Posts by Nathan Taylor
Games
1:56PM Nathan Taylor | So the Standing Committee of Attorneys General is meeting today, and up for grabs is the long-debated adult R18+ rating for games in Australia. We’ve heard no news from the meeting yet, but my hopes aren’t high.
In spite of some pretty fierce public criticism, the South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson has maintained his opposition to the rating, and given unanimous support is required, we very much doubt that anything is going to change. Still, we’ll keep you posted as news comes out.
Update: Well, nothing conclusive came of the meeting, but it turned out rather better than I’d hoped for. The attorneys general have decided to enter a process of public consultation on the matter, and are expected to have a consultation paper ready for the next SCAG meeting (the Standing Committee meets three times a year). In its coverage of the story, the SMH notes that a 2005 study by Bond University found that 88% of the population think that there should be an R18+ rating, so it would at least seem that the odds of a public consultation leading to a positive decision are pretty good. But you can be sure, however, that some very loud conservative interest groups such as the Australian Family Association will weigh in on the matter as well.
The details on the method of public consultation have yet to be finalised.
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Fate of R18+ Game Rating Being Decided Today
1:56PM Nathan Taylor | So the Standing Committee of Attorneys General is meeting today, and up for grabs is the long-debated adult R18+ rating for games in Australia. We’ve heard no news from the meeting yet, but my hopes aren’t high.
In spite of some pretty fierce public criticism, the South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson has maintained his opposition to the rating, and given unanimous support is required, we very much doubt that anything is going to change. Still, we’ll keep you posted as news comes out.
Update: Well, nothing conclusive came of the meeting, but it turned out rather better than I’d hoped for. The attorneys general have decided to enter a process of public consultation on the matter, and are expected to have a consultation paper ready for the next SCAG meeting (the Standing Committee meets three times a year). In its coverage of the story, the SMH notes that a 2005 study by Bond University found that 88% of the population think that there should be an R18+ rating, so it would at least seem that the odds of a public consultation leading to a positive decision are pretty good. But you can be sure, however, that some very loud conservative interest groups such as the Australian Family Association will weigh in on the matter as well.
The details on the method of public consultation have yet to be finalised.
More » 
Networks
1:10PM Nathan Taylor | Telstra has just signed a deal with channel Seven that will bring the Beijing Olympics to a small screen near year. The Olympics will be available for viewing by owners of 3G mobiles connected to the Next G network, although the pricing for this service has not been revealed.
The images will be live, a direct feed from Seven’s television broadcast. More »
The Olympics Coming Live to Telstra Mobile
1:10PM Nathan Taylor | Telstra has just signed a deal with channel Seven that will bring the Beijing Olympics to a small screen near year. The Olympics will be available for viewing by owners of 3G mobiles connected to the Next G network, although the pricing for this service has not been revealed.
The images will be live, a direct feed from Seven’s television broadcast. More »
Phones
Rumour Mill: Apple Places Order for 10 Million 3G iPhones
12:54PM Nathan Taylor | We’ve suspected for some time that we won’t get the iPhone in Australia until a 3G version is released (GPRS being so five years ago here). Now there’s a rumour going around that Apple has already placed an order for 10 million of this next generation 3G iPhone with its manufacturing partners. This order has allegedly been spurred on by the unexpectedly poor sales for the GPRS iPhone in Europe. More »
Online
12:17PM Nathan Taylor | It’s not quite as funny as MoanMyIP.com, but brrpr.com is still virtually guaranteed to get a laugh in the office, as it burps out your current IP address or any other string of letters you care to turn into burp-speak. [Compiler]
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Brrpr.com Will Burp Your IP Address For You
12:17PM Nathan Taylor | It’s not quite as funny as MoanMyIP.com, but brrpr.com is still virtually guaranteed to get a laugh in the office, as it burps out your current IP address or any other string of letters you care to turn into burp-speak. [Compiler]
More »
Breakfast Wrap
9:35AM Nathan Taylor | NVIDIA Responsible for Nearly 30% of Vista Crashes in 2007
Though Microsoft can’t escape all the blame.
Apple Patents Nike + iPod on Steroids: It Wants to Pump You Up
Yet another Apple patent that may or may not lead to something tangible.
Scientist’s New Solar Panel Tech: Paint Your Home For Power
It’s not exactly efficient, but if it’s cheap enough it could be a revolution.
XO OLPC Overclocked: Now it Means Business (Kind of)
For those that simply must hack everything they own.
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Breakfast Wrap: Best of Thursday Night
9:35AM Nathan Taylor | NVIDIA Responsible for Nearly 30% of Vista Crashes in 2007
Though Microsoft can’t escape all the blame.
Apple Patents Nike + iPod on Steroids: It Wants to Pump You Up
Yet another Apple patent that may or may not lead to something tangible.
Scientist’s New Solar Panel Tech: Paint Your Home For Power
It’s not exactly efficient, but if it’s cheap enough it could be a revolution.
XO OLPC Overclocked: Now it Means Business (Kind of)
For those that simply must hack everything they own.
More »
Entertainment
4:17PM Nathan Taylor | Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has just announced a $37.9 million dollar plan to get us to all switch off our analogue TV sets by the end of 2013 and move to 100% digital reception.
That money is going to market research ($4.8 million), a taskforce to co-ordinate the switch ($16.9 million), developing a “digital-ready” logo for equipment ($6.7 million), research into digital reception on shared antennas ($1 million), and the remaining $8.5 million will go to ACMA (The Australian Communications and Media Authority) for evaluation of digital transmission and reception.
More »
Government to Switch Off Analogue TV by 2013, and This Time They’re Serious
4:17PM Nathan Taylor | Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has just announced a $37.9 million dollar plan to get us to all switch off our analogue TV sets by the end of 2013 and move to 100% digital reception.
That money is going to market research ($4.8 million), a taskforce to co-ordinate the switch ($16.9 million), developing a “digital-ready” logo for equipment ($6.7 million), research into digital reception on shared antennas ($1 million), and the remaining $8.5 million will go to ACMA (The Australian Communications and Media Authority) for evaluation of digital transmission and reception.
More »
Software
3:27PM Nathan Taylor | APC has a speculative piece on the future of the Windows 7 interface (Windows 7 is the successor to Vista, which should appear some time in 2010). According to the article, the Windows 7 interface will incorporate a “markup-based UI” built on XML, potentially similar to the ribbon and jewel interface of Microsoft Office 2007. The article infers this from a job advertisment posted by Microsoft, which is looking for a new UI developer.
Not everybody, of course, is a huge fan of the Office ribbon. Let’s hope that if Microsoft does incorporate elements of the ribbon into the core Windows UI, that they do some work to clean it up. And please, give those of us who like our drop-down menus the option to keep them. [apcmag.com]
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Windows 7 Interface To Look Like the Office 2007 Ribbon?
3:27PM Nathan Taylor | APC has a speculative piece on the future of the Windows 7 interface (Windows 7 is the successor to Vista, which should appear some time in 2010). According to the article, the Windows 7 interface will incorporate a “markup-based UI” built on XML, potentially similar to the ribbon and jewel interface of Microsoft Office 2007. The article infers this from a job advertisment posted by Microsoft, which is looking for a new UI developer.
Not everybody, of course, is a huge fan of the Office ribbon. Let’s hope that if Microsoft does incorporate elements of the ribbon into the core Windows UI, that they do some work to clean it up. And please, give those of us who like our drop-down menus the option to keep them. [apcmag.com]
More »
Computers
2:38PM Nathan Taylor | It’s clearly a day for futurist pieces. Computerworld is running a great feature on futuristic notebook designs, with plenty of art to accompany it. There are flat, tablet, sliding, screenless and solar-powered models on display. Check it out. [Computerworld] More »
The Notebooks of 2015 Revealed
2:38PM Nathan Taylor | It’s clearly a day for futurist pieces. Computerworld is running a great feature on futuristic notebook designs, with plenty of art to accompany it. There are flat, tablet, sliding, screenless and solar-powered models on display. Check it out. [Computerworld] More »
Software
2:05PM Nathan Taylor | If you have no idea what Document Freedom Day is, then you’re probably not alone. According to the official Web site, it’s “a global day for document liberation. It will be a day of grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of Free Document Formats and Open Standards in general.”Now we were initially inclined to write this whole thing off as the invention of a cabal of open source fanatics, but apparently it actually has some heavy hitters behind it, including Google, which is hosting an event in Sydney tonight featuring senator Kate Lundy (the former shadow comms minister) and David Vaile (head of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre).Now I’m not sure how the rest of us are supposed to celebrate DFD, but I guess we could make an effort to install Open Office on as many PCs as possible, or send a letter to Microsoft asking it to support the Open Document Format. [DocumentFreedomDay via Ars Technica] More »
March 26: The First Annual Document Freedom Day
2:05PM Nathan Taylor | If you have no idea what Document Freedom Day is, then you’re probably not alone. According to the official Web site, it’s “a global day for document liberation. It will be a day of grassroots effort to educate the public about the importance of Free Document Formats and Open Standards in general.”Now we were initially inclined to write this whole thing off as the invention of a cabal of open source fanatics, but apparently it actually has some heavy hitters behind it, including Google, which is hosting an event in Sydney tonight featuring senator Kate Lundy (the former shadow comms minister) and David Vaile (head of the Cyberspace Law and Policy Centre).Now I’m not sure how the rest of us are supposed to celebrate DFD, but I guess we could make an effort to install Open Office on as many PCs as possible, or send a letter to Microsoft asking it to support the Open Document Format. [DocumentFreedomDay via Ars Technica] More »
Breakfast Wrap
9:52AM Nathan Taylor | Motorola Chops Off Handset Division
Letter from a Moto Insider: How Stupid Execs Ran Moto Into the Ground
It’s over for Motorola.
Shepherd Sues Russian Space Agency For Dropped Rocket Debris
It’s clearly not a good idea to live near a rocket launch site.
Super 3G Successfully Tested (at 250Mbps)
That’s fast indeed.
Eee PC Touchscreen Coming This Summer, Asus Confirms
And the Eee PC variations continue to multiply.
More »
Breakfast Wrap: Best of Wednesday Night
9:52AM Nathan Taylor | Motorola Chops Off Handset Division
Letter from a Moto Insider: How Stupid Execs Ran Moto Into the Ground
It’s over for Motorola.
Shepherd Sues Russian Space Agency For Dropped Rocket Debris
It’s clearly not a good idea to live near a rocket launch site.
Super 3G Successfully Tested (at 250Mbps)
That’s fast indeed.
Eee PC Touchscreen Coming This Summer, Asus Confirms
And the Eee PC variations continue to multiply.
More » 