http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/tech/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +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/virgin-blip-gives-a-glimpse-of-total-digital-chaos/ It’s a very first-world picture of human misery: a packed airport terminal filled with thousands of delayed travellers. There are frazzled parents at the limits of their patience, looking after bored kids giddy at being on their school holidays but frustrated at having nothing to do. Passengers milling around, trying to nap on a hard floor, anxious that the next announcement on the public address system will be the one that cancels their flight. And all because of a computer problem. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/virgin-blip-gives-a-glimpse-of-total-digital-chaos/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/virgin-blip-gives-a-glimpse-of-total-digital-chaos/#item4122 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-it-became-facebooks-fault/ In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-it-became-facebooks-fault/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-it-became-facebooks-fault/#item3120 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-be-able-to-act-when-online-alarm-bells-ring/ The internet offers a world of opportunities. But it also brings some new threats a lot of parents and young people don’t adequately understand. The tragic murder or 15 year old South Australian girl Carly Ryan by a 50 year old Victorian man who travelled to Adelaide after grooming her on a social networking site brought home to many of us how badly our outdated laws deal with the new threats posed by the internet. The fifty year old killer had pretended to be a 20 year old youth online in order to win over Carly’s confidence. With the support of Carly’s mother Sonya I introduced into the Senate a Private Senator’s Bill which would make it illegal for an adult to misrepresent their age while communicating with a minor online. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-be-able-to-act-when-online-alarm-bells-ring/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-to-be-able-to-act-when-online-alarm-bells-ring/#item3119 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/conroy-filter-singularity-net-filter/ I’ve got two words for those working themselves into supernovas of incandescent cyber rage over Conroy’s internet filtering scheme: The Matrix. Or how about: The Terminator. Or, to be more scientifically respectable: the Singularity. Let’s all unhook ourselves from our computers, iPhones and PlayStations for a few moments and consider the possibility that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is not a reactionary Papist set on turning this free-speech-loving nation into – take your pick from the blogosphere pundits – Torquemada’s Spain, Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia or Hu Jintao’s China. Is it possible that in the not too distant future, the man voted 2009’s Internet Villain of the Year will come to be venerated as a John Connor-esque hero, a 21st century neo-Luddite resistance fighter, a man who tugged on the handbrake a little while the rest of humanity was intent on driving itself off a cliff? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/conroy-filter-singularity-net-filter/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/conroy-filter-singularity-net-filter/#item3096 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/broadband-network/ The federal government has been told the National Broadband Network can be rolled out for at least $5 billion less than the original $43 billion earmarked. News.com.au has the story here, but a quick back-of-a-napkin calculation on what it means: feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/broadband-network/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/broadband-network/#item3021 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/translator-required-going-forward/ This just landed in The Punch’s inbox. Can anyone explain what it means? To meet a growing demand from companies of all sizes for software-as-a-service (SaaS) business intelligence (BI) tools that are easy to use, SAP Australia New Zealand today announced the local launch of the SAP® BusinessObjects™ BI OnDemand solution. Targeted at casual BI users currently under-served by products on the market, the solution will deliver a complete BI toolset in one flexible offering. Leading local on-demand services and solutions provider Sqware Peg is the first local partner to offer customers the new solution, which will provide analytics capabilities for customers using core on-demand solutions.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Lightweight http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/translator-required-going-forward/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/translator-required-going-forward/#item3006 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-conroy-filter-critics-should-censor-themselves/ Spend a little time reading the rabid, sometimes psychotic, responses to Stephen Conroy’s piece yesterday about the proposed internet filter and you’d be forgiven for thinking the Rudd Government is about to become a one-term wonder or Australia is about to turn into a society about as free as the Third Reich. The hundreds of comments on the minister’s piece contain a mass of vitriolic, hysterical rage and delusional warnings that the plan could cost Labor power. There were personal attacks on the minister and even a hint at a death threat. “I feel like I’m living in Germany circa 1936,” wrote one contributor. “OK, Conroy, as a Catholic, it is you who believes in myths. You have a rubbish Economics degree and you weren’t born here. Go away,” said another, constructively. What the debate almost entirely failed to reflect was the overwhelming popularity of Conroy’s plan with the general public. A recent poll put support for mandatory government filtering of child abuse material at 80 per cent. That’s a staggeringly high approval rating for any policy that does not involve handing out wads of free money. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-conroy-filter-critics-should-censor-themselves/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/stephen-conroy-filter-critics-should-censor-themselves/#item2789 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-believe-the-myths-on-the-isp-filter/ There is a lot of misinformation circulating about the Government’s ISP-level filtering proposal and Eliza Cussen was right to warn people they shouldn’t believe everything they hear or read (Top Ten Internet Filter Lies, 25 March 2010). Unfortunately her article repeated some of the misinformation and I’d like to outline the facts. The Government has always maintained there is no silver bullet when it comes to cyber safety and we have never said ISP-level filtering alone would help fight child pornography or keep children safe online. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-believe-the-myths-on-the-isp-filter/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-believe-the-myths-on-the-isp-filter/#item2779 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/us-concerns-on-stephen-conroy-isp-filter/ The Obama administration has questioned the Rudd Government’s plan to introduce an internet filter on the grounds that it runs contrary to stated US foreign policy of using an open internet to spread economic growth and global security. The US State Department has told The Punch its officials have raised concerns about the filter with Australian counterparts, as America mounts a new diplomatic assault on internet censorship by governments worldwide. Asked about the US view on the filter plan US State Department spokesman Noel Clay said: “The US and Australia are close partners on issues related to cyber matters generally, including national security and economic issues. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/us-concerns-on-stephen-conroy-isp-filter/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/us-concerns-on-stephen-conroy-isp-filter/#item2723 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place? http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/google-view-on-isp-filtering/ If we were cavemen and we came across a sabre tooth tiger, what would we do? Let’s hope we’d run. We’d know to run if we possessed important information - big cats have big teeth. Cavemen who didn’t have that information wouldn’t have run and wouldn’t have propagated. Information is fundamental to survival and well-being. Today we live in an incredible era of information. A quarter of the world is online. This number is growing quickly and the amount of information we consume is ballooning. The openness of the Internet gives extraordinary access to information and this is a powerful force for good. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Tory Shepherd) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/google-view-on-isp-filtering/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/google-view-on-isp-filtering/#item2722 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:45:28 +0000 In recent months, and especially the last week, there has been a noticeable shift in public sentiment against Facebook. The controversy surrounding the company’s decision to change its privacy settings have been further amplified by the murder of 18-year-old Nona Belomesoff. As I write a Pakistani court has banned Facebook in the entire country over a page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed. But since when did all this become Facebook’s fault? Why do we put such an onus on a corporation to act so responsibly with our details rather than questioning our acquiescence to handing over that information in the first place? Why is it we seem to be laying a portion of blame on Facebook for awful human behaviour rather than questioning where it grew from in the first place?