My parade was rained upon. Possibly what some of our boys in black said on Saturday night in Dunedin, as the dastardly French with a Coq on their chest out muscled them. Why anyone wants to have one of those on their chest is beyond me. Then on Sunday,... Read More

Last week Apple announced the new iPhone 3GS ('S' for speed) and a new HTC Android phone was sent out for trials by Vodafone. Android is an operating system by Google made for mobile phones. Its not the actual devices themselves I am interested... Read More

One of the worst kept secrets in Tauranga was finally let out of the bag this week when Sun Media launched its new daily, instant news portal, SunLive. It's been several years in the making, but finally the long-anticipated BOP daily news site burst... Read More

News just in. Hummer, the military shortcut for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee) the wagon that North Americans, the world's police, prefers to transport guys into 'hot-spots' of the world has just been bought by a big Chinese... Read More

The weekend brought a real dose of doom and gloom to the country. No, it wasn't swine flu or more bad news on the economic recession - The All Blacks Got Beaten. We must live in the only country in the world where losing a rugby game can send the whole... Read More

Living in a household of males it is difficult to avoid having to watch the Warriors, the All Blacks and the Black Caps all in one weekend. Thank heavens the Warriors won. Otherwise the sporting performances matched the weekend's weather…... Read More

So, how is the turnover of business? Has it improved over the last 12 months or got worse? What about your gross profit, or your stock on hand, or your cash flow? Or what about your average sale price - is it better or worse than it was a year... Read More

I was driving to Rotorua last week and realised how crazy it is to think any of us, myself included, can target 'all women' or 'all professional women'. It's a little like trying to target 'all those with hair'. Our business could not function if... Read More

Queen Victoria once said if her people had plenty of good beer, there would be no revolution. How things change. There's a beer revolution today that's a welcome revolt for fans of great beer. It's spear-headed by independent, small-production... Read More

Exams. Three months of lectures, notes and readings summed up in three hours. Employers will be greatly reassured to discover their future employees' entire educational knowledge takes just three hours to communicate. This stressful time sends students... Read More

It is with a heavy heart I report the mythical 'average” rate in Tauranga will rise by about 11-12 per cent or $150, including GST but excluding water. This is more than the draft budget proposed at 9.1 per cent ($123 approximately) but less... Read More

It has been so quiet down on The Strand this week, I've had time to reflect and ramble on about how I have seen things in the two-legger world over the last few days, through the eyes of 'the chocolate crusader'. The reason I am qualified to pass judgement... Read More