Category Archives: Technology

Fletcher Flubs Complaint Over 4G Auction Reserve Prices

With the impending cessation of analogue television signals in Australia, the government are preparing to auction the RF spectrum that will be freed up at that time. This spectrum is expected to predominantly be taken up for use in commercial cellular mobile networks for data and voice services. Late last year, the reserve price was […]

Who Now The What Now Vodafone?

Late last year, I reported on the status of the Vodafone network around my home and the apparent suddenness of the lack of usable 3G in the vicinity. Using data provided from the Radio Frequency National Site Archive, I have generated a map of the locations – (via GPS) – of all towers providing Vodafone […]

You Are Being Watched Vodafone

For the last week or so, 3G coverage from Vodafone has been VERY spotty in my area, after being almost perfect since my switch from Telstra a couple of years ago. Despite the cries of “Vodafail” from many customers, I’ve not experienced any significant issues in my time with the carrier. With respect to the […]

Instagram / Facebook Social Media Lesson

There is a lot of huff and puff spreading online in regards to the change of policy with the social media photo-sharing application, Instagram, which allows it to perpetually sell user photos without payment or notification. While – (as I’m not a lawyer) – I’m not going to attempt to decipher at any level of […]

Andrew Laming With Another Online Hatchet Job

Regular readers may remember the laughable effort displayed towards me by Andrew Laming when dealing with criticism of his position of the National Broadband Network (NBN) back in April this year. Andrew ended up blocking me on Twitter – (which he is perfectly entitled to do) – and I thought nothing of it until I […]

Another Misleading NBN Headline

Well, the Australian mainstream media are at it again, using misleading headlines to try and trumpet misfortune upon the rollout of the National Broadband Network (NBN). Here’s the latest effort: NBN Contractor To Lay Off 160 Workers And this is how it looked on the front of The Age website: The blurb says: “NBN contractor […]

Turnbull’s Low Definition Broadband Crystal Ball

Malcolm Turnbull is at it again, criticising just about anything published by anyone that is in any way supportive of the National Broadband Network (NBN). This is despite ample evidence provided by anyone who challenges his alternative plan, and people actually building the NBN that he is completely missing the point. His plan calls for […]

Air Travellers Cop Bad Systems Architecture

After a major systems failure in 2010 of the Navitaire New Skies airline booking and check-in system used by Virgin Australia, another failure yesterday has left thousands of Australian air travellers inconvenienced and angry. This time the problems were not limited to Virgin, with the crash also affecting Jetstar, Tiger, Rex, and other associated airlines. […]

Ding Dong The Wicked (Internet Filter) Witch Is Dead!

In a significant backdown by the Australian Government, the mandatory ISP-level internet filter previously proposed for Australia, has now been officially buried. It will be replaced by the internationally recognised and accepted Interpol Access Blocking “worst of” blacklist service, and enforced on ISPs under Section 313 of the Telecommunications Act, 1997. While the mandatory filter […]

Upload Your Personal ‘Important Documents’?

With the launch yesterday of Australia Post’s new ‘Digital Mailbox’, I took particular interest in how the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy described how it can be used. From the ministerial press release: “Use the Digital Mailbox as a personal digital vault to store important documents.” Given Australia Post’s status as a […]