Posts by Persona non grata 94 publicly visible posts • joined 29 Nov 2012
More accurately they're centre-right, neoliberal economically and strongly authoritarian. They're also equally lickspittles to the USA even with Trump in office.
They keep a couple of left sounding soft policies on the books but never act on them.
The Unions that fund them are mostly leftovers from the catholic anti-communist forces. They were never even vaguely left wing nor for personal rights. It's why they've been so week on the damning investigations into the church in education also.
I'd go further (with the possible and limited area of Armed Forces procurement where that can be of use to possible future opponents), Government contracts should never be 'Commercial in Confidence'.
A higher level of scrutiny should just be accepted as a 'cost' of having the privilege of doing business with the State. All experience has shown it's only used to hide corrupt practices and incompetence anyway.
The answer is our media is now every bit as much part of the problem as the politicians. They're not the fourth estate, they're now merged with the Third (Commons). Australian subjects have no real say in governance anymore except in those areas where Greens/Independents are their representatives.
Both major parties and the collaborating, desperate media are ignoring them in a grab for unneeded authority based in fear. ALP and LNP memberships are almost non-existent for a reason (except for those who would game the system of course,) nobody with any serious interest in politics outside self-enrichment or a lust for naked power would want anything to do with either party. They're completely divorced from their original philosophical raisons d'etres.
An entrenched and increasingly hereditary political class who have tried to reduce the degree of democracy because it jibes with their authoritarian bent. They don't go into politics without this weird idea they have a god-given right to demand how others live their lives. It's probably a form of psychosis.
I think Douglas Adams had it right when he suggested that anyone who wanted to rule was ipso facto completely unsuited to do so. Perhaps we need to replace the current system with a man with a poor memory living in a small shack answering questions. Couldn't be worse than the current shower.
(and breathe out...)
"We're getting ever more stuff and working ever less to get it." - TW
Working fewer official hours and more unpaid, unofficial hours as headcounts are reduced and targets increased. All the changes in IR have been to this end, more ideologically driven than anything else.
Employer (and that includes Government, as a large scale employer their figures are more impure than most) funded surveys do everything they can to hide this.
The police don't press charges, that's the Crown Prosecution's purview. Really if you're going to make an argument, at least make sure you understand the process you are arguing and who the actors are.
Police do not prosecute crimes at this level of political interference.
Translation of "a fair go" - we screwed up our simple arithmetic now we're looking for a scapegoat. Look over there!
It's up there with other great Australian traditions like despising "dobbing" (actually directing the blame at the guilty parties - apparently injustice is a noble tradition in this country and it's your honour to protect the criminal and corrupt.)
But only for people who don't require available water to live.
Most sources describe over 70% of the landmass as being arid or semi-arid and there have been many warnings we're already beyond the environment's carrying capacity with climate change accelerating this. But hey! You go right on thinking that politically correct wishfulness will make that all magically disappear as soil salinity and erosion increase.
"...limit the streaming bitrate in apps and Cricket won't show international matches at all. "
So I wasn't just watching the Aus-Ind test on my android phone and my iPad in HD then? Funny because I could have sworn I did. And later this year I'll be watching the ashes in exactly the same way.
AFL will cut the cord at some point and do what MLB in the US has done and go with a well priced subscription model. The product already pays for the production and filming costs and vertically integrating it makes far more sense.
Sport on pay TV will go the same way as the old 'rivers of gold' that the classified ads were for traditional newspapers. Foxtel is screwed long term and it couldn't happen to a nicer company.
Next I'm predicting that Ruperts anti-aging treatments go horribly wrong and he's transformed into a walking arsehole... Whoops that's an observation not a prediction.
"By end of 2015 a half serious suggestion will be made by thinktank that outsourcing Federal government entirely to a reputable management company would be more efficient."
Isn't this already the current model by stealth? And hasn't it already proven far, far less cost effective?
Unless of course you're a member of one of those big 4 consulting companies, as most of our senior public servants either have been or will be again.
"Australia has a long history of attempts to censor the internet, most of which look ridiculous to those in other nations"
They also look ridiculous to those of us in Australia.
But that's what happens when you've got a political system where politicians rather than the people get to choose the other politicians (Yay party systems gaming democracy!) contrary to it's supposed intent.
At least this only looks like yet another law only to be used when politically convenient rather than ubiquitously.
Really @auburnman, you seem to know more Swedish law than the court that made this very decision. From Ars Technica today:
"However, the court also added that there was a “failure of the prosecutors to examine alternative avenues is not in line with their obligation,” suggesting that there may be an alternative method to questioning Assange, such as doing it at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London."
So, like to admit you got that wrong then?
Or are you better informed on Swedish law than their own courts?
Thankfully my wife is French - but Richard's last line isn't overblown, the journey to oppressive control states can be one of stages, Australia is further down that road then the UK or even the USA, our 'public servants' (it's not the Politicians, they're never the source of the ideas, it's our big consultancy trained execs who love the control state and their idiot friends in the security services) have taken us headlong down that path with the Murdoch dominated press cheerleading all the way.
Fear rules in what is one of the safest societies to ever exist in history, the irony is saddening.
It's actually getting worse, the major audio and video software companies have increased their relative Australia tax or introduced it where none existed previously.
For example the very popular Native Instruments Komplete 10 which used to sell at the US price in US dollars here now has a specific Australian price 35%-40% higher depending on version. It's below the GST collection threshold so it's all extra profit to them. When questioned why they responded with the usual guff that came down to 'we do it because we can and screw you'.
Seems that with the change of Government last year all the useful moves towards some pricing parity have been thrown away in exchange for probably sadly small 'party donations' (and that hasn't been a source of corruption has it NSW Liberal Party, has it?)
So expect this report to become accepted by the Feds as a document of fact, they know who they work for.
Sony Smartwatch 3 looks like the closest to what you want so far. It looks like it's the first of the Wear 2 devices and has GPS built in so you can run without taking your phone along and it keeps working recording your stats. Also IP68 (properly waterproof) and in a robust, sports friendly if not exactly beautiful rubber watch band.
Unusually utilitarian design from Sony but it's growing on me.
"Um, if you don't want to ruin your diesel engine by pouring in regular gas, or vice-versa, then you pretty damn well need to know what gas to put in your car."
This is obviously an attempt to fool us - you don't put gas in a car, you put a liquid called petrol (or diesel, or the confusingly named CNG or LNG which despite having gas in the name are actually liquids*) in it! (Or electricity if you're a lucky-bastard Tesla owner)
Bloody merkins ruining the place...
* added in a vain attempt to satisfy the pedants including myself.
And I'd have to further ask what value you place on the years of free highly positive front pages and tv news articles delivered by the mainstream media?
It's advertising you literally couldn't buy and it's been a huge boost for Apple. This also seems to have tailed off since Steve Jobs' death (the media loves a narrative to build their myths on) and if that continues in the same direction it also has to have an effect on those margins.
Can Apple remain Apple without the myths built around them?
“I have no doubt that the civil libertarian brigade will do their best to stop this, but my responsibility as prime minister is to keep our country safe. That's my responsibility,"
If that's so he should resign post-haste, he is, without exaggeration, the single biggest threat to Australian's safety and future well-being. He should take Brandis and Pine with him. These are extremist dogmatics who should never hold positions of power and lack even the intellect to see their own failings. Sadly they're so far on the downside of the Dunning-Kruger effect they're mistaken about their adequacy to super-human levels.
We're screwed...
Then you might want to try re-writing it - it implies you support the retention of data.
There's no other way a reasonable person could read it and it's all that appears on the home page.
Using the sub-head as a gotcha is a. dishonest b. you didn't go far enough with it.
Start the headline with 'ISPs suggest' and it's a lot more useful if less exciting.
Proper journalism is less PT Barnum.
Good article though
Hi Simon, while the body of the article is absolutely clear that it is not an endorsement of this proposed data collection, only an explanation of the ISPs position on whom perform it and hold responsibility, the headline provides completely the opposite impression.
Stupid, misleading and dishonest headline, should be changed and detracts from a good, informative article. Get the sub-ed to stop chasing page impressions.
You might want to push people in the direction of iinet's submission on this subject by the way, it provides a thorough debunking of the government's propaganda in the Murdoch lead press:
http://www.iinet.net.au/about/mediacentre/papers-and-presentations/20142807-tia-act-1979.pdf
Authoritarians seek more authority for themselves.
And there's no other options to chose because they've corrupted our system so they're the only option*
*well except for the Greens and some other smaller groups who are continuously ridiculed by the press for not following the establishment dogma.
Actually that was before human colonisation. The Aboriginal cultures engaged in land clearing by fire and changed the environment considerably. 30k-60k years (the figures are often contentious) gives you a big window for environmental change. They also apparently hunted all the megafauna to extinction.
What Lewis is trying to conflate with farms here is slash and burn as still practised in SE Asia today. It's a method where the population moves yearly after burning the local vegetation to provide an ash based fertiliser layer in the notoriously poor soils of rain forest. Only a tiny percentage of the forest is under cultivation at any time as it only supports low population densities. Frankly it's a crap and inefficient method of farming and hugely damaging to the environment and soil. Most of the nutrient load is wasted in gases created in the fire. It's only saving grace is that it can only support small populations so that self-limits its damage.
As Lewis would know if he's spent a few minutes researching rather than trying to prop up his no-legged hobby horse.
As small screens like those used in the Oculus Rift based on phone technology seem to be increasing in DPI at a faster rate than any others and 4K cameras are beginning to become ubiquitous, we'll pretty shortly see consumer systems like this far outstripping the .mil systems for resolution and performance. I'd also add a bit of passive and active IR and you've got a good, cheap sensor system.
That will get rid of the current issues they identify (range and lag) and offer advantages including improved field of view and built in light amplification.
And eventually they'll all be replaced by drone vehicles anyway...
You're dreaming, or more accurately lying. Corporate tax takes in the US are at their lowest ever as part of the total tax take.
When companies structure themselves specifically to not pay tax you know they are not acting honestly. This is the rich stealing from the rest of us and then trying to point blame in another direction. It's only possible because the media are owned by the same rich corporations.
Corporation taxes have dropped from 30% of the total tax take to less than 5%, So what you are saying is demonstrably false.
We are meant to have laws against transfer pricing like this but they were written for the governments by PWC, Deloitte, etc and thus they then sold the loopholes for these same taxes to their other clients the corporations.
It's a corrupt system but it was sponsored by the big corporates.
"rony meters exploded when Snowden, a former CIA technician, addressed the audience in Austin, Texas, in a live broadcast using Google Hangouts, given the web giant's involvement with surveillance of the population."
Except that's bollocks:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/10/internet-companies-nsa_n_3896097.html
for example. None of these companies have a choice in 'co-operating' with the NSA, it's all done at the end of a metaphorical gun barrel. Point your hate in the right direction, the US and UK govs.
Oh, come on!
They were totally innovative on the ALL IMPORTANT lowest number of fans used in a 'workstation' class.
I mean, I always buy my workstations based on the fewest number of fans available. (Because I love the idea of creating new single points of failure).
@Steve Todd
Strange, my Mac Pro under my desk has had new drives (3 off, latest an SSD), memory, 2nd Firewire card added, UAD2 PCIe card, new video card (modded PCIe PC graphics card to get around Apple's ludicrous overpricing of ancient GPUs) added to it over the past 4 years.
I've just replaced it with a 4770K based hackintosh that pummels the base level new Mac Pro for performance, RAM and disk storage for almost exactly half the entry level price in Australia ($2000). This has a GTX 660 currently but wonder of wonders I can upgrade the GPU, RAM and add other drives trivially without having to add an expansion chassis. It's as quiet as my old Mac Pro and has been flawless since I installed it - which took 30 minutes, pain free.
And I can use it as my primary DAW system for the next 2-3 years and just upgrade parts as I need, even to the level of new mainboard/cpu. It even has a better warranty than Apple have just got busted for not supporting in Australia.
Also, Mac Pros aren't workstations, they don't have workstation level support from Apple outside the major centres in the USA. HP and Dell make real workstations with real certification and support.
GCHQ staff posting on the Reg.
The authoritarian lickspittles I'm used to (Hi Matt B!) but the anonymous spooks are every bit as transparent as you'd expect. They're frankly lousy at PR and spin which is why so few of us were really surprised at Snowdon's revelations.
Perhaps if you hired a really good PR firm, not just one your wife's cousin owns we'd get some half believeable disinformation out of you. Remember, your public has become better at spotting your bullshit.
The only people saying the fibre NBN would cost that much are the Coalition and their stooges.
If you read the rest of the Australian tech press or the fact check site you'd know this for a lie.
It already looks like the 25Mb figure has been discarded for their target date and the cost will blow out as well - so this is a worse, possibly more expensive and legal nightmare. Exactly as predicted by those with experience of the previous coalition government.
What happened to structural separation btw?
You've taken 12-18 months difference in the published schedules and turned it into 10-20 years!
Citation please?
Here's a hint, if you're going to engage in the dissemination of FUD make it slightly believable. Between you and Mathew42 it's lovely to see the coalition has their unquestioning servants working overtime even after the election.
All true - they also determined that listening to music and especially having a conversation with a passenger were in the same order of distraction.
Yet we don't see moves to ban those as that would be 'draconian'.
Law makers and reg commentards will always prefer arguments designed to confirm their biases rather than solid evidence based ones.
That we have a government here who think the NSA have done a sterling job and would happily turn over all Australian's records to the US government too, because, well, terrorism you know.
And that goes equally for both of the two major parties. I do wonder sometimes if they've got incriminating photos of the lot of 'em.
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