Idealog

Idealog magazine
 
 

Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

Possibly the biggest problem with internal combustion engines and oil-based fuels is that they work too well. A litre of petrol goes a long way, and diesel even further. For instance, BMW’s Hydrogen 7 uses 14 litres per 100km of petrol, but up to 60 litres of the clean-burning hydrogen. Ethanol is easy to make, but creates lots of smog-inducing ozone at ground level.

Electric then? Clean, green and efficient, that’s the electric car for you. But Dr Jonathan Leaver of Unitec’s Department of Engineering begs to differ on the practicality of electrically propelled vehicles; read our roundup of hydrogen v electric and find out why.

 

Lauren take a bow

Our very own Lauren Bartlett got her just desserts at the Qantas Media Awards last week, taking out the Junior Magazine Feature Writer 2009 Award.

What does it take a snag a Qantas? Lauren’s winning work from last year includes a look at the New Zealanders creating born-again-ware and a new generation of entrepreneurial Kiwi scientists. Congratulations, Lauren!

 

Oh no, bro

The New Zealand Entrepreneurial Summit this week saw some great ideas—so why was the most-loved idea the most misguided? Vincent Heeringa ponders the result on the Idealog blog. Let us know if you (dis)agree.

Today and over the weekend we’ll be at the inspiring X|Media|Lab shindig at Auckland’s Hilton, where Kiwis with creative ideas are being coached by local and visiting mentors—and some of them even have money to fund our startups. Some of these ideas are deserving, so we hope they meet their (financial) makers. We’ll be blogging XML live on our website and at Idealog TV, so tune in.

 

Getting the message across

The function of a bridge is to allow people to cross obstacles that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to negotiate. That is the purpose of the Auckland Harbour Bridge as well, but it’s limited to motorised vehicles only, making it a barrier to cyclists and pedestrians.

There’s a lively debate on whether or not this is fair enough, but it’s such a short distance and Auckland weather’s generally great, so … it just feels right to have a bridge traversable by means of human power. The harbour is beautiful and best enjoyed not in a car or a bus.

It’s also a little hard to imagine us as a country with a sustainability focus if only fossil-fuel vehicles can make it across the bridge.

Besides, I’m sick of being gouged by rotten “public” transport operators that put the fare stages on the middle of the bridge, making the short trip across cost twice as much as it should, and $50 cab return cab rides for travelling less than ten kilometres, or ferries that are rarer than hen’s teeth.

This Sunday, May 24, at 9am come rain or shine, it’s time to challenge the notion that the Auckland Harbour Bridge isn’t for cyclists and pedestrians. Step over to the GetAcross website for more details on the meet.

 

To actually get across

It’s one thing to say you want to be able to cycle across the bridge but you need to have gear for it too. For commuters, this can be a headache because there’s usually nowhere to store bikes safely—not even on the street.

One answer to that problem is foldable bikes, but they tend to compromise too much on rideability to be much use, and they look ridiculous as well.

Areaware has been working on making foldable bikes that don’t compromise on rideability and looks, and the latest IFMODE seems as if it could be the bridge commuter’s dream ride. Unfortunately, it’s about US$2,600

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8IkohMLb8s

 

Rubberduckzilla and grenades

Right, back to normal programming. The Rubberduckzilla spot for Oasis something-that-isn’t-water seems to be going gangbusters in terms of ad-land props at the moment. Not sure it would work in every demographic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO5A8XTUg0Q

 

This is good stuff though: a new ad from the local Saatchi office that looks at road safety from a very different angle. An explosive one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1Qt6VwI7ek

 

It’s elementary

Here’s a film that’ll be labelled iconoclastic faster than quick. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law star in the upcoming Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes movie that looks set to break all the traditions around the Victorian super-sleuth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4K3aM5H5KM

 

 

A subjective camera

Auckland photographer Patrick Reynolds will be exhibiting at the John Leech Gallery, corner Wellesley and Kitchener Streets, exploring transformative qualities of light amongst other things.

Furthermore, Reynolds and HOME magazine editor Jeremy Hansen will discuss the exhibition and the poetry of photography on Saturday at 1pm at the John Leech Gallery.

The exhibition runs from Tuesday, May 26 until June 19.

 

Quote of the week

“I agree with John Key that we can prepare for when the world starts growing again, but the priorities seem wrong. I don’t think a cycleway is the stuff of 21st century change … there is no evident shifting of gear; there is nothing that says New Zealand will come out of this recession with a different kind of economy.”

—Cyclist and sceptic Bette Flagler pans the national cycleway. What should we do with the money? Naturally, Bette has some ideas.

 

More at Idealog online

Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.

  Juha Saarinen
  Ideologue, Weekly

Also in Idealog Weekly …

Article illustration2010-08-27 13:26:59: 128 pages of pure gold
Article illustration2010-08-20 11:51:54: Total Semi-Permanent
Article illustration2010-08-13 13:18:18: Life through a lens
Article illustration2010-08-06 13:54:12: Pie in the sky
Article illustration2010-07-23 14:16:23: The bounce factor
Article illustration2010-07-09 13:46:23: The future is now
Article illustration2010-07-02 14:45:16: Sneaking around
Article illustration2010-06-25 13:52:07: Making their mark
Article illustration2010-06-18 14:18:59: From C-student to CEO
Article illustration2010-06-11 12:59:50: Walking the talk
Article illustration2010-06-04 12:06:56: Stars of the small screen
Article illustration2010-05-28 13:27:44: A job well done
Article illustration2010-05-21 11:38:39: Story of my life
Article illustration2010-05-14 13:34:52: Where are the asteroids?
Article illustration2010-05-07 15:03:09: Get your fancypants on
Article illustration2010-04-30 14:44:05: Ready, aim, fire
Article illustration2010-04-23 15:11:14: Lean machine
Article illustration2010-04-16 13:38:34: It's better when it's free
Article illustration2010-04-09 11:11:34: Good fortune
Article illustration2010-04-01 13:47:45: Forward thinking
Article illustration2010-03-26 14:58:28: Back to basics
Article illustration2010-03-19 12:43:58: End of the road
Article illustration2010-03-12 14:29:30: Under the sea
Article illustration2010-03-05 14:32:56: Race to the bottom
Article illustration2010-02-26 14:43:20: Small but mighty
Article illustration2010-02-19 14:43:04: A taste of what's to come
Article illustration2010-02-12 16:27:05: The case for saving science
Article illustration2010-02-05 11:20:54: Betting on the bell curve
Article illustration2010-01-29 11:43:43: Urban facelift
Article illustration2010-01-22 12:46:42: Back to business
Article illustration2009-12-18 12:32:14: An Idealog year
Article illustration2009-12-11 11:32:17: Cultivating creativity
Article illustration2009-12-04 12:41:50: Beating the data maze
Article illustration2009-11-27 13:20:20: Into the wild
Article illustration2009-11-20 12:09:59: Clever Kiwi
Article illustration2009-11-13 15:24:34: Behind the scenes
Article illustration2009-11-06 16:14:16: The garlic solution
Article illustration2009-10-30 17:36:54: Man of the moment
Article illustration2009-10-23 18:20:02: By the numbers
Article illustration2009-10-16 16:18:27: Pavlova principles
Article illustration2009-10-09 18:53:36: The secret of the songbook
Article illustration2009-10-02 14:52:56: Free and easy
Article illustration2009-09-25 14:58:12: What the world wants
Article illustration2009-09-18 14:58:12: A slice of the pie
Article illustration2009-09-11 16:16:54: Walking man
Article illustration2009-09-06 22:39:01: A calmer kind of business
Article illustration2009-08-28 16:14:07: We have issues
Article illustration2009-08-21 14:15:49: Mincing about in waistcoats
Article illustration2009-08-14 15:16:48: Wired on pop culture
Article illustration2009-08-07 14:33:11: Trust is not a commodity
Article illustration2009-07-31 14:05:29: Fuzzy logic
Article illustration2009-07-24 12:44:11: Game of life
Article illustration2009-07-17 15:07:41: Grape expectations
Article illustration2009-07-10 15:55:03: Blade runners
Article illustration2009-06-26 17:29:25: Poorly pleased
Article illustration2009-06-19 13:07:47: The giver
Article illustration2009-06-12 15:09:07: Buggy on down
Article illustration2009-06-05 13:15:14: Brand Cambo
Article illustration2009-05-15 13:37:38: Rugger blogger
Article illustration2009-05-08 16:19:47: Get on our cloud
Article illustration2009-05-01 14:23:55: Easy Tiger
Article illustration2009-04-24 10:45:23: Tiki tacky
Article illustration2009-04-17 15:41:21: The not-so-great indoors
Article illustration2009-04-03 15:41:21: A site for sore eyes
Article illustration2009-03-27 12:01:53: Dual control
Article illustration2009-03-20 12:41:29: Worth their Alt
Article illustration2009-03-13 11:40:07: Biofuels or bio-fools?
Article illustration2009-03-06 13:06:03: It's electrifying
Article illustration2009-02-27 12:05:00: Experience-rich and theory-poor
Article illustration2009-02-13 10:17:02: Own your mistakes
Article illustration2009-02-05 11:08:46: Rules—made to be broken
Article illustration2009-01-30 12:13:46: Money: that's what I want
Article illustration2008-12-05 12:15:14: Framed by the thousands
Article illustration2008-11-21 10:07:48: In the Loop
Article illustration2008-11-14 12:30:00: Your good health
Article illustration2008-11-07 15:29:37: Misfits of science
Article illustration2008-10-31 00:00:00: No absence of colour
Article illustration2008-10-24 12:55:16: Plain-speaking Peri
Article illustration2008-10-17 15:17:07: Rebels with a cause
Article illustration2008-10-10 14:53:35: Seoulipsism
Article illustration2008-09-26 13:20:53: Don't label us
Article illustration2008-09-19 14:37:12: Bloody Graham
Article illustration2008-09-19 14:17:45: Dream proposition
Article illustration2008-09-05 15:21:48: Taxi!!!
Article illustration2008-08-29 11:24:08: Up-Skilling on Idealog TV
Article illustration2008-08-08 12:00:07: Strange journey
Article illustration2008-08-01 15:17:10: SMElly and happy
Article illustration2008-07-25 13:24:35: What a dive
Article illustration2008-07-18 12:19:42: Softly and woolly does it
Article illustration2008-07-11 11:59:13: The saviour from Timaru
Article illustration2008-07-04 14:50:24: Last laugh
Article illustration2008-06-27 10:56:38: King Kev
Article illustration2008-06-20 12:20:14: Slow ART
Article illustration2008-06-13 11:56:13: Killing two birds with methane
Article illustration2008-06-06 11:41:39: A combine harvester
Article illustration2008-05-30 11:55:00: Gold paint
Article illustration2008-05-23 12:01:40: Rock, out
Article illustration2008-05-16 10:44:03: Goodwill hunting
Article illustration2008-05-09 11:53:04: No wine jokes please
Article illustration2008-05-02 11:51:55: Who's bad?
Article illustration2008-04-24 13:23:02: Succession success
Article illustration2008-04-18 13:41:43: Out now or thereabouts
Article illustration2008-04-11 12:52:49: Paint by numbers
Article illustration2008-04-04 14:24:53: Reincarnated good
Article illustration2008-03-28 15:26:16: Making it
Article illustration2008-03-20 17:03:39: Knock three times
Article illustration2008-03-14 12:31:52: The customer is always tight
Article illustration2008-03-07 11:56:55: Beautiful words
Article illustration2008-02-28 12:55:22: Goodnight, I'm off to work
Article illustration2008-02-22 12:15:19: The art issue
Article illustration2008-02-15 11:31:15: Straight to the top
Article illustration2008-02-08 16:05:53: H for hot
Article illustration2007-12-13 14:52:13: Nothing in common? Perfect
Article illustration2007-12-06 12:50:32: Who needs a beer?
Article illustration2007-11-30 12:37:37: Dirty secret goes public
Article illustration2007-11-23 13:28:24: Don't speak
Article illustration2007-11-16 17:01:13: Worthy work (and free beer)
Article illustration2007-11-02 20:07:12: East meets best
Article illustration2007-10-25 12:47:59: Raid the fridge
Article illustration2007-10-19 09:18:05: Looking good
Article illustration2007-10-13 10:20:34: Can't miss it
Article illustration2007-10-05 12:55:52: Fresh meat delivery
Article illustration2007-09-28 11:49:23: If the walls had eyes
Article illustration2007-09-21 04:13:23: Phoenix rising
Article illustration2007-09-15 04:32:01: Can we fix it? Yes we can
Article illustration2007-09-06 19:00:00: Feats of social engineering
Article illustration2007-08-31 09:01:09: Doesn't bite
Article illustration2007-08-24 13:21:33: Telling us where to go
Article illustration2007-08-16 23:00:00: Tomorrow time
Article illustration2007-08-10 12:15:51: Going West
Article illustration2007-08-03 12:35:31: How to ... be your business
Article illustration2007-07-27 14:11:06: Freaky food
Article illustration2007-07-20 15:05:00: Meet the neighbours
Article illustration2007-07-12 12:16:19: Free Hollie
Article illustration2007-07-06 09:03:58: Green queen
Article illustration2007-06-29 08:59:24: The truth about youth
Article illustration2007-06-21 16:03:33: Walk this way
Article illustration2007-06-14 17:58:53: Times ten
Article illustration2007-06-07 15:13:55: The ape woman needs a label
Article illustration2007-06-01 08:51:45: Impossible is something
Article illustration2007-05-25 14:53:52: Yeah, we're still here
Article illustration2007-05-11 14:43:35: Trophy time
Article illustration2007-05-03 15:49:14: Friends with the band
Article illustration2007-04-23 23:00:00: Why worry?
Article illustration2007-04-19 16:08:21: Done by the big jobs
Article illustration2007-04-12 22:34:29: A rockin' good read
Article illustration2007-04-05 13:54:05: No fear
Article illustration2007-03-29 21:54:07: Out to pasture
Article illustration2007-03-22 15:38:14: Hip-hop and The Human Touch
Article illustration2007-03-15 14:27:49: Crazy Frog and Billy T
Article illustration2007-03-10 01:00:00: The Benadryl edition
Article illustration2007-03-01 14:30:53: We can be Xero
Article illustration2007-02-22 17:17:14: Back on board
Article illustration2006-12-15 12:34:29: Free beer
Article illustration2006-12-08 11:09:40: December 8, 2006
Article illustration2006-12-01 10:13:51: December 1, 2006
Article illustration2006-11-24 13:38:37: November 24, 2006
Article illustration2006-11-16 12:08:37: November 16, 2006
Article illustration2006-11-09 12:13:04: November 9, 2006
Article illustration2006-11-03 13:27:12: November 3, 2006
Article illustration2006-10-26 13:39:26: October 26, 2006
Article illustration2006-10-19 16:11:46: October 19, 2006
Article illustration2006-10-12 17:31:36: October 12, 2006
Article illustration2006-10-06 10:16:05: October 6, 2006
Article illustration2006-09-28 16:19:29: September 28, 2006
Article illustration2006-09-21 15:42:31: September 21, 2006
Article illustration2006-09-14 13:56:38: September 14, 2006
Article illustration2006-09-07 00:00:00: September 7, 2006
Article illustration2006-08-31 00:00:00: August 31, 2006
Article illustration2006-08-24 00:00:00: August 24, 2006
Article illustration2006-08-17 00:00:00: August 17, 2006
Article illustration2006-08-11 00:00:00: August 11, 2006
Article illustration2006-08-03 00:00:00: August 3, 2006
Article illustration2006-07-27 00:00:00: July 27, 2006
Article illustration2006-07-21 00:00:00: July 21, 2006
Article illustration2006-07-13 00:00:00: July 13, 2006
Article illustration2006-07-06 00:00:00: July 6, 2006
Article illustration2006-06-29 00:00:00: June 29, 2006
Article illustration2006-06-22 00:00:00: June 22, 2006
Article illustration2006-06-15 00:00:00: June 15, 2006
Latest Idealog Weekly Latest issue: 128 pages of pure gold
Idealog Weekly: Rich with ideas in your inbox every Friday

Sign up now!

Tweeted

  • Fetching tweets …
Follow Idealog on Twitter

Overheard

Idealog is published by

AUT Media

Idealog is supported by

IBM

Image Centre

TelstraClear

 

Most useful

Six random stories

Most commented

Most collectible

Idealog t-shirt