Soulful Send-Off

Some seriously soulful singing in Auckland this morning.

Pauline, Adele and Mary

A who's who of NZ entertainment will be farewelling Anna (better known as Mary) Yandall, a key member of the Yandall Sisters, who's died aged 62.
The Yandall Sisters were born into a Samoan family and started performing (with another sibling, the late Caroline) at Sunday school and various private functions. Their first recording was in the mid-'60s, but they shot to prominence around 1972 as a slick cabaret act in the soft soul style of the Supremes, heading to Australia shortly after the release of their first single. Returning to NZ in 1973, the Yandalls - now a trio - backed a number of high profile acts. Over the next two years they sang behind every solo artist who recorded for the HMV/EMI company. They appeared with kiwi entertainers including John Rowles, Billy T James, Prince Tui Teka, Dalvanius Prime and Sir Howard Morrison.
Mary recorded Hawaiian Wedding Song as a duet with crooner John Rowles in the early 70s.
The sisters won the NZ Entertainer of the Year Award in 1977 and enjoyed growing popularity as a regular live act and on television well into the 1980s.
In 1990, Mary Yandall also recorded a solo album called "Sunset On Sunset", from which two singles were released.
You may have seen them performing at the tribute concert for Sir Howard after his death in 2009.
Sweet Inspiration (1975) was the Yandalls' biggest hit, staying on the National Charts for 14 weeks, peaking at No.8. Still today it's one of those well-known songs the cuzzies will groove to, around the bbq on a summer's evening. A bona-fide Kiwi classic, they reprise it in this live clip from 1986 in front of a live tv audience, showcasing those smooth Samoan harmonies that'll fill the Pacific Islanders' Presbyterian Church in Newton this morning to farewell Mary Yandall.

Will Maori Pull The Power Plug?

The power wagon wheels are bogging down in brown stuff...
The Maori Party's co-leaders Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia are seriously concerned with how the govt is handling the partial asset sales of four state-owned power companies. Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power and Solid Energy are to be removed from the State-owned Enterprises Act, have 49% of their shares sold, and will not be covered by the treaty clauses in the legislation.
The Maori Party maintains this amounts to saying the Treaty of Waitangi does not exist (which could mean the end of its confidence and supply agreement, a deal breaker)! How they reach that conclusion is QUITE a stretch... but it can never be said that maori politicos are not blessed with vivid imaginations.
A senior Victoria University specialist says the Maori Party threat shows it's serious about its bottom line. Dr Maria Bargh says if the govt removes treaty clauses in the new legislation, the rights of maori would be eroded. She says the next three years are crucial for the Maori Party to reassert its independence. Ahhhhhhh, so is this really just about the party showing voters it actually has some rahos (balls)..?
NZers without brown skin may well wonder what chances THEY will have to voice their opinions. After all, the govt is beginning a round of meetings to consult maori on these legislative changes. These will be led by State-Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall and Finance Minister Bill English, who said "we want to understand maori views before we take final decisions". What about other views? The govt made the asset sales a key election issue. We all knew that. Now it's doing what it said it would do. But first it must talk with maori...of course... naturally... why not... even though everyone is already aware of its plans - and mainly unhappy about 'em, according to opinion polls.
Some maori favouring the sales want preferential treatment when the shares are sold: PM John Key has ruled that out. So by playing the race card (again!), is the Maori Party simply revealing a greed for first options on share-purchasing? Excuse me, but why should anyone get a head start? The only exception I'd make for this is that NZ buyers should be favoured over international prospects.
Hopefully what the PM will gain from this native consultation, is that a majority of maori are as strongly opposed to the sales as the majority of the population generally. Of course, with our national day looming this weekend, it would have been nicer if we didn't have to go through a race-based consultation process at all...

When The Cloud Blows Away

Last week's FBI bust of MegaUpload, in an airborne dawn raid on a rented Coatesville mansion (which saw the prime conspirator lock himself in a safe room with a weapon), was all quite exciting.
But now the smoke's cleared, customers have realised they'll probably never again see the personal files they uploaded to his system. Globally, millions of people uploaded files to MegaUpload - personal photos, home videos, software programmes...as well as pirated material (which was the target of the investigation).
With it's accounts frozen, companies that house files for MegaUpload can't be paid. So those storage companies could begin deleting data this week, although they've agreed to hold off for at least two more weeks. But for Joe Public to ever get his material back, MegaUpload would have to be temporarily kick-started again, because it's simply too hard for hosting companies to ascertain which users should be entitled to access what files. I can't imagine the FBI would be thrilled about that idea (although the stored data may yet be required as evidence in Dotcom's court case)...
As more and more people upload files to online storage "clouds" to save space on their computers, it's unlikely many of them make physical back-ups any more: they would perceive the "cloud" as their back-up.
And therein lies the problem. When something as convenient, unlimited (and generally free) as
"cloud" storage comes along, naturally it gains a strong following and it's all too easy to rely upon it as your sole safety net. But the MegaUpload case has highlighted that safety nets (and thus your personal data) can be compromised by data pirates.
RapidShare, another online storage site, estimates about 5% of files stored on its computers may be pirated. While that figure may not sound much, if the FBI decided to shut down RapidShare, then the other 95% of "safe" personal data could be lost!
Caveat emptor.
It remains the responsibility of all computer users to maintain several back-ups. By all means, use a "cloud", but do not neglect a local safety net of discs, USB sticks or an external hard-drive. A little time-consuming and "old school" perhaps, but it could end up being your cloud's silver lining...