Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Science and Innovation and Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith will travel to China tonight to represent New Zealand at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing.
“Attending the first Belt and Road Forum will allow us to add a distinctly New Zealand voice and perspective. New Zealand’s best interests lie in participating in international initiatives that have the potential to benefit our economy and society,” says Mr Goldsmith.
New Zealand’s participation in the Forum follows on from Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s successful visit to New Zealand in March, where he and Prime Minister Bill English witnessed the signing of a number of arrangements that reinforced the strength of the New Zealand-China bilateral relationship, including committing to working with China on its Belt and Road Initiative.
“We have a great record of advocating for open, rules-based systems that make trading, investment and people movements flow more easily,” Mr Goldsmith says.
Following the Forum, which runs from 14 to 15 May, Mr Goldsmith will undertake a series of meetings and events relating to his ministerial portfolios.
“China is an important research partner for New Zealand and the bilateral relationship between the two countries has continued to thrive in recent years, particularly with the signing of several major research partnership agreements in the last 12 months,” says Mr Goldsmith.
While in China Mr Goldsmith will also:
Mr Goldsmith will return to New Zealand on 20 May.
| A Beehive release || May13, 2017 |||
Incident Points up Danger of Microsoft Windows Standardisation, Dependence.
The failure of the global extortion cyber attack to get a foothold in New Zealand vindicates the value of the continuous system upgrades that from the outset of the information technology era has been a characteristic of the institutional information technology scene here, notably that of governmental services.
The ransomware attack, as it is known, notably attacked Britain’s National Health Service. Here it penetrated especially the service-to-patient delivery systems in health trusts. Services affected include picture archiving communication systems for x-ray images, pathology test results, phone and bleep systems and patient administration systems.
Institutional systems upgrades have long been considered to be conducted at twice the frequency in New Zealand as in the United Kingdom.
In addition to the routine and enforced upgrade of distributed systems here is the long-standing centralised structure of New Zealand health services.
Healthcare it can be clearly seen now is a natural target for computer-freezing extortion malware just because if someone’s life depends on something such as an operating theatre functioning or not functioning then there will be a greater readiness to pay the ransom to restore the computer systems driving it.
The disturbing aspect of this most recent attack is that the various ransom demands have been payable via bitcoin, the virtual liquid money technique. This means that the ransom payments are to a substantial extent untraceable,
All the indications so far lead to the cyber extortion attack being targeted on Microsoft systems that are no longer in fact officially supported by Microsoft. The pressures on Britain’s National Health Service continues to lead to budget cuts of which information technology savings have been foremost, leaving a large proportion of legacy systems vulnerable.
The freezing of targeted systems so that users cannot in fact use them ramps up the cyber war notably in the demand for the untraceable bitcoin ransom payments.
New Zealand’s reliance on the overwhelming global standard Microsoft Windows means that there are few grounds for complacency.
Internationally this latest attack has renewed the call for operating system diversity such as into independent operating systems especially in the open source sphere, notably Unix and Linux.
On this occasion Russia has not been blamed for the cyber attack and indeed is a victim of it probably because of its very large proportion of legacy systems vulnerable to precisely this type of hack.
Indeed Russian resident and fugitive CIA sleuth Edward Snowden has rounded on the popularly-supposed originator of the cyber implant, the United States National Security Agency. The NSA points out Snowden should have alerted its allies to its systems-paralysing device, especially at the time that it suspected, knew, that it had been filched.
This in turn leads to the supposition that in fact the cyber-sharing Five Eyes alliance, an English speaking union which includes New Zealand, had in fact been notified of the piratage and had taken steps to avoid it.
This does not explain though how Five Eyes signals intelligence-sharing member the UK got such a bad hit?
In turn this can be explained by the signals intelligence community failing to identify the vulnerability of Britain’s once admired but now ramshackle and sprawling public health system and also to comprehend how it would present such a tempting target to the pirated and now modified interference penetration weapon.
The quick response to the attack in the United Kingdom is substantially credited to a lone cyber security buff who got into the back of it, and discovered a sink-hole which now acted as a decoy into which the systems crippling onrush dumped itself and was smothered and drowned.
This could well be a part of the story.
But it is unlikely to be the full story. Which should also encompass the notion that with the systems paralysing genie out of the bottle, and still assuming that it had its genesis in a national security agency, that someone quickly produced an antidote to it.
| From the MSCNewsWire reporters' desk || Sunday 14 May 2017 |||
Ross Eathorne runs SWF Distribution the Solar Gard protective films master agent in New Zealand. The Solar Gard product is one that many of us will look at every day and not even know it’s there! The film has been applied to thousands of surfaces that are in the public eye, examples being solar control, safety and security graffiti protection and decorative situations.
Recently Solar Gard introduced a film that focuses on protecting the painted surfaces of motor vehicles from the likes of damage from the elements, shopping trolley damage and bird droppings.
Called Clearshield Pro Ross believes this protective film could be very effective in a factory and manufacturing environment. For example for the protection of painted surfaces from surrounding factory floor activity and abrasive actions or to protect finished surfaces of manufactured product.
It’s worth asking the question about your situation after all you won’t see the film all while the extending the life of your or equipment. Click on the image below to view the video.
You can reach Ross on:
Phone- +64 9 441 0040Fax- +64 9 444 2788Cell- 021 245 5135Email-This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
An interesting comment came through to us from Gordon Anderson, principal of health & safety advisory Hasmate, on a bill currently before Parliament.
Gordon had been sent an industry alert that talked about the proposed Domestic Violence- Victims Protection Bill that is currently under discussion in parliament.
Gordon says that if you are a business owner and got some of your body parts in a tangle over the latest health and safety legislation then this Bill will really get you going.
Domestic violence is an unsavoury topic to many but it is something that is happening in all quarters of society. He suggests that what many business owners don’t realise is that they may have to be part of the solution if the pending Act of Parliament is passed that is currently under discussion.
He doesn't know if the NZ Qualifications Authority have any training modules or qualifications on employee counselling on the topic, but he suggests that you check it out.
You can reach Gordon on 06 842 2499 or by email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Water treatment is very much in the news right now. Beit the who's to blame game with the Havelock North town water supply system, or our lakes and rivers and not to forget the impact on the pasture and the increase in run-off rdue to the increase in dairy herd numbers over recent years.
It would be fair to say that in many cases modern technology has not been investigated as far as water and waste treatment out in the field is concerned, out of sight and out of mind combined with the, if its not broken it doesn't need fixing kind of attitude. Probably not the most sensible approach.
Phil Read founder of Reaman Industries came through to MSCNewsWire with an interesting comment around the removal of waste material that he spotted in article where apparently a helicopter is being used to transport the waste material away from remote locations in the South Island. A rather expensive way of doing it Phil suggested when their is equipment available such as the Reaman MBBR Treatment Systems that could very well be appropriate. These systems can be installed underground (see image below) or housed in a 20 or 40ft container.
Today, technologies are available that will provide a complete treatment process on-site without needing to remove any waste products. Should you be looking at water and waste treatment solutions for your situation then a call to Phil would not go amiss. You can reach him on 021 915 892 and by email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
RACINE - Claiming it can compete globally from its manufacturing base in southeastern Wisconsin, where it invented the first garbage disposal 90 years ago, InSinkErator on Thursday announced a $63 million raft of new investments that include new headquarters and research labs.
"We can be competitive here. We do it every day," said InSinkErator President Chad Severson. China, Britain, Australia and New Zealand are among the growth markets that InSinkErator expects to drive demand for made-in-Wisconsin disposals.
InSinkErator, owned by St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co., will build a new $34 million headquarters and lab facility in Mount Pleasant, which is 5 miles from the flagship manufacturing plant, where officials unveiled the final design plans for the new prairie-style environmentally efficient building. Another $29 million is earmarked to expand the Racine manufacturing facility "and make room for future growth."
Company officials portrayed InSinkErator as a champion of made-in-America manufacturing, emphasizing that 90% of its suppliers are based in the United States, and all final assembly is done in American factories.
The company's basic food-waste pulverizing product is a staple in American homes, hidden under the kitchen sink. With new research and development labs, however, InSinkErator is broadening its aims into alternative energies, another global growth sector. Under a process it dubs Grind2Energy, InSinkErator will work with large-scale producers of leftovers such as stadiums or supermarkets and convert the leftovers into a slurry, which can be turned into fertilizers or biogas, Severson said.
The latest leg of expansion is part of a total $150 million in investments that Emerson is making in southeastern Wisconsin over the 2015-2019 timeframe. Those investments also include: $24.9 million to build a Kenosha facility, which opened in 2015, and $60 million in sustaining investment funding for various other needs.
InSinkErator employs 1,200 people in Racine, Kenosha and Sturtevant, making it a major employer in the region. InSinkErator is in the throes of restructuring its American operations but plans to leave its overall headcount in the region stable, officials said.
The new investments come as welcome news in Racine, where the unemployment rate is estimated at 5.3%, the second-highest of the state's 30 largest cities. Beloit has the highest, at 5.7%.
The new 85,000-square-foot headquarters, to be located in Mount Pleasant, also in Racine County, will be ready to open its doors next year near I-94, giving its executives access to the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor. It will house 175 engineers and professional staff.
"The I-94 corridor is going to be a very good jobs hub," said U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives, who joined the announcement in his home district. “Manufacturers like InSinkErator are the backbone of our economy.”
Ryan used the occasion to reiterate his support for a proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax code this year, meant to lower tax rates for American companies to become more competitive, and for the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
“I truly believe there is no better place to do business in America than the Badger State," Ryan said.
Emerson has closed on the purchase of 11.5 acres at the southwest corner of Highway 20 and Industrial Drive in Mount Pleasant and has received local approvals to build on the site. Construction of the new headquarters and lab building, which has been designed to qualify for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, is scheduled to begin in June.
InSinkErator will receive financial incentives from the Racine County Board of Supervisors, which approved Emerson’s $4.65 million loan request, and the Village of Mount Pleasant Board of Trustees, which approved $600,000 in tax increment financing assistance.
“Southeast Wisconsin continues to be an important area of operations for Emerson’s InSinkErator business,” said Bob Sharp, executive president at Emerson's Commercial & Residential Solutions division.
Emerson expects to have its new InSinkErator headquarters open in July 2018 and reconfiguration of the Racine plant completed by fall 2019.
| A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel release || May 12, 2017
There are still a few places left on Neil Markham's 17 May and 21 June 2017 AutoCAD Essentials Training Course.
The course gives students the opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the essential core topics working with the AutoCAD software. The teaching strategy is to start with a few basic tools that enable the student to create and edit a simple drawing, and then continue to develop the skills necessary to demonstrate competency such as:
A CADPRO Systems “Certificate of Attendance” will be issued following your Instructor-led Training.
Autodesk will issue a “Certificate of Completion” direct to the student once the Autodesk course valuation’s completed at the end of the training.Courseware
Autodesk eBook training manual (Internet access required) will be provided at the Instructor-led training.eBooks are license based and your property once activated
Continue here to contact Neil and gather more information.CADPRO Systems Ltd
Transport Minister Simon Bridges says a new lane along a section of Auckland’s Southern Motorway will help ease bottlenecks and improve journeys for thousands of motorists.
The additional southbound lane has now been opened to traffic between Hill Road and the Takanini interchange, and between the Takanini southbound on-ramp to the Pahurehure Inlet as part of the Southern Corridor Improvements project.
“The $268 million project is one of the Government’s accelerated transport projects for the Auckland region and will add extra lanes in both directions as well as upgrading the Takanini Interchange,” Mr Bridges says.
“The Southern Corridor connects Auckland and Northland to the rest of the country. The improvements will improve safety and journey reliability in the short term while supporting the rapid population growth in the south of the region in the next thirty years.
“It’s great to see the sections of extra southbound lanes now open in preparation for the opening of the Waterview Connection to ensure there’s enough capacity for the additional traffic joining State Highway 1 from State Highway 20,” Mr Bridges says.
Further improvements will extend the extra lanes both southbound and northbound, while the upgrade of the Takanini Interchange will provide new ramps for better traffic flow and easier access to the motorway. The project is due to be completed in 2019.
| A Beehive release | May 12, 2017 |||
Associate Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Louise Upston has welcomed the passing of the Education (Update) Amendment Bill today.
The Education Act has been updated to streamline the way government careers services and information are provided. As a result of a Government review of the careers system, Careers New Zealand is being disestablished and staff and functions will transfer to the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) on 1 July 2017.
“This is a positive step towards an improved careers system that will strengthen connections between education and employers, reduce fragmentation and duplication across government agencies and make pathways into further study and work clearer,” Ms Upston says.
“A refocused careers service within the TEC will make use of the commission’s ability to work with tertiary providers and employers so they co-ordinate with schools on the skill needs of the labour market.
“Students and their families can expect to have access to better and more consistent careers services and information as well as a continually expanding and improving suite of online tools,” Ms Upston says.
Employers will benefit from stronger connections with schools and tertiary providers and a more direct link to the skills pipeline, and careers education that links teaching and learning to the application of skills, knowledge and competencies in the labour market.
| A Beehive release || May 12, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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