Reporting in from Auckland

Once started, the wifi at the Quadrant hotel is very good. Down side: the table has holes. It’s meant to be arty but not when pieces of paper fall under the table, and I have to put a magazine on it to act as a mouse pad. Penny Evans, who manages the place, has been lovely.
   Less impressive are New Zealand Post (an acknowledgement of my email, but nothing further) and Agora (my “article” is still up). Today, I had to cite French law and le droit moral de l’auteur to get the article off, though I must say the Agora site is ill-designed. My first comments on the site were never recorded, for instance.
   Had a lot of fun lecturing at AUT. The postgraduate class was smart (as you can imagine) and we had a nice roundtable chat at a rectangular table. Judging Miss Universe New Zealand was also enjoyable, going all evening.
   The process is fairly strict. As judges, we aren’t even allowed to comment on each contestant after the interview for fear of influencing others’ marks. I’ve got the finals tonight where the 24 become the final five.