back to article The Register and Australia-New Zealand

As some of you have already noticed, in the last few weeks The Reg has been running more locally-sourced stories in Australia-New Zealand. Our plans here are still in soft launch mode, but we think it's appropriate (possibly even overdue) that we give local readers a head up about them now. For quite a few years now The …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. MakkaPakka
    Thumb Up

    Keep up the good work!

    As a SysAdmin in Australia, can I just say TheReg is going from strength to strength. You produce in depth, intelligent and entertaining analysis that is usually right on the money. I have noticed and enjoyed the expanded Aussie coverage re: NBN etc, and look forward to more of it.

    Cheers!

  2. veti Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    I'm an expat Brit in NZ

    ... and I read El Reg as a UKian publication.

    I've had this argument with Google just recently. If you're going to provide me with "localised content" - fine, I understand why you'd want to do that, but please please PLEASE give me an opt-out - whether it involves just clicking something, or typing a longer URL, whatever, please give me the option.

    There are times when I come here for news, sure. But mostly I come here to find what's worth getting riled up about. And from that perspective, there's very little point getting worked up about things that my friends back home have never heard of and care nothing about.

    Okay okay, it's your site, your rules, I don't even pay for it. But you asked for feedback, so there it is.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      you should try living in Finland mate

      Most days I have no f***ing idea what google is trying to sell me (i consider this a good thing)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Alert

      Opt-out please.

      Yes, can we have an opt-out please?

  3. Goat Jam
    Coat

    Yes

    I had noticed this going on.

    Thanks for the official out though!

    Keep up the good work etc etc

    Pip Pip Tally-ho, eh?

    OK, I'm going, you don't have to shove . . .

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Bogan icon please

    As a recent migrant to upside-down land I've really appreciated this local focus. Keep it up.

    1. John Angelico
      Coat

      Turn it up?

      How about some upside down icons then? :-)

      <--- See, I know when I'm not welcome...

  5. Stu 18
    Thumb Up

    yay thereg.co.nz!!

    Keep up the biting of the feeding handses, just remember to keep chewing well as there is plenty o gristle about. :o)

    1. Michael Xion
      Dead Vulture

      But don't expect theregister.com.au...

      ...already taken by some dodgy domain name place holder.

  6. Jay Daley
    Thumb Up

    Excellent

    I did wonder if you had a reporter down this way with the stories that have been popping up so it's nice to have that explained.

    It's all good news to me. This is a global industry and a global community so global news seems entirely appropriate. Most expats I know still read El Reg years even some years after moving and plenty of locals too.

    Might be nice to let us see what the front pages for other regions look like through a menu on the front page.

  7. thecakeis(not)alie

    More Reg is a good thing.

    And you've found right good hacks down under as well. Carry on then...

  8. BlueShiftNZ
    Happy

    12 months already?

    "So last autumn we decided we'd repay some of that by setting up a small Sydney-based sales and editorial operation, and by delivering a measure of localisation to our readers in Australia and New Zealand."

    While you're busy localising and geolocating, you might also notice that up here down-under, its the first day of Autumn today...

    1. Term
      Paris Hilton

      Globally has two hemispheres in it....

      I too was wondering which autumn it was, then I noticed the 'we' and figured it was the UK autumn.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    re bogan icon

    can u please make it resemble a guy crashing his car while .. ahem ... being distracted by his own hot rod?

  10. Angus 2
    Thumb Up

    Noticed this and appreciate

    the clarification on what is being done etc.

  11. l8rm8e

    Great news

    I've been reading The Reg daily for couple of years, noticing more and more Oz news.

    For tech news relevant to Australia, we're usually stuck with Whirlpool Forums (word of mouth), RSS aggregators, and glossy articles in certain tech magazines a month too late.

    Cheers to the change.

  12. Ghost who walks
    Pint

    Long time reader, first time poster

    I finally got around to registering on the Reg just so I could come in here and say "yay!" for this. I had noticed the increase in Oz-based stories, and I applaud it heartily. Thank you.

    /I also vote for the introduction of a "bogan" icon, but this one will do for now

    1. John Angelico
      Joke

      Drink up...

      ... your beer's getting cold!

      1. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD
        Pint

        Warm beer...

        Warm beer on a cold night, like mulled wine, is seriously underrated.

        Give it a try.

        Mine's cold because the weather is still warm here, standing on my head :P

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Know your audience

    So stories from Darwin involving sex and/or wildlife are guaranteed an international audience, while IT related stuff remains local? Fair enough.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Headmaster

    Two far

    Just a reminder in case this is missed, please be aware that Australia and New Zealand are two separate countries.

    Auckland is about 1338 miles from Sydney.

    London is about 785 miles from Madrid.

    1. Grumpy Old Fart
      Troll

      ...and a bit further

      Whereas Western Australia isn't a separate country with a proper name, but isn't.

      Perth is 2045 miles from Sydney, and if we could move further west, we would.

      See your pedant and raise you a troll....

      Oh, and talking of icons, can we have a wowser icon too, please?

      1. Michael Hoffmann Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Leave Margaret River please!

        If you guys make room by moving west, does that mean we Melburnians get to move 2045 miles away from Sydney?

        1. RightPaddock
          Joke

          why not go further

          In Sydney we'd prefer that Melbourne move 8.000 miles west , especially if it takes it's "aerial ping pong" with it :)

      2. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD
        Joke

        Geez...

        I thought WA was a separate country :P

        Seriously now, while it's great that El Reg will now have more of an Aussie angle if one happens to be down under, I hope your filter does not remove stuff from the front page that I remain interested in (i.e. EU news). As one other has suggested, an opt-out option would be welcome.

    2. Lyle Dietz
      Pint

      Counterpoint

      ANZAC.

      That is all...

  15. david 12 Silver badge

    I'm not reading a local pubisher

    I read a UK publisher to get an off-shore point of view. I welcome a few local stories - particularly if edited by a UK or US editor - but keep in mind that I'm coming here to see how the rest of the world is seeing things.

  16. Originone
    Thumb Up

    Welcome to the antipodes

    I have certainly apprciated greater coverage of topics local to me, and look forward to continuing Reg coverage of A/NZ subjects.

  17. Jonski
    Heart

    More, more

    See title.

  18. Byron Langslow

    Thanks

    I have been an avid reader, since I discovred BOFH. When are you advertising the roles? I would love to work for 'el reg!

  19. T J
    Thumb Up

    Nice one

    I kinda do agree about the opt-out thing, I like to try and get global stuff, but the Reg seems to feed out a good mix via RSS so no complaints.

    Speakn as one of those Aussies (who are nothing like the plastic cutouts in Home And Awry btw), I say Cheers.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    I thought the reason you got so many good stories from Oz...

    ... was that their government was more barking than the average when it comes to IT issues (great barrier/firewall, min breast sizes for porn, customs officers demanding to read visitors emails to name a few).

  21. Simon Rossi
    Happy

    Yay!

    As a 'whingeing pom' who moved to Sydney in Oct '10, I am happy to see UK and Australian news articles on The Reg (along with other global articles).

    Keep up the good work.

  22. Not Happy Jan
    Thumb Down

    No Please

    The main reason I read the Register because it gave a very broad coverage from around the world. But I hate localization, there was a reason I got to a .uk address to start with!

  23. allyourbase
    Happy

    And i thought i was going crazy

    Good to see more Aussie content, interestingly there is a trend to setup publishing offices in AU due to the time difference advantages.

  24. Mark 65

    Design changes

    "And me might look at a few design tweaks to make the site stand out more when we formally launch the operation, in the next month or so."

    Like an upside-down vulture logo?

    1. Steve Brooks

      au ftw

      'Like an upside-down vulture logo?" yeah, you could call the new site, theregister.com.ArseUp

  25. I am the Walrus
    Thumb Up

    Nice to feel the love.

    Please don't make it to antipodean based though. As you rightly point out one of the best things about el reg is that it's more or less universal. I hate going to sites which are location specific. I want to read what the rest of the world reeds also.

  26. Veldan
    Thumb Up

    Much love

    Heading your way from down under. ;)

    Keep up the great work, love reading the Reg and with some Aussie content it makes it feel that bit more personal. Plus most news sources in Australia just don't have the humour we'd like...

    Can we get some kind of Aussie themed icon to celebrate? :D

    My vote is for a Kangaroo with "wtf, mate?" above it's head, i know it's been done but it would be perfect... mostly because we'd need it for any article involving our government.

  27. Pedro S
    Happy

    Great!

    Thanks for this.

    As you'd know lots of underworlders read the Reg and a bit of local stuff would be appreciated.

    Stories on local IT firms that do OK would be of interest, and how the big global IT firms are flogging stuff in Oz is also of interest.

  28. Spoonguard
    Dead Vulture

    "Geolocation"

    If I wanted to read theregister.com.au then why would I be visiting theregister.co.uk? Geolocation is very counterproductive

  29. Rattus Rattus
    Thumb Up

    Nice one!

    Thanks for putting in the effort for we Antipodeans, guys. It's appreciated, all the more so since most UK or US based sites don't even want to know that we exist.

    One suggestion - have you thought about having someone at your Sydney operation moderate comments? That way, we don't have to wait until the next day for our comments to appear, which often leads to them going unread and unremarked since people have moved on to the newer stories by then.

    1. sT0rNG b4R3 duRiD

      Wow...

      *I* thought I was a commentard till I saw this...

      (I agree of course, although I don't see it as something really important).

  30. Winkypop Silver badge
    Pint

    Yay (I think)

    As long as us antipodeans don't miss any of the UK and US stories...

    Yes, I want it all, and I'm not prepared to pay for it.

    : )

    1. Jaruzel
      Stop

      Ditto

      Whereas I welcome this extra bit of news sourcing, I hope to god you are not planning to 'localise' the UK feed to promote UK based news in favour of global stories. As everyone knows, the UK has no IT industry to speak of and we'll end up just reading about failed Government IT upgrades day in and day out.

      I want an uncensored feed of ALL your stories please, I read initially via RSS and then click through to the main site to read any articles of interest so please keep that feed unadulterated and full content.

      Thanks.

  31. Jon 85
    Thumb Up

    Awesome

    I love The Register and want to have its babies.

  32. Aussie Brusader
    Thumb Up

    That explains the extra stories from Aus

    And I thought it was because we were more interesting that everyone else...

    Good Stuff.

  33. Socrates
    Thumb Down

    Opt out option - PLEAAAASSSSEE

    So you thought no-one noticed the change? Wrong.

    While we appreciate your new focus on things Down Under, one the primary reasons some of us read El Reg is to find out what is going on elsewhere. The last thing we want is the front page to become another insular, syndicated Australian publication. So, don't patronise us, and give us an opt out option, please....

  34. This post has been deleted by its author

  35. dshan
    Happy

    One In, All In

    It is my firm belief that all readers of the Register should be committed, not just those in Australia and New Zealand.

  36. bugalugs
    Welcome

    I, for one

    welcome our new Antipodo-Cathartidaean journalistic overlords...

  37. stuartnz

    Underwhelmed

    I want to add my voice to those less than thrilled by the change. Living on the English-speaking side of the Tasman, the sudden cacophony of "All Oz, All the time" on the Reg is about as appealing as the idea of living in the giant penal colony to my west. At least give us the choice, and PLEASE stop pretending there's any real NZ content in the new AusReg.

    1. John Lettice (Written by Reg staff)

      Re: Underwhelmed

      We're not altogether ruling out some kind of mechanism where you could set your region, but it really would not make a great deal of difference. Today, for example, the only story on The Reg worldwide that's set region-specific is this one. More usually I'd expect there to be two or three for Australia, and that'd be that.

      1. stuartnz

        Still Underwhelmed

        "More usually I'd expect there to be two or three for Australia" so why call it "Australia-New Zealand"? Of course NZ's tiny and won't generate much content, so why not just be upfront and call it like it is, TheRegAus, and tell K1W1s we're stuck with it?

        1. thecakeis(not)alie

          Australia-New Zealand

          It's "Australia-New Zealand" for the same reason foreigners always consider Canada part of the USA: we're too small a market for anyone to invest in caring that we are quite distinct. Such things are never intentional insults, no more than it is when we lump the British, French, German etc. communities together as “European” and treat them as one market, one community, one culture. (Though to be fair, the creation of the European Union to unify not only trade but harmonise laws amongst member nations does give a certain level of credibility to the concept that Europe is rapidly becoming a single culture by choice.)

          Remember how smaller outfits like El Reg work, however. European operations for El Reg operate out of London; they have a central office there, however they have staff across the UK, in Spain and (IIRC) have at times had staffs in other European countries as well. This gives them a bit more of a pan-European presence without having to actually put an office (with the attendant costs and staff) in each country.

          They have a separate US office because, well, the US is fripping huge, has Silicon Valley and is populated by a number of great hacks that churn out good pieces. Now that they have an Australian office, they may one day attach a NZ hack to that office, without actually maintaining a distinct office presence.

          You should in fact be a little bit happy about this. When they talk about their Australian office, they talk about “Australia and New Zealand.” This at least acknowledges that you exist, that your market has value. It carries with it the implications that you are a separate culture (distinct from Australia,) that they will report on things that make matter to New Zealanders and potentially one day that you will have marketing targets at you that is indeed distinct from that which is targeted at Australians. (Isn’t it always fun to get ‘targeted advertisements’ for products and services that you really would like to be able to buy, but which aren’t even available to your country?)

          In short: quit your bitching. It could be far worse; you could be Canadian. El Reg (like pretty much every other foreign organisation out there) doesn’t even acknowledge we exist. The US office of El Reg isn’t “US-Canada,” or “North America,” it’s “the US office.” There is no reporting on events that matter to Canadians, and no targeted marketing. Even the Irish (despite El Reg’s UK office being “UK” instead of “UK-Ireland” or “UK-and-Europe”) at least get the occasional article about Eircom doing something stupid. If I want to keep abreast of exactly how CIRA, the Telcos and the CRTC are conspiring to slap Canadians across the face with a rotting fish then I have to go to Ars Technica.

          So please, no complaining. El Reg did not intend New Zealand any insult. Quite the opposite, I think. Local readership levels in New Zealand are high enough to have honour of actually existing in the eyes of Vulture Central. That’s kind of cool. Actually, not “kind of.” That’s really, really cool.

          One day, I hope Canada makes it to that point. We don’t have a good Tech journal of our own. Ars is the closest there is, but they are American, they think like Americans, they write largely about things from an American perspective. Canada is still far more British than it is American, and I would much prefer to source my tech news here. (If only I could convince El Reg to get Michael Geist to write articles for Canada!)

          So stand proud, New Zealand. Enjoy that you actually exist! Even if it is as part of “Australia-New Zealand.”

    2. RightPaddock
      Joke

      NZ & English ? - what a load of fush & chups

      Call it the Oceania version, if its good enough for FIFA then it should be good enough for the Reg.

      You could use theregister.vu (Vanuatu)

      That would keep the Kiwi's happy. It might confuse the French though, but that's no bad thing.

    3. RightPaddock

      You're not interested in ...

      news regarding AAPT, then stuart.

      AAPT is the No. 3 full service Australian carrier, behind Telstra & Optus. Its owned by NZ's largest company - Telecom New Zealand.

  38. Evan
    Heart

    Roit lads!

    Welcome aboard mates!

    So long as nothing ever gets hidden I'm all for it, I HATE localised content.

    I like reading what happens in the UK for a good laugh, although I have a sinking feeling that every time you poms mess something up were only 2 years away from doing it all over again.

  39. Chris Fleming
    Thumb Up

    Location

    I am reading this in Samoa ( Southern Hemisphere; Just) The Reg. is a daily read for me. Just thought I would let you know.

    Cheers

    Chris

  40. RightPaddock
    Alert

    daily newsletter etc

    1. I don't come here via the home page, I come here via the daily news letter - will it change too ?

    2. Just as long as I don't lose access to items from elsewhere

    3. Why not just have sections for Australian, New Zealand, Indian etc news, I don't like localisation either, its a denial of globalisation, believe me its real.

    4. Appoint a Sydney staff member a moderator

  41. Nordrick Framelhammer
    Pint

    Sweet as, bro!

    Bottoms up to you pommy gits for finally recognising the best part of the world is in the southern hemisphere although the bit just off to the west is not quite as good, although they are almost as good at rugby and rugby league.

    And I agree about the bogan icon

  42. pingudownunder
    Go

    g'day mate

    +1 for an Aussie Icon, love the idea of a 'roo with "WTF Mate?" above his head. And we better acknowlege our little brothers across the Tasman, maybe they can have a Kiwi bird with "sweet as, bro" or something.

    An opt-out of local stories would be a good option too, we have a very amateurish, overhyping local commercial media (Channels 7, 9, 10, Fairfax and News Corp) who pander to the somebody-think-of-the-children brigade rather than objective and balanced news reporting. So we hear enough about our clueless pollies and their mad policies.

    Our Government doesn't have a clue about ecommerce, the internet, law enforcement or anything such like. Probably because our PM is Welsh and our "Minister for IT" Chief Censor Conroy is a nutter from Oxford. Because we make them live in Canberra, it plays with their heads and sends them nuts.

    Oh and to the commenter from Little England ... erm I mean Perth, here in Queensland we don't have any problems with Sydney. As long as its stays as far away as possible. (Except of course when we whip them again at State of Origin).

    :-)

  43. Palebushman
    Megaphone

    What A Beaut El Reg!

    No matter where I roam, it's great to know that my old faithful vulture is right there with me.

    Carrion IT.com.au Yeah!! Why not?

  44. Concrete Gannet
    Thumb Up

    Oz top stories shouldn't stick quite so long

    I too am glad you're increasing Australian reporting. Your reporters aren't having any trouble finding stories, are they?

    The one jarring thing is how long Australian stories are sticking on the Top Stories, when they are several days old and I've already read them. Local news good, local stale news bad. Maybe put a two-day timeout on them?

This topic is closed for new posts.