TPG to release unlimited ADSL2+ for $75 per month
Australia is finally going unlimited!
Yes, you've read correctly, TPG is going unlimited! A representative of TPG who goes by the name 'Dan.S' has posted the following on Whirlpool:
Last day for R18+ game classification review submissions!
Hurry!
If you haven't done so already, here's your last chance to tell the Australian government that we need an R18+ rating for games! You can get the appropriate document here.
Don't fret though, it takes 10 minutes to fill out, and the comment section is optional (it's only 250 words anyway). When you're done, it's as simple as e-mailing the document to the provided e-mail address. Get to it!
Illogical Immunity
Good luck! I'm behind 9 proxies, and on a Mac!
It's the age old argument. What platform is most secure, Windows, MacOS or Linux? Apple wants you to believe that their OS, MacOSX, is the best option, which is evident by their ad campaigns featuring two men depicting a 'PC' and a 'Mac' respectively. Perhaps the most relevant skit can be found here. Linux, on the other hand, is known to take security very seriously. Some would say too seriously, with constant nagging not unlike the infamous Vista UAC. Of course, it's arguable that security is a lot more important than avoiding the incessant tending to security dialogues. Then there's Windows. It has a reputation for being riddled with viruses, spyware, or just malware in general. This mentality may have started in 1986, five years after the first virus was deployed on the Apple II. Since Microsoft's software was so popular, it became the obvious target for future attacks.
Drawing humour: Online Comics
A hint of funny on the Interwebs
Online comics are responsible for more than just the degradation of productivity in work environments. Many life lessons can be learnt from comics, if you manage to wade through the quirky facades and look deep into the core message. But who does that! We want fun, and comics provide just that - a chance for people to sit back, relax, and have a little giggle at all the silliness the Internet offers.
Microsoft Reveals ‘Windows Phone 7 Series’
A whole new mobile platform has emerged, eager to topple the efforts of Apple and Google.
It's official, Microsoft have released their new mobile OS. It's not Windows Mobile any more, in name nor functionality - it's literally a new OS experience. Playing on their lucky 7 history (read: Windows 7), Microsoft has taken the plunge to deliver a fancy new way to cater to user wants and needs. I've scoured the Internet for information on this new competitor, and have collated the main points of interest.
‘Anonymous’, the saviour of idiocy?
Fight the good fight, just don't go kicking own goals in the process.
If you haven't already heard, there was a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Australian government servers recently. The intent was to bring attention to the message "no one messes with our access to perfectly legal (or illegal) content for any reason." The culprits go by the name 'Anonymous', and appear to have a strong opinion against Senator Conroy's decision to censor Australian Internet. It's fair to assume that these attacks were to prove how powerful this group is, and that messing with their rights to free speech and access on the Internet will not be taken lightly. A protest, of sorts. But was this attack a demonstration against an Internet clean feed, or another chip on the anti-censorship sholder?
Social Security
Facebook knows your secrets. Tell? (Y/N): _
The Internet is an insanely massive collection of servers and nodes, all of which serve a part of our rich online experience. At first it was a purely educational technology on a very slow connection; capable of text-only transmission. Since its mainstream acceptance in the 90s, there's been a massive drive to create a intuitive user experience. People have moved on from creating animated GIF filled pages about their favourite pets, and the horrible ad supported 'free' hosting services which allowed anyone to actively contribute to the worlds ASCII art collection. Not to mention the abundance of 'under construction' declarations - there's irony in that, I'm sure of it.
Mediocre music and the mainstream market
The music you've come to love has been sabotaged.
Not many people realise the degree of degradation music quality has experienced over the years. It has got to the point where the old vinyl records of yesteryear, the same ones that were popular some 100 years ago, provide higher quality dynamic range and clarity than today's CD audio. Remasters of old classics are sounding worse than the originals, and new music is sub-standard from the get go. It begs the question; surely technology has improved since vinyl?
10 browser extensions that rock
Enhancing the Internet, one add-on at a time.
The humble web browser has become an integral part of peoples lives. It gives us access to the biggest pool of information available - the Internet - whilst providing the tools to navigate its unimaginably large scope with ease. It's for this reason that extensions/add-ons, additional software which adds extra functionality to the browser, have become very popular in recent years. People want software customised to facilitate their needs and wants, not what a team of developers think is best.
Did Apple miss the boat with the iPad?
A neat little device, but has Apple lost their opportunity?
So, the long hyped Apple tablet has finally been announced. As expected, it very much resembles a larger iPod Touch. A single hardware button, minimal ports, and a screen which consumes most of the device's top surface. It's touted as a new platform, somewhere between the smartphone and the netbook, which is interesting. Of course, it's not exactly a new platform; Apple is essentially entering an existing one with their own offering. Android based tablets have been around for a while, and haven't really taken off. Regardless, there's been much excitement over this particular device for a couple of reasons. It was a long rumoured product, and it's from Apple. But will the hype pay off? Is the device compelling enough to warrant purchase? Let's find out.
Build the Ultimate PC – Q1 2010
Get the power of a custom PC build, without spending a fortune.
Another quarter, another list of parts. I've created five builds ranging from $1000 to $3000, each with high quality components and a strong focus on raw performance. Looking at gaming? No problem. Video editing and graphic design? There's a PC for you.
The online computer store PC Case Gear has been used to produce the price lists. For comparison, prices in brackets were found using an average of the top 5 StaticICE results (minus outliers). Although StaticICE results tend to be marginally cheaper, keep in mind that the cost of delivery from multiple stores may increase the total considerably. Each PC consists of the tower without external peripherals or operating system (OS).
YouTube Disco – music for all!
Music discovery, with added awesome.
Ever used YouTube to listen to or discover music? Well now you can do it in a much more intuitive way! YouTube Disco (short for YouTube Discovery) is a new service which consolidates music clips from your favourite artists into a functional playlist-esque UI. In addition to watching artists of your choosing, you're able to select 'mix tapes' to list tracks from artists with similar styles. Expanding from this is the 'Related Artists' tab which displays similar artists bar tracks.
PS3 Hypervisor Hacked
The seemingly uncrackable has been sliced, diced and dissected.
According to George "Geohot" Hoz, the man responsible for jailbreaking the iPhone, the infamous Playstation 3 Hypervisor is no longer an obstacle. His blog entitled On the PlayStation 3 suggests that his attempts at hacking the PS3 were very fruitful.
The search for sanity
*pokes Google, twitches at Bing*
It's not often that you search for software on the Internet, and discover that there's nothing that does what you want. With the vast amount of free and open source software up for grabs, it almost feels as if all bases have been covered. Sometimes, however, you find yourself trawling though the dark depths of search engine results, until the page numbers became mere blurs, and hitting the 'next' link becomes an autonomous reflex. Along the way, many promising results prove to be nothing more than shareware sites attempting to entice you with irrelevant software. Others, which show some glimmer of hope, have UIs that you can only imagine being designed by the local primary school kindergarten class during pastel fun time.
Surprise! A forum!
So the blog was hit with a nasty attack recently which caused some disruption. But that's all sorted now, and as a little surprise, I've created a forum! You can access it by hitting the 'Forum' button below the header logo. You may notice that there's already some posts in it. I've migrated my existing forum into the new one, so there's some content and members to mingle with. If you haven't already, sign up and get into it! I'll be on there regularly, so if you need any advice in regards to tech, don't hesitate to start a thread.
I hope to see you there!
- Vito Cassisi
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