Is a Mans World

Dreamliner arrives in New Zealand

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:41:00 +0000

Hundreds of people lined Auckland Airport roads today to see Boeing's first 787 Dreamliner touch down. This is the first flight by the Dreamliner to land in the Southern hemisphere.

The 787 Dreamliner is three years behind schedule and costing $250 million each, Air New Zealand has 8 of the 787-9 version which will be joining the Air New Zealand fleet from 2014.

Boeing is flying the first Dreamliner it made around the world to demonstrate it to clients. The Dreamliner only entered commercial service last month with All Nippon Airways. Within a fortnight of entering service it suffered technical glitches with its undercarriage.

The Dreamliner is a revolutionary lightweight aircraft built mainly of carbon composites designed to save fuel. Air New Zealand's Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan was aboard the flight out of Seattle which touched down in Auckland at 10am. Also aboard were 30 Boeing staff testing the aircraft's performance on the non-stop 13 hours 40 minute flight.

The aircraft flew low of Auckland for the public to see while cars lined prime vantage spots around the airport for the army of plane-spotters out.

The plane will fly to Sydney on Tuesday next week.

All Blacks win rugby world cup final

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:28:00 +0000

Rugby world cup champions

New Zealand 8 Beat France 7

Bronze Champions

Australia 21 Beat Wales 18

Semi final results

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:59:00 +0000

Semi Final results

France 9 Beat Wales 8
New Zealand 20 Beat Australia 6

Bronze Final
Australia will play Wales

World cup final
New Zealand will play France.

Quarter final results

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:19:00 +0000

Quarter final Results.

Wales 22 Beat Ireland 10

France 19 Beat England 12
Australia 11 Beat South Africa 9
New Zealand 33 Beat Argentina 10

Semi finals.

Wales play Ireland
New Zealand play Australia

RWC Final Round of Pool Play

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 09:30:00 +0000

Pool A
Canada 23 Draw Japan 23
Tonga 19 Beat France 14
New Zealand 79 Beat Canada 15

Pool B
Georgia 25 Beat Romania 9
England 16 Beat Scotland 12
Argentina 25 Beat Georgia 7

Pool C
Italy 27 Beat USA 10
Australia 68 Beat Russia 22
Ireland 36 Beat Italy 6

Pool D
Wales 81 Beat Namibia 7
South Africa 13 Beat Samoa 5
Wales 66 Beat Fiji 0

Pool results

Pool A
New Zealand 20
France 11
Tonga 9
Canada 6
Japan 2

Pool B
England 18
Argentina 11
Scotland 10
Georgia 4
Romania 0

Pool C
Ireland 17
Australia 15
Italy 10
USA 4
Russia 1

Pool D
South Africa 18
Wales 15
Samoa 10
Fiji 5
Namibia 0

Teams through to the quarter finals are :-

Quarter Final 1
Ireland play Wales
Quarter Final 2
England play France
Quarter Final 3
South Africa play Australia
Quarter Final 4
New Zealand play Argentina

Rugby world cup. Round 3 results.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 09:11:00 +0000

Pool A
Tonga 31 Beat Japan 18
New Zealand 37 Beat France 17

Pool B
England 67 Beat Romania 3
Argentina 13 Beat Scotland 12

Pool C
Italy 53 Beat Russia 17
Australia 67 Beat USA 5
Ireland 62 Beat Russia 12

Pool D
Samoa 27 Beat Fiji 7
South Africa 87 Beat Namibia 0

Rugby world cup. Round 2 results.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 10:20:00 +0000

Pool A
Canada 25 Beat Tonga 20
New Zealand 83 beat Japan 7
France 46 beat Canada 19

Pool B
Scotland 15 beat Georgia 6
Argentina 43 beat Romania 8
England 41 beat Georgia 10

Pool C
USA 13 beat Russia 6
Ireland 15 beat Australia 6

Pool D
Samoa 49 beat Namibia 12
South Africa 49 beat Fiji 3
Wales 17 beat Samoa 10

Rugby world cup. Round 1 results.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:13:00 +0000

Pool A

New Zealand 41 beat Tonga 10
France 47 beat Japan 21

Pool B

Scotland 34 beat Romania 24
England 13 beat Argentina 9

Pool C

Australia 32 beat Italy 6
Ireland 22 beat USA 10

Pool D

Fiji 49 beat Namibia 25
South Africa 17 beat Wales 16

Why Men Shouldn't write advice columns‏

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:45:00 +0000

All Blacks squad announced.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 08:23:00 +0000

The All Blacks selector announced their first squad of the season at 4pm today.

Graham Henry picked a squad of 30 players to take on Fiji on July 22 and take part in the Tri Nations starting a week later.

Here's how the announcement played out...

Forwards:

John Afoa - Auckland

Corey Flynn - Canterbury

Ben Franks - Tasman

Owen Franks - Canterbury

Jarrad Hoeata - Taranaki

Andrew Hore - Taranaki

Jerome Kaino - Auckland

Richie McCaw (capt) - Canterbury

Keven Mealamu - Auckland

Liam Messam - Waikato

Kieran Read - Canterbury

Adam Thomson - Otago

Brad Thorn - Canterbury

Samuel Whitelock - Canterbury

Ali Williams - Auckland

Tony Woodcock - North Harbour

Backs:

Daniel Carter - Canterbury

Jimmy Cowan - Southland

Israel Dagg - Hawke's Bay

Andy Ellis - Canterbury

Hosea Gear - Wellington

Zac Guildford - Hawke's Bay

Richard Kahui - Waikato

Mils Muliaina - Waikato

Ma'a Nonu - Wellington

Colin Slade - Canterbury

Conrad Smith - Wellington

Isaia Toeava - Auckland

Piri Weepu - Wellington

Sonny Bill Williams - Canterbury

Junior All Blacks win World Champs.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 08:29:00 +0000

The New Zealand under-20 rugby team withstood the challenge from England to land their fourth successive junior world championship title with a 33-22 victory in the final in Padova, Italy this morning.

It took a try to fullback Beauden Barrett six minutes from time to secure the win for New Zealand who were pushed hard by an England side that were willing to spread the ball and determined to end their unbeaten run in the competition's four-year history. Beauden Barrett's try and two others to winger Charles Piutau and prop Ben Tameifuna and 18 points from the boot of first five-eighths Gareth Anscombe were enough to earn them the title.

Both sides scored three tries each, but it was the boot of man of the match Gareth Anscombe, who was successful with all seven shots at goal, which proved to be the difference. Captain Luke Whitelock, a member of the winning side last year, was proud to retain their 100 percent record in the tournament.

Coach Mark Anscombe paid tribute to the way his side defended in the second half when they came under pressure from England "That's a very good England team and they really took it to us they beat us in a lot of areas today but we showed a little bit of character out there today and hung in there," he said.

England started the better of the two sides, pinning the defending champions deep in their own territory for the opening quarter and were ahead after electric winger Christian Wade avoided halfback TJ Perenara to cross for the opening try in the seventh minute.

It was a struggle for New Zealand to make any headway as England first five-eighths George Ford, at 18 the youngest player at the tournament, kept driving the ball behind them. But when New Zealand did break out they looked threatening and winger Mitchell Scott was denied a try in the corner before Anscombe got them on the board via a penalty midway through the half.

Wade's second try after a kick and chase narrowed the gap to a point, and, with England's set-piece dominating, New Zealand's hold on the trophy looked shaky at best. But another Anscombe penalty extended the lead to four points before Barrett kicked through a pass from Piutau to finally end England's hopes and Anscombe, fittingly, added the conversion.

A real driver's car.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 08:01:00 +0000

While the standard mini hatch is already one of the sharpest models on the road, the Coupe will be aimed purely at those who like a 'more motivated' drive when it goes on sale in Britain in October.

The Coupe borrows the regular Mini's suspension but benefits from a lower center of gravity that will help limit body roll and increase agility. At the rear, a spoiler rises at speeds above 80km/h to increase down-force - a first for the brand.

Optional sports suspension is available with stiffer anti-roll bars and firmer dampers, while a rock-hard John Cooper Works set-up pack is also an option, This drops the ride height by 10mm and firms up the anti-roll bars and dampers even further.

Unlike the rest of the Mini range - which starts with the entry-level One - the base Coupe model is the Cooper, powered by a 90kW 1.6-liter engine. The flagship is the JCW, which adds a turbo for a total of 155kW. In between is the 135kW Cooper S, with a detuned version of the JCW's unit, while a hot new diesel SD gets a 105kW 2-liter oil-burner.

The Coupe Cooper will cover zero to 100km/h in a claimed nine seconds flat, and the JCW completes the benchmark sprint in 6.4 seconds - both a tenth up on their hatchback counterparts. With a 'helmet' roof grafted on top of the Mini Convertible's body, the two-seater Coupe looks unlike anything else on the road.

Its 'three-box' shape means there is room for a 280-liter load bay - 120 liters up on the normal Mini - plus there are extra storage bins behind the seats and a hatch for posting longer objects through. The roof line is 29mm lower than the standard car's, scallops in the headlining ensure tall occupants will fit in comfortably.

A350-900 delays

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 08:57:00 +0000

A350-900 first flight pushed back to end-2012

Airbus has pushed back the first flight of the A350-900 to the end of 2012 and is aiming for certification and service entry by the end of 2013 because of a delay to final assembly.

While Airbus planned a mid-2012 maiden flight, this seemed at odds with its intention to maintain a lead time of about nine months between final assembly and first flight.

Airbus's new timetable appears to provide a potential assembly lead time of a year, and offers a change of tone regarding entry into service - parent EADS had previously said the A350 would arrive in the second half of 2013. Pre-final assembly line initiation is being prepared at several plants - St Nazaire for the forward and center section, Getafe and Hamburg for the fin and tail, and Broughton for the wings. All major component assembly will be under way this summer to ensure delivery to the final line at the end of this year.

The first large aircraft parts are now manufactured and the focus is moving to pre-final assembly start. Airbus has orders for 574 A350s including 359 for the -900 variant.

Bahrain GP cancelled for 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 06:58:00 +0000

The controversial Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix has been cancelled for 2011, with local organizers announcing they would not pursue plans to stage the rescheduled event on October 30.

The chairman of the Bahrain International Circuit issued a statement saying "it has been made clear that this fixture cannot progress and we fully respect that decision."
The Bahrain GP was originally scheduled to open the F1 season in March but was cancelled due to political unrest.

Last week, F1's world governing body announced a new date for the Bahrain GP in October, sparking criticism from teams, fans and some administrators.

In an open letter sent to the Formula One Teams Association, FIA president Jean Todt said the decision to hold the Bahrain race on October 30 could be revised after teams objected because of logistical and insurance reasons.

Following assurances by government ministers and organizers that the race could go ahead safely despite ongoing anti-government protests in the Gulf kingdom, the Bahrain GP was last week given a green light for October, with the inaugural Indian GP, scheduled for that date, moved to the final round of the 20-race calendar.

At least 30 people have been killed since February during the unrest in Bahrain.
Ecclestone told the BBC this week that, despite last week's calendar changes, "the schedule cannot be rescheduled without the agreement of the participants."

Rugby world cup.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:08:00 +0000

100 Days to go until Rugby world cup 2011. Details of Venues.

Northland Events Centre, Whangarei

* Capacity: 20,000
* Matches: 2
- Tonga v Canada, Sep 14
- Tonga v Japan, Sep 21

North Harbour Stadium, Auckland

* Capacity: 30,000
* Matches: 4
- France v Japan, Sep 10
- Australia v Italy, Sep 11
- South Africa v Namibia, Sep 22
- South Africa v Samoa, Sep 30

Eden Park, Auckland

* Capacity: 60,000
* Matches: 11
- New Zealand v Tonga (opening match), Sep 9
- Australia v Ireland, Sep 17
- New Zealand v France, Sep 24
- Fiji v Samoa, Sep 25
- England v Scotland, Oct 1
- Quarterfinal 2, Oct 8
- Quarterfinal 4, Oct 9
- Semifinal 1, Oct 15
- Semifinal 2, Oct 16
- Bronze Final, Oct 21
- Final, October 23

Waikato Stadium, Hamilton

* Capacity: 30,000
* Matches: 3
- New Zealand v Japan, Sep 16
- Wales v Samoa, Sep 18
- Wales v Fiji, Oct 2

Rotorua Stadium, Rotorua

* Capacity: 26,000
* Matches: 3
- Fiji v Namibia, Sep 10
- Samoa v Namibia, Sep 14
- Ireland v Russia, Sep 25

Stadium Taranaki,New Plymouth

* Capacity: 26,000
* Matches: 3
- Ireland v USA, Sep 11
- Russia v USA, Sep 15
- Wales v Namibia, Sep 26

McLean Park, Napier

* Capacity: 15,000
* Matches: 2
- France v Canada, Sep 18
- Canada v Japan, Sep 27

Arena Manawatu, Palmerston North

* Capacity: 18,000
* Matches: 2
- Georgia v Romania, Sep 28
- Argentina v Georgia, Oct 2

Wellington Stadium, Wellington

* Capacity:40,000
* Matches:8
- South Africa v Wales, Sep 11
- South Africa v Fiji, Sep 17
- Australia v USA, Sep 23
- Argentina v Scotland, Sep 25
- France v Tonga, Oct 1
- New Zealand v Canada, Oct 2
- Quarterfinal 1, Oct 8
- Quarterfinal 3, Oct 9

Trafalgar Park, Nelson

* Capacity: 20,000
* Matches: 3
- Italy v Russia, Sep 20
- Italy v USA, Sep 27
- Australia v Russia, Oct 1

Rugby Park, Invercargill

* Capacity: 16,500
* Matches: 3
- Scotland v Romania, Sep 10
- Scotland v Georgia, Sep 14
- Argentina v Romania, Sep 17

Stadium Otago

*Capacity: 30,500
*Matches: 4
- England v Argentina, Sept 10
- England v Georgia, Sept 18
- England v Play-off winner, Sept 24
- Ireland v Italy, Oct 2

Flying Jetpack.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sun, 29 May 2011 07:15:00 +0000

Kiwi ingenuity is alive and well and flying a Jetpack 5000 feet above sea level.

No longer the stuff of comic stories, the Martin Jetpack is soaring to incredible heights, and could go even higher, according to its inventor Glenn Martin.

The Jetpack, which relies on two powerful fans to get airborne, is attracting international interest, including from the US military, but its potential uses are wider.

Japanese authorities dealing with the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power station even looked into using it to take test samples above the plant.

The flight near Ashburton on the Canterbury plains in New Zealand was piloted by remote control, with a crash-test dummy in the pilot's position. The machine flew to 5000 feet, then down to about 2000 feet before firing a rocket-propelled parachute. From there it sailed safely to the ground without damage.

A dummy was flown first for safety reasons and a real person will be second.

The jetpack can go places where helicopters can't, such as the sides of cliffs and between trees and buildings.

The next step would be to develop a parachute similar to those used on jet pilot ejector seats which opened faster than the rocket-propelled type.

To develop the jetpack to this point had cost $12 million in savings and venture capital and 30 years of Martin's life. And the intention was to float the company on the sharemarket, to raise capital to get the jet pack into mass production. Early estimates were that one might retail for about $60,000.

Jaguar C-X75

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Sat, 21 May 2011 08:52:00 +0000

The jet-powered C-X75 will propel Jaguar into the future when it goes into production in 2013 - but the first examples won't be powered by the gas turbines that wowed observers at the Paris motor show last year.

The British car maker - owned by Indian company Tata - has confirmed it will limit production of the all-wheel-drive super-coupe to 250 examples, most of which will instead use a boosted small-capacity internal combustion engine combined with powerful electric motors, one on each front wheel.

The engine is likely to be a version of the 400kW 1.6-liter four-cylinder unit being developed by Formula One team Williams for the 2013 season. Jaguar and Williams recently joined forces to collaborate on future technology.

Reports in Europe say the final 50 C-X75s will carry gas turbine engines. Jaguar itself has said that at least 50 of the 250 models will be racing versions.

The show car measures 4647mm long, 2020mm wide and 1204mm. It rides on a 2725mm wheelbase and turbine-themed polished alloy wheels measuring 21 inches at the front and 22 inches at the rear.

Jaguar has priced the production C-X75 at between £700,000 and £900,000 ($1.45 million and $1.87 million) and invited expressions of interest on its website.

Jaguar's last supercar was the XJ220, recognized as the world's fastest production car - until the McLaren F1 came along.

Android stamps authority on smartphone.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 12 May 2011 10:15:00 +0000

Smartphones powered by Google software widened their lead on BlackBerry handsets in the US market during the first three months of the year, industry tracker comScore reports.

Android smartphones dethroned BlackBerry in January by capturing 31.2 per cent of the US market and that share grew to 34.7 per cent by the end of March, according to comScore.

BlackBerry handsets made by Canada-based Research In Motion (RIM) lost ground in the quarter, ending March with 27.1 per cent of the US market.

Apple was close behind RIM with iPhone running on the California company's mobile platform commanding 25.5 per cent of the market, according to comScore.

Samsung was the top handset manufacturer overall with a 24.5-per cent share of the US market, comScore said, followed by LG with 20.9 per cent, Motorola with 15.8 per cent, RIM with 8.4 per cent and Apple with 7.9 per cent.

According to comScore, 234 million Americans owned mobile devices at the end of March and the number of smartphones owned climbed 15 per cent to 72.5 million.

NZ Breakers beat Cairns Taipans

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:40:00 +0000

History has been made! After eight seasons of trying, the New Zealand Breakers have become the first New Zealand team to win an Australian professional club title.

On their homecourt at the North Shore Events center in Auckland , American Import Gary Wilkinson led the Breakers with a 14 point haul.

Australian CJ Bruton hit two late three pointers in the fourth quarter to get the home crowd rocking as the NZ Breakers led by 19 points with just five minutes on the clock.

It was a convincing performance from the homeside, who lead for the entire game and squashed any doubts about their ability to fightback after their sluggish finish in game two of the finals series
.
FULL TIME: Breakers 71 Taipans 53

Beer, Good for the brain.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 08:59:00 +0000

A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members!

In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine! That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Alonso and Hamilton handed penalties.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 06:58:00 +0000

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso have been handed down a 20 second time penalty by the Malaysian stewards following their clash during the Sepang formula one GP event.

Lewis Hamilton was penalized for making more than one change of direction as he tried to defend his position from Fernando Alonso on the lap before he was hit by Alonso. The Spaniard, meanwhile, received the same penalty for causing a collision with Hamilton during the fight.

Hamilton's penalty promotes Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi to seventh in the race results and drops Lewis Hamilton to eighth. Alonso retains his sixth-place finish due to a large gap back to seventh place.

RNZAF Skyhawks going to museums.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:57:00 +0000

The 10 year long saga of the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 17 mothballed Skyhawk fighter-bombers has finally come to an end, with nine being given away to museums and some being sold as spare parts.

The Skyhawks have been up for sale since 2001, when the previous government scrapped the Air Force's strike wing. The asking price for the 17 skyhawks was $155 million. In the past 10 years it has cost approximately $34 million just to store and maintain since they were decommissioned by the Labour government in 2001.

New Zealand minister of defence said he would offer eight of the jets to public museums in New Zealand and one to Australia as pieces of our aviation history for future generations.

The remaining airframes, engines, spares, ground support equipment, role- specific equipment, and documentation and publications will be sold separately through a request for proposals process.

In December, Dr Mapp said the Skyhawks and 17 Aermacchis had cost $34m to store and maintain

Christchurch to lose Rugby world cup games.

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:36:00 +0000

The Rugby world cup games that were to be played in Christchurch have been cancelled due to the damage at AMI Stadium following last month's earthquake.

AMI Stadium was supposed to be hosting five group matches and two quarterfinals during the World Cup which runs through September and October, However Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully announced this afternoon that all games will have to be moved to other venues around the country.

Auckland will now host the two quarter final matches while as many of the pool matches as possible will be kept in the South Island, All existing ticket holders will be offered refunds or tickets to the reallocated matches.

The Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker said the decision would be a further blow for a city still reeling from the February 22 earthquake, but he accepted it had been made after long consideration and with the best interests of the Rugby World Cup in mind for players and spectators.

Although complete replacement of the turf at AMI Stadium is required, there were also concerns about the amount of accommodation available for those travelling to see the Christchurch games.
Australia, England and Argentina were all set to play twice at AMI Stadium while the fourth quarterfinal would mostly feature the All Blacks if they finished top of Group A.

Matches scheduled for Christchurch:
Saturday September 10 - Argentina v England
Sunday September 11 - Australia v Italy
Sunday September 18 - England v Georgia
Sunday September 25 - Argentina v Scotland
Sunday October 1 - Australia v Russia
As many as possible will remain in South Island

Saturday October 8 - Quarterfinal 2
Sunday October 9 - Quarterfinal 4

Are to be moved to Auckland

League legends match to aid earthquake appeal

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 07:13:00 +0000

Former rugby league internationals from New Zealand and Australia will take the field in Auckland next week to raise funds for victims of the Christchurch earthquake last week.

This charity match is to be held at Mount Smart Stadium on March 10 and was being coordinated by the New Zealand Rugby League and a group of former Kiwi internationals.
Gary Freeman, Monty Betham, Nigel Vagana and Tawera Nikau have helped organize the teams for the match with Nikau ready to play despite having an artificial leg.
The New Zealand rugby league chief executive Jim Doyle said it wanted to do its bit to support those affected by the earthquake.

Everyone in the country is trying to find some way of helping the people in Christchurch and the Canterbury region. Staging the Legends of League Charity Match is a way of bringing people in Auckland together to provide some financial support for a community that's been devastated and is in desperate need.

Among the players set to make an appearance are Kurt Sorensen, Olsen Filipaina, Stacey Jones and the Kiwis' 2008 World Cup-winning captain Nathan Cayless. Australians Mario Fenech and David Peachey have also volunteered to play.

Bahrain GP called off

noreply@blogger.com (Dave) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:26:00 +0000

Formula One organizers have called off the season opening Bahrain formula 1 Grand Prix because of anti-government protests.

No new date has been set for the race, which is the kingdom's biggest international sports event. The Bahrain GP has been on the F1 calendar every year since 2004.

The Bahrain GP could be rescheduled later in the season, with speculation it could take place after the Abu Dhabi race on November 13 if the season-finale in Brazil is moved from November 27 into December.
The F1 championship's next scheduled race is the Australian GP in Melbourne on March 27.