Is a Mans World

New Zealand landspeed record attempt.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:59:00 +0000

A Young New Zealand businessman by the name of Richard Nowland has set his sights on the New Zealand and Australian land speed records, The attempt will take place next year and the project is called Jetblack.

All components and design will be of New Zealand origin. The car will be constructed with a high-strength steel space frame with composite body,The high strength aerospace frame construction design will ensure that the frame remains strong enough to withstand 1000km/h+ speeds but is light enough to allow fast acceleration. It will be 8.25m in length and 2.3m wide and will weigh an estimated 3,700kg.

Jetblack's power will come from a Rolls Royce Avon 206 turbojet with 11,250lb of thrust which is equal to about 22,000 horsepower. The engine was designed and developed in Great Britain in the early 60's it had a number of design changes and upgrades. The Rolls Royce Avon 206 turbojet is originally from an RAF English Electric ‘Canberra' bomber and weighs over 1200kg.

Richard Nowland's first goal is the New Zealand land speed record of 348km/h (216mph), set by Owen Evans in a Porsche. He also intends to claim the Australian record which is held by Rosco McGlashan (498mph - or just over 800km/h).The ultimate goal is 1000km/h which will make Jetblack one of the fastest vehicles on earth.

The bodyshell will be made entirely from carbon-fiber. Modular sections will be used to allow for easy access to the car's vital components such as the engine, wheels and suspension system, wheels will be 30-inch diameter solid aluminum which are up to aerospace grade.

Richard's timetable now looks like this: final aerodynamic work done by the end of this year. Construction start early next year. First speed attempt on South Australia's salt Lake Gairdner - its flat runs 15 times longer than the famous US Bonneville track - by the end of 2009.

New Zealand, Not all its cracked up to be.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 08:33:00 +0000

I'm a little bit pissed off with the way Men are treated when it comes to child support and its about time that something was done about it. Here in New Zealand if a couple separate and children are involved in the separation, The government decides how much the Man pays for support, Whether it was the woman who kicked the man out or not, Its always the man who is responsible, If the Man applies for legal custody of his children he has to prove that she is an unfit mother, Even if the woman has provided evidence (In writing) that she cant support the children financially, They still wont be taken away from her even though the Man can afford to keep them.The system is screwed.

The Inland revenue department here in New Zealand say that a couple with Two children can live on NZ$29,000 per year, That's approximately US$17,000 or 10,000 pounds. You tell me how that is possible, That barely covers food and fuel expenses for a year here in New Zealand.

Know matter what happens in our elections here in New Zealand on the 8th of November, Nothing will change. All politicians are the same and government departments are a bunch of money hungry thieves that only care about beneficiaries. Meanwhile us hard working people that do the right thing and follow the law keep getting shafted. Welcome to my world, New Zealand, No longer the land of the long white cloud but the land of the endless black cloud, Where everyday is a drag.

Bye Entrecard.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 04:49:00 +0000

As some of my readers will be aware, Ive been working away for the past couple of weeks, I enjoyed my time away but have enjoyed being away from Entrecard more than that, So i have decided that Entrecard has to go. I will still continue to blog for the meantime but will make a decision whether or not to give it all away in the near future.

Thank you to all those fantastic people ive met on Entrecard and i hope to have future contact with many of you.

Best of luck to everyone and i wish you all the greatest of success with your blogs.

Not posting

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 07:26:00 +0000

As most of you will be aware, I haven't posted for quite some time, Well, it will be a while longer yet before i do.
I'm currently working in the beautiful south island city of Christchurch in New Zealand and i wont be home for a couple of weeks, So my posting etc will have to wait, My lovely wife has been doing my dropping for me but who knows how long she will do it for.
If i get kicked out of Entrecard for not posting, then so be it. Some of us have a life away from blogging.

Thank you everybody.

Amazing Burj Dubai.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:18:00 +0000

The Burj Dubai is getting a lot closer to completion, It truly looks amazing.

Here are just a few of the milestones that have made it what it is today.

January, 2004 - Construction begins.
20 September, 2004 - The first concrete is poured for the foundation.
26 June, 2005 - Gulf News reports that the estimated total cost for the Burj Dubai complex rises to US$5,500,000,000.
16 July, 2005 - Construction Week magazine reports that the designers of the Burj Dubai are reconsidering their decision to use stainless steel on the exterior of the tower because prices have jumped from US$400 a ton to $2,200 in just two years.
March 23, 2006 - The Associated Press reports that 2,500 construction workers rioted because of low pay and poor treatment doing an estimated US$1,000,000 damage. Thousands of construction workers at other Dubai projects also went on a sympathy strike.
April 16, 2006 - AME Info reports that the Burj Dubai is going to be at least 200 stories tall.
September 1, 2006 - Construction reaches 70 stories.
October 1, 2006 - Construction reaches 75 stories.
October 31, 2006 - Construction reaches 80 stores and 850 feet / 259 meters. That height makes it taller than the tallest building in Europe.
October 1, 2006 - Construction reaches 75 stories.

November 11, 2006 - ITP Business reports that construction of the tower is being delayed by a shortage of exterior cladding material.
January 16, 2007 - Construction reaches 100 stories.
April 6, 2007 - The Burj Dubai reaches a record-breaking 120 stories.
August 29, 2007 - The Burj Dubai passes the CN Tower in height, making it the world’s tallest free-standing structure.
May 12, 2008 - This building reaches 2,063 feet and seven inches, making it the tallest man-made object on Earth.
September 11, 2008. Burj Dubai exceeds 700 meters.
December 30, 2008 - The original anticipated completion date.
September, 2009 - Anticipated completion date.

September thanks.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:51:00 +0000

Its the 1st of the month again, Here are my best of the month.

Software Outsourcing to China takes out my successful ad for the month and BMW Rules ... The world as I see it takes out my biggest commenter again.

Congratulations and thank you both.

Thank you also to everybody else ive advertised with and thank you to all the people who have dropped on me.

Entrecard taxes to high.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:20:00 +0000

All these new rules that have been shoved down our throats on Entrecard are a bit pathetic. The one that really gets me are the rules set down for sending EC to another person. They are as follows:-

A transaction fee of 12.5%, which is deducted from the sender. Limited to14 transfers outside your linked blogs in a week. You cannot send more than 1000ec total outside your linked blogs in a week.

We are already taxed 75% for running ads on our blogs and now a further 12.5% for transfering EC. This is getting pathetic, I honestly had no idea that the state of the Entrecard economy was that bad. I would have thought banning the external sales of Entrecard credits would have been enough to increase the sale value of Entrecard.

I honestly don't think there is any appreciation to all of us for making Entrecard the success that it is (or was). Many of us have been with Entrecard for many months and have seen so many changes and most have been really good for the community, Now this.......

When sports go professional its all about money, Not the passion or the pride for your country/state etc. Same has happened to Entrecard unfortunately.

I can see future contests stating that you can win 50,000ec less a 12.5% transaction fee, Or potential sponsors sponsoring 875ec instead of 1000ec.

I like the new pricing structure though.

Internet @ work.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:02:00 +0000

I was reading an article the other day stating that most people spend over 25 per cent of their time online at work on personal activities, The most common online activities include online trading sites, instant messaging/chat services and peer-to-peer sharing sites (allowing movie, music and software sharing) and of course personal e-mails (80 per cent of emails sent by volume in the workplace are personal).

Some company directors and/or managers are often unaware what was happening on networks under their control, Then there are bosses that know what goes on and there attitude is a happy worker is a good worker, But then there are those bosses that just take and take from the workers and make assumptions that their staff are up to no good, because thats what they would do.

Is reading, writing and sending personal e-mails at work wasting company time? What about online banking? Is it more time efficient to let staff do their banking online than having them leave the office for half an hour?.What about illegal downloading?, Its the company (not the employee) that would face the legal implications if investigators tracked who was downloading movies and music, But im sure employers will get a lot tougher after the Copyright (New Technologies) Amendment Act is brought in to force later this year. The act says that internet service providers should think about implementing a policy providing termination for customers who have not respected copyrighted material.

I guess it all comes down to how much the boss respects his or her workers because studies have shown that social networking can be an asset to a company.

Husband makes lunch.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:15:00 +0000

I received this e-mail today, It is supposed to represent the typical male, I will let you be the judge. I'm betting that the women will agree.

One night, a young wife asks her husband, for the 1st time in their 3 year marriage, if he minds making the next day's lunches for them both.

He is devastated by this request, and has a short power nap to gain the energy required to undertake such a strenuous task.
After all, his wife has only worked during the day, went shopping after work for groceries, cooked him dinner, cleaned up after dinner and ironed a shirt for him to wear to work the next day.
Surely, she can do this. After all, he did go to work today.

The young husband finds the strength to begin lunch. After all, he is the stronger of the two, and is willing to carry the heavy burden, if only to give his wife more time to rest.
Shortly afterwards, he informs his beautiful young wife that he has conquered the impossible, and has prepared lunch, despite the lack of energy his tired body has. Don't forget, he did work today.
Surprised, his wife went to the fridge to see what he had prepared so quickly. Looking inside, she couldn't find the lunch he so proudly prepared.

'Where is our lunch honey?' The young wife asks her loving husband.

I placed it on the second shelf of the fridge. My lunch is the one on the left, and yours is on the right' He responds from the bedroom, the task having tired him out, he is already recovering in bed.

Can you see the lunch he 'prepared'?

Look closely at the last picture, What a legend.

Project Wonderful, Monetary gain or advertising?

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:31:00 +0000

I have project wonderful on my site and its usually full, Ive set all my prices to advertise on my site at 1 cent or free. Prices range from 1 cent up to 50 cents per day at the moment depending where the ad is situated and of course how much other people are bidding, In the past ive had people advertising that were paying $2 per day. I will put approximately 50% of my daily revenue back into advertising. I usually try and have a mix of sites that are with Entrecard as well as those that don't, this way it will bring new traffic.

My advice is to set your price low, Let the advertisers decide what they think your site is worth to advertise on, Ive seen many blogs that have a PR0 and an Alexa in the millions that are wanting 20 cents per day, And they wonder why people aren't advertising.

How many of you are with project wonderful? Do you treat project wonderful as revenue gaining or do you use it for advertising purposes? or maybe a bit of both?

There has been several other sites trying to do the same as project wonderful but seem to be failing (show your ad here and performancing ads) The only reason i can see for the failure is they have a minimum of $2.50 per month to advertise, This does not allow the advertiser to try before they buy, where as with project wonderful you can advertise for a day or even an hour to see how the ad is going to work for you before deciding on a longer term bid.

Qantas to receive A380.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 11:34:00 +0000

Australia's Qantas Airways is to take delivery of its first Airbus A380 today, making it the third airline to induct the superjumbo to there fleet after launch customer Singapore Airlines and recently Gulf carrier, Emirates.

A Qantas spokesman said it will ''welcome its first A380 aircraft into the Qantas fleet at a ceremony at the Airbus factory in Toulouse", It will fly to Sydney via Singapore, It is due to land on Sunday morning the 21st of September.

Qantas will put the first A380 into service on October the 20th, And it will be flying between Melbourne and Los Angeles, and its first Sydney-Los Angeles service on 24 October. Services from Sydney to London via Singapore will commence from early 2009. Qantas has 20 A380s on order, three of which are supposed to be delivered by the end of 2008, However Airbus have had some unexpected delays once again.

Qantas had said that laptop power will be available in every seat of its new Airbus A380s, Which will also include standard economy class. It had also said that it would offer wireless Internet throughout the A380, as well as web and email access via seat-back inflight entertainment systems.

Qantas had built a reputation for excellence in safety, operational reliability, engineering and maintenance, and customer service, Qantas was regarded as one of the worlds leading long distance airlines, However recent maintenance problems and close calls have damaged there reputation with several problems over the past 2 months.

Ferrari to power A1GP.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:30:00 +0000

Preparations for the coming A1GP World Cup of Motorsport are well on track taking into consideration the fourth season of the series sees the introduction of a new car, Which has been designed by Ferrari and is powered by a V8 Ferrari engine producing in the region of 447kW. The chassis is based on the design of the F2004 chassis but it has been modified to meet A1GP regulations

In October 2007, Ferrari signed a contact with the A1GP to supply all engines and design consultancy services from 2008 which will run for 6 years.

There have been some concerns that an engine designed for sports car racing may be overstressed by the demands of single seater racing. The car has come through over 3500km of race-pace testing at Mugello, Italy, Jerez in Spain and finally in the heat at Guadix near Granada.

Scuderia Ferrari test driver and former Formula 1 driver Marc Gene was impressed with the car and said "It's an interesting car and I had a lot of fun. It's not an F1 car but it's not intended to be one. It will produce exciting racing, allows overtaking and is an extreme drive." Other test drivers have said the car is well balanced, the tyres worked well with the modified chassis and the electronics are now working and are reliable.

The 2008 / 2009 A1GP season starts on 05 October 2008 at Zandvoort, Netherlands.

Tri-Nations and Bledisloe champions.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:47:00 +0000

The All Blacks have beaten Australia for the Tri Nations aswell as the Bledisloe Cup. The All blacks were down 10-7 at half time but manged to win 28-24.

In the 12th minute of the match, Sitiveni Sivivatu makes a run through the line and gets a free kick. The ball is quickly run up by Jimmy Cowan and the All Blacks quickly passed the ball to the right, Muliaina gets the ball and scores in the corner which is converted by Dan Carter. In the 39th minute Australian Ashley- Cooper skips through a tackle and scores in the corner which is converted in the 40th minute by Matt Giteau converts which gave the Wallabies the lead.

Four minutes after half time, Matt Giteau runs hard at the All Blacks line and the subsequent ball to Brown gets the ball to Horwill on the touch line who crosses to score and Giteau converts easily, This gave the Australians a 17-7 lead. Four minutes later, All Black Conrad Smith makes a great break down the touch line as he dummies between to players and only just before the touchline he offloads to Tony Woodcock who amazingly outruns the Wallaby defenders for 20metres to score in the corner, Dan Carter Kicks the conversion again to make the score 17-14 to the Aussies.

In the 62nd minute, All Black Rodney So'ialo makes a break in the middle of the field but as he cuts back to the outside looks to have butchered the opportunity. However, the ball finds its way to Weepu's hands and he puts down to put the ABs back in front at 21-17. The 66th minute gave us the next try which was scored by Dan Carter, He then goes on to convert his own try making the score 28-17.

The last try of the game came in the 77th minute when Wallabie Ryan Cross barges over the try line. Matt Giteau then kicks the conversion to make it 28-24.

This was definitely one of the best games seen between Australia and New Zealand. There is still one more game between these two great rugby nations, This game will be held in Hong Kong, It promises to be a great game aswell.

The value of the EC.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:49:00 +0000

What is the true value of the Entrecard credit, Ive seen sites selling 1000 for $2, Others sell 1000 for $3, There are also a number of site selling 5000 for $10. How can Entrecard actually expect to sell any when they are selling 1000 for $9.50? Have they sold any? I would like anyone who has bought any from Entrecard for $9.50 to expose themselves. All those sites that are selling Entrecard credits, Have you sold any and at what price?

The true value might be $9.50, Maybe Graham (Entrecard founder) should ban the sale of EC to protect his investment, The more people in this community that sell EC, the less value it has.

I believe that Entrecard credit is used for advertising purposes, Not for monetary gain. Afterall Entrecard is supposed to be about promoting your blog. Obviously US$2 is alot of money in some currencies, but does it pay for your internet connection? Or the internet cafe assuming you can sell 1000ec everyday, And if you can sell 1000 everyday, how much of that is actually profit? I guess im just interested to find out how many people think that the Entrecard credit is making them money?

Air race world series.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 05:08:00 +0000

I don't know how many people follow the Red Bull Air Race World Series but these pilots that fly these planes are amazing. The pilots have to navigate a challenging obstacle course at speeds of around 200Mph (320Kph) and approximately 60 feet from the water.

The pilots must pass each of the air gates correctly while completing a required aerobatic maneuver. There are three different gate types, They require a specific manner of crossing. The blue gates must be crossed in level flight, red gates must be crossed in vertical flight otherwise known as "knife-edge" and the slalom gates as their name implies.

If a pilot doesn't pass through a gate correctly he will incur a time penalty. A 3 second time penalty is received when the pilot flies too high above the gate, An Incorrect turning maneuver, Incorrect level (horizontal) crossing or knife (vertical) angle or an incorrect knife direction. A 10 second penalty is imposed if a pilot touches a gate. And you can be disqualified for dangerous flying, For example Flying too low, Course deviation, Not executing the prescribed aerobatic maneuver and crossing the crowd line.

The Aircraft used are high-end aerobatic planes like the Extra 300SR, the MX Aircraft MX2 and the Zivko Edge 540X, These Aircraft have a wingspan of less than 25 feet or 8 meters.

The airgates that the pilots must pass through are are approximately 65 feet (20 m) high, and spaced 33 to 49 feet (10 to 15 m) apart. The pylons are made of a fabric that will shred if a pilot hits it. If a pylon gets hit it will replaced at the time of the incident and usually takes a matter of minutes.

Points are awarded for finishing places. 1st receives nine points, 2nd receives eight points and so on through ninth who receives one point. A pilot must compete in all eight races and the pilot that has earnt the most points is the Air race champion. The eight venues for the red bull air race are Abu Dhabi, San Diego, Detroit, Rotterdam, London, Budapest, Porto and Perth.

Qantas problems continue.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:39:00 +0000

Over the past 6 weeks the national carrier of Australia (Qantas) have had several mechanical problems affecting the fleet.

Just the other day a Qantas Boeing 747-400 en-route from Singapore to London landed in the German city of Frankfurt after its crew shut down engine four because of a vibration. Flight QF31 landed without incident. At the moment Qantas engineers are investigating the cause of the engine problem. Passengers were diverted to other carriers, either flying direct to London or to other European destinations.

On July 25, a faulty oxygen bottle blew a hole in the fuselage of a Qantas Boeing 747-400 flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne. The blast caused the aircraft with 365 people on board, to depressurize and it rapidly descended several thousand feet before making an emergency landing in Manila.

On July 29, a Adelaide- Melbourne flight returned to Adelaide when a wheel bay door failed to close, while a hydraulic fluid leak forced a Boeing 767 to return to Sydney.

On August 4 Hydraulics caused a flight to be delayed almost three hours in Sydney.

On August 7 a noisy air-conditioning fault forced the grounding of a jet that had recently returned from routine maintenance in Malaysia with 95 defects.

On August 12, Qantas announced it would temporarily pull six Boeing 737-400s from service after discovering an irregularity in maintenance paperwork.

On August 13, a Qantas Boeing 747-300 from Melbourne was grounded in New Zealand after an engine shut down on approach to Auckland. Also on the same day, Qantas flight QF31 to London - the same flight affected by the incident - was delayed because a crucial screw needed urgent maintenance, while a Boeing 767 jet had a hydraulic failure that affected the plane's steering as it landed at Sydney on a flight from Melbourne. The plane left a trail of hydraulic fluid as it touched down, forcing the runway to close for 40 minutes as the spill was mopped up.

On August 15, a technical problem delayed a Brisbane to Melbourne flight for more than 30 minutes, while a small body panel fell from a Qantas jumbo en route to Singapore from Melbourne .

On August 17, a rudder problem delayed the departure of a Sydney-bound plane at London's Heathrow Airport by more than 16 hours.

On August 20, two flights were canceled between Perth and Sydney and Perth and Melbourne because of technical problems.

Qantas has a near perfect safety record, However, they have had more near misses than any other airline. Is Qantas still a safe airline to fly?

BMW Oracle testing the limits.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:24:00 +0000

BMW Oracle Racing hopes to sail against two-time defending America's Cup champion Alinghi sometime next year with a new 90-foot trimaran. This trimaran is the only one of its kind and has enormous potential. It will be known as BMW Oracle Racing 90. The trimaran has a space-age look and a mast, boom and mainsail that dwarfs its crew, It was launched last week and was tested to make sure the three carbon-fiber hulls would be able to handle the enormous loads the rigging will put on it under full sail.

On Monday August 25, 14 sailors - including a New Zealander who is also a three-time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts - and eight designers and builders were aboard for its shakedown cruise. During the shakedown cruise the wind ranged from 6 to 12 knots, Fortunately nothing broke and the testing went well, However they didn't do any serious speed tests. It is estimated that the boat can hit 36 to 40 knots in the right conditions. Which is around 66-75 Kph or 41-46 Mph.

The boat is 90 feet long by 90 feet wide (Which is the equivalent to two basketball courts), and the mast is 158 feet tall and has a 500 m2 mainsail and a 700 m2 gennaker. It has been said that the trimaran cost more than $10 million to build, And even though the time, effort and money has gone into the trimaran, It might not even get the chance to sail for the oldest trophy in international sports due to all the political rubbish that goes on in the Americas cup

Sea trials will continue for the next few weeks.

Thanks for 600.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:08:00 +0000

I don't like thanking people on Two posts in a row but its just tough luck, I had a post ready but it can wait. I just want to thank everybody who has dropped on me on the 3rd of September, It was my most successful day yet from Entrecard and my first day ive received over 600 drops. A special thanks has to go to Modern Glam aswell as Software Outsourcing to China for such successful ads. I look forward to my first 700 day.
Obviously i cant reciprocate everyone unfortunately but never mind, I'm sure everyone understands.

Thank you everybody

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:10:00 +0000

I decided that this month i wouldn't publish my most successful ads that ive had running for the month, I will just announce the number 1 most successful, and as a thank you, That person will get there 125X125 widget in my sidebar for a month. So if i did advertise with you and you want to know how many visits i received from the ad, Just contact me. Another blog will get there 125X125 in my sidebar aswell, this person is my biggest commenter.

This months most successful ad goes to Chica & Pumuckl - 2 Egyptian Cats in Germany.
Biggest commenter for the month is Beamer from BMW Rules ... The world as I see it.

Dubai International Financial Center.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:53:00 +0000

Another piece of remarkable architecture has been unveiled in Dubai, This new mega-structure is the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), It has been nicknamed ‘The Lighthouse.’ It will be a 66-story office tower.

The Lighthouse is said to have over 84,000 square meters of commercial space and will also include a convention center, Car parking, retail shops, and an environmental visitor center and park connected to the Dubai International Financial Center central spine.

A great deal of importance has been placed on the building’s future impact on local and global resources. It is still only in development but plans are in place for all materials in the tower to be selected from sustainable sources. The Lighthouse will serve as a working prototype for future low carbon towers in the region, promoting more sustainable developments.

The Lighthouse will strive to make low carbon commercial towers a reality in Dubai and it will reduce the total energy consumption by up to 65% and the water consumption by up to 40%. The height and shape of The Lighthouse play pivotal roles in its goals for low energy consumption, As the design allows for the installation of three enormous 225 KV wind turbines (29 meter diameter).

Its good to see that many of the architectures these days are making self sufficiency the way of the future of many new mega buildings around the world.

All Blacks to play in America.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:00:00 +0000

At this stage its still in negotiation but it looks almost certain that the All Blacks will play a Bledisloe cup game (which is against Australia) which will be held at the INVESCO Field in Denver, Colorado, This venue seats 78,000 people and its expected to be sold out to maximum capacity. At this stage it is scheduled for October 31 next year. A USA Rugby chief executive has said that his organization was keen to sell rugby to the American public and saw an Australia-New Zealand test as the best possible promotion because these two great rugby nations are the best in the world.

The proposal still needs signing off by USA rugby but it all depends on television rights and sponsorship deals.
Its all about foreign sports breaking into new marketplaces, The perfect example was the successful staging of an NFL match at Wembley in London in October last year which drew a crowd of about 82,000 people.
On November 1 this year a Bledisloe cup test match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies will be played at Hong Kong stadium. The only seats still available for this match are in the corporate hospitality areas, The game has a huge following around Asia and was expected to sell out.

If this match goes ahead it will huge for the professional sport of Rugby worldwide, It might even bring some Americans to New Zealand for the next rugby world cup in 2011. Get to the match if at all possible, Seeing the AB's performing the haka live is an experience you'll never forget. If i can afford it, I will be there for sure.

Retailers benefit from games.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:45:00 +0000

New Zealand had one of its most successful Olympic games ever, But the athletes were not the only ones to benefit from the 2008 Olympics Games.

Electronic transactions showed an increase by 13 percent in appliance sales in the fortnight before the Olympic games started. The General manager of merchandise at one of New Zealands largest appliance retailers said the increase was seen in the sale of large screen flat panel televisions. It was seen as a result of the launch and the availability of high definition content on sky television and on freeview.

Television New Zealand is Free to air, The coverage of the games was outstanding and definitely the best ive ever seen, it prompted a real spike in sales, especially for the consumers who were after the two channels of Olympic coverage aswell as the enhanced viewing experience of high definition pictures and surround sound on FreeviewHD. These consumers were aware of the extended coverage of the games and chose to purchase the larger flat panel televisions, It was also a great build up to the games for television rental companies with many rental companies unable to keep up with the demand on short term rentals.

Who knows, Londons Olympics in 2012 might bring a spike in the sales of 3D TV.

Olympic Stadium's, Past and Present

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:04:00 +0000

With the Olympic games over with now, Its time to turn to the future. 2012 is London's turn to host the Olympics and its going to be extremely hard to beat what was achieved in China.

The Olympic stadium that hosts the opening and closing ceremony's aswell as the track and field events is always the main show piece for the games. What will the stadium look like? Here's a blast from the Olympic past until now.

Moscow Olympic Stadium 1980

Los Angeles Olympic stadium1984

Seoul Olympic stadium 1988

Barcelona Olympic stadium 1992

Atlanta Olympic stadium 1996

Sydney Olympic stadium 2000

Athens Olympic stadium 2004

Beijing Olympic stadium 2008

Proposed stadium for London 2012

Dangerous dog put down.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:33:00 +0000

Yesterday morning a dog that is considered extremely dangerous was put down after being on death row for the past 13 months while the owner of the dog fought a destruction order. The dog which was named Billy is a mastiff-pit-bull cross weighing 45 kilos and has been compared to a loaded gun. A spokesman for the High court says that the council had serious concerns about the threat the dog posed to the community and that the dog was one out of the box in terms of its aggression and would have been a huge threat back on the streets.

The dog was put on Death row because it attacked a veterinarian and the person who was looking after him. Animal control officers says he was the most fierce dog they had ever encountered. Usually the aggression subsides over time in the pound, But there was no change at all with this dog.

There are many dangerous dog breeds, But are they naturally dangerous or is it the owers that are raising them that way. Any dog of any breed can snap at any time but who should be responsible for them when they do attack. Dogs in New Zealand are supposed to kept in a fenced yard, If they are out in the street they are supposed to be accompanied by the owner and on a leash.

New look for 767-300ER

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:04:00 +0000

The blended winglets have become a common feature on Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft and have made their first flight on a Boeing 767.

About a month ago an American Airlines 767-300ER which was equipped with new blended winglets took off. The newly modified aircraft flew a ferry flight from Kansas City, Mo. to San Bernardino, Calif. It will undergo certification and performance flight testing over the following two months. Some American Airlines employees installed the blended winglets, together with necessary wing and aircraft systems modifications at the maintenance base in Kansas City.
The new Blended winglet will increase the payload and/or range of the aircraft which in turn will reduce maintenance costs and improve its take-off capability from difficult airports such as those in hot-and-high places and those airports that have short runways.
The blended winglets are 11-foot-tall (3.4-meters) and were manufactured for Aviation Partners Boeing by GKN Aerospace which are on the Isle of Wight in the UK.

If the FAA and the EASA certify the blended winglets, 767-300ER Aircraft would be equipped and begin revenue service in December. Currently there are over 130 systems from 10 different airlines that already have firm commitments and are currently sold out of the blended winglet system.

This new blended winglet system will save around 6.5% on fuel consumption, Which is a saving of more than 500,000 gallons of jet fuel per aircraft per year, It also translates into an annual reduction of over 5,000 tons of CO2 per aircraft.

The blended winglet already exists on Boeing 737 BBJ, 737-800, 737-700, 737-300, 757-200, 737-500, and 737-900 which is around 2,500 Boeing aircraft, And have been certified for those aircraft. They also hope to launch a blended winglet certification program for the 777-200ER later this year and anticipate certification by December 2010.