Why on earth would the proposed drafts for the ACTA treaty that will (probably) bring in new enforcement measures against copyright infringement, new rights to search & seize property, etc, be treated as a classified document in the US ? What can’t they share with the public that they can share with other governments and cleared corporate lobbyists ?
So much for change..
(Via LWN)
Tomorrow (Friday) we’re off to Rock’n’Rebuild at Hurstbridge High Oval which is being held to raise money for the Bendigo Bank Bushfire Appeal to assist people in the Kinglake, Flowerdale, etc areas that were burnt out recently.
My wife’s band “Donna and the Aspinauts” are playing at 2:50pm and they have The Vagrants headlining! 🙂
Note: If you’re looking for the 18th March quake you want this blog post instead..
Wow – that was wild, I thought at first one of the big gums trees was coming down here at the base of Mount Dandenong but that doesn’t get felt by a friend up the mountain and especially not a friend in Glen Iris!
There was a fairly rapid rise to a large shake (about 2-5 seconds) and then it died down again over the space of about another 5-10 seconds.
Update: The USGS is reporting that it was a magnitude 4.7 located around Loch near Korumburra over in Gippsland.
GeoScience Australia now have their website back up with their information about the quake, they estimate it as magnitude 4.6, and I’ve grabbed a copy of the seismograph as it’ll disappear in 90 days.
Having successfully recovered from all the RAID pain we’ve gone through recently at work (lesson: do not trust HW RAID and have good backups – which we did) I’m off to New Zealand for a week with Donna courtesy of my time off in lieu – sweet as! 😉
When I’m back I’ll write up what happened with the RAID, honest..
From the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science is some fairly grim news, CO2e emissions are increasing faster than the worst case scenarios in the 2007 report and sea levels are now rising at twice the rate it was before 1993 and that (unlike previously) 80% of that increase is due to meltwater from ice on land. 🙁
Finally! 🙂
We’ve been watching smoke up on Mt Dandenong for a few hours now, apparently the result of a grass fire over Tecoma/Belgrave way. We’re fine, but keeping a weather eye on things and gathering our important possessions and documents in case we need to evacuate.
Update: it’s now under control according to the CFA site.
Donna’s cousin was at work, but her husband, their kids and his mother were at home in Humeville when they smelled smoke. Going outside they were greeted by flames coming down the drive towards them, forcing them back inside the house and closing the only route out. Somehow the local CFA managed to get into the property and thankfully got them out safely with just minor injuries.
We have no idea who you were, but thank you so very much.
Most of us have no idea what the CFA go through but these photos on the OverClockers site, left by someone who is in the CFA, give a taste of the danger they face – the final one gives the most graphic idea, it’s the view from inside a CFA truck looking at flames outside.
Found this “thank you” video on the CFA website.
This Flash map is pulling RSS data from the Victorian Country Fire Authority (CFA) onto a Google Map of Victoria.
Note that it can only show fires that the CFA are reporting via their RSS feeds, long running fires may not appear until they are updated in their database and pushed out to the feed.
The Red Cross has set up an appeal for victims of the 2009 bushfires here in Victoria. You can donate online or you can call 1800 811 700. Please dig deep.
The Red Cross are also running a hotline for people who are trying to track down friends and relatives as they have the responsibility for keeping a register of people being evacuated, that number is 1800 727 077.