Sydney life

Coming Soon - A Censored Internet

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:32:18 +1000

A nice write-up over at MacTalk: Coming Soon - A Censored Internet.
Think Great Chinese Firewall, but then think Australia.
This is not the right way forward, it does not work (not even in China).
Kids are smarter these days anyway.

Get your voice heard over at No Clean Feed.

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StreetView

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:28:23 +1000

Woot! Sydney's got StreetView now.
Check out http://maps.google.com.au, click the StreetView button, and start exploring Sydney.
Looking forward to the first "discoveries" people do.

EDIT: Let me correct this: it's the whole of Australia on StreetView (well, most of it, no Uluru though)! Amazing.

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Apple in trouble?

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:33:12 +1000

Damon Poeter writes: "6.7 Billion Say 'No Thanks' To Apple's 3G IPhone". Just a million iPhones got sold this weekend.

Right on. Funny.

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iPhone pricing in Belgium

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:03:51 +1000

The AP writes "Quirk in Belgian law drives iPhones near $1,000". The article compares it to the AT&T locked in price of $299, which isn't fair though. They should compare it to the unlocked price of about $550. Still a big difference, and 21% VAT/GST doesn't help either. The thing is, in Belgium it is not allowed to sell one service or device only linked to another service or device. Both services or devices need to be available separatly. But the difference with other European countries, which offer similar consumer protection, is then that they can sell a device (at $1) linked to a service while also offering the device and service separatly at full price. The full price of an unlocked 16GB iPhone in Australia would also be about $900 AUD.

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In Bruges

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:18:22 +1000

"In Bruges" to be screened at the Hayden Orpheum in Cremorne starting September 4.

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This is Australia too

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 07:23:36 +1000

Laws have been introduced in NSW to prevent people "causing annoyance"during the pope's visit:

Police have told organisations planning to campaign during World Youth Day events they need to have placards, banners and T-shirts pre-approved or risk losing their protest "rights".

This in the end will cause more trouble and have the opposite effect as people, from anti-homophobia and pro-contraception activists, to victims of abuse (and certain comedians), will be testing both the scope of the laws and the willingness of the authorities to uphold them.

Last week, at the Gold Coast in Queensland, a 16 year old teen, just walking down the street, was arrested for wearing a T-shirt by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth that reads 'Jesus is a c**t' and has been charged with offensive behaviour. He wasn't skateboarding were he shouldn't, he wasn't ghetoblasting his heavy metal, he was wearing a t-shirt. More on News.com.au

Australia doesn't have a Bill of Rights which protects freedom of speach.

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Firefox 3 Download Day today − no, tomorrow

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:07:12 +1000

Take part in the Firefox Guinness World Record! Download and install Firefox 3 on all your pc's today.
Well, actually, for Sydney, Download Day starts Wednesday 3AM, so make sure you start downloading tomorrow.
Confused? Follow Firefox on twitter: http://twitter.com/mozillafirefox

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Free WiFi plan bites the dust

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Sun, 11 May 2008 11:48:51 +1000

Well then, no free, city-wide municipal wifi for Sydney any time soon:

Eric Roozendaal said the Government had evaluated proposals from 15 providers keen to build the network but concluded it wasn't practical based on technical and financial grounds.
The Premier, Morris Iemma, first announced the free broadband initiative in November 2006, just before last year's state election, claiming it would boost the NSW economy by making it more attractive to businesses.

I rant a bit about it over at Free Sydney Wireless.

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iPhone in Australia?

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:57:12 +1000

So when, who?
Vodafone had a low key announcement this morning:

Vodafone today announced it has signed an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in ten of its markets around the globe. Later this year, Vodafone customers in Australia, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Italy, India, Portugal, New Zealand, South Africa and Turkey will be able to purchase the iPhone for use on the Vodafone network. Read.

But I also read Optus would introduce the iPhone later this month...
Who, when?
More in SMH, SMH.

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Google Maps : Accident in Circular Quay

nobody@vox.com(halans) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:08:58 +1000

Noticed Google Maps put up new, sharp images of Sydney CBD, after they blurred it earlier last year for the Apec summit.
I also noticed an accident in Circular Quay...

Missed it earlier in SMH though.

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