Fall seven times and stand up eight
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Fall seven times and stand up eight
The Land of the Rising Sun is perhaps not the first place in the world Kiwis eye up when they go looking for opportunities. However, with a large domestic market of 127 million people and an ageing population shrinking the workforce, New Zealand entrepreneurs in Japan are thriving.
It wasn’t a walk in the park for Terrie Lloyd when he first arrived without a word of Japanese, but he promptly launched a translation company anyway. Now, 25 years later, he’s heading Japan Inc, an IT and publishing empire run with the help of fellow Kiwis James Porteous and Jack Turner. How did the trio succeed in Japan, and why do they reckon right now is the best time to enter the Japanese market? Find out on our website.
Never too late to not start
On deadline? Can’t be interrupted? Quickly, check if your job is really so important … or if there’s something else you should be doing. We’ll see you in the procrastination loop.
The Big Hokey
User-Generated Advertising. UGA? Is that the future of advertising? We’re not sure, but creating your own ads looks fun—and getting paid for them too.
A little bit of election stuff
Bill English. Doncha lerv ’im? National’s finance spokesperson has had his oar firmly dipped into the party’s economic policies for over a decade. There’s a real chance that some of these will come into life after the election this year. What does that mean for innovators and entrepreneurs though? Listen to English speak over at NZ Angels.
This is the last in a series of interviews with party spokesbots on the NZ Angels site. Earlier discussions include Labour’s Pete Hodgson, Rodney Hide of ACT, the Greens’ Russel Norman and a bizarre NSFW interview with Doug Woolerton of NZ First.
In orbit
How many knew there was such a thing as a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition? We didn’t, but the COTS winner, SpaceX, launched its Falcon 1 liquid fuel rocket into orbit around the Earth on September 28. This is in fact the fourth Falcon 1 launch by SpaceX, building up towards Falcon 9 zooming off into space.
That’s the exciting one, as Falcon 9 will hoist the Dragon spacecraft into space with a pressurised cargo and … astronauts.
How much carbon does a computer server emit in a year? Christchurch web hosting company Digiweb knows the answer, having recently officially gained carbon-neutral status for its data centre.
That means the decade-old firm has measured—to the best of its ability—its greenhouse gas emissions, committed to reducing them, and is offsetting its remaining emissions through tree planting.
To read the full case study on Digiweb and its carbon-neutral business, or to subscribe to receive regular email updates from IBM’s Business Insight, visit ibm.com/businessinsight.
Eternal Burger
Twelve years is no age for a McDonald’s hamburger. As MummyMan puts it:
“I began eating a McD hamburger 20 years ago. I was 28 at the time. 20 years later I have not wrinkled, aged, and my hair is still as red as it was then. It’s amazing. Better than Botox and anti-aging creams. The only catch is my wife says I look very much like Ronald McDonald and smell like a side of beef.
I wonder if this would work with Wendy’s or the BK Broiler??”
Sudsy and tumbly
Thinking about it, don’t most modern appliances look so just the same? Really similar, that is. Not this washer and drier pair from GE, however—which has certainly changed the way we looked at laundry.
Sechszehn of the best
Film maker Christina von Greve pops in to Galatos in Newton, Auckland on Tuesday next week, to show off a compilation of sixteen German music videos. They’re experimental, refuse to obey mainstream laws, preferring instead to reshape these according to their own standards. Check out this parallel cultural niche on Tuesday and on October 11 at the NZ Community Trust MediaTheatre in Wellington, where von Greve will be joined by local musos Bright Colours.
Internal promotion and natural business growth have created a career opportunity for a savvy web designer to join our creative and energetic digital design team. You’ll have the opportunity to work with an evolving portfolio of clients who span industries from government to entertainment; agriculture to financial services and beyond. If you have some experience in effectively translating and communicating brands through digital media, check out our vacancy at www.terabyte.co.nz/jobs/
Täne and Rehua
The deity of the forest and the star of summer are the focus of Tü Te Manu Ora i Te Rangi exhibition at the Thermostat Art Gallery in Palmerston North.
Work collectively created by Hemi Macgregor (Ngäti Rakaipaaka, Ngäi Tuhoe), Ngataiharuru Taepa (Te Arawa, Te Atiawa), Dr Rangi Mataamua (Ngäi Tuhoe) and Saffron Te Ratana (Ngäi Tuhoe) are featured in the exhibition, that runs from this Friday until October 16.
Warm Mulchzoid
David Mulcahy has been wallowing in themes such as Girls, Drugs, Suicide Bombers, Existence, Celebrity and Fascism, evolving into an electronic extension of his dark poppy himself called Mulchzoid.
Thanks to the peeps at Amplifier and Failsafe records, you have one week to download Warm Spot from Mulchzoid’s Laptopdancer album.
Quote of the week
“They would let you speak, then they would clap, comment on how great the idea was, and then ask if you could teach their daughter English.”
—Japan Inc’s general manager James Porteous on his early days in Japan.
More at Idealog online
Read more on our website: web exclusives, opinion, creative directory, Idealog TV, the Idealog blogs and the Idealog podcast. See you at idealog.co.nz.
Juha Saarinen
Ideologue, Weekly
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