The University of Waikato’s Computer Science Department is hosting a site for the world’s largest game creation event, Global Game Jam – (GGJ) 2015, from 23-25 January.

In a game jam, participants come together to create video and board games over a 48-hour period working in teams. The GGJ encourages experimentation and innovation, and takes place in the same 48-hour period all over the world. This year organisers expect more than 25,000 people worldwide to take part. The New Zealand game jams run from 5pm Friday, 23 January until the evening of Sunday, 25 January.

“Come and take part because it’s fun,” says Mr Rogers. “It’s a great experience working towards a common goal with a deadline and with people who have similar interests.”

Anyone can take part in a game jam: experienced professionals, senior high school students and game-creator wannabes. Teams will be formed at each of the local jams.

The University will make computer labs and work (and crash) space available, but participants are welcome to bring their own laptops. The University computer labs provide Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, XNA Studio 4, Game Maker and Blender.

The rules of GGJ preclude participants from using pre-made content (including program code, audio, graphics, models etc) unless it was publicly available at least a month prior to the GGJ.

Participants need to bring sleeping bags/mats. Hamilton registration is now open, is $25, and covers the cost of food, drinks and a T-shirt.

For more information and to register, visit www.globalgamejam.org.nz or phone Bill Rogers on 022 699 4522.

The post Get involved in 48-hour Global Game Jam appeared first on Press Coverage.

Business NZ has called it a drag on the economy, stating educational institutions will struggle to match the supply of graduates with real labour market needs.

New Zealand’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector universally agrees. To keep up with economic, technological and global challenges, we need to be smarter, quicker and more efficient at developing qualifications that employers want, to produce employable trainees.

There is a massive pool of talent amongst the 70% of school leavers who do not attend university. To channel this talent into our future workforce, education and training must be based on labour market needs.

The building and construction skills gap could have been predicted, particularly in Auckland and Christchurch. But as a country we haven’t moved fast enough and we are now in dire need of around 5,000 more building apprentices.

Aged care is a sector where we can predict future labour shortages as the rapidly ageing population needs support from qualified workers. This is something we can respond to now in a timely and tailored way.

Our current system is disconnected. Not only do we lack industry leadership, the VET sector is silo’ed within itself, with polytechnics and Institutes of Technology, Private Training Establishments, and Industry Training Organisations all separately and differently funded, measured and managed.

We need a cohesive system that supports collaboration over competition. The first step is to make it easier for industry to connect, and historically this has been hard to achieve. Barriers for employers include time, cost and complexity.

Auckland’s ‘workforce roadmap’, a statement from Auckland’s construction industry to the vocational education sector, could be a breakthrough. This work has been guided by Graham Hodge, Development Manager for an Alliance of tertiary education providers in the wider Auckland area (BCITO, Connexis, Competenz, Skills, Manukau Institute of Technology and Unitec).

“The tertiary education sector collectively has not been as well connected to industry as it should be,” says Hodge. “We need to ensure the qualifications we offer are better aligned to future workforce needs and to do this we must listen closely and carefully to industry.

“Once, we find out what the industry needs, we can plan how to deliver qualifications which are just proxies for skills,” says Hodge. “And employers need a balance of workers in all relevant occupations with the right skills.”

Major industry partners have bought in to the plan. Fletcher; Hawkins; Naylor Love Construction; Dominion Constructors Ltd; the NZ Transport Agency; and the Auckland Council are jointly sponsoring the workforce roadmap development. Industry ownership will guide which skills are needed in which jobs for the next five years.

“It is now up to us to deliver,” says Unitec’s Chief Executive Rick Ede, speaking on behalf of the Alliance of tertiary providers in Auckland. “This is about planning ahead to avoid shortages and ensure school leavers understand their career path opportunities. Funding from TEC must be aligned to the roadmap.”

This project sets a direction for other sectors to follow. Learning should not take place in isolation. It must be linked to real life: skills, jobs, career development and economic growth.

A well functioning vocationaleducation sector would incorporate three key changes.

1. New performance indicators based on real-life results: jobs or career advancement.

2. A cohesive system, combining the strengths of industry, government and training providers.

3. Flexible funding that does not favour the method of delivering the training but rather the ‘outcomes’ that employers want. Criteria needs to be simplified and barriers removed.

If we follow in the direction of Auckland’s workforce roadmap, we can boost our skilled workforce, ourcollective productivity, and our economic growth.

The post A Roadmap to bridge the skills gap appeared first on Press Coverage.

Captain Sid Chakravarty of the Sea Shepherd ship, Sam Simon, has announced plans to intercept three illegal fishing vessels that fended off the New Zealand Navy yesterday.

The announcement comes after reports that the New Zealand Navy has now abandoned its operation to intercept the poachers in the Southern Ocean, and is returning to port.

Captain Chakravarty said, “With three criminal boats on the loose and the Navy on its way back, the Sam Simon is now the only vessel with the intentions and the capability to locate the poachers once again. We have an intimate knowledge of these seas, we have an ice-strengthened vessel and we have the will to directly intervene and physically shut down their criminal operations.”

The HMNZS Wellington intercepted the three poaching vessels, engaged in illegal fishing activity in the Southern Ocean. Reports from the New Zealand government stated that the vessels were intercepted west of the Ross Sea, however their exact position was not released.

The three vessels, the Songhua, Kunlun and Yongding, are confirmed to be registered in Equatorial Guinea and are known to have links to the infamous Spanish crime syndicate, Vidal Armadores. All three vessels have now been listed with Interpol Purple Notices.

Despite the fact that a request by the New Zealand government to board the vessels was granted by Equatorial Guinea, two of the ship’s captains refused to allow New Zealand Navy to board. The poachers then engaged in evasive manoeuvring, and subsequently fled.

Captain of the Bob Barker, Peter Hammarstedt, has criticised the Australian government for leaving the New Zealand government stranded.

He said, “Last year, the Australian government failed to deliver on their promise to send a customs vessel to the Antarctic to monitor the whaling fleet. This year, the Australian government budgeted for two, forty-day Southern Ocean patrols. Still, New Zealand was left to single-handedly tackle the poachers – one vessel up against three. With the New Zealand Navy ship en route back to Wellington, and the Australian government nowhere to be seen, Sea Shepherd is now the only sheriff in town.”

Since December 26, the Sam Simon has been involved in mammoth operations to extract illegal gillnets, left by the poaching vessel Thunder, from the Southern Ocean. More than 60 kilometres of illegal gillnet has been retrieved so far, with over 1,000 toothfish and numerous non-target marine species found dead in the nets.

“For the past three weeks, my crew and I have been retrieving illegal gillnets left by the poaching vessel, Thunder, from the Antarctic waters. We have a responsibility to see the retrieval operations through to the end. Once this is complete, we will set our sights on these three new targets,” said Captain Chakravarty.

The Bob Barker continues its record-breaking pursuit of the Interpol-listed Thunder, which today runs into its 29th day.

The post The Shepherd Takes On The Poachers appeared first on Press Coverage.

As we ring in the New Year, let’s take stock of where we are at with the oil markets. 2014 proved to be a momentous one for the oil markets, having seen prices cut in half in just six months.

The big question is what oil prices will do in 2015. Oil prices are unsustainably low right now – many high-cost oil producers and oil-producing regions are currently operating in the red. That may work in the short-term, but over the medium and long-term, companies will be forced out of the market, precipitating a price rise. The big question is when they will rise, and by how much.

So, what does that mean for oil prices in 2015? It is anybody’s guess, but here are the top five variables that will determine the trajectory of oil prices over the next 12 months, in no particular order.

1. China’s Economy. China is the second largest consumer of oil in the world and surpassed the United States as the largest importer of liquid fuels in late 2013. More importantly for oil prices is how much China’s consumption will increase in the coming years. According to the EIA, China is expected burn through 3 million more barrels per day in 2020 compared to 2012, accounting for about one-quarter of global demand growth over that timeframe. Although there is much uncertainty, China justwrapped up a disappointing fourth quarter, capping off its slowest annual growth in over a quarter century. It is not at all obvious that China will be able to halt its sliding growth rate, but the trajectory of China’s economy will significantly impact oil prices in 2015.

2. American shale. By the end of 2014, the U.S. was producing more than 9 million barrels of oil per day, an 80 percent increase from 2007. That output went a long way to creating a glut of oil, which helped send oil prices to the dumps in 2014. Having collectively shot themselves in the foot, the big question is how affected U.S. drillers will be by sub-$60 WTI. Rig counts continue to fall, spending is being slashed, but output has so far been stable. Whether the industry can maintain output given today’s prices or production begins to fall will have an enormous impact on international supplies, and as a result, prices.

3. Elasticity of Demand. The cure for low prices is low prices. That cliché can be applied to both the supply and demand side of the equation. Will oil selling at fire sale prices spur renewed demand? In some countries where oil is more regulated, low prices may not trickle down to the retail level. Countries like Indonesia are scrapping subsidies, which will be a boon to state coffers but will diminish the benefits to consumers. However, in the U.S., gasoline prices are now below $2.40 per gallon, more than 35 percent down from mid-2014. That has led to an uptick in gasoline consumption. In the waning days of 2014, the U.S. consumed gasoline at the highest daily rate since 2007. Low prices could spark higher demand, which in turn could send oil prices back up.

4. OPEC’s Next Move. OPEC deserves a lot of credit (or blame) for the remarkable downturn in oil prices last year. While many pundits have declared OPEC irrelevant after their decision to leave output unchanged, the mere fact that oil prices crashed after the cartel’s November meeting demonstrates just how influential they are over price swings. For now OPEC – or, more accurately, Saudi Arabia – has stood firm in its insistence not to cut production quotas. Whether that remains true through 2015 is up in the air.

5. Geopolitical flashpoints. In the not too distant past, a small supply disruption would send oil prices skyward. In early 2014, for example, violence in Libya blocked oil exports, contributing to a rise in oil prices. In Iraq, ISIS overran parts of the country and oil prices shot up on fears of supply outages. But since then, geopolitical flashpoints have had much less of an effect on the price of crude. During the last few weeks of 2014, violence flared up again in Libya. But after a brief increase in prices, the markets shrugged off the event. Nevertheless, history has demonstrated time and again that geopolitical crises are some of the most powerful short-term movers of oil prices.

The post Falling Oil Prices appeared first on Press Coverage.

“Retaining public trust and confidence in the NZ Police is critical and underpins the principle of policing. Future road policing campaigns will have clear messaging and public support for our important work to ensure the safety of New Zealanders on our roads.

“I acknowledge there was some confusion resulting from the Police speed messaging during the Safer Summer road policing campaign and this became an issue that many New Zealanders were passionate about.

“The purpose of the campaign was to save lives on our roads; however some members of the public have told us that our messaging was not clear enough around what speed levels would be enforced. I acknowledge we should have been clearer.

“We should have been explicit that speed cameras were set for usual holiday tolerance of more than 4 km over the limit and that roadside officers would continue to use their discretion in stopping people driving over the speed limit, but would focus on unsafe driving behaviours.

“Our staff have been using their discretion appropriately over the summer campaign. Only 14 tickets have been issued for speeds of between 1 and 4 km over a speed limit (processed as of 13 January).

“By way of comparison, 13 tickets were issued in this band during the December 2013 – January 2014 campaign.

“Local and international experience demonstrates that when we all slow down, deaths and serious injuries decrease, and the roads are safer and calmer for all.

“There will now be a review of the messaging in the Safer Summer campaign, and the lessons learnt will be incorporated into future campaigns,” Mike Bush said.

The post Zero Tolerance appeared first on Press Coverage.

Ms Besley, the only New Zealander named in the 2015 list of winners, is being recognised for her work in advocating for LGBTI rights. Ms Besley is the National Coordinator of InsideOUT, formerly the Queer Straight Alliance (QSA) Network Aotearoa. As co-chairperson of LegaliseLove, she was instrumental in lobbying for the marriage equality law change in New Zealand in 2013.

Commonwealth Youth New Zealand Executive Director, Aaron Hape, who is also a member of The Queen’s Young Leaders Advisory Panel that selected the 60 winners, says that he is delighted to see kiwi leadership being recognised by such a prestigious award.

“The Advisory Panel took many elements into account when selecting winners, including the quality of the potential winner’s project, the impact and sustainability of the project in their community, and how the project reflected the values of the Commonwealth Charter – in Tabby’s case, that is the implacable opposition to discrimination based on violence, sexuality, and gender,” Mr Hape said.

“I am thrilled to see that Tabby’s clear vision, determination, and passion in advocating for LGBTI rights in New Zealand has been rightly recognised at the highest level by the Head of the Commonwealth, The Queen.”

The 60 winners will undertake a year-long online leadership development course created by Cambridge University that includes a one-week residential programme in the United Kingdom. To fine tune their leadership styles and expand on their projects, they will also receive personalised, one-on-one mentorship from a leader in the winner’s chosen field. The winners will be presented with their award from The Queen at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

The post Youth New Zealander Named appeared first on Press Coverage.

Beach users in the upper North Island are being urged to keep a close eye out for whales and dolphins in trouble this summer.

Greenpeace says marine mammals may be affected by seismic testing for deep sea oil which started off Northland’s west coast in December and will continue for several months.

Volunteers are distributing hundreds of posters (1) to beach communities encouraging people to report sightings of distressed, stranded or dead whales and dolphins immediately to the Department of Conservation Hotline (0800 HOT DOC).

DOC is responsible for post mortems on marine mammals found between New Plymouth and Northland this summer to see if acoustic trauma was a factor (2).

Greenpeace campaigner Steve Abel says evidence from marine scientists around the world suggests that seismic testing may be bad for whales and dolphins and other ocean life.
“There is a serious lack of research on the impacts on New Zealand populations. Looking long-term, it’s believed seismic testing could have chronic impacts on their behaviour and ability to navigate, feed, nurture young and find mates (3),” he says.
“In extreme cases, evidence (4,5) indicates it could also injure and disorientate them, leading to stranding and even death.

“The likelihood of injured or dead dolphins or whales washing up is relatively low at any time but by reporting any sightings immediately there’s a chance of saving them or finding out what got them into trouble in the first place.”

Seismic testing is the first step of oil exploration. It is done from a ship firing off repeated sound blasts every few seconds, day and night sometimes over weeks or months.

The blasts, created by large underwater air guns, generate a pressure wave that penetrates the seafloor and the reflected sound waves are then recorded by an array of sensors dragged on long cables after the ship. The seismic explosions can be heard over 100kms away.

Last month Greenpeace helped scientists to monitor the noise and possible impacts of seismic testing on marine mammals off the Northland coast. Early analysis indicates there were sperm whales, pilot whales and common dolphins in the area, but it will be a few months before more detailed data can be released.

“The New Zealand government should have done its own research on the impacts of seismic testing before it started giving permits out to big oil companies to start working here,” says Abel.
“New Zealanders do not want big oil companies here drilling for deep sea oil and putting our environment and economy at risk.”

The Aquila Explorer is currently doing seismic testing for Statoil and several other companies in the Reinga Basin. It is well out of range of swimmers and boaties as it is operating many kilometres off-shore.

The post Watch Out For Dolphins appeared first on Press Coverage.

Following a full squad camp in Auckland this week, the National Selectors are pleased to confirm the Silver Ferns team of 12 to contest the inaugural Oceania Netball Series in Fiji next week against the Fiji Pearls and Samoa.

The Silver Ferns team is:
Laura Langman (tour-captain), Katrina Grant (vice-captain), Jodi Brown, Maria Tutaia, Ellen Halpenny, Bailey Mes, Shannon Francois, Camilla Lees, Grace Rasmussen, Leana de Bruin, Phoenix Karaka, Kayla Cullen. (note: Joline Henry was not considered for selection due to injury).

Silver Ferns coach Waimarama Taumaunu says fitness and conditioning has been a key focus for the Silver Ferns squad at the January camp.

“It was a tough selection but this team comprises those players in the best physical condition to compete in three test matches at this time of the year. The rest of the squad will remain in camp in New Zealand including Silver Ferns captain Casey Kopua whose rehabilitation is progressing very well” she said.

The Silver Ferns team will fly to Suva on Saturday, 17 January and will play in Suva’s National Netball Centre.

The post Silver Ferns Team Named appeared first on Press Coverage.

“What is it that we desire in life, the thing our hearts long for?

Money?   Power?    Comfort?    Beauty?

None are bad things to strive for in themselves, but I am yet to meet a man who has his sights most highly set on one of these and really knows joy, knows peace.
More commonly he does not feel full at all.
And when I myself adopt this position of longing, which I regularly do, it seems longing begets longing and fullness is an ever moving destination.

But in the last few years I feel I have found that substance which secures me in a state of satisfaction.

I have found someone who knows me, from my raging excitements to my shameful hidden parts, and loves me fully and throughout. He pursues me. He makes me laugh. And He is always making me a better version of me. He offers me something better and when I see Him love others like this too I can’t help but love him more. Jesus breaths life into my bones and awakes me from my selfishness, my pessimism, my judgement. My doubt and my fear.

If I had all the power in the world but had not Jesus, I am nothing.

If I was desired by all but not by Jesus I am nothing.

Last week I was at a school in Ghana and I got to share with them a story from the Bible. In the story a man finds a hidden treasure in a field. In his excitement, he buries it, sells everything he earns and returns to by that field where the treasure lay. Is our life with Jesus like the the treasure to this man, or would it be more accurate to describe its worth to us as “disposable” or “replaceable”?

At the end of sharing the story at the school, a small boy stood up from among the crammed in huddle of bodies staring back at me.

He said,

“Thank you for coming and being with us, and I hope you can achieve this treasure you have told us about too.”

I think that boy and his people knew more about this treasure than I do.
They had very little, by our material standards. They did not hoard money or food or accumulate things to boast about. They lived in need, forced to rely on each other and God for joy and support. And in God and his people they found it, they carried it with them, and they soaked me with it.

In Ghana I saw people with genuine hearts, incredible community, and a natural exuberance of laughter and love. Yet they need money, clothes, food, jobs.

In England, many people have the latter, in abundance. But I see built up walls and closed doors. Unsatisfied faces and a constant rush to get the next thing.

Who has the greatest need?

Which one is easier to meet?

Excuse my use of “US” and “THEM” – it really isn’t a position I like to take, but I feel the sad reality is that we have created a divide, and in order to decrease it we have to acknowledge it’s presence and figure out where WE went wrong.

If we crossed the divide and spent more time with the “poor” could spiritual poverty be depleted and the material shortage some suffer under eradicated?”

The post Ghana’s Got My Head Spinning appeared first on Press Coverage.

As part of Erin Keenan’s PhD research, she spoke to Māori about their migration experiences after WWII, with a specific focus on the capital city.

“These are people who have lived in the city for over 50 years and they still don’t see themselves as being a person from Wellington—it’s somewhere they live, but not where they’re from.

“The fact that Māori still feel the need to deny this urbanisation—that they prioritise iwi identities over loyalty to a city—shows that the idea still carries some weight that urbanisation required the loss of iwi identities, despite evidence to the contrary.

“However, instead of a simple story of loss and loneliness, urbanisation was also about resilience,” she says.

Erin found a range of reasons why Māori moved to Wellington and stayed and there was no universal experience for those who made the journey.

Erin recalls one woman’s positive experience. “She enjoyed meeting people from different iwi and backgrounds and found people to be friendly. This contrasts with another who felt so separate from her family and she ended up getting into a bit of trouble.”

Erin also spoke to people who described moving to Wellington as a time of loss, disconnection and detribalisation (the abandonment of local customs to adopt urban ways of living).

“One person found visiting home was too hard emotionally so she didn’t visit. Another felt he needed to go home regularly as a way to recharge his batteries.”

Erin says she made the topic of Maori urbanisation experiences her own, even looking into a personal connection to the research area.

When her grandfather returned from the New Zealand Air Force at the end of WWII, he moved from Pungarehu to New Plymouth where he was a part of a rehabilitation scheme for Māori soldiers.

When Erin looked through archived records of this time in her grandfather’s life, it inspired her to think about others and what they had experienced.

Erin’s grandfather passed away before she started her PhD, but she says his death sparked her motivation. “Older generations are only with us for a certain amount of time, so we need to talk about their experiences and learn from them.

“The people who lived during those times are our kaumātua now. I was very privileged to have the chance to interview some of the most knowledgeable.”

The post Iwi connections important appeared first on Press Coverage.