Category Archives: Newsworthy

Internet Filter Demonstrably Useless

Earlier this year I speculated that the National Classification Review, set up by the federal government via the Attorney-General’s (AG) department and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE) might become a vehicle for a tactical retreat on the mandatory internet filtering policy. Certainly, the government has been noticeably quiet on the [...]

Another ABC News 24 Fail

Tapping away at my keyboard at work just now, I looked up to the other screen on my desk – (showing some of the outputs of an IPTV solution I am dealing with at the moment) – and I noticed a live prime ministerial press conference on Sky News Australia. It is circled in red [...]

84,000 Filter Hits: I Call Bullshit

Some interesting numbers have emerged in the last couple of days in regards to the the “voluntary” filter applied to internet connections by four of Australia’s biggest service providers – in this instance from Telstra, the nation’s largest. Telstra Logs 84,000 Filter Redirects “Telstra has redirected internet users that try to access child abuse materials [...]

Setting Your iOS5 Device Up For Wireless Sync

So, you’ve managed to update your iDevice to the newly released iOS5 – hopefully you didn’t have the problems that some have had. Now that you’ve done it, how do you setup one of the coolest new features – wireless iTunes synchronisation? You’ll never need to connect up your device to your computer with a [...]

Apple Search Engine?

Okay. Right from the start, I’ll put my hand up and say that this has all been speculated before, and that I don’t have any REAL lead on this, but is Apple seeking to launch its own search engine to compete with Google and Bing? The simple answer is “who the hell knows?” However, over [...]

NBN: No Evidence of Trial Site Favours

Ever since the National Broadband Network (NBN) became the catalyst for the formation of current government, with parliamentary support from independent members Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott getting the ALP over the line, there have been accusations that trial sites for the network were chosen on political grounds. Certainly, it is curious that one of [...]

Android 4G Tablets Imminent?

Catching up on my weekly diet of podcasts this morning, I listened to the most recent edition of This Week In Google – admittedly an episode that is almost a week old now. One of the guests was Chris DiBona, the open source and public sector engineering manager at Google. Towards the end of the [...]

Why Our Classification System Is Broken

I don’t think that anyone in their right mind denies the need for a system of classification for media content. Such a system provides a valuable tool for anyone to understand the content of material, as part of the decision process of whether or not that material is for them. In Australia, we have had [...]