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.

The images will be live, a direct feed from Seven’s television broadcast.

According to the The Australian, the deal cost Telstra $9 million, and it comes with a number of restrictions. It appears likely, for instance, that Telstra will not be able to run its own ads, but will instead take a direct feed from Channel Seven, including all advertisements.

It will definitely be interesting to see how well the Next G network holds up under the load. Telstra’s current Mobile TV offering are severely time-limited – you can only watch 200 minutes per month with the current Foxtel on Next G service, for example. The assumption behind this, we guess, is that people will watch the TV at different times, so the load on the network is balanced over the course of the month.

What may well happen with the Olympics, however, is that certain events – say the 100M Mens Freestyle Swimming Final – are likely to cause massive viewing spikes. If Next G can handle that, then it should be well-placed for television viewing in the future.

That assumes, of course, that the service is so reasonably priced that more than a few dozen people are willing to actually pay for it. But this is Telstra, so who knows? [The Australian]

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.

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.

Conroy is likening the move to digital TV to the 1966 switch to decimal currently. Of course, if you think it’s weird that he’s talking like this now, you’re not alone. There’s a definite sense of déjà vu here.

The original plan for digital television in Australia was to have us 100% digital by the end of this year, at which point analogue TV would be switched off and the analogue spectrum returned to the government. Of course, even as early as 2005, it was pretty clear that wasn’t going to happen. TVs with integrated digital tuners were glacially slow to appear, and people were disinclined to throw their old TV out until it broke. And few people were much interested in another set-top box in their loungeroom.

So the deadline has been pushed back and pushed back, with a new initiative to promote digital TV every few years. The current deadline is five years later than the original deadline, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are even more deadline extensions.

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]

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.