I’ve been involved in a very worthwhile project called The Ripple Effect, check it out!

New Zealand, Wellington | No Comments »

A speech I gave at Toastmasters recently.  This was Speech 7, ‘Research your speech’, and my goal was to explain the basics of how nuclear power plants work to a lay audience, using the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant as the prime example.  Also the word of the day was’perturbed’.  :-) Note: My aim here [...]

Catastrophes, Education, New Zealand, Personal, Science, Technology, Wellington | 1 Comment »

Wellington City Council has released a list of Wellington buildings considered to be at risk in a major earthquake. I’ve made a simple webpage which uses the data in that list to build a map of the earthquake-prone buildings in Wellington. Check it out at quake.howison.co.nz

Catastrophes, New Zealand, Personal, Science, Technology, Wellington | 1 Comment »

A while ago we (Phil, Leanne, Jess and I) went on a great trip to Matiu/Somes Island with our sister, making it a four-Howison outing! I took a few panoramas.  What can I say, it’s just kind of my thing I guess!  :-) View over Wellington overlooking the lighthouse View of Petone from the WWII [...]

Free market environmentalism, Holidays, New Zealand, Personal, Photos, Science, Wellington | 1 Comment »

A quick little panorama (stitched together from 3 photos using Hugin) taken today on my way down Pope St to the Plimmerton train station. We’ve had beautiful weather for several days in a row … it’s getting dangerously hot and sunny, time to start wearing sunscreen and silly hats I think.

Art, Holidays, New Zealand, Personal, Photos, Wellington | 1 Comment »

Another speech which I gave at my Toastmasters club. This is for Speech 6: Vocal Variety.  In retrospect the topic didn’t really suit the vocal variety goals I was meant to aim for, but I think I did succeed in slowing down, speaking louder, two things I have been trying to improve on. Clutter.  Mess.  [...]

New Zealand, Personal, Wellington | 5 Comments »

Yet another anti-alcohol study has popped up: Otago University researchers say people are more likely to binge if there’s an off-licence nearby. Otago University Professor Jennie Conner says … “We found that the more liquor outlets you live close to the more harm you’re likely to report from drinking”. A classic case of poor science [...]

Brewing, Education, Free Speech, Freedom, New Zealand, Science | No Comments »

I went on my first tramping trip in the Tararuas last weekend (8 – 10 October) with my friend David who I met through iPredict. I hadn’t gone into the wild since our Orongorongo Valley trip in January 2009, so I jumped at the chance when David mentioned he was going bush. I told my [...]

New Zealand, Personal, Photos, Resilience, Wellington | 3 Comments »

Only a week after my discovery of a disgustingly thorough example of the Broken Windows Fallacy, another example pops up, this time from the Herald’s Business Editor, Liam Dann. Disaster forces Govt to spend up The earthquake in Christchurch is a disaster … But one upside … is that nature has unleashed the biggest job [...]

Catastrophes, Education, New Zealand, Quotable, Skepticism | 10 Comments »

Now that I have a proper garage, I am getting back into my woodworking. Here are my latest projects. Vodka Bottle Coffee Table – More DIY How To Projects Folding Wooden Stepladder – More DIY How To Projects

Education, New Zealand, Personal, Photos, Technology, Wellington | No Comments »