Author Archives: Michael Wyres

View From Above

When flying, I am always far more comfortable with a window seat as I prefer to be able to see where I am going. I have also developed a habit of taking photos from the plane, and later determining the location of the photos for no other reason than pure curiosity. Some of these photos […]

New Timetable Improves Little

The much-hyped new train timetables running in Victoria were heralded by the government, V/Line, and Metro Trains Melbourne as a breakthrough for passengers getting around more efficiently. We were promised by V/Line that “these changes follow several months of work with Metro and feedback from our customers”. Oh really? Customers asked for slower trains? Obviously, […]

Stuck In The Middle With Adobe

Reading a web-bound PDF document last night, I was prompted – (most unusually) – whether I wanted to use Adobe PDF Viewer (Chrome Plugin) as my default PDF viewer either “Never” or “Always”. I was ready to click “Always” when I stopped and realised how silly this question sounded. If I want it to “never” […]

ACL: Get Some Credibility or Butt Out

There has been much ado in recent days over the removal and subsequent reinstatement of bus shelter advertising for condoms depicting a homosexual couple, after complaints from the political lobby group, the Australian Christian Lobby. Not taking the return of the advertising lying down, the ACL have vowed to continue their campaign. They claim that […]

Oops – Released The Wrong Article?

Just spotted this giggle-worthy stuff up on The Age website: An old version of an article that wasn’t meant to be used perhaps? Funny.

Alan Jones And The NBN Fail!

As a technologist and network computing professional, I read with great interest a few days ago about a breakthrough in fibre-optics research in Germany, in which a new form of laser signalling has broken the record for data speed over optical fibre, reaching 26Tbps. Scientists Set New Download Speed Record And I quote: “The scientists […]

Does Review Make Implementing Filter Impossible?

For some time I have believed that a possible function of the so-called National Classification Scheme Review (NCSR) could be to position the government for a soft-landing, get-out-of-jail-free card in relation to their mandatory internet filtering plan. I most recently discussed my feelings on this topic in this article from last week. Reading some more […]

Channel Seven – Please Get It Right!

Over the weekend, Channel Seven Melbourne was heavily promoting a “special report” to be screened on this evening’s nightly news bulletin, extolling the virtues of living in Geelong instead of Melbourne, and commuting into Melbourne for work. About how “easy” and “relaxed” this commute is. I regularly do this commute, and I can warn the […]

The Filter Is Not Dead

There has been some scuttlebutt in recent days in regards to whether the ridiculous iron fist that is the proposed mandatory filtering of the internet in Australia is to go ahead or not. Certainly, there have been a lot of mixed messages, but the most important message of all is that it is not dead. […]

NBN Putting the Consumer In Charge

Undoubtedly, the NBN is a hot political potato right at the moment, with many different views entering into the current debate. Debate or otherwise, the state of play at the moment sees the project going ahead – including the recent announcement of the location and schedule of the next seven rollout locations. Many of you […]