Author Archives: Michael Wyres

A Stupid Train Of Thought

The new version of Melbourne’s Metro Rail Tunnel, as announced yesterday as part of the 2014 State Budget is a massive slap in the face for commuters. It is Premier Napthine’s great big nasty pre-election surprise. The original plan – (put forward by the previous Bracks/Brumby government) – was for the tunnel to run from […]

Timely Google Security Reminder

With more and more people adopting tablet and smartphone devices running the Apple iOS and Google Android operating systems, I thought it timely to remember an important security issue if you choose to run the Google Chrome web browser on your device. I must admit, I had completely forgotten about this issue until yesterday when […]

Basic Computer Science Made Very Simple

Last night – (in the midst of one of my regular late-evening meanderings through interesting topics) – I stumbled upon this fabulously simple explanation of basic computing, produced by IBM in the United Kingdom in 1965. The ease in which it explains the most basic operation of a computer is simply awesome. Watch, and enjoy […]

Ron Dennis: The Rare Moment Of Senna Weakness

While I was never particularly a fan of Ayrton Senna, there is no doubt that he ranks with the very best of all time when it comes to racing drivers. He could make a car do things that nobody could, and that made him special. As the 20th anniversary of his death at Imola in […]

The EastWest Non-Link?

The proposed EastWest Link, a partially underground toll road through the inner north and inner west of Melbourne has been controversial to say the very least. Countless protests against the proposal have ended in scuffles with police, and even attempts by the Victorian government to subvert otherwise legal protest activities. I – (like many other […]

NBN Flux: Why Even?

The National Broadband Network (NBN) has been a torrid political beast for around five years, ever since it was first mooted by the then communications minister, Stephen Conroy, and the then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. One of the first arguments by opponents of the scheme was along the lines of: “We already have access to […]

NBN Flux: Inflexion Point

I have worked in the IT industry in Australia – (in one form or another) – for almost 20 years. My history of tinkering and mucking around with computers goes back more than 30 years. So it is fair to say that I have seen quite a bit of weird, wonderful and outright “batshit annoying” […]

Napthine Turning Technology Upside Down

With 2014 being a Victorian state election year, both the Premier and the Opposition Leader are running around the state, making promises to butter up the voters ahead of the November poll date. Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews was in Ballarat today, touting an upgrade to Eureka Stadium, in an effort to encourage AFL games to […]

What The MH370 Black Boxes Might Not Reveal

As the search for Malaysia Airlines 370 continues, the distinct possibility that it will never be found remains in play. The similarities to the initial phases of the disappearance of Air France 447 in 2009 are striking. Though search and rescue personnel had some idea where AF447 went down, it took five days before any […]

Abbott Repeats Turnbull Tasmanian NBN Lie

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has repeated an unsubstantiated claim made by Malcolm Turnbull in October, in regards to the construction of the NBN in Tasmania. Abbott Dodges Repeated Tassie FTTP Questions “In general, Abbott did not directly address the issues being raised. For example, on the issue of how politically damaging the FTTP issue could […]