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November 30, 2006
Food Poisoning
Damn that fried rice from last night. Damn it all to hell.
*unhappy shiver*
I'll be back when my intestines no longer want to reach through my stomach and strangle me.
Blergh.
Posted by jj at 8:52 AM | Comments (0)
November 29, 2006
Portable video
How to irritate your family when bored with the conversation over Christmas: watch YouTube videos on your mobile phone!
It might be irritating to others but portable video is pervasive, and in a follow up to yesterday's link/story on YouTube eroding television viewing, here's the techcrunch response telling us to just get over television and move on.
I've long been citing Rushkoff who said that it's not content that's king, but contact. There's now a useful presentation which suggests that aggregation and context might be king rather than content. Either way, YouTube delivered to your portable internet device or your desktop pc is compelling because it combines the delight of frontier media, peer review and subject choice with the content itself. Call it context or consider it a basis for contact, it's still true that content alone is insufficient to attract us anymore. And as portable media display devices become cheaper to adopt, and telecommunications packages for next gen internet connectivity become more affordable, the dominance of ad hoc video sources such as YouTube over traditional media is only set to grow.
Posted by jj at 7:43 AM | Comments (0)
November 28, 2006
Return of the Links!
It is with much shame that I notice it has been ages since I recorded anything particularly oriented towards my research and interests in this blog (besides cricket - GO AUSSIES!!! - and the Daylight Saving petition). In an attempt to rectify this failing, I offer today's link fest:
- The BBC is reporting that online video through vehicles such as YouTube is eroding television viewing. (Yes I know I said this a while ago, but it's nice to have the media back me up at last!)
- The Google Checkout system may be the new way of buying online but the effort you have to go through to complete a transaction may well require some interaction design tweaking.
- The folk over at Creating Passionate Users have a rather useful discussion on Web 2.0 that goes some way to describing why Web 2.0 is more than a buzzword. An amusing alternative is the ZdNet article on whether Web 2.0 is in fact, Darth Vader.
- If you haven't already seen the Google Master Plan in all its Ros-Kelly-Whiteboard-Glory, then have a look here.
- There's a nice new program designed to bypass Government Censorship initiatives. I'm wondering how this can be used in the office as I type!
- I enjoyed reading the SeekingAlpha story on the 10 Best Internet Acquisitions ever.
- And I'm sure the folk associated with QUT's Brisbane Graduate School of Business will find the first of three essays on American Entrepreneurialism a provocative read!
Enjoy the linkfest!
Posted by jj at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)
Editorial Opinion: Saving more than just daylight
In the extended entry I have an early draft of an editorial opinion on Daylight Saving I plan to send to the papers after an edit in the next week or so. All comments gratefully received.
Saving more than just daylight
Joanne Jacobs
The current focus on Daylight Saving is often characterised by cynics as just another pointless attempt by passionate but misguided advocates to denigrate the appeal of Queensland as the only state on God’s Own Time. But there is a difference in the current campaign. The notion of separating Queensland into two time zones is actually gaining the support of South East Queensland, and Premier Peter Beattie is genuinely considering the possibility of Daylight Saving adoption for the South Eastern corner in the near future.
Since I began the e-petition at the Local Government Association of Queensland site (http://petitionsqld.com.au/), recommending adoption of Daylight Saving in South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), I have been bombarded with hate mail as well as messages of fervent support, but most of all I’ve been impressed with the level of thought being put in to arguments for Daylight Saving in the SEQ region. Gone are the absurd and embarrassing arguments from the Bjelke-Peterson era, about the curtains fading and the cows not knowing when to be milked or the chickens not knowing when to lay eggs, and in their place are clear arguments about the passage of sunlight across the planet, and changes to social habits in the family, as well as the costs of failing to convert to Daylight Saving for businesses based in this region.
I’ve received some messages expressing concern about the logistics of breaking the state up in to two time zones, but increasingly the validity of this move is gaining support as people begin to address the question in a more dispassionate and open manner than has previously been experienced. And as the facts emerge from a sea of misinformed rhetoric, the logic of a dual time zone for Queensland becomes clear.
We live in a vast state. 1.72 million square kilometres, Queensland is seven and half times the size of Victoria and more than twice the size of New South Wales. It could fit the entire United Kingdom in its land area seven times over. And if you just start in the west of the state, and travel due east to Brisbane, you cover the same basic distance as you would travelling from London to Berlin. Oh and incidentally, London and Berlin are on two different time zones – an hour apart.
The sun rises in Mount Isa in the west of the state at the moment at 5:52am. It rises in Brisbane at 4:45am. The sun sets in Mount Isa at 7:07pm. It sets in Brisbane at 6:26pm. So Brisbane in SEQ is nearly an hour separated from Mount Isa in terms of light. Several people who have been against my petition for Daylight Saving in SEQ point out that the declination of the planet and the way the sun rises in an east-southeast direction, and sets in a west-southwest direction fail to realise the very important point that if you separate just the section of Queensland that receives and loses light earlier than the rest of the state – the SEQ corner – and place it on a Daylight Saving timezone, then you actually bring the state into line with activity occurring across the state at large in terms of how light is consumed.
So geography and light patterns across the state would tend to support the separation of SEQ from the rest of the state, in the adoption of Daylight Saving.
But that’s only the first aspect of the argument.
Our lives are governed by schedules. Our children must always start school at the same time, and our child care and public transport systems revolve around the same scheduling for care purposes. Retail businesses create efficiencies for shoppers by opening at the same time and banks and other financial service operations follow the same schedules. So the often-cited argument that people in the SEQ corner should “just get up an hour earlier if they want Daylight Saving” is a preposterous suggestion. In order to accommodate the schedules which govern our practices in business and for families, we need a clear choice for all businesses, schools and service industries to make the same choice – and to suggest that we all choose to go to work and school an hour earlier without changing the clocks to reflect such a change is rather short-sighted. The implications of such an action would cause more trouble than a simple time zone distinction between the SEQ corner and the rest of the state.
Then there’s the cost to business. And this is a much greater problem than has ever been clearly stated. Most of the businesses that are negatively affected by the failure to adopt Daylight Saving in Queensland are based in the SEQ corner. This is the region where service and retail businesses flourish, and where the majority of businesses that have dealings with organisations along the eastern seaboard of the country are based. Unlike the primary industries sector and mining and tourism regions in the north and west of the state, the SEQ corner focuses its energies on businesses predominantly operating on 9am-5pm schedules, and relies heavily on the investment of the southern states for its growth and prominence as population centre. The prediction is that by 2020, the population of Queensland will outrank the population of Victoria. The majority of that population growth will come from migration from the southern states, and it will occur primarily in the industrialised and service-oriented SEQ corner. Like it or not, the influence of the southern states is growing in this region, and its progress in inexorable. But at the moment in the SEQ corner, the failure to adopt Daylight Saving is seriously affecting the productivity of this region and its competitiveness nationally. Daylight Saving adoption in the southern states effectively means that SEQ businesses lose two hours of operation – first before south east Queenslanders arrive at work at 9am, and then again at the end of the day when the southerners have gone home and south east Queenslanders are still at work. And if business people have meetings in Melbourne or Sydney at 9am over summer, they must fly down the evening before and pay for accommodation in order to ensure they make their meetings on time. The stock exchange is affected, the operation of financial reconciliation services, tourism booking services and gaming are affected, and even telephone messaging systems essential to the service industries sector can cause problems. The real costs to businesses of failing to adopt are high. The costs to the primary industries sector and other businesses in the north and west of the state in dealing with possible problems associated with a second time zone in SEQ are low. A very simple cost-benefit analysis indicates clearly that Daylight Saving in SEQ is likely to save the region far more than just daylight.
I’d like to conclude with the plan ahead for forwarding the campaign for adoption of Daylight Saving in SEQ. In March 2007, a rally will be held in Brisbane, and a symposium for the Premier and Lords Mayor of relevant SEQ councils is planned to determine appropriate borders for a summer Daylight Saving zone. The Premier has been quoted as considering putting the issue to a referendum for the state in 2007, and has been open to the notion of a dual time zone for Queensland.
Those of us who have worked on this petition and previous petitions for Daylight Saving in Queensland welcome the opportunity to participate in rational and considered debate on the issue, and we are looking forward to a period when the logic of Daylight Saving in SEQ overcomes the darkness of poorly conceived rhetoric.
Posted by jj at 9:21 AM | Comments (0)
November 25, 2006
Pics from Day 1 of the First Test
As Australia return from Tea on Day 3 of the First Test, currently 478 in the lead in their 2nd innings at the Gabba, here are a couple of pics of my day at the Gabba on Day 1.
Odds are on that Australia are going to win, I'd reckon ;-)
Those poor, genetically impoverished English. What a shame they have been so throughly trounced by our superior Australian might!
EDIT: if you are after a laugh in your general cricket enjoyment, have a read of the written commentary as it goes live to the internet at CricInfo. Choose the Live Scorecard and read the comments between balls :)
Posted by jj at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)
November 22, 2006
CRICKET!
Tomorrow. Day 1. First Test for the Ashes. Me going.
Rendered inarticulate with joy. Happy JJ!!!!
(Yes, every now and then my uber-geek self cross-dresses as a cricket tragic. There are those who love me anyway.)
Posted by jj at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)
Across Australia: Forwarding the campaign
Thanks to Charles Wooley for the chance to speak on his program today on the ongoing campaign for Daylight Saving in the SEQ region. It's great to have the support of so many across Australia on this important cause!
Posted by jj at 3:21 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2006
The Daylight Savings Campaign continues...
Just a quick note to record the fact that we've cracked the 10,000 signatures mark on the petition for Daylight Saving in South Eastern Queensland.
I'm now trying to organise a rally and meeting between South Eastern Queensland Lords Mayor and the Premier to discuss the implementation process for DLS, and I'm suggesting this occurs in March 2007. Any assistance in lobbying Mayors to participate in such an event will be gratefully received!
Posted by jj at 11:46 AM | Comments (2)
Nuclear energy report
So it's time I entered a serious post, and I can think of no better subject than that of the prospective nuclear energy report tabled by former Telstra boss, Ziggy Switkowski, today. The federal Opposition are already declaring their intention to oppose the establishment of nuclear energy plant development, but have also flagged their intention to support extended uranium mining.
I'm of the opinion that nuclear power in Australia is probably wasteful, let alone dangerous. This isn't a region that needs nuclear power when we have so many other opportunities for generating power in this country that we do not exploit. We may be one of the few developed countries that does not draw some of its electricity from nuclear power, but we also have more opportunities for supporting development of alternative energy sources - solar and wind - than many other developed nations. And nuclear power just isn't as cheap as everyone thinks it is. As the Opposition notes, from a purely economic perspective (including the insurance risk associated with augmenting our nuclear energy practices), nuclear power just isn't worth it.
However, I'm unsure of whether increased uranium mining is a good idea, either. Sure, it will increase jobs and income to the GDP, but will it be in the interests of Australia to increase dramatically the possibility of increased exposure to ionising radiation as a result of mining and transporting uranium, as well as the possibility of increased nuclear waste production? I suspect the economic arguments against nuclear power are probably emulated in terms of risks and payoffs of uranium mining (unless we massively increase the price of uranium for overseas buyers). I hate to take such an emotional issue down to the level of mere economics, but there's no point arguing against nuclear power and for uranium mining. The risks are there for mining as well as converting radioactive elements into electricity. And the costs of increased production of uranium mining are worth considering as well.
Take away the emotion, the danger and the jobs from the argument, and the result is still the same: the safest and most under-used energy sources in Australia are still solar and wind. I know they produce less power and require more effort over time, but we can use these sources, and in a period where carbon emissions on a global scale are so high, shouldn't we be doing everything we can to maximise the natural energy sources we have available to us?
Posted by jj at 11:13 AM | Comments (2)
November 16, 2006
I'm just saying...
Spot the difference....
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Posted by jj at 10:28 PM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2006
Daylight Saving Petition Update
Recently I've been bombarded with emails on the Daylight Saving petition so I'm sorry if I have not got back to everyone - I'm doing my best to stay up-to-date. However, in the spirit of some catching up, I'd like to share a few pieces of research that have been kindly donated by members of my readership.
Firstly is a simple spreadhseet looking at the differences in normal activities over the height of summer with standard versus Daylight Saving time. As noted elsewhere, the differences are quite useful to observe, as the logic of daylight saving under this simple comparison is clearly observable.
Secondly is an article from the Sunday Mail about Labor MPs who support DLS, kindly sent by our Volunteer Petitioner, Nick Lloyd. And a quick thanks to Nick for all his messages and suggestions - you're fabulous Nick! I agree we do need to get SEQ Lord Mayors to visit the Premier en masse to discuss this issue. I think pehaps we ought to consider a special general meeting in Brisbane in early 2007 to really thrash out the issue of 6 months on; 6 months off DLS, and borders for time zone differences. I'm happy to organise something along those lines for February 2007.
Thirdly, there's an extensive argument prepared by Allan Clarke of the Sunshine Coast for two time zones in Queensland. Allan's argument is clear and concise and I recommend it to all interested parties. It emphasises the logic of multiple timezones in a state the size of Queensland. As I have noted to several people who have asked about timezones elsewhere in the world during this campaign, we only have effectively four time zones across Australia, where over the same geographical land space there are more than six time zones across the US (eight in total, including Hawaii and Alaska) and five across Europe. Even so, I am not suggesting that we increase the number of time zones across Australia, but rather segregate those time zones in accordance with business, leisure and geographical characteristics. Allan's argument concludes that multiple time zones across Queensland does make sense, is practical and can and should be pursued. Bravo, Allan!
Posted by jj at 12:18 PM | Comments (1)
November 13, 2006
Returned! Not Shipwrecked!
Have just returned from a weekend on a motor cruiser in a contingent from the Rotary Club of Fortitude Valley where much sun, sea and good times were enjoyed. We began on North Stradbroke Island at One Mile and headed around Horseshoe Bay, finally dropping anchor off Russell Island on Saturday night before heading back up to Newport on Sunday, against a rather rough North-Easterly wind. My friend, Rob, suffered a little seas sickness, so I'm glad again to apparently have the right constitution for sea travel, finding the rough seas rather more lulling than sickening, and finding a rolling and pitching 3 hour cruise to be a useful tonic for a long and loud night of wining, dining and carousing from Saturday night.
Of course, today, after very little sleep all weekend, I'm rather less than my bright and shiny self, but I'm sure I shall regain my panache after a while back at my pc. So happy Monday to you all and to all a good week!
Posted by jj at 9:47 AM | Comments (0)
November 4, 2006
Happy Birthday to Me
Yes I'm 28 again. Or something. Yay me.
I shall spend my birthday watching documentaries and science fiction. And it shall be good.
Posted by jj at 12:28 AM | Comments (5)