Telstra says it's time to move on......

In good ol' Granny Herald last Wednesday:
"TELSTRA boss David Thodey says the telecommunications company is becoming impatient with delays in finalising its deal with the national broadband network.
Mr Thodey said 18 months after the NBN project was unveiled, it was important for the country, and for Telstra, to finish the regulatory work and pass implementing legislation.
''We need to move on,'' he told reporters in Hobart yesterday."
Well young Dave knows quite a bit about moving on - just ask the 180 people in the Clarence Valley who will be losing their jobs when he closes down Telstra's call centre in Grafton.
I've stuck with Telstra through thick and thin - through numerous name changes, decreased services, increased billing charges, partial privatization and Teh Three Amigos.
But taking away that many jobs in one hit in one NSW North Coast town? It'll be Telstra which will be moving on from my house.
Any one got the Optus number handy?

Telstra caught out in a big fat lie

Click on image to enlarge

On 21 September The Daily Examiner informed Telstra that "We have been lied to. It's bad enough that we could lose 180 jobs, but to be lied to about the reasons is incredibly galling."

To be told that the national telecommunications company is pulling a customer service facility out of the Clarence Valley because there isn't a big enough workforce in the area to consolidate it here and then be told that Telstra had not even advertised locally, exposed the lie for what is was - an attempt to pass the blame back onto the community.

One has to wonder why this national telecommunications company decided to be less than straightforward with the Clarence Valley community and whether it now regrets the very vocal local fallout from this lack of honesty.

For those interested in signing the community petition asking Telstra to reconsider its intention to close the Grafton Call Centre, it can be found at a stand located within Grafton Shopping World until the end of the week.

To express your opinion directly to Telstra's CEO email David.Thodey@team.telstra.com.

• Previous NCV post Live or work in the Clarence Valley? Hang up on Telstra!
• DEX article Valley ‘should dump Telstra'

Hartsuyker shuffled into yet another minor shadow ministry

No matter which way you look at it the Nationals Luke Hartsuyker has lost out in the gravitas stakes in Tony Abbott's shadow ministry reshuffle - leaving him tagging yet another minor ministry.
He's still chasing the snake's tail as Shadow Minister for Sport and Youth with Spokesperson for Regional Communications tacked on, which follows on from the minor Shadow Consumer Affairs, Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law position he previously held.
Obviously Luke doesn't yet have the full confidence of his leaders outside of the one area in which he sometimes excels - creating havoc on the floor of the House as Deputy to 'Poodle' Pyne's Manager of Opposition Business.
I predict that Malcolm Turnbull is going to find his colleague something of an embarrassment whenever he opens his mouth on regional communications.

Conroy remains one of the reasons why Labor continues to offend the nose

In Teh Granny Herald last Friday:
"The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, is ploughing ahead with his internet filter policy despite there being virtually no chance any enabling legislation will pass either house of Parliament.
Independent MP Rob Oakeshott, the Opposition and the Greens have all come out against the policy, leaving it effectively dead in the water.
The Greens communications spokesman, Scott Ludlam, has called on the government to end the facade and drop the internet censorship scheme once and for all, as it was wasting time and taxpayers' money.
University of Sydney Associate Professor Bjorn Landfeldt said, given the catastrophic election result after only one term in government, it was "remarkable" the government was "pushing the very issues that undermined their credibility, rather than focusing their energy on important societal issues"....."

Coalition frenzy peaks on Twitter with QLDYoungLNP

As decision time draws nearer for the three still un-aligned Independents, the Coalition frenzy at the thought of a Gillard federal minority government has reached new heights on Twitter.

QLDYoungLNP (Matthew Quinlan) appeared on the horizon on 1 September 2010 and the venom spewed forth in an almost inexhaustible stream until last night this particular tweeter was apparently advised to cool it by his political colleagues; For now, I have been instructed to make my tweets private, may change in future, stay tuned REAL conservatives, others.. no. #ausvotes 24 minutes ago via web

However, he is still getting well-deserved grief from the Twitterverse concerning his 'reconditioned' account:

Click on snapshot to enlarge

OhCrap's Archive has captured details of this strange twist on how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people and, there are 176 tweet highlights collected on Jame's Blog and downloadable in PDF form:

Do we trust the evil ALP who gave us $180000000000 debt or Coalition who has given us surplus and paid back the debt?

#ausvotes #auswaits 11:29 PM Sep 1st via web

I wonder what remains in the Left's bag of anti-democratic tricks.. surely their disdain for democracy is not at an end #ausvotes #auswaits 2:45 PM Sep 2nd via web

ALP & Greens discourage Gen Y from rocking the socialist boat, they're encouraged to be slothful leeches. #auswaits #ausvotes 3:00 PM Sep 2nd via web

Under the ALP & Greens, all the drive to succeed is sucked out of a person, replaced by success-hating and welfare dependence #ausvotes Thu Sep 02 2010 15:10:05 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web

Do we want prosperity under the Coalition or risk the ALP & Greens = poor, unaccomplished drunks and losers who hate success? #ausvotes Thu Sep 02 2010 15:13:15 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web

Under Coalition, OZ is a place that fosters excellence, not soft cowards and drunks on welfare like under the ALP. #ausvotes #auswaits Thu Sep 02 2010 15:19:56 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web

You should consider @QLDYoungLibs a no spin zone so if you're a sacred cow of the liberal left who is easily offended, leave now #ausvotes Thu Sep 02 2010 16:01:39 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web

@externallylaws from what I've seen there has been a fair bit of premeditated provocation by those of you on the left. Thu Sep 02 2010 17:14:54 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web in reply to externallylaws

@_Laverne this Twitter account is the official conduit for QLD Young LNP. Thu Sep 02 2010 17:23:51 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web in reply to _Laverne

ALP stands for one thing: spending money we don't have to win votes from the bottomfeeders of society. #ausvotes #auswaits Thu Sep 02 2010 20:25:34 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via mobile web

Reminder 140 characters could cost you a smack in the mouth if you're not careful, plenty of deserving personal attacks from Left #ausvotes about 21 hours ago via web

I consider myself to be open minded on a lot of things however I will NOT tolerate a Communist OZ Gov't #ausvotes #auswaits about 21 hours ago via web

@ByronStafford unfortunately I am gifted with a little thing called personal responsibility, you lefties oughta try it some time #ausvotes about 22 hours ago via web in reply to ByronStafford

@MStrudwicke once again the debaucherous left displays their total lack of class! #ausvotes about 22 hours ago via web in reply to MStrudwicke

Do we want Gov led by those who want to strip OZ of its identity and heritage by turning it into Africa & the Middle East? NO NO #ausvotes Fri Sep 03 2010 20:33:57 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via web

If you don't support the coalition, you are by extension supporting

communism. #ausvotes #auswaits Fri Sep 03 2010 14:41:59 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) via mobile web

@TheFacelessSpin thanks for the support, battling the tide of intellectually inferior lefties is bloody tough work on a Saturday! about 4 hours ago via web in reply to TheFacelessSpin

As Tony 'People Person' Abbott tries to be first in forming minority government.....

He is one Australian politician who is definitely eliciting passion out there in cyberspace:

anniepapas‎: if Tony Abbott wins this election, I will be first in line to assassinate him. #ausvotes Twitter

The Audreys Don't fret friends, @boy_named_Joe is going to assassinate Tony Abbott. We'll visit you in jail :) via Twitter for iPhone

Boy_named_Joe Anyone have a preference as to method of assassination? I'm currently leaning toward ninja death squad and/or acid bath. Or mauled by bears. via Twitter for iPhone

asphodel_4: @lcpdragonslayer jokes, maybe I would come see you. That way I could assassinate Abbott... via web

seanjhross: i'd offer to assassinate Abbott, but that'd make Bishop PM #ausvotes via web

OFFICIAL_Hitler drunk with @passionpopgirl. kill tony abbott. australi is shit. kill everyone

OFFICIAL_Hitler I hate you Tony Abbott. I hate you so much via Twitter for iPhone

ScaryElfLady: If it's a hung parliament, can we hang abbott first? via Mobile Web

Where the word things are And those who read my twitter are subjected to a near-daily litany of 'I AM GOING TO KILL TONY ABBOTT' and variations thereof, so.

Blog.Shqiperia.Com @sharpest_rose. If I had a squillion dollars I would dress in fashions from the early 60s at all times. Also, I would hire someone to kill Tony Abbott.

Learn more about Left And Right In Global Politics I hate Tony Abbott with a passion....

Ellen's book of muchness I HATE tony abbott with a passion (his name doesn't even deserve capital letters); how the hell can Australia even VOTE for him?! And so many people too! ...

Tweeting political opinion: who go there?

The image posted here is from NMG (Newel Media Group) on Twitter. It lists its website as http://www.newellmediagroup.com/.
It has tweeted 1,646 times, is located in Sydney Australia, has 36 'friends', including LiberalAus which is an authorised account held by the Liberal Party of Australia, can be found on YouTube as newellgirl from the United States and on Flickr as a bit of a fan of the Sydney to Surf in 2010.
As one can easily see, the tone is unrelentingly hostile to the Gillard Government, the Labor Party and The Greens. The U.S. President is on the hot list as well.
All of which made me wonder if ithis Twitter account had a particular axe to grind......

So who exactly is NMG (Newel Media Group) and is it acting at the behest of the Liberals during this federal election campaign? Or is it simply a female member of the Newell family venting?

Personally I'm leaning towards it being the former media officer to former Liberal MP Peter King, the sitting member who lost Wentworth pre-selection to Malcolm Turnbull in 2003-2004. Who do you think it is?

Australia Votes is currently tracking election sentiment on Twitter. Over 200,000 tweets have been sent concerning candidates, policies and issues.

2010 Election Campaign Day 10 - Into the Twilight Zone

It all started on the second day of the Federal Election campaign. I woke to find the world bathed in a strange half light and eerie music playing tinnily in my ear.

Then those emails started:

"Caller Lorraine says Julia Gillard was featured in the Launceston weekend paper doing a Nazi salute and that this is not the first time she has done this". {Quote from Crikey news email on 19th July 2010}

"She's a secret NAZI. When she thinks nobody will notice she heils." {Chain email 18th July 2010}

{Picture of Julia

supposedly 'saluting'

doing the email rounds

on 18th July 2010}

2010 Election Campaign Day 6 - All atwitter

It's immediate, it's busy - it's #ausvotes!

Phoney_Tony

@latikambourke Sorry about being stuck in Cbr, still researching powered flight. To think last week we thought the earth was flat! #ausvotes via web

latikambourke
@Phoney_Tony I seriously worry about whomever you are. :) #ausvotes via TweetDeck in reply to Phoney_Tony

hellharpy: it's going to be very hard to teach a pol sci course and be non-partisan during the next few weeks #ausvotes via web

silver_bodgie: RT @wayneswan: @JuliaGillard We need to take this campaign up a notch. We're calling in the producers of Ladette to Lady - NOW!! #ausvotes

CatherineDeveny: Tony Abbott is crazy for embryos but not so keen when they turn into brown people on boats #ausvotes


GreenJ: O oh. Tony Abbott just turned back the Pacific Princess. #ausvotes via TweetDeck


_struct: Tony Abbott has said Workchoices is "dead, buried, cremated", but let's not forget this man believes Jesus rose from the dead. #ausvotes


DR_KANGAROO: @juliagillard this is social media dear, not an avenue for 140 character press releases! When will you talk WITH us? #AusVotes via web

MailScanner and University of Southampton say "Please do not complain to us. It will do no good."

Out of the blue last week MailScanner, a software project run by the University of Southampton, started to identify all emails I send as possible spam and, those containing links to North Coast Voices or Google searches as possible fraud.

This is not software that I downloaded, so presumably my server has recently installed it at ISP-level.

Julian Field at the university states:

Your system administrator or Internet Provider has installed MailScanner, which modified your e-mail. The MailScanner development team are not responsible for things people do with MailScanner. If you do not like the way your mail is processed, please do not complain to us. It will do no good.

Not good enough Mr. Field! If the university is distributing software to over 100,000 sites which is so open to mismanagement that there is a special FAQ section on the MailScanner website specifically dealing with this nonsense, then you are to blame for the fact that this same software is treating even Google search result links as fraud/spam.

Now on to give my internet service provider a flea in the ear.......

Where I decide to go fishing and almost miss Barry O'Farrell making a right twit of himself...

Looked at the sky early yesterday morning and decided it mightn't be a bad day to wet a line.
Imagine my surprise on returning to shore to discover it wasn't only the fish that had been taking the bait - NSW Lib leader Barry O'Farrell had also been swiftly reeled in by the Twitterverse.

benraue: Did @barryofarrell just accidentally tweet a 'deeply off the record' comment to @latikambourke? http://twitpic.com/25b9bk
via Twitpic 20+ recent retweets

stilgherrian: Is "Rangatweetgate" a word? Well it is now. #rangatweetgate #rtg via TweetDeck Retweeted by benraue and 2 others

Bazza's loose lips explain why Coalition candidates on the NSW North Coast are so lacklustre - only second stringers are applying!

A couple of words on that blankety blank internet filter in response to Gillard & Conroy

Sometimes a tweet or two will say it all......


From David L. Morris: @JuliaGillard "Conroy will get the filter into shape"? We recognise that shape. So does the ACL. It is a crucifix. #openinternet via web

From Kristen Obaid: Senator Conroy: "I'm not into opting in to child porn." -- Neither are we, you obtuse ignorant excuse for a Communications Minister. via web Retweeted by 51 others

A vote for Gillard or Abbott is still a vote for Internet censorship in Australia?

According to the Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy as reported by ZNet:

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has reiterated the government's support for its mandatory internet filter policy after the change in Prime Minister and has slammed proposed amendments by Senator Kate Lundy that would allow Australians to opt in or out of the technology...... "We have got an election commitment to deliver," Conroy told journalists in a doorstop interview in Sydney this afternoon. "Just because [Greens Senator] Scott Ludlam says it's been shelved, doesn't mean it's true."

Because there has been leadership change and Australia has a new prime minister in Julia Gillard there is no reason to suppose that the intention to impose Internet censorship is off the government's political agenda. Even if Gillard herself has been remarkably reticent in the face of this contentious issue.

While arch-conservative and professional 1950s-style Catholic, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, should have alarm bells ringing with his view that the nation should have a new way of ensuring that proper community standards are applied to the media, all media, including new media.

Both Federal Labor and the Coalition would be prepared to dump on Internet users in an effort to secure support of the 'Christian' bloc at the 2010 federal election. The first preference polling numbers are still too close to do otherwise.

Stop the filter or sack the senator!

Victorians are revolting at Filter Stephen Conroy and this time it's personal for some.

They want nothing less than Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, consigned to the unemployment queue by Christmas.

Conroy denies vendetta, but how many believe him?

Australian Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy was quick off the mark to deny any suggestion that his referral of Google Inc to the Australian Federal Police over its StreetView cars collecting digital information which they had no right to access.
Still, it's easy to imagine that he was filled with gleeful anticipation as he set the train in motion, against what he refers to as the "creepy" IT giant.
However Stevo appears more interested in getting his own hands on what he believes this data contains:
"(If) you were doing a banking transaction, or transmitting personal information, they could have hoovered it up, sucked it up into their machine," he told ABC TV yesterday.
"What we want to ensure now is that we get access to the information that's been collected.
"We want to know where it's stored, we want to know what the information is, and importantly we want to ensure that Google don't destroy this information." (Google has denied that it could read encrypted banking transactions).
Personally I'd be more worried about the Minister for Censorship & Moral Policing getting hold of any information downloaded from unsecured wireless connections, than I would be about Google having it.
Stevo's full frontal assault on basic freedoms in this country knows no bounds.

The true nature of Stephen Conroy?

"This week, I spent longer inside the mind of media minister Stephen Conroy than I would necessarily recommend.

The reason was as we've written in various posts his performance at the Senate Estimates Committee.

Reading the transcript has, I must admit, made me change my mind about him.

You see, when he was saying some of the more extreme stuff about his proposed internet filter over the last few months, I assumed it was just politics. I thought he was grandstanding on family values while of course knowing that it wouldn't fly.

But when you read his thoughts (you can find the 131 page transcript here if you like), it's enough to make you think again about him both as a person and as a minister.

(A slight declaration of interest at this point - unlike Rupert Murdoch, I've sat next to Conroy at dinner, within a few days of him being appointed. At that stage he seemed thoroughly affable, if more interested in talking about soccer than media policy.)

But the person who comes across in the transcript is a sneering, sarcastic grudge-bearing point scorer. And one who won't give a straight answer to a straight question, at that."

More from Tim Burrowes writing for MUmBRELLA here.

Stevo continued to cement his reputation as the federal pollie most loose-with-the truth (after el supremo o' teh lie Tony Abbott) when he was caught out by one Aussie ISP - "Don't claim we support filter, iiNet tells Conroy".

SMH online poll around 7am last Monday

By 6.30am on the second day 1st June 2010 the poll count was 85,271 - still running 99% against the Rudd-Conroy plan to censor the Australian Internet.

Lesser books you may have missed

Where ever I looked in the Oz blogosphere last week we were all being so deadly serious, so 'twas a relief to come across this #lesserbooks tag at Twitter.
Here's a small selection of titles on offer:

A Basement Master's Guide (Second Edition)
The Color Mauve
Pedagogy of the Depressed
A Clear and Present Annoyance
The Scarlet Debtor
Diary of a Cake Fiend
Tupac Kills A Mockingbird
Horton Hears a Where
War and Peas
Prude and Prejudice
The Maltseser Falcon
The Hitchhiker's Guide to Montana
Gone With the Breeze
Apprehension and Disapproval In Las Vegas
The Lion, The Witch and the Cupboard
The 38 steps
The Norwich Outpatient
Lard Times
Thus Spoke Uncle Bert

Internet censorship - here's laffin' at you Stevo

Fair dinkum, it can't get better than this - proof positive that Stevo is a 24 carat dill.

Australian Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Stephen Conroy according to ITNews on the 4th May 2010: "ISPs will not be required to block circumvention attempts by their customers or end users," he said.

While he said it would be "irresponsible" of the Government to publish circumvention techniques, the Government took no measures to prevent other organisations from doing so."

The Australian Office of Privacy Commissioner on the same day giving Internet security tips highlighting circumnavigation techniques:

Anonymous Web Browsing

Use anonymous web surfing services such as:

• Anonym.OS LiveCD
  
• Tor (Anonymous Internet system, Opensource)
  
• Torpark (Tor Anonymous Internet system for portable USB drives)
  
• Anonymity 4 Proxy
  
• Annonymizer
  
• Freedom
  
• IDzap
  
• Norton Internet Security
  
• Ponoi
  
• Proxy Switcher
  
• Proxy4free
  
• The Cloak
  
• TheFreeSite.com: Anonymous Freebies
  
• httproxy (Firefox proxy switching tool, Opensource)

Further tips are available in Thomas C Greene's anonymity tips article published by The Register.

It is 2010 isn't it - not 1950?

Sometimes one has to shake the head in wonderment.

Excerpt from a New Matilda article:

Apple's portable devices like the iPhone and the iPad are unlike laptop or desktop computers in that new applications can only be obtained through Apple's centralised App Store, a global marketplace for mobile applications and content. For an application to be available in the App Store, it must first be reviewed by Apple. The set of criteria on which the applications are appraised are not quite clear. According to Apple:

"Applications may be rejected if they contain content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, sounds, etc.) that in Apple's reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory."

While many applications get rejected for solid technical reasons, there are some recent controversial examples of applications that have fallen foul of these content rules.

The restrictions on "objectionable" content, for example, have led to several dictionary applications being rejected on the grounds that they contain obscene entries. And an electronic book reader was rejected because, among thousands of titles, it gave users access to the Kama Sutra.

The introduction of an adults-only category for applications eased some of these restrictions in that dictionaries were no longer censored — but any content more adult than a picture of a bikini-clad model is still unlikely to be approved.