Sideswipe: Where did the Sky Tower go?

Auckland's skyline pre Sky Tower. Photo / Supplied

Why does Air NZ insist on using a picture of Auckland's skyline from the early 1990s - without the Sky Tower - in its in-flight information?

Good luck with that ...

Ben Edwards spotted a strange flatmate-wanted ad on Trade Me: The one-bedroom unit for $400 a week unfortunately has a roof that leaks slightly but "only when it rains heavy" and there's a bit of noise ("I work fixing trucks so it's very noisy in the evenings and early morning and most of the day too") and there are limited furnishings ("coffee table with only three legs"). And to top it off, the type of person they're looking for is "preferably hard of hearing and don't talk much".

A word in your era

New words (and phrases)

1. Fat-finger problem - The tendency to make errors on a device where the keys or screen elements are too small.

2. Grey-sky thinking - Negative or pessimistic thoughts, ideas or solutions.

3. Couch commerce - Ordering goods and services while relaxing at home. (Source: Word Spy)

Samaritans' work is never done

Paul Compston's suggestion, about writing down the number plate of people who drive off after denting someone's car, is only good if he leaves his details too, says a reader, "as without an actual witness, insurers aren't in a good position to prove someone caused the dent. Luckily for me, the guilty party accepted responsibility when contacted."

You look radiant, my dear insect

Microwave ants: "No, still wrong," says Dr Richard Keam, a retired microwave scientist of Remuera. "The reason the ants do not heat up is that the ratio of their surface area to volume is large. The smaller the object, the larger its surface area is compared to its volume. The ants re-radiate heat energy at the same rate as they absorb microwave energy and so do not get hot."