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NEWS: Missing Toddler FoundOn the evening of Monday October 12th Inspector Gary Davey found the body of a child near where two year old Aisling Symes went missing last week. The body was found in a storm water drain on Pomaria road around 6pm of the 12th. The discovery was announced to a crowd that gathered outside a West Auckland home. READ MORE
NEWS: Mobile Phones Banned in Cars On August 13th 2009 Transport Minister Steven Joyce announced that there would be a change to the Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule. From 1st November onwards drivers will not be able to text or make calls while driving. The repercussions for those that ignore the new law are an $80 fine and 20 demerit points. READ MORE

On August 13th 2009 Transport Minister Steven Joyce announced that there would be a change to the Land Transport (Road User) Amendment Rule.

From 1st November onwards drivers will not be able to text or make calls while driving. The repercussions for those that ignore the new law are an $80 fine and 20 demerit points.

The rule also contains 23 other changes based on, “small and technical changes to improve road safety, clarify existing laws, reduce compliance costs, assist enforcement, and improve traffic flow”.

The New Zealand Herald spoke with the Serious Crash Unit investigator for Waitemata who witnessed a driver crash into a motorbike head-on after crossing the centre line while talking on his mobile.

The motorcyclist died, however the driver was not injured. Mr Kearns welcomes the change as he states, “from my point of view it is very positive”.

The Law change followed statistics that between 2003 and 2008 there were 482 crashes resulting in injuries and 25 fatal crashes
in New Zealand with mobile or other telecommunications as a factor.

The Land Transport Authority suggests drivers turn cell phones off to minimise distractions. Drivers will be able to continue to use hands-free sets as it is acknowledged that mobiles may be needed for business. An article in Science Daily however suggests that hands-free kits may not be any safer than hand-held mobiles and may in fact be even more distracting.

Yoko Ishigami, who presented the paper, argues that, “People tend to be over confident with hands-free and drive faster”. She also claims that, “Some studies found drivers were very cautious when using a hand-held phone”. People may pull over to the side of the road to have a conversation.

Nonetheless, New Zealand is now added to the long list of countries, including Australia, France and Malaysia that have banned cell phone use while driving. Transport Minister Steven Joyce says that a 10 year road safety review will be soon be available for consultation.

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CREATIVE: Riddles! Cameron Roberts has a riddle for us: ‘SOMEthing’ This riddle is medium level. Try to guess the answer! READ MORE

Riddle for the week:

‘Step Pets Pets’

This riddle is of medium difficulty.

Congrats to Stu for guessing the last riddle correctly.

Post your guesses in the comments box!

Past Riddles

R

O

O

M

Answer:  Standing Room Only. Winner:  Stu Roberts

Riddle: ‘Entury’

Answer: ‘Long time no see!’ Unfortunately no one guessed correctly.

The riddle for 25 July was:

‘SOMEthing’

Answer was: The start of something big.

Congratulations to Stu Roberts!

1/7/09

So Cadbury were NZ’s most trusted company. Everyone loved their chocolate. Schools sold it to fundraise. And more recently we’ve had some funny (or not depending on your POV) viral ad campaigns.

But it seems the success was not to last, and Cadbury decided to change something that was working very well for them… their actual chocolate.

Deliciously rich with a glass and a half of milk makes me hungry just thinking about it. But now they have added Palm Oil (vegetable oil) and are not using as much cocoa. They claim it is to make the chocolate softer…

Ok, so they have to cut costs. Fair enough – everyone does. They could stop advertising on TV for a bit. Maybe reduce a bit of production quantities. But reducing the quality of the chocolate?

They have even cut down the size of king-size chocolate bars while keeping the price the same. The old packaging was like a present with gold foil tightly wrapping the block. The new blocks are in a cardboard box.

Whittakers caught on before most of us did with an ad in the Herald on the weekend that completed outed Cadbury without naming names. Saying, we don’t add vegetable fats or reduced cocoa like some of our competitors. It went on to describe their delicious ingredients.

And that’s what works. Because I want to associate words like rich, dark, creamy, milk, cocoa to chocolate. Not vegetable fats, palm oil, children with crazy eyebrows…

They need to listen to the people and make the necessary changes back, if they want to keep their loyal customers. My family is already thinking of changing brands and chocolate is a vital part of our household, keeping the peace when hell breaks loose.

Mm, now I’m craving some Whittakers Almond Gold…

Hannah Montana: The Movie

If you’re a Hannah fan, you’ll already be counting down the days until her next film is out.  Which life will she choose – a simple country life as Miley or a star-studded popstar life as Hannah? Find out when the film shows at cinemas on July 2nd!

Transformers II

If you’re after something more action packed then you’ll have to check out Transformers II! Everyone’s saying it’s better than the first one – and that one was awesome. Let us know what you think of it too! Here is the trailer:

Easy Baking

Do you like ice cream and chocolate sauce? Here’s a twist – try chocolate custard! It’s thick, filling and delicious.

Simply put two tablespoons of custard powder into a bowl, then add two tablespoons of cocoa, two tablespoons of sugar, add half a cup of milk and stir into a paste. Then add two more cups of milk and heat in the microwave on power 6 for around four minutes. Beat until the mixture is free of lumps. Then, add two more cups of milk and heat on power 6 for another 4 – 6 minutes until the custard is thick and smooth.

Read a good book

We recommend The Pact by Jodi Picoult for an intense and beautiful look at the boundaries of friendship and love; Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella for material girl fun and giggles, Hovercraft Racer by Matthew Reilly for sci-fi awesomeness; Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones for clever, inspirational reading; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for an epic end to an epic adventure; and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck for a sad but poignant old American tale.

Posted in Creative ]]> http://voxpopmedia.wordpress.com/2009/06/27/appropriate-attire-for-teachers/feed/ 0 Vox Pop http://voxpopmedia.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/andrew-j-roberts-author-portfolio/ http://voxpopmedia.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/andrew-j-roberts-author-portfolio/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 00:36:28 +0000 Vox Pop http://voxpop.net.nz/?p=381 ]]> Here you’ll find all of Andrew J Roberts’ contributions to Vox Pop.

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SHORT FICTION: ‘Herman’ Tom spun around at the sound of the Ferrari exhaust. He saw the White Ferrari come up the hill and pull in to park right next to where he was standing near the student’s car park. The yellow and black ‘L’ plate on the back window seemed unusual on such a fast sports car so Tom wasn’t sure what to expect. READ MORE
SHORT FICTION: ‘Mates’ “What do ya mean, you can see the future?” “I just sort of see it, if I close my eyes and think about stuff. And the past too.” “We can all remember past stuff.” “Yeah but I can see stuff that I never saw before. Like in places I haven’t been…” READ MORE