Internet Items
Kiwis Lead the World in Internet Use - Survey. A recent international survey indicates NZers are leading the world in their use of the Internet. The study found that 75 percent of those surveyed in NZ had used the Internet in the previous month, an increase from 71 percent in 2002. NZ's usage rate was the highest of the countries surveyed (which include Australia and the US). Among the countries participating in the TNS survey, the Netherlands was second in Internet usage at 72 percent followed by Denmark (71), Norway (69) and the US (68). Australia came in at number eight in Internet usage, with 64 percent of the population going online.
The GO2003 survey was carried by Taylor Nelson Sofres, a global market information group. One thousand NZers were surveyed during August 2003. The participating countries are Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Netherlands, NZ, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, and the US.
Net Users Watch Less TV. The average web surfer maintains a more active social life and watches up to five hours less television per week than non-surfers, according to a 14-country survey including residents of the US, Great Britain, Hungary, Chile, South Korea and Macao. According to the Director of the Center for Communication Policy at the University of California at Los Angeles, which organised the study, use of the Internet is reducing television viewing around the world while having little impact on positive aspects of social life. Internet users, the study says, also read a lot of books and many believe that most online sources are trustworthy information sources. The Internet as a social medium was most popular in China, connecting users with similar political and religious opinions in a country where religion is banned. Although the study confirmed that the Internet is more frequently used by the wealthy, in seven of the countries surveyed, more than 20 percent of the poorest residents go online.
Dealing with stress. Two websites which offer practical help and support to NZers are:
- Mental Health Foundation of NZ. Pamphlets include: Feeling Good, Good Communication, Handling Stress - a Week of Workplace Tips, Helping Someone Who's Feeling Depressed, and Teenage Depression.
- Mental Health Education and Resource Centre - www.mherc.org.nz This site provides free mental health information (including an excellent book and video library) to the people of the southern region of NZ; and offers a Rural Liaison person working in rural Canterbury providing information on mental health resources and organisations and available to co-ordinate mental health days/networking meetings in the rural sector.
Smoke-free Legislation Website - www.ndp.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexcm/ndp-tobacco-legislation - There is a Ministry of Health website dedicated to the Smoke-free Environments Amendment Act 2003. The site has information backgrounding the new Act and provides answers to frequently asked questions, including who is affected by the new legislation; who isn't; how people and businesses are affected; when the changes come into effect; and enforcement issues.
Project Probe Update: Otago. Telecom has been named as the preferred supplier for Otago, confirming the company as preferred supplier in eight of the fourteen Project PROBE regions, Woosh Wireless in four, and ThePacific.net and Counties Power in one each. The extension of Project PROBE into Otago is expected to make broadband available to around 55 rural schools with over 3000 students - bringing the total nation-wide to 2700 schools and some 750,000 students.
Cheapest Fuel Prices at the Click of a Mouse. NZers can now shop around for the best deal in petrol before they even leave the house or office - all with the click of a mouse.
The new website, www.pricewatch.co.nz, is operated by fleet management provider Cardlink, and was developed by its in-house software development team. By clicking on different NZ cities, drivers can quickly determine which service station has the best price for petrol and its location. The website is based on others around the world. However, it is one of the first of its kind in this country, and is the only site in NZ that is updated continuously. It operates independently from petrol companies.
Population Projections for European, Maori, Asian And Pacific Ethnic Groups. Contains 2001-base projections for the populations of European, Maori, Asian and Pacific ethnicity, usually living in different areas of NZ. The projections cover the period to 2016 at five-year intervals, by sex and five-year age group (to 85 years and over), for most regions and some territorial authority areas. Link to these at: www.stats.govt.nz
Online Service for Migrants. Potential immigrants will now be able to get an instant indication of their chances of gaining residency online. The NZ Immigration Service has launched a new Internet-based application system it hopes will help attract quality skilled migrants. Prospective applicants can score themselves on-line, before submitting an expression of interest. They are then entered into a selection pool from which the top applicants are officially invited to apply for residence. Applicants can check their status on their personal homepage, reducing the number of people who need to phone or visit Immigration Service branches.
The 2003 Words of the Year - http://www.americandialect.org - These words, according to the American Dialect Society, "most coloured the nation's lexicon, or otherwise dominated the national discourse". The site lists the winners and runners up in various categories like: Word (Or Phrase) Of The Year: (winner, meterosexual, : noun, a fashion-conscious heterosexual male, or, as coiner Mark Simpson put it, a man who "has clearly taken himself as his own love object."); Most Useful (winner, flexitarian: noun, a vegetarian who occasionally eats meat); Most Euphemistic: word or phrase which least says what it means to (transfer tube: compound noun, a body bag).
Current Values of Old Money - www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/current/howmuch.html - If you've ever wondered how much your favourite beverage would have cost you in 1468 or puzzled over what the architect of the Acropolis earned for his work then here are your answers. The site has gathered a wide selection of links to articles and information on currencies worldwide and what they could purchase at various points in the past, such as 1625 in Southampton, England, what a wartime shopping basket would have cost in 1941, and prices of equipment during the California gold rush.
Blues Heaven - www.bluesworld.com - A collection of resources for the blues enthusiast. The site offers album reviews, articles, e-mail discussion lists for collectors, and links to record labels and publishers.
The World's Choice for President - This November, citizens of the US will cast their votes in the next presidential election. While the outcome of this election will directly affect the lives of Americans, citizens of other nations world-wide will be indirectly affected by the result. At this website, people all over the world can register to vote for their candidate of choice next November. Votes have no legal validity, of course.
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