A reader writes: "I am insanely irritated by One News presenters referring to Jim Hickey as 'Jimmy'. He's not a friggin' 10-year-old kid who's just washed your car. That buddy-buddy, over-familiar garbage does not friendly up your news bulletin. It reeks of an in-house audience-alienating pap. Same goes for calling sports reporter Andrew Saville 'Sav'. Stop it. Please."
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Sharon Newey says she must've missed the announcement that GST was to rise to 38 per cent. "But no, it's just Telecom getting my phone bill wrong. It was by luck that I saw it, so all you Telecom customers, please check your bills. The nice lady at Telecom happily corrected it but didn't seem to take my request that they check other people's bills that seriously."
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Courtney writes: "I feel for the young guy who failed his test for parking too far away. I went to sit my driver's licence, having just got my WOF a few days earlier, and got an automatic fail because the 'condition of my tyre tread' was unsatisfactory. I said my warrant was only two days old and he accused me of changing the tyres. I had to pay for that 'test' then pay again for my revisit. My mechanic remeasured the tread and it was still up to WOF standard."
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Steve Bradford writes: "On Saturday morning, while supporting my son's rugby match in Devonport, my wife got a $40 fine, plus a $70 towing fee for being parked too close (50cm) to a fire hydrant. You might think that the photo is where the car was towed from, but no, the photo is where they towed the car to ..."
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Diverting from the usual cops vs robbers/monsters vs aliens of modern video games is a new game pitting the Unions against the Scabs in Crane Wars. The gamers play the role of a union-stalwart crane operator, racing against time and budget to complete office buildings and outperform the dastardly non-union outfit across the street. Labour rhetoric flies thick and fast and the game allows you to use your crane to pick up construction vehicles and building materials and fling them at the scabs, monkey-wrenching their operation.
"Everyone sees things through the lens of their beliefs, experiences, and preconceptions," programmer Matt Mechtley explains. "So, yes, the scab is a bit Dick Dastardly, but he rarely throws things at you unless you throw things first. [He] believes the free market will win out, and that the union is simply wasting resources. The union operator clearly believes his safer, heavily regulated way is right. They both build things successfully, so the overall message is that the only important thing is action." (Source: TheStar.com)
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View today's Herald cartoon
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Today's Webpick: A brilliant five minute clip parodying West Side Story by changing the lyrics to reference online sites including Twitter and Facebook. Watch it here.
These are the very best online videos from Ana's online magazine Spare Room.
