Business & management:
• UK-based Wanderlust magazine readers have voted NZ Top Country for the 2nd year, with Madagascar and Namibia following in 2nd and 3rd.
• The Prince of Wales has repeated his criticism of modern architecture and developers, and believes that British cities are becoming homogenised and indistinguishable from anywhere else in the world, warning against a "rash" of "carbuncles" in the form of office and apartment towers.
• A recent survey of not-for-profit organisations in Australia has found that fraud in these organisations is more likely to be committed by people in their 40s, and the most common motivator for fraud was financial problems or pressures.
• A NZ recruitment company has upgraded its ability to handle enquiries at the Opportunities New Zealand Expos in London and Leeds, as it expects an increasing number of skilled people asking about migrating to NZ.
Education
• Research in the UK has revealed that 1 in 3 children never play outside, and the Schools Minister has warned of “a generation of battery farmed children”.
Environment & sustainability:
• World Wetlands Day was celebrated this week, and only six New Zealand sites are recognised under the International Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The renamed Awarua Wetlands reserve now covers 16 000 hectares in Southland.
• The FAO has spoken out on the environmental and economic damage done by the loss of 20% of the world’s mangrove forests since 1980. NZ on the other hand has a situation of needing to handle spreading mangroves, noted by NIWA in 2003 and followed up by articles in 2007 on problems and solutions in our estuaries.
• The New Zealand Winegrowers association has launched a greenhouse gas calculator on its website, to enable wine growers to assess their carbon footprint.
• “Reduce, re-use, recycle” is not supposed to be a controversial activity, but one US consumer has been accused of tampering with his power meter because he reduced his energy consumption, while another in the UK is being sued for reducing his waste to the point where he no longer puts out any rubbish.
• The “Pacific plastic soup” or the “great Pacific garbage patch” now stretches across the northern Pacific in 2 large patches just below the water surface and shows no signs of diminishing.
Health & wellbeing:
• The Associate Parliamentary Food & Health Forum in UK, has released a report that confirms that food additives and “E-numbers” (colourings, etc) may cause some children to become hyperactive and they should be banned.
• Another study has been released by Japanese researchers, showing that the risk of developing brain tumours for cell phone users is no greater than it is for those who don’t use them.
• Consumer NZ is publishing a new book on how to handle stress. “I've had it up to here: from stress to strength” describes how to develop resilience, the key to making ourselves happier and less stressed. The book is on order at Libraries so holds can be placed.
Law & Government:
• The inaugural World Cities Summit will be in Singapore on 23-25 June 2008, with a theme of “Liveable and vibrant cities”. The Singapore International Water Week will be held 23-27 June 2008 to coincide with the Summit, and has a theme of “Sustainable water solutions for cities”.
• Manchester city council is launching a plan aimed at tackling global warming, that would give it control of all aspects of the city’s energy supply. Unfortunately, this is seen by some as a conflict with its 55% ownership stake in Manchester Airport.
• Central government in the UK has announced further financial support for councils that are introducing equal pay, in an attempt to speed up the process.
• Planning has already begun for Census 2011, with key dates and consultation information to be released at the end of February. In addition, “Quick Stats About a Place” are now interactive online, with the ability to flip between “Quick Stats” and “Tables About A Place”.
People, culture & diversity:
• An Aboriginal community has developed a new method of digital rights management that relies on an individual’s profile to dictate what they can and cannot see in the digital archive.
Science, technology & transport:
• Secure Wi-Fi coverage without the need to invest in expensive infrastructure might be a reality in the near future. University of Cambridge and MIT staff have published a paper describing a Wi-Fi cooperative system that allows sharing with strangers, but is secure and can prevent “freeloading”.
• Egypt , the Middle East and India are having Internet woes – 2 submarine cables in the Mediterranean were cut on the 30th of January, and a 3rd submarine cable has been cut in the Middle East near Dubai.
• RFID (radio frequence ID) tags are being put to an increasing number of uses – from tracking overuse of harmful equipment at work, to toys that can be prompted to present Internet content when an RFID tag comes near.
• Electronic voting is becoming more controversial in the US, as a number of states are re-thinking whether to use it. California has made a decision not to use e-voting, as the machines are “unreliable and are more open to electronic fraud”.
• Earthquake experts from around the world will be in Wellington Feb 18th-22nd to discuss changes in earthquake activity over time, at the Evison Symposium on Seismogenesis & Earthquake Forecasting.
Thursday, 7 February 2008
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