Perhaps you should comment on the pricing itself, rather than just staying you don't know shit!
PPL at www.whirlpool.net.au would love to know the break down of costs to setup your own arrangements with Tel$tra to resell ADSL! Simon might slap you on the wrist though.
You are in a unque position to comment on what it should cost for cable or ADSL in Auistralia, considering you work at internode. The one company offering the best value ATM IMO.
3GB is a joke and every1 that gets broadband for what it's designed for knows it. And I'm not talking about Ma and Pa kettle who use it for just a bit of web browsing cost it better than having to get another phone line...
2 Years ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get involved in 1999 solar cycle event, which runs parallel to the World Solar Challenge (Alice/Adelaide).
These solar car's really hoot. Pedaling our guts out in the 40 degree heat (45km/h max) these million dollar machines cruised at over 110km/h often over taking normal road vehicles.
Many of the big budget international teams struggled with the harsh conditions. Even the smallest of problems, are logistical nightmares, as vast legs of the race are held in remote areas, 1000kms from major cities.
Even though entering WSC event requires $100,000's, money alone will not win the event and more often than not, the simplest design wins.
Nerveless I wish all the international and local teams the best of luck.
For anyone living in Adelaide, I highly recommend making the trip over to Victoria race course for the finish of the event and look at the sheer level of skilled engineering that goes into these vehicles.
Not one post has bothered to note Elz served the Aussie internet for FREE for many years without credit.
While his.org.au nazi like policies and repsonse times upset a lot of ppl, it did get the job done.
You too would have the same attitude to idiots who go full-house into an advertising campaign only to forget about securing a.org.au domain, then hiring Melbourne IT students to sit outside Elz's door day after day demanding it be done NOW, till he delegates the domain. What would you do? Where does it stop? These are the ppl/orgs he has had to deal with over the years on a regular basis.
Anyone who took the time to realize this was a free service, showed a little courtesy and got their nameservers setup correctly the first time got there domain delegated on time.
It's a real pitty Senator Alston and his Liberal government cronies have failed to keep the.org.au namespace in responsible hands. auDA will never be able to provide the same service Elz has. Sure they claim to be non-profit, but that's also how the.com.au space started, which has now degraded into a $ driven "if you have enough money, you can get any domain regardless of the policies" domain.
So before anyone else decides get on the "BAG Elz wagon", take a minute to think why the.org.au was managed in the way it was.
What VISA and Mastercard hope to offer is really of of little use to the average Joe. Specially in the US where fraud is covered by the bank.
Sure there is more security but what does that translate into? Certainly not cheaper transaction costs.
Potentially the next biggest market for smart card is the the area of E-Purse/E-Wallet systems. Operators of these systems hold the float, earning interest to maintain the POS terminals and related systems.
In simple terms the value is store on the card securely (PIN) and in some implementations allow a nominal amount to be deducted without a pin for fast transactions. (Toll boths/vending machines etc)
Unfortunately this model has been around for a number of years and many have attempted to enter the market. In 99% of the cases the scheme doesn't have enough market(store) penetration and flops.
The most successful scheme yet is the multos based system which I beleive is making a number of in roads in europe. Another is in Mayalsia, where the goverment is sponsoring the deployment of a National ID card which doubles as a E-Purse.
It's only a matter of time when VISA or Mastercard make leverage there market share and make the transition from credit to E-Purse.
Having worked in the SMS field for some years, this is nothing new. This is one of the biggest gripes about short messaging.
Most carriers around the world restrict where you can send SMS for one of two reasons.
Cost - Carriers make more profit from local SMS, as it costs them nothing. Where international SMS is dependent on the price negotiated with the destination carrier. Since SMS pricing is generally flat rate, regardless of the destination, it's in the carrier best interest to only promote local SMS.
SPAM - This is the biggest problem and why inter-carrier SMS is only supported by a handful of carriers.
In the early days many carriers supported the inter-carrier SMS, but with the falling prices of bulk SMS in the European countries, SPAMers spoiled it for the masses. Even the great South African carrier, MTN(http://www.mtnsms.com/), had it's agreements revoked.
Carriers are reluctant to open the floodgates to foreign SMS. If your carrier wants to allow you to send SMS to carrier X, then carrier X would expect that their customers be able to do the reverse. Carrier's hate not having complete control over their network and thus prefer not to support inter-carrier SMS where their jurisdiction over SPAMers is in doubt.
Here in Australia, we've only had agreements in place for local SMS for about 9 months, allowing any Aussie GSM user SMS access to the 4 major networks. This is great, but the carriers only support the boring standard text messaging. Many of the powerful SMS features (Class 2 and 3 messaging) are blocked at the gateways.
On top of this the carriers have agreed not sell any bulk SMS products with inter-carrier SMS facilities. This is good in the sense that it will prevent SPAMers, but on the down side, it puts bulk SMS out of reach to the small developer. (Where I fit in)
In short, you have very little hope in convincing your carrier to allow inter-carrier SMS by yourself. Your best bet is to rally up other subscribers and put pressure on them that way. This is how it was achieved in Australia. (See your US eqivalent of www.tio.com.au for help).
1. Blow the boat people out of the water.
2. Upload frag tally and video replay to the Australian Immigration dept website.
3. Kamikaze into the nearest Indonesia fishing boat when it's out of fuel.
On another note: The sad thing is that it made/. and the local news said 2 words and didn't even show any footage! That's Oz 4 u!
More info at :
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sci_tech/story_11867. as p
What do you expect from a Malaysian government that's basically a dictatorship headed Dr Mahathir and his cronies.
Corruption is rampant, conflicts of interest, multimillion dollar government contracts awarded to family/friends companies without question. Family companies are bailed out under strict instruction from the finance ministry.
Recently Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was the victim of a smear campaign and later jailed on fabricated charges of sodomy, as a direct result of challenging Dr Mahathir and his cronies over corruption. Anwar's closest family and friends were beaten by the secret police till they would testify that they were sodomized by Anwar in court.
It's hard to imagine this is the same country they all lead us to think.
So before we start ranting about closing a few dodgy arcades lets get things in perspective.
For those that would like more info can read a Synopsis and a letter from Anwar himself at
Beware!!! I'm on my third VAIO now. While these sexy units appear good, it only skin deep. You'll be pulling your hair out trying to get things to work out the box. Faulty hardward, buggy gfx drivers and the list goes on.
Any advantage gained by a using transmeta will be outweighed by Sony's poor track record with support.
Sony only support Win98 and Win2k with their VAIO range of products. And even then they only support the factory installed (Buggy as hell) software setup. Also if you buy the system with Win98, and want to upgrade to Win 2000. Uh Oh. Sony refuse to distribute a complete set of drivers on the net or sell the driver CD's.
And X Freaks will be disappointed by the use of NeoMagic MagicMedia(TM) range of DISCONTINUED graphics chips that are yet to get fully supported.
So check your options before you waste your hard earned $$$. Lucky for me it hasn't been out my pocket.
The idea of a standard engine for developers is great, but it needs to be taken one step further.
Linux needs a kick-arse game that is only released under linux. This will drive more people just interested in games to run linux and thus increase the potential end users for game developers.
Ideally if the game was modular in the way quake is(look at the number of games based around the quake engine), it would spawning variations needed to cover every bodies tastes. Not everybody likes 1st person shooters.
Once linux has few games under the belt, the rest of the developers will follow like sheep. Just like they did when they all abandoned the Amiga for the PC.
While I agree this might not a as news worthy as a lot of other stories, there is a large portion of/. readers who are x-amiga fans and like to see this kind of news now an then...
Three major things that Dopus was to the amiga...
1) The only file manager with a decent GUI. Back when I first met John Potter and he was coding the first version there was no API short cuts to coding a nice consistent interface. Only the horrible 1.3 WB interface existed. Hardly worth using and only if you had access to the ridiculously priced amiga developers books. Johns own GUI set the standard and I had my suspecisions that many of the WB 2 widgets appeared very similar.:)
2) Many have commented that they had a 50k file manager that did the same... Hardly... DOpus's GUI was not only most easiest and clear to use GUI, it was also very intuitive and could be customized very easily... A very rare thing to find in an program back then. These are the best points and they can't be demonstrated by screen shots!
3) Behind the GUI layed a very smart file recognition system that didn't rely on dumb file extentions, a text and hex editor, media players, and a host of WB tools that allowed the creation and modification of icons for files and folders.
Overall DOpus filled a big gap. Only after it was so successful was there a host of clones that never matched DOpus for what it was.
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps you should comment on the pricing itself, rather than just staying you don't know shit!
PPL at www.whirlpool.net.au would love to know the break down of costs to setup your own arrangements with Tel$tra to resell ADSL! Simon might slap you on the wrist though.
You are in a unque position to comment on what it should cost for cable or ADSL in Auistralia, considering you work at internode. The one company offering the best value ATM IMO.
3GB is a joke and every1 that gets broadband for what it's designed for knows it. And I'm not talking about Ma and Pa kettle who use it for just a bit of web browsing cost it better than having to get another phone line...
Rob
2 Years ago I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to get involved in 1999 solar cycle event, which runs parallel to the World Solar Challenge (Alice/Adelaide).
These solar car's really hoot. Pedaling our guts out in the 40 degree heat (45km/h max) these million dollar machines cruised at over 110km/h often over taking normal road vehicles.
Many of the big budget international teams struggled with the harsh conditions. Even the smallest of problems, are logistical nightmares, as vast legs of the race are held in remote areas, 1000kms from major cities.
Even though entering WSC event requires $100,000's, money alone will not win the event and more often than not, the simplest design wins.
Nerveless I wish all the international and local teams the best of luck.
For anyone living in Adelaide, I highly recommend making the trip over to Victoria race course for the finish of the event and look at the sheer level of skilled engineering that goes into these vehicles.
Rob.
Gone is the Mile high Club.
Enter the Mach 1!
"Boom... Oh!... Darling!... "
Rob
Just check out this article, about a former magistrate in South Australia who took delight in abusing his trust with children.
Liddy refuses to face tearful victims
A bit of a read, but it will change your mind.
Not one post has bothered to note Elz served the Aussie internet for FREE for many years without credit.
.org.au nazi like policies and repsonse times upset a lot of ppl, it did get the job done.
.org.au domain, then hiring Melbourne IT students to sit outside Elz's door day after day demanding it be done NOW, till he delegates the domain. What would you do? Where does it stop? These are the ppl/orgs he has had to deal with over the years on a regular basis.
.org.au namespace in responsible hands. auDA will never be able to provide the same service Elz has. Sure they claim to be non-profit, but that's also how the .com.au space started, which has now degraded into a $ driven "if you have enough money, you can get any domain regardless of the policies" domain.
.org.au was managed in the way it was.
While his
You too would have the same attitude to idiots who go full-house into an advertising campaign only to forget about securing a
Anyone who took the time to realize this was a free service, showed a little courtesy and got their nameservers setup correctly the first time got there domain delegated on time.
It's a real pitty Senator Alston and his Liberal government cronies have failed to keep the
So before anyone else decides get on the "BAG Elz wagon", take a minute to think why the
Rob.
www.area51.org.au
What VISA and Mastercard hope to offer is really of of little use to the average Joe. Specially in the US where fraud is covered by the bank.
Sure there is more security but what does that translate into? Certainly not cheaper transaction costs.
Potentially the next biggest market for smart card is the the area of E-Purse/E-Wallet systems. Operators of these systems hold the float, earning interest to maintain the POS terminals and related systems.
In simple terms the value is store on the card securely (PIN) and in some implementations allow a nominal amount to be deducted without a pin for fast transactions. (Toll boths/vending machines etc)
Unfortunately this model has been around for a number of years and many have attempted to enter the market. In 99% of the cases the scheme doesn't have enough market(store) penetration and flops.
The most successful scheme yet is the multos based system which I beleive is making a number of in roads in europe. Another is in Mayalsia, where the goverment is sponsoring the deployment of a National ID card which doubles as a E-Purse.
It's only a matter of time when VISA or Mastercard make leverage there market share and make the transition from credit to E-Purse.
Rob.
Having worked in the SMS field for some years, this is nothing new. This is one of the biggest gripes about short messaging.
Most carriers around the world restrict where you can send SMS for one of two reasons.
Cost - Carriers make more profit from local SMS, as it costs them nothing. Where international SMS is dependent on the price negotiated with the destination carrier. Since SMS pricing is generally flat rate, regardless of the destination, it's in the carrier best interest to only promote local SMS.
SPAM - This is the biggest problem and why inter-carrier SMS is only supported by a handful of carriers.
In the early days many carriers supported the inter-carrier SMS, but with the falling prices of bulk SMS in the European countries, SPAMers spoiled it for the masses. Even the great South African carrier, MTN(http://www.mtnsms.com/), had it's agreements revoked.
Carriers are reluctant to open the floodgates to foreign SMS. If your carrier wants to allow you to send SMS to carrier X, then carrier X would expect that their customers be able to do the reverse. Carrier's hate not having complete control over their network and thus prefer not to support inter-carrier SMS where their jurisdiction over SPAMers is in doubt.
Here in Australia, we've only had agreements in place for local SMS for about 9 months, allowing any Aussie GSM user SMS access to the 4 major networks. This is great, but the carriers only support the boring standard text messaging. Many of the powerful SMS features (Class 2 and 3 messaging) are blocked at the gateways.
On top of this the carriers have agreed not sell any bulk SMS products with inter-carrier SMS facilities. This is good in the sense that it will prevent SPAMers, but on the down side, it puts bulk SMS out of reach to the small developer. (Where I fit in)
In short, you have very little hope in convincing your carrier to allow inter-carrier SMS by yourself. Your best bet is to rally up other subscribers and put pressure on them that way. This is how it was achieved in Australia. (See your US eqivalent of www.tio.com.au for help).
Mac.
1. Blow the boat people out of the water.
/. and the local news said 2 words and didn't even show any footage! That's Oz 4 u!
. as p
2. Upload frag tally and video replay to the Australian Immigration dept website.
3. Kamikaze into the nearest Indonesia fishing boat when it's out of fuel.
On another note: The sad thing is that it made
More info at :
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sci_tech/story_11867
Nuff said.
Is it right, that in the US, 1 must pay to receive calls as well as make them?
What a weird concept!
As for GSM coverage in the US, I beleive Voicestream provides coverage in several of the larger US cities.
It's cheaper to import Aircraft Grade Australian aluminum from the US, than to buy it directly in Australia!
Figure That!
This makes the news?
What do you expect from a Malaysian government that's basically a dictatorship headed Dr Mahathir and his cronies.
Corruption is rampant, conflicts of interest, multimillion dollar government contracts awarded to family/friends companies without question. Family companies are bailed out under strict instruction from the finance ministry.
Recently Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was the victim of a smear campaign and later jailed on fabricated charges of sodomy, as a direct result of challenging Dr Mahathir and his cronies over corruption. Anwar's closest family and friends were beaten by the secret police till they would testify that they were sodomized by Anwar in court.
It's hard to imagine this is the same country they all lead us to think.
So before we start ranting about closing a few dodgy arcades lets get things in perspective.
For those that would like more info can read a Synopsis and a letter from Anwar himself at
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/2000/ep14-10.htm
Rob
Beware!!! I'm on my third VAIO now. While these sexy units appear good, it only skin deep. You'll be pulling your hair out trying to get things to work out the box. Faulty hardward, buggy gfx drivers and the list goes on.
Any advantage gained by a using transmeta will be outweighed by Sony's poor track record with support.
Sony only support Win98 and Win2k with their VAIO range of products. And even then they only support the factory installed (Buggy as hell) software setup. Also if you buy the system with Win98, and want to upgrade to Win 2000. Uh Oh. Sony refuse to distribute a complete set of drivers on the net or sell the driver CD's.
And X Freaks will be disappointed by the use of NeoMagic MagicMedia(TM) range of DISCONTINUED graphics chips that are yet to get fully supported.
So check your options before you waste your hard earned $$$. Lucky for me it hasn't been out my pocket.
My 650000c AUS worth :)
The idea of a standard engine for developers is great, but it needs to be taken one step further.
Linux needs a kick-arse game that is only released under linux. This will drive more people just interested in games to run linux and thus increase the potential end users for game developers.
Ideally if the game was modular in the way quake is(look at the number of games based around the quake engine), it would spawning variations needed to cover every bodies tastes. Not everybody likes 1st person shooters.
Once linux has few games under the belt, the rest of the developers will follow like sheep. Just like they did when they all abandoned the Amiga for the PC.
Rob.
While I agree this might not a as news worthy as a lot of other stories, there is a large /. readers who are x-amiga fans and like to see this kind of news now an then...
:)
portion of
Three major things that Dopus was to the amiga...
1) The only file manager with a decent GUI. Back when I first met John Potter and he
was coding the first version there was no API short cuts to coding a nice consistent
interface. Only the horrible 1.3 WB interface existed. Hardly worth using and only if you
had access to the ridiculously priced amiga developers books. Johns own GUI set the
standard and I had my suspecisions that many of the WB 2 widgets appeared very
similar.
2) Many have commented that they had a 50k file manager that did the same... Hardly...
DOpus's GUI was not only most easiest and clear to use GUI, it was also very intuitive
and could be customized very easily... A very rare thing to find in an program back then.
These are the best points and they can't be demonstrated by screen shots!
3) Behind the GUI layed a very smart file recognition system that didn't rely on dumb file
extentions, a text and hex editor, media players, and a host of WB tools that allowed the
creation and modification of icons for files and folders.
Overall DOpus filled a big gap. Only after it was so successful was there a host of clones
that never matched DOpus for what it was.
Anywayz my 0.02c AUS
Rob