Monthly Archives: December 2009

Australian Government to Censor the Internet

I never thought that my country would resort to this. Under the guise of “won’t someone think of the children” the Australian Government, led by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, have green-lighted the use of Internet filters:

The Federal Government will introduce compulsory internet filtering to block overseas sites which contain criminal content, including child sex abuse and sexual violence.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced the changes today following a controversial trial to filter the internet which was conducted earlier this year.

Senator Conroy says some internet content is simply not suitable in a civilised society.

Read that last sentence again. That should make one shudder. Individuals decide what is decent and right about a civil society, not an authoritative government.

For the record I am completely against child pornography. These filters will be easily circumvented by paedophiles and scum who get off looking at such stuff. We should be investing in better law enforcement and linking with international police agencies to catch these guys and throw them in jail. Having an Internet filter with rules set on the whim of a government bureaucrat simple impedes our freedom without making a substantial difference to stopping child pornography.

Let’s hope the Opposition, Greens and Independants put a stop to it in the senate. Continue reading

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Libertarianism vs Right vs Left

Much of our political discourse focuses on the left/right divide in a simple one dimensional domain. If you’re not left, you’re right. If you’re not right, you’re left. There is a third way: Libertarian. As a way to describe where libertarianism fit I have created this two-dimensional chart to help explain: Continue reading

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Copenhagen Opening Film… All That’s Missing is the Plague

Have a look at the opening film of Copenhagen Climate Summit:

[src:'http://www.youtube.com/v/NVGGgncVq-4',width:'425',height:'350']

All the elements for a good old fashioned scare mongerin’:

* Poverty. Check.
* Scared Children. Check.
* Polar bears threatened. Check.
* Floods. Check.
* Drought. Check.
* Earthquake. Check.
* Storms. Check.
* Tornados. Check.
* “Expert” Testimony*. Check.

These people have no shame.

* Includes the renowned scientists, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and UN Chief Ban Ki Moon.

Continue reading

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Pier to Pub Swimming Training

I am participating in the 2010 Pier to Pub at Lorne on January 9, 2010. It is a 1.2 km open water course. I heard that the rule of thumb is that for every 1km of open water swimming is the equivalent of 2kms in the swimming pool. Thus my target is 2.4km in a swimming pool (48 laps of a 50m Olympic sized pool). My progress via Google spreadsheets (which is automatically updated) is below: Continue reading

Posted in Fitness | 1 Comment

ThinkGeek Mario Easter Egg

I love Easter Eggs. Type in “mario” in the ThinkGeek search form and… Continue reading

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Shock and Oar

It’s great to see entrepreneurs follow their dreams and start their own businesses. It is even better to see them succeed. I am proud to have been a part of the initial formation of Shock and Oar, founded by Brendon and Deirdre Westerhout. They have established their Nautical and Leisure Wear company a couple of years ago and has an excellent online store and a flagship store in Fremantle, Western Australia. Continue reading

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