Again - it's a layer 2 network - it's just a bitstream. They couldn't censor stuff at that level even if they wanted since it's above the TCP/IP layer. So any censorship that occurs will be the choice of individual ISPs, just as it is now.
Thing is, there's no way they can get enough numbers in the foreseeable future (which is why I said 'unlikely to be reintroduced any time soon'). Labor won't win the next election, and even if they do, they'd have to both win and get a substantially increased majority (since the Greens and the Indeps won't vote for it). So we're talking 2016 election at the earliest before there's a chance of the filter getting back on the agenda.
Right - as I said, it's politically untenable. Labor would have to win an election, with a majority in its own right (not combined with the Greens), in order to have a chance of getting it through. That has no chance of happening until at least the 2016 election (Labor is unlikely to win the next election, and even if they do, won't get a significantly increased majority).
So at least 2016 (and even that seems unlikely), plus the time it would take to get it through Parliament. A lot can change by then - I don't see an immediate threat of the filter rearing its head again for a while.
What on earth are you going on about? The internet filter proposal was dropped and is unlikely to be reintroduced for a long time, as it's politically untenable. The net is currently no more censored here than in any other country.
Also, Australia has an absolutely massive online gambling industry... so much so that some of the biggest online betting agencies have actually moved from other countries, to base themselves here. Again - not sure where your comments came from.
Wish I could get 10 Mbit ADSL2. 4 km from the CBD of Canberra and the most I can get is ~5 Mbps (crappy long line!). I AM on the NBN three-year rollout though:) (Early 2014)
Citizenship also gives you an inalienable right to enter Australia, for the rest of your life, no questions asked. A visa, even a PR visa, can be taken away. Citizenship can't. Admittedly this would only matter in extreme circumstances, but you never know...
Plus if you get in trouble overseas there are things that the AU Government may be able to do for you that they couldn't do for a PR. Again, we're talking extreme circumstances here.
Oh and if your other citizenship is American, Australian citizenship also allows you to visit Cuba! Woot, I guess?:P
AC is correct (I'm also a dual US-Aussie citizen). Australia recognises both and regards both as valid. The US doesn't disallow you getting another citizenship... but basically ignores its existence and will treat you the same as if you were simply any other US citizen.
Incidentally if you are an Australian citizen you should always enter Australia on your Australian passport, even if you could technically enter on the other one. Less trouble for you, and it allows you indefinite entry, whereas for the other passport you'd need a visa or electronic travel authority etc. set up. Plus it screws their 'is the person in or out of the country at the moment' system up if you leave and enter on different passports (which matters if there's an emergency in a place overseas and they need to know if any Australian citizens might be there).
The same in Australia, but really it's just words. The Queen is a figurehead and a symbol of historical ties. She has no real role in the running of either Canada or Australia from a practical standpoint. And having an apolitical and arms-length head of state is actually a good thing from a governance perspective (note - head of State, not head of Government... the two roles are the same guy in America, but separate people in Parliamentary systems).
True but the work they did introducing ADSL2+, rolling out their own DSLAMs, pushing for Annex M approval in Australia etc. was done when they WERE still a separate company, so in the context of the GP post that makes sense. Plus although owned by iiNet now they still operate as a separate brand and business - not like a true 'merger'.
Filtering: proposal from a few years ago never got past the 'discussion' stages and died. Was never introduced into Parliament and is unlikely to be reintroduced any time soon.
Monitored: not currently. Data retention laws are currently being considered, which would make Australia compliant with the EU Data Retention directives that have been in place for quite a few years. No guarantee these will pass either, but even if they do, it'd only bring Australia into line with the current status quo in most of Europe, so it's hardly an Australia-specific 'bad point'.
OK so basically the article was a bunch of baloney. Thought so - a lot of stuff about it didn't add up.
For instance, you can't just "apply" for Australian citizenship because you feel like it... you need to have lived here for 4 years and/or meet other requirements first, I don't think they'll bypass those requirements just because you're famous (though getting a visa/permanent residence is a lot easier if you have fame/money... there's visa classes for business investment and cultural contributions etc.)
Anyway, whatever the reason behind it, and as an Australian and US dual citizen myself, welcome:)
It's not censored at all (unless you choose an ISP that offers a filter as a 'feature')?
I suspect you are thinking of that mandatory internet filter proposal from a few years ago, but didn't keep up to date on it. It never got off the ground - wasn't even introduced into Parliament, let alone passed. Very unlikely to get 're-proposed' anytime soon either, given the current political situation and likely outcome of the next election.
Government is more interested in pushing a data retention scheme now, rather than a filtering scheme. A 'log where they've been', rather than a 'stop them going places in the first place' proposal. Also an abhorrent idea, but doesn't really have much to do with the NBN (especially considering the NBN is a layer-2 network!)
It's a 10+ year plan, yes, but once complete, it will cover the whole population - 94% with fibre, the remainder with fast fixed wireless (WiMax or similar) or dedicated satellite (which will be a significant upgrade from the current sat services available).
I don't get it within the next 3-year window either, but that doesn't mean I don't believe it's coming. It's a huge project and they are picking the low-hanging fruit first in terms of where it's most efficient to roll out. My parents ARE within the 3 year schedule though (should get it late-2013), so I'll be interested to go over and play around with it once it's installed.:)
NBN is merely the physical infrastructure and cabling - a layer 2 network. It's open access. Anyone can sell retail services over it... except NBN themselves, who are restricted by law to remaining purely as the guys maintaining and building the physical infrastructure.
The NBN is not the government per se. It's a publicly-funded-but-privately-run, open access layer 2 network that any company can choose to provide access on. So it's only a monopoly in terms of the physical infrastructure (much like power lines and phone lines and sewerage)... but not in terms of the actual end-user services that can be provided over it (layer 3 or otherwise).
The government indeed wanted to do that, but the internet filter proposal died. Never even got introduced into Parliament, let alone passed. They can try again, of course, but I don't think there's an appetite for this in the short to medium term. The net's still uncensored for now.
Yeah weird huh? The requirements to become an Australian citizen (which I'm well versed in, as my American wife has just obtained her Australian citizenship a few months ago) are:
- You have lived lawfully in Australia for at least 4 years; and - You have lived in Australia for at least 12 months as a permanent resident
(OR... you were born in Australia or used to have citizenship but lost it for whatever reason)
My wife moved here after we were married and lived here for 4 years. The first two she was a temporary resident (all spouse visas are temporary for the first two years, and can then be migrated to permanent). The latter two she was permanent. She qualified earlier this year, did the test, had the ceremony and voila.
Woz seems to be thinking that, if you are well-known and/or rich, you can bypass all these requirements. I am not sure that is the case. You can certainly qualify for a permanent residence visa to live here on the basis of being rich ('investing' in the country), but that isn't citizenship.
Basically prior to April 2002, you are correct - Australian citizenship was lost if you acquired a different citizenship. But for the last 10 years, that has not been true - dual citizenship is recognised and perfectly OK now.
I have to wonder what on earth you're doing. Among my immediate and extended family we have 13 iOS devices, which of course being the "IT guy", I am responsible for setting up and updating and troubleshooting etc. Not one has ever had any issue doing an iOS update, and I've done them via iTunes and OTA.
Not doubting you or anything but there must be something you do that's "unusual", since it seem to happen every time...?
You don't HAVE to update to iOS6. Not sure that "control" is really the right word to use here. You either update to get the new shiny features... or you don't and stick with old faithful.
(Yes I know the iOS ecosystem controls you in other ways, but OS updates, the topic of this thread, is not really one of them)
What did the issues that got escalated to you mostly concern? Was there a trend? Or was it all kinds of random stuff.
Not challenging you here or anything, I'm just curious since I can't think of anything for me personally that's ever gone wrong with an iOS update (there's not much that really CAN go wrong, is there, other than perhaps some apps behaving weird afterwards, and usually that's because you haven't updated your apps in so long that there was a 'fixed iOS6-specific bugs' update that you missed)
I view my phone as an appliance, yes. Not my computers though. That's the main reason I DO want a simple, appliance-like phone... I have computers for tinkering around with and hacking and customising etc. But my phone is an important tool and I can't afford it to randomly get all glitchy or crashy when I'm trying to do something important with it. I want it to be a reliable, stable, platform for making calls, checking my email and browsing the web when I'm out and about (plus navigation and games etc.) I am willing to give away a bit of flexibility in order to get that stability and ease of use (though mind you, the default way iOS does things is usually similar to what I would have wanted anyway, and apps allow you to do almost anything).
It unclutters my life (and my head!) - when I'm tearing my hair out about some weird software bug on my PC or trying to get some obscure driver working on my Linux box etc, it's nice to have at least one device I can fall back on knowing it will 'just work' with zero fiddling around.
Nothing against those that DO like to tinker with their phones - more power to them. But I haven't got the time in the day to do that with my phone in addition to all the other hardware I play around with. So yes, my phone is an appliance, much like my stereo system or my microwave.
It's sea ice. Where do you think that sea ice came from?
That'd mostly be from the ice cap over Antarctica itself (i.e. stuff that's been locked up over ~land~ for the last however many million years). Warmer air temps lead to more of it breaking off into the sea. Where it will melt in the upcoming southern summer.
Increased sea ice around Antarctica is a sign of increased loss of the Antarctic ice cap itself. It's a sign of 'loss', not a gain at all.
Slashdot Mirror
Again - it's a layer 2 network - it's just a bitstream. They couldn't censor stuff at that level even if they wanted since it's above the TCP/IP layer. So any censorship that occurs will be the choice of individual ISPs, just as it is now.
Thing is, there's no way they can get enough numbers in the foreseeable future (which is why I said 'unlikely to be reintroduced any time soon'). Labor won't win the next election, and even if they do, they'd have to both win and get a substantially increased majority (since the Greens and the Indeps won't vote for it). So we're talking 2016 election at the earliest before there's a chance of the filter getting back on the agenda.
Right - as I said, it's politically untenable. Labor would have to win an election, with a majority in its own right (not combined with the Greens), in order to have a chance of getting it through. That has no chance of happening until at least the 2016 election (Labor is unlikely to win the next election, and even if they do, won't get a significantly increased majority).
So at least 2016 (and even that seems unlikely), plus the time it would take to get it through Parliament. A lot can change by then - I don't see an immediate threat of the filter rearing its head again for a while.
What on earth are you going on about? The internet filter proposal was dropped and is unlikely to be reintroduced for a long time, as it's politically untenable. The net is currently no more censored here than in any other country.
Also, Australia has an absolutely massive online gambling industry ... so much so that some of the biggest online betting agencies have actually moved from other countries, to base themselves here. Again - not sure where your comments came from.
Wish I could get 10 Mbit ADSL2. 4 km from the CBD of Canberra and the most I can get is ~5 Mbps (crappy long line!). I AM on the NBN three-year rollout though :) (Early 2014)
Citizenship also gives you an inalienable right to enter Australia, for the rest of your life, no questions asked. A visa, even a PR visa, can be taken away. Citizenship can't. Admittedly this would only matter in extreme circumstances, but you never know...
Plus if you get in trouble overseas there are things that the AU Government may be able to do for you that they couldn't do for a PR. Again, we're talking extreme circumstances here.
Oh and if your other citizenship is American, Australian citizenship also allows you to visit Cuba! Woot, I guess? :P
AC is correct (I'm also a dual US-Aussie citizen). Australia recognises both and regards both as valid. The US doesn't disallow you getting another citizenship ... but basically ignores its existence and will treat you the same as if you were simply any other US citizen.
Incidentally if you are an Australian citizen you should always enter Australia on your Australian passport, even if you could technically enter on the other one. Less trouble for you, and it allows you indefinite entry, whereas for the other passport you'd need a visa or electronic travel authority etc. set up. Plus it screws their 'is the person in or out of the country at the moment' system up if you leave and enter on different passports (which matters if there's an emergency in a place overseas and they need to know if any Australian citizens might be there).
The same in Australia, but really it's just words. The Queen is a figurehead and a symbol of historical ties. She has no real role in the running of either Canada or Australia from a practical standpoint. And having an apolitical and arms-length head of state is actually a good thing from a governance perspective (note - head of State, not head of Government ... the two roles are the same guy in America, but separate people in Parliamentary systems).
True but the work they did introducing ADSL2+, rolling out their own DSLAMs, pushing for Annex M approval in Australia etc. was done when they WERE still a separate company, so in the context of the GP post that makes sense. Plus although owned by iiNet now they still operate as a separate brand and business - not like a true 'merger'.
No.
Filtering: proposal from a few years ago never got past the 'discussion' stages and died. Was never introduced into Parliament and is unlikely to be reintroduced any time soon.
Monitored: not currently. Data retention laws are currently being considered, which would make Australia compliant with the EU Data Retention directives that have been in place for quite a few years. No guarantee these will pass either, but even if they do, it'd only bring Australia into line with the current status quo in most of Europe, so it's hardly an Australia-specific 'bad point'.
OK so basically the article was a bunch of baloney. Thought so - a lot of stuff about it didn't add up.
For instance, you can't just "apply" for Australian citizenship because you feel like it ... you need to have lived here for 4 years and/or meet other requirements first, I don't think they'll bypass those requirements just because you're famous (though getting a visa/permanent residence is a lot easier if you have fame/money ... there's visa classes for business investment and cultural contributions etc.)
Anyway, whatever the reason behind it, and as an Australian and US dual citizen myself, welcome :)
It's not censored at all (unless you choose an ISP that offers a filter as a 'feature')?
I suspect you are thinking of that mandatory internet filter proposal from a few years ago, but didn't keep up to date on it. It never got off the ground - wasn't even introduced into Parliament, let alone passed. Very unlikely to get 're-proposed' anytime soon either, given the current political situation and likely outcome of the next election.
Government is more interested in pushing a data retention scheme now, rather than a filtering scheme. A 'log where they've been', rather than a 'stop them going places in the first place' proposal. Also an abhorrent idea, but doesn't really have much to do with the NBN (especially considering the NBN is a layer-2 network!)
It's a 10+ year plan, yes, but once complete, it will cover the whole population - 94% with fibre, the remainder with fast fixed wireless (WiMax or similar) or dedicated satellite (which will be a significant upgrade from the current sat services available).
I don't get it within the next 3-year window either, but that doesn't mean I don't believe it's coming. It's a huge project and they are picking the low-hanging fruit first in terms of where it's most efficient to roll out. My parents ARE within the 3 year schedule though (should get it late-2013), so I'll be interested to go over and play around with it once it's installed. :)
NBN is merely the physical infrastructure and cabling - a layer 2 network. It's open access. Anyone can sell retail services over it ... except NBN themselves, who are restricted by law to remaining purely as the guys maintaining and building the physical infrastructure.
The NBN is not the government per se. It's a publicly-funded-but-privately-run, open access layer 2 network that any company can choose to provide access on. So it's only a monopoly in terms of the physical infrastructure (much like power lines and phone lines and sewerage) ... but not in terms of the actual end-user services that can be provided over it (layer 3 or otherwise).
The government indeed wanted to do that, but the internet filter proposal died. Never even got introduced into Parliament, let alone passed. They can try again, of course, but I don't think there's an appetite for this in the short to medium term. The net's still uncensored for now.
Yeah weird huh? The requirements to become an Australian citizen (which I'm well versed in, as my American wife has just obtained her Australian citizenship a few months ago) are:
- You have lived lawfully in Australia for at least 4 years; and
- You have lived in Australia for at least 12 months as a permanent resident
(OR ... you were born in Australia or used to have citizenship but lost it for whatever reason)
My wife moved here after we were married and lived here for 4 years. The first two she was a temporary resident (all spouse visas are temporary for the first two years, and can then be migrated to permanent). The latter two she was permanent. She qualified earlier this year, did the test, had the ceremony and voila.
Woz seems to be thinking that, if you are well-known and/or rich, you can bypass all these requirements. I am not sure that is the case. You can certainly qualify for a permanent residence visa to live here on the basis of being rich ('investing' in the country), but that isn't citizenship.
Wouldn't have taken much research to find out this is no longer the case. First hit on Google:
http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/dual_citizenship/
Basically prior to April 2002, you are correct - Australian citizenship was lost if you acquired a different citizenship. But for the last 10 years, that has not been true - dual citizenship is recognised and perfectly OK now.
I have to wonder what on earth you're doing. Among my immediate and extended family we have 13 iOS devices, which of course being the "IT guy", I am responsible for setting up and updating and troubleshooting etc. Not one has ever had any issue doing an iOS update, and I've done them via iTunes and OTA.
Not doubting you or anything but there must be something you do that's "unusual", since it seem to happen every time...?
You don't HAVE to update to iOS6. Not sure that "control" is really the right word to use here. You either update to get the new shiny features ... or you don't and stick with old faithful.
(Yes I know the iOS ecosystem controls you in other ways, but OS updates, the topic of this thread, is not really one of them)
Standalone Google Maps app is currently in review and should be released shortly. So no need to panic just yet :)
What did the issues that got escalated to you mostly concern? Was there a trend? Or was it all kinds of random stuff.
Not challenging you here or anything, I'm just curious since I can't think of anything for me personally that's ever gone wrong with an iOS update (there's not much that really CAN go wrong, is there, other than perhaps some apps behaving weird afterwards, and usually that's because you haven't updated your apps in so long that there was a 'fixed iOS6-specific bugs' update that you missed)
"who view phones and computers as appliances"
I view my phone as an appliance, yes. Not my computers though. That's the main reason I DO want a simple, appliance-like phone ... I have computers for tinkering around with and hacking and customising etc. But my phone is an important tool and I can't afford it to randomly get all glitchy or crashy when I'm trying to do something important with it. I want it to be a reliable, stable, platform for making calls, checking my email and browsing the web when I'm out and about (plus navigation and games etc.) I am willing to give away a bit of flexibility in order to get that stability and ease of use (though mind you, the default way iOS does things is usually similar to what I would have wanted anyway, and apps allow you to do almost anything).
It unclutters my life (and my head!) - when I'm tearing my hair out about some weird software bug on my PC or trying to get some obscure driver working on my Linux box etc, it's nice to have at least one device I can fall back on knowing it will 'just work' with zero fiddling around.
Nothing against those that DO like to tinker with their phones - more power to them. But I haven't got the time in the day to do that with my phone in addition to all the other hardware I play around with. So yes, my phone is an appliance, much like my stereo system or my microwave.
Yep it's dual radio. From Apple's offical tech specs page, Verizon model iPhone 5 (A1429) supports:
CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz);
UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz);
LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
It's sea ice. Where do you think that sea ice came from?
That'd mostly be from the ice cap over Antarctica itself (i.e. stuff that's been locked up over ~land~ for the last however many million years). Warmer air temps lead to more of it breaking off into the sea. Where it will melt in the upcoming southern summer.
Increased sea ice around Antarctica is a sign of increased loss of the Antarctic ice cap itself. It's a sign of 'loss', not a gain at all.