle to install, and after running a scan with Ad-aware I found no nasties related to skype, although I have picked up the welchia worm. AVG is removing that now…. no it’s not – Ad-aware will have to do it.

Skype – free internet calls that work? With no spyware? You’re kidding me right? My bro Luke gave me the tip off about this software so I’m gonna get a headset and find out if it really works. Presently it’s in beta and is for Windows only.

I also discovered an online store that I liked called eBuyer

On Thursday Tash saw an ad in the Guardian’s entertainment guide that a documentary course was being held that weekend. We signed up because we saw that the remarkable Sorious Samura was one of the guest speakers. The course was hosted by Ron McCullagh of Insight News . It covered the basics of the technical side of doco making – the camera, filming techniques, sound, lighting, setting up an interview and the like.

A camera ‘move’, for instance following a moving object or tilting the camera the length of a stationary object are much harder than you would think.

The course was well worth it. I’m even thinking about getting a cheap camera or locating an outfit that hires them out.

who’re the wiseguys that found this site by searching for:

line drawings of jesus
life of david gale sucked
jamie oliver fat tongued
what exactly happened in david lynch s mulholland drive
notes buddy spyware
elephant man lisboa (yep – other people have seen him)
underpopulated country new zealand
british nanny pictures (okaaaaay….)

I’m using Bearshare which is part of the gnutella network . I’ve downloaded some Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Split Enz and, hallelujah, gospel. It’s cool, and as much as MP3 is a crappy format, it’s a great way to get a taste of the music – I’ll be following this up by buying a few CDs…

Thought I had a googlewhack but it turns out that it only counts if you use two words.

As we all know, when you download freeware it usually comes with added nasties. I have installed Ad-aware 6.1 from Lavasoft – recommended by yours truly for removing unpleasant spyware from your treasured ‘puter. Best of all, it’s free (and doesn’t come with spyware)!

Holy crap – just read at Ben Poole’s site that Mozilla have changed the name of Pheonix/Firebird to Firefox…. How about calling it er, um, I can’t decide.

A New Zealander looking for local news? Please don’t go to nzoom, the self titled ‘homepage’ for New Zealanders. I usually use stuff.co.nz as my news source. It is run by a newspaper company, and while it looks a little bland, it is well coded and has good selection of news highlights. The other day I decided to start using nzoom as my NZ news source as it is slicker looking and had plenty of stories about the recent Waitangi day fiasco .

At lunchtime today when I visited the site I realised that something was wrong. The headline story related to a viewers poll conducted on Paul Holmes’ nightly show which overwhelmingly found that respondents were in favour of Don Brash’s (leader of the opposition) white reactionary policies on the Treaty of Waitangi, Maori affairs (the only Maori MP in the National Party was sacked last week), and Maori land issues.

Who is Paul Holmes? Last year he called Kofi Annan a ‘cheeky darkie’. He also once ‘threatened’ to go to Australia because he felt he wasn’t getting the respect or financial reward he believed he deserved. Luckily for the Australians he never acted on his word.

This speaks volumes about who watches the Holmes Show, indirectly a lot about the man Paul Holmes, as well as TVNZ’s editorial position.

Happily there was also a story entitled TV3 interview ruled unfair about TVNZ’s rival, TV3, and an interview they conducted with the Helen Clark. A judge ruled that the interview was impartial. In TVNZ’s eagerness to sling mud at the competition by giving a minor story greater emphasis, they have drawn attention to their own editorial hypocrisy.

I confirmed at stuff.co.nz that these were not in fact the top stories (there was no mention of either on the stuff homepage, I didn’t bother to go digging any deeper) but instead the tabloid trash that I have come to expect from TVNZ.

nzoom is not the homepage for New Zealanders. Some New Zealanders perhaps, but not the 63% who support the Prime Minister Helen Clark and her government. Like any politician, Helen Clark has her problems, but she is possibly the best leader New Zealand has had in my lifetime.

As a result of this fracas I’ve discovered scoop.co.nz – plenty of the kind of news I want to read, and at a glance, no discernible bias.

First time I’ve opened my laptop in what seems like weeks… Odd. I’ve been watching a lot of movies, working, generally in hibernation mode. It’s a good time to hibernate as it snowed here last week.

Just watched ‘Amelie’ – what a freaking awesome film! Highly recommended. Feel-good city without the mush or sentimentality.

Last night I saw ‘Lost in Translation’. Yep, it was lost on me, either that or Coppola Jnr intended it to be two hours of self indulgent, arrogant, borderline xenophobic beastliness. Two thirds of the way through the film I realised that I was trapped in a camouflaged rom-com. I don’t mind slow films, some of the best films I have seen move at a slow pace, but I am accustomed to something actually happening. Take evasive action at all costs. Wait for the DVD to come out if you’re still curious.