It could be the largest sketch in history – Boeing has used one of its B787-8 Dreamliners to draw a huge image of the plane over the entire continental United States, etched by its own flight path.
The extraordinary journey, designed as a creative way for the plane to make an endurance test flight, happened last week. The shape was so huge that the only way of discerning it was by looking on air traffic sites like FlightAware and FlightRadar24.
Boeing said the B787-8 Dreamliner crossed 22 states to form the giant outline. It took off from Boeing Field International Airport in Seattle and landed back there more than 18 hours later. The “wingspan” of the giant image extends from the Great Lakes almost to the Mexican border.
“Rather than fly in random patterns, the test team got creative,” Boeing explained.
The stunt drew a bit of criticism, with Quartz.com pointing out that the trip produced more than 300,000 kg of carbon dioxide. Endurance tests are necessary, however, and flying in the shape of a plane is no worse than flying in straight lines – and more fun for the pilot. It wasn’t a joy ride.
Earlier this year, a Boeing 737 MAX traced “MAX” in the sky to prove it could fly nine hours straight.
| A n eGlobal Ttravel item written by Peter Needham || August 7, 2017 |||
New Zealand is not alone in attracting and retaining women in tech, a leading tech specialist says.
Andrea Hancox, NZTech’s national director of government relations, says the whole world faces the issue of attracting and retaining women in tech and introducing tech to young women as a choice of career.
The Ministry of Women has released a guide Decoding Diversity targeted at attracting and retaining girls and women in tech education. The guide is for secondary school teachers, university lecturers, code club volunteers and other community group leaders, potential employers, career advisors, industry professionals, recruitment personnel, students and parents.
Hancox says she is passionate about attracting more Kiwi females into tech careers. NZTech along with NZRise, the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment and Ministry for Women are about to release a campaign focused on encouraging women into tech careers.
“Studies show more diverse organisations deliver better revenue and profitability, a clear sign tech is a great career for women. Tech companies often don’t reflect the customers they are trying to sell to and therefore under-represent their reach and capabilities.
“The business case for greater gender balance is strong. Tech firms that have equal number of women and men are up to 40 percent more profitable. Women make up 51 percent of the population.
“I appeal to all families, schools, organisations and companies to encourage females into tech. It will make a huge positive economic difference for New Zealand.
“Feedback from a lot of young women I have spoken to, say there are often only a few other females in their tech class. They are often assigned the less technical tasks by their male students making them feel less valued. This must change. If tech is what young women want to study then go it. It will be a fantastic and highly-paid career.
“We need to look at parents, teachers, principals, career guidance counsellors and caregivers what advice are they giving young women today on their career choices when they leave school. What do they know about the technology sector and why it’s so important to encourage students to consider a career in tech,” Hancox says.
NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says it’s vital for New Zealand’s economic future that more women participate fully in technology.
“The first challenge is to inspire and excite more students, parents, teachers and principals about digital technology and the opportunities it creates for fulfilling careers,” he says.
| A makeLemonade release || August 3, 2017 |||
National Party Paralysed by non-productive but media-friendly anti water exports pressure groups
From MSCNewsWire's European Correspondent August 7 2017 - Fresh water is New Zealand’s most promising new primary export yet the more extravagant become the prospects for development, the more intense the pressure to vapourise the business from powerfully placed ideological pressure groups.
In recent months attempts to staunch the packaged water business has U-turned away from a generalised argument against the plastic (i.e petroleum-derived) containers to a much broader-gauge argument to the effect that pumping out drinking water is undermining the very geological base on which the nation itself rests.
This notion is quite literally allowed to float un-contradicted.
A reason is that the relevant lobby New Zealand Water association is reluctant to buy into the issue.
Privately, officials will talk about the scaremongering centred on the emptying out of the subterranean aquifers.
They point out simply enough that the supply of water remains constant and that water merely changes its form on its way to finding its own level again .
Steam, rain, snow, ice being just some of them.
However, the New Zealand Water association is mainly comprised of municipal water treatment officials and their suppliers.
So there is an understandable reluctance to buy into the ideological and thus frenzied fresh water exports debate.
This is correctly viewed by New Zealand Water industry group, which is a top-tier lobby, as a lose-lose proposition from its point of view.
There are now strong indications internationally that fresh water exports offer the same economic opportunities to New Zealand now as did the wine sector a generation or so ago.
Sales of bottled water in Europe have now substantially overtaken sales of bottled flavoured sodas, of the type now so actively despised by New Zealand educationalists, among others.
The other trend is the way in which the bottled water sector has imitated the wine sector in that provincial and family-owned bottled water marques have begun to bite deeply into the established brands.
This means that Nestle and Danone, the two dominant bottlers, have had to reconfigure their marketing around the threat of these niche, and personalised premium brands.
All this is much more than abstract state of affairs for New Zealand.
It means that all the French multinationals involved in packaged potable water are intent on diving headlong into Asia.
As these companies seek scale and market share in Asia they are much assisted by France’s merchant marine which is customising its freight capacity to take advantage of this new highly absorbent market.
This will be a big export setback in the region.for New Zealand.
Much greater than is widely understood.
The reason is that the European potable water will be bundled into much wider primary offerings just because firms such as Danone and Nestle are also the world leaders in, for example, dairy products.
Dairy products move in and out of various categories of surplus.
Fresh water in clear contrast enjoys a much more constant level of demand.
| From This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. || Monday 7 August, 2017 |||
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith has today released the Future Demand for Construction Workers Report 2017, the updated forecast of New Zealand’s need for workers in building and construction through to 2022.
“Demand for skills across the board is at fever pitch, but nowhere more so than in construction, which in the year to June employed over 18,200 more people across New Zealand, the second largest contributor to annual employment growth,” Mr Goldsmith says.
The number of people expected to be employed in construction occupations is projected to increase by 10 per cent by 2022, adding around 56,000 employees, increasing the total construction workforce to 571,300.
“The total value of building and construction work forecast over the next six years is expected to top $244 billion, and all of that investment needs skilled construction workers to bring it to reality,” Mr Goldsmith says.
“Our intention is not just to provide accurate forecasts of the value of this work. We want to support planning for this important part of our national workforce.”
The new report and its web application allows anyone to check forecasts for 62 construction occupations across New Zealand. That information will enable construction firms to better plan their workforces, and encourage expanded training by education providers.
“The Government is actively supporting the training of more skilled workers to meet the demand for new housing and construction. Through initiatives such as Trades Academies, Vocational Pathways, the Dual Pathways Pilot, Maori and Pasifika Trades Training, and industry training through the ITOs, we have a significant pipeline for delivering skilled workers,” Mr Goldsmith says.
“We have the funding to take on anyone willing to take up an apprenticeship, and have funded 7,500 new apprentices over the past year. The Government is willing to put the resources in, but we also need the support of parents, teachers, careers advisors, and businesses if we are to get more young Kiwis into the trades.”
“In 2016 the number of new starts for apprenticeships like carpentry, plumbing and electrical engineering were at the highest levels in nearly a decade. We now have over 43,000 apprentices in training, and are on the way to our goal of 50,000 by 2020,” Mr Goldsmith says.
The Future Demand for Construction Workers Report 2017 and web application are located at constructionprojections.mbie.govt.nz.
| A beehive release || August 7, 2017 |||
Probably because of the unprecedented earthquake rebuild, Canterbury has produced the most number of entries for the National Kitchen and Bathroom Association (NKBA) 2017 Excellence in Design awards to be announced at Pyrmont in Sydney on Friday, August 11.
Auckland, easily New Zealand’s biggest city, usually has the most entries. Other entries for the event have come from Wellington, Southland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, Taranaki and Hawke’s Bay.
Last year’s supreme kitchen design award winner Auckland designer Morgan Cronin is a judge this year. The awards are being held off shore for the first time so designers can attend the 2017 Sydney Indesign event next weekend.
When the country's top kitchen and bathroom designers present the best of their work in the annual awards, it’s like a litmus test of the latest trends, NKBA president Annemarie Mains says.
“We are so excited about the beautiful and creative kitchen and bathroom designs of the New Zealand designers that entered this year. NKBA designers are world class with such a high standard and quality manufacturing,” Mains says.
“Mal Corboy, one of judges, said he was impressed with the quality of the kitchen and bathroom designs. For home owners wanting to build new or shape their kitchens and bathrooms it’s important to have NKBA qualified designers and manufacturers as clients who have vast knowledge of the regulations especially with council compliance issues.
“Kitchens link the lounge, living areas and the outdoor entertainment areas and are the hub of the social environment of a house and they are probably the most expensive room in a house.
“Reality cooking programmes show the passion and interest towards food, health and entertaining. To have flexibility for the modern cook with varying ethnic backgrounds, we have seen a rise in the combination style cooktops being specified. Combination cooktops allow you to have multiple cooking technologies (induction and gas) side by side.”
The awards are the longest standing kitchen and bathroom design Awards in New Zealand. This year’s awards are the 33rd for the NKBA awards.
NKBA designers are leaders in the industry with many working not only within New Zealand but overseas as well, Mains says.
In addition to the supreme kitchen and bathroom winners being named on Friday, there are 35 other awards to be presented including regional awards and a student design award to be announced.
| A Make Lemonade release || August 6, 2017 |||
A total of 92 percent of New Zealanders do not want their nation to follow President Donald Trump’s lead and withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Agreement set in 2015.
Moreover, six in ten Kiwi’s believe we should work harder with other countries to achieve the goals of the accord after the US withdrawal in June.
This is the outcome of a Climate Change survey released today by Pure Advantage, a national organisation comprised of business leaders who believe the private sector has an important role to play in creating a greener, economically stronger New Zealand.
New Zealanders are even more united in their commitment to the Paris Accord than Australians at 87 percent support, Pure Advantage chief executive Simon Millar says.
“Our survey showed seven in ten Kiwis are comfortable with the carbon reduction targets that have been set by New Zealand as a signatory to the Paris Agreement, yet 20 percent think they could be even higher.
“Millennials are significantly more likely to support carbon reduction. This next generation of Kiwi consumers, business owners and decision-makers want to see New Zealand leading the world, and working even harder to accelerate our efforts towards a zero-carbon future.
“Two-thirds of people believe we should be a world leader in solving climate change and also support measurement of economic growth in New Zealand (GDP) to include the impact of growth on the environment.
Despite our clean and green global brand, New Zealand is trailing many countries in our carbon reduction efforts to sustain this reputation and our performance on the international stage is well below world leading. Since 2011 the United Kingdom has had lower emissions per person than New Zealand,” Millar says.
These findings relate directly to those recently announced by Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Dr Jan Wright who said that climate change is the environmental issue of our time and that New Zealand’s total emissions are climbing, while in many other countries they are falling.
The survey shows that large numbers of Kiwis are speaking out about climate change and wanting the country to do more about it, yet we are laggards on progress and the Government is yet to lay out a clear plan for how we will achieve the targets we have set, let alone increasing our ambitions. Steady as she goes is not the way forward, bold action is.
New Zealand is one of 196 countries to have signed the Paris Agreement and committed to voluntarily take steps to address climate change. The Accord set the goal of reducing greenhouse gas pollution to zero in the second half of the century. New Zealand has set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
Pure Advantage is a not-for-profit that investigates and communicates opportunities for green growth. Its trustees include Sir Stephen Tindall, Katherine Corich, Phillip Mills and Rob Morrison.
| A Make Lemonade release || August 3, 2107 |||