Wikipedia is right up with the play as the Geographic Board gives us new place names

Whoever does the updating at Wikipedia doesn’t bugger around.

Mrs Grumble – undertaking some research for Alf today – was astonished to find Wikipedia (see here) already knew about the New Zealand Geographic Board’s announcement that it would seek the public’s input before making official changes to the names of the North and South Island. The Wikipedia citation steered her to a TV3 report here.

One aspect of the news is that the North and South Islands – which have been called exactly that for as long as Alf can remember – are not official names.

So the Geographic Board is going about a process that will make them official, which looks suspiciously like an exercise in keeping bureaucrats in jobs.

Getting a Tau-hold on the truth: a party-hopper, yes, but can we call Henare a carpetbagger?

Once it was there (or so we are led to believe). But now it’s not.

Nope. The word “carpetbagger” couldn’t be found in Wikipedia’s article on Tau Henare (although the search might have been less than thorough).

What’s more, the NZ Herald is reporting here this morning that Alf’s colleague Tau has won an apology from Wikipedia.

It’s all over this carpetbagging malarkey.

Martin Devlin won kudos for outing himself – but he has lost brownie points for slandering plums

His footwork wasn't so fancy on Auckland's Quay Street...

...and why should he imagine this could be done for disorderly conduct?

A Martin Devlin, sports broadcaster, turns out to be “the celebrity” who was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct in Auckland a week or so back, but whose name has been kept secret until now.

His lawyer asked yesterday that the suppression order be lifted.

The Auckland District Court obliged and the news media rushed to put the name up in lights.

Devlin says he sought name suppression to protect his children from embarrassment.

But doing so only made things worse, he admitted yesterday.

“I sought name suppression in an effort to try and protect my children from being identified and embarrassed by my behaviour,” he said in a statement to media.

Good for him for outing himself. An army of 46-year-old celebrities and blokes who think they are celebrities will be relieved they are no longer suspects.