Author Archives: Michael Wyres

Three-Year NBN Rollout Plan Released

NBN Co, the government business entity (GBE) responsible for rolling out the National Broadband Network (NBN), has today released its long awaited three-year rollout plan. I’ve not had the time to go through it fully as yet, but follow the link below and find out whether or not your area is included in the latest […]

Conroy a Community Visionary?

I had quite a chuckle reading the information screen in the lifts in my work building this morning, hearing that Stephen Conroy has been named a “community visionary” by a New York-based think tank, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), for his “critical role in transforming Australia’s digital future, under the NBN”. Conroy Named a Community […]

Total Fire Ban Ban

Took this photo of the overhead traffic information display leading out of Geelong on the way to work last Thursday morning: Total fire ban? By the looks of the weather, I think we’re safe!

Dear Websites: Don’t Do This!

I really hate it when websites do this: Click to enlarge? Oh really? That’s SOOOOO much bigger for me! And what is that touching the screen? A finger? A carrot? A piece of male reproductive anatomy? Seriously. Don’t do this shit.

Best. Spoonerism. Ever.

There’s a bit of a running gag in our house to speak in spoonerisms, just for a giggle. Spoonerisms – (or ironically, Roonerspisms) – are the “art” of swapping the first letter or sound at the front of each word in a phrase – (or even within a single word) – around to make something […]

Trains: Who’s Right and Who’s Wrong?

I’ve made a bit of noise of late over the state of some of the infrastructure in Melbourne’s train network – namely with respect to the consistent problems at Newport Station. I wrote about it here, and have been discussing it here. Much of the usual buckpassing as to who owns the problem has been […]

Traffic Management Fail

I just took this photograph at the intersection of Collins and Spencer Streets in central Melbourne, illustrating the size of the crowd waiting to board trams to travel to Albert Park and the Australian Formula One Grand Prix. It’s a popular event, but surely someone could have organised some more appropriate traffic management so that […]

Call To Arms Against Newport Rail Failures

Geelong’s commuters – (and Metro Trains Melbourne’s Werribee and Williamstown commuters) – have endured another bout of “Newport Induced Delays” in recent weeks, with numerous power failures and “track equipment failures” grinding these three train lines to a halt for hours at a time. V/Line Commuters Want Answers After Latest Newport Failure This problem has […]

And The Media Think Journalism Is Doing Okay?

In September last year, the Australian Federal Government announced its Independent Media Inquiry, appointing former Justice of the Federal Court of Australia, Ray Finkelstein QC to carry out the review. The results of the inquiry were reported recently, and have been controversial to say the least. While the review was not designed to address the […]

Fletcher Responds, Still No Reason to Believe

It seems that my post on whether we should believe the opposition on broadband policy has caught the attention of the subject of the post, Member for Bradfield, Paul Fletcher. Paul has graciously put forward his response to my article, and I greatly appreciate that he has taken time to respond. It would be of […]