Tag: mark pesce

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Episode 47 is online, marketers and twitterers

Screenshot from Stilgherrian Live episode 47

Episode 47 of Stilgherrian Live, the Cheap Edition, is now online for your viewing pleasure.

Actually it has been since shortly after the program finished on Thursday night, and you could have just gone to the channel page to watch it. I’ll sort out a better notification system when I get back from Africa.

Except you don’t know I’m going to Africa, because it’s SEKRIT.

There was another strong field this week for “Cnut of the Week”, too.

I thought Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would score more votes for the federal budget, but no. After winning last week, he only came in 4th (20%). ABC TV came in 3rd (24%) for choosing not broadcast the controversial mock anti-discrimination advertisement on The Gruen Transfer.

Photograph of a tapeworm, and a social media network diagram, as Cnuts of the Week

We had a draw for first place: Scott Swabey’s nomination of “all marketing peeps for their continued insistence on trying to find a way to control/monetise the social media movement” and Wolf’s nomination of “everyone on Twitter that [sic] kept reposting the #fixreplies even after twitter did… you all look like a bunch of whining idiots now” (28%).

Visually, “everyone on twitter” was represented by a social network diagram and, in our usual tasteful way, “all marketing peeps” by a tapeworm.

I particularly like the tapeworm, don’t you?

Meanwhile, congratulations to Wolf, who won a t-shirt from our friends at King Cnut Ethical Clothing — and a big raspberry to Gedulous who would’ve won if he were watching the program when his name was drawn from the Cocktail Shaker of Integrity but he wasn’t so we had a redraw and Wolf won instead so there nyer.

The Stilgherrian Live Eurovision Special is tonight from 7.15pm Sydney time, with special guests Nick Hodge, Snarky Platypus and probably Mark Pesce.

The regular old Stilgherrian Live will return at 9.30pm next Thursday night.

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The National Broadband Network, Day 2

Crikey logo

It’s the second day of the RuddNet, and everyone’s still getting their heads around it. Here’s a few quick reads to orient you to this… yes… this, the largest infrastructure project in Australia’s history. If it happens.

  1. NBN: Pricey, but it’s building for the long term, my main Crikey piece covering my thoughts today. Well, some of them.
  2. Crikey Clarifier: National Broadband Network, Part 2, discussing the key differences between fixed and wireless broadband, and the structure of “the Internet industry”. (Part 1 was yesterday.)
  3. Secret team kept even ministers in the dark, in which Fairfax’s Chief Political Correspondent Phillip Coorey provides some background.
  4. Super-fast trip to a world full of surprises, Mark Pesce’s op-ed about the possibilities.
  5. Kevin Rudd’s partner, comparing RuddNet with the politics of Australia’s first wireless telegraphy link to London. The more things change etc.

There’s bound to be more. Much more. This is a huge story. I’ll try to provide the choice links.

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WTF? National Broadband Network as FTTP!

Crikey logo

Yes, the story of the day is the astounding news that Australia’s new National Broadband Network will be 100Mbit/second Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) — and government-owned!

I’m part of Crikey‘s massive coverage, which kicks off with an editorial, Bernard Keane’s Huge, historic and nationalised: broadband goes ballistic and Fibre To The Node becomes Fibre To The Nerd.

My contributions are A massive and much-needed catch-up and Crikey Clarifier: National Broadband Network.

My friend and colleague Mark Pesce also has 100 million bits per second: you call that fast? And there’s plenty more — some of which is behind the paywall.

As Bernard Keane says, “It will take days — perhaps weeks or months — to work through all the possibilities of this, technically, commercially and politically.”

It’s also a massive face-saver for the minister, Senator Stephen Conroy. Instead of being sacked for screwing up the original tendering process, he’s being given command of the biggest infrastructure project in Australia’s history. Just why does he get this lifeline, I wonder?

This is a massive shift in Australia’s communications policy. Stay tuned.

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Crikey Conversations episode 1 with Mark Pesce and me

Screenshot from Crikey Conversations with Mark Pesce and Stilgherrian

The first episode of Crikey‘s new video series Crikey Conversations is now online, with me interviewing inventor and futurist Mark Pesce.

The series, sponsored by Microsoft, features various folks talking about the world of 2020 — which is only 11 years away. Gosh.

While some of Mark and my regular viewers and readers may well be sick of the material we discuss by now — hey, it’s what we do! — it’s aimed at a non-geek audience. So if you do pass it on to someone, I’d love some feedback.

As you can also see, Microsoft must’ve paid Crikey the extra fee for me to put pants on before the shoot.

I’m not sure whether there’s a credit in the video, but I’d personally like to thank Advanced BusinessLink (Australia) for the use of their boardroom and its spectacular view, and Adam Bateson for making the connection.