Boing Boing has started collecting stupid decisions by Internet filters. Example: a school blocking all forums and social networking sites. Talk about overkill!
In Finland, they go buses good!
Finland makes our buses look crap, as well as our phones. “Every bus and tram in Helsinki and the surrounding cities of Vaanta and Espoo are being fitted with Linux servers and GPS units. Every bus and tram in the conurbation will not only become a wireless hotspot serving broadband internet throughout the vehicle — for free — but every bus and tram is visible on a Google map (the beta version is at tinyurl.com/2gftso) that uses the same real-time passenger information as the controllers in their command centre.” Hat-tip to Guy Beres.
My Australia 2020 application… done!
Done! I’ve just emailed my application for the Australia 2020 Summit. Here’s my “100 words or less on why you (or your nominee) should participate”:
Australia’s democracy, created in the age of steam trains and the telegraph, must grasp the social media and online collaboration tools already transforming our world. Not tentatively, but with bold confidence.
I know these tools and their technology — and their flaws. Practical knowledge, untainted by the need to prop up old-media empires or sell products.
Armed with a high-powered “BS Detectorâ€, I take a forensic approach to analysing complex issues — synthesizing and explaining practical solutions in clear, unambiguous language.
My passions are aroused by issues of integrity, human rights, truth, tolerance and transparency.
As I’ve mentioned before, my referees were Adam Salzer are Zern Liew. Nice to have one at each end of the alphabet, eh?
The more I look through my writing, the more I see the themes of this summit session running through so many articles.
Odd obituary for Heath Ledger
Who’d have thought? An obituary for Heath Ledger in Middle English! Well, for a character he played. Doffing the hat to Quatrefoil, who writes, “Whoever writes this blog is frequently side-splittingly funny, but he or she can write (and knows their Middle English passing well). I am filled with wonder and envy.”
William F Buckley is dead
William F Buckley is dead. Given that “Mr Buckley’s greatest achievement was making conservatism — not just electoral Republicanism, but conservatism as a system of ideas — respectable in liberal post-World War II America. He mobilized the young enthusiasts who helped nominate Barry Goldwater in 1964, and saw his dreams fulfilled when Reagan and the Bushes captured the Oval Office,” I should probably know more about him, even though I’ll probably hate him. Perhaps you should too.
Lightweight interview on Australia 2020
Chairman Rudd did a fairly lightweight interview about Australia 2020 on Tuesday with Kieran Gilbert of Sky News. Meanwhile, yesterday Crikey quoted my comments about choosing “representative” people, as opposed to “best and brightest” — right after a quote from Andrew Bolt. Does that make me a misogynist?