Category Archives: Australia

Australia

Don’t get carried away by the rain

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Whilst it’s good to be happy about the water levels going up in our catchments it’s easy to forget that Melbourne is still in a worse position with water today than it was at this time last year. As the summary for the week of the 12th July puts it:

However, while our storages are now at the one third full mark, at the same time last year storages were closer to half full at 47.6%.

That’s a large difference, though it is nice that the climb back up has started earlier than last year…

Graph of historical water levels as of 12th July 2007

Now if only we could redirect some of the rain that the UK is suffering from at the moment..

Telstra second from bottom in OECD broadband league

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Thankfully at least one Australian paper has picked up on the recent OECD broadband report so we can get some idea about what it says for Australia. Telstra comes out really badly (surprise surprise), for speed in the national carrier stakes..

In a comparison of download speeds offered by incumbent national suppliers such as Telstra in October last year, Australia pulled up second last with its fastest offering of a 1.5mbit/s DSL package. While speedier packages were being offered by other suppliers at the time, our national carrier lagged that of most other developed countries, pulling up in the second last spot just ahead of Slovak Republic, and behind Turkey.

For pricing in general across ADSL providers we’re about average..

In terms of lowest monthly subscriptions costs for a broadband package, Sweden claimed the cheapest package at $US10.79, followed by Denmark at $US11.11. Australia sat in the middle of the pack at $US21.10, but behind New Zealand, which had an offering at $US16.86

which surprised me..

Alfred Deakin Innovation Lecture – Science, business and the law: Locking up innovation or sharing and harvesting it – which way to go?

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Details on the websites of the State Library (the venue) and DIIRD.

Science, business and the law:

Locking up innovation or sharing and harvesting it – which way to go?

Venue Village Roadshow Theatrette, State Library of Victoria
Date Monday 16 July
Time 6.30 pm – 8.00 pm
Cost Free Event
Seating General Admission - No booking required
Speakers Richard Jefferson, Prof Brian Fitzgerald, John Wilbanks, Robyn Williams

As open source software continues to transform the Internet – underpinning the phenomenal growth of businesses like Google, Ebay and YouTube, what can science learn from the computing revolution? Are we missing out on the full benefits of science and technology because of outdated ideas about copyright and patenting?

This lecture will consider whether in our rush to protect intellectual property we are locking it up and damaging our capacity to deliver solutions for the critical issues of the 21st Century.

Melbournes water storages finally more than 1/3rd full!

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Yay, today the Melbourne Water website tells me:

Melbourne’s water storages are currently 33.7% full

Bring on the rest of the rain, please! The picture at the moment is rather sad, with the summary for the week of the 5th July (latest to date) saying:

However, while the wet weather and rise in storage levels this week has been welcome, our reservoirs are still comparatively low following 10 years of below average inflows and the driest year on record in 2006. Storages at the same time last year were 47.8% (847,229 million litres) full.

Graph of Melbourne Water storages for 10 years up to 5th July 2007

Free computer recycling from Apple

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Apple are doing free computer recycling in areas of Sydney and Melbourne towards the end of July.

For a limited time, Apple will recycle any brand of personal computer, printer or computer related peripheral for free,* in an environmentally responsible manner. Apple continues its dedication to being an environmentally conscientious company, and we hope you will join us.

* A maximum of 20 systems per car load.

  • Sydney Locations
    1. Saturday 21 July 10am – 4pm
    2. Sunday 22 July 10am – 2pm
  • Melbourne Locations
    1. Saturday 28 July 10am – 4pm
    2. Sunday 29 July 10am – 2pm

There is more information about precisely where and when on the Apple Recycling Program web page.

Bah

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The ABC is reporting:

A Sydney court has heard that a woman charged with stabbing her father and sister to death and seriously wounding her mother was denied psychiatric help because of her parents’ belief in Scientology.

The Australian reports:

“She had a history of being diagnosed with a psychotic illness in late 2006 at Bankstown Hospital, but follow-up from the mental health team was apparently declined by her parents because of their alleged Scientology beliefs,” Dr Cross said. […] The report said that instead of receiving follow-up treatment by Bankstown Hospital’s mental health team, the woman had instead seen a private psychiatrist as well as a psychologist. She also was prescribed an anti-depressant as well as an anti-psychotic treatment that she took until January this year. The report said after she stopped taking her medication she began to feel anxious, and depressed. She also experienced poor sleep and felt unsafe at home. “She stated that her parents did not want her to take the prescribed medication she had been on in 2006, and apparently started her on medication they got from America – which was not psychiatric in nature,” it said.