This is on a different level from the Onion spoofs of world leaders like Obama or Kim Jung'Un. This is the real Australian Prime Minister doing the spoof. US presidents have been known to pardon Thanksgiving turkeys and part of running for public office in any democratic country is to show your "lighter side" in front of the media, but Gillard's "speech" goes beyond the realm of a simple practical joke. That or the producers of the show have done some nifty CGI work worthy of a Hollywood disaster movie.
Not in Australia.
Gillard has something of a public image problem and in the election comming up next year she was trying to show her "larrikin" side to win hearts and minds. People in Australia have seen this as nothing more than a joke but that does require _some_ understanding of Gillards character (typically very dry) and a sense of humour... arguably something many nations lack.
For ten thousand years have we slumbered whilst you have grown weak and complacent. Now we have returned to lead your people to oblivion like lambs to the slaughter.
and now Google has swept in to save the day with their own branded application instead...
But it doesn't ship with the device, so their customers aren't confronted with Google branding, unless and until they choose to download it.
"Confronted" by a little Google logo?
You're quite insecure aren't you.
I dislike Apple as much as the next person with half a brain but I'm certainly not afraid of their logo.
Furthermore, if and when Apple Maps data is improved to be as good or better than Google Maps, people getting new devices won't choose to download Google Maps, as Apple Maps will already be there.
The likilhood of this happening is very, very small. It took Google the better part of a decade to get from where Apple Maps is to where Google maps is today and Google had the talent to do it which Apple doesnt.
Secondly your notion relies on the assumption that Google will not improve their product at the time. This is wrong on so many levels.
It's not just quality data that keeps bringing people back to Google, they also have a lot of very useful applications for that data.
Finally, Apple's mapping data makes so many simple mistakes it's not funny. They haven't even got rectification right.
and Google gets to remind Apple who is more powerful.
Fundamentally it's all about profit, and how to achieve it. And Apple makes about 20 times the profit of Google. Your perception of power is weird, irrelevant and probably mistaken.
Fundamentally it's about getting people to use your product (no customers == no profit). All your statement pointed out is that people buying Apple products are being ripped off for them. Like most apple fanboys you need to somehow justify that you're being ripped off for a good reason. Your perception of power is weird, irrelevant and definitely mistaken.
You are right, but the bottom line (to steal the adage) is that "no one gets fired for choosing microsoft". Yes you are locked in, but you are locked in to an ecosystem that 90%+ of the world's businesses run on, so it is seen as the safest of all choices (and cost is a small factor compared to job safety).
They used to say "no-one gets fired for buying IBM". Is that still true?
Actually, I have read right here among the commentary that one can still use the Microsoft tools for managing a Samba server. Getting Samba set up initially might require some level of ability, but you know? As much as it pains me to admit it, you have to have at least as much ability to do it with Microsoft. Anyone who thinks they can't learn to do it under Linux is simply limiting themselves needlessly.
Now I'm not saying setting up Samba is hard but I think you're underestimating how dead easy it is to set up AD and Windows shares. I mean trained monkeys could set it up (I'm convinced this is how many SMB servers get built).
To do it properly in either environment requires an understanding of the underlying concepts of permissions and network shares. To fully understand how everything works in either Samba or AD requires a degree and a half.
and soon all systems will have a DRM chip and linux / other non app store as well a adult stuff will be locked out.
Secured boot loaders didn't work that well on Android.
The more prolific a restrictive device/process the faster it will be cracked. The locked bootloaders were only on a small number of Motorola Android phones and they were cracked in short order. IOS gets cracked mere days after it's release and most video game DRM systems are cracked prior to release day.
Many travelling in remote areas will be farmers or pastoralists. Many of them will own guns (generally rifles or shotguns). Gun laws are indeed tough (and handguns are effectively banned, true), but there are legitimate reasons to own weapons (especially out in the remote areas) and many people out there do, legally.
Whether that means they'd typically travel with their weapons, I don't know. Probably not I imagine, unless they were travelling between distant parts of their own property (some of those cattle stations out there cover areas the size of small US states).
People typically wont travel with guns because they're useless against what will kill you (snakes, spiders, sharks, crocs, heat, minor injuries left untreated, exposure, dehydration et al.).
The only reason an Australian would travel with a gun is if they're planning to do some shooting when they get to their destination.
If you live in an out-of-way or dangerous place then you make provisions for it. You bring along water and food to last more than a day, you bring weapons and other protective gear, and you don't rely on just one mapping application.
Weapons.
Erm no.
I lived in the Pilbara region for a decade mate and guns are absolutely useless against what's going to kill you in Oz. What's going to kill you:
#1 Crocodile (shooting them only makes them angry-er, just avoid croc infested water and you'll be fine)
#2 Taipan (snake, good luck in hitting it).
#3 King Brown (another of the snake family)
#4 Blue Ring octopus (underwater, hard to spot)
#5 Shark (underwater and you'll only make them angry)
#6 Box Jellyfish (there'll be too many to shoot)
#7 Tiger Snake (erm, snake)
#8 Stonefish (you'll step on this highly toxic critter before you see him)
#9 Trap door spider (name might tell you why you wont see this bugger until it's too late)
#10, Heat, thirst, minor injuries left untreated, exposure and other shit you cant shoot.
The only thing a gun might be useful for is attracting attention, and flare guns are a hell of a lot more effective at pointing out your location.
Your number 1 defence against dying in the Australian outback is making sure someone knows where your going and when you're going to get there so they can alert the Police/SES when you don't turn up because you hit a roo, trashed your car and have a broken leg 200 KM out of Cooper Pedy.
You obviously haven't driven in Australia much.. Google maps [google.com] See how you are driving through national parks and farmland before getting back to an urban area? Well Apple maps just takes you through a different national park and dumps you there. 45C is also 113F. And there is no phone reception or water.
Personally I haven't driven in Australia at all - I've only been there once. However, even as an ignorant Pom I'd assume that, when venturing outside of a city, its the sort of place where you take carrying water and emergency gear, keeping your car maintained, carrying reputable maps and planning your journey carefully rather seriously.
Methinks someone who takes the attitude "Its 1000 miles to Wongamonga, we've got half a tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it's dark, we're wearing sunglasses and we've got GPS - hit it!" is an accident waiting to happen.
That's good but you forgot the number 1 thing.
Tell someone where you're bloody well going.
Australia is big, I mean really big. You may think it's a long way to Surrey but that's peanuts compared to Australia. We have 23 million people, over 90% of them live on the coast. If you get stuck somewhere remote it can easily take rescuers weeks to find you so a little bit of emergency water and food will not last that long. Even Bear Grills will find it hard to survive in outback Australia. If you tell someone where you're going and you get stuck, rescuers have a point to start from that narrows down the search field significantly.
Apart from that, you're 100% correct (Except, miles == kilometres, gas == petrol, dark == roo's on the road and half a pack of ciggies costs A$38.95).
F16's have been upgraded you realize, right? They haven't been using the original design in 30 years. There are at least 4 different engines used in the aircraft that I'm aware of, which means probably more.
Yes, better.
You realise Russia are selling 4.5 generation fighters right?
If you wanted to build your own domestic engines, you'd be mad to steal an older US design and try to reverse engineer it when it would be cheaper to buy a Russian design under license and Russia will send you experts to get your industry up and running. How do you think India got it's indigenous fighters up so quickly? The cost and delays of reverse engineering make it cost prohibitive compared to the alternative.
A lot easier and cheaper to do R&D with a working prototype in hand. Big problem for the US. You can always have the best equipment, but you're also always helping your enemies to catch up.
Why is everyone assuming they are stealing this technolgoy to copy it?
The F15 and F16 engines are now 20 years old. You can buy the same level of technology from Russia or India these days. Even China has better engines based on Russian designs.
Occams Razor says that these engines are worth more as replacements for older F15/16's that are owned by countries that cant get new engines/spares from the US or cant afford them (Iran is far from the only suspect here).
The rest of us demand more control, more chaos, and more competition.
No, the vast majority of Android users are people buying it because the phones are better value
Fixed that for you.
Considering the popularity of high end phones like the Galaxy S3, Galaxy note, One X/XL people aren't just buying low end Android phones. But even a brand new Note 2 is cheaper than the cheapest Iphone 5 and does a lot more. It represents better value, not just lower cost.
A lot of people are falling off the iBandwagon because they are sick of Apple's abusive "my way or the highway" policy. I'm hearing this a lot from people who don't even know the difference between RAM and sheep. People are demanding control, compeition and freedom, as these concepts are worth a tangible amount of money they fall under the umbrella of value.
Also, when people ask for help with the Android browser, the easiest solution is to ask if they've tried another browser. This fixes most problems. If someone has a problem with the IOS browser, the answer is not to use the iDevice. When Apple says "no", non-fanboy users get pissed off.
Apple's approach to deciding the market on its devices is anti-competitive behavior.
They're Apple's devices and should be allowed to do whatever they want with them. Don't like it? Don't buy one.
If all Apple did was produce crappy products I wouldn't give a crap.
However, if a competitor produces a product in the same space they will sue them and attempt to get injunctions in order to prevent them selling that product. It seems Apple is doing everything it can to force me to buy an Apple product regardless of if I want one or not. For the frivolous patent law suits Apple have been bringing, they need to be sanctioned heavily.
Apple's approach to deciding the market on its devices is anti-competitive behavior.
They're Apple's devices and should be allowed to do whatever they want with them. Don't like it? Don't buy one.
The difference with Microsoft is that they had a monopoly on virtually all other manufacturers' hardware since (at the time) they made no hardware of their own. Now that they make Surface, they should be allowed to do whatever they want with it. The market will decide its fate.
Seriously, how are so many of you trying to spin this negatively? And why?
They aren't actually making anything in the US, they are assembling it in the US.
There's a big difference there. It's like Holden shipping over the Daewoo Cruze (Chevy Cruze over there) in pieces, assembling it in the Elizabeth plant and claiming it's "built in Australia" were as all they did was assemble a kit car built in Korea. Basically they're lying to you but that's par for the course for Apple, also the majority of their manufacturing remains in China.
Manufacturing in China is getting more expensive and North America is becoming more competitive. The tax rate on repatriating money made outside of the US also makes manufacturing in the US more advantageous.
Multinationals dont re-patriate money. They keep it in shell companies and tax havens like Ireland. They claim the money on their books, but dont bring it into the US.
Chevron who earns a crapload here in Australia doesn't send the money it earns here to the US, they keep it held in Australia (our high interest rate is a boon here though).
Don't confuse cheap for quality. Plenty of things are better made, here, in the US. You just have to not be a cheapo.
Don't confuse expensive for quality.
Don't confuse country of origin for quality.
Good quality products is about having good production with low failure rates backed up by a rock solid QA process. I can trust companies from any country if they've got a proven track record of this. Boeing of America has such a reputation for me, Ford of America does not, I'd sooner by a Thai made Honda CRV and I hate SUV's with a passion.
Slashdot Mirror
or throwing a virgin child into the volcano is a violation of Federal Law.
So throwing a non-virgin child into a volcano is perfectly OK then?
This is on a different level from the Onion spoofs of world leaders like Obama or Kim Jung'Un. This is the real Australian Prime Minister doing the spoof. US presidents have been known to pardon Thanksgiving turkeys and part of running for public office in any democratic country is to show your "lighter side" in front of the media, but Gillard's "speech" goes beyond the realm of a simple practical joke. That or the producers of the show have done some nifty CGI work worthy of a Hollywood disaster movie.
Not in Australia.
Gillard has something of a public image problem and in the election comming up next year she was trying to show her "larrikin" side to win hearts and minds. People in Australia have seen this as nothing more than a joke but that does require _some_ understanding of Gillards character (typically very dry) and a sense of humour... arguably something many nations lack.
it gave the guy that walked behind him nightmares.
So you gave him cheese.
That was nice of you.
Wake up, sheeple!
For ten thousand years have we slumbered whilst you have grown weak and complacent. Now we have returned to lead your people to oblivion like lambs to the slaughter.
Ask him if he knows what is a PHB
If he corrects your English, hire him.
How does a man meaningfully participate in the Australian Senate
I would have just stopped there.
Yeah. Apparently Apple has finally figured out that killing your customers isn't good business. /snark =
Works out pretty well for the tobacco industry.
Thats because making it hard for customers to stop using your product is good for business.
Something Apple did learn from the tobacco industry.
and now Google has swept in to save the day with their own branded application instead...
But it doesn't ship with the device, so their customers aren't confronted with Google branding, unless and until they choose to download it.
"Confronted" by a little Google logo?
You're quite insecure aren't you.
I dislike Apple as much as the next person with half a brain but I'm certainly not afraid of their logo.
Furthermore, if and when Apple Maps data is improved to be as good or better than Google Maps, people getting new devices won't choose to download Google Maps, as Apple Maps will already be there.
The likilhood of this happening is very, very small. It took Google the better part of a decade to get from where Apple Maps is to where Google maps is today and Google had the talent to do it which Apple doesnt.
Secondly your notion relies on the assumption that Google will not improve their product at the time. This is wrong on so many levels.
It's not just quality data that keeps bringing people back to Google, they also have a lot of very useful applications for that data.
Finally, Apple's mapping data makes so many simple mistakes it's not funny. They haven't even got rectification right.
and Google gets to remind Apple who is more powerful.
Fundamentally it's all about profit, and how to achieve it. And Apple makes about 20 times the profit of Google. Your perception of power is weird, irrelevant and probably mistaken.
Fundamentally it's about getting people to use your product (no customers == no profit). All your statement pointed out is that people buying Apple products are being ripped off for them. Like most apple fanboys you need to somehow justify that you're being ripped off for a good reason. Your perception of power is weird, irrelevant and definitely mistaken.
Not really relevant. A store doesn't have to sell you multiple copies of something. You can't take the store hostage to force them to sell you more.
And the proper response to this is to taser her.
Clearly you've never dealt with rabid Apple fanboys.
Tasers are often ineffective. We've got orders to shoot on sight.
You are right, but the bottom line (to steal the adage) is that "no one gets fired for choosing microsoft". Yes you are locked in, but you are locked in to an ecosystem that 90%+ of the world's businesses run on, so it is seen as the safest of all choices (and cost is a small factor compared to job safety).
They used to say "no-one gets fired for buying IBM". Is that still true?
Actually, I have read right here among the commentary that one can still use the Microsoft tools for managing a Samba server. Getting Samba set up initially might require some level of ability, but you know? As much as it pains me to admit it, you have to have at least as much ability to do it with Microsoft. Anyone who thinks they can't learn to do it under Linux is simply limiting themselves needlessly.
Now I'm not saying setting up Samba is hard but I think you're underestimating how dead easy it is to set up AD and Windows shares. I mean trained monkeys could set it up (I'm convinced this is how many SMB servers get built).
To do it properly in either environment requires an understanding of the underlying concepts of permissions and network shares. To fully understand how everything works in either Samba or AD requires a degree and a half.
and soon all systems will have a DRM chip and linux / other non app store as well a adult stuff will be locked out.
Secured boot loaders didn't work that well on Android.
The more prolific a restrictive device/process the faster it will be cracked. The locked bootloaders were only on a small number of Motorola Android phones and they were cracked in short order. IOS gets cracked mere days after it's release and most video game DRM systems are cracked prior to release day.
Another victim of our failing educational system...
The fact the measurement is still in Imperial units in 2012 indicates it failed a long, long time ago.
Many travelling in remote areas will be farmers or pastoralists. Many of them will own guns (generally rifles or shotguns). Gun laws are indeed tough (and handguns are effectively banned, true), but there are legitimate reasons to own weapons (especially out in the remote areas) and many people out there do, legally.
Whether that means they'd typically travel with their weapons, I don't know. Probably not I imagine, unless they were travelling between distant parts of their own property (some of those cattle stations out there cover areas the size of small US states).
People typically wont travel with guns because they're useless against what will kill you (snakes, spiders, sharks, crocs, heat, minor injuries left untreated, exposure, dehydration et al.).
The only reason an Australian would travel with a gun is if they're planning to do some shooting when they get to their destination.
If you live in an out-of-way or dangerous place then you make provisions for it. You bring along water and food to last more than a day, you bring weapons and other protective gear, and you don't rely on just one mapping application.
Weapons.
Erm no.
I lived in the Pilbara region for a decade mate and guns are absolutely useless against what's going to kill you in Oz. What's going to kill you:
#1 Crocodile (shooting them only makes them angry-er, just avoid croc infested water and you'll be fine)
#2 Taipan (snake, good luck in hitting it).
#3 King Brown (another of the snake family)
#4 Blue Ring octopus (underwater, hard to spot)
#5 Shark (underwater and you'll only make them angry)
#6 Box Jellyfish (there'll be too many to shoot)
#7 Tiger Snake (erm, snake)
#8 Stonefish (you'll step on this highly toxic critter before you see him)
#9 Trap door spider (name might tell you why you wont see this bugger until it's too late)
#10, Heat, thirst, minor injuries left untreated, exposure and other shit you cant shoot.
The only thing a gun might be useful for is attracting attention, and flare guns are a hell of a lot more effective at pointing out your location.
Your number 1 defence against dying in the Australian outback is making sure someone knows where your going and when you're going to get there so they can alert the Police/SES when you don't turn up because you hit a roo, trashed your car and have a broken leg 200 KM out of Cooper Pedy.
You obviously haven't driven in Australia much.. Google maps [google.com] See how you are driving through national parks and farmland before getting back to an urban area? Well Apple maps just takes you through a different national park and dumps you there. 45C is also 113F. And there is no phone reception or water.
Personally I haven't driven in Australia at all - I've only been there once. However, even as an ignorant Pom I'd assume that, when venturing outside of a city, its the sort of place where you take carrying water and emergency gear, keeping your car maintained, carrying reputable maps and planning your journey carefully rather seriously.
Methinks someone who takes the attitude "Its 1000 miles to Wongamonga, we've got half a tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it's dark, we're wearing sunglasses and we've got GPS - hit it!" is an accident waiting to happen.
That's good but you forgot the number 1 thing.
Tell someone where you're bloody well going.
Australia is big, I mean really big. You may think it's a long way to Surrey but that's peanuts compared to Australia. We have 23 million people, over 90% of them live on the coast. If you get stuck somewhere remote it can easily take rescuers weeks to find you so a little bit of emergency water and food will not last that long. Even Bear Grills will find it hard to survive in outback Australia. If you tell someone where you're going and you get stuck, rescuers have a point to start from that narrows down the search field significantly.
Apart from that, you're 100% correct (Except, miles == kilometres, gas == petrol, dark == roo's on the road and half a pack of ciggies costs A$38.95).
As much as I enjoy a good old apple bashing, anyone who trust their gps without checking the plausibility of the route is an utter fool.
And being fools, they tend to buy Apple products.
'Better'?
F16's have been upgraded you realize, right? They haven't been using the original design in 30 years. There are at least 4 different engines used in the aircraft that I'm aware of, which means probably more.
Yes, better.
You realise Russia are selling 4.5 generation fighters right?
If you wanted to build your own domestic engines, you'd be mad to steal an older US design and try to reverse engineer it when it would be cheaper to buy a Russian design under license and Russia will send you experts to get your industry up and running. How do you think India got it's indigenous fighters up so quickly? The cost and delays of reverse engineering make it cost prohibitive compared to the alternative.
A lot easier and cheaper to do R&D with a working prototype in hand. Big problem for the US. You can always have the best equipment, but you're also always helping your enemies to catch up.
Why is everyone assuming they are stealing this technolgoy to copy it?
The F15 and F16 engines are now 20 years old. You can buy the same level of technology from Russia or India these days. Even China has better engines based on Russian designs.
Occams Razor says that these engines are worth more as replacements for older F15/16's that are owned by countries that cant get new engines/spares from the US or cant afford them (Iran is far from the only suspect here).
The rest of us demand more control, more chaos, and more competition.
No, the vast majority of Android users are people buying it because the phones are better value
Fixed that for you.
Considering the popularity of high end phones like the Galaxy S3, Galaxy note, One X/XL people aren't just buying low end Android phones. But even a brand new Note 2 is cheaper than the cheapest Iphone 5 and does a lot more. It represents better value, not just lower cost.
A lot of people are falling off the iBandwagon because they are sick of Apple's abusive "my way or the highway" policy. I'm hearing this a lot from people who don't even know the difference between RAM and sheep. People are demanding control, compeition and freedom, as these concepts are worth a tangible amount of money they fall under the umbrella of value.
Also, when people ask for help with the Android browser, the easiest solution is to ask if they've tried another browser. This fixes most problems. If someone has a problem with the IOS browser, the answer is not to use the iDevice. When Apple says "no", non-fanboy users get pissed off.
They're Apple's devices and should be allowed to do whatever they want with them. Don't like it? Don't buy one.
If all Apple did was produce crappy products I wouldn't give a crap.
However, if a competitor produces a product in the same space they will sue them and attempt to get injunctions in order to prevent them selling that product. It seems Apple is doing everything it can to force me to buy an Apple product regardless of if I want one or not. For the frivolous patent law suits Apple have been bringing, they need to be sanctioned heavily.
They're Apple's devices and should be allowed to do whatever they want with them. Don't like it? Don't buy one.
The difference with Microsoft is that they had a monopoly on virtually all other manufacturers' hardware since (at the time) they made no hardware of their own. Now that they make Surface, they should be allowed to do whatever they want with it. The market will decide its fate.
Seriously, how are so many of you trying to spin this negatively? And why?
They aren't actually making anything in the US, they are assembling it in the US. There's a big difference there. It's like Holden shipping over the Daewoo Cruze (Chevy Cruze over there) in pieces, assembling it in the Elizabeth plant and claiming it's "built in Australia" were as all they did was assemble a kit car built in Korea. Basically they're lying to you but that's par for the course for Apple, also the majority of their manufacturing remains in China.
Manufacturing in China is getting more expensive and North America is becoming more competitive. The tax rate on repatriating money made outside of the US also makes manufacturing in the US more advantageous.
Multinationals dont re-patriate money. They keep it in shell companies and tax havens like Ireland. They claim the money on their books, but dont bring it into the US. Chevron who earns a crapload here in Australia doesn't send the money it earns here to the US, they keep it held in Australia (our high interest rate is a boon here though).
Isn't this about current production capabilities? Is the An-225 Mriya still being produced?
The An-225 is a bad example, the Airbus A380 would have been better.
Don't confuse cheap for quality. Plenty of things are better made, here, in the US. You just have to not be a cheapo.
Don't confuse expensive for quality.
Don't confuse country of origin for quality.
Good quality products is about having good production with low failure rates backed up by a rock solid QA process. I can trust companies from any country if they've got a proven track record of this. Boeing of America has such a reputation for me, Ford of America does not, I'd sooner by a Thai made Honda CRV and I hate SUV's with a passion.