In my previous post about the four communications cables being cut in one week, I suggested that something odd might be happening. Well, no actually. According to an article in The Register, around 100 cables get cut every year, enough to keep a fleet of 25 cable repair ships fully occupied. Most are caused by fishing mishaps, but ship anchors and geological causes such as earth quakes also play a role. Hat-tip to Bernard Robertson-Dunn.
More intelligent TV please!
It’s that magic time of year again: Logies voting! You don’t need to buy TV Week to vote, just use the website. I’ve just done my democratic duty for Australian television. Though it was a bit odd to be told that the nominees for Most Popular Australian Drama “must be narrative and include characters”. Um, yes, it’s a drama…
Australia’s unwired politicians
In October 2007 I wrote: “The next time someone says we’re experiencing Australia’s ‘first internet election’ or our ‘first YouTube election’, slap them. Slap them very hard.” Now UTS research into the 2007 federal election further illustrates the point.
As ZDNet News reports, only two-thirds of the sitting federal members and senators had a personal website, and only 1 in 10 had a MySpace page — though personally I object to MySpace being the touchstone.
The study also revealed only 6.6 percent had a blog, 5.75 percent had posted one or more videos on YouTube, 3.5 percent had a Facebook site and only 3.1 percent had a podcast, as at 20 November 2007.
But of those that did find their way online a large percentage failed to go beyond traditional one-way communication.
Much more in the full story. Hat-tip to Peter Black.
Two facts relating to Ginger Nuts, and an old story
The headline says it all.
- Rhys McDonald has designed a Ginger Nuts t-shirt, on sale for about AU$25. This isn’t especially astounding news, but I wanted to finish the night’s blog postings with a picture and it was the only one handy.
- I am one of only 3 members of the Royal Order of the Gingernut — something which I’m still proud of, so I’ll tell you the old story… and show you an embarrassing photo.
Once upon a time, in a galaxy far away, I was a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), an international organisation dedicated to the study and recreation of pre-17th century European History.
Continue reading “Two facts relating to Ginger Nuts, and an old story”
The Internet is The Enemy
Our defence institutions need a certain amount of healthy paranoia. They have to imagine all the terrible things which might conceivably be done to us, and have plans in place to counter them. But the Pentagon goes too far when it says the Internet is an enemy. Fundamental rights are put at risk.
At GlobalResearch.ca, Brent Jessop says the Pentagon’s Information Operations Roadmap bluntly states that the Internet, with its potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The Pentagon reckons the Internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy “weapons system”.
Sensis’ legal bullying revisited
On 19 January I wrote about Sensis’ lawyers sending legal “nastygrams” to small website owners. Professor Roger Clarke has received a response [PDF file], which we can’t copy and paste because it’s a scan of a printed letter.
Professor Clarke reckons the response is “reasonable enough (as far as it goes)”, and he won’t be taking the matter any further. His article on Lawyers’ ‘Nastygrams’ re Trademarks reminds us that lawyers’ letters often make inappropriate demands on behalf of trademark-owners.
It’s vital that people stand up for their rights, and resist corporations getting away with claims that go beyond the already excessive rights that corporate welfare laws in the ‘intellectual property’ arena grant them.
So, we all should say “the Yellow Pages® directory” to help Sensis prevent their trademark turning into a generic word. Sensis is our friend.
The funniest bit, I think, is that the lawyer’s response reckons the original letter was intended to “encourage the proper use of Sensis trademarks”. Lawyers must have a funny idea about “encouragement”: their “nastygram” was a three-page letter in pompous legalese containing veiled threats [PDF file].