Your next personal computer may well come with its own digital chaperone. As PC makers prepare a new generation of desktop computers with built-in hardware controls to protect data and digital entertainment from illegal copying, the industry is also promising to keep information safe from tampering and help users avoid troublemakers in cyberspace
BBC World last week showed a documentary on Israel’s nuclear arsenal and its alleged biological warfare program, contrasting the international treatment of Israel with that of other states seeking weapons of mass destruction. Of course, Israel cries anti-Semitism, you can’t have it both ways
An investigation has begun after sightings of a legendary ape-like beast in the forests of central China
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is now advocating that third-world countries be given funds to implement WiFi technology and leapfrog into the future
The Guardian clears the confusion around a culturally critical and chronically misused word — ironic
In much the same way as bar codes entered our lives, RFID will soon be following our every purchase. But it has the potential to be misused to not only keep tabs on your purchases, but also on your movements and associations
A Brazilian consumer has sued EMI and Sony because of the copy protection technology in a best selling album caused it to be unplayable in his car — he won
Danny Wallace accidentally founded a group whose sole purpose is to perform unsolicited acts of kindness to unsuspecting strangers. Finally, a cult really worth joining
Google’s Toolbar 2.0 Beta has a feature that Microsoft forgot to include — it automatically block popups for IE5.5 and higher browsers
CSIRO has just released a guide for the growing band of enthusiasts who are building homes of straw bales construction
With a sizeable chunk of the spam now clogging the Internet’s arteries emanating from Microsoft’s own servers, the software giant’s recent antispam campaign — splashy press events, high-profile lawsuits, emails from Chairman Bill — comes off as little more than grandstanding. The company should spend less time in court and more time working with other antispam communities on viable technology solutions. Fixing its own spam-spewing MSN service would be a good place to start
There are some cool hacks coming out of Amazon’s open API and XML feed policy. Some nifty stuff — 27,000 developers have apparently signed up to build hacks on Amazon data
All Australian schools would stick to the same curriculum, children would start school at the same age and sit the same leaving exam under a federal government plan unveiled Thursday
A future generation of anti-aircraft missiles could be made far harder to dodge by a guidance system inspired by the flight of dragonflies and hoverflies. The missiles will mimic a strategy called motion camouflage, which predatory insects use to trick prey into thinking they are stationary
Australia could be the first country to outlaw spamming and spammers could face jail sentences by the end of the year
On the centenary of George Orwell’s birth, author William Gibson says that 1984 is not about the future. It’s not about the present. It’s about 1948. Technology delivers us away from Oceania towards a state of absolute informational transparency where invasion of privacy is democratised. Here, even the powerful find it difficult to keep secrets
Nike Australia has signed an ethical clothing contract with the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia designed to help protect industry workers. The union claims that Nike already had its own codes of practice and that these forbade the use of outworkers anywhere in the world.
An interesting business move considering the Australian rag trade has been dominated by dodgy businessmen and run on the backs of outworkers for decades. I’m curious as to where Nike products are manufactured in Australia, if at all.
I fail to understand why Nike would even consider manufactering its products in a western country. The labour rates are too high. Compare $20 in Australia to under $1 in an Asian sweatshop.
You would think that their insanely overpriced products could handle the difference in labour costs. Most people would be happy to pay a little more to know that a product was made locally, but corporate greed knows no bounds. It’s funny how Nike and its corporate ilk are quick to kill off local manufacturing and ship everything to Slave Labour Inc, but the massive savings they make never get passed onto the consumer.
Nike is one of many companies that have been under attack from labour activists for using foreign sweatshops to manufacture their goods, but when Nike tried to defend its position with a campaign of media spin they got their fingers burned for deceptive advertising.
I suspect their local effort is little more than a taste of a huge warm and fuzzy propaganda blitz.
Microsoft’s path to expand the Windows empire with a new search program called MSNBot is leading directly to search king Google
Australia’s domestic intelligence agency, ASIO, will have aggressive new powers from today to detain for an unlimited period citizens suspected of having information about terrorist offences, which raises the spectre of agency abuse
TechTV, a United States-based cable television channel, is in talks with Foxtel about bringing its geeky content to Australia. Foxtel will need about 50 new channels for the network after it converts to digital transmission next year
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