Category Archives: Information Technology

The Future Of Telecommunications (1961 Style)

Just stumbled onto this fascinating vision for the future of telecommunications – as that future was seen by AT&T in 1961. Keep an eye out for your rocket delivery from France!

Why Must Oracle Treat Us Like Idiots?

With yet another round of Java security updates – (this time to address 42 new security issues) – reaching our computers today, I find myself once again getting agro with Oracle with the nonchalant way they treat people when their updates roll. Why on earth should/would a security patch be asking us to install a [...]

Who Now The What Now Vodafone?

Late last year, I reported on the status of the Vodafone network around my home and the apparent suddenness of the lack of usable 3G in the vicinity. Using data provided from the Radio Frequency National Site Archive, I have generated a map of the locations – (via GPS) – of all towers providing Vodafone [...]

You Are Being Watched Vodafone

For the last week or so, 3G coverage from Vodafone has been VERY spotty in my area, after being almost perfect since my switch from Telstra a couple of years ago. Despite the cries of “Vodafail” from many customers, I’ve not experienced any significant issues in my time with the carrier. With respect to the [...]

Air Travellers Cop Bad Systems Architecture

After a major systems failure in 2010 of the Navitaire New Skies airline booking and check-in system used by Virgin Australia, another failure yesterday has left thousands of Australian air travellers inconvenienced and angry. This time the problems were not limited to Virgin, with the crash also affecting Jetstar, Tiger, Rex, and other associated airlines. [...]

Victorian Government Withheld CenITex Report From Ombudsman

In the final report released by the Victorian Ombudsman into corrupt activities at CenITex, Victoria’s whole-of-government IT services enterprise, it was revealed that the Victorian Assistant Treasurer – (and also the Minister for Technology, and Minister for Aviation), Gordon Rich-Phillips, ignored a request for the provision of a copy of a report prepared by State [...]

Why Apple And Samsung Should Just Grow Up

While the are several possible examples of the first “automobile”, it is generally accepted that Karl Benz invented the modern automobile in 1885, and patented it in 1886 – 126 years ago. As described on Wikipedia: “An automobile powered by his own four-stroke cycle gasoline engine was built in Mannheim, Germany by Karl Benz in [...]

Happy Birthday Alan Turing

Today is the 100th birthday of Alan Turing, widely regarded as the father of mechanical and electronic computing. He was a genius mathematician and cryptographer, and helped win World War II by breaking the German Enigma encoding machines. Despite his wartime efforts, he was persecuted for being homosexual, and most believe that the mental anguish [...]