How to catch and move the country’s tiniest bird
If you want to catch a tiny bird and move it to a new home, you need expert help and your car’s aircon on. Overheating is a threat to the rifleman. And buzzing cicadas can get in the way of finding them in the first place as a group rounding up riflemen at the Wainuiomata […]
Polls are snapshots, not predictions: How to read them critically this election year
With New Zealand’s election approaching, how much can we learn from opinion polls? Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone With nine months to go, how much can opinion polls tell us about the general election on 7 November? Short answer: not much. Based solely on polls, no one could have predicted the past three elections this […]
How to fix the ‘build now, fix later’ culture
By Mark Kirby* of If a builder spends 10 hours rectifying avoidable mistakes their productivity for the day is effectively zero. Photo: 123RF Analysis – New Zealand’s residential construction industry contributes roughly NZ$26b annually to the economy and employs around 70,000 workers. Yet despite its significance and scale, the sector’s productivity levels have flatlined since […]
Money: How to tackle new year financial stress
Experts suggest considering secondhand school equipment to cut back on costs. Photo: Unsplash / Kateryna Hliznitsova The start of the year can be a tough time financially for many families. Westpac research this week found many people felt stressed about their holiday spending and the costs that come with the start of the year. Financial […]
Government seeks urgent advice on how to protect Auckland rockpools
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The government is seeking urgent advice on dealing with the alleged stripping of rockpools by harvesters in the north Auckland area. On Saturday, about a hundred people demonstrated at Army Bay in Auckland’s Whangaparāoa for the protection of local rockpools. Residents told RNZ the […]
Watch: This is what a rip looks like and how to avoid getting caught in one
Do you know what to do if you get caught in a rip? Or how to respond if you see someone else in trouble in the water? “Only about a third of New Zealanders can actually identify a rip,” surf lifeguard Phoebe Havill says. “We don’t want people hopping into the water in an unsafe […]
Defence Force mulling how to improve surveillance of oceans
Auckland’s Eastern Beach. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The Defence Force is brainstorming with local and overseas companies on how to improve intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in the oceans around New Zealand. Its capability plans calls for spending $50- to $100 million over four years on long-range aerial drones. But the NZDF in a new […]
How internet became ‘enshittified’ – and how to fix it
By Charles Barbour of Cory Doctorow coined the term “enshittification” to describe the degeneration of the internet. Photo: Victor Okhrimets / 123RF Analysis: Remember when Twitter used to be good? I reckon it peaked somewhere around the first Covid-19 lockdowns. In those days, there was a running gag on the site where everyone would refer […]
How to become a KiwiSaver millionaire
Most young people joining KiwiSaver are likely to amass balances of more than $1 million within their working lives. Photo: RNZ Most young people joining KiwiSaver are likely to amass balances of more than $1 million within their working lives. The average balance in KiwiSaver at the moment is about $30,000. But someone who is […]
Weather: How to prepare for forecast wild winds
A fallen tree in Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday. (File photo) Photo: RNZ/ Anusha Bradley As rare red level wind warnings are put in place for parts of the country, how can you prepare for Thursday’s forecasted gusts? MetService has warned gusts of up to 150 kmph could occur in Canterbury, Wellington and Wairarapa. Firefighters were […]