"Windows Phone 7 is “finally” jailbroken! ChevronWP7, the unlocker tool, works with every WP7 phone and allows for the side loading of apps, the use of private APIs, and access to low level functionality. Basically, it unleashes your WP7 phone."
via Windows Phone 7 Gets Jailbroken | Gizmodo Australia.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Essential android apps - From my HTC HD2
- AppBrain App Market -
Great for backing up your app install (built into windows marketplace but additional on Android)
- Tetrīs -
Speaks for itself
- The Moron Test: Section 1 -
Funny test to fool your friends
- Ohm's Law -
The age old calulation of power
- WordPress -
Enables me to post to my blog
- PAC-MAN Championship Ed. Demo -
Not yet tested
- Angry Birds -
Crazy addictive game of slingshotting birds at piggies
- Yellow Pages® Australia -
Speaks for itself
- Google Earth -
Again google Earth speaks for itself
- Retro Camera -
Great retro camera effects
- Horoscope and Tarot -
For those who are into this stuff
- Flash Player 10.1 -
Flash rocks lol
- Google Sky Map -
Very cool almost augmented reality app to show you whats up there in the sky
- Adobe Photoshop Express -
Editing images on the run
- Winamp -
Really whips the llamas ass
- FxCamera -
More camera effects
- Google Goggles -
Take a photo of something and let google find it, translate it or identify it
- Star Wars Light Saber -
shooosh shooosh
- Shazam -
Identify that song thats driving you crazy
- Foursquare -
Check in at places all over the world and show your friends where you are, reccommend a place or score free or discounted stuff
- MSN Messenger Droid X -
Good old msn
- Earth Live Wallpaper -
Live Wallpaper
- Tricorder -
Real working Star Trek Tricorder - shows magentic fields, gforces, radio signals and more
- Bump -
Bump into a friend and share something with them
- Speedtest.net Speed Test -
My HD2 can get 1mbit by 1mbit transfers, on Optus. How fast is your mobile internet?
- SydneyTrain - NSW Australia -
Need to catch a train, look it up with this handy app
- Sydney Traffic Cameras -
Avoid traffic before you reach it
- Instant Heart Rate -
Uses camera to detect your heart rate
- Wifi Analyzer -
Shows WiFi signals strength and channel
- Tuner - gStrings -
Tune your guitar
- Urban Dictionary -
The Urban Dictionary, everything and anything
- Bubble -
Bubble level
- Voice Search -
Google Voice search
- Metal Detector -
Yup it finds metal
- Compass -
Where am i going?
- Advanced Task Killer -
Essential for managing your running apps and keeping your phone running smooth
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Cloning a Domain Controller: Part 2
If your cloned DC is not a Global Catalog server then you will need to do an additional step, disable the GC check:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
Type: Dword
Name: IgnoreGCFailures
Value = 0x1
This will stop your dc from waiting for GC and will enable logons.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
Type: Dword
Name: IgnoreGCFailures
Value = 0x1
This will stop your dc from waiting for GC and will enable logons.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Hacking the Kinect
The race to hack the Kinect and use it for some cool things....
The Microsoft Kinect is a great device, but is it only for the XBOX? Several advances have already been made in using it for other means, including using it as a 3D bullet time style pan and zoom, Minority Report style pc control and i am sure there will be plenty more to come.
It's not the first time XBOX hardware has been used for other means, after all the hardware is all based on the USB standard.
The article below tells a great story of how the Kinect has been eagerly awaited and is the new toy for hackers everywhere.
"While they waited, others charged ahead. By Saturday 6 November, a hacker who goes by the nickname AlexP had gained control of the Kinect's motors. Microsoft tried to quash the news, saying the Kinect had not been hacked "in any way". The hacking community took it as an affront. "This is silly, so now we've made it $3k," wrote Adafruit."
via Inside the race to hack the Kinect - tech - 23 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Life @
"More than 80 per cent of the habitats on Earth are colder than 5 °C – but there is no shortage of species that can cope with the chill"
Amazingly enough 80% of life on Earth exists at below 5 Degrees Celsius. Bacteria make up some of that but they sease to function at minus 15C. Animals such as the Arctic Springtails can survive by producing an antifreeze and having a structure that has no point at which ice caould form.
Amazing world we live in, you'll need to subscribe but it's free to check out the below article.
via Extreme survival: Life frozen solid - environment - 16 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Silverlight 360 - Xbox to support silverlight soon?!
It seems MS is toying with the idea of Silverlight on Xbox 360. Meaning they will have a common platform between Windows Phone 7, Desktop PC and XBOX 360.
More below...
Monday, November 22, 2010
Is Wi-Fi bad for us? it appears it may be bad for trees at least.
Personally i beleive that magnetic or radio based radiation from digital devices could influence the electrical processes in our brains, but if that means there is any physical or perminent damage...well that's another argument all together.
Follwoing is a quote fromt he study and below that a link to more information, judge for yourself.
"The study exposed 20 ash trees to various radiation sources for a period of three months. Trees placed closest to the Wi-Fi radio demonstrated a “lead-like shine” on their leaves that was caused by the dying of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. This would eventually result in the death of parts of the leaves. The study also found that Wi-Fi radiation could inhibit the growth of corn cobs."
via Study Says Wi-Fi Makes Trees Sick | Gizmodo Australia.
Follwoing is a quote fromt he study and below that a link to more information, judge for yourself.
"The study exposed 20 ash trees to various radiation sources for a period of three months. Trees placed closest to the Wi-Fi radio demonstrated a “lead-like shine” on their leaves that was caused by the dying of the upper and lower epidermis of the leaves. This would eventually result in the death of parts of the leaves. The study also found that Wi-Fi radiation could inhibit the growth of corn cobs."
via Study Says Wi-Fi Makes Trees Sick | Gizmodo Australia.
Kinect hacking - taking the same line as minmo hackers?
The following article details some links of how Microsoft was threatening hackers of the Kinect that they might sue them. It turns out, like the minmo hackers and cooks such as those on XDA Developers (including myself), Microsoft are going to ignore (and probably copy) the ideas these hackers are coming up with.
Microsoft To Kinect Hackers: We Will Not Sue You! | Gizmodo Australia.
Microsoft To Kinect Hackers: We Will Not Sue You! | Gizmodo Australia.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
We need more of this IMHO - Religeous debate in schools - Cammary Public School kids asked to choose song not referencing god or jesus in end of year concert.
I'm not sure what to be more surprised about, the fact that people are upset that kids were asked to be more inclusive of other religions (by excluding specific christian elements), or that it's an issue that someone did ask that.
This is the 21st century and in my opinion religious fanatisim has not place especially in schools.
More in the Mosman Weekly's Article below:-
Mamma Mia! Don't mention God - Education - News - Mosman Daily.
This is the 21st century and in my opinion religious fanatisim has not place especially in schools.
More in the Mosman Weekly's Article below:-
Mamma Mia! Don't mention God - Education - News - Mosman Daily.
Blu-ray now with more blu??!
A recently developed trick of light to bring microscopic images into sharper 3D focus, could be used to cram more data onto a blu-ray disc.
"An optical lens might appear to focus light to a fine point, but on the nanoscopic scale, the focal point is smeared out in the direction of light propagation – the beam's optical axis – to create a cigar-shaped cylinder. Improving that axial resolution is key to focusing clearly on nanoscopic layers within a sample under the microscope to pick out important detail. It could also allow lasers to focus more precisely within a Blu-ray disc, making it possible to squeeze more layers – and more data – onto each disc."
More info in the below article from New Scientist...
via Mirror trick could boost Blu-ray discs - tech - 17 November 2010 - New Scientist.
"An optical lens might appear to focus light to a fine point, but on the nanoscopic scale, the focal point is smeared out in the direction of light propagation – the beam's optical axis – to create a cigar-shaped cylinder. Improving that axial resolution is key to focusing clearly on nanoscopic layers within a sample under the microscope to pick out important detail. It could also allow lasers to focus more precisely within a Blu-ray disc, making it possible to squeeze more layers – and more data – onto each disc."
More info in the below article from New Scientist...
via Mirror trick could boost Blu-ray discs - tech - 17 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Anti-er stuff - Antihydrogen finally captured
If you have some basic physics knowledge then you'll be aware at least of the existence of antimatter. Antimatter is oppositely charged matter for the actual matter we can see. Usually referred to in the contect of positrons and neutrons.
Scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland have finally acheived via an experiment called ALPHA the mysterious capture of antihydrogen.
More below in the New Scientist article...
Antihydrogen trapped at long last - physics-math - 17 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Scientists at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland have finally acheived via an experiment called ALPHA the mysterious capture of antihydrogen.
More below in the New Scientist article...
Antihydrogen trapped at long last - physics-math - 17 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Super (efficient) car from AMG
Mercedes-Benz have produced an amazing AMG CLS 63 that not only hauls ass but also gets great economy. Personally it looks quite good too:
Tobacco advertising to be restricted on the internet in Australia from today
With thousands of people suffering from tobacco related deseases and only more occuring every day, Australia will be restricting tobacco advertising on the internet from today. Health Minister Nicola Roxon has said "Prohibiting retailers from peddling cigarettes as 'cheap' or 'tax-free' on the internet is the latest step in the...government's hard hitting and comprehensive action to reduce Australia's smoking rates," Health Minister Nicola Roxon said in announcing the new legislation to go to parliament. Together with our efforts to mandate the plain packaging of tobacco products from 2012, Australia is on track to have the world's toughest measures against tobacco, Tobacco use is Australia's single largest cause of premature death and disease, killing 15,000 Australians a year and costing our economy A$31.5 billion."
Personally i do not smoke and find it rude to have to take in a lung full of someones second hand smoke. I welcome any effort to restrict it, in fact i call for a ban of smoking on public footpaths and within wind distance of any place where food is consumed. Perhaps it's time to bbring Maxwell Smarts cone of silence back as a way of extracting the smoke away from the non smokers.
Australia to restrict internet tobacco advertising | Reuters.
Personally i do not smoke and find it rude to have to take in a lung full of someones second hand smoke. I welcome any effort to restrict it, in fact i call for a ban of smoking on public footpaths and within wind distance of any place where food is consumed. Perhaps it's time to bbring Maxwell Smarts cone of silence back as a way of extracting the smoke away from the non smokers.
Australia to restrict internet tobacco advertising | Reuters.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Mothrabot - how to control a robot with a moth brain
Not a huge amount on this, but the link below shows a video and some links to information of researchers at the University of Technology in Tokyo doing reseach on connecting a moth's brain to a robot to allow it to track scents.
Crazy Japanese lol who knows it may be useful sometime.
New Scientist TV: Cyborg moths are on the move.
Crazy Japanese lol who knows it may be useful sometime.
New Scientist TV: Cyborg moths are on the move.
Joules from Bits, Energy from information
Maxwell's Demon is a thought experiment created by James clerk Maxwell, a scottish physicist. It claims to show that the 2nd law of Thermodynamics has only statistical certainty.
Basically the experiment has an imaginary container divided into two parts by an insulated wall, and a door that can be opened and closed by this "Maxwell's Demon". The demon is only allowed to let "hot" molecules of gas into one side of the chamber. The effect is that this side seems to spontaneously heat up and the other side cools down. The second law of Thermodynmaics says that if two bodies of differing temperature are brought together and insulated from everything else, that they will equalise to the same temperature.
Researchers in Japan lead by Eiro Muneyuki from Chuo University and Masaki Sano from the University of Tokyo have used a tiny roto and a small electric field to construct this experiment in real life.
They have shown using small foam balls and an electric field, that by simply observing and altering the electric field based upon the observation, they can cause this small rotor to behave in a way that seems to prove Maxwell's Demon.
"The researchers worked out that the exchange rate between energy and information matches theoretical predictions: at room temperature, one bit of information converts to about 3 x 10-21 joules."
The full explaination is below in the New Scientist article:
via Summon a 'demon' to turn information into energy - physics-math - 15 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Basically the experiment has an imaginary container divided into two parts by an insulated wall, and a door that can be opened and closed by this "Maxwell's Demon". The demon is only allowed to let "hot" molecules of gas into one side of the chamber. The effect is that this side seems to spontaneously heat up and the other side cools down. The second law of Thermodynmaics says that if two bodies of differing temperature are brought together and insulated from everything else, that they will equalise to the same temperature.
Researchers in Japan lead by Eiro Muneyuki from Chuo University and Masaki Sano from the University of Tokyo have used a tiny roto and a small electric field to construct this experiment in real life.
They have shown using small foam balls and an electric field, that by simply observing and altering the electric field based upon the observation, they can cause this small rotor to behave in a way that seems to prove Maxwell's Demon.
"The researchers worked out that the exchange rate between energy and information matches theoretical predictions: at room temperature, one bit of information converts to about 3 x 10-21 joules."
The full explaination is below in the New Scientist article:
via Summon a 'demon' to turn information into energy - physics-math - 15 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Stuxnet virus, a secret ploy to take down iranian nuclear projects?
It has been suggested by Symantec after spending many months reverse engineering the Stuxnet virus, that it was targeting nuclear installations. Symantec actually fell just short of stating such, but it's pretty clear from the report that this is the case. Below is an extract of the wired.com story:
"the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks posted an announcement saying that an anonymous source had disclosed that a “serious” nuclear incident had recently occurred at Natanz. Information published by the Federation of American Scientists in the United States indicates that something may indeed have occurred to Iran’s nuclear program. Statistics from 2009 show that the number of enriched centrifuges operational in Iran mysteriously declined from about 4,700 to about 3,900 beginning around the time the nuclear incident WikiLeaks mentioned would have occurred.
Researchers who have spent months reverse-engineering the Stuxnet code say its level of sophistication suggests that a well-resourced nation-state is behind the attack"
Scary thought that someone with a lot of resources, i.e. a government agency, had something to do with this.
via Clues Suggest Stuxnet Virus Was Built for Subtle Nuclear Sabotage | Threat Level | Wired.com.
"the secret-spilling site WikiLeaks posted an announcement saying that an anonymous source had disclosed that a “serious” nuclear incident had recently occurred at Natanz. Information published by the Federation of American Scientists in the United States indicates that something may indeed have occurred to Iran’s nuclear program. Statistics from 2009 show that the number of enriched centrifuges operational in Iran mysteriously declined from about 4,700 to about 3,900 beginning around the time the nuclear incident WikiLeaks mentioned would have occurred.
Researchers who have spent months reverse-engineering the Stuxnet code say its level of sophistication suggests that a well-resourced nation-state is behind the attack"
Scary thought that someone with a lot of resources, i.e. a government agency, had something to do with this.
via Clues Suggest Stuxnet Virus Was Built for Subtle Nuclear Sabotage | Threat Level | Wired.com.
Monday, November 15, 2010
FeMail? Facebook introduces full featured email
There's quite a bit of hype around today about Facebook introducing full blown email.
Reports say that there will be full client as well as webmail access and that email will be filtered based on your activities. So if an email for example arrives that is from soemone not in your friends list, or not someone who has been tagged in a photo with you, the email would be filtered out.
It's being claimed that this may just blow gmail out of the water, that remains to be seen i guess.
Personally i don't use either, Exchange web access is my choice, i'm lucky enough to be able to host my own. Microsoft and other providers also offer exchange hosting at pretty good prices.
Facebook to revamp messaging service: source | Reuters.
Reports say that there will be full client as well as webmail access and that email will be filtered based on your activities. So if an email for example arrives that is from soemone not in your friends list, or not someone who has been tagged in a photo with you, the email would be filtered out.
It's being claimed that this may just blow gmail out of the water, that remains to be seen i guess.
Personally i don't use either, Exchange web access is my choice, i'm lucky enough to be able to host my own. Microsoft and other providers also offer exchange hosting at pretty good prices.
Facebook to revamp messaging service: source | Reuters.
Another cool use for the Kinect
3D camera with "Matrix" style bullet time zoom and pan.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QrnwoO1-8A[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QrnwoO1-8A[/youtube]
Real life Minority Report style PC browsing
Thanks to some tricky modders who have already hacked the Microsoft Kinect, a proof of concept video has emerged demonstrating how to use the kinect to browse pictures on your pc with multitouch.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho6Yhz21BJI[/youtube]
Kinda cool don't you think? can't wait to see what else they come up with :)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho6Yhz21BJI[/youtube]
Kinda cool don't you think? can't wait to see what else they come up with :)
The best use of an Apple product so far!
Artist Michael Tompert's 12LVE exhibition, depicts various Apple products in varying states of destroyedness lol this would have to be the most useful way i have seen yet to use an Apple product.
An iPhone 4 smashed wirth a hammer
Macbook Air shot with a 9mm.
See the rest of Michael's art here:-
http://www.cultofmac.com/what-happens-when-you-shoot-an-ipad-and-other-pictures/69037
An iPhone 4 smashed wirth a hammer
Macbook Air shot with a 9mm.
See the rest of Michael's art here:-
http://www.cultofmac.com/what-happens-when-you-shoot-an-ipad-and-other-pictures/69037
Friday, November 12, 2010
Running Joomla vis IIS7 Reverse Proxy - Error 500 Internal Server Error
After a FREB trace (and some hair tearing out) i have worked out that urlrewrite on IIS7 reverse proxying to linux Joomla website will not work when GZIP compression is turned on.
To fix, browse locally to your joomla site, go to Global Config.
On the server tab, ensure use gzip compression is set to no.
This will enable urlrewrite on IIS7 to properly rewrite the outgoing rules.
To fix, browse locally to your joomla site, go to Global Config.
On the server tab, ensure use gzip compression is set to no.
This will enable urlrewrite on IIS7 to properly rewrite the outgoing rules.
Mystery Guitar Man - About time i pressed this, he rocks check it out
Most creative youtube channel/person i have come accross. His videos never fail to amuse me, i hope they amuse you as much.
One of my all time favs her: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqARrjYOKd4[/youtube]
And another: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcnPIPzOpQE[/youtube]
Robot Jam Session
A robot called Shimon has been created by a team at Georgia Institute of Technology and is claimed to be able to play the marimba along with human musicians. It has the ability to listen and play along with music.
http://brightcove.newscientist.com/services/player/bcpid659647535001?bctid=670298890001
New Scientist TV: Robot musician jams with humans.
http://brightcove.newscientist.com/services/player/bcpid659647535001?bctid=670298890001
New Scientist TV: Robot musician jams with humans.
Precognition - We can see the future?!
In a paper about to be published, Daryl J. Bem of Cernell University, claims that we may actually be able to "Feel the future". His paper is entitled "Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and Affect", and is due to be published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology this year.
In his paper he explains his experiments of over 1000 student volunteers indicate that precognition or psi may actually be a valid phenomenon.
Skeptics of the paper have come out saying that even though they find it rediculas, there are no real major faults in the paper.
Tests in the past have indicated that the human brain may be able to preempt emotioins to images that have yet to be seen but this paper goes over many past experiments as well as his own.
Interestingly Bem has done experiments in reversed order, to study the reverse effect of older experiments also. In one experiment, students were shown a list of words. They were then asked to recall words from that list, then were told to type words that had been randomly selected from the same list. Interestingly the students recalled the words that they would later type.
Another experiment adapted from "priming" - the effect of subliminally presenting a word in response to an image; Bem for example flashed a word like "ugly" but associated it with an image regarded as not ugly, and found it took longer for the test subject to rationalise the feeling of the image.
The paper is linked above and New Scientist elaborates below:
Is this evidence that we can see the future? - life - 11 November 2010 - New Scientist.
In his paper he explains his experiments of over 1000 student volunteers indicate that precognition or psi may actually be a valid phenomenon.
Skeptics of the paper have come out saying that even though they find it rediculas, there are no real major faults in the paper.
Tests in the past have indicated that the human brain may be able to preempt emotioins to images that have yet to be seen but this paper goes over many past experiments as well as his own.
Interestingly Bem has done experiments in reversed order, to study the reverse effect of older experiments also. In one experiment, students were shown a list of words. They were then asked to recall words from that list, then were told to type words that had been randomly selected from the same list. Interestingly the students recalled the words that they would later type.
Another experiment adapted from "priming" - the effect of subliminally presenting a word in response to an image; Bem for example flashed a word like "ugly" but associated it with an image regarded as not ugly, and found it took longer for the test subject to rationalise the feeling of the image.
The paper is linked above and New Scientist elaborates below:
Is this evidence that we can see the future? - life - 11 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Sydney transport woes
Northern Line service at 9.30 am on a Friday! Seriously where is everyone going at that time of day??
Uploaded by www.cellspin.net
Thursday, November 11, 2010
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Cloning Microsoft Active Directory Server into a Test environment
If, like a current project i am working on, you find yourself wanting to bring a copy of your Active Directory domain in to a test environment, and you have multiple replicating domain controllers, you might find yourself with a stand alone DC not allowing you to log on.
After a lengthy search of Google and a call to Microsoft i have managed to find a workable solution.
Basically, in 2003 anyway, each domain controller will try and do an initial sync when it starts up. Makes sense when you think about it, you don't want a rogue DC sending out old data after being off for a while.
To stop this and allow the DC to start up and accept logons, there is a nice little registry hack that will allow this.
A note is to try and get a GC so you don't get stuck looking for one.
The following entry will solve your issues:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters
Type:DWORD
Key:Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations
value:0x0
What it does is allows the server to load it's domain services and start allowing logons without waiting to do a sync with the DC's around it.
:)
After a lengthy search of Google and a call to Microsoft i have managed to find a workable solution.
Basically, in 2003 anyway, each domain controller will try and do an initial sync when it starts up. Makes sense when you think about it, you don't want a rogue DC sending out old data after being off for a while.
To stop this and allow the DC to start up and accept logons, there is a nice little registry hack that will allow this.
A note is to try and get a GC so you don't get stuck looking for one.
The following entry will solve your issues:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parameters
Type:DWORD
Key:Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations
value:0x0
What it does is allows the server to load it's domain services and start allowing logons without waiting to do a sync with the DC's around it.
:)
Designer clothes are pricey because of the quality of manufacture right???
Shame Shame Shame - In a Darren Hinch voice lol
"An investigation into Sydney's sweatshops by The Sunday Telegraph has found leading fashion designers including Nicola Finetti, Natasha Gan and Ginger&Smart, are paying Vietnamese and Chinese families between $10 and $35 to produce clothes later sold in stores for at least 10 times the price."
via Designers' suburban sweatshop shame | The Daily Telegraph.
"An investigation into Sydney's sweatshops by The Sunday Telegraph has found leading fashion designers including Nicola Finetti, Natasha Gan and Ginger&Smart, are paying Vietnamese and Chinese families between $10 and $35 to produce clothes later sold in stores for at least 10 times the price."
via Designers' suburban sweatshop shame | The Daily Telegraph.
Internet Archive: Wayback Machine - Long lost websites found
The Internet Archive: Wayback Machine is a great site i found today that allows you to go back through time on the internet to as far back as 1996.
I am happy today becuase i found my photography website that i lost and loved and have yet been abel to reproduce.
Check out the link above, type a website in and you'll be presented with a list of archived sites by date. Interesting being able to look back at internet sites as a snapshot in time. If only this were availabel for life!
I am happy today becuase i found my photography website that i lost and loved and have yet been abel to reproduce.
Check out the link above, type a website in and you'll be presented with a list of archived sites by date. Interesting being able to look back at internet sites as a snapshot in time. If only this were availabel for life!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Gillard wants to censor your internet
I have posted before about the internet filter, following is the article from news.com.au that explains the hard stance being held by Julia Gillard.
"Prime Minister Julia Gillard isn't budging on dropping the unpopular internet filter, saying it is a moral judgment the government needs to make.
The coalition and the Greens are unlikely to support proposed new laws that will see inappropriate content filters through internet service providers.
But, Ms Gillard remains defiant: "The internet filter is appropriate".
"It is unlawful for me to go to the cinema and watch some certain sorts of content, that's unlawful, we believe it to be wrong," she told the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"Content that is child abuse, incredibly violent pornography, we say that is wrong and we don't show it in Australian cinemas.
"If we accept that, then it seems to me the moral question is not changed by the medium that the image has come through."
She said the government is working through how the internet filter could be introduced without slowing down connection speed or accidentally banning content that is appropriate.
Under the plan, all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Australia would be required to use a filter to block sites that are refused classification by the The Australian Communications and Media Authority, including child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act."
We must stand up against this and stop the freedom of information from being stunted by inappropriate and unworkable solutions. It's not what gets blocked that is definately bad that i am worried about, it's the statement that anything that is not classified will also be blocked. We have already seen this with R18+ video games not being allowed into the country siumply because there is no R rating for video games.
It's a dangerous path to follow, if you cannot properly classify everything then you should not block it.
via EFA » Your Say: Gillard won’t budge on internet filter.
"Prime Minister Julia Gillard isn't budging on dropping the unpopular internet filter, saying it is a moral judgment the government needs to make.
The coalition and the Greens are unlikely to support proposed new laws that will see inappropriate content filters through internet service providers.
But, Ms Gillard remains defiant: "The internet filter is appropriate".
"It is unlawful for me to go to the cinema and watch some certain sorts of content, that's unlawful, we believe it to be wrong," she told the Queensland Media Club in Brisbane on Tuesday.
"Content that is child abuse, incredibly violent pornography, we say that is wrong and we don't show it in Australian cinemas.
"If we accept that, then it seems to me the moral question is not changed by the medium that the image has come through."
She said the government is working through how the internet filter could be introduced without slowing down connection speed or accidentally banning content that is appropriate.
Under the plan, all Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Australia would be required to use a filter to block sites that are refused classification by the The Australian Communications and Media Authority, including child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act."
We must stand up against this and stop the freedom of information from being stunted by inappropriate and unworkable solutions. It's not what gets blocked that is definately bad that i am worried about, it's the statement that anything that is not classified will also be blocked. We have already seen this with R18+ video games not being allowed into the country siumply because there is no R rating for video games.
It's a dangerous path to follow, if you cannot properly classify everything then you should not block it.
via EFA » Your Say: Gillard won’t budge on internet filter.
Virtual Law - virtually real.
"Virtual law is interesting because these environments are in one sense fictional, in another very real. People invest real money and time and create real relationships" - Greg Lastowka
I have spent my share of time in online and have also created content in these worlds. Sometimes even linking them to real world art and products. I have met many people doing the same and we have spoken many times about the legal implications and any protection that is afforded to us as content creators.
Generally your copywrite is honoured and there isn't really an issue, however with the online world becoming even more real and indepth it's aparent that some kind of process and legal protection needs to be established.
Worlds such as Second Life and others afford a huge range of options for creating content. This provides a very rich world of art and products tapping into creativity that may be difficult or impossible in real life.
The following article includes and interview with Greg and makes for interesting reading.
via CultureLab: Online law man: Virtual worlds need real laws.
I have spent my share of time in online and have also created content in these worlds. Sometimes even linking them to real world art and products. I have met many people doing the same and we have spoken many times about the legal implications and any protection that is afforded to us as content creators.
Generally your copywrite is honoured and there isn't really an issue, however with the online world becoming even more real and indepth it's aparent that some kind of process and legal protection needs to be established.
Worlds such as Second Life and others afford a huge range of options for creating content. This provides a very rich world of art and products tapping into creativity that may be difficult or impossible in real life.
The following article includes and interview with Greg and makes for interesting reading.
via CultureLab: Online law man: Virtual worlds need real laws.
Cannabis compounds make newborn females more masculine - life - 08 November 2010 - New Scientist
"When newborn female rats are given a substance mimicking cannabis, their brains become more masculine – as does their behaviour."
Is a new revelation found during a study by the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Apparently the female brain has a smaller endocannabinoid system, involving brain receprots that react to canabis.
While the study did not use plant derived canabis, it certainly is interesting to see such a profound reaction to such a compound and provides an interesting line of study to further understand the compound and it's effect on brain functions.
More below...
via Cannabis compounds make newborn females more masculine - life - 08 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Is a new revelation found during a study by the University of Maryland in Baltimore.
Apparently the female brain has a smaller endocannabinoid system, involving brain receprots that react to canabis.
While the study did not use plant derived canabis, it certainly is interesting to see such a profound reaction to such a compound and provides an interesting line of study to further understand the compound and it's effect on brain functions.
More below...
via Cannabis compounds make newborn females more masculine - life - 08 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Personal genomics tests getting more accessible - know your risks
Technology is advancing and an article in todays New Scientist made me look into the possibility of being able to get my DNA sequence mapped.
Asdie from health indicators, services such as the below listed 23andMe provide ancestry tracing and mapping to regions or similar genes from cultures around the world.
"David Kaufman of the Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC quizzed 1048 customers who had ordered genome scans from Decode Genetics of Reykjavik, Iceland, 23andMe of Mountain View, California, or Navigenics, based in Foster City, California."
David found that a significant number of people had made lifestyle changes after learning about their genetic risks.
via Personal genomics tests prompt lifestyle changes - health - 05 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Asdie from health indicators, services such as the below listed 23andMe provide ancestry tracing and mapping to regions or similar genes from cultures around the world.
"David Kaufman of the Genetics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC quizzed 1048 customers who had ordered genome scans from Decode Genetics of Reykjavik, Iceland, 23andMe of Mountain View, California, or Navigenics, based in Foster City, California."
David found that a significant number of people had made lifestyle changes after learning about their genetic risks.
via Personal genomics tests prompt lifestyle changes - health - 05 November 2010 - New Scientist.
Gizmodo - Weekly NBN Wrap Up
Gizmodo have started a regular weekly article of NBN updates. With such an important and profound change in our technology infrastructure, it's important to understand what is going on and what we will be delivered by the end of it.
To most people this might not seem like much but there are many people living in and around cities that are still getting bad and slow connection to the net. The future of the net will include things like TV, health and other educational resources and a high quality clear transmission network is going to be an absolute must.
This is the future of all Australians we are talking abotu here, especially the remote, young and ill who currently find very limited resources and options available to them.
So be sure to click the link below and check each week for what our future will include in this information age.
What Happened With The NBN This Week? | Gizmodo Australia.
To most people this might not seem like much but there are many people living in and around cities that are still getting bad and slow connection to the net. The future of the net will include things like TV, health and other educational resources and a high quality clear transmission network is going to be an absolute must.
This is the future of all Australians we are talking abotu here, especially the remote, young and ill who currently find very limited resources and options available to them.
So be sure to click the link below and check each week for what our future will include in this information age.
What Happened With The NBN This Week? | Gizmodo Australia.
Kinect - hacked already?
Apparently the Microsoft Kinect device has been hacked already. The youtube clip below would have us beleive anyway.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkODbZwGinQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Microsoft Kinect Hacked? Already?! | Gizmodo Australia.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkODbZwGinQ&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
Microsoft Kinect Hacked? Already?! | Gizmodo Australia.
The Face of Sydney - City of Sydney
The face of Sydney, as morphed from over 160 000 residents. Interesting way to show a "normalization" of what sydney siders look like if we were all merged together.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Midnight Juggernaut — Now brought to you by CentOS via IIS 7.0
So yeah, ARR or Application Request Routing is a new feature of Microsoft's IIS 7 and 7.5. Basically among other things it allows reverse proxy.
What does this mean? well up until now i have run wordpress and joomla under IIS with Windows running PHP. This works, pretty well actually but you still find that plugins and some features of applications like wordpress still require linux.
Solution?
Run it on linux or sometimes referred to as LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP). Use ARR via URLrewrite to send all requests for wordpress and joomla based sites to the linux server. This enables me to still run my Exchange web access to my HD2 and a LAMP environment, giving me the best of both worlds.
The process is quite straight forward, simple install and enable ARR then create a site for the web page you want to serve. On the site click URLRewrite and select reverse proxy rule under new rule.
Ensure you put in the host header of the site you are configuring and the ip address of the linux server. Be sure to check the outgoing rules and viola! a WIISLAMP (Windows IIS Linux Apache MySQL PHP) environment.
What does this mean? well up until now i have run wordpress and joomla under IIS with Windows running PHP. This works, pretty well actually but you still find that plugins and some features of applications like wordpress still require linux.
Solution?
Run it on linux or sometimes referred to as LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP). Use ARR via URLrewrite to send all requests for wordpress and joomla based sites to the linux server. This enables me to still run my Exchange web access to my HD2 and a LAMP environment, giving me the best of both worlds.
The process is quite straight forward, simple install and enable ARR then create a site for the web page you want to serve. On the site click URLRewrite and select reverse proxy rule under new rule.
Ensure you put in the host header of the site you are configuring and the ip address of the linux server. Be sure to check the outgoing rules and viola! a WIISLAMP (Windows IIS Linux Apache MySQL PHP) environment.
Some NBN Facts - Why it will be better than what we have.
So with the bickering and BS going on between Conroy and Turnbul, i think it's worth defining a couple of facts.
1. NBN will not only provider higher speed but clearer transmissions, meaning that the data coming down the line will be cleaner and will work much better with things like streaming media.
2. NBN will not cost much more then current ADSL 2+, in fact Internode are already offering "ADSL2+" over fibre at the same cost and plan allowances as thier standard ADSL2+ plans.
3. No extra equipment will be required in your house, all you need to do is plug the network link directly into your current router or wireless (a firewall is advised of course however).
4. The NBN is already half way there, since doing a deal with Telstra, some existing fibre will be used bringing the cost and time of completion down.
5. The NBN is what we have been needing for the last 10 years, with notable quotes from people like Bill Gates saying we are years behind the rest when it comes to data networks in Australia, NZ have been ahead of us in ADSL for years.
6. Data costs in Australia are extremely expsensive and make things like "Cloud" computing unfeasible. The NBN will go a long way to rectifying that.
It's pretty clear that this is the case, and no matter what BS pollies want to spit out these facts cannot be refuted. It will be a good thing, it may cost a lot, maybe even more than it should but it's long called for and we must bite the bullet at some point.
Following is a similar article from Gizmodo....
NBN “$400 Per Room” Installation Fee Is A Load Of Crap | Gizmodo Australia.
1. NBN will not only provider higher speed but clearer transmissions, meaning that the data coming down the line will be cleaner and will work much better with things like streaming media.
2. NBN will not cost much more then current ADSL 2+, in fact Internode are already offering "ADSL2+" over fibre at the same cost and plan allowances as thier standard ADSL2+ plans.
3. No extra equipment will be required in your house, all you need to do is plug the network link directly into your current router or wireless (a firewall is advised of course however).
4. The NBN is already half way there, since doing a deal with Telstra, some existing fibre will be used bringing the cost and time of completion down.
5. The NBN is what we have been needing for the last 10 years, with notable quotes from people like Bill Gates saying we are years behind the rest when it comes to data networks in Australia, NZ have been ahead of us in ADSL for years.
6. Data costs in Australia are extremely expsensive and make things like "Cloud" computing unfeasible. The NBN will go a long way to rectifying that.
It's pretty clear that this is the case, and no matter what BS pollies want to spit out these facts cannot be refuted. It will be a good thing, it may cost a lot, maybe even more than it should but it's long called for and we must bite the bullet at some point.
Following is a similar article from Gizmodo....
NBN “$400 Per Room” Installation Fee Is A Load Of Crap | Gizmodo Australia.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Underground art scene - the real underground...
New York has an underground art scene!
The curators, identified by the names PAC and Workhorse, came up with this idea after discovering an underground subway station that had been built but never quite finished and not used.
The entry to this station is via a nearby live subway station between trains, making the experience quite risky both for access by artists and for anyone wanting to come and view the artwork.
The project is a kind of sacred shrine to the artwork it contains and if your feeling adventurous then go on and head down to the subway and into the darkness for what is no doubt going to be a very interesting experience.
Where Is New York City’s Secret Subway Art Gallery? | Gizmodo Australia.
The curators, identified by the names PAC and Workhorse, came up with this idea after discovering an underground subway station that had been built but never quite finished and not used.
The entry to this station is via a nearby live subway station between trains, making the experience quite risky both for access by artists and for anyone wanting to come and view the artwork.
The project is a kind of sacred shrine to the artwork it contains and if your feeling adventurous then go on and head down to the subway and into the darkness for what is no doubt going to be a very interesting experience.
Where Is New York City’s Secret Subway Art Gallery? | Gizmodo Australia.
The world through childrens eyes is a different world indeed.
It seems that children really do see the world differently. New research stidues have shown that children see objects embossed as concave or convex differently than adults.
It seems a childs point of view assumes light from below where adults assume light is from above. Meaning that children may see things that adults think are concave as in fact convex.
"Jim Stone at the University of Sheffield, UK, showed embossed shapes such as squares and shaded images such as footprints to 171 children aged from 4 to 10. Each child was shown 10 images and asked whether they were convex or concave."
More information can be found in the following article form New Scientist.
via Children really do see things differently - life - 31 October 2010 - New Scientist.
It seems a childs point of view assumes light from below where adults assume light is from above. Meaning that children may see things that adults think are concave as in fact convex.
"Jim Stone at the University of Sheffield, UK, showed embossed shapes such as squares and shaded images such as footprints to 171 children aged from 4 to 10. Each child was shown 10 images and asked whether they were convex or concave."
More information can be found in the following article form New Scientist.
via Children really do see things differently - life - 31 October 2010 - New Scientist.
Mood lighting, more than just a saying so it seems.
Research has shown that light, specifically blue light, can affect our moods. Blue light is known to reduce the production of Melatonin, a hormone produced by humans to induce sleep and time our Circadian rhythm.
Research has now shown that certain emotions are enhanced by blue light.
"During emotional processing, the functional connectivity between the voice area, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus was selectively enhanced in the context of blue illumination, which shows that responses to emotional stimulation in the hypothalamus and amygdala are influenced by both the decoding of vocal information in the voice area and the spectral quality of ambient light."
via Spectral quality of light modulates emotional brain responses in humans — PNAS.
Research has now shown that certain emotions are enhanced by blue light.
"During emotional processing, the functional connectivity between the voice area, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus was selectively enhanced in the context of blue illumination, which shows that responses to emotional stimulation in the hypothalamus and amygdala are influenced by both the decoding of vocal information in the voice area and the spectral quality of ambient light."
via Spectral quality of light modulates emotional brain responses in humans — PNAS.
Ducati's new cruiser...grrrrr
Ducati have built a new bike called the Diavel, an awesome looking cruiser.
The bike is a Twin cylinder, 4 valve each, 1200cc beast with 162HP, 119Kw and 127Nm of tourqe. Fitted with full electronic ignition and plenty of other nice goodies.
Check the follwing article from wired.com for more info.Ducati Builds a Devil of a V-Max | Autopia | Wired.com.
The bike is a Twin cylinder, 4 valve each, 1200cc beast with 162HP, 119Kw and 127Nm of tourqe. Fitted with full electronic ignition and plenty of other nice goodies.
Check the follwing article from wired.com for more info.Ducati Builds a Devil of a V-Max | Autopia | Wired.com.
Search /withnospam - The new way of searching.
Google, Bing and Blekko.....huh Blekko? WTF!
There's a new gang in town, and they are promising to deliver a more reliable and accurate search experience.
How you say? well the general idea is that rather than a mass indexed list of sites ranging from the completely kosher to the obscurely barely worth the bytes it takes up sites, keep a humanly curated list of site under categories, here referred to as slash tags, to return more consice results.
More from the wired.com report below.
"Basically slash tags tell Blekko to limit your search to a human-curated category of websites — a custom search. So say you want to find good resources for learning about arrays in PHP? Type “arrays /php.” Need a good pumpkin pie recipe. Yup, you guessed it — append the /recipes slash tag."
via With Help from You, New Search Engine Slashes Through Spam | Epicenter | Wired.com.
Xbox Update...did you get your foxtel on demand?
So last night there was an xbox update. Some people have been reporting that this included the Foxtel on demand service.
I have not yet powered on my xbox to get the update but the following article from Gzimodo mentions some instances where Foxtel on demand has been made available.
Did Last Night’s Xbox Update Give You Access To Foxtel On Xbox? | Gizmodo Australia.
I have not yet powered on my xbox to get the update but the following article from Gzimodo mentions some instances where Foxtel on demand has been made available.
Did Last Night’s Xbox Update Give You Access To Foxtel On Xbox? | Gizmodo Australia.
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