Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
Entry: RC Sensitive Sunglasses
Description: Eye wear proscribed by the Australian Government, designed to go black, preventing ‘inadvertent exposure’. Always keep your cool when viewing the Internet.
Category Archives: Social
Government to bar code kids to keep better stastics
As part of a new system implemented by the Federal Government, all school students will be bar coded. Students will be required to scan themselves when they site for tests to improve data tracking. And, as an added benefit, it will allow students to swipe to logon to computers, setting the correct Internet Filter setting automatically.
“Better record keeping, and keeping you children safe on the Internet, all in one!” the education spokesperson announced.
While this may be a little fanciful, I worry about information systems that this government wants to setup. The new “unique student identifier” looks like a Trojan Australia Card.
If the government starts tracking all your school results you will get stuck with them for life. I can see the USI being rolled over into your Taxfile number or some such thing when you get older.
When applying for a job in a government department, do you really want them quizzing you about why you failed maths in year 3?
Maybe this is a little extreme, but it is something you need to think about. Will those those indiscretions as a child catch you up (or at least your children) later in life?
- Students to get tracking numbers (SBS, 24 Feb 2010)
- Children to be given identity numbers (Phillip Coorey, SMH, 24 Feb 2010)
Kids relegated to purgatory at Broadway
In their infinite wisdom Centre Management at Broadway Shopping Centre have moved the kids area to level 3, next to Priceline. The furthest they can get it away from the shops without leaving the centre?
This is the second time in a year they have move the kids playground.
Is the reason for moving, that stores have complained about the kids area being to close to them? I would think it would be good the surrounding stores. Parents are stuck there for a length of time, with nothing else to look at.
The kids playground was in a convenient location. Easy to visit when you need to let them burn off extra energy. Now you have to drag kids along a series of escalators or wait for space on the one lift that goes to level 3.
I suppose kids don’t make many purchases in the shopping centre. So why not just stick them where they are neither seen nor heard?
It’s more likely that just want the space to put in more shops. Like the reason they moved the customer service desk somewhere not obvious.
Out of order ATM
Sorry, this machine
is temporarily
out of service
Doesn’t it really annoy you finding an ATM that is not working?
First the banks charge you for using someone else’s ATM, then you find their ATM broken so you have no choice.
Not that I needed this one, I just though it was a good example of the problem.
Which anti filter group should you belong to?
Filed under Social, Tech, Web sites
Tagged as Australia, censorship, Internet, Monty Python, nocleanfeed, politics
Tagged as Australia, censorship, Internet, Monty Python, nocleanfeed, politics
One of the big problems is the anti filter campaign at the moment is its divided front. There is no clear leader giving direction to the campaign.
The No Internet Censorship site, run by the Australian Democrats, has an interesting article about this problem: ‘Taking control of the campaign against internet censorship‘. It clearly addresses the problem with having multiple bodies trying to run the campaign from different angles.
Although, it makes me think of Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Here is my adaptation of The Colosseum skit:
Brian: Are you the Internet People's Front?
Reg: F*ck off.
Brian: What?
Reg: Internet People's Front. We're the People's Front of the Internet. Internet People's front, caw.
The article mentions that there are 3 political parties involved in opposing the filters: The Australian Democrats, The Greens, and The Australian Sex Party. And it asserts that one of these would be best to lead the campaign.
Brian: I hate Stephen Conroy as much as anybody.
PFI: Sssh. Ssssh, sssh, sssh, ssssh
Judith: Are you sure?
Brian: Oh. Dead sure... I hate Stephen Conroy and his Internet filters already.
I noticed they missed Pirate Party Australia. Though, reading PPA’s FAQ, I see that they are not yet a registered party. Hence the current membership drive to get the required 500 members.
Reg: Listen. If you really wanted to join the PFI, you'd have to really hate Stephen Conroy.
Brian: I do.
Reg: Oh yeah? How much?
Brian: A lot!
Reg: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than Stephen Conroy are the f*cking Internet People's Front.
The underlying message of this article is good, but it also looks like political posturing. With The Democrats having no members in parliament since the last federal election.
My take on it all
In my opinion these political parties should take a back seat on pushing the issue. The Democrats are seen as irrelevant to current Federal politics; The Greens polarise people with their other politics; and The SEX Party is seen as representing that which Conroy is telling the public is bad about the Internet.
Their article also forgets to mention of the two non political party groups that are involved in the campaign: the Electronic Fronteirs Australia (EFA) and GetUP. Both of whom have had an important role in delivering the message to the public.
In my opinion the EFA has the best mandate for being the focus for the campaign. The EFA is an organisation ‘independent of government and commerce‘ and formed in 1994 ‘representing Internet users concerned with on-line freedoms and rights‘.
There are many sites that are campaigning against the filters. There needs to be one central hub, that people link to and that provides a clear direction to the campaign.
Conroy already has the jump on the anti censorship people. The anti filter folk don’t have time for a long Darwinistic evolution to find the best candidate, the creationists are currently on their crusade against the Internet. And a divided campaign will be easily swept aside.
And on the 8th day…
And on the 8th day God created the Internet Filter.
Commanding ‘Thou shall have no other Internet before me’.
Conroy’s Christmas present, Internet censorship #nocleanfeed
Filed under News, Social, Tech, Web sites
Tagged as Australia, censorship, filter, Internet, manditory, nocleanfeed, politics, Stephen Conroy
Tagged as Australia, censorship, filter, Internet, manditory, nocleanfeed, politics, Stephen Conroy
Stephen Conroy has delivered his Christmas present early, ISP level Internet filter. Tuesday afternoon the government announced that was giving the green light to its controversial censorship plan. And Conroy stated that we can look forward to legislation being introduced next year, ahead of the election.
Yesterday news sites, blogs and twitter erupted in a furore over the plans. Below are some articles on the subject I though were interesting:
- Internet censorship plan gets the green light (Asher Moses, SMH, 15 Dec 2009)
- Scott talks to ABC PM about net filtering (Scott Ludlam, The Greens, 16 Dec 2009)
- Internet filter to protect her children from porn and other horrors gives mother some peace of mind (Mahesh Sharma, The Australian, 16 Dec 2009)
The tale of computer-illiterate mother who is deluded, and thinks that te filter will protect her children. - Australian Internet Screwed (Jeff Engert, 15 Dec 2009)
- SMH poll on the Internet Censorship
Over 21000 votes, 96% NO. - ZDNet Australia poll – Do you support a mandatory internet filter?
Over 1100 votes, 96.4% NO. - ISP blocking – our evaluation report (Telstra, 15 Dex 2009)
Telstra’s report on why they think the filtering they tested works. And people’s comments about this. - Our views on Mandatory ISP Filtering (Iarla Flynn, Google Australia, 16 Dec 2009)
How Google thinks the proposal is extreme and uncalled for. - Net censorship move a smokescreen: expert (Asher Moses, SMH, 16 Dec 2009)
How the filter test was designed to succeed, so wasn’t really a fair trial. - Conroy’s Clean Feed Won’t Block Child P*rn (Mark Newton, NewMatilda, 16 Dec 2009)
- Net censorship trial report brings more questions than answers (EFA, 15 Dec 2009)
- At what point does internet filtering become censorship? (Gordon Farrer, SMH, 16 Dec 2009)
- Abbott drawn into filter debate (Suzanne Tindal, ZDNet Australia, 16 Dec 2009)
- Child groups slam Conroy’s ISP filtering plans (Kathryn Edwards, Computerworld, 16 Dec 2009)
- Net filters ‘thin end of the wedge’: Kirby (Asher Moses, SMH, 17 Dec 2009)
Kirby’s view on the filter, and a rehash of what everyone else has said of the last day.
Abbot to de-legalise abortion, then remove no fault divorce?
I was thinking about Tony Abbott’s recent appointment as leader of the Liberal party. Apart from his dislike of the ETS (we just need dykes like the Netherlands), and the fact Abbott doesn’t know what peak oil is, his policies include a strong desire to make abortion harder.
Without delving into the reasons this could be a bad thing, I wondered what the next step a right wing Catholic PM would take.There must be too many divorces at the moment, for that side of politics. Lets remove no-fault divorce.
Doesn’t no fault divorce just make it easier to split up families?
But looking back I see that this was July’s policy. Abbott talked of moving to an opt in fault divorce [2]. Reversing the no fault divorce legislation passed by the Whitlam government in 1975. An idea that even the private investigation industry though was a stupid.
So, it looks like de-legalising abortion, or at least making it much harder to access, has been chosen as the easier right wing agenda item to push.
But, expect that if this goes through, a modification to the no fault divorce law will be surely follow.
Are you feeling Green, or Yellow, or Blue?
I saw this collection rubbish bins in Ultimo. With Green, Yellow and Blue lids. These days many local governments garbage collection services come with different bins for different types of rubbish.
Of the bins below: green is actually general rubbish; yellow is general recycling; and blue is for paper recycling.
What colour bins does your council employ? Do they match these colours, or has your council decided to use its own colour coding?
Hollywood needs a Push
I occasionally peruse the Apple movie trailers or HD Trailers sites to see what movies I can look forward to seeing.
At the beginning of the year I remember seeing a trailer for Push. Looked interesting. Start with psychics, mix in some secret government agency, and an Asian city to give it a exotic look. Then add a touch of fate of the world to top it off.
But it never turned up in the cinemas.
Maybe Division sent a Wiper out and I don’t remember seeing it? Because, if you look at Amazon, you can see the DVD of Push on sale (as of July).
No, I noticed a advertisement for it on the back of a bus the other day. It appears that Push has only recently been released in Australia (10 September).
Why do we have to wait an extra 6 months for movies to be released here? Sure, some of the big name movies are released everywhere at the some time (eg Matrix, Lord of the Rings). But most movies seem to get stuck in a time dilation effect. Aging at a different rate in Australia than elsewhere in the world.
This slow release schedule, in a fast inter connected world, I can see having 2 main effects.
The marketing effort spent on the movie is wasted. That the online reviews pushing the movie will have gone. Will the public see a movie panned 6 months ago?
People will see it before it makes it to the cinema. Via legal means, buying DVDs online from other parts of the world. Or via piracy, downloading movies shared on the internet.
The film industry seems to be stuck in the old world. And needs to learn to use the new one (without suing everyone).
Other links of interest:
