January 28, 2010

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs : Tablet Part Two: The true significance of the Tablet

That’s why Kindle is such a piece of shit. All they did was pave the cowpath

Legend. something like iTunes LP for (book, magazine, news) Publishing is what would work. Note: I put the terms in brackets becuase I think those terms are meaningless in a Digital Environment

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January 27, 2010

Homoeopathy sceptics plan mass 'overdose' - The Independent

Boots said in a statement: "We know that many people believe in the benefits of complementary medicines and we aim to offer the products we know our customers want.

Translate: "We know we can make some nice profits selling this quackery, so it doesn't matter what our name represents, we want the $$$"

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January 25, 2010

Terms and Conditions

Recently I've had some work done by a trades company who, in fairness, seem pretty straight up and did the job reasonably well. A couple of weeks later, we realised there was a problem. From a regulations perspective, a serious one. One, for example I wouldn't be able to sell my house with, if we didn't fix before that time.
Because it was a recently installed job, and the regulations were breached, I made the assumption they would come back and rectify the issue without any further charge.
How wrong was I. Even though I was quoted for the the work being done in full "fixed price", they had their Terms and Conditions to fall back on.

Terms and Conditions

Businesses use them to cover their arses in the event of something going wrong or guarantee or income. In the odd case, and probably forced upon most businesses, they provide cover to the purchaser for screw ups or otherwise.

So thanks to Terms and Conditions, I've been presented with a Bill for the additional work performed to (in my opinion) complete the job satisfactorily. Up to now I've refused to pay it due to my opinion of the nature of the work. The Vendor has come back to me with a series of excuses as to why they need to charge me, and anyway Term 7 says;
"No allowance has been made in this quotation for any unforseen circumstances or extended delay due to forces beyond xxxxxxx’s control. The quote is based on reasonable consideration of the required site preparation and earthworks. Additional work is costed at an hourly rate; equipment hire is at market price."
Pretty wide ranging, you'll agree.

Their major claim is some of the previous work they needed to interface with was non-standard, unforeseen and impossible to detect. I personally call their site survey lazy and half-arsed incapable. I've now got a completed job, an unasked for xxx, some half removed xxxx and a bill for the labour involved in finishing the job to satisfaction.

All thanks to a wide ranging term expunging them from all responsibility for an incorrectly completed job.

Is this standard practice? Do you know any other service which gets away with that? I'll pay the bill, because I imagine the legal costs associated with them chasing me down for a few hundred dollars would be more. But I'll let them know I'm doing it under protest, and I'll certainly be checking the terms and conditions more closely the next time.

And perhaps writing a few of my own.

Advance Australia CENSORED

A Colleague at Work has written a great blog post on the Internet Flitering Proposals and Rudd and Conroy's shilly shallying around the edge. He makes some very good points. Especially about the Governments dishonesty about their ambitions.
Here's an outtake and the links to the post.
I’ve tried a few times now to write this post. It’s about Stephen Conroy’s Mandatory Internet Filter, and I’ll be damned if it hasn’t been difficult not to have it descend into a sledgefest.
Here’s the thing. Conroy is not being honest with you. At all. About anything he’s said regarding the filter. And here’s the latest example.
and click the link to read on!

What can you do to help? | EFA FAQ on #nocleanfeed

Ever since I became campaign manager for the EFA’s campaign against the Government’s mandatory Internet filter two and a half weeks ago, I have been overwhelmed by the level of enthusiasm and support for the EFA’s campaign.  Accordingly, the most frequent question I have been asked is “what can I do to help?”  Given this level of support and the desire of so many Australians to help defeat the Government’s policy, I thought I’d suggest ten things you can do to help the EFA’s campaign against the Government’s mandatory Internet filter.

1. Sign the Senate Internet Censorship Petition.

Last week the EFA launched a petition gainst the Government’s mandatory Internet filtering policy that will be presented to the Senate of the Parliament of Australia.  You can sign the petition electronically by going to this page and leaving your name, postcode and email address.

2. Collect signatures for the Senate Internet Censorship Petition.

In addition to signing the online petition, we are also looking for volunteers to collect printed signatures.  If you would like to gather signatures for the petition, please download and read the Senate Internet Censorship Petition – Instructions before printing the Senate Internet Censorship Petition.  Simply print out the petition and take it to work, parties, and anywhere else you might be able to talk to people about Internet censorship and persuade them to sign this petition.

3. Participate in the Great Australian Internet Blackout.

This week is the Great Australian internet Blackout, a week long online protest against imposed online censorship.  Over 500 groups and thousands of individuals are blacking out their websites and profile pictures to inform a wider audience about the Government’s plan.  Learn how to black out your website here, and learn how to black out you profile picture on Twitter or Facebook here.

4. Renew your membership or donate to the EFA.

The EFA relies on membership fees and donations to fund its activities.  Renew your membership or make a donation so that we can continue to fund our campaign against the Government’s mandatory Internet filter.

5. Write to your Member of Parliament.

By letting policymakers know just what we think of the Government’s mandatory Internet filter, we can bring about a policy change. You can help by writing to your local Member of Parliament and explaining why you are opposed to the current policy.  If you’re not sure who to contact or what to say, we have some information and suggestions here.  You might also want to have a look at Bernard Keane’s advice on how to write a great letter.

If you receive a form letter reply from your Member of Parliament,  Mark Newton has drafted a form letter that you might like to send in reply.

6. Create content.

You can help spread the word by creating content online that illuminates the flaws in the Government’s policy.  Write a blog post, create a YouTube video, or draw a cartoon that comments on the proposed filter.  Disseminate your content virally by tweeting about it and/or posting it on Facebook.  Use the #openinternet or #nocleanfeed hashtags to make easier for people to find your content online.  We are also looking for content for our new campaign website, so please email me at pete.black@efa.org.au and let me know about your content.

7. Talk to your friends and family.

Talking personally with your friends, family and colleagues is probably the most effective way of communicating what is wrong with the Government’s mandatory Internet filter.  We find that people who work and live on the Internet every day understand why the Government’s policy is flawed, but we need to do a better job of communicating to people who don’t necessarily have the same familiarity with the Internet why the Government’s policy simply won’t work.  This is why talking to your non-technology savvy friends about the Internet filter can be particularly effective.  You might like to explain that:

  • The category of ‘refused classification’ is much broader than child sexual abuse material.
  • The key to protecting children online is education, empowerment, supervision, and voluntary filtering.
  • The key to combating child sexual abuse is to fund police and foster international cooperation.
  • There are technical issues with the proposed filter.
  • There are free speech and censorship concerns with the proposed filter.

Learn more about what is wrong with the proposed filter here.

8. Volunteer.

We are always looking for volunteers.  Anyone who is passionate is able to help us make a difference, so please let us know.  In particular we are looking for:

  • People to collect signatures for the petition (see point 2).
  • Graphic designers to create logos, postcards, posters, banners.
  • Web developers and designers to create web applications and websites.
  • Community managers, project managers, or anyone else with skills or ideas to help us organise this campaign.
  • People to take delivery of a stack of postcards and distribute them to people who will write a message and post them back to us.

9. Follow the EFA on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow the EFA on Twitter for updates @efa_oz and become a fan of the EFA’s Facebook page.

10. Send us feedback.

Please contact me at pete.black@efa.org.au with your ideas and feedback.  We’d love to know what you think is working and where you would like the EFA to focus it resources.  We know that we won’t be able to please everyone all the time, but we are working to hard to persuade the Government and the Australian people that the Government’s mandatory Internet filtering policy is a mistake that will waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and will not make anyone safer.

click through for the full list

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Calacanis leads with the left on Comscore. Comscore Punches Back, leaves Jason bloody

Comscore’s CMO Linda Abraham also weighed into the argument on Posterous:

Jason:
You really need to get your facts straight.

It’s unfortunate that you were picked on as a child. It must have been difficult to you. But you’re an adult now. If you want to debate, please do so with facts, not just blind fury.

My take – Abraham is right. Comscore is by far the best analytics service available.

We always choose to use Comscore data first when its available, and will continue to do so. Here’s an example of how useful it can be.

So in this case I respectfully disagree with Jason on the merits of his argument. And I ask Fred Wilson to try to keep me out of his various fights.

Hey, I know nothing about the nature of these analytics, I recommend you read the full article. Loving Fred Wilson's face slap as well

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A (sort-of) Big-Picture Look at Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo

Today's game. Spot the Missing Business Functions, the incorrectly entered dots (Apple does 'Gaming Sw"??), the missing dots, the half assed dots. Dear Nick, B-

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January 22, 2010

NASA - 2009: Second Warmest Year on Record; End of Warmest Decade over to you @ianplimer

2009 was tied for the second warmest year in the modern record, a new NASA analysis of global surface temperature shows. The analysis, conducted by the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, also shows that in the Southern Hemisphere, 2009 was the warmest year since modern records began in 1880.

I wait with baited breath as to how the Ostriches will respond to this one

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January 21, 2010

Espresso, Intelligentsia

I shared this on Tumblr earlier on. But I think I could watch this 4.5 minutes at LEAST once per day.

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Password = ComeHackMe

According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.

China isn't the threat here, folks. Our friends and families are.

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January 20, 2010

It's awesome when the comments make more sense than the snark piece dressed up as an Article

Gee. Dismissing the usefulness of a product that hasn't been announced. Where you can only speculate on its OS, form-factor, software, connectivity, ruggedness, target-audience, etc.


You must be clairvoyant.


I hope you'll excuse me if I think you're opinion is worthless, since you have no facts to base it on.

Dunno who 'Bill Snyder' is, but he lives in a controlled world which belongs in the last century. Move over your time is past.

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Apple

The second still-outstanding claim from Mac4Ever relates to Apple's much-rumored tablet, which has recently been reported to be delayed until the second half of 2010, although the veracity of the claim is unknown. Mac4Ever's claim, however, provides only a vague suggestion that the tablet will be unlike any concept designs or renditions that have been floating around in recent months.

Concerning MacTablet, it will indeed be produced, but it will be far different from the concepts that have been announced so far on rumor sites.

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January 19, 2010

Martin Luther King Jr.: I have a dream

About this talk

1963. Atop the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. stood before 200,000 supporters to call for racial equality, in what would become the defining moment of the African-American civil rights movement -- and a turning point in human history.

About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

One of history's most iconic activists and orators, Martin Luther King Jr. led the non-violent civil rights movement that brought racial segregation in the United States to an end. Full bio and more links

America has given the Negro people a bad Check...one marked 'insufficient funds'. Vale MLK 'Sleep, sleep tonight. And may your dreams be realized.''

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Google finds little support so far for its China threat - ARN

Google is irrelevant to the overall forces shaping global businesses.

Really? Patrick Thibodeau (@DCgov) really?

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January 15, 2010

How Bush-Cheney Policy Screwed Haiti | Mother Jones

The Times

It is hard to imagine what a magnitude 7 earthquake might do to a city that on any ordinary day already resembles a disaster area.  Today, compassionate Americans will wince at the photos, then pick their way among the foundations which offer alms to the Haitian poor. Here is one unlikely proposal to help Haiti, taken from Juan Cole's email listserv this morning:

Memo to Obama on Haiti: "It's reported that Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase combined have set aside $47 billion for bonuses," says an NPR account, according to Cole. "Haiti's annual gross domestic product in nominal terms is about $7 bn. a year. Seize the bonuses. Send them to Haiti."

It'll never happen, of course. But if there were any justice in the world, it would.

I know little about Haiti, but I am unsurprised by the general tenet of the article

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January 14, 2010

Call for Charity Nominations #FiveCentTweet

The time has come to start selecting a list of charities towards which #5CentTweet will direct raised funds.

Please review the charities already suggested (below), then leave a comment here in order to nominate a charity you would like to see supported. Try to keep your recommendations to a community (based/focused) charity.

Nominations will close at the end of next Sunday (January 17th, 2010).

And remember, the easiest way to keep in touch with 5 Cent Tweet developments is to follow @5CentTweet.

Thanks for your continued support, & Cheers @Glebe2037

Posted via web from franksting's posterous

January 12, 2010

Soap's 2010 Predictions for Digital

Enjoying in a number of ways, Soaps Predictions for 'Digital' in 2010. Not sure I agree with them all, but hey - they are the experts

Baby Steps for 2010

You may be aware that I made a Commitment for 2010 which involves performing some baby steps towards reducing our impact on the Environment.

The first update for 2010 concentrates on Electricity use. Electricity is the big bugbear in Australia for the environment movement what with the over-reliance on Coal - not to mention the NSW governments ridiculous plans to build yet another coal plant rather than investing in something a bit more forward thinking.

In any case, here is the first update, including some concrete targets for 2010

January 03, 2010

Why a Football team and a Rock and Roll Band have more in common than may you think

(while watching The Birthday Party Live in Manchester from 1982 & 1983  on Rage in tribute to Rowland S Howard)
Just as a football team without a solid, reliable defensive unit cannot win enough games to win anything, so a Rock and Roll Band needs a bass and drums unit which lays down a base for the rest of the band to 'win' with.
Just as a Rock and Roll Band needs a guitarist of virtuosity to create the excitement  needed to maintain the audience during the gaps between the lead singers frivolity, so the football team needs to creative genius to conjure up the visionary passes, the legendary stepovers, the flicked one-two's.
And so both the football team and the rock band must have the front man to score the goals, both figuratively, lyrically and physically. But without the virtuoso or the rock at the back, the front man is sitting anonymously up the front.

What's your favourite unit?

The bands I'm thinking of above include the Pixies and the Birthday Party among others. The Football teams? Liverpool 1988, but I'm biased.
This years Liverpool team just illustrates the problems of having a front man without the supporting band and the virtuoso.