Re: [LINK] A good read

[JanW]

At 08:42 AM 2/06/2014, Karl Auer you wrote:

http://idlewords.com/bt14.htm

A few corrections:
Eisenhower had been very impressed with the German Autobahn network 
during the war. When he was elected President, he pushed for the 
creation of the Interstate Highway System, a massive network of fast 
roads that would connect every population center in the country. 

Actually, it was built in the cold war, not for the purpose of the 
'family car', but for defense purposes and I believe built with money 
from the defense budget. The reason Eisenhower loved it was because 
the German system allowed him to move troops.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_highway_system

Maybe we need a 'defense' reason for the NBN?? It's one of the 
reasons DARPA developed the internet (computer networking) in the 
first place. (DARPA was also begun by Eisenhower. I didn't know that. 
I guess he understood networks??? Or the people hired at ARPA/DARPA did?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARPA

This is quite normal for technology advancement in the US, at least. 
Military - Business/commercial - citizen.


The photo following the houses in the pastel colours appears to be 
taken from Tempe, Arizona (Camelback Mountain in the background). 
It's surely a place of sprawl, but the relationship to Interstate 
highways and cars is a bit of a stretch. We only had one multi-lane 
freeway for decades, which changed it's name/number in places for the 
appearance that we had more than one. The urban sprawl and population 
growth in the Phoenix valley was due to a far different technology: 
air conditioning. I will agree that the Phoenix area, like LA, is car 
dependent due to the lack of a decent public transport system other 
than buses until quite recently, with the addition of an attempt of a 
lightrail.



[his graphics choices are fun, though -- love the 2001 HAL shot]

If you need a reason to read this article, this is it:

Google's answer is, wake up, grandpa, this is the new normal. But all 
they're doing is trying to port a bug in the Internet over to the 
real world, and calling it progress.

You can dress up a bug and call it a feature. You can also put dog 
crap in the freezer and call it ice cream. But people can taste the 
difference.


There's a Super example of the problem of using correlations for 
decision making (ref. current Federal Budget).

-
Another good one, that is quite true, as evidenced by the 
anti-Snowden comments on many of the articles about his exposures:
Much of the current debate around the NSA involves making minor 
changes to this secret mechanism. Americans have an almost perverse 
faith in the rule of law. They believe that, as long as the secret 
courts are making sure the secret police obey the secret laws, our 
democracy is safe.
--

Thanks, Karl.
Jan






Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
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Re: [LINK] The Australian tells me cookies are NOT enabled, but cookies ARE enabled

[JanW]

Just for kicks, I enabled as just Allow for Session to see what would 
happen. It worked.
It's hard to know what the 3rd party arrangements are when you do it 
'per site'. I have my general options set to NOT accept 3rd party.

Be sure you don't just refresh the screen and that you're asking for
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/  again.

Firefox 29 give me a shield block indicator and a warning that the 
site doesn't provide identity info.

Jan

At 01:04 PM 2/06/2014, Karl Auer you wrote:
When I try to view a story at theaustralian.com.au, I get taken to a
page telling me that cookies are not enabled. However, cookies ARE
enabled for the site.

I am using Firefox and have allowed cookies for that site specifically.

Thing is, the site used to work fine with just this setup. Have they
become more picky? In particular, do they now perhaps require
third-party cookies to be enabled? Their cookie-enabling instructions do
say to enable third party cookies, but they also say to enable all
cookies everywhere, which is unnecessarily broad.

I've emailed them to ask, but if they need third party cookies I just
won't be reading the Australian online any more. I can see no legitimate
reason to *require* third-party cookies.

Regards, K.

--
~~~
Karl Auer (ka...@biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer
http://twitter.com/kauer389

GPG fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
Old fingerprint: B862 FB15 FE96 4961 BC62 1A40 6239 1208 9865 5F9A



--
~~~
Karl Auer (ka...@biplane.com.au)
http://www.biplane.com.au/kauer
http://twitter.com/kauer389

GPG fingerprint: EC67 61E2 C2F6 EB55 884B E129 072B 0AF0 72AA 9882
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Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Response from Australian re cookies

[JanW]

At 11:23 AM 3/06/2014, Christopher Vance you wrote:

Sounds like they want you to accept third party cookies, but won't say it
explicitly.

I don't allow 3rd party and it worked for me.
Karl, you could clear the cookie cache (history/clear cache/ 
untick all the ones you want to keep, leave cookies ticked)(I just 
did a session on this for our local computer cub :-) ) and see what happens.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] The right to be forgotten

[JanW]

At 10:59 AM 23/06/2014, Jim Birch wrote:

Where does the right to be forgotten fit into this picture?  Reputation
is an important mechanism for maintaining cooperation.  It can sound
unforgiving but requiring people to care for their reputations appears to
me to be something to not drop lightly.  Indeed, the growing libertarian
world view where the individual has primacy, unencumbered by responsibility
back to society, seems to me to pose a basic threat to cooperative aka
civil society.

Thanks for that logical analysis, Jim. Do you do this sort of social 
analysis for a living? It read as if published.

Anyway, the last paragraph exposes a sort of perverse irony. Because 
of the selfish libertarian perspective, major threats to civilisation 
are now in play, so we, as a species, may not have to worry about it 
much longer. Maybe we are a self-limiting species after all, like a 
virus that burns itself out by destroying the host, but with no where 
else to go.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Gumtree

[JanW]

At 02:45 AM 30/06/2014, Scott Howard you wrote:

It's not just Gumtree being hit by this over the past few days, there's a
lot of sites being redirected to the same 2 sites.  Talk is that it's via
an advertising network being abused and not the actual sites themselves,
but I haven't looked close enough to be sure.

There is something very strange going on in the ebook world as well. 
Here's the story -

My book turned up on ebookily.to, a site that says it is just an 
index of 'free' ebooks (even though it has grabbed my copyright cover 
and book description to put on their site). They say to download it, 
here's the link to a site called urbooklibrary.com. When you go 
there, they insist you sign up, and shunt you off to a different 
subscription site each time you try. Of course I've not subscribed to 
anything because I suspect that network of different 'services' to be 
phishing/scam sites. One did trigger a WOT warning (web of trust is a 
Firefox add-on warning system).

I doubt very much that one site would sign up to and randomly point 
to different subscription managers. Perhaps Gumtree is caught up in 
that and Google decided it wasn't worth the risk either. I sent a 
DMCA notice to Google and they removed the cache of my index page, 
but not ebookily. Yahoo, which I discovered is a rebadged Bing site 
sent me to Microsoft. No idea what they've done. But they did respond 
to me asking for specific info about the problem. I also sent a 
takedown notice to urbooklibrary, which is located in Hong Kong.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Disable clipboard for password input

[JanW]

At 08:48 AM 30/06/2014, Paul Bolger wrote:
It seems to be that disabling the pasting of passwords could only
really have a bad effect on security. I can see no mechanical benefit,
a keylogger is going to be just as good at recording a manually keyed
password as a pasted one, and forcing users to key in their password
just about guarantees worse passwords.

Can any linkers think of a reason why doing this would be a good idea?

Actually, they may be in breach of disability discrimination laws. Do 
they provide an alternative to people with limited movement to access 
their accounts online?

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Browsers

[JanW]

At 11:45 AM 7/07/2014, Stephen Loosley wrote:
Firefox falters, falls to record low in overall browser share

Apple's Safari also sheds combined desktop-mobile share, while 
Google's browsers gain impressive ground

Shows how important the OS ecosystem drives user choice. Whatever 
comes stock standard and doesn't require fiddling, but gets the job 
done, safe or not, gets used. Samsung on mobile drives a lot of that, 
plus base tablets. I went to the bother of installing Firefox on my 
tablet because a) I knew how, b) I use it on my laptop already, c) I 
know how to control it already. None of that matched the new user 
experience or desire to learn something different.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Browsers

[JanW]

At 01:03 PM 7/07/2014, xxx wrote:

Google is effectively promoting their browser on their search engine 
and youtube.

But wasn't there an anti-monopoly suit on this re Microsoft and IE 
not all that long ago? Surely there are some crossovers.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Question re spoofing with bad reply address

[JanW]

At 04:35 PM 9/07/2014, Karl Auer you wrote:
It's because spammers now routinely use other people's addresses as the
sending addresses that getting mad at the apparent sender is pointless.
The apparent sender is almost certainly not the actual sender.

Thanks. Makes perfect sense now.

Bottom line: the internet is still filled with idiots.

got it

What is interesting is that when this happens, I seldom get any 
complaints to me about the original email, so at least that's 
something positive. I just get the mailbox full, dead address results.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Remember the power to the nodes issue?

[JanW]

At 09:05 PM 12/07/2014, Frank O'Connor you wrote:

There's the mundane copper/fibre reliability thingie. Exactly how 
'fit for purpose' is the majority of Telstra's copper, how much has 
oxidised and been damaged in bits of the 'final yards' that we don't 
know about?

And the *current* cable failure rate that is taking Telstra 3 WEEKS 
to fix at a friend's house, as well as another friend, and at least 3 
to 4 others in a sample of about 30 people yesterday. Doesn't bode well.

Yeah  there's a heap of questions that I still have about the 
FttN architecture. Obviously the builders and operators are in the same boat.

But, hey, the MD of NBN Co. is raking it in, taking his 30% bonus, 
unlike Quigley, and is the 2nd highest paid PS in the country at the moment.

There's money to be made in this thingie, you know, if you know the 
right people named Malcolm and Co.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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[LINK] Microsoft address

[JanW]

Had to share. Made me chuckle.
Jan


  . . .  The Microsoft way.

Paul Mailman

Microsoft's address in Redmond is One Microsoft Way. During the 
unfortunate period when I was a Microsoft employee, I learned that 
it was more than just an address, it was an article of dogma.


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker

JL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital 
http://www.amazon.com/On-Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker/dp/1499787154/
Australia Amazon: ebook only 
http://www.amazon.com.au/Lifes-Edge-J-Whitaker-ebook/dp/B00KYW2YA8/
and other Kindle sites around the world.
Available 13 June on Kindle

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] Bitcoin .. ATO's draft guidance

[JanW]

At 11:31 AM 25/08/2014, Brendan wrote:

I find the categorisation of Bitcoin as an asset a little odd. 
Barter systems typically rely on things of inherent use value. I'd 
be intrigued to know where they locate it - ie a number -  for tax purposes.

The strange thing about this is saying it attracts GST. I guess if 
they classify it as 'barter', which is subject to but seldom to my 
knowledge is enforced, the ATO can justify it. But if it's a pseudo 
currency, we'd be paying GST on bank transactions, heaven forbid.

Jan



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge
Apple iTunes: 
https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how 
do you fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space.
~Margaret Atwood, writer

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Re: [LINK] #HeyASIO (It's Friday)

[JanW]

At 09:47 PM 26/09/2014, Stephen Loosley wrote:
For a laugh, trying searching Twitter for #HeyASIO ..

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23heyasionear=mesrc=typd 

Yesterday the trending hashtag was #lifebeforeabbott . It went for nearly 48 
hours before it ran out of steam. 

Jan


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge 
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] American school online tests

[JanW]

At 12:10 AM 9/10/2014, Stephen Loosley wrote:
Perhaps of interest. The U.S. is introducing online standardized tests to 
measure American school students’ mastery of their Common Core, the new 
academic standards that have been adopted by most (42) of the U.S. states. 
http://www.corestandards.org

Here are the online practice tests by the two main provider companies.  You 
may like a look ..

Maths:  http://practice.parcc.testnav.com

Language/Literacy: http://practice.parcc.testnav.com/#practicetest-ELA

Firefox blocked because it relies on Java. Not only did it block. It blocked 
with a RED alert. 


And: http://sbac.portal.airast.org/practice-test 


The Practice and Training Tests can be taken on any Internet-connected 
computer using a current Web browser including: 
* Mozilla Firefox 
Nope. Both the Teacher and Student access point failed. Cookies maybe? Also 
asked for a sign-on and no way that I could see to get one.


Oh well

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
Print: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Anchors-J-Kirsten/dp/1502541556/
Ebook : http://mybook.to/lostanchorsmyBook.to/lostanchors 


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge 
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] web: OpenAustralia.org: Are your Representatives and Senators working for you in ...

[JanW]

At 10:42 AM 22/10/2014, Tom Worthington you wrote:
Perhaps the HK students should be working on something like that, with a 
form of net-enhanced government which would allow seeing what government 
is doing and have some input. If this did not involve universal 
suffrage, it may be acceptable to the Communist Party of China: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Hong_Kong_protests 

Interesting. Only the representatives in the Chinese parliament are likely 
to toe party lines, so what's the point? Or does the CCP have its own level of 
internal variabilities now?

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
Print: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Anchors-J-Kirsten/dp/1502541556/
Ebook : http://mybook.to/lostanchorsmyBook.to/lostanchors 


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge 
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Google's harvesting algorithms

[JanW]

At 08:59 AM 28/10/2014, Rick Welykochy you wrote:
I know quite a few people who have accumulated years of business and personal 
email on a
Big Data service like Gmail or Hotmail, erm Outlook. Quite frankly, a 
frightening prospect.
How on earth do they search and archive and save email comms for future 
reference years
down the track? How do they maintain their privacy and confidentiality of 
their ID (real world
and cyber)? Do they even realise what they are giving away for a free email 
service, when
they themselves have become the product? Certainly not my ideal. 

There are some demographics are work here, too. Just a short story. Last week 
at a computer workshop I found myself trying to explain the various components 
of an email ecology: post 'office', email program, access channels, etc. I 
resorted to a blue car (his laptop), a red car (his desktop at home) and a real 
post office, with each car able to go collect the mail at the po box. Only in 
this case, taking only a copy with his blue car. 

This man is borderline dementia, so I know it's a lost cause. We'll have this 
conversation a few more times yet. Already have. To talk about any risk 
involved is useless. He was more concerned that the pretty pictures for his 
Australian Ballet newsletters no longer appeared because we moved his stored 
emails (presumably html that stored the images separately from the actual mail 
file). In his mind, because the pictures were missing, the rest of the text 
that DID appear in the messages was useless. ::sigh::

There was much more to this around Windows Live Mail or Thunderbird or Gmail or 
Webmail on laptops and desktops -- it was all just too much. I suggested he 
just stick with webmail on his laptop for whenever he really really really 
needed to access with that because his normal behaviour was still to use his 
desktop system at home.

We may be at the point of too many choices.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
Print: http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Anchors-J-Kirsten/dp/1502541556/
Ebook : http://mybook.to/lostanchorsmyBook.to/lostanchors 


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge 
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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[LINK] Fwd: (-: Billion Passwords

[JanW]

This is from The Onion (for those who aren't aware, it's satirical, not real, 
we hope.)

AMERICAN VOICES • The Onion

Russian Gangsters Steal 1.2 Billion Passwords

A Milwaukee online security firm discovered this week that a Russian crime 
ring has stolen 1.2 billion username and password combinations from internet 
users, the largest theft of its kind in history, and are using most of the 
information to send out spam in exchange for a fee. What do you think?

“I don’t know which is worse: that gangsters stole 1.2 billion passwords, or 
that a security firm in Milwaukee was the only one to notice.” 


Jan



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Re: [LINK] Renewable energy 'simply WON'T WORK'

[JanW]

At 02:53 PM 24/11/2014, David Boxall wrote:

In global warming, the nuclear power industry sees hopes of reviving 
their moribund technologies. Reality keeps raining on their parade. 

My reaction (without reading the article, I admit, because there is usually an 
agenda running behind these sorts of story) was:
- won't work for whom - when it already is working
- won't work where - when it already is working
- won't work at what level - when it already is working

Blanket statements like Won't Work don't have credibility. We live in a  
strange time of centralisation and fragmentation or granularisation, where 
boutiques and big box stores exist side by side in physical space and in 
virtual space. People make all sorts of choices for all sorts of reasons. The 
same thing is happening in the energy industry, from petroleum, to hybrids, to 
fully electric. Some people use lots of solar panels, some a few, and some none 
(like me, sadly). Some people live in rentals, some in houses, some on ranches, 
some in apartments, some on boats, some in fancy hotels. Some people eat  
well you get my drift.

We don't live in an homogenised world any more, of just about anything, if we 
ever really did. Diversity is the new normal. As they say, horses for courses, 
and there are a lot of different kinds of each.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] Renewable energy 'simply WON'T WORK'

[JanW]

At 09:06 AM 25/11/2014, Jim Birch you wrote:

It's not even obvious that that growth is finite 

We're back to definitions: growth of what and how and over what time period?

Economic growth through cuts (higher ratio of returns by reducing the 
investment) can be destructive in the long term, while increased returns 
because more people want/need your products and you can produce them at a 
reasonable cost, and include efficiencies that aren't socially/enviromentally 
destructive, is a win win.

Growth based on a reliance on population growth alone is long term socially and 
environmentally destructive. The demands on water and the need for 
infrastructure may far outweigh the economic returns on building houses. The 
factors may not balance. You can do a Costello and increase birthrates, but at 
what real cost? The population growth isn't finite by definition, but it will 
be finite in terms of resourcing in the long run. I think this is what James 
Cromwell was driving at on QA last night.

Growth in terms of better yields of crops on the same land area may be a good 
thing, depending on the how. If it's disruptive of other elements of the 
environment -- DDT, upstream water hogging, GMO restrictions, disruption of 
other natural ecosystem food chains, chemical run off onto offshore reefs -- 
then it may not be a good choice and is probably finite in other ways, despite 
the economic returns through export. But if the 'how' is through better plant 
breeding (dry land cropping seed choices), less land destructive mechanical 
farming methods, nitrogen retention through grassing between grain growing 
seasons, then it's a growth that is positive, yet still finite.

And on top of the above are the investment return periods, which adds another 
level of analytical complexity. Is investment money 'finite'?

Not sure how this all relates to IT/internet, except maybe Moore's law. Is it 
finite?

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] Renewable energy 'simply WON'T WORK'

[JanW]

At 11:11 AM 26/11/2014, David Boxall wrote:
To get this a bit more on topic for Link, I reckon much of the solution 
lies in demand management, smart grids and other efficiencies. 

That helps a lot. Do you guys remember the oil shock and the reduction in 
flights? Companies pulled way back and turned to technology instead. Some 
attribute the growth of videoconferencing to that in the 1980s. Business wasn't 
going to stop, so they found another way. Now that we have much more bandwidth 
available, there has been a shift to some, but not optimal I would say, 
movement of info instead of objects (people) when not necessary. There's 
probably some more gains to be made through behavioural change. To work, 
though, the third and fourth extended 'tendrils' need to be beefed up.

In that regard, I've been concerned about the ABC increased move to online as 
their distribution medium in their rhetoric at least, when those regional/rural 
tendrils are so still underclassed. If the NBN had continued, that may have 
been solved, but it hasn't. Plus there is also the provisioning at the 
headends. My example today was trying to get a copy of the Upper House boundary 
map for Victoria for the election this weekend from the VEC. 2.6Mb PDF file. It 
was being sent to me at -- you won't believe this -- 1.3 - 5 KILObytes per 
second. I tried three times and gave up. They obviously haven't upscaled to 
meet demand or haven't balanced their servers correctly (I think I have that 
terminology right; I'll leave it to the sysadmins to laugh at me now).

So there is a need to balance a few things: energy demands, info transfer 
demands, and human behaviour and processes for it all to work better. Optimal 
is out of the question, but better would be a nice start.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Re: [LINK] Australian Patents

[JanW]

At 06:46 AM 6/12/2014, Scott Howard you wrote:
That completely ignores the value of those patents.  More than a few
startups (and not so startups!) have been purchased simply because of the
value of their patents.

Whether you agree with the way patents currently work in many parts of the
world or not, ignoring them means leaving significant money on the table
which is not a good way to run a company, large or small. 

That's true. It's important not to overlook the cost of patent attorneys in 
your venture capital expenses sheets/budgets if you are inventing things. It 
secures your rights so that those scavengers actually have to pay you for your 
work instead of just taking it because you didn't protect it. Most likely you 
don't have deep enough pockets to fight the Apples and Microsofts of the world, 
which have been in the courts on IP theft a few times.

Jan


Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

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Re: [LINK] OT? Re: Australian Patents

[JanW]

At 11:01 AM 6/12/2014, Dr Bob Jansen you wrote:
My view of patenting is that it is only worth the effort if you can afford it 
in the first place, then can detect when the idea is abused and then can 
afford to enforce the patent. So any small startup may not have the cash to 
patent in the first place but if they subsequently can not afford to enforce 
the patent then what is the point in the first place. From memory, there have 
been many accounts of large companies just out-paying the patent holder and so 
the protection is worthless.

I would think this expense would be figured into the VC arrangements. After 
all, the VCs also want that IP protected or else their return is useless. Of 
course, that is assuming the start-up has that sort of backing available.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] OT? Re: Australian Patents

[JanW]

At 06:44 PM 6/12/2014, Stephen Loosley you wrote:

Free for Aussie citizens anyway. The same as copyright is free. 

I don't disagree with that at all. But isn't part of patenting the need to 
research the originality in the first place? How would that get done?

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] web: Telstra wins again with new NBN deal

[JanW]

At 10:34 AM 10/12/2014, Nick Ross you wrote:
If you're going to pay Telstra an absolute fortune forever, it might just
be a good idea for someone, somewhere to ask, why? 

Just got an email from a friend who has been told by Telstra she must convert 
to NBN in her area. I think she's up near Keysborough (southease Melbourne 
suburb). I asked her to bring the letter along to a meeting on Friday.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] From my friend re NBN change

[JanW]

At 01:45 PM 11/12/2014, Jan Whitaker you wrote:
2. They are charging her $189 for installation she thinks 

Correction:
The NBN will be installed free,  but from their box to the modem will cost.
--

I don't understand that. any help here?

Jan




Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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Ebook : http://mybook.to/lostanchorsmyBook.to/lostanchors 


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Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
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https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] From my friend re NBN change

[JanW]

At 04:10 PM 12/12/2014, Jim Birch you wrote:
 3. Telstra appear to be forcing all NBN connections to buy and connect a
 Telstra-provided home gateway/router to the NBN connection to provide the
 telephone
 service as VoIP using the Telstra gateway, not using the in-built VoIP
 capability of
 the NBN box.

Is there a technical or commercial reason for this?  It's a fairly onerous
constraint to go to a telstra router if you want to do anything non
standard with your connection (as I would.) 

Update:
I saw her today and found out she is getting FTTP, not the HFC, which surprised 
me since she said she already had HFC.
The thing that is bugging her the most is the lack of reliable voice service if 
there is a power outage. She doesn't want to spring for a battery back-up. 
Evidently when the Libs took over, the UPS is no longer part of the package.

Jan



Lost Anchors - Now available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions.
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jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] The Emergence of the Casual Programmer.

[JanW]

At 11:54 PM 2/02/2015, Stephen Loosley wrote:

Now, a shift is underway in software and service design whereby the 
programming command and control of all these devices in this complex connected 
world will rely on “casual programming” by their owners. That is, giving 
every day, non-programming people the tools, services and APIs usually 
reserved for the tech elite to program their own devices in a friendly, easy 
and accessible manner. 

Thus, we will soon see the worldwide emergence of the casual programmer. 

I hope this will be an optional aspect rather than a requirement for running 
devices that aren't now thought of as 'computers'. Granted, there are some in 
the community who will be able to cope, but a great majority who won't if they 
have to program. Now confess. How many of us have rellies whose devices with a 
simple clock still show 12:00, or probably more likely, the offset of time from 
when they had their last power outage? If they can't 'casually program' the 
clock by using menus, controlling much else than that is going to be a real 
challenge.

Your post, Stephen, raised other questions for me. With all this online 
connection what about:
- when software crashes (which it does - and circuit boards fry, too -- my 
central heating unit cost me $500 to replace it!)
- when the crackers figure out how to bypass any password controls (if any) and 
start turning off people's fridges, and the software needs updating
- when all that 'miniscule' amount of extra data hits the government 
intentionally crippled network because owners think one day they will need to 
tell the aircon to turn on an hour before they come home from the office if 
they haven't set a timer on the device before they left (not saying that 
clearly; it's early in the day for me)

If we, as a species and according to our illustrious treasurer, are going to 
live to 150 (probably not too copus mentus), this idea of 'casual programming' 
is going to be quite interesting

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

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Re: [LINK] The Emergence of the Casual Programmer.

[JanW]

At 11:54 PM 2/02/2015, Stephen Loosley wrote:

Soon ubiquitous (pervasive) computing” will become the norm as 
microprocessors, sensors, and cloud services make their way into almost 
everything and every product in our homes, cars, offices, and beyond. 

It's in the air:

http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/how-will-data-retention-laws-cope-with-the-internet-of-things-20150202-134gfd.html

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Surviving Climate Change

[JanW]

At 10:45 PM 20/01/2015, Stephen Loosley you wrote:
And, anyway, luckily the BBC with their Infographic Guide to Doomsday 
Threats are also much more optimistic. They say that the death of bees is the 
only think likely to do us in within the next five years. They say climate 
change death and disaster is only one possible eventuality within this 
century. So, we've got plenty of time to worry about that.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20141230-apocalypse-when 

and if it survives, check this timeline of the future.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140105-timeline-of-the-far-future

Jan



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https://www.amazon.com/author/jlwhitakerJL Whitaker
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Re: [LINK] Telcos still charging for 1800 calls

[JanW]

At 07:49 PM 18/02/2015, Stephen Loosley you wrote:

A Vodafone spokeswoman told AAP that customers wouldn't pay out of pocket for 
1800 calls until they exceed the cap on their plan.

We're confident that Vodafone offers market-leading plans that meet a broad 
range of customer needs, the company said in a statement.

That's daft. They're still charging for the calls as against the plan. It's 
more confirmation that PR people don't take maths classes. Ridiculous.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Aussie Cyber Warfare

[JanW]

At 10:07 PM 28/01/2015, Stephen Loosley you wrote:

This involved implanting malware on foreign servers that erased data and 
disabled the cooling systems such that they were ultimately fried. (end 
quote)

Entire servers? How overkill. What about everyone else, the innocents also 
using the same server? More collateral damage.

I think we need women running armies to stop the collateral damage and nuance 
warfare, at least in the Cyber WF space. Wouldn't hurt in the big game, either.

Jan



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Re: [LINK] Surviving Climate Change

[JanW]

Just watched this one. BBC production. Multiple points of view. Explains why 
neolib/con (whatever you want to call it) is a dead end for all of us, globally.
Thanks for prodding, Jore. There is so much in this one that anyone who votes 
needs to understand. The two main parties in Australia are asking the exact 
wrong questions and we are letting them. Climate change is just one part of the 
problem, more a symptom than a problem, or a result. And I love the ending of 
the film. Tears.

Jan

At 11:34 PM 23/01/2015, jore you wrote:


* http://thoughtmaybe.com/surviving-progress/
Tagline: The dominant culture measures itself by the speed of
“progress”. But what if this so-called progress is actually driving us
full force towards collapse? Surviving Progress shows how past
civilisations were destroyed by “progress traps” — alluring technologgies
and belief systems that serve immediate needs, but ransom the future. As
pressure on the environment accelerates and financial elites bankrupt
nations, can our globally-entwined civilisation escape a final,
catastrophic progress trap?


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On A Life's Edge -
US Amazon print and digital http://viewBook.at/OALEdge 
Apple iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/on-a-lifes-edge/id893736824?mt=11

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Suggestions and advice please

[JanW]

At 06:37 PM 9/02/2015, Richard you wrote:

Also I think there's a Wordpress plug-in that lets you post via e-mail.

That's true. I saw it the other day on my install. It may be a common feature 
now.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
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Re: [LINK] Internet Voting and Cybersecurity: What Could Go Wrong?

[JanW]

At 09:26 AM 20/03/2015, Tom Worthington you wrote:
Within 48 hours of the system going live, we had complete control of the 
server and changed all the votes. These findings illustrate the 
practical obstacles to securing Internet voting and carry lessons for 
all countries considering adopting such systems 

Someone better tell the NSW electoral commission quick!

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Fwd: No battery backup

[JanW]

At 08:53 AM 3/03/2015, Tom Worthington wrote:
For the phone to work, as well as this battery you need a line powered 
old fashioned phone, or a cordless phone which has a backup battery in 
the base station (a few do), or a UPS. 

She has the analog phones. That's what she had a separate installer come and 
connect for her, since she found out that she wouldn't have phone service if 
there was a power outage. That's why she was upset when the power went out and 
she still didn't have a working phone.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Free Digital Technologies Course for Teachers

[JanW]

I just did a presentation on the topic: Learning Stuff Online, to our local 
computer club. When I dug in, it was incredible how quickly this has grown. 
Because my audience was older and not content specific, the talk was general as 
well.

I've put my slides (in PDF) up on my blog for anyone who is interested.
http://janwhitaker.com/?p=147

Jan

At 09:30 AM 21/04/2015, Tom Worthington you wrote:
Brenda Aynsley OAM FACS, President of the Australian Computer Society, 
pointed out in The Australian last week that free on-line courses are 
now available for teachers, to help them with the new Digital 
Technologies component of the Australia curriculum: 
https://ia.acs.org.au/news/opinion-equipping-kids-with-digital-skills-key-to-future-success-402779

The courses are run by the Computer Science Education Research Group 
(CSER) at the University of Adelaide. The next course starts 1 May 2015: 
http://csdigitaltech.appspot.com/cser_nextsteps/

One of the most useful aspects I have found of such courses is to remind 
me how hard it is to be a student. Also it is useful for teachers to 
familiarize themselves with how on-line courses are run, as this will be 
the way they will teach their students in the future.


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards
Legislation

Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
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Re: [LINK] Ben Grubb wins!

[JanW]

At 07:46 PM 4/05/2015, JanW wrote:
Yep:
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/telstra-to-appeal-fairfax-journalist-ben-grubbs-metadata-ruling-20150504-ggtu59.html

The question is: to whom can/will they appeal?

Here's the answer:
Also note the merits review rights in the new s96, from March 2014, mentioned 
in the last paras:

 Review rights
A party may apply under s 96 of the Privacy Act  1988 to have a decision under 
s 52(1) or (1A) to make a determination reviewed by the Administrative Appeals 
Tribunal (AAT). The AAT provides independent merits review of administrative 
decisions and has power to set aside, vary, or affirm a privacy determination. 
An application to the AAT must be made within 28 days after the day on which 
the person is given the privacy determination (s 29(2) of the Administrative 
Appeals Tribunal Act 1975). An application fee may be payable when lodging an 
application for review to the AAT. Further information is available on the 
AAT's website (www.aat.gov.au) or by telephoning 1300 366 700. 

A party may also apply under s 5 of the Administrative Decisions (Judicial 
Review) Act 1977 to have the determination reviewed by the Federal Circuit 
Court or the Federal Court of Australia. The Court may refer the matter back to 
the OAIC for further consideration if it finds the Information Commissioner's 
decision was wrong in law or the Information Commissioner's powers were not 
exercised properly. An application to the Court must be lodged within 28 days 
of the date of the determination. An application fee may be payable when 
lodging an application to the Court. Further information is available on the 
Court's website (http://www.federalcourt.gov.au/) or by contacting your nearest 
District Registry


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Australian Government spending $256M to transform government but wasting $485M on failed eHealth system

[JanW]

At 08:54 AM 15/05/2015, Chris Johnson you wrote:
The failure is collective: there is no small group of individuals who
failed to say no, minister (or no, permanent secretary), it's
collective hubris. We do not train IT professionals to recognise no-go
areas, only to be aware of failures with the strong implication that if
you do the next one correctly then you won't fail. 

That is so true, Chris. Even risk management doesn't get to that level unless a 
risk is deemed extreme, and even then there are fools who will rush right in.

I don't know how to get the message through the thick head of the various 
ministers who have insisted continuously on being foolish. They don't want to 
accept it and just sink the thing.

As someone said, the Titanic may have been a good idea, but it still sank. 
Would you get on it today? (that was in reference to Jeb Bush's non-rejection 
of the Iraq invasion)

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Australian Government spending $256M to transform government but wasting $485M on failed eHealth system

[JanW]

At 10:07 AM 17/05/2015, Karl Auer wrote:
The eventual solution, if it is to have any integrity at all, is going
to have to be a distributed database, not a centralised one (think
DNS/DNSSEC), and access to the am individual's data is going to have to
be controlled by the individual. The need to access data for individuals
who cannot give their permission can be dealt with by authorising senior
staff, and by informing individuals about all accesses to their data.
Solid laws around misuse, with actual scary penalties and meaningful
recourse for people affected, will do the rest.


Snip all the repetition of 15 years working in this space, watching it, 
consulting on it, and being ignored about it.
How many govs/dept secs have been in over that period? How many budget 
blow-outs?

If the $1.5BIL (just the fed system, not the STATE systems sunk costs) and 
counting had been given to each person in the country, (getting out calculator) 
is $65/15 years, or $4.4/year. Put that way, it's not all that much. Maybe they 
should have spent more and actually listened to the people outside the Canberra 
world view about how to do it better.

BUT if you take the 2mil signed up, that's $750/patient. Is that a good ROI?


Jan



I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Let's pause before drinking the 'coding in schools' Kool-Aid

[JanW]

At 09:39 AM 5/06/2015, David Lochrin wrote:
But I just felt embarrassed listening to poor Bill going on about coding...  
I'm sure any decent interviewer would soon reveal he knew as much about 
coding as Brandis does (or did) about metadata. 

Most of our politicians read what they're handed, which is why:
1 - they can't answer questions and divert to script
2 - don't understand the policies/ stances they are taking
3 - sound like wooden puppets
4 - repeat phrases; they've been rehearsing them so much they do it 
unconsciously

If they really understood their briefs on this one, the point is to make ICT 
and STEM in general a more deliberate part of the curriculum in order to ramp 
up participation, regardless of the subbranch a student pursues in future, if 
at all, as a career. Coding is a sub-component, similar to learning alphabet, 
words, reading, stringing words together to communicate an idea, then the range 
of types of reading and writing available, understanding what is being read 
(analysis), selecting things to write and read (pre-evaluation), and then 
critiquing (evaluation).

If you're going to work in the field, or use its outputs/devices, it's useful 
to have an understanding of what is going on. One may never become a 
programmer, just like one may never become a published writer, but we will 
still select/use/evaluate for purpose a range of technologies. Right now, the 
uneducated (generalisation warning) public are diving head first without a clue 
about the risks, how to identify real risks that could get them into trouble 
(including LOSING their MONEY), how code is manipulated to do that and how to 
defend themselves. They don't understand the 'code'. I just encountered that 
myself with a scam email saying I'd ordered $900 of goods from Amazon, which I 
hadn't. It took me awhile to check if this posed a risk to me at all. And no, I 
didn't open the attached document in word, but I had the nous to scan it w/ 
anti-virus, open it in a text editor, and look at the header subcomponents of 
the email to find where it had come from. Can your Grandmother d!
 o that? I doubt it.

The larger STEM question is as much cultural as educational. We've been 
discussing in another group why sci-fi/fantasy (specfic) is not held in good 
stead by some people/parents, and that kids are forbidden from reading it. I 
proposed a paradoxical two-fold reason: anti-science (sci-fi) and anti-magic 
(fantasy) from trending conservative cultures. Some of this has to do with the 
rise of conservative fundamentalist religions in power/policy groups. This is 
where the paradox comes in. 'Anti-science' is because it challenges the 
orthodoxy. Think dark ages before the enlightenment. Anti-magic is against 
creativity and is seen as abhorrent, again because it challenges the orthodoxy 
of the mythology of the particular guiding 'church' system. That strikes me as 
paradoxical and ironic. It's like a 'magic civil war' is going on. 

so IMO while we are in this time of 'religion' rules, conscious or not, 
(sometimes for pure personal power reasons alone and not any real belief in 
morality or the teaching of said religion), STEM is going to be facing an 
uphill battle for funds and minds. So any efforts that provide a glimmer of 
hope of keeping STEM or ICT alive in schools should not be negated.

Jan



I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Let's pause before drinking the 'coding in schools' Kool-Aid

[JanW]

At 11:00 AM 5/06/2015, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
Arguing somewhat against my suggestion that STEM is the way to go, I 
suggest that the most important skill is critical thinking. 

Yep, I agree with that. It's another level higher again in the hierarchy of 
'skills'.

Creativity is another at that level.

I just came across (again via twitter connections) a new-ish program at UWS 
that is along these lines.
http://theacademy.edu.au/

http://jamesarvanitakis.net/how-do-we-teach-creativity/
How do we teach creativity?
Posted on April 1, 2015 by James Arvanitakis

IMG_3493This semester at my university, the University of Western Sydney, I 
have been responsible for the introduction of three new subjects: Creativity, 
Innovation and Design, Introduction to Critical Thinking; and Research Stories.

Along with a fourth subject, Leadership in a Complex World, they form the suite 
of subjects for a new Bachelor’s Degree we have launched as part of The Academy 
program.
--

This is at university. The program is cross-disciplinary.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Let's pause before drinking the 'coding in schools' Kool-Aid

[JanW]

At 09:07 AM 6/06/2015, Tom Worthington wrote:
But I am not sure how you teach or test critical thinking. If you 
can't teach it, or at least test it, then it is just more marketing hype.

Sure you can. You  present problems /cases that require judgement, analysis, 
consideration of alternatives actions, balance pros and cons -- all of that. 
The teacher demonstrates examples of applying those techniques, a range of 
them, documenting the steps, showing both excellent and poor examples of doing 
so, and asking students to discuss what is presented. Then you provide 
situations for them to demonstrate using the processes themselves as practice, 
then you do an exam that is evaluated. The scenario can be real or prepared, 
crisis (problem) or opportunity (developmental proposal).

If you don't provide the opportunity to examine complexity in a controlled and 
considered environment - i.e. teaching/learning situation - people will 
continue to act from their gut and 'common sense'. e-portfolios aren't enough 
without a framework for thinking processes, documentation, and eventually 
results. 

'Critical' means not accepting things at face value. 

Jan
who was working on a book at one time called Thinking Things Through.


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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[LINK] TCP joke

[JanW]

It's not Friday, but I can be pretty sure we can all do with a laugh about now.


Hi, I'd like to hear a TCP joke.
Hello, would you like to hear a TCP joke?
Yes, I'd like to hear a TCP joke.
OK, I'll tell you a TCP joke.
OK, I will hear a TCP joke.
Are you ready to hear a TCP joke?
Yes, I'm ready to hear a TCP joke.
OK, I am about to send the TCP joke. It will last 10 seconds, it has two 
characters, it does not have a setting, and it ends with a punchline.
OK, I am ready to get your TCP joke that lasts 10 seconds, has two characters, 
does not have an explicit setting, and ends with a punchline.
I'm sorry, your connection has timed out...
Hello, would you like to hear a TCP joke? 





I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] NBN Long Term Satellite restrictions

[JanW]

At 08:53 PM 23/10/2015, David Boxall wrote:

>
>Looks like they've finally realised that satellite isn't fibre - nor 
>even copper or terrestrial wireless. 

Fascinating data in there re usage levels.
Hard to understand what everyone is doing with all that use -- torrents? 
Multiple people on the same account?
My highest monthly uses has been 31.61GB in April this year and 30.60GB in 
March 2014. Avg per month looks like around 12GB on a plain ADSL line maxing at 
data rates of 8mbps. Of course, that's not using Netflix data because that 
isn't charged in my account. I suppose if I did more video intensive stuff, my 
usage would go up, but I haven't gone totally off FTA tv.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Australia to trial cloud passports in world-first move

[JanW]

At 09:51 AM 30/10/2015, Jim Birch you wrote:
>Doesn't the idea that you can land somewhere and have your id "proven" by a
>piece of paper belong in distant past?  It's an absolute relic that
>predates the telegraph.

Sometimes simple is best. Imagine, you're in Melbourne Airport, trying to come 
in through customs and the power goes out. It happens.

Or imagine you have one of those SmartGate passports and it continually fails. 
Choice: get in the long line or make goo goo eyes at the customs guy and get 
sent to the aircrew entry line (has happened to me TWICE).

Reliance on technology as the only fall-back is insane.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN spent $14m on 1800km of new copper for FTTN

[JanW]

At 09:30 AM 22/10/2015, David Boxall wrote:

>This leaves about 17,639 km of pair copper cable (about 98%) to account 
>for - "interesting"! Maybe the 2-pair copper lead-ins are not as much in 
>a "better condition" as stated in the talk?" 

Or they included a few too many naughts in the order?

Or future stocking while copper is 'cheaper'?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN Long Term Satellite restrictions

[JanW]

At 10:46 AM 24/10/2015, David Boxall wrote:
>These are people running businesses and families with children. If 
>memory serves, one child averages about 20GB/month for educational 
>purposes. And yes, there are typically many people using a single ISP 
>account. Not just family, but employees as well. No, employees can't use 
>mobiles; there's rarely service. No, I doubt that any of them would be 
>torrenting or using video unnecessarily. At $10/GB that's not affordable. 

The consideration of 'audience'/user characteristics is important but has it 
been taken into account by NBN? Your mention of families in remote/regional 
areas is one, or to put it more general -- multi-user shared subscriptions. 

Then there's the upload versus download needs. Educational applications will 
require uploads. Business definitely will. And if there are real-time 
communication needs, which there are particularly for voice, the delay 
contentions are going to be a bitch.

The blanket sort of decision making seems a bit short sighted. Why am I not 
surprised?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] itN: UK USO 2 Mbps in 2016, 10 Mbps by 2020

[JanW]

At 10:33 AM 9/11/2015, Roger Clarke wrote:

>UK Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement the aim was to 
>make sure all of Britain is online, in order to become the most 
>prosperous economy in Europe.

It's a great aim. And having decent connectivity is part of the equation. But 
it's not the whole part. Where govts strike trouble is when they assume 
everyone does have access and that their systems are designed for 
accessibility. We all know that's bad thinking and leads to disenfranchisement.

Heck, we've just had a story about a brand new multi-story carpark at Frankston 
Hospital withOUT a lift. Think about that in terms of discrimination. Yes, they 
have made the ground level 'reserved' for patients, but what about staff 
mobility from those 2 upper levels? At least they put in stairs!

If you want a sure bet, always take the side of a govt stuffing up something in 
a major, or it seems even a common sense minor, project.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Turnbull orders rewrite of draft Australian cyber strategy - Security - iTnews

[JanW]

At 12:21 PM 16/11/2015, Marghanita da Cruz wrote:

>The article seems to say that the Mal doesn't like the draft strategy. The 
>bits about the 
>public-private partnership are probably the giveaway (no pun intended). 

Hmmm -- Ah, so they want more private funding involved? Or more private 
participation? 

I can see the need for private orgs as well as public to tighten security. 
Military grade security is I think only available right now to govt? It's not 
my area, but I remember early issues around strong encryption and the DSO 
against having it available outside military/gov usage. Was an EFA issue Greg 
Taylor was across. And yet, it seems it must be, or something similar, if there 
is truly a 'national interest' test.

It's all moot to us plebs anyway since none of it will be released so once 
again we won't know what is being done.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] First Autodrive cars in Southern Hemisphere

[JanW]

At 11:11 AM 7/11/2015, Jan Whitaker you wrote:

>http://cto.telstra.com/advi/index.html
>
>It's livestreaming, but you can go back and grab earlier bits.

Sorry, it doesn't appear to be archiving, just live.


>Major IT project. 

I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

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Re: [LINK] 20 years of Link?

[JanW]

Happy Anniversary, Linkers!
When I came to Australia just over 20 years ago, a friend of mine on this list 
said I should join up because this was where all the action is.

Thanks to all who have made it possible for all these years.

Regards,
Jan

At 12:46 PM 15/10/2015, Marghanita da Cruz you wrote:
>Hi All,
>
>Is it indeed the 20th year of link?
>Did I miss the anniversary discussion?
>
>Marghanita
>-- 
>Marghanita da Cruz
>Telephone: 0414-869202
>http://www.ramin.com.au
>
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I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

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Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] The data drought

[JanW]

At 04:21 PM 9/10/2015, David Boxall you wrote:
> From one of the comments: 
> 
>"... these children deserve better their education time is NOW not in 
>2020 when the NBN is sorted .. The govt / education dept decided that 
>this is how they will deliver classes now they need to ensure fair 
>access to those classes ..." 

She may have a legal case if her kids have been short-changed in their 
education compared to what existed prior.
This story it ridiculous, if not surprising.

Equally, you know those bush fires in Victoria? People are reporting that they 
didn't receive a single mobile phone alert about the fire. Reception is so bad 
in some places, there's no way that system is reliable. We're not talking 
Woop-woop either. We're talking just a reasonable driving distance from 
Melbourne. 




I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Turnbull orders rewrite of draft Australian cyber strategy - Security - iTnews

[JanW]

At 10:41 AM 18/11/2015, Roger Clarke wrote:

>My guess is that the report was heavily impregnated by public service 
>thinking.  In particular, the author (presumably Tobias Freakin) was probably 
>given to understand that robust recommendations would not be welcome, and 
>hence the recommendations were exceedingly gentle.  

Freakin was on ABC last night. Who could forget that name? But not on the topic 
of the policy work. Can't recall what his angle was, if general security or 
what.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] @piawaugh 22 hours ago: "Just opened Australian Government consultation

[JanW]

At 12:15 PM 18/11/2015, Roger Clarke wrote:

>So we also need to beat that normal sequence.
>
>See http://www.opengovpartnership.org/how-it-works/civil-society-engagement 

Totally agree. I'm thinking outside the square on this one and tapping into my 
other networks. As an example, I forwarded one of the pages from the site to 
the VIEW Club office who forwarded to the National Executive. This is part of 
The Smith Family, which has real cred with politicians. This effort must be 
wider than IT and privacy, so involving other interests such as women, 
disadvantaged children and education should put some umph under it. I also let 
Pia know that I've done this.

So look beyond the IT and privacy email lists to other areas where you are 
involved. If enough of the country is aware, this might be enough pressure to 
see it through.

Thanks for stating the importance of this, Roger.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] web: The NBN satellite Malcolm Turnbull never wanted prepares for liftoff

[JanW]

At 10:29 AM 30/08/2015, Tom Worthington you wrote:
but expresses some concern about how well the up-link will work:
https://theconversation.com/internet-in-space-nbns-plan-to-bring-broadband-to-rural-australia-46618

So, the latency that the NBN satellite spokesperson poo-pooed could be OVER a 
full second! That's unacceptable in real-time communication. That's even worse 
than the old int'l phone calls, folks. Note mention of the IoT impacts, too.

static one-way retrievals won't be impacted from a perception perspective 
(sorry for the repetition), but it will be horrible for voice comms, which 
presumably will be part of the imposed package??? As per urban areas where all 
comms are shifted to NBN and off the PSTN

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JL_WhitakerJL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] web: The NBN satellite Malcolm Turnbull never wanted prepares for liftoff

[JanW]

At 09:40 AM 7/09/2015, David Lochrin wrote:

>A late comment...  The technical person at an NBN roadshow here in the 
>Highlands, where wireless will be employed in some of the outlying hamlets, 
>told me each registered wireless user is assigned a dedicated channel so 
>there's no congestion.  I understand it's essentially 3G/4G technology.

For now.

Demand will change that. 

Did anyone find out if people who are in underserved suburban areas can access 
the satellite delivery? Frex, I'm fully limited where I am to 8Mb down/256Kb up 
(ADSL).

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Of Fossildom and Other Ailments

[JanW]

At 10:25 AM 13/09/2015, Roger Clarke wrote:
>A personal declaration:
>
>"I personally use the cloud as little as possible. My e-mail is on my own 
>computer -- I am one of the last Eudora users -- and not at a web service like 
>Gmail or Hotmail. I don't store my contacts or calendar in the cloud.

Tick to all that for me, but I do the next bits, NOT Facebook, but I do use 
Twitter, Dropbox and Evernote.

There are still a lot of Eudora users out there because it just works. We've 
made it over the hump of supposed benefits of the other options. The most 
problems I get to deal with for email in our computer club is with Windows 
Livemail.

What is a shame is that the big data reliant businesses are becoming more 
aggressive toward any final resistance. The imposed updates from Win10 being 
one, regardless of the data channel, quota, timing or end equipment ending up 
being broken. 

There are alternatives to Google, thank god. And I don't really need to play 
those stupid games on Android. I can survive that without selling my soul for 
entertainment. What used to have no strings are now full of them if you allow 
updates. And now, if you've come late to the game, the strings can't be avoided 
as far as I can tell. What they ask for is plain scary. How are the kids who do 
know better avoiding them?

May be time to seriously consider a shift to Linux.

Jan


> I don't use cloud backup. I don't have personal accounts on social networking 
> sites like Facebook or Twitter. (This makes me a freak, but highly 
> productive.)"
>
>It describes perfectly how I function.
>
>And I wish I was the one who'd written it.
>
>
>Debate:  Cloud computing:
>Should companies do most of their computing in the cloud?
>The Economist
>May 26th 2015 to Jun 5th 2015 
>http://debates.economist.com/debate/cloud-computing?state=rebuttal
>
>The utterer was Bruce Schneier.
>
>
>-- 
>Roger Clarke http://www.rogerclarke.com/
>
>Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd  78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
>Tel: +61 2 6288 6916http://about.me/roger.clarke
>mailto:roger.cla...@xamax.com.auhttp://www.xamax.com.au/
>
>Visiting Professor in the Faculty of LawUniversity of N.S.W.
>Visiting Professor in Computer ScienceAustralian National University
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I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

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jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Of Fossildom and Other Ailments

[JanW]

At 04:40 PM 13/09/2015, rene you wrote:

>That, i.e. fork, appears to me to have been done quite a while ago, 
>resulting in the "Pale Moon" browser.
>https://www.palemoon.org/
>But, as the Pale Moon lead developer explains, it's not just a simple 
>rebuild of Firefox:
>   "Addressing a few hot topics and general misconceptions"
>   http://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=1=4564 


Very quick to install. Imported my FF profile pretty much.
Some addons are not compatible, like Ghostery and a Twitter command. Oh, and 
Privacy Badger, which is the EFF privacy addon which I do like.

Palemoon loads really quickly. I'm going to give it a go.

Thanks!
Jan



I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Of Fossildom and Other Ailments

[JanW]

At 12:08 PM 13/09/2015, Scott Howard wrote:

>Or you could just go into the settings and disable it.

Now I know what you're talking about.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/hide-or-display-sites-new-tab-page

I noticed those changes in the New tab, but didn't equate to this issue. Now I 
get it.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Of Fossildom and Other Ailments

[JanW]

At 06:40 PM 13/09/2015, JanW you wrote:

>Palemoon loads really quickly. I'm going to give it a go. 

Netflix still doesn't work in it.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: <https://twitter.com/JL_Whitaker>JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN service accessibility [Was: web: The NBN satellite Malcolm Turnbull never wanted prepares for liftoff]

[JanW]

At 11:34 AM 14/09/2015, Jim Birch you wrote:

>I guess we need a browser addon that fakes a mobile browser on top of an
>adblocker.

That's not a bad idea. Is there such a thing?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] RFI: Quality in Emergency Phone-Location

[JanW]

At 09:00 AM 15/09/2015, Tom Worthington wrote:

>The Federal Government has obtained increased powers to carry out 
>surveillance of citizens in cases of terrorism, but it takes five days 
>to triangulate the signals from cell towers to find someone in danger? 

I had a similar experience at the local level recently when I saw a young 
child's bike left on its own at a bus stop. With the whole child kidnapping 
thing (which I know isn't common, but does happen), I rang 000. I got nowhere. 
The dispatcher said they would do anything. I was incensed. So I filed a 
complaint with the Ethical Standards Board and got a result. The main manager 
of Emergency Services replied within a week, said the dispatcher was wrong in 
his approach, that he would be retrained as to what to do with situations 
involving children, and that he did raise it with his supervisor at the time, 
probably to tell him or her how he'd gotten rid of the bird with the daft 
ideas, and was told to get the police out there. The ES manager assured me they 
would do better and to keep reporting things.

This was my second experience of a similar attitude of police. A few years 
back, a neighbours house was being attacked and the police refused to come. I 
complained about that one, too 

It's like police don't think unless they themselves see it happening at the 
time, they don't have to respond. It's incredible. Something is truly screwed 
up in law enforcement.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] NBN service accessibility [Was: web: The NBN satellite Malcolm Turnbull never wanted prepares for liftoff]

[JanW]

At 09:47 AM 12/09/2015, Tom Worthington you wrote:
>The NBN is installing fiber in urban areas, thus making the Internet 
>relatively slower in remote area.
>
>> ... NBN does disadvantage rural users *relatively* ... 

I reckon there is something important in this.

Just as dominant technology companies design for their dominant markets -- e.g. 
Microsoft's assumption of unlimited data for updating Win10 constantly without 
a controlled update for home consumers -- the same happens with other 
components of the communications ecosphere. 

Websites used to design for lowest common denominator to a degree - or at least 
a mid-level. Remember when people shut off images entirely because downloads on 
dial-up lines were just too slow to make the experience at all worthwhile to 
get the info? And designers worth their salt tried to compress images as much 
as possible to not lose their audience? 

I don't think that happens any more. Bloated websites, dragging stuff from all 
over the place without user knowledge (unless you turn off scripts and get a 
list showing what is going on behind the scenes), autoplay videos and default 
auto-next-play videos (Youtube's latest stunt) -- designers aren't thinking any 
more. They're piling on -- because they can.

So when you combine an assumption of connectivity levels it's just going to get 
worse -- relatively -- so that those without the expected levels will once 
again be shut out of full participation.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] itN: Perth-Singapore Cable Cut

[JanW]

At 02:30 PM 2/10/2015, Paul Brooks wrote:

>With increased amounts of traffic-engineering and path-locking using 
>technologies such
>as MPLS to steer traffic onto specific paths and networks, ignoring other 
>possible but
>sub-optimal paths, the ability for traffic to flow around a break is also 
>increasingly
>reduced. 

The story I read said that the problem is with mobile devices, which may or may 
not have meant 3g/4g. I'm wondering now if it just appears that way because of 
the proliferation of iPhone/iPads using whatever network is at hand, which 
could easily be a wifi connection via Telstra, and therefore onto the backhaul 
they use?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN Sky Muster satellites may be quickly overloaded

[JanW]

At 11:11 AM 4/10/2015, David Boxall wrote:
>What usage information is available to the user seems to vary with the 
>ISP. Skymesh, for example, provides each satellite customer with access 
>to data in real time, down to the hourly level. It also sends warning 
>emails when usage reaches 50% and (if memory serves) 85% of the 
>allowance each month. 

hthat's a bit different from bandwidth overload. Data quotas are it 
seems relatively easy to advise. I get mine from 'node' consistently. The issue 
is the over-demand on a limited resource. Assuming it is limited, of course. 
Does each person/location get its own connection, a la last mile copper or is 
it shared frequency, a la HFC cable?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] The data drought

[JanW]

At 11:17 PM 5/10/2015, Karl Auer wrote:
>People's requirements are not geographically defined, so why do so many
>people think it makes sense to provide service quality based on
>geography? 

Turnbull responded to a person complaining about BAD connectivity by asking why 
the person moved there if they needed it that bad.
I guess he thinks everyone has the money to buy into  Point Piper.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] ATO's Non-Electronic Accessibility Days Numbered?

[JanW]

At 05:11 PM 30/11/2015, Roger Clarke wrote:

>It is asking taxpayers how moving to digital-only channels to send and receive 
>information would affect them. Those who don't have the ability to use digital 
>services would be exempt, it said.

And they did provide a means for offline provision of that feedback, right? How 
will people with issues find out about this?


>It is asking for feedback from the public until January 15 next year

Good grief. Another 'summer' consult right through the holiday break. When will 
they ever learn

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Free access to Australian standards no longer available in public libraries

[JanW]

At 03:58 PM 7/06/2016, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:
>"Increasingly legislation refers to standards, rather than spelling out
>legal requirements. All that says the community needs to have access to
>standards."
>
>The publishing agreement with SAI Global ends in 2018, with an option to
>renew for a further five year term; however, Dr Byrne said the NSLA was
>attempting to negotiate an alternative publishing arrangement with
>Standards Australia. 

SAI Global has been a problem for a long time. I used to attend standards 
development panels, then I figured out they just wanted free consulting. They 
wouldn't even give contributors a copy of the standard they helped develop. I 
call that theft. But instead of calling them on it, I quit giving freebies.

There are ways to get free pirate copies, which is a hole they backed 
themselves into. It's funny that I was just advised about this in a completely 
different context. Did you know ISO standards are sold in hard copy on Amazon 
now? You can buy a  PDF from ANSI or a hard copy from Amazon for about $20US 
above the PDF price. The one I was looking at was $173US from ANSI.

If SA has any sense, they will rethink this stupid policy or take it back in 
house. You canNOT hold people accountable for things they can't get without 
being held to ransome for it. A consume has NO way of knowing if a company is 
meeting standards. This rort has to stop.

/rant
Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Why you may not own, or drive your vehicle in 10 years time

[JanW]

At 01:18 PM 10/06/2016, Karl Auer wrote:
>(Unpauses Radiohead, returns to book). 

How about an AI movie?

http://mashable.com/2016/06/10/ai-movie-script/

At least one's life isn't at risk.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Why you may not own, or drive your vehicle in 10 years time

[JanW]

At 09:32 PM 9/06/2016, David Lochrin wrote:

>If Volvo are unconditionally accepting "full liability for accidents involving 
>its driverless cars" such questions would not arise, but it seems a very brave 
>move indeed.

Maybe they've run the risk/return numbers on this and figured in the law suit 
costs in the price of the car. 

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Y'gotta laugh

[JanW]

At 09:10 AM 7/06/2016, David Boxall wrote:
>Then there's this comment:
>
>>... he was given two installs on the one day, gets to the first one, mentions 
>>where he the next one is, only to be told it is 3 hours away. Calls the 
>>company he is contractor for to explain he won't be able to get to the second 
>>one that day and they say the jobs can't be that far apart, they have the 
>>same postcode. ...


LOL. That person should have been planted on Q last night. If you missed it, 
I highly recommend watching on iView. Barnaby got a walloping by his country 
people. I was going to say 'brethren', but it was the women taking him to task 
most heavily, and not just about social issues, but about farming issues. It 
was embarrassing, really. He just didn't have any answers. The bush is really 
angry right now. I reckon BJ is toast. NBN and CSG will lose him this election, 
no matter his 'status' as DepPM and Nat leader.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Why you may not own, or drive your vehicle in 10 years time

[JanW]

At 11:28 AM 9/06/2016, David Lochrin wrote:
>Stephen & Mike raise a really excellent question (below).  Only a human can 
>assume moral or legal responsibility, so who would be responsible for a death 
>caused by the actions of a vehicle computer? 

I had the same question when I read about the mine truck application. What is 
the legal liability here when one of these auto-autos (ha!) goes off the rails 
and kills someone? We see in scifi the rogue robot and AI goes mad, a la HAL. 
But this is more about what BRD points out - inability to anticipate changed 
environmental circumstances in a dynamic world. Mines are much more 
predictable. People can be kept out with fences, usually. It is a much more 
controlled environment. The Normal world is far from it.

I've just been scanning this convo, so sorry if this has already been 
discussed. In the ehealth world, the issues of medico-legal responsibility is 
still an open question as well as far as I know.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] There's trouble ahead

[JanW]

At 11:15 AM 29/05/2016, David Boxall wrote:
>>like kids and their educations, how far left behind will they be if they 
>>can’t access anything? Even socially? Then there is business, It’s 
>>ridiculous trying to upload anything to Youtube, I can only imagine how 
>>frustrating it would be for some to send and receive data. All the while we 
>>are being pushed with one hand to be an “innovative society”, ridiculous. 
>>Well we certainly will have to be innovative in a few years when the internet 
>>no longer works sufficiently to keep up with the rest of the world.
>Surprised that all exchanges aren't already served by fibre.
>
>With ABS figures still showing demand rising exponentially in this country, 
>perhaps it's time to stock up on canned food and bottled water. If our 
>government can manage telecommunications so poorly, heaven knows what else is 
>about to fail. 

Does anyone else think that when Labor releases its NBN policy in coming weeks 
that the polls will go nuts? I'm surprised the bushies aren't screaming bloody 
murder at their Nat MPs. They are being sold down the river -- again.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Will humans be banned from driving?

[JanW]

At 01:37 PM 1/06/2016, Jim Birch wrote:
>(Smart and attentive) humans are currently better and more adaptable
>drivers.  It's a matter of when, not if, they get overtaken for each
>different driving requirement.  This is pretty much how goes, whether for
>chess, tennis line calls, or driving. 

Did you catch Catalyst last night with the teenager with cerebral palsy driving 
a dune buggy? That was pretty amazing. I wouldn't ride with him, but still, to 
involve different senses was pretty cool.

If you missed it, check it out on iVIEW

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Four different Aussies on four different NBN technologies

[JanW]

At 04:50 PM 19/06/2016, Frank O'Connor wrote:

>Pretty much what you’d expect from News Ltd (or any MSM outlet in Oz)
>
>Anecdotes from News Ltd selected individuals … if that ain’t unimpeachable 
>evidence, what is?

Had the same thought when I read it, Frank. This is a put up job.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Google, Inc., is the world's biggest censor.

[JanW]

At 11:36 PM 23/06/2016, Kim Holburn wrote:

>> The company maintains at least nine different blacklists that impact our 
>> lives, generally without input or authority from any outside advisory group, 
>> industry association or government agency. 

I'll probably be howled down for this, but they are the publisher of record. 
They own the platform. Someone couldn't come plant a sign in my yard praising 
Malcolm Turnbull without me taking it down asap. Is that censorship?

BTW, I didn't read the article so I may be way off base.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Voter fury rising over sluggish internet speeds

[JanW]

At 11:35 AM 16/06/2016, David Boxall wrote:
>While we're at it, please stop referring to the NBN. That name is just 
>political spin for a repair job. An effort to make catching-up look like an 
>exciting initiative.
>
>We should probably stop talking about broadband as well; it's just the 
>telecommunications network. The network must be viewed as a whole; 
>concentrating on parts aids political obfuscation. 

Excellent point, David. It obscures what is going on if you unpack it. I tweet 
about this and it feels wrong when you know that it is the variability of the 
promises and the actual implementation that is the problem.

Conroy is on NPC right now, but it seems he's speaking on defence, not NBN.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Some psychopaths become serial killers, and other psychopaths become 
prosecutors. - Bob Ruff, Truth and Justice, June 2016

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Talking about AI

[JanW]

At 11:20 AM 12/02/2016, Jim Birch wrote:

>It is difficult by design. 

Do any linkers remember back in the 70s that there was a competition between AI 
research and another similar angle? I'm at a loss what it was, but it was the 
more reasonable development in that conceptual area. It was before machine 
learning as a serious topic, too. Help!

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] The DVD is not dead!

[JanW]

Satellite was never going to be a longterm solution. Those who thought 
otherwise were selling/sold the Brooklyn Bridge.

Jan

At 09:24 AM 12/02/2016, David Boxall you wrote:
>Data limits on Sky Muster are so restrictive that streaming video is not 
>practical.  Short of illegal downloads during off-peak (0100 to 0700), 
>this looks like the only option: .
>
>What century is this?
>
>-- 
>David Boxall|  I have seen the past
>|  And it worked.
>http://david.boxall.id.au   |   --TJ Hooker
>
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Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] The Nick Ross story as told by New Matilda independent media outlet

[JanW]

At 06:16 AM 28/01/2016, Andy Farkas wrote:

>https://newmatilda.com/2016/01/24/false-balance-the-debate-the-abc-has-to-have-but-possibly-never-will/
>
>"The response from media is staggering."

There are two pieces in The Conversation that I read and commented upon 
yesterday.

I'm surprised no one has officially complained to the ABC Board. That would up 
the ante.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] How fast is the NBN?

[JanW]

At 05:07 AM 27/02/2016, Frank O'Connor wrote:

>And no matter what you say … the range of radio frequencies (and hence 
>cchannel and data carrying capacity) is vastly limited compared to it’s 
>electromagnetic cousin, light. And that doesn’t even begin to look at 
>problems of scalability, interference, cross channel interference, range, 
>error and other quality issues that WiFi incurs - as well as a host of the 
>other issues that others have raised (power, maintainability, repairability, 
>technology mix issues and the like) 

Great point, Frank, about the capacity. And isn't it true that because the 
fibre frequencies are contained, the frequencies are reusable if in distinct 
fibre cables, no matter what the wavelength, unlike wifi which requires 
physical separation by distance to avoid overlap interference? That is a BIG 
bonus, especially for high density living environments with individual 'message 
packet' needs. You sort of say that above. I was just thinking about how it's 
all about frequencies, the light spectrum being part of it that happens to 
travel well in the glass medium.

Whatever happened to future proofing? Mal T just 'past-proofed' Australia. Gee 
thanks.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] How fast is the NBN?

[JanW]

At 12:10 AM 29/02/2016, Andy Farkas wrote:
>"Under the heading "Commercial in Confidence: Scale the Deployment Program", 
>the report outlines a plethora of faults, including that delays in power 
>approvals and construction are being caused by electricity companies which 
>account for 38,537 premises or 59 per cent of overall slippages against the 
>target.
>
>Another 30 per cent of delays are down to material shortages and a further 11 
>per cent are attributed to completion reviews."

Did this project have any sort of project management? This stuff is appalling. 
You'd think they've never used a spread sheet.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] How fast is the NBN?

[JanW]

At 12:26 AM 29/02/2016, Andy Farkas you wrote:
>28 February 2016
>
>nbn rejects claims that the company is at risk of not meeting its targets..."
>
>...also getting ahead of themselves re dates? 

Am listening to it on ABC AM right now. What a crock of crap. Sounds like Alan 
Joyce, he of grounding Qantas fame.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] How fast is the NBN?

[JanW]

At 08:30 AM 26/02/2016, Tom Worthington wrote:

>The Australian Government estimates that "... a typical distance education 
>student will download 15 to 20 gigabytes (GB) of data in a month" (Fletcher, 
>2015): 
>http://www.minister.communications.gov.au/paul_fletcher/speeches/commsday_satellite_summit_putting_satellite_to_its_highest_value_uses
> 

I would Strongly disagree with that estimate. It's one UNreferenced throw away 
line, unlike other points he's made in that talk/article. Where is the evidence 
for this?

Per subject, maybe, and it certainly doesn't take into account a shared 
subscription, like multiple kids in a household, or doing everything else 
people use the net for besides a particular course. 

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] How fast is the NBN?

[JanW]

At 09:52 AM 25/02/2016, Andy Farkas you wrote:

>All ISPs are required by law to do this, at 50%, 85%, and 100%.
>
>

Isn't that only mobile data? I'm on ADSL at home. And the warning was at 70%. 
My data is shaped not charged higher when over quota, which I've never reached.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Young Aussies losing ground in digital economy

[JanW]

At 11:33 AM 23/01/2016, David Lochrin wrote:

>I think there's a tradeoff between teaching the fundamentals, which tends to 
>require a systematic waterfall development methodology, and agile development 
>which can go seriously off the rails unless the project leaders, at least, 
>have a solid understanding of these fundamentals.

all of the above - including coding, design, evaluation, governance, risk 
management etc etc etc -- oh, and ethics.

To single out any element of a complete profession is ridiculous. BUT you gotta 
start somewhere. You don't become a doctor by only learning about germs or 
stitching up a cut. Those are technical skills. Yet some people may lead into 
medicine as a career by meeting a nice doctor who stitched up a cut or a 
biology teacher who showed how to make a culture. We still need people who do 
those jobs and enjoy doing them. 

Also, IT is a team sport, just like medicine. Not everyone can have deep enough 
knowledge to cover all the topics required.

I reckon the whole STEAM process needs to be rethought in how it engages young 
people. The starting point isn't the ending point. And one person's starting 
point isn't the next person's. It takes a lifetime to pull together a full 
picture. 

Where projects go off the rails is when people who don't know much of anything 
about the fundamentals -- e.g. finance types or sociopathic CEOs -- overrule 
common sense by putting a filter on their decisions that have nothing to do 
with reality of physics. We all know the faster, cheaper, better meme, or 
whatever the three are. You can't have all of them. But physics is going to 
trump every time.

My daily rant. Thank you.
Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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Re: [LINK] Faults? Telstra?

[JanW]

Some people must just be born stupid.

At 03:44 PM 17/02/2016, David Boxall you wrote:
>Telstra just gets better and better. I wish the network was still 
>publicly owned. At least then we could vote the bastards out.
>
>
>
>> Last night i tried to report a landline fault over telstra 24×7 chat. 
>> The friendly customer service rep told me they cant do this via chat, 
>> i would have to call them! 

I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
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[LINK] Fwd: Re: The wonders of NBN

[JanW]

Linkers,
You may remember that I wrote to Senator Fiona Nash last month about the NBN 
fiasco as David shared re the people in Tasmania. (original message below for 
reference)

I got a reply today -- from someone in the Dept of Communications and the Arts, 
via a no-reply delivery system, with a non-copyable PDF attached. Since I don't 
think Link allows attachments, I decided to create a blog post so I could share 
this letter (you can download the PDF linked to within my post). It makes for 
interesting reading.

http://janwhitaker.com/a-minister-replies-re-nbn-sort-of/

Jan


>Date: Mon, 15 Feb 2016 12:26:15 +1100
>To: senator.n...@aph.gov.au
>From: JanW <jw...@internode.on.net>
>Subject: Re: [LINK] The wonders of NBN
>Bcc: David Boxall <lin...@boxall.name>
>
>Dear Minister Nash
>
>Here is something you can possibly attend to or push someone in your new area 
>of responsibility to attend to. This sounds like a right stuff-up.
>You're stuck with a dud system. Perhaps you can influence some improvements.
>
>Sincerely,
>Jan Whitaker
>Berwick Victoria
>
>
>
>
>><https://www.facebook.com/groups/BIRRR/permalink/470454783163214/>
>>> Today is day 21 with a failed NBN connection for us. We live in Port 
>>> Huon, Tasmania, in the beautiful rural Huon Valley.
>>>
>>> We have had one occasion where an NBN technician has turned up, the 
>>> day before a scheduled appointment because the technician was in the 
>>> street doing another job. We were not at home.
>>>
>>> Since then there have now been four scheduled appointments to which no 
>>> NBN technician has shown up. Excuses, via the ISP from NBN have 
>>> included - 'We didn't have all the correct information" which is 
>>> incorrect. "They weren't home, so we left a card in the post box" 
>>> which has never happened. "We went to the wrong address" which is 
>>> unverifiable, oh and my favorite "We don't often go down there." Which 
>>> is clearly correct. I await with interest the excuse for the no show 
>>> on Friday, appointment 4, perhaps " The dog ate my Purchase 
>>> Order/IPhone/Car Keys?"
>>>
>>> We are struggling to cope with one iPad with Telstra 3G for which we 
>>> will likely need to take out a mortgage.
>>>
>>> My business is seriously affected.
>>>
>>> No one appears to have control over the activities of the NBN, and I 
>>> am grateful for the efforts of my ISP. it appears to be ineffective 
>>> however.
>>>
>>> I am at a loss as to how to move forward. Direct contact with the NBN 
>>> results in "There's nothing we can do" there is no mechanism for 
>>> members of the public to address this kind of appalling service. There 
>>> is no accountability.
>>>
>>> All we need is for the NBN box in our house to be fixed.
>>>
>>> please does anyone have any strategies, ideas or ways to move this 
>>> forward?
>>
>>Our government clearly wants to screw up our telecommunications.
>I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8
>
>Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
>jw...@janwhitaker.com
>Twitter: <https://twitter.com/JL_Whitaker>JL_Whitaker
>Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 
>
>Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
>fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
>~Margaret Atwood, writer 
>
>_ __ _

I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
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Re: [LINK] Australia Post to lose passport services

[JanW]

At 06:15 PM 7/04/2016, Stephen Loosley wrote:
>Then you pay and wait. Including the ten minute appointment
>the complete bureaucratic renewal process took maybe 20 painless minutes. 
>With a photo & ID verification I wouldn't know how it could be more efficient. 

My first thought was if the Post isn't going to do it any more, who will take 
and verify photos?

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

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Re: [LINK] Sneakernet rules

[JanW]

At 10:03 AM 20/03/2016, Tom Worthington wrote:
>I don't know of any systems which work with sneaker-net. Apart from students 
>in remote areas, this would be useful for prisoners and military personnel on 
>deployment. These groups have been catered for in the past with paper based 
>distance education courses. When I signed up for a DE Masters of Education, 
>one questions on the enrollment form asked was if I was a prisoner. 

You do understand why they ask that question, don't you?

Jan


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Re: [LINK] NBN chief seeks advice of US tech giants as broadband technology debate rages

[JanW]

At 06:41 AM 22/03/2016, Paul Brooks you wrote:

>By building for the far-off future - which doesn't require significantly more 
>upfront cost - makes it more likely to make a financial return, not less 
>likely, by extending the time period they can receive wholesale rental revenue 
>by a  decade or more. 

Much too logical and based on solid economic theory. You do know you're  asking 
far too much of this government, don't you? 

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN chief seeks advice of US tech giants as broadband technology debate rages

[JanW]

At 08:09 AM 22/03/2016, Frank O'Connor wrote:
>Mr Broadband is building us a $60 billion White Elephant that everybody seems 
>t think is a colossal waste of money … and all for politics. All because the 
>MTM ‘˜idea' (and I use that term loosely) isn’t Labor’s.
>
>Sadly, if this matter is allowed to die in the coming long election campaign 
>nobody will be held accountable for this debacle - and Mr Broadband really 
>deserves some real public attention for this waste of public monies and ever 
>so damaging politicking. 

I'd love to be able to campaign on this. I'd even consider going door to door. 
But the problem in areas where I live is that we've been so poorly served by 
comms for so long it's become any port in a storm. Port, get it? The issues of 
"what could have been" is lost in the existential problem of how bad "what is" 
is. Our marginal seat is happy with crumbs, sadly.

BUT large parts of this electorate are getting NOTHING yet, only some marginal 
marginal booths that really did have nothing much at all. And our idiot MP 
thinks that's enough. He's off in KL I heard. Another ex-cop like Duddon. 
Still, it's a .7 margin, so there's hope he'll be gone if MalT stuffs up like 
the train wreck he just gave on AM. Mr Arrogant is back.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Sneakernet rules

[JanW]

At 09:15 AM 22/03/2016, Tom Worthington wrote:
>On 20/03/16 10:25, JanW wrote:
>
>>At 10:03 AM 20/03/2016, Tom Worthington wrote:
>>> When I signed up for a DE Masters of Education, one questions
>>>on the enrollment form asked was if I was a prisoner.
>>
>>You do understand why they ask that question, don't you? ...
>
>No. It may be the institution has special procedures for
>students who are prisoners.

The reason is that prisoners are not in general allowed internet access. The 
prisons make the rules, NOT the institution. I ran a program that included 
federal prisoners taking distance ed classes pre-internet. We managed to 
include them in phone conference classes JUST delivered to them as a group, 
with the teacher not having to travel to the facility. It was a challenge. But 
to put prisoners on the net? No way. They could take face to face classes 
delivered in the prison. It's too long ago to remember if they could take other 
forms we offered.


>I only discovered last week they have a separate cohort for Greek students 
>(because there is a Greek campus). As far as I know I am the only Australian 
>in the program and so get put in the group with the North Americans.

Since it appears you were in with students in the US, this is why - it would be 
a standard question there.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: <https://twitter.com/JL_Whitaker>JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] NBN trials faster FttDP but Malcolm Turnbull won't kill FttN

[JanW]

At 12:32 PM 22/03/2016, David Boxall wrote:
>>An FttDP box in your street draws its power from your house, up to 200 metres 
>>away, rather than relying on the electricity grid.
>Power to the distribution point from the premises - over existing copper? :/

Wait - how can they require you to pay to power something you have no 
control/say over?



>-- 
>David Boxall | "Cheer up" they said.
> | "Things could be worse."
>http://david.boxall.id.au| So I cheered up and,
> | Sure enough, things got worse.
> |  --Murphy's musing
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I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

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Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] "Broadband" service to not-very-remote premises

[JanW]

At 09:23 AM 24/03/2016, David Boxall wrote:

>The story of another business and family blighted by our degraded 
>telecommunications infrastructure. I wonder where we would be, but for 
>privatisation. Would we need an NBN project or would we already have 
>infrastructure for the 21st century?

I hope all these people on FB are actually writing to their MPs and complaining 
loudly about this. Threaten to withdraw their vote, put in the original people 
who supported a real comms system.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] A non-sensationalist look at Australian internet speeds

[JanW]

At 08:16 PM 25/03/2016, David Boxall wrote:

>

I would just like to know why YouTube vids stop every 5 minutes. It's not my 
network connection/provider because it doesn't happen with other streaming 
services like Netflix. It's just Youtube. And of course if Youtube recognises 
there's a problem and shows me the Internode performance, there is nothing 
there to indicate it's an Internode problem.

As for speeds -- the avg is because the avg install is ADSL, with its plus or 
minus 8mbps top speed. If there has been increases month to month as the 
article says, that is the minor effect of people slowly slowly slowly being 
added to NBN type services.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] A non-sensationalist look at Australian internet speeds

[JanW]

At 09:48 AM 26/03/2016, Frank O'Connor you wrote:
>To my mind … its not an argument for anything and a pointless  filler on the 
>part of Fairfax. Perhaps the standard of their editorial staff has reached new 
>lows and they are simply desperate for content that their steadily shrinking 
>stable of journalists can’t provide. 

Made me look up the writer, 

Spandas Lui

Started in Lifehacker section of Fairfax in 2015. Gets a byline but not a link 
to other articles, which is interesting. A quick search shows her to be in all 
the 'right' social media places if you want more info on her background.
Commenters have pushed back - hard.

Fairfax is dying. Their best journos jumped ship long ago, moving to places 
where scrutiny is valued. Murdoch press will follow.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Why Learning To Code Won't Save Your Job

[JanW]

At 11:22 AM 27/03/2016, Bernard Robertson-Dunn wrote:

>This article is adappted from Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How
>Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity by Douglas Rushkoff, 

In the famous words of FUnderwood, when you don't like the game, turn over the 
table.

What if growth wasn't the driving metaphor? What if it was happiness, 
fulfilment, creativity, caring, mutual support, sharing -- all those human 
values thingos. What if money and acquisition, what's that word the Libs always 
use? oh, right, 'aspiration', and greed weren't so exalted? It's all a matter 
of perspective.

Happy bunny day, everyone.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Does NBN need a third satellite?

[JanW]

At 01:53 PM 4/04/2016, Karl Auer wrote:

>So I'm not knocking video "compression". But I do think people should
>know what they are paying for. 

Here's a different angle on chosen compression. The new 7Flix channel is using 
MPEG4. My HD tv doesn't do MPEG4, evidently just MPEG2. The racing channel also 
uses MPEG4, so I can't see that video either. I can hear both.

My Kogan STB manages7Flix, so I can watch via that and/or record on it. But if 
I want to record some other channel and watch 7Flix on my TV, I can't.

So why did 7 network choose this? I know I'm not alone. I found out that it 
wasn't by reading the Whirlpool thread on it.

Bottom line: not all compression is created equal.

Jan


I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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Re: [LINK] Does NBN need a third satellite?

[JanW]

At 02:20 PM 4/04/2016, Hamish Moffatt wrote:
>And Nine estimates most people have MPEG-4 decoding ability already:
>
>http://www.mediaweek.com.au/nine-is-broadcasting-its-channel-in-hd-but-not-for-everyone/

Just going through the whole channel line-up:

13 TenHD - dead
74 TV4ME USED to work but now dead
76 7flix - dead
78 Racing - dead
[not smart 7 - 3 out of your 6 channels unusable]
90 9HD - can hear, but comes up with a floating box, unlike the others that 
just don't show the picture





I write books. http://janwhitaker.com/?page_id=8

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jw...@janwhitaker.com
Twitter: JL_Whitaker
Blog: www.janwhitaker.com 

Sooner or later, I hate to break it to you, you're gonna die, so how do you 
fill in the space between here and there? It's yours. Seize your space. 
~Margaret Atwood, writer 

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