Well now, who would have thought a migraine could lead to such pleasure? After applying the usual remedies (coffee, Voltaren, head massage, bed) I rediscovered the joys of Morning Report on Radio New Zealand's National programme. Radio and the web are so closely intertwined nowadays that it's hard to imagine one without the other.
First a discussion on labelling food with the country of origin. Ruth Pretty responded to objections, namely that processed food has so many ingredients that the label would be huge, and that manufacturers often have to suddenly source a new ingredient, invalidating labels. Why not put the information online, says Ruth, with computers in supermarkets to consult on the spot?
Second up, Waitakere City has an interesting scheme to engage teens in reading books. They release selected books into the wild, challenge students to capture, read the books, register the details online - and re-release. As they say, teens live online, so the library is meeting them in their natural habitat.
Thirdly, Sir Ian McLellen charmed me with his erudite, funny, modest analysis of his film, stage and television work. Then he discussed his web site as 'a sort of living autobiography'. But he warns that he hasn't written a thing since starting the current productions of King Lear and The Seagull, saying, 'I've just been too darn busy'.
Radio New Zealand programmes and podcasts
Books in the wild: Waitakere City Council
Ruth Pretty Catering
Sir Ian McLellen's web site
2 comments
Aug 03, 2007 • Posted by rachel
Endless possibilities! And they are not mutually exclusive. Thanks for this smart model.
Aug 03, 2007 • Posted by Miraz
Having the information online and available to computers would be good, but what they need is something creative with texting. The South African FISH TXT model would be useful – it allows people to send text messages to find out about the fish they plan to buy / order:
http://webguide.net.nz/blog/2007/fish-txt/
They could even enlarge their scope and make it possible to query whether a product contains a particular ingredient – as one who is allergic to onion I find myself squinting at teeny tine writing on labels and often just putting something back on the shelf when I don’t trust what the label says.
Imagine being able to text a series of codes to some magic number and get back an OK or Not OK. At its most creative it would allow you to build up some kind of profile via a website: eg low fat diet, allergy to onion, prefer organic. You then text your personal code number and a food product number and the response says: OK to eat, Avoid or Refuse.
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