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

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.

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!
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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.

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.

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
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
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

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.
“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.
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


Next time you're in Barcelona make sure you stay at the famous Hotel Palace where Antipodes is stocked in the mini-bars and served in the restaurant. …
You mean pushing the BS envelope.how can a carparking building be sustainable. Doesnt matter how many wind turbines you put on it......cars arent sustainable in their current guise. It like ... …
cool idea..but is it a smooth wipe too!? …
Really never thought that she was a New Zealander, her artwork is sooooooo unquie. Really one of my inspirations now :D …
At last a N.Z. building design that is original,creative and exciting. So different from the standard rectangular concrete and marble structures that have become the N.Z.standard over many years. Well ... …
Oh my. Very excited about this! Saw the doco at the festival a few years back and it was both funny and moving - can't imagine how kick-ass it will ... …