I tried to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab … but failed
The scene: Deep in the dungeon of a Federal Government agency. Our protagonist, a mild mannered government worker by day, intrepid reporter at night, sees the Delimiter article on Vodafone releasing the Samsung Galaxy Tab on this date! Hallelujah!
The NBN should be opt-out — not opt-in
There are already plenty of good reasons why all Australians should have to actively opt-out from having their houses connected to the NBN, rather than having to opt-in.
News Corp Australia vs the NBN: Is it really all about Foxtel?
In its arguments against the NBN, it would seem News Corp Australia’s campaign is less than wholly transparent in representing its own interests.
Joe Hockey and Kate Lundy: A new Democrats
It is interesting that Hockey falls for one of the Conroy confusions. Refused Classification is not the same as illegal. It seems that Joe, in defence of liberty, thinks that it should be his job as a parent to decide what otherwise refused classification material his kids see.
Peter Dutton MP are you for or against the filter?
Peter, seriously if you cared what I thought you would notice I am not overly interested in a stock standard response letter. I get that from my bank and let me tell you I don’t like them much.
TV Now: Why the AFL should be grateful
More eyeballs in front of live sport broadcasts are what matter. The AFL should be encouraging people to watch their product. Trying to stop them is just completely counter-productive.
Sorry Mr Turnbull: We’re not convinced
Last week Malcolm Turnbull delivered a series of very strong, evidence-based answers to key questions about his rival NBN policy, demonstrating that he would be a safe pair of hands to steward the nation’s broadband future. But, despite his eloquence and depth of knowledge, the Liberal MP has still failed to convince Australia’s technical community that his policy is better than Labor’s.
Delimiter (draft) Statement of Principles
As regular Delimiter readers will know, I have made mistakes in the past. Not all of the articles I have written have been on...
Don’t privatise the NBN
Communications Minister Stephen Conroy should do more than just remove from the NBN legislation the option for it to be a retailer – he should put in a clause that it will never raise equity or be privatised.
Tasmania’s dirty bunyip not the last
There's more dodgy laws in the swamp where Tasmania's ridiculous electoral online comment legislation came from.
Pro-NBN fanbois have fallen into bad habits
Like mindless junkies scrabbling for their latest fix, the virulent community of pro-NBN extremists in Australia's technology sector will do or say almost anything to prove the Coalition's NBN policy to be completely worthless, despite the fact that it shares most of its fundamental principles with Labor's own superior broadband vision.
Beyond Silicon Valley: Start-up hubs in Australia’s backyard
The next Atlassian could be started by a pair of Chinese students studying right now in Melbourne, or an Australian-born Vietnamese or Indian entrepreneur who can leverage transnational family connections and build a fast-growing company.
Governments undermining encryption will do more harm than good
Western governments, notably the UK and the US, are pushing the software industry to open “backdoors” into our encrypted communications.
Is Nintendo being too harsh?
All I’m saying, Nintendo, is that the law and order thing is fine … but maybe your princess is in another castle?
First impressions of the new Realestate.com.au
Certainly they could have done more, and I am not a fan of everything that they have changed but with the number one site in the space you have to be mindful of the "If it ain't broke don’t fix it" rule.
We like e-readers – but library users are still borrowing books
What place do e-readers – and in particular ebooks – hold in the reading behaviour of Australia’s 10 million public library borrowers? There are some 181 million items loaned every year by the nation’s 1,500 public libraries, branches, mobile libraries and other service points but, according to the latest survey-based report from the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), for the majority of these libraries, ebook loans represent less than 1% of the total.
Rip-off: NBN business plans miss the point
The infrastructure being deployed as part of the National Broadband Network isn’t just for consumers; it will also be used extensively by businesses and non-profit organisations. But the business-focused NBN plans released so far don’t deliver on the network’s promise; being little more than more extensive versions of NBN consumer plans.
Does the NBN even need a voice port?
If there is one thing which has always surprised me about the National Broadband Network project, it is the dogged insistence of the network's designers on building a legacy voice telephony port into what is supposed to be next-generation infrastructure.
Praise the Sun
In the critically acclaimed video game Dark Souls, there is a mysterious character known as Solaire of Astora who has developed something of a global cult following which may give us some insight into this human existence.
An Inconvenient Truth
We all agree it shouldn't be, that it's a basic technical pre-requisite for modern collaboration, and everybody has great ideas for new ways to do it ...but... the truth is that sharing digitally at Macquarie is harder than it should be.
Back off, AFACT: Changing the law is not the answer
The Federal Government should ignore the pathetic demands of the film and TV industry for new legislation to "exterminate" Internet piracy and fix the blatantly obvious problems with its commercial model, following its latest loss in Australia's High Court. Australia's copyright law works well as it stands, and does not need changing.
Australia Post digital delivery may yield few returns to spender
The big question is whether digital mail is a solution looking for a problem that hasn’t already been solved. Here, I am not convinced. The technology to achieve a digital mailbox using ordinary email with digital signatures and encryption has been around for a very long time.
Deconstructing morality and Labor’s internet filter
What exactly is a moral question?
The Coalition’s NBN policy is a triumph of short-termism over long-term vision
Malcolm Turnbull has moved the Coalition light years – or at least several million fibre optic kilometres – from the Luddite criticisms thrown up by the Opposition during the 2010 federal election campaign. That said, it was sad to see the number of debating tricks employed in launching his national broadband policy.
Turnbull’s NBN hiring spree is pure election fodder
Like the fictional Frank Underwood’s ‘America Works’ program, the massive nbn hiring spree unveiled by Malcolm Turnbull in the wee hours of this morning is pure election fodder — a beguiling program designed to demonstrate to the electorate that the reigning Government is instantly responsible for thousands of new jobs.
Oh dear: Customer service, NetRegistry-style
It was apparent right from the start of this Whirlpool thread that NetRegistry chief operating officer Brett Fenton wasn't having a good day.
Sit tight for Australia’s tablet price war
If you're considering buying any form of tablet device in the next month or so Australia, stop right where you are, put your wallet and your hard-earned cash back in your pocket and go and take a cold shower for ten minutes until you calm down and your lust for loot has vanished from your feverish brain.
Turnbull’s NBN: Why it’s slow, expensive and obsolete
The Coalition sold the Australian public a product that was supposed to be fast, one-third the cost and arrive sooner than what Labor was offering us. Instead the Coalition’s NBN will be so slow that it is obsolete by the time it’s in place, it will cost about the same as Labor’s fibre-to-the-premises NBN, and it won’t arrive on our doorsteps much sooner.
NBN competition will rest almost solely on price
Retail competition on the National Broadband Network will rest almost solely on price, in my opinion, as the importance of other differentiating factors between telcos like Telstra, Optus, TPG and iiNet will diminish almost to zero. And here's why.
NBN: Misleading parliament should be a crime
The Federal Government should follow Queensland and enact a law which makes it illegal for politicians to knowingly mislead Parliament with false information. This would immediately have a dramatic and positive impact on the quality of the debate around the National Broadband Network.
How’s that going to work, then? – Government 2.0 and purdah
Perhaps it's time we stopped considering departmental web sites and social tools an optional bolt-on and put them where they belong – as a part of the critical communication network government agencies rely upon to get their message out and serve their government and public.
Innovation is key in the Asian Century
If we are to fully capitalise on the benefits of the Asian Century, we need to fully embrace Chinese innovation and R&D in exactly the same way we would with any other country. To do anything else would risk Australia not being ‘on the right side of history’.
Oh dear: Mark Newton’s epic government rant
Mark Newton's submission to the Cyber-Safety Committee is one of the most epic rants we have ever had the pleasure to read.
Individuals not the priority in the Cyber Security Strategy
The Cyber Security Strategy announced today by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull clearly places a high priority on protecting Australian government systems from foreign powers. But when it comes to protecting citizens' personal information, it appears to be rather a mixed bag.
Why the drop in illegal movie downloads in Australia?
This article is by Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University. It originally appeared on The Conversation.
analysis There has been a decline in...
FactCheck: will regional internet users pay more under the Coalition’s NBN plan?
Both major parties are trying to convince voters that their plan is better than their competitor’s. So, is it true that the Coalition’s broadband plan will cost more for regional households and businesses?
Calling Conroy an idiot won’t stop the filter
Getting rid of Conroy won't get rid of the filter -- it's not just a personal thing, it's endorsed by Cabinet. Attacking him in the hope that his unlikely removal would kill the proposal is just a waste of time.
Google has lost its startup culture … and its mojo
The departure of high-profile and long-serving senior managers Kate Vale and Lars Rasmussen from Google Australia this month represents more than just the typical losses of a couple of mid-level employees to greener pastures.
A code of ethics in IT: just lip service or something with bite?
The emissions scandal that has rocked the car maker Volkswagen has again raised the issue of ethical standards in the tech industry. Reports so far say the company is pointing finger at the “unlawful behaviour of engineers and technicians involved in engine development”. But that’s led to questions about the strength of any codes or practice or ethics that such operators are supposed to comply with. So are such codes any good or are they just words? Here two software experts present both sides of the argument.
The end is nigh for Windows XP: Are you ready?
Almost 13 years after its release in October 2001 to a world still in shock after the 9/11 terror attacks, the sun is finally setting on Microsoft’s Windows XP. The operating system has been the software in many home and work PCs but for die-hard users who continue to use XP, danger that way lies.
Oh dear: Meter Maids heat up Tech.Ed
Meter Maids attend Tech.Ed.
Oh dear: Those pesky, unrepentant EFA boys
So Communications Minister Stephen Conroy talked a little smack yesterday in the Senate ... but the boys at Electronic Frontiers Australia are unrepentant.
Conroy needs to grow a set and censure Fifield for his NBN OPD nonsense
Stephen Conroy needs to stop dithering about with wishy washy attempts to extract basic information from the closed shop that the NBN company has become under the Coalition and actually use the full powers of the Senate to hold the Government to account over the tragic mess it has made of the project.
Intelligence apologists fast running out of excuses
Politicians from Australia's major parties need to stop issuing ludicrous blanket pardons for the intelligence community's ongoing misdemeanours and start applying a basic modicum of transparency and accountability to this important national security function.
Cranky Telstra wants its champagne glass back
Telstra's response so far to concerns about its Structural Separation Undertaking has been conciliatory by its own standards; but has not yet come anywhere near to substantially addressing issues with the document expressed by its rivals and the competition regulator over the past several months.
Tasmanian NBN pricing so far is horrible
The proposed National Broadband Network prices released this week by iiNet are simply way too expensive for the promised 100Mbps speeds and will need to be reduced significantly to drive customer uptake.
Spectacularly shortsighted: Debating 2012 NBN take-up rates
Reality check: The National Broadband Network is a project which will continue to serve Australia's telecommunications needs for at least the next fifty years. Debating take-up rates in the first year of its existence is nothing short of incredibly short-sighted and trivial.
Oh dear: Harapin’s SCG race heats up
Bloody hell! Poor old Harapin is going to have a tough time in this race for the SCG board. So we decided to give the poor VMWare MD a little help along the way.
Tense Telstra times
After last year's resignations of David Moffatt and Holly Kramer, who along with Milne were favourites within former chief executive Sol Trujillo’s regime, it would appear the stresses within the ‘new’ Telstra are starting to show.
Monitor, Police, Control: Australian Attorney-Generals’ war on the Internet
Australia's two most recent Attorneys-General distinguished themselves during their tenure by demonstrating a complete lack of understanding of the dynamics of the modern Internet; seeking to monitor, control and contain it at all costs. Now they've both announced plans to quit politics. Will our next chief lawmaker do any better?
Oh dear: Simon Hackett, datacentre disco star
While researching Simon Hackett for an article on his entry into iiNet's 'Top Geek' competition, we found this amusing video of the Internode managing director entering what appears to be one of the ISP's datacentres ... in style. Hit it, boys!
Why Modern Warfare 3 needs Australians
A good name would be something ocker like "Dazza", because that’s pretty Australian, or even better, "Budgie", which kinda says he likes to take the piss.
Is Australia facing another ICS-style IT disaster?
As I have watched the Australian Taxation Office's troubled IT Change Program sink to new and disturbing lows over the past few months, I can't help but be reminded of that other Federal Government IT initiative that cost the nation so much -- both financially and in others' confidence in our ability to drive major IT projects.
Chrome OS, like Tux, will never fly
Chrome OS may be all shiny and new now, but Google is taking a lot for granted in hoping that it can turn Australia Chrome overnight. Without some killer apps that you can't get by loading the Chrome browser on the computer you already have, I suspect the world will quickly realise that a kilogram of Chrome OS carries exactly the same weight as a kilogram of penguin feathers -- which is to say, not very much at all.
Let’s face it, Gerry Harvey has a point
But in the meantime, let’s not simply tell Gerry Harvey to STFU because he has a dud website and is a rich old fatcat billionaire having a whinge in public. He didn’t get to where he is by being ignorant — unlike most of the people buying his products.
End of the dot com winter: How Australia’s tech startup scene bloomed again
The long winter after the failure of the dot com boom a decade ago is finally over: Australia's startup spring is here, and its energy is infectious.
Give Turnbull a break, he’s a funny bastard
This intelligent, responsive, charismatic, technologically savvy and ambitious politician is currently barking up the wrong tree with respect to the NBN and feeding the public a lot of crap about speeds -- even if his financial arguments are sound. But the last thing I want to say about Turnbull, is, let's give the poor man a break.
On folly, freedom and filters
Hannah has been using the Internet since she was four ... When Hannah uses the Internet, she uses a connection at home that is completely unfiltered, neither by the router we use nor by activating the fairly comprehensive parental controls that come as a standard part of modern operating systems. She has administrator access to the machine she uses and she also knows and understands how to access and manage the home network.
Five things to like about the Coalition’s NBN policy
The Coalition's rival National Broadband Network policy has copped a lot of flak over the past several weeks. Business Spectator commentator Alan Kohler described it as "madness" and analyst Paul Budde described the UK model it's based on as "unconvincing". But there's still a lot of reasons to like the policy -- and here's five.
Why data breach reporting should be mandatory
As we move forward in this era of online transactions and social media, there’s a need for security and privacy legislation to keep pace. Most importantly, there’s a need for Australians to feel confident that their personal information is being kept safe by those we entrust it to.
A little context, for our big Apple crybaby
Reading through some of the news reports about Apple’s court case today blocking the Australian launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1, I couldn’t escape the feeling that the iPad maker’s lawyers had been spending too much time immersed in the company’s famous reality distortion field.
Improving technology’s grades in Australian education
In Australian society, so much of the ongoing narrative about the current generation of students in our schools is focused around the different way that they understand and use technology; and so much of that narrative is focused around fear. But it doesn't need to be, and there's more than one side to the story.
Australia Post, Telstra and the ‘dying business’ dilemma
Who would run a former government-owned monopoly these days? In the last week, Australia Post’s Ahmed Fahour announced 900 administration jobs were to go from its Melbourne operations, while last week Telstra’s David Thodey recounted discussions from his recent trip to the US, where he was told his “business model is dead”.
Linux on Australia’s desktops: Are the stars aligning again?
The phrase "Linux desktop" has been anathema to Australian organisations for almost a decade, after a brief flurry of interest in the platform back in 2004. But a massive successful deployment at France's national police force and the growing popularity of Software as a Service applications could put Tux back on the corporate radar.
Cloud services first: A next-generation shared services policy for government
Cloud services break the cycle of agency investment in dedicated ICT solutions that are difficult or impossible to share. In contrast, each procurement of cloud services incrementally develops the capacity of the vendor to offer the same service to other agencies. A policy position of “cloud services first” is a strategic commitment by government to the development of the next generation of shared services.
4G: How Telstra will ROFLstomp Optus, VHA
When the reality of a working LTE deployment hits Australia through late 2011, with all mobile phone owners increasingly being smartphone owners ... Telstra's Next G network will become nothing short of irresistable.
Budget 2014: No country for new games
Cutting off the Games Fund demonstrates that the Liberal government has no interest in supporting an existing vibrant and maturing creative industry. Attacking the younger and lower classes of the nation by gutting a wide range of social services demonstrates that the Liberal government has no interest in the creative and cultural future of the nation.
NBN Co must consider more aerial fibre deployments
NBN Co's Strategic Review process gives the company an unmissable opportunity to re-evaluate the early decision to deploy its FTTP network primarily through Telstra's underground ducts. The company and its new Coalition masters must now seriously consider deploying more fibre aerially on power poles in an effort to speed up its rollout substantially.
Oh dear: How Lotus can win Qantas back
Delimiter is prepared to bet that the Lotus Notes camp wasn't happy to learn in February that Qantas had decided to switch sides and was now playing for the Exchange team. But not everyone took the decision lying down.
Chaos: Coalition a total shambles on NBN policy
Up until now, I've been willing to give the Coalition the benefit of the doubt when it comes to national broadband policy, due primarily to the intelligence and experience of its Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. But events last week starkly demonstrated the Coalition is currently a complete mess when it comes to this critical portfolio.
Curmudgeon: 3D smartphones have no depth of feel
3D smartphones won't succeed as gaming or content consumption devices, but that doesn't mean they won't find their niche.
Has Gov 2.0 in Australia gotten too boring too fast?
So has Gov 2.0 become boring too fast in Australia? Shouldn't we see more conversation, more voices, more blogs, more tweets, more people packing out events seeking the latest information in what is one of the most rapidly changing environments in history - the internet?
Oh dear: Conroy gets mashed up
In the absence of any statement from Communications Minister Stephen Conroy about yesterday's Prime Ministerial leadership spill, iTNews.com.au has mashed up a bunch of existing Conroy statements into this intriguing video.
Why Vodafone customers are a pack of lazy whingers
Don’t whinge about the company which is providing you with poor service, then sue them, and finally, demand the Government do something about their security problems. It’s an open, competitive market, people. DUMP THEIR ASS AND PICK ANOTHER PROVIDER. How hard can it be? Really, Vodafone customers, how long will it take you to realise you can go elsewhere?
Google Books wins ‘fair use’ but Australian copyright lags
Australia wants to foster innovation in a digital economy, but our copyright laws discourage businesses from investing in new technologies and make it harder for individuals to access the knowledge upon which innovation is based. Yesterday’s US decision in the Google Books case shows why US copyright law is much more supportive of innovation than ours.
Relax: Conroy’s filter can be safely ignored
The government does not care, in the least, whether you reconfigure your system to bypass the filter, or teach a hundred people to each teach a hundred others to do it.
Revised Delimiter Statement of Principles
Hi everyone,
welcome back! Delimiter starts publishing again today, and from today I'm also commencing work on my technology policy book, The Frustrated State. It...
After just six weeks, Turnbull has Conroy on the run
Why the hell should Turnbull let Conroy have his way now? He's got the Senator on the run. All he needs to achieve is some modest concessions from the Government on the NBN -- which he appears close to -- and six weeks after the Coalition lost the election (in a manner of speaking), he's got a claim to being the most successful member of the Shadow Cabinet, on a national issue which Tony Abbott clearly knows nothing about.
How important will NBN contention ratios be?
Will cheaper ISPs provide a degraded level of service on the NBN compared to 'premium' ISPs, through the use of poorer contention ratios? We'll look at both sides of the issue in this follow-up article on the future of retail ISP competition under the NBN.
Tiny niche ISPs join the NBN market
When you think about competition on the National Broadband Network, you normally think about major telcos like Telstra, Optus and iiNet battling it out to win Australia's broadband spend. But the truth is that a large number of very small ISPs have already joined the NBN market and are also competing.
Fiery telco expert with a fibre passion: Michelle Rowland gets a licence to terminate...
With a lengthy history as a telco regulatory lawyer and a passion for the National Broadband Network bordering on an obsession, Labor MP Michelle Rowland is well-qualified indeed to be Labor's Shadow Assistant Communications Minister. But it's the Member for Greenway's penchant for taking Malcolm Turnbull down a notch or five on the floor of the House of Representatives that will have pro-fibre NBN fanbois falling in love with her.
Stop the personal attacks, now (by Mike Quigley)
The past week has seen the debate over the National Broadband Network take a disappointing turn. It has moved away from arguments over the pros and cons of building a ubiquitous network available to every premise in Australia to an unfounded attack on the integrity of myself as the chief executive of NBN Co and on my chief financial officer, Jean-Pascal Beaufret.
Oh dear: Turnbull’s web site wilts on first day
There's a long history of politicians and governments having problems keeping their web sites up. Conroy himself had a little spot of bother with the National Broadband Network Implementation Study back in May when the lengthy document was finally published online.
The NBN is in a regulatory hole: Time to stop digging
As the saying goes, when you are in a hole, stop digging. The NBN is looking like a large pit, and at present, everyone is digging in deeper.
iPad shock and awe
What is a bit unbelievable there is that we're getting remarkably close pricing to the US, at least on this spin of Apple's magical wheel of price fixing. But getting the local Telcos — and especially Telstra — to deliver some surprisingly good and genuinely competitive 3G data pricing? Now that is unbelievable.
Dark day for the ACCC as it abandons competition
The Government and the NBN Co have decided to use our taxes to buy out Optus' competition just as they have done with Telstra’s HFC. A black day indeed for the ACCC and competition in Australia.
Don’t hang up yet: the latest study linking mobile phones to cancer has big...
You may have seen the headlines over the weekend, reporting on a new study that’s supposedly found a link between mobile phones and cancer. But all is not quite as it seems. And much of the alarm raised by the study is misplaced.
Oh dear: The top ten funniest Conroy YouTube videos
Sometimes it's worth taking a lighter look at how some sections of the Internet -- notably, the denizens of YouTube -- have portrayed Communications Minister Stephen Conroy. So we've scoured the video sharing site for our favourite videos.
The lost cause of American political fact-checkers
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” — Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
Can David Thodey escape his Big Blue shadow?
One cannot help but feel that there was a certain irony to David Thodey's life yesterday which must have been impossible for the Telstra CEO to ignore.
Labor hardly better than Opposition on tech policy
I feel obliged to point out that when it comes to having policies about technology, the Australian Labor Party -- the party which is currently governing Australia -- is little better than the Coalition.
Fair suck of the sav, Blizzard
Blizzard, I suggest that you need to put at least one character in StarCraft II with an Australian accent. The Protoss seem a bit up themselves and the Zerg are quite weird, so it would have to be a Terran character.
Open government: By the people, for the people
What I would like to see is the public service standing up for itself and taking accountability for Open Government itself.
Fact check: The NBN wasn’t a “media stunt”
Free market thinktank the Institute of Public Affairs recently claimed Labor’s flagship National Broadband Network project was drawn up purely as a “media stunt” to drum up publicity for the Government. Unfortunately, this is a factually inaccurate statement, and here’s the evidence to prove it.
The end of the Wii era
Nintendo's Wii is dead. OK, hyperbole check. It's still kicking mass-market butt, actually. But that's not going to last much longer. So allow me to rephrase: Nintendo's Wii will be dead by the end of this year.
Google – and everyone else – wins by High Court decision
The High Court has ruled that Google did not engage in misleading and deceptive conduct when it published a number of advertisements created by its AdWords program. Does this mean that the advertisements themselves were not misleading and deceptive? No! Everyone agrees that they were. Rather, the decision clarifies the law for publishers, including those using the internet.
Oh dear: McDonald’s rejects Kogan job application
Ruslan Kogan just might be the Australian technology sector's version of Richard Branson. The 27-year-old entrepreneur still has his youthful good looks and enjoys going out, he is skilled at making millions, and everywhere he seems to go, he generates controversy.
Internode up shit creek? Bullcrap. Here’s why.
Those currently running around like Chicken Little with their heads cut off and proclaiming that the sky is going to fall on national broadband provider Internode need to take a swift injection of reality juice directly to the frontal lobe. The loss of four of Internode's most senior technical staff and a few other "difficulties" at the company are not evidence of a pending wider collapse.
NBN 2.6 million times too slow, says Alan Jones
Radio shock jock Alan Jones appears to have gotten his technologies a little confused, in an analysis this week of how a new data speed record set by scientists in Germany might affect the National Broadband Network.
It’s official: Labor’s NBN project has failed
The National Broadband Network project has abjectly failed every construction target ever set for it, its rollout has slowed to a deadly slow crawl, and even its founder, former Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, has admitted the previous Labor Government drastically underestimated the amount of work involved in delivering it. It's time to admit NBN version 2.0 is dead and that the project desperately needs to be radically reshaped yet again.
Now it gets interesting: Australia has its first digitally literate Prime Minister
Australia has never before in its history had a digitally literate Prime Minister of the likes of Malcolm Turnbull.
Focus after the fact: The Lytro light field camera is in Australia
Today, nine-or-so months after its launch in the US, the Lytro camera will be available to buy in Australia – bringing with it the ability to refocus pictures in incredible detail after the fact.
Crazy spectrum prices? No. Historically consistent.
The flagrantly worded argument by Liberal MP Paul Fletcher and others that the Federal Government has badly mismanaged the process of auctioning off 4G wireless spectrum is overly simplistic and does not well-represent the complex dynamic involved in this commercial bidding process.
Huawei’s NBN blockout raises fundamental questions
As I have argued for several years now – and Alexander Downer himself has stated in recent weeks – the argument that Huawei is some sort of quasi-intelligence gathering arm of the Beijing government is so ludicrous that it should scarcely be tolerated in serious company.
Australia’s IT startup scene: Blooming, not dying
This morning the Sydney Morning Herald published a series of articles claiming that Australia's technology startup ecosystem is unable to support local entrepreneurs, causing them to increasingly head to the US in search of the financial backing they are unable to attract in Australia. The only problem is, the evidence doesn't support this assertion.
Voda Win: Australia’s mobile problem child emerges from its deep depression
The easiest way to view the departure of Vodafone Australia's turnaround specialist Bill Morrow to take the reins of NBN Co is as the final nail in the extremely troubled mobile telco's fortunes. But the truth is that Morrow is leaving the company just as it's getting to its knees again. Finally, after three years in the wilderness, Vodafone is showing signs that it may be competitive in Australia's mobile landscape again -- and heading towards a sustainable footing.
Fact Check: Is ridesharing no safer than hitchhiking?
The claim that ridesharing is no safer than hitchhiking is not supported by empirical data. Much of the data used by critics of Uber rely on anecdotal data and media reports to support their view ridesharing puts passengers at personal risk.
Despite bumps in the rollout, households show strong support for the NBN
The NBN is emerging as one of the key issues in the lead-up to this year’s federal election. But the project has been fraught with challenges: planning issues and a shortage of skilled labour have delayed the rollout process.Today it was reported that NBN Co is now set to downgrade rollout targets by up to half of those initially forecast.
Oh Dear: Firemen + the Church of Father Quigley
Industry lunches are generally pleasant and padded enough to bring in the bacon munchers -- but one does not expect a veritable comedy sketch and an impromptu evangelist "Hallelujah father! I am cleansed!" rejoice session.
A couple of important NBN corrections
Over the past several weeks, several prominent newspaper commentators have published a number of factual inaccuracies with respect to the Federal Government's National Broadband Network project. With the aim of informing good public policy debate, it seems appropriate to try and correct the record.
NBN: Where do we go from here?
The National Broadband initiative is an opportunity to see if we can manage a more evolved form of government where people can elect the representatives that represent their ideological views, but with the knowledge that the country will be governed in a non-dogmatic way and with greater participation.
Why DRM hurts eBook sales: A piracy analysis
Piracy of eBooks is real. It is also an element of the marketplace and is market forces at work.
Are police drones just toys for the boys?
Military tactics and hardware can make policing more appealing to recruits and generate impressive media spectacles, but they do not prevent or solve crime. The underlying causes of social disorder go unaddressed while public funds are spent instead on expensive but ineffective and potentially dangerous toys.
A change in Australia’s web rules would open up the .au space
If you want to register an Australian web address, your options may be about to change due to a review of domain name policy that is currently underway.
New copyright laws not the answer to illegal downloads
New laws are not the answer. Rather, we need to look at education, technical mechanisms, licensing solutions and responsibility of ISPs and search engines to find a workable balance between the right to own and creative content and the ability of users (and intermediaries) to access and reuse such content.
Election rant 1: Who’s greediest?
As many pigs have discovered over time – heading straight for the feeding trough without keeping a watchful eye out for the farmer's axe can lead one to feeling that they're high on the hog when they're actually a pig in a poke.
Google shouldn’t stop collecting Wi-Fi data
Google's decision to stop its Street View cars collecting harmless data on the location of Wi-Fi hotspots (including in Australia) is an over-reaction to the baseless concerns of a few privacy experts and should be reversed.
US ‘choke-points’ for Australian telecoms data are no surprise
So, what can we conclude from the latest developments? There are no real surprises. We know that lawful interception has been a highly valued (if at times shockingly misused) tool of law enforcement and intelligence agencies for decades. Perhaps the most important conclusion we can draw is that the law enforcement and intelligence agencies will not surrender such access easily.
Coalition NBN will suffer in the long term: Experts
The federal Coalition’s new A$30 billion plan for “fast, affordable” broadband is a quick-fix strategy, which is likely to cost more and be less reliable long-term, according to experts.
Australia desperately needs stable telco policy
The long-term nature of infrastructure investment and the squabbling of the past half-decade has made it increasingly clear that a bi-partisan approach to telecommunications policy is needed in Australia. The only difficulty may be convincing our arrogant, indecisive, stubborn and incredibly own-party blinkered political leaders that they should sit across the table from each other and discuss the issue like adults.
Australia’s desktop PC paradigm is under siege
Right now chief information officers and IT managers right around Australia are facing a difficult decision regarding one of the most critical but also trouble-plagued segments of their IT infrastructure -- their desktop fleets.
AGIMO needs a little Obama magic
It's hard to imagine AGIMO getting to the point where it has the direct support and interest of Australia's Prime Minister of the day in its efforts. But, if we've learnt anything from Vivek Kundra in the US, it's that this kind of executive-level buy-in is possible.
Loyal to a fault: Switkowski is deeply Turnbull’s man
Ziggy Switkowski's first substantial public appearance since being appointed NBN Co chief executive has starkly demonstrated just how different he is from his predecessor, Mike Quigley, and just how strictly he will adhere to the guidelines which his patron, Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, has set for him.
Why John Linton’s not (that) crazy
John Linton is one of the few people in Australia to honestly and loudly speak the truth about the nation’s telco industry’s business — or at least, the truth as he sees it.
Gmail vs Outlook/Exchange: Round Two
Yesterday I dipped my proverbial toe in the water of public opinion about the respective merits of different email platforms, and boy -- did I get burnt. That calm-looking summer pool was actually boiling hot with conviction.
Virgin’s internet porn sackings somewhat hypocritical
I couldn’t help but feel amused by the irony on Friday when the news broke that Virgin Blue had sacked 20 staff for what the Sydney Morning Herald reported was the dastardly offence of swapping porn on the airline’s computers.
Oh dear: Mario gets jiggy with it
When Nintendo invited us to a harbour cruise to celebrate the launch of its flagship new game Super Mario Galaxy 2, we knew it was going to be big. After all, the Japanese gaming giant pulled out all the stops and organised Ministry of Sound's DJ Goodwill to "mash a mix of Mario tunes".
iPad telco plans will sting Australians
Steve Jobs may have created a new category of electronic device. But he’s also created a new category of wireless broadband plan to go with it.
Oh dear: Tony Smith doesn’t really ‘get’ Twitter
Politicians tend to be a mixed bunch when it comes to interacting with Twitter. Some seem to really understand the social networking tool, like NSW Premier Kristina Keneally. And some, like Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, seem to ignore it altogether. And then there's Tony Smith.
Oh dear: The iAbbott cometh
Ah, YouTube. We love you so.
The iiBorg are assimilating all NBN competition
You can easily imagine what coffee meetings with Michael Malone must be like these days. "Resistance is futile," the leader of the growing iiBorg empire would sternly tell anyone brave enough to enter his company's headquarters. "You will be assimilated. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own."
The Senate NBN Committee should interview MyRepublic
The interjection by Singapore’s MyRepublic into Australia’s broadband debate this morning may have been inflammatory and used mildly offensive adult language. But there are some fundamentally good points being made by the upstart telco. The next step should be for the Senate’s NBN Committee to interview its chief executive in person.
A political price for Telstra
It’s now more than four months since Telstra and the NBN team formalised their terms of engagement and kicked off negotiations. Since then, they have got nowhere. Both sides say the talks have been constructive and that much has been achieved, but they are miles apart on price.
Gershon funds must remain quarantined
The Australian ICT Policy Reform online petition is seeking support from the Australian ICT industry to call on both the Gillard Government and the Opposition to maintain quarantining of the agreed savings identified as a result of the Gershon review. These funds should remain available for re-investment by the Australian Public Service to enhance existing service delivery for all Australians and provide an opportunity for ICT driven innovation within the public sector.
Help us fact-check Turnbull’s NBN comments
Delimiter invites readers to help us fact-check an important and lengthy policy statement by Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Let's get to the truth of the matter, together.
Don’t sue us for search: Google’s unnecessary safe harbour appeal
A brief review of the history of Australian safe harbour legislation and recent ISP-related case laws in the US shows the best way to provide legal certainty for online intermediaries would be to introduce “fair use” exceptions alone. More safe harbour rules aren’t needed at this stage.
Coalition to adopt UK broadband platform
Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed plans to implement the same underlying broadband infrastructure platform in Australia which has already been used for some time in the UK, with the two nations' incumbent telcos Telstra and BT to collaborate on the exchange over the next several years.
A prince in his prime: Why Simon Hackett should be on the NBN board
If Malcolm Turnbull is serious about making sure all Australians quickly get access to affordable, high-speed broadband, there is one man he must consider appointing to the board of NBN Co: The entrepreneur who was instrumental in bringing Australians broadband in the first place. Internode founder Simon Hackett.
Conroy’s filter: To be or not to be?
Two and a half years ago, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced a significant delay to Labor's controversial mandatory Internet filter project, pending a review into the Refused Classification category of content which the filter was to block.The results of that review were published yesterday and contain very little guidance for the Minister. What will Conroy do now?
Myer fail displays appalling IT, business incompetency
The week-long outage of Myer's website starkly displays the fact that the company and its outsourcing partner IBM had failed to properly develop and test their infrastructure or put in place the most basic disaster recovery and business continuity plan, as well as highlighting the incredible immaturity of online retailing in Australia.
Once more into the data breach: the LivingSocial hack and you
News of the LivingSocial breach coincides with debate within the privacy and information technology communities about Commonwealth proposals for data-breach legislation.
Who owns footy rights? Optus web copyright victory explained
Yesterday’s Federal Court ruling that Optus customers are able to view sporting matches minutes after they are streamed live without breaching copyright is a landmark decision that alters our understanding of copyright law, and has significant implications for the AFL’s broadcasting rights deal.
Private cloud ball is now in IBM’s court
There is one factor which IBM's cloud computing strategy appears to be lacking at the moment.
The Australian IT sector needs a stronger voice
The call for a technology policy think tank is opportune and probably long overdue. The Australian IT industry is a massive industry, a huge success story for Australia, and well deserving of its own voice.
Why Megan Fox should star in the NBN ads
Why the NBN is for porn and Megan Fox should star in the NBN commercials.
Oh dear: Conroy watched the soccer during the spill
Draped in the colours of his favoured soccer teams (Chelsea and the Socceroos), Conroy made it clear he was quite busy on the night of the spill.
Be sceptical of vague new ‘National Security’ powers
Any proposal by the government to increase its own power should be treated with scepticism. Double that scepticism when the government is vague about why it needs that extra power. Double again when those powers are in the area of law and order. And double again every time the words "national security" are used.
Election rant 5: Can we even use a Terabyte a month?
The Coalition got a lot of things wrong with its election broadband policy, wireless being the chief one. But Finance Spokesperson Andrew Robb got one thing dead right: Australia's telecommunications market has not failed.
Demolished? No. Turnbull’s criticism has only tempered the NBN argument
In September 2010, Tony Abbott set one of the Coalition's most senior politicians loose on Labor's flagship National Broadband Network project, with instructions to wreck and "demolish" it. Fifteen months later, with Malcolm Turnbull's credibility in the portfolio in tatters and his arguments falling on deaf ears, it is clear that mission has failed, with his criticism having only clarified and strengthened the NBN policy.
I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore. Let’s fix...
For far too long, Australia's political sector has gotten technology policy completely wrong. I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore. Let's take Delimiter into the Canberra Press Gallery and literally write the book on tech policy while we're there.
Oh dear: Telstra’s cyber-safety quadrants
We think Australia's telcos might be taking cyber-safety a little too seriously, if this video by Telstra is any indication.
The final leaked TPP text is all that we feared
Today's release by Wikileaks of what is believed to be the current and essentially final version of the intellectual property (IP) chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) confirms our worst fears about the agreement, and dashes the few hopes that we held out that its most onerous provisions wouldn't survive to the end of the negotiations.
Coalition reveals new FTTN broadband policy
The Federal Opposition today released a comprehensive new broadband policy to rival Labor's big-spending National Broadband Network project, describing its own initiative as a landmark 'Fibre to the Nothing' (FTTN) proposal.
Obamacare web fiasco won’t be the last big IT fail
The uncomfortable reality is that no one really knows how to design or manage large, complex IT projects.
Wow! What a week. Humbled, but still nervous. 15 percent to go: Will we...
We still need about $3,700 to successfully fund the project, and although contributions are still coming in, they have obviously slowed down substantially from the incredible first couple of days of the project. I will need to continue momentum if The Frustrated State is to be funded. And Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing model – if we don’t hit our target, I won’t receive any funding for the project.
Conduct unbecoming: How NBN spite has damaged the Turnbull brand
Many Australians believe the man dubbed the Earl of Wentworth will eventually be back to take the Prime Ministership, after being ousted from the Liberal leadership in December 2009; or possibly to become Australia's first President. But three years of dogged and at times spiteful opposition to one of Australia's most popular policies have taken their toll on Malcolm Turnbull in the view of some segments of the Australian population.
When will Labor get serious about supporting its NBN policy?
The independent pro-fibre National Broadband Network movement is doing a far better job of promoting Labor's Fibre to the Premises-based NBN policy than Labor itself. When is Labor going to wake from its slumber and start supporting this scrappy but energetic grassroots network of activists?
Telstra’s ticking clock
NBN Co is trying to negotiate a deal based on a conviction that Telstra's copper network has already been massively devalued, while Telstra is trying to negotiate an outcome that salvages some of that value.
Oh dear: Alan Jones, Chika, Steve Waugh and VMWare?
The trustees list of the of the Sydney Cricket & Sports Ground Trust reads like a roll call of Sydney blue blood royalty.
Coalition NBN notes: Some truth, mostly fiction
Last week Crikey leaked a confidential document which appeared to contain a large number of speaking tips for Coalition politicians to help them discuss policy areas in public, including with respect to the National Broadband Network. But to what extent is the document accurate when it comes to the NBN? Read on to find out.
Reboot ICT teacher training to halt the computing brain drain
The shortage of computing experts in Australian schools has serious implications for our future as a player in the knowledge economy.
O’Sullivan and Dews: Leaders in exile
In scale and tone, Paul O'Sullivan's reluctance to enter the limelight of the Australian telecommunications industry is currently only matched by one man: VHA chief executive Nigel Dews.
Deconstructing Australia’s wireless/NBN fetish
The uncertain future development roadmap for wireless technologies and their potential to plug the broadband gap between copper and fibre means wireless will continue to be at the centre of the National Broadband Network debate for the foreseeable future.
In defence of an honourable man
It is completely legitimate to debate the merits of the NBN; like many others, I myself have been a long-term critic of the project, particularly its economic model. But it is not legitimate to link an innocent man with bribery and corruption simply to serve those ends.
Oh dear: There is a StarCraft II truck driving around Brisbane
Title says it all, really. The game launches on Monday.