All in the name of the Children

Senator Conroy's plan to filter the net in Australia caught the attention of the Leo and the gang on TWiT, the clip is embedded below.

My understanding of the intent of the filter is that it is part of a Cyber-Safety Plan to protect people, and especially children, from being subjected to the worst of human depravity. I agree with the intent. I agree that if public money is to be spent, it should be spent on law enforcement and education, and it is law enforcement and education that the other elements of the cyber safety plan concentrate on.

My issue with is the ISP based internet filtering. And that filtering is based on building a black list from content that is refused classification by the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA). Plus trusted foreign black lists could be incorporated (Part 2, Option 4 of the Consultation Paper on this matter).

I have concerns that should this insanity occur will a citizen:

• know if they attempt to launch a blocked site?


• have access to an appeals process?

Regarding the technology I have a concern about the ineffectiveness the technology will be against those who intend to access the blocked offensive material. My understanding is a system blocking URLs at the ISP could be bypassed via proxies and/or vpn (plus other solutions other savvy net users will find). So ISP based filtering will create issues for people without the intent to view such material, while not preventing the distribution of the offensive materials.

Regarding the potential abuse of power I have a concern that other criteria can be added to the black list.  Materials that should be available on free speech grounds could be blocked, and the less savvy net user would have no idea they are being blocked from accessing these sites.

Regarding legal implications I have a concern that putting these requirements onto ISPs could make them the de facto regulator of content on line. Currently ISPs are consider carriers of packets and no more, similar to the postal system, they do not have responsibility for the content of the packets moving through the system. Once the ISP have some responsibility for packet content, it could be the thin edge of the wedge for making ISPs responsible for all content. Regulatory compliance will add to the cost of the internet for Australian citizens.

Regarding cost of the bureaucracy I have a concern that the ACMA will not be able to keep up with citizen requests for sites to be blocked. An agency that traditionally reviews film and literature will need to keep up with magnitudes of content that gets on the net, this is orders of magnitude greater than then the literature and film created each year. Plus there will be a multiplier as multiple URLs can point to the same content.

My final concern is that with technology that a savvy net user can bypass, or if blocked sites have a standard warning page (Part 2, Option 3 of the Consultation Paper on this matter), the black list can be reversed engineered. This will draw attention to the depravity that people put on line, completely defeating the intent of the Cyber-Safety Plan.

If you're an Australian citizen, check out the Consultation Paper and provide your input. Also EFA's site on the matter, nocleanfeed.com, for other actions you can take [full disclosure, I'm not connected with EFA in any way].

If you live elsewhere; be vigilant of your government or internet industry (as corporations could be doing this without legislative mandate) attempting to clean your internet feed.

 

Hacking

I've joined Perth's Hack Lab known as The Artifactory.

My first personal project is to make a steadicam for my next DLSR, which will have video capabilities, and for use with my iPhone when capturing video.  The steadicam may have a resemblance to the Merlin.

Cost of Power

A comparison of electricity costs (from a pro nuke stance)- http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf02.html

The difficulty of wanting to make an informed decision on electricity will be getting my head around the differences in the way the economics are presented so that I can do an apples v apples comparison instead of apples v oranges.

Nukes

I went to the town hall debate on nuclear power last night. The debate got me thinking about what option is the best on a triple-bottom line per unit enegry produced. Previouly I had collected some data on the economic, social and environmental costs of nuclear, coal and solar power. It maybe time to drag that data and fill the gaps so I can make a decision on which side to support based on data.

Fly me to the moon...

Well not exactly the moon, I was flying home from Canarvan on a Fokker 50 when the attached photo was taken. The coast line is incredible.

A long 20 minutes

I'm using the new app from Jamie Oliver, 20 Minute Meals [itunes link]. The first meal took much longer than 20 minutes, but I'm still to implement all of Jamie's recommendations to speed up the kitchen and improve my knive skills.

Time Suck

So much for SquareSpace's iPhone app making for more frequent posts. I'm finding I click on the GeoDefence icon before getting to the SquareSpace one.

Will I post more?

Squarespace have just made it easier to manage your Squarespace hosted site with the free iPhone app. I'm not sure whether lowering the barrier to post so that any andom thought can easily become a post is a good thing.
I'd like the app to remember what you were looking at or editing before closing and resuming at that point when opening the app later. I've already lost a potential post by accidently closing the app.
As to more posts, I like the idea of easily getting a photo (or screen grab) from my phone to my blog.

Scott Adams on Managers

The latest Dilbert may or may not relate to my work.

 

Leo Laporte on Failure

Hmmm... failure that leads to success has captured my interested lately.  Leo talks at an Online News Associated event about how a career of failure has allowed for the success of TWiT.  The talk also goes into business viability and some details about the cash flow for his current network and his previous employers.  I'm a bit of business-nerd and find these business details interesting.

 

Scott Adams draws the truth

Two recent Dilbert cartoons speak the truth...

 

 

JMS on Failure

J. Michael Straczynski discusses failure and then answers lots of interesting questions at his Julius Schwartz Lecture, which is viewable on MIT TechTV.  Warning it is a long video (approx 2 hours).

 

Power of Corporate Apathy

I just stumbled upon Ron Avitzur's story of Graphing Calculator on the mac.  He and a fellow former Apple contractor continued to sneak into Apple's main offices for months after being fired to complete a project for the PowerPC back in 1993 & 1994.  I would like to work on something so interesting that I'd be willing to work for free to ensure it is completed.

Ron's comments on the power in corporate relationships is interesting when you don't have real authority in a company:

I view the events as an experiment in subverting power structures. I had none of the traditional power over others that is inherent to the structure of corporations and bureaucracies. I had neither budget nor headcount. I answered to no one, and no one had to do anything I asked. Dozens of people collaborated spontaneously, motivated by loyalty, friendship, or the love of craftsmanship. We were hackers, creating something for the sheer joy of making it work.

His comments on corporate bureaucracy unfortunately ring true:

The people in charge of the PowerPC project, upon which the company's future depended, couldn't get us badges without a purchase order. They couldn't get a purchase order without a signed contract. They couldn't get a contract without approval from Legal, and if Legal heard the truth, we'd be escorted out of the building.

This story was presented by Ron at Google in 2006 (embedded below), it is essentially the same story from the web site with more background information.  The "power of corporate apathy" comes from the video.  It is one attribute of a corporation that allowed for these hackers to develop something for so long without being kicked out of the Apple campus.

 

Squirrel

Saw Pixar's new movie Up yesterday.  In 3D.  The 3D was used well, not as gimmicky as other 3D movies I've seen.

And I thing the reason for the 3D working so well in Up was it complimented a great story.  I still think The Incredibles is my favourite Pixar movie, but Up is a very close second.

One little part of Up that cracked me up was how the dog's were imbued with personalities that I've seen in real dogs.  Some friends and I often provide commentary on what we think their dogs are thinking (does this make us crazy?).  Now we have the tangential "squirrel" to throw into the dog's commentary, or as we don't have squirrel's down under, maybe it will be "possum".

 

Rain, rain, go away...

I was riding home from dinner at my sister's when rain hit; rather furiously. So I've retreated to the train system to get home.

 Earlier I shot some photos with my phone. I hope the captured just how strong the wind & rain is.

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Wet Friday Night

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Ellis Valley

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Hmmmmm.... Coffee

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Form over function: Does powerpoint result in dumber decisions?

I was forwarded a link to an article on SmartPlanet that proposes:

• Dumber decisions are made due to power point, example being the military;
  
  
  
  • Officer used to make 2 - 4 decision per day
  
  
  • Today important decisions are presented in 20 - 60 slides
  
  
  • Previously decisions were consultative and deliberate vs today's immediate and broadcasted
  
  
  
  

The use of dot points is a deliberate attempt at irony, not that I've been brainwashed due to years of prepairing and absorbing such presentations.

I really found two points ideas (maybe I have been brainwashed by powerpoint) that stuck with me. The first is from retired Marine Colonel T.X. Hammes lamenting on the use of powerpoint may have resulted in the oversimplification of the issues involved in a decision:

“Bullets are not the same as complete sentences, which require developing coherent thoughts. Instead of forcing officers to learn the art of summarizing complex issues into coherent arguments, staff work now places a premium on slide building,”

The second idea that will stick with me is the effort being placed in powerpoint maybe as much as the effort that used to be placed in making deliberate decisions.  So it is possible that we are not gaining efficiency from the powerpoint process.  Any efficiency gain is that some lower level staffer can prepare the powerpoint from an outline of an immediate decision, instead of the decision maker spending time considering the matter.  Resulting in form of presenting a decision being more important than the function of the decision.

And I'm wondering if Scott Adams read any of the same pieces given his latest comic:

InBox Zero

When I discovered there are these independent (although now more commercially focused) audio shows distributed over the internet directly to iTunes, yes I'm writing about podcasts, one of the first tech related podcasts I listened to was This Week in Tech (TWiT). One of the contributors to TWiT is Merlin Mann. And for this guy I found out about the most powerful tool for being an "information worker" - InBox Zero. I was in a new job for about 6 months when the google video on InBox Zero appeared on the web, so I only had several thousands emails in my inbox. Implementing InBox Zero was needed to reinstate some sanity when it came to email.

 These days emails are so under control they represent only 30 minutes per day of work; yet in that 30 minutes I deal with the 30 or so emails that made it through my various filters. The email filters remove the less important non-work related email from my attention. The stuff from friends is auto forwarded to my personal account. The stuff I'm CC'ed on or I get because I'm on some corporate mailing list (basically the "For Your Information" emails) go to a folder that I quickly scan on a Friday afternoon and then flush. I have an important rule with email; if you want me to take action include me in the "To" field, don't "CC" me on an email requiring action and expect something to be done. This rule has burnt me twice in two years, which is less painful than the hours of scouring hundreds of emails per week.

 So back to Merlin Mann. He disappeared from the podcasts I listened to. Apparently hiding away working on a project and only surfacing on the net to do the You Look Nice Today podcast (which I subscribe to, but rarely listen to). The project turns out to be a book on InBox Zero. It is incredible about what you can an advance for. I kid, the concepts he discusses in the video about the book are sound, but I'm not going to be able to succinctly describe it here (as I regularly fail at being succinct in my posts). So if you want a corner name for the process of getting something done with the masses of information you need to process and then potentially act on check out the videos embedded in this post.

 

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District 9

This movie has the balance of making you think and action like a computer game.

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Maltese Falcon

I recently stumbled across TED - www.ted.com

 This is a dangerous website. Videos from the TED conferences; which I'm now convinced I want to go to.

 In the piles of videos I found Adam Savage's obsessions presentation, the video below. I suffer from the same appreciation of "objects and the stories that they tell", unfortunately unlike Adam Savage I lack the skills to build or sculpt them.

 Also for those who haven't met me (the 6 billion plus of you out there) I talk at the same pace as Adam does in this video.

 

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Aussie Public Debt Accrual

 I enjoy the works of 10,000 pennies on YouTube. His explanation of large numbers and highlighting the issues in "political math" are interesting. The video above is a particular favourite, so much so I've tracked down the data to do a version for Australian national public debt.

 For comparison purposes I've normalised the gross debt for inflation. Like 10,000 pennies I have not considered the GDP (an indicator of the ability to pay back the debt) nor net debt, as the Australian Federal Government lends money to the states and thus the federal government is at times a middle-man to the state's debt.

 While ours (Australia's) debt accrual is not at as dramatic as that for the US, I have been surprised in a few places. Now that I've done the number crunching, I need to come up with the route across the country to make the presentation interesting.

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iPhone and study

I wish the iPhone and 3G data networks were developed 10 years ago when I was studying full-time. I've been working on a project and needed some information; the only university with it readily available is Murdoch. So I went to the library and took pictures with the iPhone. Then uploaded those images to EverNote. I get home to the notes being on my desktop and as they've been OCRed by EverNote, I can search for content in the pictures. Although I wouldn't have been able to afford this technology as a student, so it is probably a moot point.

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Bicycle for your mind

A cool video about how Steve Jobs saw computing years ago; as the tool that allows our brains to achieve more. Now that we jump at our computers beck and call (from emails, alarms reminding us of meetings, net based workflow at work), I wonder if we are the tools that will allow computers to achieve more.

 

 I wouldn't have been aware of this video if it wasn't for yesterday's post on MacTalk - http://www.mactalk.com.au/2009/08/12/youtube-wednesday-blast-from-the-past/

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New Comic Pic

Some days there is nothing better to day then play with Photo Booth on the iMac. Damn rain on my day off.

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Epic Fail

I've just watched Adam Savage's Defcon 19 talk.  The talk was about the importance of failure and how it shaped his career.  I find it conflicting that failure is important to growth, yet there are very few environments that allow for failure.  Although maybe the lesson is only learnt when the consequences of the failure are felt.  And failure safe environments only bread more failure instead of teaching lessons from failure.

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Test photo boo

via AudioBoo

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Around the World in 80 Hours

I ordered a bunch of t-shirts from Think Geek.  The shirts went from Edison, New Jersey, to Perth, Western Australia (via Germany, India, Thailand and Singapore) in less than 80 hours.  I still find how small the world really is incredible.

Beatles Rock

I've avoided Guitar Hero and Rock Band, as they look like incredible time-sinks.  Although The Beatles Rockband maybe enough to get me to spend the dosh needed for plastic guitars and drums.

 

 

H1N1 Flu 2009 fudge factor

I'm stuck in my house with the flu.  It's got me thinking about what the "fudge factor" between the number of confirmed cases of any transmittable disease and the total number in the general population.  Typically a flu diagnosis wouldn't involve a test for the strain.  But this year's new entrant into the list of pandemic influenza had health officials testing everyone presenting with flu symptoms.  At least for a short time it did.  Now that we know H1N1 2009 is mild in most cases and that the strain of flu doesn't effect the recommendation in mild cases - rest, drink plenty of fluids & avoid other people - the swabs for testing have stopped those with mild cases.

The lack of test was my experience the other day; I started coming down with symptoms associated with the flu on Thursday.  But as I had been trying to shake a head cold I didn't think anything of the symptoms.  Then Friday I woke up with a fever, I was lethargic (more than normal) and had a headache.  Since I had the flu shot this season I was a little concerned that if I had the flu it would be this new strain and that I didn't want to spread it.  I was lucky to get a booking with my GP (that's a General Practitioner of Medicine for that one reader outside of Australia) early afternoon.  The doc said it presented like a mild case of the flu but they weren't swabbing [for testing] since the advice doesn't change.

So I'm isolated this weekend.  Which normally I'd read or get lost in thought, but both these trigger the headaches.  Writing the last few posts haven't helped with the headache either.

So back to my question; what is the "fudge factor" between confirmed cases and the total number of infected in the general population?  Does anyone do research in this area?

Sirens

I'm stuck at home on a Saturday night.  Since I'm a home-body anyway, this doesn't bother me so much.  What is getting on my nerves are the flu symptoms (fever, headache, nose running like an open tap) and the sirens.  At first I thought I was hearing things.  But there must be something happening in Maylands tonight as the multiple emergency vehicles have been rushing to somewhere near-by.  Nothing on the news sites yet. 

Perth around sunset

Occasionally I get out around the Swan River to take the typical Perth sunset photos.  Below are two of my favourites.

Sunset behind the WACA

Yaughts on the Swan

Imported Bakery Items

How does it make financial sense for bakery items at Woolworths in Perth, Western Australia (one of the most isolated cities in the world) to be imported from the USA, UK and South Africa?

Are our bakers being paid so much, or foriegn first-ish world bakers paid so little, that the product can be prepared, frozen (I guess) and flown (I hope they aren't frozen for weeks at sea) around the world.

Can anyone explain that to me?

Email protocols

I used to be a slave to the machine that went bing. A noise or pop-upscreen would notify me of a new message and like Pavlov's dog I'd raceto my in box, read and respond quickly. I thought I was getting thingsdone quickly and thus efficiently. How wrong was I? Very wrong. Andit appears several people I know, plus many that I listen to and read via podcast and blog respectively, have come to the same conclusion. By responding quickly and occasionally initiating an email war I was wasting large amounts of time as I had to stop and start what I was already working on.

There was a big change at work early this year, the government department I work for has been chopped up, repackage and rebranded.  Part of the change involved me being moved from one network to another where I would be dealing with a fresh install of Outlook. This was an opportunity to introduce all the changes to email that I had experimented with on the previous work machine, but hadn't bedded down properly.
This is how I deal with email at work:

• Scheduled email to 3 half hour appointments per day (first thing, lunch and end of day) - I do not check or respond to email outside of these times, any excess is left to the next session.


• Rules move all email where I'm not in the "To" field to a "CC" folder and email from friends (as checked against a friends group in my contacts) to a "Friends" folder and forwarded to a personal email address - this way I only deal with work emails that are sent to me directly (I check the CC once every few days).


• I draft responses during one session and send in the next - thisforces some time to consider the language being used because as aregulator my words can carry more force than intended (this has reducedthe email wars considerably).

There are the occasional exceptions. An emergency breaks out and I need to "live" in the inbox for the "real time" updates, but after the emergency I get back into the routine described above.
An unexpected consequence of the change in my personal email protocols is my email load has reduced, as those who were using my for a quick answer to a question have now learnt they will wait a while, so they must be trying someone else.

New iPhone

I was pushed (although it didn't take much after seeing the new iPhone 3GS) to get another phone for personal use. One of the minor perks of my current job was the phone. Now the bureaucracy to make a few personal calls is frustrating.

So on Saturday I went to Optus World, in Carousel (Cannington, Western Australia), was signed up on a plan within 20 minutes and the phone was active within an hour.

As I'm plugged into the interwebs I knew the issues with plans and costs in the US and UK.  It is interesting to be in a country where there is competition on the iPhone, so there are a range of plans with no up front costs and a reasonable quantity of calls/text included.  The data included is OK compared to rest of the world; but it is unlikely we'll see "unlimited" data offered here in Oz.

In Australia Apple is now selling the iPhone unlocked on the web store.

Water ingress by design

We (those living in Perth) have had some "weather" recently.  The storms over the last few weeks have been really impressive.  On Sunday night there was so much rain that it found a way in to my dining area, which is where my computer is set up (check my bio, I am a geek).

It wasn't much water and the rain was severe, so I thought it had found a gap.  But to be certain I called the strata manager and a trades person checked the roof where the leak occurred.  My place is one of six units and the water entered through a gap in the roof and a wall.  There is a hidden gutter that overflowed and this gutter is not damaged.  So there is a scenario of extremely heavy rain where I should expect water ingress.

I'm planning on a kitchen renovation, so I think I need to budget having capping placed over that hidden gutter to dramatically reduce the number of scenarios where water will find it's way into my home.

 

Note to self

It's been a while and I just wanted to note for myself intended topics for the next few posts: new iPhone and apps that I use; lessens learnt from crawling through a roof space; and, heavy rain and high winds will find the gaps in your roof tiles.

Regarding the last point I'm about to shut down my computer, as last night the extremely heavy rains backed by high winds found a gap in the roof and water ran down the wall behind my computer.  This wall also accommodates other electronics and a bookshelf of expensive text books.  So once I finish this post I'm back to moving everything away from the wall.

Hope you're doing something more interesting this evening.

Lighting a Predator

It's Friday night and Perth is being battered by wind and rain.  I'm fighting off the start of a cold.  So I really didn't feel like going out.

And if I'm staying in there are new toys in my camera bag, a flash (Canon's Speedlite 580 EXII) and a wireless trigger system for said flash (Elimchrom Skyport system), that I need to get my head around.

Soon I was asking the question: what subject should I use for testing the flash?  Well since there is a distinct lack of models around my apartment I had to settle for something a little more disconcerting.  The Predator.  Not an actual predator, but a figure sculpted from scrap metal by a junk craftsman in Thailand.  Thanks to some good friends who bought this for me when they cruised through that part of the world last year.

I'm not going to post a gallery as most of the shots are under or over exposed, as I was experimenting with the light - which is code for not knowing what I'm doing.  After a while I did manage to get the cool shot below.

 

McG

McG, among other things the director of Terminator Salvation, has destroyed the dystopian vision glimpsed at in Terminator 2.  He appears to have a preference for ripping off effects from Transformers and Blade Runner.

Friends

This post isn't about the TV show, but about the people you are lucky enough to have as friends.  But this post is about a TV, The West Wing, and a particular quote.

The West Wing is one of my favourite TV shows, along with Babylon 5, Battlestar Galatica (recent version) and Firefly, it is a show I actually like rewatching.  A few weeks ago I started watching from the beginning.  And the season 1 episode titled "He Shall, from Time to Time..." included back and forth between the President and the Secretary of Agriculture (SoA).  The SoA was not allowed to attended the State of the Union as virtually the rest of the executive branch would be present and should something happen to everyone at the State of the Union there would be a need for someone to run the country.

So the back and forth between these two men was about what the SoA should do if he found himself in charge of the US, the lines were:

President Josiah Bartlet: First thing always is national security. Get your commanders together. Appoint Joint Chiefs, appoint a chairman. Take us to defcon 4. Have the governors send emergency delegates to Washington. The assistant Attorney General is going to be the Acting A.G. If he tells you he wants to bring out the National Guard, do what he tells you. You got a best friend?

Secretary of Agriculture Roger Tribbey: Yes, sir. 

President Josiah Bartlet: Is he smarter than you? 

Secretary of Agriculture Roger Tribbey: Yes, sir. 

President Josiah Bartlet: Would you trust him with your life? 

Secretary of Agriculture Roger Tribbey: Yes, sir. 

President Josiah Bartlet: That's your chief of staff. 

So the quote above got me thinking; the difficulty I would find myself in this situation is having to choose one of several close friends who are smarter than I and who I would also trust with my life as my best friend.

 

Pick me

Canon is running a contest as part of their World of EOS site.  The contest, called Photo Chains, involve adding a photo to the hero chain (you'll need to check out the World of EOS site for more information).  People submit photos on the current theme and everyone (who registers) gets to vote.  And for the current theme of Birds Eye, I submitted a photo.

I was going to do a shameless please pick me post.  But after looking at the competition I don't think that is fair.

I now think I should of cropped the photo I submitted to the action in the middle of the shot, which is what I've done in the picture below.

So if you can be bothered to register with World of EOS and vote please do.  I'd actually prefer you vote the photo that you like the best.  If that happens to be mine, all the better.

Social Media Thingy

I'm starting to figure out what I want to do with my "web presence".  My twitter will be for interesting quotes and things I want to remember.  Facebook will be what I'm doing that maybe of interest to my friends (eg just finished listening to interesting podcast on such and such).  I may even use Flickr again.  But I want everything to be piped to a central location - preferable this website. 

So while I'm not excited about the name "lifestream", I looking forward Square Spaces next feature.  The examples that are on the web now look interesting.

Tick Tock

What's happening to this week.  I blink and it's Wednesday.  Enjoying the extra day off over the weekend (1 June was Foundation Day here in Western Australia) seems like a few hours ago.

Can who ever is speeding the clock up ease off a little bit.  That would be much appreciated.

I used to read more

I used to read more.  Recently I've found myself failing to get through Neal Stephenson's latest novel Anathem.  If you know the novel, you know it is big.  I'm wishing I had purchased an e-book version as the tome is sufficiently large not to be readily portable - eg I couldn't fit it into the glovebox of my car.

And maybe it is the shear size of the book that is putting me off.  While I have a book shelve full of similarly sized books, it has been years since I've tackled any of them.  I've have become used to dealing with text in small chunks - blog posts, wiki entries & the grand-master of minute muttering to the world; twitter.  Not only are these sources of text truncated, consuming such text is not as intensive as wading through the mind-bending universe that Stephenson has assembled.

To build up the reading muscles I'm gradually getting through Greg Egan's recent novel, Incandescence.  While not a giant book, the concepts in Incandescence are "out there".

I'm looking forward to getting back to the point where it doesn't take an eon to get through a good novel.

Perth Jazz Society

I've been meaning to get to the Charles Hotel on a Monday night for the live jazz presented by the Perth Jazz Society for a while.  I got there tonight to listen to the Joe Chindamo Quartet with Jamie Oehlers, Pete Jeavons, Ben Vanderwal.

It was a good night.  And I'll probably be back next Monday as it is the launch of Jazzaziz, a compilation CD of local jazz bands.

Weekly Photos

In my bio I mentioned I'd like to be using my camera and lens daily.  I rarely am that frequent with the photography.  To make sure I begin taking more photos I've decided to put a new gallery on line each week.  So this morning I took my camera with me to the Sunday markets.

On the way to markets the silhouette of the trees on the river at bridge crossing the Swab River caught my eye.  The rest of the photos (that I'm willing to upload) can be found here.  And there is a Google Street View of the bridge below.

View Larger Map

 

Car Pool: Stephen Fry

After my previous post I need to type about something more trivial.  Car Pool immediately came to mind.  Car Pool is a video podcast.  The podcast consists of Robert Llewellyn driving people around London around in his Toyota Prius.

The current episode has Stephen Fry as the passenger.  I know Stephen Fry from Blackadder; Jeeves and Wooster; and, a bunch of movies - the most recent I've heard him in is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (he was the narrator).

Given these two gentleman's comedy history (of which I've seen much) I found this episode of Car Pool excellent.  You can get this content either by streaming from blip.tv or subscribing (no cost involved) through iTunes.

One very unhappy person

Today my first aid training came into use.  Nothing heroic.  Just had to calm someone down while waiting for an ambulance.  And this stranger I was trying, rather unsuccessfully to calm down, has left me thinking about the inequality in the world.  So the following is an account of events that have left me so baffled...

Whilst walking home from a coffee shop a few blocks away I saw a guy fall flat on his face at a bus stop.  I was about 250 m away and the other side of the road.  I was half expecting one of the dozen people closer to guy than I was to come to his aid.  But no one did.

By the time I got to the bus stop the guy had sit up and then fallen again.  He fell again and stayed down.  Fortunately he continued to breath, as when I checked for breathing I almost fell over due to fumes.  He was drunk.

I didn't have my phone one me, so I called another passer by if he had a phone.  Which fortunately he stopped and made the call to 000 (that's the emergency number in Australia).  An ambulance and as it turned out an unmarked police car where on their way.

So over the next five or so minutes this guy regain sufficient faculties to try and stand.  Fortunately he listened to some advice and stayed seated on a park bench near-by.  During this period he told us (the passer-by with the phone and I) much, but this was all that was understandable:

1. He didn't want an ambulance, he wanted the Noongar Patrol.


2. Aboriginal people do not know where they fit anymore.


3. He had been drinking his whole life.


4. He wanted to dry out, but couldn't.


5. [After we offered suggestion of alcoholic support group] He didn't need help from us expletives beginning with A & C.


6. He wanted to kill us both.


7. He wanted to kill himself.

The ambulance and police arrive.  The ambulance officer knew this guy, he was a "regular".  Unfortunately this guy was abusive to all these people trying to help him.  Only verbally as he couldn't muster the co-ordination to actually swing his arm.  He must have been a regular to the emergency room and abusive to them also as one ambulance officer said to another that the hospital wouldn't take this guy anymore.

This situation has left me thinking how screwed up things are.  How screwed up this poor guy is.  At the same time he wants help, but can't accept the help put in front of him.

And I can see where he would be coming from.  The same set of institutions (law makers, police, etc) that once considered this guy less than human (which I'll qualify next sentence) are the ones who arrive lights blazing to provide aid.  The less than human explanation - before my time, back in 1969, a referendum was held to establish that aboriginals were to have all the same rights as everyone else in our society.  Prior to this they were covered by the Flora and Fauna Act.  And this guy was old enough that he was probably a child during the 1960's.

Somewhere in there he uses alcohol to free himself (I assumed) and he becomes another statistic.

I am lousy at knowing what to do with social problems like this.  Give me an engineering safety issue, an industrial risk management matter or even an energy supply problem and I can have a good stab at a solution based on science and engineering knowledge and experience in the field.  But social problems like this baffle me.

I am certainty glad that there are people in the ambulance and police services who are willing to take this on and to treat every cry for help seriously - particularly when there is no end in sight.

New Mouse: MX Revolution

After eight years solid service the right button on my old Logitech mouse stopped working.  This morning it was to my favourite computer shop - PLE - where the Logitech MX Revolution is on sale at the moment.

This is the first time I've used the Logitech Control Centre for my mac.  I used to do the button mapping through default system preferences available.  I've now learnt that was a mistake.  The default set-up for the new and old mice made more sense than anything I had done earlier.

Also the fly-wheel scroll wheel on this mouse is almost awesome.  I'm almost in awe of the fact no one has implemented this idea previously.

WTF: Everything is amazing, nobody is happy

Saw this clip on youtube... it explains much of what I feel about general populous right now.

Double Dissolution

Is it a media beat up or really the government's (Australia federal government that is) intent to force a double dissolution and thus an early election.  Last month it was alcopops tax and this week it is the budget.  It wouldn't surprise me if this is a media beat-up, but if it is really the government's intent what are they afraid of?  Why don't they want to see this term through to the full three years?.

Star Trek Rocked

Saw the new Star Trek movie tonight.  Incredible reboot to the franchise.  No spoilers here.  Go see the movie.  Now!

Easy come, easy go

So it is budget night in Australia.  No real surprises as everything significant was "leaked" earlier.  I was mildly surprised to see the mild tax cuts (increases in the 15c bracket and dropping the 40c bracket to 38c Update: struck summary of minor income tax cut as it is difficult to summarise the tax tables; check FY08/09 and FY09/10 tables) committed to in last years budget to come through.  I was less surprised to see a new means test on the private health care rebate.  The slight reduction in my PAYG tax will not cover the new premium I will incur from my health coverage provider.

Nor should it.  I expect to pay a more.  I've enjoyed a good education (not in the traditional sense, more in the modern mass produced technical training sense) partially paid for by the "state" and this education has allowed me to earn good money for what I do.  Combine the above with being single and I expect to pay more to the government for redistribution.  That's the social contract we have in this country. 

I just hope our government spends my money well.  That the infrastructure committed to produces benefit to the nation.  That the "national credit card" which is being flexed incredibly at the moment doesn't burden us unduly in the future.

Work Shoes

I needed new shoes for work.  I know this is mundane but stay with me.  I've been spending good money on shoes which have rubber soles.  These shoes now last me no more than a year.  I hadn't seen a cobbler in years, although it turns out a few are still around Perth, Western Australia.  The one I found is Anastazi Shoes located at 9 Padbury Tce, Midland.

 

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The shoes are made locally (in store) and are comparably priced should a stock pair fit you.  They will also do custom leather shoes and boots.

I almost didn't find the shop as their entry in White Pages is wrong and they lack a presence on the web.  It is listed as the plural Anastazis Shoes and thus searching the actual name didn't work.  White Pages searching is near useless.

Buying a Monopoly

Our (Australia's) former monopoly telephone provider, Telstra, is building a new monopoly.  Smart Communities is Telstra getting involved with property developers to provide the phone, TV (free and pay) and broadband via optical fibre to the residence.  My favourite forum for broadband, Whirlpool, has a bunch of discussions about the good and bad of this situation.

So a family member is building a home in one of these communities.  Given there is a lack of choice in phone / broadband suppliers now it is dealing with practicalities of dealing with a fibre to the home.

There is another option, 3G wireless connectivity, but Telstra provide an incentive to owners to sign up with them that can not be ignored. 

Telstra provide the electronics so there is a box in the garage with phone, data and TV ports.  Now it is planning the house cabling.  And even more interesting is dealing with blackouts.  To have a phone service during blackout requires a battery backup or UPS for the fibre connection.  So if a UPS is needed for phone during blackouts, then one may as well find a UPS that will power the switches and modem for the network and a laptop for net access will allow for both phone and net access during a blackout.

So I got from monopoly to uninterrupted power supplies... funny how the brain works some days.

Wholesale Network Company: Initial Thoughts

So what should a utility company that is only allowed to sell access to the grid / data network / pipelines look like?

A special class of company which have obligations and benefits.  The benefits would only be available while the company solely provides wholesale access to a network the company owns.  The benefits are to allow a return of investment comparable to other businesses to attract private investment, while at the same time minimising tax payer expense.

Initial thoughts on obligations:

• To deliver a standard of service established by the "state" through regulation.


• To implement network based on standards to allow for interconnectivity with other utilities companies (providing the same utility).

Initial thoughts on benefits:

• 100% tax credits for network installation / maintenance costs to be claimed at the company's discretion (no depreciation of assets).


• Greater than 100% tax credit for projects requested by the state which are no financially viable on their own terms.

The intent of tax credits is to ensure the wholesale network company is planning for the long term, as it will only benefit from the credits when it has a tax burden.

This is a work in progress.  I believe it is important to find the right balance to allow private utility businesses as the market can deal with changing technology faster than a government department.  But ensuring an open market and not creating new monopolies in the process is difficult.

Terracotta Warriors

Last year I was lucky enough to travel through China for the second time.  And this holiday involved more tourist type locations, including the Terracotta Army Museum near Xi'an.  The place was incredible with museum built around the active archaeological digs.

I have a favour to ask of Leo Laporte, who is visiting China and I believe this museum.  Take some better photos in the low light with your Canon 5D.  I was lucky to get the shots I did with my Canon 400D and no tripod.

Separate Network and Retail: Retail Benefits

Organisations (private or public) that own and/or maintain networks should be separate from the retail end.  I think this would achieve benefits for knowing where money is flowing and allow for efficiencies currently not available.

Efficiencies in retail.  Utility retail functions are basically (I'm probably overly simplifying here) to collect money from users which may involving measuring usage and probably maintain some of the last mile connection / meter connection.  Measuring involves reading meters for water, power and gas; and counting connections / packets for telephony and data.  So a retail company could undertake billing and meter reading for all the services with meters in the front yard for a geographical area.  And depending on the deals retail companies could achieve with the different utility companies competing retail companies could be achieved which serve the market in more efficient ways.

I have a micro and macro example for interesting ways retail companies could be established to service a community.  Micro example: new meters that phone home (or send data over the net) could be a selling point, even at a higher price point, so that meters don't have to be readily available from the street.  Macro example: a community with a social bent may have a co-operative that purchases gas, water and power from the network companies and maintains the last mile connections.  Fees for the utilities can be collected through the local taxes / rates.  Depending on how trusting of your neighbour one is in that community there would only need to be one meter for each service entering the community, saving the cost of meter reading.

This is getting to be long post... next up will be my thoughts on network companies: what they should look like and how that is better then what we have now.

Infrastructure Spending

I want to put out "there" (read the internets) my thoughts on the ownership of utilities (phone, net, power, water, etc).  Those who know me know I have a bent towards corporate ownership.

But I do recognise the government is needed to regulate the corporations, to enforce standards for utility companies and where required provide funds (our tax dollars) to deliver services where the market does not reach.

So I'm putting my thoughts together on what utility company "should" look like (as I haven't seen an ideal arrangement yet) and what the government's role "should" be for these utility companies.

My Name

While purchasing URLs I also got my name... www.jasonmuirhead.com

For the time being this URL will be pointing at this blog.

Potential Harm

So the new name is now out.  You maybe wondering why "Potential Harm"?  I am now.

I've worked in risk management (focused on industrial safety) since early 2001.  2000 is when I got the two pieces of paper from Curtin Univeristy, Bentley, Western Australia.  And so I've read about risk for much of the current decade (which is almost over).

Risk is the likelihood for something bad to happen.  I know that isn't the most technical definition.  Trying to shorten the definition to two words for a potential URL resulted in potential harm.  Potential being the likelihood and harm being the bad things that may happen.

Now that I have the URL, I'm not sure what I want to do with it, except for posting my rants.  So here is the website - for now.

Utility Companies: Private vs Public

I've got a rant about public vs privately owned utilities.  Here in Australia we have the National Broadband Network brewing.  Plus I've have current first experience as a customer in how a certain telco is creating a new monopoly.

But my rant could be contorted to be about the industry that I administer the safety legislation for, as a public servant employed by the state.  And I wouldn't want to break any of the numerous policies I agreed to when going the public service.

I need to think about how to separate my telco rant from my work before going further...

Lest We Forget

Today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand.  I'm very grateful for the men and women of the Australian Defence forces.  Whether they have passed before us enduring hardships I can not imagine to protect the nation and our allies, or are currently deployed doing what it takes to provide the peace we have in these weird times.

I take it back...

A few days ago I complained about not being about to get Google Earth at work.  That was true when I worked for a different government department.  The group I've with was moved from one department to another.  The IT group in the new department rocks.

These guys and girls must be one of the few service groups in a large organisation (gov or private) that I've been involved with that understand they are there to provide a service.  And they do that well.

So now I have Google Earth at work and can use all the resources that the department produces for everyone else to use.  My previous post on the matter was trying to point out the irony of working for a department that prevented access to Google Earth yet produced geographical information for the public in Google Earth file formats.

Anyway, at least there is one thing at work that is going well.

Tweet Tweet

I included my Twitter link in the Follow panel to the right of this page.  Ignore it.  I've made one post and that was to get a free licence code to Delicious Library during the recent Mac Heist promotion.

Huh

I work for a government department that releases a considerable amount of information to the public via the net in various GIS formats, including a format for Google Earth.  Within the department there is an online GIS tool that is cumbersome (at best).  And within the department we are blocked from using Google Earth.  So the department produces data that the employees within the department can't use.  WTF.

Lazy Linking

Hey Square Space people.  I'm lazy.  My laziness is why I'm testing you're system, as Leo Laporte told me you make this easy.

But I want more (give your customers and inch and they take a mile, no good deed does unpunished, etc).

I've had an idea, that I think would be incredibly cool - a module that allowed you to readily apply links you've used previously.  Once you've finished a post it could scan the post for text used to represent links in previous posts and provide a tick box to apply the same link.  If a user was to "trust" the system, then links could be applied automatically.  The trigger for automated linking could be included in preferences for material from other sources such as RSS and email posts.

The next stage could be to learn the linking by tag and/or category.  For example to a Christian Socialist the phrase Burning Bush could be linked to their favourite bible story when tagged "religion" and to their favourite past-time when tagged "hobbies".

Anyway, thanks Square Space.  I'm really enjoying the tools you provide as I don't have to spend much time with them to get stuff done.

 

Galahs in the Fire Mist

I'm stumbling around introductory digital photography.  Given I was already listening to podcasts when I bought my digital SLR camera it didn't take long before This Week in Photography was on my ipod.  Through that podcast I found Scott Bourne's work.  And I really liked his recent work Cranes in the Fire Mist.

I appreciate the history of the work.  The forethought, the research, the annual return to the same spot and luck in obtaining the shot he visualised 12 years ago.

This morning I crossed the Swan River on the way to work to see a flock of galahs flying by the bridge during the early morning light as a mist was settling across the river.  I now want to get a photo of these birds in flight.