At the Chorus Fibre Lab, José Barbosa peeked behind the curtain of the internet and found something beautiful and very, very fast. The human mind is a daily swarm of notions, speculations, ruminations, thoughts and otherwise base-level brain puffs. Just to get through the grind of survival, we’ve evolved to mentally plop into plain view … Read more
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become unhinged. A San Francisco … Read more
Summer reissue: This is yet another tab clogging up your browser, and that’s fine, writes Sam Brooks. First published March 13, 2020. Welcome to this article! Chances are you didn’t read it immediately after it was published. It’s one of however many tabs filling up whatever browser you happen to be using on whatever device … Read more
In the 90s, the so-called information superhighway was more of a dirt road. Now it’s a multi-lane motorway. Vodafone NZ’s Sharina Nisha explains the technology that makes it all possible. They used to call it the information superhighway. Back in the heady days of the 1990s, the term was used to describe the burgeoning potential … Read more
When it comes to tackling online extremism, part of the answer rests with us – those who use the internet every day. New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose talks about his new podcast Rabbit Hole. The Christchurch terror attack shocked New Zealand, and the world. But there are many things about the way the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bleak Treasury scenarios show massive unemployment looming, rest home cluster claims more lives, and students disappointed at support package. The scenarios are in for how Treasury expects Covid-19 to affect GDP and unemployment rates, and they’re pretty bleak. You can read a report on them here, but … Read more
In these testing times, we’re all spending a fair amount of time on our phones and computers. Here are some simple ways to make that time safer for yourself. As if we weren’t all indoors on our phones enough already, Covid-19 is ensuring that our screen time is going to be through the roof. That’s … Read more
The first days of national lockdown have truly brought out the best in our social media stars. Alex Casey counts down the classics. Yesterday I got served with the Instagram notification that normally only pops up around Christmas-time. “You’re all caught up!” it chirped, “you’ve seen every post from the last three days!” The message … Read more
This is yet another tab clogging up your browser, and that’s fine, writes Sam Brooks. Welcome to this article! Chances are you didn’t read it immediately after it was published. It’s one of however many tabs filling up whatever browser you happen to be using on whatever device you happen to be reading it on. … Read more
The first phase of New Zealand’s ultrafast broadband rollout came to a close at the end of 2019. Alex Braae takes a look back at the decade-long project that was UFB1. The thing about having an extremely fast internet connection is that it doesn’t take long to completely take it for granted. A perfect example … Read more
Summer reissue: I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking. This post was first published 14 January, 2019. “Hey, what are you up to tonight?” “Is that your boyfriend?” It’s … Read more
How to watch the Rugby World Cup? How to make spaghetti bolognese? Who is James Charles? Google just released what New Zealanders looked for the most in 2019, and it says a lot about us. Another year on the internet, another year of Google searches you hope nobody excavates. Until now! Our Google overlords have, as … Read more
Where do we watch content, what do we want from it, and how do we view New Zealand news? Here’s what we learned from NZ On Air’s latest survey on identity, culture and the media. We still like to watch free-to-view TV Despite the lingering doom and gloom around linear television, almost three-quarters of respondents … Read more
The online magazine that boasted a bigger Instagram following than most New Zealand media has abruptly come to an end. So what was Auckland Mag? Why did it exist? And who was its mysterious founder Dan Rolph? David Farrier investigates. The reply from Dan Rolph at Auckland Magazine came quickly. It came quickly because it … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Henessey Griffiths, a 22 year-old Dunedin student who just finished her dissertation about one of Youtube’s most controversial stars. Content warning: this article contains mention of suicide, please take care Yesterday afternoon in Dunedin, honours student Henessey Griffiths sent a tweet that was a year (or rather, five days) in the … Read more
Napier-based women’s clothing company KILT is a big brand with local charm. Josie Adams finds out how they’ve adapted their boutique strategy to work on a national level. Having grown up in the internet era New Zealand fashion label KILT has developed a unique relationship with its customers via an online connection. Founded in 2003, … Read more
Fears are growing about the seemingly unstoppable descent into alt-right radicalisation many young men are falling into. A visiting expert says it doesn’t have to be like that, reports Sophie Bateman. Since the Christchurch mosque attacks, a number of urgent changes have been made in New Zealand: semi-automatic weapons have been banned, media guidelines for … Read more
Should we increase surveillance of ‘lawless’ online bulletin boards like 4chan and 8chan, and if so, how? Radio NZ’s Max Towle asks 8chan’s founder Fredrick Brennan and New Zealand experts whether the rise of online extremism can be curbed. Fredrick Brennan would open 4chan when he woke, and close it long after dusk, moments before … Read more
A synthetic white victimhood is generated by a swarm of social media users that centre on a core belief and consistent narratives, writes Bharath Ganesh, an expert on extremism at the Oxford Internet Institute The Christchurch terrorist’s manifesto began with a refrain: “It’s the birthrates.” His concern was the death of the white “European” people. This is … Read more
The removal of extremist content alone isn’t going to solve the problem of right-wing terrorism. Instead, we need to harness new technology to find such individuals early and intervene. Last week, 50 lives in Christchurch were lost in another act of terrorism by a white nationalist. This follows 11 dead in Pittsburgh. Nine dead in … Read more
A Canterbury investors’ group is the latest example of crying ‘hacked’ when it’s really nothing of the sort, writes Dylan Reeve. It’s so common now that we barely bat an eyelid – some company holding troves of personal information is hacked and personal data is leaked online… sometimes even on the dark web! But this … Read more
The NZ government must take a much bolder stance on the tech giants who dominate our lives online, writes Leroy Beckett from Action Station, who today release The People’s Report on Online Hate, Harassment and Abuse. I spend most of the time I am awake online, in some form or another. It’s how I keep up with … Read more
Social media has provided access to more information than ever, but at the same time it’s harder than ever to tell what’s real and what’s fake. InternetNZ policy advisor Nicola Brown looks back at the year Fake News broke the internet. Bad news spreads fast. In 2018 we saw what might be the breaking point of … Read more
I’ve worked at parliament for three different MPs over five years. For the first time, I’m now working for a woman MP, and the kind of messages sent to her online are shocking. “Hey, what are you up to tonight?” “Is that your boyfriend?” It’s 9.37pm and I assume my MP has had the gall … Read more
Ant Timpson got a fright to discover his FlyBuys had been stolen, cameras purchased and the goods sent to a notorious Auckland address. He rejects claims he’s fallen for a phishing scam. A week or so ago Ant Timpson, an Auckland producer who has worked on films like The Greasy Strangler and The ABCs of … Read more
With social media having sprouted misinformation machines, we need to think harder about the right tools to use to fight back, writes InternetNZ’s Nicola Brown. Scroll down for a comic strip for InternetNZ by Judith Carnaby The internet was meant to be so great for democracy. All human knowledge a couple of clicks away. Tools for people … Read more
Our privacy law is the operating system for how organisations handle our information, and it affects each of us every day, writes James Ting-Edwards of InternetNZ New Zealand’s privacy law is finally, finally going to get an update. In a year that’s seen a range of big stories on big privacy threats, that’s good news. There … Read more
Next year will mark 20 years since Neopets materialised on the World Wide Web, and with most of its former user base now in their 20s and 30s, it seems the time is ripe for a nostalgic resurgence. We remember the glory days of this internet phenomenon, but also: the hacking, the gambling, and the … Read more
Keen to cure your addiction to the small screen? Alex Beattie has nine quickfire suggestions. A flash on your screen, a ‘vrrrr’ in your pocket, the universal ‘DING’. The digital world is rife with distractions, some of which are by design. Thanks to smartphones and social media, we live in an attention economy where the … Read more