WARNING: This post is a work in progress, I will change it at whim, improve it and leave it to stagnate for months weeks days.

Official Proclamation

For some reason, my update attempts keep endiing in internet errors....


Greetings all; I'm looking for victims volunteers currently studying or working at Auckland uni to answer a survey for me. I'm doing postgrad marine science and am gathering lots of lovely statistics whimper on what people know/think about marine reserves in New Zealand.

I'm comparing faculties to see if there's a difference between Arts and Business etc - so if you answer nothing else, PLEASE tell me your degree area?

The survey is under the cut, so be warned before clicking!

There are 13 questions, not including basic demographic data. Answer as many questions as you wish – if you don’t know the answer, or nothing fits, leave it blank.
If you would answer, i'd be very grateful, i need more data within two weeks (one week is better!). You can answer in a comment - anon, or not, the statistics wil be anonymous. And comments are screened! (will unhide general questions unless requested otherwise)

And if you are interested in the results, let me know. And if you feel like passing this on to more people... :D let's just say I'd be very happy.

 

( The survey )

 

 

 

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x-posted to journal, inauckland

 And only a few months in, the Ntional government continues to prove their fairness and good judgement.

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/pay+equity+unit+disestablished

(NB pay equity = women's rights. Currently a difference of about 12% )

Pay equity unit disestablished

I love DeviantART sometimes

abandonreality  just reminded me that I wanted to share this - other haunters of metaquotes probably saw it earlier.

http://www.yuletidetreasure.org/archive/74/thisis.html
"This is not a romantic story, despite what the bards may croon about Persephone's delicate beauty and pale bosom or Hades' flashing grey eyes. When a doting wife mistily reminiscences about how her husband swept her off her feet, that statement should not be followed by "and into the very gates of the Underworld itself, where he forced me to languish for nearly a year until my mother threatened to annihilate the whole world into a nuclear winter if I didn't make it home by curfew." Do not bother seeking out the muses for the truth, as they will sing of a tragedy so heartbreaking that it will undoubtedly leave their audience in tears, all composed out of falsehoods and lies. As so often happens, the reality of the lives of Hades and Persephone cannot possibly compare to the epic saga that our imaginations have concocted.

This is not a romantic story. But it is a story of love, nonetheless.

scene one: a comedy of errors (or maybe an error of comedy)

It began as so many great romances do, with their eyes first meeting across a crowded room. Hades didn't venture above his realm often, but it had been the celebration of the birth of yet another god's bastard child, and it was generally considered bad form for a major deity to not show up (although Hades remained completely lost as to why anyone would want the god of the dead at a birth). As for Persephone, Demeter had caught a farmer boy making eyes at her and now refused to let go of her daughter's arm, firmly dragging the protesting girl everywhere she went. Much like how a mosquito can detect blood from over fifty yards away, so the two immediately sensed the presence of a fellow reluctant partygoer and quickly shared a sympathetic glance, followed by the universal eyeroll for "Can you believe this dump?""

---
I have discovered a new webcomic.
http://evil-comic.com/
It has evil corporations, supervillains and ladies walking around in swimsuits.

---

This is an interesting post on the merits of praise and the sensitivity of phrasing... 'trying' versus 'being'
(I had read the study previously, but this poster wrote about it very well.)
http://community.livejournal.com/riverside_hq/297059.html


</lj></lj>

It is commonly accepted that any single young journal in possession of too much whining must be in want of a meme... and seratonation  conveniently provided it.


 1. Name:
2. Birthday:
3. Where do you live:
4: What are you studying/What are you working as:
5. What makes you happy:
6. What are you listening to now/have listened to last:
7. What is particularly good/bad about my LJ:
8. An interesting fact about you:
9. Are you in love/have a crush at the moment:
10. Favorite place to be:
11. Favorite lyric:
12. Best time of the year:
13. Weirdest food you like:

RECOMMEND
1. A film:
2. A book:
3. A song:
4: A band:

PLUS
1. One thing you like about me:
2. Two things you like about yourself:
3. Put this in your lj so I can tell you what I think of you?</lj>

It's Darwin's 200th Birthday/anniversary on Feb the 12th.

I GRADUATE MY BIOLOGY BSC IN DARWIN'S CENTENNIAL.

My year is made. There can be no greater achievement. Post grad? I know of no post grad *lalalala*


Also: attention New Zealanders

http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09%2F01%2F06%2F0351202&from=rss

"Next month, New Zealand is scheduled to implement Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act. The controversial act provides 'Guilt Upon Accusation,' which means that if a file-sharer is simply accused of copyright infringement he/she will be punished with summary Internet disconnection. Unlike most laws, this one has no appeal process and no punishment for false accusation, because they were removed after public consultation. The ISPs are up in arms and now artists are taking a stand for fair copyright."

There's a petition here : http://creativefreedom.org.nz/


Nowhere to be found on any news site, all over the web otherwise. Search 'Guilt Upon Accusation'or 'Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act.' It's due to come into law on the 28th of Feb.

This is realcdaae 's fault.
THESE THINGS ARE FUN when people play
Go forth and make things interesting
(And link me to yours if you do it)

LET'S RING IN SOME

HONESTY

WITH THE NEW YEAR

THE MEME

Just found this in the Herald

Workers to pay large increase in ACC levies from next year

Basically ACC is unaffordable blah blah. Considering it is, I believe, one of the top ranked health insurance systems in the world... 

Not perfect, no. But please to be comparing to the US? or Oz? Or the UK? I believe Switzerland has the best standard of living and their healthcare system is NOT private.

Now, normally, I pass off my reactions to this stuff as emotional and not worthy debating without further evidence.
But a month ago? Talking at home? 
"One of the first thing's National's gonna do is go on about awful ACC is, until it is discredited and then sell it to its friends".

This is ... about the third thing I've seen on those lines. 

Gynandromorphic butterfly!
half-male, half female and very lovely, in zoologists

Also, reread entire BmB archives this week, and moved on to Friendly Hostility...
and this time, I was able to act on sudden impulses to Icon.




>.>
<.<
aaaaanyway. *sidles off*



</lj>

This popped up in metaquotes - never occurred to me it might have an actual video XD

It's raining.

</lj>

Happy Birthday to nostalgiafreak 


Way to remember election day XD

And a little linkage for cause_catyljan 

Nocturnal
  Nocturnal is organised and written by a small but dedicated team of individuals from within the community. It aims to serve our social community in much the way a local newspaper serves a geographical one. This site is an extension of that allowing us to do more and letting you, the community, interact with each other in an environment designed with you in mind.

Uk based Dark alternative online magazine, just getting started, covers literature to music to art etcetera.

For anyone remotely concerned about agriculture, India, suicide, poverty, terminator seeds, GMO, and Monsanto.
This was posted in green_future</lj>
http://community.livejournal.com/green_future/157686.html

from http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1082559/The-GM-genocide-Thousands-Indian-farmers-committing-suicide-using-genetically-modified-crops.html

Reposted from paradox_puree</lj>
Prop 8 postmortem, Part 1: Dissecting History
Prop 8 postmortem, Part 2: Dissecting the Present

Interesting reading.


On the US election:
I am more glad that McCain lost than that Obama won. I do not really trust politicians - or their ability to always control policies - but at least people have voted for a direction, and perhaps it will create a cycle in which they push for policies which encourage further pushes..

A Petition - http://www.petitiononline.com/seg5130/petition.html from seratonation</lj>
First I've heard of it (although it isn't very surprising) so I don't know the ramifications of it, but I'd rather post it than not XD

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGh. Really want to draw something along the lines of Space Pirate Lesbians with Lasery Guns
Of course, I'll get distracted partway...
...this has nothing to do with the first point, just a post relating to this comic just appeared on my friendslist XD


And now, a Poll:
Does Australia exist?
Does the CONCEPT of Australia exist?
Are they the same thing?
Do our physicalities and our concepts agree?
If I hit you, will you agree my stick exists - even if I do not hit you with the stick? or AustraliaWill I be ejected from NZ if I admit Australia exists?
If I admit it exists in a positive fashion?
If I admit the idea of it exists in our shared memetic spaces?
If Godzilla has eaten the residents?
IS it defined by it's people? Is it still Australia with a different population (or... theorised population, as it's existence is still unproven)
Is it anchored by Ayers Rock, and what will happen if Godzilla eats Ayers Rock?
If the residents eat Godzilla?
If Australia interacts with a fictional character, does tha tmean
1) Godzilla exists
2) Australia does not exist?


Discuss further here.

For those people moping about Prop 8 passing:
http://wisclassic.livejournal.com/385037.html

might cheer you up a little bit.

America's catching up to the civilised world! XD *ducks and runs*

Just got my latest Greepeace issue. The relevant articles aren't online,so I took a few photos... with the help of my cat.

Basically?

We're talking FIVE YEARS before there's no ice in the Artic in Summer. The current melting rate is "at least 30-40 years too early according to even the most pessimistic models"

In the coming year many scientists will be talking in terms of mass extinction events.

Current trend is a 7 degree warming - it needs to be under 2.

Fossil fuels need to be gone by 2030-40 at the latest
Global deforestation must end by 2015. Carbon emissions must be zero by 2015.

Click to read


FOR NEW ZEALAND VOTERS because it's the election on Saturday.
- Best is obviously the Greens, 2nd is the Maori Party, 3rd is NZ First.
Labour, Progessive and United Future are all around the middle.
National isn't even trying.


http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/press/releases/labour-and-national-fail-envir-2

* reply to this post with the word MEME and I will pick six of your icons.

* make a post (including this info) and talk about the icons I chose.

* other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.

* this will create a never ending cycle of icon glee.

asgard</lj>picked:
1                                 2                               3                                4                                 5                                6

1. From Kagerou
Appropriate for every post relating to boobies, distraction, innappropriateness, breasts, shock, befuddlement, fascination, boo-bewilderment, and generally dfhdsjfhrt omdfdjfdf!

2. From Looking For Group
Richard, the crazy undead necromancer, in the middle of randomly mocking and destroying some Battlemages. USeful for insanity, threatening moments, and psychosis. Also naming discussions.

3. KITTY.
My cat - who, ogdfnjgf is on my bed again, 'scuse me, her timing is... interesting. That's right cat, you know you aren't allowed on there - my cat in a crazy 'I'm gonna eat you ' mood. The icon for mischief and animals and cute things.

4. ...Terry Pratchett quote. Fairly self explanatory. FOR CACKLING WITH.

5. From this picture - mysteriousness, calming, also for art related topics.


6. Another Kagerou one - the neutral icon.

Self worth and change. Put it in the context of their own experiences and explain why the change is a logical step, not an invalidation of previous actions...

But a useful mindset, and a way to spot when you are possibly halting when you should be moving forward and growing.

http://mantic-angel.livejournal.com/147593.html


Also, my personal analogy was the Concorde Fallacy (see, Biology is definitely useful - Evolution lectures) In that, just because you have invested time and energy (...resources) into something, does not mean it is working/is right for you NOW.

Hmmm.