Google acquires massive patent portfolio from IBM - Techworld.com

Google acquires massive patent portfolio from IBM - Techworld.com

Patents should be assignable to individuals only, and not be transferable.

Visionary corporate intelligence ... not.

A good dose of risk aversion, or downright mediocrity and absence of initiative:

• Nissan’s president and chief executive... predicted that 10 percent of the cars sold would be electric vehicles by 2020. That is as big a cop-out / no-news and the Australian government committing to a 5% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 202x.
• "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," which Thomas Watson is apparently misquoted as saying.

The Liberal Party: Greatest clown act in Australia.

According to: ABC News - Liberals confident in emissions amendments

Ian Macfarlane will present amendments that he says protect jobs and industry but would still meet the target of cutting greenhouse emissions by 5 per cent by 2020. Mr Macfarlane says the amendments he is proposing will not add to the cost for the taxpayer.
"There'll be no requirement for taxpayers to dip in," he said.

1. How can you make any sort of significant global change of the magnitude required without cost, which ultimately, one way or another, must always be to the taxpayer?
2. 5%: what a totally pathetic cop-out! After 11 years being the "do-nothing party" in government in Australia, we now have the same idiots crowing about being the "let's do 5% party".


These clowns are so busy with their heads stuck up their arses, it must be past time for a new political party in Australia.

4 Dirty Secrets of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

4 Dirty Secrets of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: "It's been 20 years since the Exxon Valdez produced the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. The dirty little secret (or, one of them) about the spill is that it was never cleaned up -- not completely."

John Dvorak's Second Opinion: Is the party over for behemoth Microsoft? - MarketWatch

John Dvorak's Second Opinion: Is the party over for behemoth Microsoft? - MarketWatch
An interesting article noting the dozen or so forays Microsoft has made into various markets that have all been disruptive but ultimately failed for Microsoft. What is not mentioned is all the destruction of so many companies along the way, in the software markets that Microsoft has managed to prevail in.

Cash machines running Windows steal your card details - 17 June 2009 - New Scientist

Cash machines hacked to spew out card details

After months poring over the Windows-based software in the bank's ATMs, Henwood and his team were astonished. They found a 50-kilobyte piece of malware disguised as a legitimate Windows program called lsass.exe. In a PC, this helps the Microsoft operating system cache session data - so users don't have to re-enter their passwords every time they get a new email, for example.

This is a clever choice of camouflage, says SpiderLabs' forensics manager Stephen Venter: to an IT staffer, lsass.exe doesn't look out of place in a Windows system, so routine checks wouldn't necessarily pick it up. Yet it has no useful function in an ATM.

How long will this madness go on, before Microsoft is called to account and sued for real losses caused by their badly broken operating system?

Techworld.com - MySpace crunched as workforce slashed

See what happens when a squadron of suits at a newspaper institution decide they are going to run a software company - a web2 one at that.

Techworld.com - MySpace crunched as workforce slashed: "The restructuring continues at MySpace, whose staff will get cut by almost 30 percent, the News Corporation division has announced."

The bugs never stop - Microsoft shatters record with bumper patch issue

Some things just never change. Year in, year out, security holes keep getting found in that heap of festering garbage called Microsoft Windows. It masquerades as an operating system, but is really a most brilliantly conceived piece of marketing weaponry to ensure one of the biggest wastes of energy and money in human history, outside of conducting an out and out war.

Techworld.com - Microsoft shatters record with bumper patch issue

MS09-018 got his attention because Microsoft pegged the Active Directory flaw as critical, and it could be exploited remotely by simply sending a server a malicious data packet. "Someone could use this to take over Active Directory, and if they do, they'd own all [an organisation's] passwords,"

Go linux !!

Prospect of reaching poverty reduction targets 'looking bleaker' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Prospect of reaching poverty reduction targets 'looking bleaker' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

My comment to this is:

The main cause of the global financial crisis is greedy people who have taken all the money. Look to the richest 100,000 people who own the machinery of automation, the large corporates, and the weapons and high tech infrastructure. If they have taken the wealth, then obviously everyone else has less or none. There is only a finite amount, and if its not shared someone HAS to miss out. It's not rocket-science, it's very very simple. The World Bank & IMF are merely stating the logical consequence: there is no free money any more to go to the poor. And diplomats the world over get paid decade after decade to fly hither and yon, stay in swank hotels, meet and talk about it and then go home again to prepare for the next meeting. What is going to BREAK this cycle?

CBA exec pay cut plan 'has sting in its tail' - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The CBA exec pay cut plan 'has sting in its tail' news item includes this little gem:

"I welcome that and it's open to other CEOs to follow in his footsteps. We all have to pull together in these difficult times."

So a 10% pay cut is their idea of 'pulling together'. Tell you what mate, if you were in my rowboat, you would not be pulling anything together with us, you would be dog-paddling instead, after walking the plank.
I think a 25% pay cut might be called 'pulling together'. 10%: what an insult. What planet are you pigs on. You have obviously been in the trough so long you don't have a clue about the world beyond it.

Telstra functional separation costly | Australian IT

Telstra functional separation costly | Australian IT is yet more idiotic comment from an idiotic media source that cannot report beyond the view of its entrenched interests at the big fat lazy self-serving corporate end of town. In this case they fail to take into account the huge ongoing cost of the Telstra setup as it is. Fixing the currently deeply flawed Telstra setup WILL cost money. The government should hurry up and bite the bullet, do it and get over it, so Australia can move forward. Instead they still seem to be either in denial of the obvious or just too weak to do anything about it.

My own SEQ Regional Plan Submission

The petition at Stop the Government from populating the life out of South East Queensland! is a horrible and misguided attempt by what must be a bunch of selfish yuppies or lunatic pseudo-greenies who have no real interest in the environment beyond their own rat hole.

My version, a quick rewrite of the original, follows:

South East Queensland is already under severe stress due to overpopulation. All our major problems are due to having more people in the Region than man-made resources can support. Infrastructure needs to be developed in a timely fashion to support the expected increase in population. I make my submission under the following headings of the Draft SEQ Regional Plan 2009-31:

PART D section 1: Sustainability and Climate Change
1. Overpopulation and overconsumption of the world’s resources are the root cause of Climate Change. This however has nothing to do with people's wish to move to SEQ.

PART D Section 2: Natural Environment
2. SEQ’s biodiversity is among the highest in Australia; population growth is threatening koalas and other wildlife with extinction ; protect our remaining open space for wildlife and public recreation. Plan and develop limited areas, eg Southport and others with medium and high density residential and commercial buildings, to keep population sprawl from designated recreation andopen spaces.

PART D Section 3: Regional Landscape and Section 5: Rural Futures
3. Almost all SEQ’s remaining open space, farms and bushlands must be protected for future generations. There must be a plan to permanently protect these areas.

PART D Section 4: Natural Resources
4. Overpopulation / overfishing is causing the collapse of the Moreton Bay fishery; the commercial and recreational fishery will collapse entirely if it is allowed to continue.Fishing needs to be more tightly regulated, and banned completely in many areas.

PART D Section 6: Strong Communities
5. Overpopulation is changing the identity of some towns, villages and communities; community spirit and traditional bonds are being lost. Community services cannot keep pace with the demand need to be strengthened.

PART D Section 8 & 9: Smart Growth / Economic Development
6. Basing the region’s economic wellbeing on building houses does not equate to offering the people of SEQ full employment aboard the Titanic. However we also need new jobs in green 21st Century industries.

PART D Section 10: Infrastructure
7. We must provide hospitals, schools, transport, water and energy to any growing population. We who are here now need to plan for and welcome new inhabitants, and never adopt any self-centred selfish 'I was here first, so you can go away.' attitude.

PART D Section 11: Water Management
8. Don’t ask us to reduce water consumption, but rather plan and develop appropriate water supply.

PART D Section 12: Integrated Transport
9. Our roads, trains and buses are overloaded and failing now; transport systems will collapse under another 1.3 million people; the government must act now to plan and develop the infrastructure for this many people.

PART F
10. Regulatory provisions must be rewritten to protect the environment.

Linux: Best-Value Solution for School Laptops Programme Launched

Cybersource: Press Release: "Linux: Best-Value Solution for School Laptops Programme Launched (10th of DECEMBER, 2008)

The Australian Federal and State governments have announced programmes to give school kids laptops. However, there are ongoing cost and deployment issues, which are causing these programmes to be delayed or stopped. In response to this, Cybersource has prepared a free, Linux-based solution, for use by Australian Schools, which makes it possible to bring one million new laptops to Australian school children.

'It's a simple proposition; we've prepared an open solution which delivers the best-possible value to education for netbook or laptop roll-outs,'"

This is an excellent article that clearly explains why there is NO EXCUSE for educational institutions throughout Australia to continue to push Microsoft Windows, when they should be getting smart, saving a considerable amount of money, and switching to a Linux/open source solution.

Fool and clowns

The older I tell you that I get, the more I understand,
the more I want to speak out loud that its getting out of hand,
the less I am inclined to speak, as few people want to know,
unless it fits in nicely with where they already have to go.
So leave them standing where they're at, happy in the snow,
slipping towards the precipice, no will to turn around,
glazed with smile on happy face, as happy as a clown.

But I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it, And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it, Then I'll stand on the ocean until i start sinkin', But I'll know my song well before i start singin',
(Thanks Bob)

Automation was the answer and it should have served us well,
but most got shifted to the back, they mostly fought and fell.
The internet should be helping the message of the fool
but the noise ratio is far to great and bluntening the tool.

Who is driving the horses, who's ringing the bell,
its still the Rasputin the preacher, with the same stale deathly smell.
See where he's led you, open your eyes and you can tell,
Its not where you will like it, you ain't doing so well.

And the fool on the hill sees the sun going down,
and the eyes in his head see the world spinning round.
(Thanks Paul)

The Luddites were always close to right, and so was Isaac Newton,
Every action has an opposite and equally bad reaction.
"The West is the best" Jim said as he went out that way,
Leave to the diplomats, don't stop them in their play.
I'm waiting for the fix to this poverty; it know it can't be bitter,
the minutes of the meeting will be posted up on Twitter.
As heads is tails you call on Lucifer, but its Murphy that really rules
and what you need in this chicken new world now is a lot more fools.

Try to get it while its hot, this offer will not last
The storm is finally rushing in, I can hear its blast.
Look to your future, the answers are in the past,
Better start to wizen up, your ice is melting fast.

Killing to help

The family of an Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan on Sunday night says he joined the army because he wanted to help people.

I thought the army is where you join up to kill people. I can think of many jobs that help people: doctors, nurses, police, politicians, dozens of different community groups like lifeline and the Salvos, even many religious groups supposedly try to help people. I do not oppose Australia's involvement in Afghanistan, but to emphasize a soldier's desire to help people by his going off and shooting people in Afghanistan seems somewhat bizarre.

Victorian Premier John Brumby paid tribute to Private Sher.

"I guess this is the price that families pay and that we all pay for defending Australia," he said.

I think it would be very helpful if people stopped referring to waging a war in a foreign country as 'defending this one'. This really sounds like political spin. Yes I know WWII was arguably different, but let's try to move with the times. I find it hard to believe that, since WWII, heading off overseas to join a conflict in any country has stopped any invasion of Australia. I would rather see the government here draw a line in the sand around Australia's borders, and get really tough on any imported troublemakers here, without getting too carried away with other countries' problems.