I’m looking to compile a list of New Zealand sites built using WordPress.

To be listed a site needs to be:

• Active – for now that means at least one post since 1 June 2010.
• About New Zealand, written by someone living in New Zealand or about strictly New Zealand topics.
• Either hosted at WordPress.com or self-hosted using WordPress.org software.
• Not spam – anything that looks like spam will not be included. This includes site with spam-like advertising. My decision on this is final.

If you have a eligible site that’s not already listed please leave a comment below and I’ll add your details.

New Zealand’s WordPress sites:

Homepaddock A rural perspective with a blue tint Ele Ludemann

Dim Post It is difficult not to write satire Danyl McLauchlan

MacDoctor Politics and Medicine: A Lethal Combination  Dr. Jim McVeagh

The Inquiring Mind A personal take on matters Adam Smith

TVHE The Visible Hand in Economics Matt Nolan

G Blog A community of green voices Green Party members

The Evolving Newsroom observations on news and journalism Julie Starr

Journalista On word use and jargon John Spavin

Bargain Betty Money saving tips Diana Clement

Love Plant Life Devoted to useful plants and gardening Anna Butterfield

it.gen.nz Technology and society, Colin Jackson

KnowIT Science, tech and WordPress, Miraz Jordan

Mac Tips, Practical advice for Apple users, Miraz Jordan

Toothpix Mainly about food, Lyn Potter

Ask Rachel Advice column, Rachel Goodchild

Little Miss Pink Hair Fashion, books and design. Susie Goodchild

Writing ‘good morning’ at the start of emails seems a good idea. The words sound friendly and upbeat.

But you don’t know when the message arrives at the other end. Nor do you know when the reader opens it.

So, at best ‘good morning’ doesn’t make sense. At worst, it looks rude. It says the writer hasn’t thought about the person at the other end.

This matters if you are in business. An out-of-place ‘good morning’ might be read as “I’m happy to take your money, but I’m too lazy to think about how you might read my email”.

Writers have no control over when people read their emails, so it is best not to start communications that way even when you're in the same time zone as the reader.

If you want to seem polite or friendly, just start the email with hi or hello followed by the person's name.

New Zealanders have two better options. Kia ora is a Māori phrase everyone should know. Strictly speaking it means “good health” but it is widely used as an alternative to “hi”.

The other possibility is g’day – which we share with Australia. It’s a little old-fashioned these days, but serviceable.

I interviewed Victoria University economist Bronwyn Howell for a story in this morning’s edition of Communications Day*.

It's a complicated story, but Howell, a principal researcher at the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation (ISCR), warns the latest regulatory moves forcing Telecom to continue servicing unprofitable rural customers while removing the subsidy for this service, could, ultimately, bankrupt the company.

This is the latest move by government to reign-in a business which is widely viewed as a rapacious, monopolistic multinational.

Both Labour and National have found bashing Telecom is politically popular.

Now, I’m not saying Telecom is blameless. The company has stepped over the line on occasion.

Yet, bashing Telecom is not good for New Zealand.

And it most definitely isn’t good for the public.

Most people think of Telecom as being owned by American multinationals. While the company does have some international shareholders, the reality is New Zealanders own most of Telecom – mainly through institutions.

Telecom features heavily in our superannuation portfolios. In effect, the company, which was once owned collectively by New Zealanders through the government is now largely owned collectively by New Zealanders through our savings.

So when the government bashes Telecom, it look as if it is acting to support consumers. In many cases it is supporting consumers. Yet at the same time it is hurting investors.

In other words, we might get cheaper phone services, but we will be poorer in our old age.

What’s more, when the government bashes Telecom, the winners are usually the company’s rivals. These, by and large, are overseas-owned multinationals. So, in effect, money moves from our superannuation savings accounts in to other people’s superannuation accounts.

* – CommsDay is a subscription only email newsletter, so I can’t link to the original.

My New Zealand media on Twitter list is still available on this site. It has been updated many times with two new entries yesterday and four updates. If you think you should be on the list, or if you are on the list and think your entry needs to change, please get in touch.

In addition to the HTML list I've also created a Twitter list:@billbennettnz/new-zealand-media-people.

Everyone who is on the HTML list is now on the Twitter list.

Update: The list name has changed to NZ media on Twitter

Kiwi blogger Cactus Kate found a memo sent to staff at the New Zealand Herald and other APN titles telling journalists to adopt a “more conservative editorial approach”.

The memo, apparently sent to staff from the company’s Sydney headquarters follows a decision to cut the budget for legal action and defence to zero.

According to Cactus Kate, APN instructed editors to spike stories that could trigger legal action or are otherwise risky.

The New Zealand Herald has never been considered the nation’s hardest newspaper, but Cactus Kate’s APN Chicken Out says the company is no longer ‘real media’.

This creates a news gap in the nation's largest city – one that television and radio seem equally unable to fill. Bloggers alone can't fill the void left when a major newspaper decides not to do its job properly.

I'm impressed with Windows 7. After running the beta for months I've discovered it is everything Windows should be.

Sure there are niggles – but that would be true of any plausible alternative.

I was so impressed I decided to buy the operating system upgrade. Imagine my surprise when I discovered Dick Smith lists the Windows 7 Ultimate and Professional upgrades at $499 each.

The price is ridiculous. The same Dick Smith has notebook computers with Windows 7 installed starting at $899 – that's notebook not netbook.

OK. I understand the $899 notebook might not ship with Windows 7 Professional – that's not the point.

For just $400 more than the cost of a software upgrade I can have a new computer. The cheapest netbook on sale in New Zealand is $425 – just $25 more than the upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.

If I got to Digital Shop I can buy a desktop for just $487.64 with Windows 7 Professional installed.

That's right. In effect I can pay just $87.64 for a new computer.

So here are my choices:

1. Buy a new PC with Windows 7 Professional. Throw my existing, perfectly serviceable machine into a landfill. Have a better computer experience but stop sleeping at night because I'm destroying the planet.

2. Revert to Vista or XP. This costs nothing – but will give me a more annoying computer experience than at present.

3. Look once again at Linux.

What would you do?

Australian Reseller News, Computer Reseller News, New Zealand Reseller News and The Channel serve readers working at the sharp end of the information technology industry.

While many of the stories they cover are similar to those in other technology media, their specialised audience means  journalists need to filter information through a channel-oriented lens.

In most cases this means asking “what does this mean for the channel” and sticking the answer at the top of the story.

People who sell or distribute technology read these titles, they are ahead of market trends. That's because companies need to speak to resellers and distributors before speaking to the public.

When these publications work well, there's a flinty realism to their approach. They tend to deal with the nuts and bolts of the business and not airy-fairy possibilities.

New Zealand's The Channel is mainly advertorial – that is companies pay the publisher for stories written about their offerings. And all three other titles run sign-posted advertising supplements – they also pad out local coverage with overseas stories of variable worth.

Otherwise the publications are news-oriented.

You need to show the publishers of these titles you are a bone-fide computer industry person to get a subscription to the print publications, but all four run free access web sites.

Australian Reseller News

Computer Reseller News (Australia)

New Zealand Reseller News

The Channel (New Zealand)

Despite the global financial meltdown and widespread lay-offs, Australia still faces serious skills shortages. The obvious answer is to drag in workers with the right qualifications and experience from overseas.

It’s not hard to attract skilled people to Australia; from many places overseas it can almost look like a Shangri-la. However, the bureaucratic hoops are daunting and, technology skills requirements are a fast-moving target so often, by the time applications are processed, employers demands have changed.

Today’s The Australian Financial Review reports the way the country grants overseas technology professionals entry to the country is set for an overhaul in IT projects force migration target change (the story is behind a pay wall). There’s a similar report at The Sydney Morning Herald : Migration rules set for revamp.

This is going to propel Australia’s economy. There are a number of big tech projects underway and a shortage of suitably skilled people to do the work. I’d like to see New Zealand take similar measures to make sure our nation had the skills it needs to compete on the world stage. Taking unemployed or under-employed professionals from the US, UK and other northern hemisphere countries that can’t or won’t make use of them makes a lot of sense.