Journalism is under “significant threat” from commercial interests, says Scoop Media founder Alastair Thompson, who last week launched the Scoop Foundation to give public interest journalists a sword to fight with.

Start “Wheedling” says a bright green button in an email sent to me over the weekend. Its owner and namesake uses the verb to mean buying and selling online, but in the last six months it’s taken on a new meaning in programming circles – software that fails spectacularly.

Creativity and originality go together like peas in a pod. But Auckland designer Kate Cullinane’s thesis, a book called Sample Copy: An Exploration of the Role of Copying in Design, takes the stance that imitation is a part of the creative process. And it’s just won an international Art Directors Club Gold Cube award, as well as being named in the top three in the global Type Directors Club Awards for Typographic Excellence (the final rankings will be announced in July).

Amidst news of massive job cuts, Telecom is sprinkling something more positive into the mix with the launch of its new business incubator called Digital Ventures.

.99 is often thought of as a retail shop. That is its main area of expertise, of course, and there’s no doubt its production processes and studio facilities are a big part of its appeal to clients—and one of the major reasons it won five out of five pitches in recent months and managed to recover super quickly from a horror year in 2012. But it has had its creative moments as well, perhaps none more so than the inflight videos for Air New Zealand, and it’s shown its creative stripes once again for one of its new clients Genesis Energy, with a brand refresh that centres around a split-screen TVC that shows how the company is ‘in it for you’.

Paul Spain isn’t your average media personality. The scruffy haired 40-year-old geek owns IT company Gorilla Technology, has more phones than all the pockets in his wardrobe to hold them in and is incredibly up to date with the latest gossip on the government’s fibre roll out. Spain is a technology podcaster – and he also happens to be the country’s top one at that.

Auckland-based software company Propellerhead held a house-warming party for its new office on Drake Street. The refurbished warehouse space is a stone’s throw away from the redone Victoria Park Markets and boy is it fancy.

The Sony Xperia Z mixes beautiful design on the outside with powerful electronic gadgetry on the inside. The phone gives Samsung a run for its money in the Android market and asks Apple the awkward question: “when are you gonna catch up?”

Eccentric millionaire, technologist and alleged pirate Kim Dotcom is currently sitting at second on Time’s list of 100 most influential people in 2013. In the online poll Dotcom has around 82,000 supporters and 5,400 detractors for his claim as this year’s most influential person.

It’s only taken a year and half, but Google Play Music is finally available in New Zealand.

Convenience stores are often busy and cluttered, but new premium coffee and food brand Motto hopes to offer an oasis amongst the mad rush, with a splash of colour and a chirpy tone.

The news that Naked was shutting up shop in New Zealand surfaced a couple of weeks ago, and there were a few differences of opinion from the major players on the reasons behind the closure. But Matt O’Sullivan, as expected, has now launched his new entity: Open.

Urban strategist Charles Landry on what makes a city creative, how to inspire curiosity and why strategic agility is key.

We live in fat times and the supposedly duplicitous actions of the companies responsible for producing the food and drinks that play a part in this bodily expansion are often blamed for it. But the Government is attempting to address the issue and has signed off on new standards for health claims on labels that aim to reduce misleading marketing and help consumers make better-informed decisions.