Jihee Junn 
Is Slack really the force for productivity it claims to be, or just another form of social media in disguise? Jihee Junn talks to Slack co-founder and chief technology officer Cal Henderson on the right (and wrong) ways to use his messaging platform. Every morning, Cal Henderson spends around 50 minutes walking to work, not … Read more
Jacinda Ardern announced the first part of the government’s cancer plan which is set to impact many in the regions. Not quite following? Here’s what you need to know. So, what’s the big news? The big news is that the government has announced that cancer patients in Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki and Northland will, for the … Read more
All the key details on TheMarket, The Warehouse Group’s $12 million foray into e-commerce. What is TheMarket? TheMarket is a brand new online shopping platform that was launched today by The Warehouse Group (TWG). It’s an online marketplace, similar to e-commerce sites like ASOS and The Iconic, but with an even wider range of products … Read more
How do Wish products fare in real life? Jihee Junn buys and tries a bunch of random goods. If you’ve ever wondered what an online version of a $2 store would look like, it’d probably look a lot like Wish – cheap, disjointed, riddled with poor English, and stocked with a ridiculously vast array of … Read more
Instead of buying a cuppa in exchange for a place to work, Coffee Supreme is flipping the script. For the last 25 years, Coffee Supreme has done one thing very well: sourcing, roasting, brewing and selling some seriously decent coffee. Running cafes is pretty much second nature to its business. Running a shared workspace? Not … Read more
Will we ever really adopt electric vehicles? Should we believe oil companies that say they want to help? Clean energy expert Michael Liebreich gives his two cents. Not that long ago, the concept of “clean energy” seemed like a wildly radical idea. Few people cared or even knew about the dangers of climate change and … Read more
Ahead of taking the stage for Dragfest in Auckland, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Trinity the Tuck spills the tea on All Stars, Caitlyn Jenner, and the truth behind Taylor Swift’s new music video. Trinity the Tuck can do it all. She can lipsync, she can dance, she can serve looks, and for a … Read more
‘Fail fast’ has gone from an intriguing idea to mainstream business orthodoxy in just a few short years. Jihee Junn went along to the pricey business event dedicated entirely to ‘falling forward’. It was about 9am by the time I arrived and instantly my senses were overloaded. One moment I’m wading through rush hour traffic making … Read more
The incoming R&D tax credits scheme makes government research and development incentives available to a much wider range of Kiwi businesses. But there are caveats to be aware of, reports Jihee Junn. You don’t need to know a whole lot about business to understand the value of R&D. It’s what keeps businesses competitive, sustainable and … Read more
A prominent ad promoting the National Party and the CEO of Air New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, could be in breach of the law. An advertisement promoting Christopher Luxon and the National Party appeared in this morning’s newspaper – but the National Party says it had nothing to do with it. The half-page ad taken out … Read more
AliExpo 2019 proved New Zealand’s ‘clean, green’ image remains as strong as ever, reports Jihee Junn. At Alibaba’s e-commerce expo on Friday, ‘brand New Zealand’ was at its sales-pitch best. There were face masks, eye masks, hand creams and serums made from the most natural of ingredients this side of the world had to offer. … Read more
The latest season of British reality show Love Island is set to hit TV screens at the unconventional tea-time hour of 5pm. Jihee Junn explains why the decision is troubling. Update, 1 October 2019: The Broadcasting Standards Authority has ruled that the edited version of Love Island that ran at 5pm on Three earlier this … Read more
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the once flourishing company that now owes investors tens of millions of dollars. Don’t follow? Here’s a brief recap of Cryptopia’s historic downfall over the last five months. First thing’s first, what is Cryptopia? Cryptopia is (well, was) a Christchurch-based cryptocurrency exchange founded by Rob Dawson and Adam Clark … Read more
The US banned Huawei and now Google is breaking up with the Chinese smartphone maker. How did all go so wrong? I’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few days. What happened? Earlier this week, Google announced plans to restrict access to its apps and services on Huawei products. That means no more … Read more
What is Wish? Is it legit? And why does it advertise so damn much? “If Wish targeted ads are a window to your soul, then my soul is an absolute nightmare,” food editor Alice Neville quipped in the office one day. On Facebook, she’d received ads for a severed ‘finger’, a gimp suit, a wig-beard, … Read more
Reducing food waste is a win-win solution for everyone as less food goes to landfill and more food goes to those who need it. So what’s being done to make this a reality? And what can you do to help? In 2020, New Zealand will vote in a general election with poverty and climate change … Read more
It pays to shop around, and ridesharing services are no different. Some are cheaper, others are more convenient, so which is which? We take you through four options worth trying in Auckland. Uber: The Incumbent It’s the company synonymous with 21st-century ridesharing. A company so big, so ubiquitous, that ‘Uber’ isn’t just a name any … Read more
A lesson on why you shouldn’t always believe what you read on the internet A few years back, there was a meme (if you can call it that) telling us that everything we knew about toasters was wrong. It said that the numbers on our toasters – usually on a dial ranging from one to … Read more
Auckland-based tech company StrutFit allows shoppers to virtually ‘try on’ shoes. So how does it work? And what does that mean for retailers? For eight months, I had my eye on a pair of black, patent leather boots – big, chunky, great for stomping around in. The other week, I finally plucked up the courage to … Read more
Burger King’s ad for its Vietnamese-inspired burger shows customers trying to eat with a pair of giant novelty chopsticks, to which Asian-New Zealanders ask ‘why’? It’s a crime against food Food crimes come in many forms: putting pineapple on pizza, pouring milk before cereal, and cutting bagels into slices like a loaf of bread. But … Read more
A ticket retailer and a tech startup are joining forces to try and solve some of the industry’s biggest problems. Jihee Junn talks to the co-founders of iTICKET and Passphere on why they’re merging, what they hope to achieve with their new platform, and what they think about websites like Viagogo. Last month, pre-sales for … Read more
In the first part of a series in which The Spinoff gets to know who, what, where and how our food gets to our plate, Jihee Junn learns about cherries. The bright lights and smooth floors of the supermarket are a world away from the soil and sun, the plants, animals and humans which have toiled … Read more
Thousands across the country have been gathering this weekend for the victims and families of the Christchurch terror attacks. At Auckland’s Aotea Square vigil on Saturday, words of love and triumph were preached, as were reminders of New Zealand’s xenophobic past. “Look at this place, it’s completely empty,” my taxi driver remarks as we drive … Read more
Last week, a study was released listing the top 20 jobs New Zealanders should be studying for the future. This week, we asked those working in four of those jobs to explain how and why they chose their careers and what advice they’d give to students today. Chef Brody Jenkins (Little Easy/Jo Bros Burgers) What do … Read more
My YouTube Party of Five is a new series in which we invite people to share their five favourite YouTube videos, the ones hold closest in their heart, the ones they’ll play at 2am while drunk at a party. This week: Spinoff staff writer Jihee Junn. My kind of party is a YouTube party – … Read more
To celebrate the launch of New Balance’s 997H – the sneaker built for independents – The Spinoff spoke to Auckland synth pop duo Imugi about their musical influences, independence, growing up, and giving voice to bicultural experiences. We all have those years that define us for the rest of our lives, and for Yery Cho … Read more
Five years since they were launched, a proposed overhaul of the Health Star Ratings could see one in five products have their ratings changed. But does it really go far enough? When the Health Star Ratings were launched back in 2014, their intentions were not only noble, but necessary. Packaged foods and processed items were … Read more
Two 20-year-old Auckland students have created an app that combines the brevity of Q&A platforms like Yahoo Answers or Quora with the visual nature of websites like YouTube or Instagram. Now, they’re competing against 11 other teams all across Asia in one of the biggest student tech competitions in the world. A few years ago a … Read more
Back in all their misspelled, verbatim glory, we present 10 more of the most entertaining complaints made to and dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from July – December 2018. Read more: No grounds to proceed: this year’s best TV ad complaints rubbished by the ASA How meaty is Meat Week really? (December 2018) What was … Read more