Entries tagged as internetTuesday, June 17 2008Firefox 3 - Come break a world record! At 3:00am AEST on Wednesday 18th of June will herald the release of Firefox 3.It's a big jump ahead from the heady days of Firefox 1 and Firefox 2 days. The guys over at SpreadFirefox are attempting to set a world record, with the most downloads in a given 24 hour period. You too can be part of it! I'm currently running one of the Release Candidates, and I've found it brilliant, all my favourite add-ons are now working flawlessly in it. So help spread the world, Australia has around 30% of it's Internet users using Firefox these days. So people do understand and utilise the crazy fox based browser. Moving more people off Internet Explorer will also ensure that Australian websites that wish to remain 'visible' will also start writing websites that are browser agnostic and follow the W3C standards (something IE only websites break heavily). Microsoft claim that they are going to be moving fully to standards compliance with IE8, but don't hold your breath. We've been hearing that for years. As long as nasty ActiveX still hangs around like a bad fart in a crowded elevator it's not going to be compliant (or safe for that matter). And yes, IE8 will ship with ActiveX. So hop to it! Pledge to download Firefox 3 on Wednesday, and become a World Record Holder! Monday, June 9 2008Visit Disney World - in the luxury of your own home We all enjoy a good holiday. Getting the time to take one always seems to be the problem for me however. If you're like me you grew up watching The Wonderful World of Disney at 6:30pm every Sunday. Here we marveled at cartoons of Mickey, Goofy and other great Disney characters. (So much so, many the hostnames on my home network are now named after Disney characters! It also introduced us to classic 'childrens' movies like Herbie, 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins and Alice in Wonderland. It's probably the dream of every child to visit the magical place of Disneyland or DisneyWorld. With the help of Google you can now explore DisneyLand without leaving your chair! Google has produced a 3D interactive representation of Disneyland inside Google Earth. If you've got Google Earth installed try the following:
It's nearly as good as being there! Just think - no more queues for rides, no long-haul flight getting there, and the park is now open 24 hours for you. Have fun exploring! Wednesday, June 4 2008Sourceforge mirror now on Internode
On Tuesday, Internode announced that they are now mirroring Sourceforge.
This is fantastic news for all OSS lovers down here in Australia. Whilst we have had the up and down again service from Optus for some time, it's great to have an alternative. Even better, customers of Internode will actually get those downloads for free now. (Whilst I don't download Gb's of data each month of Sourceforge, I do grab things regularly off it! -- and every little bit helps.) More importantly, having a speedy mirror to grab code off is what counts. It's great to see Internode -- a company that uses a lot of OSS software in their service delivery give back to the community that makes it happen. Their range of free mirrored content is quite appealing. They run their own download mirror site and for a Linux lover there is a huge selection of distros, and updates mirrored. Even better it supports rsync so you can grab your updates quickly and easily! Add to it, now Sourceforge and MajorGeeks (for Windows software lovers). I regularly make use of their free streaming radio content. They have stuff also for gamers (who's got the time ?! The Sourceforge content is hosted here: http://internode.dl.sourceforge.net/ but you'll need to use the Sourceforge website to pick a download, then select Adelaide, Australia from the list of download options. (The direct link to the Internode mirror isn't browsable). — — — After reviewing this post, it does sound like an advert for Internode! Having said that, I've used a bunch of ISPs over the years, and I haven't been happier than I am now with Internode. The service is always faultless, 13-NODE (Tech support) is answered always promptly by someone who actually understands technical details (and not a messenger service for a tech team). I've even had technical staff diagnose and fix routing issues whilst I've been on the phone with them! So if you're in the market for a new ISP, give them a go. Sure, they aren't the cheapest ISP going around, but they are probably the best technical ISP and have some real added bonuses for OSS fans. Tip: For those that do wish to sign up with Internode, one way to pickup an ongoing discount of 15% is to register as a SAGE-AU member. Get the benefits of being a SAGE-AU member -- and cheaper Internet access. For me, the cost of the SAGE-AU membership is less than the discount.. so I come out ahead! Friday, May 16 2008Death to http://
Recently Jeremy Visser blogged about his frustrations that the http:// URI being dropped off addresses.
To be honest, I don't see it as a big problem. Like it or not the Joe Six-Pack uses the following apps in this order:
It's not merely web site addresses that have suffered that fate. Take a look at this random string: user1@host1.com Is that an SMTP address or the credentials to an SSH server? Could it even be an IM user? Most people would read it as an Email address.... and most would probably be right. Context has much to do with addressing.. .we all don't run around writing out mailto:user@host1.com everytime we wish to write down an email address. Whilst it's fine for completeness, it's unnecessary. I also note that many sites advertise as www.myhost.com. Notice the www aspect? That's an indication that it's a website address. Much like ftp.somesite.com indicates an FTP site, and mail.host.com or smtp.host.com indicates SMTP. It is becoming popular to drop the www hostname aspect and just refer to a website via it's domain name (ie: host.com). This also works and seems to be a defacto now instead of www. (Hey it's 4 less chars to type!). I find if you give the average person any random Internet string.. it's normally typed into a browser first these days. So dropping the http:// makes sense. (particularly from a marketing/advertising viewpoint -- you can have a larger font for your actual address not the protocol!). Saturday, April 12 2008Is Australia's Federal Government plan for a high-speed network up to scratch?
High speed Internet is not a luxury in the modern life anymore. It is becoming a mandatory requirement for business, education and the delivery of entertainment/information to households.
Only this week the Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced a tender bid process to "enable world-class, high-speed broadband for all Australians". This $4.7 billion dollar deal is expected to deliver FFTN access across the country to some 98% of the population. The week prior Conroy laid the boots into the ill-fated WiMax based OPEL deal that was setup under the Liberal regime. The dumping of the $958 million wireless deal is likely to see that money moved into the FTTN deal. I don't disagree with the dumping of the WiMax deal, as questions about it's reported effectiveness have been raised globally. The $4.7b National Broadband Network tender is expected to deliver minimum download speeds of 12Mbps (no talk of upstream data rates) to 98% of Australian homes and businesses and should be rolled out and made operational progressively over five years using FTTN or FTTP technology. Is this FTTx deal going to cut it? Continue reading "Is Australia's Federal Government plan for a high-speed network up to scratch?" Tuesday, February 19 2008Postcards from Telstra
Strangely enough, this isn't some quirky artist title.
<rant> I am indeed being flooded by postcards from Telstra. ![]() What makes matters worse is that they are for BigPond's NextG product. Let's make it clear:
Riddle me this... why am I subjected to their gorilla marketing campaigns? What's worse, this form of 'marketing' appears like a legit postcard that one of your friends would send. (Though there are tell-tale signs for those who look closely enough. I suspect this campaign is hitting many people and will arrive in batches. I haven't seen others comment on it, so I suspect I'm in the first 'batch'. (Lucky me!) For those wanting to know what dodgy marketing from Telstra looks like... here's the front/back of each of the postcards. Feel free to click on them for an enlarged view. Each postcard arrives 2-3 days between each other. The first one doesn't give much of an indication of who is it from.
"Dear YourName, Its amazaing up here. Just been for a surf and Daniel stood up for the first time. Will email you a pic form (sic) the road... Patrick & Daniel" Quite clearly you don't know who Patrick and Daniel are... and initially it had me thinking. Though the stupid thing is that they included my full name (Christian Middle Surname). I only give out my Surname when absolutely required - on government forms, and some services bills. It made me suspicious, as most of my friends don't know my middle name. The give away was the return address that is written in very small and grey lettering written on the back down the middle: "IF UNDELIVERED PLEASE RETURN TO PO BOX 615 VIRGINIA BC QLD 4019" If you can't read the line above. Highlight it. That also clearly shows how light it was represented. I'm expecting most people had no idea however and were probably waiting on a non-existent Email to arrive to identify who on Earth were 'Patrick and Daniel'.
The second 'postcard' is a bit of a giveaway. It reads: "Dear YourName, Just grabbed a bite to eat at this pub with some locals. what great characters! Lucky we had broadband on board or we'd never have found it. Heading south in the Kombi tomorrow. Will send another card from there. Patrick & Daniel" Clues here to it's origin for the first time. Broadband, 'on board' and Kombi. We'd already suspected it was marketing, now we knew it to be BigPond marketing garbage. I'm now officially pissed off.
"Dear YourName, We've been to Toowong, Carrajong, Silverton, Tuggeranong, Gold Coast, Mooloolaba, Warnambool, Portland... " Okay, I'm now extremely annoyed.
I'm NOT a CONSUMER - I don't need PUSH marketing, infact, when I have a NEED, I research and obtain the products I REQUIRE. I'm also going to start my own guerrilla marketing approach. I am planning on signing up with every gutter feeding free mail out marketing I can find and send it directly to: PO BOX 615 VIRGINIA BC QLD 4019. Hopefully they can enjoy getting the garbage in their mail box as much as they enjoy sending it out.Feel free to use the address as you see fit. ![]() If anyone knows who I can complain about this form of unauthorized marketing practices please let me know. ![]() Well... that's my rant for the day... sorry for the interruption... ![]() </rant> Monday, February 18 2008Laptop clarifications
Early this morning I blogged in relation to the OLPC and my own thoughts on solutions for Labors Digital Education Revolution policy.
Russell Coker picked up my thoughts and wrote an interesting article regarding Laptop vs Book Weight and made some good points. To continue the discussion in the Blogsphere (man I hate that phrase!), I thought I would answer some of his questions, and clarify some of my initial comments. What OS does the ClassMate PC ship with? The Intel Classmate PC by default ships with Microsoft Windows XP. Close inspection of the images on their website suggests so. The Interactive Manual also clearly demonstrates a Windows based OS. As such, the default shipping system does not meet my own requirements -- without the removal of pre-installed operating system and software. What age bracket does the ClassMate PC suit? I did state in my article to mention that "The Classmate PC looks like more of a rival to the XO laptop more than anything." and whilst not clearly stating it; I see it more focused on primary school children then actual high school students. As such it fails the Digital Education Revolution policy (Years 9-12). As Russell correctly points out it is 'designed for primary students (ages 5-14)'. It is also important to note that Intel have also have left the OLPC project. They are now squarely focusing on the promoting the Classmate over the XO laptop. What computer candidates for high school children then? I pointed to the fact of the Everex Cloudbook and Asus EeePC as two possible candidates. In addition it appears that others are about to hit the market in the next few months including a model from MSI as confirmed. I do agree with Russell that whilst the EeePC is probably the front runner (with a SSD over a traditional HDD), though the screen size (7") is far too small. I would add that the keyboard would also be annoying for any length of time. WithUpdate: potentially 6 hours a day working on this beast, it's likely to be light enough for students to throw across a class-room in frustration. I am also of the belief that Tablet PCs could also be reworked into a small form factor and low price (sub $500-$600AUD). It allows students to either elect to use a keyboard or a pen-based solution if preferred. In addition, drawing diagrams on a tablet is much easier. TabletPC screens generally are larger as well, making it suitable for viewing for long periods. There is some partial Linux support for Tablet computing, but traditional Linux applications are likely to require linking to the correct libraries to provide support for native 'writing'. It seems Toshiba are also thinking along the same lines about a Tablet PC rework. TabletKiosk shows it can be done, and use OpenSuSE as an option on their range of Tablets. Russell's main point that the he disagrees with my statement "A traditional notebook is far too heavy for high-school kids to lug around". In the adventurous mode that is Russell; he went digging through his old school books, and a set of scales to prove that current high-school text books are indeed heavier. I could have saved him the pain... they are indeed heavier. However, I'll stress again that my personal belief is that a traditional notebook is far too heavy for high-school kids to lug around. Let me clarify this point.
I think the discussion and response from Russell is healthy. I appreciate Russell's input and he does raise some of the questions that will need to be addressed. Hopefully more people feel prompted to express their opinions and insights. The FOSS community is wide and diverse; many of these hurdles can be addressed and a superior and less expensive solution is likely to be found. Whilst traditional system vendors will only look at the opportunity to increase revenue, those in the FOSS community are likely to focus on the end-user experience. The current focus by the Federal government also helps narrow down the desired solution for high-school students. It is a perfect time to introduce our next generation of adults on the virtues of OSS. These students will take that experience into the workplace of the future. This will assist in a wider adoption of OSS solutions not only in the workplace but in homes around the nation. Placing computers in the hands of our students and replacing legacy paper-based text books will address two areas in one swoop. That surely is a Digital Education Revolution and one that both doctors, parents and students will be grateful to take a load off their backs! Update: Steve Walsh correctly identifies that the ClassMate PC does indeed ship with a Linux variant. I admit, I also missed that myself! As such the ClassMate PC is also suitable for an alternative to the XO Laptop. OLPC Update
Recently I penned about the OLPC and Labour's Digital Education Revolution policy.
After some consideration the following day I drew the conclusion that the OLPC XO is better suited to primary school children than that of secondary children. Jeff and Pia Waugh both contacted me with exactly the same sentiments. ![]() In fact, Pia informed me that work was underway in relation to trailling the OPLCs in Australian primary schools. A website has been setup (content still coming!) and a mailing list is available. Those interested in being involved should join the mailing list. Those in high school some of the latest sub notebooks are more appropriate such as: With the focus from the Federal government on secondary schools for computers in Year 9-12... these little machines might be perfect for high-school kiddies. The CloudBook or the Eee PC are probably the choice machines at present. The Classmate PC looks like more of a rival to the XO laptop more than anything. A traditional notebook is far too heavy for high-school kids to lug around, and a sub notebook is light (normally under 1kg) and could be even loaded up with school text books to save on back strain. I'm hoping that the government advisors undertaking the tender process look at such items and just don't become 'deer eyed' in front of the glare of glitzy sales-pitches from traditional laptop makers. Running a Linux based OS also makes sense for teenagers, as it severely limits the ability for the machine to become infected by worms, trojans and viruses. These traditionally target Windows operating systems, and become docile on a Linux based machine. Whilst I would still recommend an AV scanner on the machines, the impact and damage these nasties can take is severally limited; thus reducing the overhead in support costs keeping them clean. Plenty of food for thought... Saturday, February 16 2008OLPC and Labor's Digital Education Revolution policy
I found it refreshing to see at the last Federal election that the Australian Federal Labor Party had policy on providing each and every secondary student in Years 9-12 with their own computer.
The Digital Education Revolution was a major piece of government policy that saw the party win in a landslide in 2007. The policy goes on to state:
Whilst this all does sound appealing, in it's present form I can see Microsoft and their solution providers clammering on the software/operating system space to bleed the government dry of the funds. I think this is a perfect location where the OLPC could see the amount invested into such a scheme. The use of XO Laptops are perfectly suited for the classroom, and even more so in remote rural areas. Take into consideration the requirements for most students:
The $1m AUD could therefore be used to ensure ALL children in high-school (Years 7 - 12) are provided with a laptop, and thus ensure to double the reach of the initiative. OSS software in the school would be seen as something that could greatly enhance to dollar spend and provide a rich and full learning experience for the student, assist the teacher in providing the appropriate tools. If the average laptop is say $1200AUD, it is likely that they can replace one such laptop with 4 OLPCs. If a traditional laptop requires say $300 worth of software (Operating System, Office, Utilities, etc), this further increases the value of the OLPC as the software required is built into the laptop, thus avoiding any additional expense. So comparing functionality and cost -- it's likely 1 traditional laptop could be replaced with 5 OLPCs. The OLPC is rugged and made for demanding students, add to it that it's easily repairable, ensuring ongoing costs are minimized. I would expect that money saved with laptop rollouts could be used to further enhance the OSS stack and provide a full OSS stack in the school.
The XO Laptop was on display and handed out to many of the conference attendees at the recent LCA08. Many people marveled at it's simplicity and pure beauty. (I'm sure it's something Intel and AMD will pour over for months to come!) If people from Linux Australia are interested in putting together a submission to the Federal government on such a proposal I'm happy to donate my time. I see investing in the future education of our children paramount to moving Australia into the digital age, and the use of OSS ensures they get the best start possible! I feel this is one area the OSS community can make a massive contribution to computing in Australia that is likely to touch nearly every Australia family. Whilst deploying OSS solutions will also ensure it's familiarity is likely to rise to unseen levels in this country. Adopting OSS principles at an early age with students is likely to ensure that the next generation of Australians are very OSS savvy and will continue the great work their previous generation have commenced. If you're interested, please contact me. Thursday, February 7 2008Telstra at it's finest.
We all love taking the piss outta Telstra.
Though they do make the job easy on us... These two YouTube videos sum it up well. Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/v/Py6kF7761Eg Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/v/Vfz7yTqF6aE | ||||||||||||