I mean, the manual for the ride-on lawnmower did not specifically state that you couldn’t raise it up with a crane to trim the top of a very large hedge, so that’s just what two lunatics from Cambridge New Zealand did.

“The mower was doing an all-right job, but I reckon it would work better on a hedge that’s not so spiky.”

Maybe they need one of those Zero-Turn mowers with a larger cutting deck instead of a basic lawn tractor. Yeah, that’s the problem with this whole setup. [Stuff NZ via Fark]

I don’t know what is crazier: This video of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture played with 1000 mobile phones and 2000 messages, or the videos showing how the whole thing was made.

People from Vodafone New Zealand, I can’t wait for you to do other classics, like:

[Engadget]

“But you’re talking about extreme futures,” he admitted.

Dr Yeoman’s talk centred on what the world might be like in 2050. He explained that indoor tourism could be the next big thing due to global warming, an older population, plus food, water and jet fuel problems. He imagines indoor resorts with artificial ski centres and recreated landscapes; even giant sea-faring cruise ships. He also predicts rooms with chemical wallpapers that can change colour to suit a guest’s mood.

“Robotics will become important, because you’re going to have labour shortages in the future,” he said…Even robot “prostitutes” that would not pass on diseases such as HIV could make an appearance.”

[via News.com.au]

The entire situation is made even worse by the complete lack of transparency on Microsoft’s behalf. After hitting them with a barrage of questions about the restrictions, they came back to Kotaku with this carefully worded comment:

* Microsoft has taken an initiative in New Zealand to ensure people under the age of 18 cannot access mature content.
* We are working to limit access to content to the appropriate age group in New Zealand. This will take some time due to technical reasons.
* We are working to remove the ability for people under the age of 18 to add points until we can resolve this issue.
* People affected by this issue can be refunded via our customer call centre, which can be contacted through www.xbox.com/en-nz/support or on 0508 555 592.

Maybe it’s just me, but there doesn’t seem to be too much “initiative” involved in completely blacklisting every person with a child account on Xbox Live in an attempt to restrict mature content. In fact, it seems like a downright lazy attempt considering they’re not just blocking mature content, but family-friendly content as well.

Head on over to Kotaku to read a full account of the issue and Microsoft’s response. It’s a pretty atrocious way to treat your customers, even if they are Kiwis…

[Kotaku]

The local government in Papakura, New Zealand isn’t screwing around when it comes to road safety. Their new bleeding billboard campaign takes a Red Asphalt approach that they hope will creep out reckless drivers.

Let me be the first to say “mission accomplished.” Kids are creepy anyway, but throw in a system that leeches blood when it rains and you just might scare people into giving up their cars entirely. Not surprisingly, the billboards have been effective. Since they were put in place, there hasn’t been a single fatal accident in the area. [Neatorama via Buzzfeed]

I met this girl I thought was pretty cool, bought a ring, turns out she wasn’t as keen.

Oh my. Single tear. The ring is valued at just $3,268, which is not much specially if you don’t live in Wellington, New Zealand, where the treasure hunt will take place at 8 a.m. local time on Saturday.

We can only hope Anthony is not crying, just making lasagna -for one, quoting the only two famous New Zealand natives I know beyond Frodo Baggins. [Twitter via Reuters]

A 3-year-old New Zealand girl, bored in the early hours of the morning, hopped on her parents’ computer and, via auto-logins, managed to buy a used mechanical excavation machine for around $US15,000.

The funny thing is, this is not some tomboy girl who pushes Tonka trucks around going “vroom vroom.” No, Pipi (her real name) is described by her mum as “girlie.” “Even when she goes fishing she wears frilly dresses,” the mother said, according to the Times UK. “I think she was just clicking on the computer to see what happened.”

If nothing else this demonstrates the sheer unbridled power of the internet, not to mention its impersonality, its lack of intelligent failsafes, and our insane reliance on auto-logins as a way around the security we all demanded in the first place. Also: Apparently you can buy pretty much anything in New Zealand.

As you can assume, the seller on the auction site took back their Kobelco digger and sold it to someone else, and the girl’s parents no longer use their auto logins. [Times UK via Pocket-Lint]

It must be a sad thing when Google thinks your city is not even worth taking the covers off the cameras mounted in a Street View car.

Apparently, someone forgot to do just that for ten miles in Wellington, New Zealand. Or maybe they believed there’s nothing to see in 10 miles of road near Wellington. After all, if you saw the Lord of the Rings, you saw all of it, mate.

Hopefully, now that the Conchords are back in New Zealand, they will fix it so we can catch a glimpse of them herding the sheep.

[Google Maps—Thanks Kris]

They were even kind enough to trade him a brand shiny new MP3 player for his troubles. And a happy ending was had by all. Chris Ogle, 29 of Whangerei, NZ–your 15 minutes of fame have now concluded. [Reuters]

[Stuff.co.nz]