I just discovered that there was an 8 bit computer made in NZ in the early 1980s. It was named the Poly and you can read about it here. I remember going on a Z80 microprocessor course around then and programming it to do things like light chasing. The idea was to use it as a programmable controller, instead of hard-wired circuits. Nobody was talking about personal computers at that stage! By the mid 1980s that had all changed.

This is from a product sheet (for ECC83 valves) made in China:  12AX7A,7025 is the same with 12AX7 and ECC83 in function, electric parameter, and it is the super of low yawp, and is adapt to use in plus amplifier as first grade.

As you can see it looses a bit in translation. I really like this bit " it is the super of low yawp". No point having too much yawp.
This reminds me of the Japanese in the 1970s, when the manufacturing ability got a bit ahead of the translating ability. After about 20 years the transition of Japanese only -> Japanese-English -> English was complete. The Chinese will probably do it quicker.

 

I installed Mavericks, and so far everything still works. Even Pro Tools 10 doesn't seem to mind. The upgrade is free and I had no problems with the installation. Mavericks has 'tags' for files and folders (I preferred the labels), Safari seems a bit faster, and battery running time is improved.

Every town has its High Street, with stories to tell. Since the earthquake Christchurch has been left with more historic spaces than places. The stories of what used to be there are being collected on the High Street Stories website. 

The old Post Office building stood firm through all the shaking (even the parapet). It was built in 1932, just after the Napier earthquake. Around 100 reinforced concrete piles were sunk 35' into the ground and a 15" concrete pad was poured for the foundation. The style is stripped classical, and it stands out (in every way) as a triumph of over-engineering. 

Since I is one. You can read about whats makes us tick here. Handy knowledge for introverts to understand themselves, and for extroverts to understand us better too. For more on this subject, check out these two books:
The Introvert Advantage by Marti Olsen Laney, and Quiet by Susan Cain.

The video at this site has some interesting information about the world's rich and poor. For example, the richest 300 people have the same wealth as the poorest 3 billion.

The Louis Vuitton Cup match racing has finally begun. This time there are only 3 challengers to Oracle, and of those Team NZ have the best pedigree (having won the America's Cup twice). So it will probably come down to NZ vs USA.
Not everyone considers this contest as a worthy sport, but I watch it with interest (as an old sea-dog). More than that, it is good for the boating industry as new designs are tried and the boats are pushed to the limit. It didn't hurt NZ tourism either when NZ was the defender and the racing was held at Auckland. Some say it is a rich man's sport, but it is no different to any international sport. The sailors started long ago in P class yachts and worked their way up.
Besides, punters love a bit of controversy in sport, and the America's Cup certainly does not disappoint in this regard.

Apple have announced the new Mac Pro that will be available later this year. It is a new design in the shape of a tube (quite small too - it is only 10" high). This allows for better cooling, which enables quite a leap in performance.

http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/

Quizlet is a website where people upload flashcard type quizzes on many topics. Worth a look. You can also save any set as a pdf.

If, like me you frequently need to change monitor settings (eg mirroring) because you also use an external display or data projector then finding that Apple have removed the ability to show monitor settings in the menu bar is annoying. Thankfully, there is a 3rd party utility available named "Display Menu" It's free and can be downloaded from the Mac Apple Store.