Morgan Wilson: australian stuff

a Tasmanian blog! (I feel homesick now)

Fri, 08 Aug 2003 10:55:58 GMT

PLACE-ORIENTED BLOGS.

You may have noticed that I (sometimes unfairly) group blogs in my blogroll into artistic, business/scientific, environmental, news, and political categories, with Salon blogs listed separately because...well, because they're my community. Recently I've discovered another type of blog that is primarily geographical in nature. These have been self-styled as 'place-oriented blogs' or 'blogs of place'. Although most of us write from time to time about what's happening in our physical community, place-oriented bloggers write almost exclusively about the history, geography, and current events (often with photos) of their community.

They're actually very entertaining (and sometimes educational) to read. Here are some of the best of the breed I've found:

London and the North - London & Yorkshire, UK
Faultline / Creek Running North - California
Lifescapes - Texas
Bowen Island Journal - British Columbia
Laughing Knees - Japan
Life at the Edge - Tasmania (whence the photo above)
Ecotone - A wiki with more Bloggers of Place, and more about them

Some of our Salon bloggers write more about their physical location than others, especially those living outside the country as ex-pats. What do you think -- is your blog a 'blog of place' or do you just write about home when there's nothing more urgent to write about? Is this a legitimate new genre of blog? I have occasionally posted about my home on the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, but not with any geographic thoroughness. Should I write more about place?

[How to Save the World]

Lost opportunities for Australian progressives

Thu, 12 Jun 2003 02:57:48 GMT

Why aren't Australians more outraged about non-existent Iraqi WMDs? As this Sydney Morning Herald article points out, compared to what's going on in Washington and London, there's been basically no fall-out in Canberra over this issue.

This is surprising considered how strong the opposition to this war was in Australia. Before the war, opinion polls showed a large majority of Australians opposed the miltary action in Iraq. The many public demonstrations against the war indicated the level of opposition - and that this was a very broad-based mainstream opposition.

There was a strong view that John Howard, Australia's sycophantic Prime Minister was vulnerable on this issue - for dragging the country into this crusade, and misleading the country about this commitment. I was in Australia in January and heard him say that he hadn't yet decided on Australia's commitment, even as Australian troops were being sent to the Persian Gulf.

One explanation is that the Australian Labor Party (ALP) has been just as timid and ineffectual an opposition party as the Democrats in the US. In fact, during the past month, they have been even worse than their American counterparts, because they have been preoccupied with the Simon Crean / Kim Beazley struggle over the party leadership.

It is really sad that at a time when they could really be punishing the John Howard over dragging the country into war under false pretences, as well as the whole Governor-General debacle, they are in the midst of this pointless leadership spill. It would be different if I knew that real policy differences were at stake in this contest. But the internal debate is primarily about form ("that Kim Beazley has a better rapport with the Australian people than Simon Crean") rather than substance. I know that Kim Beazley is at the very Right of the ALP (think Joe Lieberman, except that Beazley has already lost 2 elections to John Howard) and so generally I would prefer Simon Crean, but if Crean is gutless, it doesn't really matter what he thinks, does it?

Oh well, at least Australia has a viable and growing green party, and an electoral system which minimizes the "wasted vote" syndrome.

what people in my home town think about libraries and librarians

Wed, 21 May 2003 04:05:49 GMT

How often do you use your local library. writes Paul McIntyre took to the streets of Hobart Australia recently and discovered overall most people perceived libraries as friendly helpful places with a diversity of systems in place to help the avid book browser ... [LISNews.com]

I just had to post this one. I grew up in Hobart, Tasmania and went to high school with Paul McIntyre. Although we weren't really friends, we hung out in the same circles for a while. I could barely recognize his voice - so much more of an Australian radio voice! Maybe it's also that my voice has changed from living in the US, a change which I stubbornly oppose.

Judge overturns school board's restriction of Harry Potter books

Wed, 23 Apr 2003 14:49:16 GMT

"Only in America" has been an informal part of the establishment of the Australian news media. This example from the Sydney Morning Herald is more serious than whacky, and ultimately it's good press for the U.S.

A federal judge ordered Harry Potter books back onto an Arkansas school district's library shelves, rejecting a school board's claim that tales of wizards and spells were harmful.
Ruling in favour of a fourth-grader's parents, US District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren today ordered the Cedarville School District in western Arkansas to put the four books in JK Rowling's popular series back in general circulation.
The district's board drew wrath from national free-speech groups for its June decision to require students to obtain parental permission to check out the books. The 3-2 decision, which overruled a unanimous decision by the district's library committee, came after a parent complained about the books.
The Harry Potter books have been assailed by some Christian groups for their themes of witchcraft. The American Library Association says the books were the most frequently challenged of 2002, but rarely did those challenges lead to restrictions or bans.

copy-protected CDs designed to have a lower sound quality when played on a computer

Tue, 15 Apr 2003 04:03:15 GMT

Copy-control CD complaint:Qld businessman complains to ACCC about EMI's copy-control discs, by SamVarghese, Sydney Morning Herald.

The complaint by Tom Dullemond, who runs a small company in Gladstone that sells software for writers, is based on the fact that these discs, when played on Windows and Apple PCs, do not produce the high quality CD sound one might expect from what looks like a music CD.

Dullemond, who has like many others had his email bounced when writing to EMI, said the discs stated (in tiny print) that they would only play on audio CD players and the Windows/Apple operating systems.

Due to this, complaints from people who were unable to play these discs in PC CD-Roms or any CD-drive that strictly adheres to the redbook specs for CDs (audio-CD players can play copy-control discs because they are more error-prone; DVD drives or other high-precision CD drives will most likely not play the new discs) could not be followed up, Dullemond said.

My complaint, however, stemmed from the fact (confirmed by EMI) that CC (copy-control) discs when played in Windows and Apple PCs do not play the high quality CD sound one might expect from what looks like a music CD. They play back a low bitrate compressed .WMV file in a proprietary software audio player, he said.

Dullemond, who lodged his complaint in early March, said he received a call from the ACCC soon after.

The ACCC lady who spoke to me conceded that not disclosing this information to consumers (I had to do some serious internet digging and EMI tooth-pulling to find this out) could be pursued by the ACCC. After all, a consumer is told the CD they buy can't be copied - they're not told that the CD plays back low quality sound on computer systems.

The ACCC refused to confirm that any complaint had been lodged.

[A blog doesn't need a clever name]

"Let's look out for Australia" - the only thing this TIPS clone has going for it is that it isn't tied in with a TV show like AMW

Wed, 29 Jan 2003 14:26:42 GMT

When I was back in Australia, I was alarmed to notice frequent ads involving Steve Liebmann (a very well-known TV personality) telling Australians to keep their eyes peeled for suspicious activity. We are advised to "be alert, but not alarmed" and are provided with a free phone number to report suspicious behaviour. The ad mostly features footage of Australia's diversity, including smiling Muslim women wearing scarves, but there are a few glimpses of law enforcement personnel and cute sniffer dogs. "Australians are friendly, decent, democratic people." Then Steve's tone hardens a little, "And we're going to stay that way." (Tell this to victims of Australia's xenophobic policy of mandatory detention of illegal immigrants, but now I digress). The TV spots have been followed up with full-page ads in all the major newspapers. The campaign hasn't been well-received. It flies in the face of the Australian anti-dobbing more, which is deeply ingrained in our culture. Apparently at least one third of the calls to this hotline have complaints against the campaign. You can view the ads at http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/