Sideswipe: February 13: It's a boy

I'm with Jacob. (Via Jolisa Gracewood, @nzdodo on Twitter)

Gore on the airwaves

"Are there any guidelines for the level of gruesomeness of the details appropriate for radio broadcast?" writes a reader from Pakuranga. "After picking up my kids from primary school a news bulletin came on about the Mellory Manning murder. It included brutal details of the attack, then was followed by another sickening case of a murdered child, which included a description of his fatal assault resulting in his liver splitting in half. It is one thing to read such details in the paper but surely radio networks have to think about who might be listening?"

Welcome the driving elite

Ideas for Auckland: Authorities in Dubai are considering a scheme that would restrict car ownership to only those earning above a certain salary because car-pooling and other programmes have failed to curb soaring cars in the emirate.

Media's depiction of women

There have been a number of ways the public have shown their unhappiness with the way women are depicted in the media. In Germany an unknown artist adds the Photoshop toolbar to H&M posters of bikini models.

In 2012, the

Sun

celebrated 42 years of the page 3 girl, but there were protests: "Boobs are not news," they said. Sun editor Dominic Mohan described the photo caption as an "innocuous British institution". But as activist Julia Hillard explains: "It's easy to laugh off or dismiss individual examples as, 'You're reading too much into it, it's a joke'. But cumulatively, it's a barrage." Analysing the material "felt like being insulted constantly, just being belittled and degraded and put in your place".

Bus kiwis explained

Yesterday Doug saw 75 small graphic kiwis lined up across the back of a bus and asked if it mean the company has run over 75 kiwis? A reader responds: "I have seen a few of the buses in Hastings. Those kiwis are ventilation holes cut into the engine cover. I guess the company that built the buses wants to show they are kiwi-made?"

Ben writes: "We were abused by residents of Remuera for parking our trailer in their street, which also happens to be every NZ ratepayers street, they said; "it lowers the tone of the street" and "we pay more rates than you to live in these areas so we don't have to look at this" as well as "I will call my colleagues at AT and get this removed, get rid of it". So we l thanked them for being so understanding, completed the public sewer repair they rely on to remove their waste, and moved our equipment back to the lower class end of town."

Valentine's Day copywriting fail

Picture this: For Sale in Christchurch a Predator-themed caravan...

People, ain't no good: You've enjoyed the stupidity of Selfies at Funerals now enjoy the human detachment of Selfies With Homeless People... (Fortunately the site is more about looking at the kinds of people who would take these pictures, rather than mocking homelessness)

Video: A tastier version of the new Hollywood blockbuster movie...

Got a Sideswipe? Send your pictures, links and anecdotes to Ana at ana.samways@nzherald.co.nz