http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/alex-dickinson/ Alex is a relative baby in the News Ltd family. After nutting through a law degree at the Queensland University of Technology and a stint at the Glasgow University Law School in Scotland in 2005, “Dicko” finally turned to journalism to annoy his once-proud mum. He began on the Courier-Mail’s police desk in September 2007 chasing explosions and murders across Brisbane into the wee small hours of the morning, before crossing to News Ltd’s afternoon paper mX. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:00:13 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reflections-on-bulls..t-at-election-time/ PRINCETON University Professor Harry Frankfurt in 1986 wrote the highly praised thesis On Bulls—t. It’s long, pompous - a fine example of what it’s trying to define, but I’ve taken to re-reading it during this election campaign. The origins of the word are unclear. Some say it came from the mocking of 15th-century papal edicts called ``bulls’‘. Others believe it’s a reference to Obadiah Bull, a famously waffly Irish lawyer in the time of Henry VII. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reflections-on-bulls..t-at-election-time/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reflections-on-bulls..t-at-election-time/#item3861 Sat, 21 Aug 2010 00:41:27 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-perils-of-love-in-the-time-of-geny/ He spotted her from across the room did Matt, a friend (and his real name). It was two weekends ago and the cute brunette in the corner of the South Brisbane house party was just his type (“Leggy, petite - like Summer from The OC but with huge cans’‘) and he was enamoured. Eager to find the perfect pickup line, Matt found out her name and hastily typed it into his iPhone Facebook app. “She’ll have a favourite movie, or something on her profile we can have a sweet convo about,’’ was his reasoning. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-perils-of-love-in-the-time-of-geny/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-perils-of-love-in-the-time-of-geny/#item3786 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:50:17 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/internet-i-think-we-should-have-a-chat-over-coffee/ THE internet has broken my heart in the past fortnight. We had such a great relationship. She was funny, knowledgeable, sexually adventurous. She let me hang out with my friends whenever I wanted and bought me DVDs. It took time, but it turns out she’s one of those crazy chicks and two of her most exciting attributes - WikiLeaks and Twitter - have gone south. Honeymoon over. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/internet-i-think-we-should-have-a-chat-over-coffee/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/internet-i-think-we-should-have-a-chat-over-coffee/#item3747 Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:50:57 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-true-blue-dinki-di-bit-of-patronising-television/ Did anyone else find Masterchef last night incredibly patronising towards blue-collar workers? In case you missed it, the troupe of budding young chefs were given the challenge to cook a goat’s cheese-based vegetarian dish for “six of Australia’s biggest meat lovers”. And who were these esteemed judges? True blue Aussies: tradies, truck drivers, a fireman and a farmer. Seems blue-collar types don’t have refined enough tastes to appreciate a good vegetarian dish… or even know what goat’s cheese is. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-true-blue-dinki-di-bit-of-patronising-television/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/a-true-blue-dinki-di-bit-of-patronising-television/#item3253 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:18:22 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-weekend-with-a-bunch-of-hackers/ That pesky cyber-gang of hackers, Anonymous, struck again on the weekend, bringing down Senator Stephen Conroy’s website for almost 30 hours. I know because I was there. It didn’t take much to predict that nerdy “hacktivists” against the internet filter would attack Government websites to coincide with real-life protests scheduled for Saturday. Sure enough, a few clicks from Google led to a forum that set a date and time for the assault and, after a bit more digging, a chat room from which to watch the fireworks. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-weekend-with-a-bunch-of-hackers/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/my-weekend-with-a-bunch-of-hackers/#item2452 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 07:03:19 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Court-gives-joy-to-downloaders-everywhere-kind-of/ Phew! A generation of movie and music sharers breathed a sigh of relief last week. In case you missed it, the Federal Court of Australia handed down an internationally significant decision that internet service providers are not responsible for the downloading habits of their customers. The suit was brought on Perth-based ISP iiNet by an intimidating alliance including Disney, Warner Bros, Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Village Roadshow and Sony who alleged iiNet were aware of, and allowed, Australian users to download pirated movies. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Court-gives-joy-to-downloaders-everywhere-kind-of/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Court-gives-joy-to-downloaders-everywhere-kind-of/#item2324 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:50:44 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-in-news-just-to-hand-from-war-torn-britneystan/ The former Soviet country of Turkmenistan isn’t known for its trendsetting qualities. It’s dry. It’s cold and ugly. It exports lots of cotton. Not what you’d call a world power. But in 2005 it became the first country in the world to take a strong stand, not against fascism, but lip-synching. Declared a great crime against the culture of the proud nation, the late President Saparmurat Niyazov banned miming in all forms _ concerts, TV, even private weddings. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-in-news-just-to-hand-from-war-torn-britneystan/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/and-in-news-just-to-hand-from-war-torn-britneystan/#item1669 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:13:44 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vegemite-how-you-eat-it-is-what-counts/ So the new name for Vegemite iFail ver. 3.1 is finalised and we can at last put this brand-rape of a national icon behind us. Cheesybite. There. It’s done. And let us thank gawd they didn’t go with Creamymate (which received six per cent of the vote and sounds like a menu option at a brothel). Anyway, let us celebrate this new name by going and buying a nice big jar of the original (ver 1.0) and be happy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vegemite-how-you-eat-it-is-what-counts/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/vegemite-how-you-eat-it-is-what-counts/#item1414 Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:41:42 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Try-talking-to-your-cabbie-you-might-learn-something/ No matter if you’re sitting in a boozed state in the back of a cab at 2am,  if you’re being taken on a half-hour “shortcut” or have to revert to sign language to say ``take the next left’’, always take time to share a nice word with your cabbie. Those on the road we never feel guilty to rage at, honk or flick the bird, cabbies are fast becoming public enemy No.1 - And there’s no mystery as to why. In hometown Brisbane it’s hard to get a driver who speaks English and doesn’t stare at you blankly when you ask them to drive you into town.  Their 12 hours shifts means they get bored with indicating, speed limits, right of way and other minor road rules and a simple ``to the airport please’’ usually provokes a frantic tom-tom tap-fest. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Try-talking-to-your-cabbie-you-might-learn-something/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Try-talking-to-your-cabbie-you-might-learn-something/#item1310 Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:50:11 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/If-theres-a-way-to-be-bad-youll-find-it-on-the-internet/ Since the first caveman caved in the head of his rival with a sharpened rock, it hasn’t taken us long to use new inventions to be naughty. And so it is with the internet and every fad it spawns. It seems it’s only a matter of time before some creative crooks find in every new popular website or net gimmick a new way to commit dastardly deeds. Like Welshman Brian Lewis who was last week jailed for life for murdering his wife (and mother of his four children) because he noticed she had changed her status to “single” on Facebook. Sadly, it’s just the latest in a string of examples of the misuse of new inventions that should be bringing us together. Here’s our top five: feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alex Dickinson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/If-theres-a-way-to-be-bad-youll-find-it-on-the-internet/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/If-theres-a-way-to-be-bad-youll-find-it-on-the-internet/#item1230 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:45:26 +0000 Alex Dickinson | Author bios | The Punch