the earley edition

2005-10-28T13:13:00.000+10:00

Uh, I guess I should say hi to the

240

people, and counting, who have linked here this morning thanks to GoogleBlog's reverse link! To those few regulars, I'm referring to a section at the bottom of their blog post page that shows anyone who has in turn linked back to them...

2005-10-28T10:00:00.000+10:00

It's the Dilbert Blog
and the Official Google Blog.

Huzzah. I have two hours to hand in a feature story. I skipped out on my french exam yesterday, and I have a monster to hand in by 7.30pm, since I work at 8. Huzzah!

Blogging

2005-10-27T16:29:00.000+10:00

Watch out. It's the return of ye olde titled post.

Blogging. Why do we do it?

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts. It's because I just saw someone's description of their podcast in the iTunes Music Store and thought, "He's really trying, but who cares? Who's going to listen?"

And then I thought, some of us are blogging because in some way we see it going somewhere. But who cares to read it?

I need focus and clarity to my raison de blog, if you like.

2005-10-26T14:50:00.000+10:00

From Belinda Weaver at journoz, this link to the Top Ten Web Design Mistakes of 2005.

2005-10-26T13:21:00.000+10:00

From Lost Remote.com a proposed shield law that could protect not just journalists, but also bloggers who gather original news.

Shield laws are related to my story on whistleblowers and Helen Ester, where some people should be protected from prosecution in certain circumstances, like the leaking of sensitive documents that are relevant to the public interest.

2005-10-25T22:28:00.000+10:00

I hadn't blogged this because I didn't know what to say, not because I didn't think it was important, or that she's not worth remembering.

Rosa Parks, civil rights heroine, is dead.

TIME magazine's 100 most influential people.

GrandTimes.com - 1996 interview with Rosa Parks.

Wikipedia entry - if you don't know anything about Rosa Parks, I quote from this wiki entry (which may lead you to read more, or remind you of the situation, but didn't know who had done it.

Rosa Louise Parks (February 4, 1913–October 24, 2005) was an African American seamstress and figure in the American Civil Rights Movement, most famous for her refusal in 1955 to give up a bus seat to a white man who demanded her seat.

2005-10-25T16:08:00.000+10:00

This seems to be what I've been missing out with my posts about Australian iTunes Music Store.

The openning catalogue exceeds 1 million tracks, it appears Sony BMG are still holding out. Songs are priced at $1.69 per track and $3.39 per video, with most albums going for $16.99.

First off, there's also Singles of the Week, a free single download each week. This week it's Shadowland by Youth Group. I just downloaded it. Great song, and I was also interested to see the sound quality you get. I know, to international readers this may be old hat, but for us in Australia, this is all spanky new. Allow me the indulgence.

So the sound quality, which I assume goes for all music coming down the pipeline from iTunes, is a bit rate of 128kbps, sample rate 44.1 kHz, making it 3.8mb for a 3min 35sec song.

Some price comparisons:

Sarah Blasko's album Overture and the Underscore , with 11 songs, sells for $19.99 on CD.
iTunes Music Store (iTMS) Australia? $11.99

Ben Lee's album Awake Is the New Sleep, with 14 songs, sells for $24.99 on CD.
iTMS Australia? The $16.99 standard for an album.

Missy Higgins' album Sound of White, with 13 songs, sells for $19.99 on CD
iTMS Australia? $21.97
Why the difference? Because iTMS Australia doesn't let you buy the whole album, instead having to purchase individual songs for $1.69 each. This is a drawback. Why would you pay more?

2005-10-25T11:45:00.000+10:00

Not doing so well at staying away from the blogging today...

Press Release from Apple
Apple Launches iTunes Music Store in Australia

2005-10-25T11:14:00.000+10:00

iTunes - do you use it? It's the music player program for your PC (or Mac, for those of us who have converted) that allows inbuilt purchasing for music online. With the release of iTunes4.9 on June 28, the ability to directly download podcasts through the iTunes Music Store was made available. The most recent releases have added video to that capability.

To get a podcast online you don't have to have it in the iTunes podcast directory, but it certainly gives it more publicity. The problem was that unless you had a credit card linked to an iTunes Music Store country's bank (eg in the US, UK, France) you couldn't make an iTunes account, hence couldn't purchase music from iTunes or submit a podcast to their directory.

Well, the big news is that today, we officially have iTunes Music Store Australia. That's right, as of today you, the average Australian, can more easily purchase music online. Also, Ashgrove would be able to submit a podcast of our sermons to the iTunes directory, if we were ready to. There is an official announcement sometime today, but the store itself is already open. Naturally I already have an account, otherwise I wouldn't be so hyper about it.

So that's my big long post. As an aside, check this out. I've been keeping an unofficial track of the number of podcasts available in different categories in iTunes. Some categories had subcategories, like Religion and Spirituality had seven subs, one of which was Christianity. Sometime in the last two weeks iTunes removed any subcategory distinctions, so now you can't specifically tell which were tagged Christian as opposed to New Age or Philosophy.

But until they removed those subcategories, what was the largest single categorisation of podcasts available worldwide through the iTunes Music Store? That's right, Christian ones. On October 10th there were 1,045 different Christian podcasts available, beating out the generic Audio Blogging category by only 44 available podcasts (991).

Today, the Religion and Spirituality category sits on an even 1500 podcasts out of 14,719 available. While this is only those podcasts available in iTunes, I think 15,000 podcasts (which it will hit in the next week) is a fairly good sample to base an emerging trend on.

How's all that for your useless bits of information for the day? Glad I could oblige.

2005-10-25T09:52:00.000+10:00

Anyone who has iTunes installed, check it out. iTunes Music store comes to Australia!

2005-10-24T21:28:00.000+10:00

My recent spate of heavy blogging with short posts, mainly containing links, was fun while it lasted. As Bren said, it's a totally different direction from the personal space that this blog has been, and so it didn't really feel like this was where it belonged. Also, it did take up a lot of my time. When I get my .com up and running I may incorporate that in a seperate section of the site, for two reasons:

1. I actually enjoyed relaying the news I'm reading/find interesting.
2. Going on visitor numbers alone, so did other people.

I saw record highs on my sitemeter three days running. That's probably more a consequence of non-stop posting more than anything else. Return visits is a different matter, but that would get a start. Anyway, so it seems it may be a good 'strategy' at some point, and something I'm thinking about.

That said, I'm very busy this week with uni, so from here on out will be trying to stay away from the blogging as much as possible.

What's on? Final week of classes. French speaking final Thursday morning; three news stories by Friday noon; one television reader-voice-over script by Friday 5pm; French written, already overdue, to hand in if possible.

2005-10-24T21:15:00.000+10:00

While looking for WordPress blog themes, came across this from A List Apart: Articles: Never Get Involved in a Land War in Asia (or Build a Website for No Reason).

Talks about how, just like any business model, a good website or even a blog (if you're looking to make something of it), should have a clear objective, preferably one line, which is focused by a short, simple strategy. And you should never go into designing a website without those two things.

2005-10-23T14:53:00.000+10:00

Took this outside Toowoomba, just sitting in the corner of a paddock by the road.

2005-10-22T14:51:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: I'm reposting some old podcasts so they're current, as I've just submitted my feed for consideration in the Australian iTunes Music Store. That said, you've probably already listened to these. Next to them I'll put their original posting date.

(12:20, 3mb)

2005-10-22T14:49:00.000+10:00

(13:03, 3.1mb)

Wedding gifts, Reception venue, Making invitations, Marriage Counselling. This podcast is all to do with engagement/wedding plans and things. (13:03, 3.1mb)

2005-10-22T14:47:00.000+10:00

(TI:ME, Sizemb)

It's been 50 hours since I uploaded this file at my usual host and it's still not showing up yet. I got sick of waiting and so, here it is. Me and Dan working the microphone earlier this week.

I still do have several podcasts to also put together of some engagement stuff. That will be early next week. Yes, as I post this there are 84 days, 7 hours and about 22 minutes until I get married!

2005-10-22T14:45:00.000+10:00

(1:53, 0.7mb)

As described in the earlier post, this interview is with Helen Ester, and tenuously related to her paper submitted to the Democratic Audit of Australia at the Australian National University (ANU).

2005-10-22T14:43:00.000+10:00

(2:34, 1.2mb)

Quick link to this podcast on my way out. Recording a podcast while driving could be dangerous.

2005-10-22T14:41:00.000+10:00

(2:52, 1.4mb)

Contents:

My last day as a community coach (at one location), and
why kids can maybe wait.

I'm getting married!!!

2005-10-22T14:39:00.000+10:00

(1:34, 3mb)

Sorry about the post title, it's a poor attempt. This post, I have one picture, and one podcast. The podcast is 13 minutes (3mb) and generally consists of a stream of consciousness as I drove to university this morning. Is that what it's called? Anyway, simply click on the podcast icon to hear it in your browser, or right-click and 'Save as' to download to your computer before listening.

Contents of podcast:

Proposal (not a recording of it, just a bit about it),
info about Kate and myself,
a lot of unnecessary details in between.

2005-10-22T14:37:00.000+10:00

(1:34, 1.5mb)

A brief podcast to tide you over.

Allister asked,

So this was completely out of the blue, what happened dude? You gotta fill us in. How’d you propose to her?

Filling you in on those details will have to happen later.

Podcast020905.mp3 - 1.5mb

2005-10-22T14:35:00.000+10:00

(0:28, 0.2mb)

The podcast below is my first recorded interview. It's less than 30 seconds, but you take what you can get when talking to a hired gun. That's right, I was just testing out the microphone and asking a few 'harmless' questions but it turns out I was talking to a ruthless killer. Name? Marcia. Quote:

That's one interview you never want to hear.

Yes it is Marcia. Yes, it is.

Podcast-marcia.mp3 (260kb)

2005-10-22T14:33:00.000+10:00

(1:40, 0.5mb)

Ever wanted to listen to someone brush their teeth? Me too! Not really, but tonight you can. Avoid the last 25 seconds or so if you're a sympathetic gagger - that's when I go for the tongue clean.

Podcast-brush.mp3

2005-10-22T14:30:00.000+10:00

(3:33, 0.9mb)

This podcast was mostly recorded at my old school, outside Ross Roy, the family home of the landowners, built back in 1897. That's a photo I took today, and this is my podcast. Enjoy. (Here is a smaller file of the podcast, half the size, half the quality)

2005-10-22T14:16:00.000+10:00

(3:34, 0.5mb)

From my second podcast on July 12th - Listen to me!

I went and picked up my replacement MP3 player, and made another podcast. This one's a bit rambly, but it was 3am... take care mes amis.

I think any more podcasts will try to be shorter, unless of course I'm doing something with interviews. You know, real radio. Anyway, have to run.

2005-10-22T14:10:00.000+10:00

(0.5mb)

Don't remember what this was about, or how long it was.

2005-10-22T13:38:00.000+10:00

Click on the pic to see it full size in a new window.

2005-10-22T12:09:00.000+10:00

UN REPORT on Hariri assassination now online at UN site, but not in pdf format.

Instapundit has links and some excerpts of those links.

2005-10-22T03:32:00.000+10:00

BBC - US seeks action against Damascus

The BBC have a link to the report that was made public. That is, the report with the names deleted from it.

2005-10-22T03:17:00.000+10:00

I hereby direct you to back-to-iraq.com for all your Mehlis Report needs.

Christopher Allbritton has the pdf of not the final report, but the report showing markups. Such as the names Maher Assad, Assef Shawkat, Hassan Khalil, Bahjat Suleyman and Jamil Al-Sayyed being replaced by senior Lebanese and Syrian officials who decided to assassinate Hariri.

He also points out that the deletion of names from the report text took place during a 50 minute meeting with Kofi Annan (thanks to track changes from the original Word document).

Go to that link for what you need.

2005-10-22T03:04:00.000+10:00

Sorry about that, I was completely wrong earlier in reference to the executive summary and recommendations of the Mehlis Report. It was actually a link to Syria After Lebanon, Lebanon After Syria, a report by the International Crisis Group, from April 12 this year, no less.

2005-10-22T02:38:00.000+10:00

An Australian - Nguyen Tuong Van (who says we're not multicultural?) - in Singapore is expected to be executed by hanging in the next 10 days for smuggling heroin.

NEWS.com.au

The Age

SMH

2005-10-22T02:33:00.000+10:00

Some geek news:
Higher Education Podcasts linked to from MetaFilter. Stanford and Princeton, amongst others, offer speech and lecture podcasts to the public.

Two way browser called Flock is also talked about at MetaFilter, with links. It is to interact between blogging, photo-sharing, etc, although it may be not so useful. It's totally for geeks like me.

But I may not be as geek as I'd like to think. I can't figure out how to transfer my domain registrar or get WordPress set up at my '.com'.

2005-10-22T02:21:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: The lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendents who was abducted yesterday? Found dead a few hours later and identified today.

BBC - Saddam trial lawyer is found dead

CNN - Hussein co-defendant's lawyer killed

I had assumed that, because the majority of the insurgency is Sunni (more likely to support Saddam), lawyers defending Saddam and his counterparts would not have been in nearly as much danger as those prosecuting them. I assumed wrong.

2005-10-22T02:10:00.000+10:00

Alright, I hadn't actually had time to read some of those links, notably the executive summary of the Mehlis Report from the International Crisis Group and the spokesman's briefing. Doing that now, will extract what I think is important.

2005-10-22T01:56:00.000+10:00

Wow, I can't read the report, but the International Herald Tribune story - UN report on Hariri rejected by Syria leads with this:

The United Nations investigation into the killing of the former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri is focusing on the powerful brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria as the main suspect, according to a diplomat with close knowledge of the investigation.

Also said to be the second most powerful man in Syria, and probably second in line to the presidency if Bashar himself were ousted for any reason. And directly responsible? I wish I could read that report...

2005-10-22T01:52:00.000+10:00

Googling "full text" "mehlis report", I came up with that link to the statements by the spokesman for the secretary-general. Directly under that was link titled The Secretay-General's Statments, but following the link led instead to a page that really had nothing to do with Kofi Annan talking about the Mehlis Report.

Have they removed that page for any particular reason? Who knows, but thanks to the Google cache, the Secretary-General's Statements should still be available here.

This is what Kofi Annan (SG) said:

Q: [inaudible] why do you keep saying you are concerned what would happen in light of the Mehlis report? You have been urging, through your spokesman, for restraint. What is worrying you? Why are you calling for restraint? What are you afraid of?

SG: I haven't said I'm afraid or I'm worried. So relax. I haven't said I'm afraid or I'm worried.

Q: [inaudible] that you called for restraint, Sir, today, so that I'm following up.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, why did you ask that Terje Roed-Larsen postpone his briefing to the Council from this week to next week? Is it too many blows for one country in one week?

SG: No. The Council has lots of work and its agenda has to be managed. And my own time also has to be managed, and we need to decide what I am going to take up first, and when, and what other issues are on my agenda. And Mehlis was coming in to see me this week, and I intend to release his report as quickly as I can. Then I will turn my attention to the report on 1559 and also deliver it to the Council. So, it doesn't – What is important is the Council gets both reports this month. It doesn't matter which goes first, and I don't think we are trying to delay to “ease the blow” for one country or the other.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, you said earlier in the week that you wanted to try and avoid politicization of the Mehlis report. In a region like the Middle East, how, realistically, is that possible? And are there any suggestions or is there any advice you would have on how this could be done?

SG: Yesterday I indicated that this is a technical exercise, a juridical exercise, and we need to keep it pure. And I was going to keep it that way. There may be politicization of the issue by others in the region or elsewhere, but I don't think it should be my business as Secretary-General to be engaged or encourage politicization. So I would give a technical and judicial report – a prosecutorial report – done by Mehlis to the Council. And, of course, Mehlis's report is the beginning, not the end, because the magistrates and others will have to follow through on that report and decide whom to charge and whom to bring to the dock. But you are right that you can't prevent people from politicizing it and implying all sorts of – I've read things in the papers, in the press, which has really surprised me, and some of it is pure fiction, honestly.

Now I need to know what the Terje Roed-Larsen report is about.

2005-10-22T01:45:00.000+10:00

Spokesman for the Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, gave a noon briefing at the UN. These are the highlights of his comments about the Mehlis Report, the investigation into the death of Rafiq Hariri.

Detlev Mehlis, who compiled the report, will brief the Security Council on Tuesday, October 25.

The Mehlis Report in pdf should be available on the UN website, but I get a file error trying to open it. Perhaps you will have more luck

2005-10-21T18:55:00.000+10:00

Looks like Australia has beaten New Zealand 28-26 in the second Tri-Nations (rugby league) game.

2005-10-21T18:48:00.000+10:00

UN report (Executive Summary and Recommmendations at that link, with full report if you subscribe) says Syria and Lebanon probably involved in killing of Rafiq Hariri, former Lebanese premier.

2005-10-21T18:38:00.000+10:00

I thought if anyone would be abducted it would be one of the magistrates trying Saddam Hussein. Instead, the lawyer for Awad Hamad al-Bandar, one of Hussein's co-defendants, was kidnapped

2005-10-21T18:17:00.000+10:00

Tom DeLay, former house majority leader (bigwig for Bush) was arrested, then released on bail. There's a lot of talk about his mug shot being the prettiest ever seen, but it's not like he was pulled out of bed or off the streets at 3am. He turned himself in, had his photo taken, posted $10,000 bail and left 30 minutes later.

2005-10-21T18:11:00.000+10:00

I found this amusing. LostRemote's guide to the new newswriting.

2005-10-21T18:00:00.000+10:00

Overheard from university union voting booth next to me today

James Schmidt. I know him! I'd better vote for him then.

Democracy at work, dear friends.

2005-10-20T22:53:00.000+10:00

Alright. I've decided I'm not posting any more on that issue. Sure, maybe I'm dropping the newsworthy hot potato, but I don't think there is anything I can add to the dialogue from here on out. The story is big, big media will cover it and, hopefully, ask the big questions and demand big answers.

Really though, reaction in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan in the next few days, and other likely areas of unrest will determine whether this story fizzles out or becomes a very big issue.

2005-10-20T22:31:00.000+10:00

Go here for both the Dateline - Transcript - Stephen Dupont Interview and the video.

Or link directly to the Stephen Dupont video here (RealPlayer)

GEORGE NEGUS: Do you think they understood the ramifications of what they're doing? The burning of the bodies, pointing towards Mecca and going to the trouble of reading to you in English the deliberately provocative stuff that they were shouting across the valley to the Taliban?

STEPHEN DUPONT: Look, I think the airborne unit that were responsible with the burning of the two Taliban soldiers weren't really thinking in that way. I think the psychological operations unit, who were responsible for the broadcast along with some other broadcasts to the Taliban, they're quite well aware of it. They're older guys. That's their job. They're PsyOps. They use it as a weapon.

2005-10-20T22:22:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: more outlets are picking up the burning of Taliban fighters story

CNN.com - U.S. probes burning bodies report - although it seems strange they left off the "This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be" part of the quote.

Pictures of bodies being burnt here, with actual bodies being blacked out. I'm sure they won't be out of the 'home snaps' taken by one of the soldiers though. In the actual footage last night you could see one of the soldiers standing above and behind the body (very similar position to the guy in the top left frame), holding a camera and taking pictures with a digital camera.

Metafilter has posted and are now talking about it, using pretty much the same links I have (although I took the photo link from that post).

And many, many more. Google News link to all of them

2005-10-20T18:25:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: on Dateline and US soldiers burning dead Taliban fighters.

As that SBS link says the incident is being "aggressively investigated" by the Army Criminal Division and corrective action would be taken if the allegations are found to be true.

It's not really a matter of whether or not the allegations are true. It's right there on camera. What we'll have to wait and see is what the outcome is; whether it all blows over and nothing happens, or it all blows up if the Muslim world becomes enraged.

2005-10-20T15:42:00.000+10:00

It's already old news here, but a member of the New South Wales Parliament assaulted another member, at one point grabbing him by the neck with both hands.

2005-10-20T15:07:00.000+10:00

The BBC has picked up Dateline's story about US soldiers burning Taliban bodies.

2005-10-20T09:18:00.000+10:00

Australian Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly wants to personally guarantee the government there will be no terrorist attack in Australia, but can only do so if proposed terrorism laws (see previous post) are scrapped.

Also says he'll happily go to jail himself if a terrorist attack does take place, proving him wrong. via smh.com.au

2005-10-20T08:54:00.000+10:00

Jon Stanhope, Chief Minister for the ACT has released on his website the entire 107 pages of Draft Anti-Terrorism Legislation (pdf-332kb) that has everyone in an uproar.

Why has he done it? Maybe because he's not a Liberal. That said, given my earlier posts and podcast following up the story about whistleblowing and the amendments federally, I wonder if he can, or will be, investigated for unlawful disclosure. I don't think he could be investigated, but interesting times nonetheless.

2005-10-20T01:12:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: to prove my point, Blogger didn't let me create a new post to say this.

I've had a domain parked for a while now, but today's Blogger spac-attack - and the fact that my parked domain is up for renewal in the next month and I hella don't want to stay with Yahoo - has led me to buy some hosting. I've also downloaded WordPress and will now begin the slow process of killing myself in order to try and make it work...
posted at 3.30am
-------------

Blogger seems to be back and working again.

Okay, this is pretty big news. Macworld reports Apple has announced a major music-related event for October 25. They could be launching an Australian iTunes Music Store that day.

It's about time.

2005-10-19T21:34:00.000+10:00

The Sydney Morning Herald story I linked to about US soldiers burning Taliban bodies in Afghanistan is actually from tonight's episode of Dateline here in Australia. That link is to their front page where tonight's episode is discussed briefly. Video and transcript should be available here when they get it uploaded, but as I write this the show won't finish for another couple of minutes.

The freelance photographer who filmed the burning of the bodies made a good point. The soldiers who burnt the bodies probably thought they were actually doing it for hygiene purposes, but the Psy-Ops guys with them knew exactly what they were asking the soldiers to do and why.

Both the act of burning the bodies and facing them west in the process is highly insulting in Islam (or so the program said, I have no reason not to believe it). The local village was then blasted via loudspeaker, hoping to enrage and thus flush out more Taliban fighters. They taunted them by calling them 'cowards' and 'ladymen' for not coming out to fight after their colleague's bodies were desecrated. Yes, in their announcement they told them they had been burnt facing west.

I'll update when video and/or transcript is available at that link. Photojournalist who recorded the burning and other video from the story is Steve Dupont, voiceover and second half of story/footage is by SBS journalist John Martinkus.

UPDATE: Blogger is giving me an error page when I try to add new posts, but will let me edit existing ones!! Useless. Anyway, announcement iTunes Music Store may be coming to Australia next week.

UPDATE: Transcript now available at Dateline website. Quote by Psy-Ops guy of what they put out over loudspeakers in local language (read out in English, straight from their notebook)

SGT JIM BAKER Attention, Taliban, you are all cowardly dogs. You allowed your fighters to be laid down facing west and burned. You are too scared to come down and retrieve their bodies. This just proves you are the lady boys we always believed you to be.

2005-10-19T15:20:00.000+10:00

BBC NEWS - French crack baby-smuggling ring. Still interesting, but not as much as what I thought I read, which was more along the lines of French crack-baby smuggling ring.

2005-10-19T15:15:00.000+10:00

Sydney Morning Herald article about US troops burning Taliban bodies and then taunting via loudspeaker the village where they think more are hiding out... makes me proud. U-S-A! U-S-A! Not to mention the SMH's suckhole policy on RSS feeds, which doesn't allow you to link their headline. Because generating more traffic for them would be a bad thing how? And if you sign up to their RSS feeds, the only thing you get anyway is the headline, most of which are so crap you wouldn't know what the story was unless you followed the link anyway, which is the whole point of RSS, so I don't have to visit your site for EVERY, BLOODY, STORY. And while I can link to them via RSS, you may have to subscribe to read their stuff. Suckholes. Ok, rant over.

2005-10-19T15:10:00.000+10:00

The Australian - Terror laws to be introduced here in Australia. One line of this, that just pissed me off (actually read it in print edition over breakfast)

Under the proposed laws, people could be jailed for up to five years for disclosing details of others who are being held by law enforcement agencies.

Sweet.

2005-10-19T15:05:00.000+10:00

The link in an earlier post was a slightly amusing/embarrasing list of things done in a day in the life of a blogger. In that list he provided a link to his site meter, which is quite interesting.
As you can see, he's seen a pretty big spike in visitors, another 3,000 since I looked at it this morning, I think.

2005-10-19T15:00:00.000+10:00

Volokh.com - writing about the issue of the Chinese dissident who was jailed after Yahoo provided essential details to Chinese authorities that allowed him to be identified. One line I disagree with.

...just as there was no way to be an ethical supplier of spy equipment to the USSR or Nazi Germany

Was it unethical to supply spy equipment to the USSR simply because they were the US's enemies? Would it have been unethical to supply spy equipment to the US government during the McCarthy era? On that note, I can't wait for George Clooney's new film Good Night, and Good Luck about Edward R. Murro, the journalist who publicly opposed McCarthy. Trailers here.

Downloading the trailer in iTunes now for Good Night, and Good Luck. Australian release date, December 22, 2005. Excellent! I get to watch that on my honeymoon.

Yeah, baby, I'm getting married. That's right. Dig it.

Okay, just watched trailer. Great ending quote

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

2005-10-19T14:50:00.000+10:00

Cathy Young - post about the University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up and the rumour mill that took place in the blogosphere as to whether or not he was a terrorist. As an aside, it was while a football game attended by 85,000 people was going on inside. That's right, 85,000 to a college football game.

2005-10-19T14:45:00.000+10:00

The Age - more about Australian terror laws.

2005-10-19T14:43:00.000+10:00

I thought it was a joke, but no. It's a soccer fatwa.

Edict includes

Do not follow the heretics and play with 11 people. Instead, add to this number or decrease it
Do not play in t-shirts and shorts, they are not Muslim, but heretical Western clothing
Do not appoint someon to follow you called a "referee" as his presence would be in imitation of the heretics, Jews and Christians
You should use two posts instead of three pieces of wood or steel that you erect in order to put the ball between them, meaning that you should remove the crossbar in order not to imitate the heretics and in order to be entirely distinct from the soccer system's despotic international rules

And other ridiculousness. Upside - maybe Australia won't have to worry about facing Iran in any future World Cup playoffs.

Also available at the International Herald Tribune, if the NYT link becomes subscription only.

2005-10-19T14:40:00.000+10:00

iLounge - and finally, iLounge brings the video iPod, with a six-page photo gallery

My 13 Open Tabs

2005-10-19T14:35:00.000+10:00

UPDATE: The individual list items in this post have been broken up into seperate posts that you would have already skimmed above.

Too many open tabs, must say something about them. Minimal.

BBC NEWS - French crack baby-smuggling ring. Still interesting, but not as much as what I thought I read, which was more along the lines of French crack-baby smuggling ring.
MetaFilter talking about broadband access in the US... kind of boring.
Sydney Morning Herald article about US troops burning Taliban bodies and then taunting via loudspeaker the village where they think more are hiding out... makes me proud. U-S-A! U-S-A! Not to mention the SMH's suckhole policy on RSS feeds, which doesn't allow you to link their headline. Because generating more traffic for them would be a bad thing how? And if you sign up to their RSS feeds, the only thing you get anyway is the headline, most of which are so crap you wouldn't know what the story was unless you followed the link anyway, which is the whole point of RSS, so I don't have to visit your site for EVERY, BLOODY, STORY. And while I can link to them via RSS, you may have to subscribe to read their stuff. Suckholes. Ok, rant over.
The Australian - Terror laws to be introduced here in Australia. One line of this, that just pissed me off (actually read it in print edition over breakfast)
Under the proposed laws, people could be jailed for up to five years for disclosing details of others who are being held by law enforcement agencies.
Sweet.
The link in the previous post was a slightly amusing/embarrasing list of things done in a day in the life of a blogger. In that list he provided a link to his site meter, which is quite interesting.
As you can see, he's seen a pretty big spike in visitors, another 3,000 since I looked at it this morning, I think.
Volokh.com - writing about the issue of the Chinese dissident who was jailed after Yahoo provided essential details to Chinese authorities that allowed him to be identified. One line I disagree with.
...just as there was no way to be an ethical supplier of spy equipment to the USSR or Nazi Germany
Was it unethical to supply spy equipment to the USSR simply because they were the US's enemies? Would it have been unethical to supply spy equipment to the US government during the McCarthy era? On that note, I can't wait for George Clooney's new film Good Night, and Good Luck about Edward R. Murro, the journalist who publicly opposed McCarthy. Trailers here.
Cathy Young - post about the University of Oklahoma student who blew himself up and the rumour mill that took place in the blogosphere as to whether or not he was a terrorist. As an aside, it was while a football game attended by 85,000 people was going on inside. That's right, 85,000 to a college football game.
The Age - more about Australian terror laws.
I thought it was a joke, but no. It's a soccer fatwa.
iLounge - and finally, iLounge brings the video iPod, with a six-page photo gallery.

And I think that's it. It only worked out to 10 because there were some that were just too boring to link to here. Yes, even more boring than some of those already linked. I think I've wasted enough time for the day. Perhaps I'll learn from others with high traffic that I should really be doing those points as one post at a time to generate more visitors. You can't win 'em all, but I guess it would negate the need for 10-20 tabs open at once on the off chance I might blog about them. Post and be done with it.

Downloading the trailer in iTunes now for Good Night, and Good Luck. Australian release date, December 22, 2005. Excellent! I get to watch that on my honeymoon.

Yeah, baby, I'm getting married. That's right. Dig it.

Okay, just watched trailer. Great ending quote

We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

A Day in the Life of Blogging

2005-10-19T09:04:00.000+10:00

This is so sad. What makes it worse is I'm posting a link to it while thinking, damn, I need to get to class. I currently have 11 tabs open in Firefox. Nerd much?

Australian industrial relations reforms

2005-10-18T23:32:00.000+10:00

Any Australian would have seen this all over the TV (thanks $100 million+ taxpayer-funded advertising campaign) , but just before I go to bed I'd like to link you to Work Choices, the website for the Australian government's proposed industrial relations reforms.

I've ordered two copies of the 15-page booklet and will peruse it carefully once it arrives.

October 18 Podcast

2005-10-18T20:24:00.000+10:00

(12:20, 3mb)

It's a podcast! I'm toying with the idea of using a less intrusive podcast icon, such as this one... That other one I was using was, well, big. But since saving this as a draft I'm no longer toying with the idea. Kate likes it. I like it. You like it. Yes, you do. Of about 8 small designs I tried, this one looked the best. Oh what the hey. These were the other designs. And so the podcast pic above all this text is the MP3 file if you want to manually download it (ie, if you don't have podcast software to automatically get that for you).

Stinky underpants

2005-10-18T11:14:00.000+10:00

And then, someone's prayers were answered. Not mine - I wash regularly - both body and clothing. SBS reports these new smell-resistant underpants will be a godsend for some, however. Made of polypropylene yarn, I'm wondering how the tiny fragments of silver woven in are going to affect the price. Thankfully, the company says you can even turn them inside out for the second day's wearing, no trouble at all!

Can't find these new undies at northface.com though! Stink! Or maybe not, for a few days.

Some kind of beautiful

2005-10-18T01:48:00.000+10:00

No idea what they are, but they're quite small. Taken in front garden of my parent's house.

Venezuela Update

2005-10-18T01:06:00.000+10:00

New Tribes Mission (NTM) - main website talking briefly about NTM representatives and missionaries speaking on Venezuelan national TV, refuting Chavez claims, including CIA links

The Daily Journal - online edition of a Caracas paper, quoting the US envoy going to bat for NTM and saying, in relation to their supposed CIA links, "I can deny that categorically." I guess he should know who the spooks in country are. Also makes reference to the governor of Amazonas already having signed off on an order for NTM to leave the area

VHeadline.com - (Venezuela's Electronic News that "remains 100% independent of all political factions in Venezuela") reports on the Amazonas Governor's expulsion order, saying that

Groups calling for the group's expulsion have received the news with relief. Liberal filmmakers, the Catholic Church, intellectuals, anthropologists and environmentalists have been clamoring for years to have the NTM evicted but the group has always managed to bounce back, whatever the government.

One of the changes lodges against the group is its alleged use of indigenous groups to conduct medical experiments, such as a vaccination of measles among Yanomamis resulting in the death of dozens.

Another is that the group has flown out mineral samples in the area to benefit General Dynamics and Westinghouse.

I'm not sure if that long quote is their own writing from VHeadline.com, or a direct translation from the site where they got the story. Flying out mineral samples I can believe. People from indigenous groups dying from measles injections I can believe. Conducting medical experiments? Not so much.

All the VHeadline.com stories about NTM - I guess it's the Venezuelan view, though I wouldn't agree with it.
Chavez Frias orders New Tribes missionaries to leave Venezuela

Chavez claims US evangelicals gather sensitive and strategic information

New Tribes issue measured response seeking Chaz Method solution

Vice President J.V. Rangel defends decision to expel New Tribes

Weeds

2005-10-18T00:54:00.000+10:00

Pretty sure this is just some type of weed grass. Taken at ... something Falls during the afternoon part of A. East's bucks party.

Missionary group denies CIA link

2005-10-16T00:38:00.000+10:00

That headline made me laugh. Only because as a missionary kid in Papua New Guinea I heard that we too were rumored to be a CIA front organisation. And spying on what facilities in the jungles of a third world country, and from which village garnering information related to national security?

First, Hugo Chavez says New Tribes is being kicked out of Venezuela, no questions asked.

Two days later New Tribes is denying links to the CIA.

I wouldn't put it past far right conservative evangelists to feel a little 'duty' to their country, but I think this is a little more conspiracy than New Tribes Mission is in for.

University travel warning

2005-10-14T10:52:00.000+10:00

First time I've ever seen this. Front page of my university's student/staff login page, my.uq.edu.au, one of the quick links is to thisOverseas travel advice popup.

Some day

2005-10-14T10:21:00.000+10:00

Listening to Ministry of Sound Chillout Sessions as I prepare to hand in three news stories for assessment. Supposed to be handing in five, but you can't win them all.
So chill out to this pic.

I pummelo you

2005-10-13T17:42:00.000+10:00

Once again, I have no idea what to call the plants I'm taking photos of. Freaky medieval white spiked battle club. Not a pummelo.

Apple iTunes, video iPod

2005-10-13T14:01:00.000+10:00

Apple goes great guns. New video iPod supports downloadable videos, including TV shows from ABC/Disney currently (like Lost, Desperate Housewives I think), and where do you get those videos? iTunes, of course. Presenting the all-new, all-shiny, all-dancing machine - Apple!

Now if we could just get iTunes Music Store for Australia...

2005-10-13T02:58:00.000+10:00

News: iLounge Exclusive: New iPod revealed: "iLounge has snapped exclusive photos of advertisements for the new iPod, which will be introduced today Apple’s ‘One more thing’ event in San Jose, California. The posters clearly show an all-new iPod model with a larger display, approximately 2.5 to 2.6 inches diagonal, compared to the current full-size iPod’s 2-inch screen.…"

(Via iPodlounge.)

iLounge says they've got the scoop on Apple's big deal today. They're getting huge traffic at that link, so here's another, live updates of the apple event!

Blogger plagiarised by old media

2005-10-13T00:15:00.000+10:00

Not that it should be wildly unexpected that big media organisations plagiarise each others stories, but when they start blatantly plagiarising bloggers, without requesting, receiving, or reimbursing for, permission to reprint a blogger's material, well, stick it to them.

Tim Worstall writes about a policeman's blog that was picked up in the Mail on Sunday's 'Britblog Roundup', but, as PC COPPERFIELD himself says

PS The Mail on Sunday never even asked...bastards.
PPS Unlike the Sunday Times who did
PPPS Come to think of it, so did the Guardian
PPPPS The Sunday Telegraph apologised afterwards

On that link to his front page, he's only got one post available briefly discussing this subject, but archives are still available, if interested. Or paste this - http://coppersblog.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_coppersblog_archive.html
- into your address bar. To read more, just change those year/month numbers in bold. Leave the last one as 01 and all the posts in that month will come up. The earliest is 2004_04_01.

2005-10-12T22:16:00.000+10:00

Syrian minister 'commits suicide'

"Syria's Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan has committed suicide, the official news agency in Damascus says." (Via BBC News.)

Now, while the official news agency in Damascus may have in fact included the words "commits" and "suicide" in their statement, the very use of quotation marks in the story's headline is a clear indication that the BBC considers suicide to be unlikely. Until more is known, this is very misleading for people who only read headlines, like me. Now I'll go read the story and see if I've got anything different to say.

The story says nothing to suggest it was anything other than what was announced by the Syrian Arab News Agency, a suicide. The BBC headline is misleading. Without the quotation marks it would not be.

Midweek

2005-10-12T09:24:00.000+10:00

Only 2.5 days to the weekend... lots to do.

Oil Price Drop

2005-10-11T15:58:00.000+10:00

World Oil prices have dropped, but it's unlikely to make a difference to what we're paying at the pump in Australia.

You might also like to check out this site for information on Australian petrol prices.

Fave Pics

2005-10-11T12:30:00.000+10:00

Apologies if these have been posted before. Will be going through a list of my photos currently moonlighting as a screensaver.

Ladybug on leaf

2005-10-10T23:57:00.000+10:00

I'm going to get back into adding pics into my posts. This one took in the afternoon before our engagement party, before everything got busy! Ladybug didn't want to stay in one spot...frisky fella.

Don't hold back!

2005-10-09T18:23:00.000+10:00

Amusing moment today in the shop. The mannequin was wearing the only pair of jeans left that I wanted to buy and two people were needed to pull his pants off. Damn these low quality camera phones!

The Cake

2005-10-09T01:08:00.000+10:00

Fun was had. Mingling was done. Party was good. Opening presents tomorrow.

It's my party and I'll

2005-10-07T19:46:00.000+10:00

It's Kate's and my party, and we'll do what we want to, for the most part. Well, engagement party on Saturday night, which makes for 28 hours of extreme business. See you on the other side.

Short

2005-10-06T13:48:00.000+10:00

Unbelievable - 13-foot Burmese python explodes after eating 6-foot alligator in a War of the Swamp Monsters, or something like that.

In a completely unexpected turn of events, I had an article published in the latest edition of The Independent Monthly. Unexpected because I didn't like what I'd written; I didn't think it made sense, but submitted it anyway. Nonetheless, I'll link it for you here as a web page. It's simply a print story based on the Helen Ester radio broadcast I put up a week or two ago.
UPDATE: Crap, quick alteration of that web file since it had Helen Ester's contact details on it!

Also looking at my web stats and had my highest day on September 7 (50 visiters), which is strange because what I posted that day, a couple of reminders that I'm getting married, you would think the internet community at large would not have found particularly exciting, or been searching for. And since we're talking about stats, the earley edition passed 5,000 visitors a few days ago, no thanks to the journalists-in-residence. Congratulations must however be extended to the production team and management who have done us exceedingly proud.

Now going offline, and upstairs into the air-con on this 36^o (around 98^oF?) day.

Hip Hip Hip

2005-10-06T00:06:00.000+10:00

Hooray! hooray! hooray! That's right, I'm 27 as of six minutes ago, but for six more months I'm still closer to 25 than 30. I think that deserves three more cheers.

Gifts will be accepted via the 'Wedding Funds' button on your left. That's only for first-time guests though. If you must know, all the regular readers already made their contributions. No, no you cannot see proof, that is private information.

Your Listening Pleasure

2005-10-05T23:03:00.000+10:00

Another podcast because honestly, who DOESN'T want to hear me drone on about, well, me? Yeah, baby. (3:00, 2.9mb)

Finally, a podcast

2005-10-04T00:37:00.000+10:00

Wedding gifts, Reception venue, Making invitations, Marriage Counselling. This podcast is all to do with engagement/wedding plans and things. (13:03, 3.1mb)

Bombs in Bali?

2005-10-01T23:09:00.000+10:00

I put a question mark there because, as AP (via CNN) is reporting, the police spokesman says they just don't know. That said, simultaneous explosions in tourist resort areas would be a strong indicator of planned bombs. Terrorist attacks.

LOCATION: Bali, Indonesia
- Jimbaran Beach - at least three explosions, one reportedly close the Four Seasons Hotel
- Kuta - 18km from Jimbaran, one explosion reported in shopping centre.
WHAT:
- Reports 2 dead, many more injured at this point.
- Rajas restaurant in Kuta was filled with diners, both storeys badly damaged

This is just going to get bigger, and I won't be able to keep up with it. Hope it's not so bad... over and out.

Bali explosions

2005-10-01T22:50:00.000+10:00

None of the TV news has shown anything yet, but CNN.com reported 10 minutes ago about simultaneous explosions in Bali.

UPDATE: CNN link updated with comment by Indonesian police spokesman. BBC also with brief story although both are taken from AP

UPDATE: BBC's behind the game. CNN has already updated this AP story four times in the last 20 minutes, including quotes from police and witnesses.

UPDATE: Well, BBC has added a map and not much else, except a form at the bottom asking for 'citizen journalists' (my words, not theirs) to submit, well, let me quote:

Did you witness the explosions? Send us your eywitness accounts. If you have images please send them to yourpics@bbc.co.uk

CNN, meanwhile, is running with it.

Journalism Students Revolt?

2005-09-30T18:36:00.000+10:00

Well, I feel compelled to post it now that I've seen it. I don't know how journalism students found out about it, except by word of mouth, but even The Australian newspaper picked it up earlier this week. An anonymous student at UQ's School of Journalism has started a blog, whats wrong with the j school.blogspot.com. To be fair, he's also started the blog whats right with the j school.blogspot.com.

How do I know this anonymous blogger is a 'he', you may well ask. One of the commenters names him by first name. Heck, why not go out on a limb and name him here, saving you the trouble of searching through the blog itself. It's Cameron. I know only one in the course, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

As someone said to me today,

Why be anonymous? Surely it would make a better story if you said you were failing because you criticised the journalism department, rather than because they're not teaching you.

I would be surprised, however, if Cameron is failing, or doing particularly badly. I'm not sure if he's changed his tune, but his latest post from this morning says,

To all who have suggested something be done regarding this issue, nothing more can be done on these blogs. Your motivation dictates the future. Not somebody elses. If you really want to make a change, go for it.

True, and so the ineptitude or not of the j-school should have no bearing on whether or not we get jobs. It was always up to our own hard work and initiative.

Quest Community Newspapers

2005-09-30T12:37:00.000+10:00

I assume this is meant to be amusing, but I'm wondering if it's even supposed to be on their website. It's on the front page under General News.
Former Labor leader attacks whole world. From City News, a Quest Newspaper in Brisbane.

School reunion

2005-09-29T09:49:00.000+10:00

Showing my age here, but my 10-year school reunion is on next year. Not the high school I graduated from in Australia. Piffle! No, the school I went to in Papua New Guinea, where I was actually only in the high school for 7th Grade. In my defense/defence (?) crap... defence! In my defence, however, I was there for almost all of primary school, which was all the same people. We have a mailing list for the whole group, '96 Nius!, and it's been active the last few days with people talking about the organisation for the reunion around July next year. I finally sent an update to our that list, something I probably haven't done for 12 months, to let them all know I was engaged.

And so, to the point of this post. It's not unusual someone may receive congratulations on an engagement from a previous girlfriend or boyfriend. Unless of course they were so in the 4th Grade. Then I think it's unusual, and extraordinary, that you even know each other.

On the run (again)

2005-09-28T22:43:00.000+10:00

On my weekends away at Kate's parent's place on the Gold Coast I sleep with Kermit by my head. He holds onto the bedpost for dear life, and threatens to nibble on my ear.

I also like to take pictures, as always. Usually closeups of flowers because that's not difficult and the result is usually pleasing to the senses, although in the 232 photos of flowers I have in iPhoto, I may know one is a lily...maybe. I would be dead if my life depended on telling you what the others were, including this kind. One with a tiny inchworm on it. Sometimes a quick crop will do nicely too.

That's about it for now. As for me, I'm off to bed so I can get up in the morning to watch Liverpool vs Chelsea in the Champion's League. It doesn't get much better than that... If I disappear off the face of the earth, don't worry, they can only hold me for 14 days without charging me. I think I may soon go into the offical black books if a story about police brutality I'm doing gets printed... not that it's fully about police brutality. Let me say openly to all law enforcement agencies out there that I don't accuse all cops of police brutality with any kind of blanket coverage. No, police are great. I love them. They protect me, they take people to jail who should go, they make people drive at speeds that keep me and my (future) children relatively safe etc. But as in all groups in society, there are some that aren't so cool. And anyone in society who is doing something illegal should not be exempt from, or above, the law. This was the talk I had prepared in my head for when someone accuses me of being another liberal journalist just taking any opportunity to paint authority figures in a bad light, like it's all their fault. Not at all, and I've never done that.

You don't hurt authority by questioning how it is used, you ensure its legitimacy by doing so. And by this I don't mean journalists are the be-all and end-all of this right to question authority. Journalists have always simply been the citizens who ask the questions, but are at the same time in the unique position of also having the means to print/broadcast the answers to those questions. Particularly in this age of citizen journalism (blogging, podcasting, video and camera phones) that divide between those who can and cannot publish is being crossed. I am a citizen who has a right to ask questions, has a right to try and find out what is going on. Call me a journalist if it suits you, but don't deny me my rights as a citizen.

Hm. Liverpool took a wild tangent there, sorry about that. Anyway, I'm off.

Radio News Package

2005-09-28T04:56:00.000+10:00

This is the final polish of the interview I did. I've added a few things to the front and end of what I actually submitted for assessment, but there you have it. For anyone who knows, I had to submit text of intro and cart, but only audio of cart. Here's the text of what I submitted.

Alright, off to the magistrate's courts today for a story. See you all soon!

HELP

2005-09-27T19:46:00.000+10:00

Back from holiday. Just quickly throwing these things out there because I need some help

Skype - I'm trying to configure Skype to record straight into Garageband (or other similar/better audio recording software for the purpose of online voice interviews. I've seen some stuff but am yet to get it to work. Specifically, I can't find a step-by-step guide I saw a few months ago that dealt with Skype to Garageband specifically.
Does anyone know how to make an iPod function as a storage device that will work in both Macs and Windows-based computers? I thought I had enabled it on my mac, but when I went and tried to use it on PCs at university it wasn't recognised, and asked if I wanted to format my external storage device in FAT32 format or something. I didn't because I didn't know whether or not that would end up being a bad thing for the iPod as a whole, and didn't want to lose the files I HAD transferred onto it.
Quick links. Because I hardly have time to read these, but I really want to, maybe after putting these links here I can shut all the tabs and unclutter my desktop. These are all the websites I have open in tabs at the moment, with plans to read in full. Some are read and awaiting posting here, but this will have to do.
- Skype on a USB drive
- Portable Firefox 1.0.7 (USB Drive-Friendly)
- Advanced Podcast studio setup with Skype and Audio Hijack Pro (not quite doing what I want yet, although getting close!
- The True Face of War - I hesitated putting this one in, but I was reading it, more for the shock value of the line
  American soldiers have been using the pictures of disfigured Iraqi corpses as currency to buy pornography.
  It's really bad. I would recommend you DON'T follow any of the links to pictures if you go to read the thread.
- PR Newswire.com - now has RSS feeds.
- Can Bloggers Strike It Rich?
- Suppression of dissent - this one was just reading up on stuff for a story.
- Podcasting from Mac OS X - A Recipe - I actually haven't read all through this one - it could be a winner.

Alright, there's a big storm rumbling through, and I've been trying to rush this post so I can unplug everything. Take care, see you soon. Oh yes, and help with 1. and 2. above would be appreciated.

Dual podcast

2005-09-24T02:34:00.000+10:00

Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents

2005-09-24T02:09:00.000+10:00

Reporters sans frontières - Handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents

Haven't read the whole thing as I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open...but I like what I've glanced at, and will go with my news story about blogging/podcasting/new media and their encroachment on traditional media (at least for some of us, like you if you're reading this). Alright, a hot shower and a bed for me.