Is The 'Digital Dark Age' Mainstream Yet? (David: April 20, 2009 11:12 PM)
Many more more people are waking up about the looming 'Digital Dark Age' - the Sydney Morning Herald warns of a cultural 'black hole' spanning the mid-90s up to about now, where most of our memories are being archived on volatile media that might not survive.
Again, the main problem is that none of the media on which we currently choose to store our data (read: memories) is able to last more than 10 years or so. If I were investing in technology ventures in the medium term, I'd be looking to archival technologies that will let us Generation Xers show and tell Generation X+3 what the sea levels looked like before the Great Warming and Innundation of 2012.
Future historians will be better informed about the back catalogue of New Kids On The Block than The Backstreet Boys. Sobering thought.
And, speaking from personal experience - BACK STUFF UP! PRINT THE IMPORTANT STUFF OUT on ARCHIVAL QUALITY PAPER AND INK! NOW! You can't afford to lose those memories, even if some of it lives on perishable optical disks for a time. If your disk crashes, you will have some explaining to do to both future and current generations.
Any ideas on what the next wave is? Should we go back to stone? That's the only thing that seems to last, at least, according to Time Team.
<voice="Mal Garvin"> Or maybe, just maybe, our memories are best stored in the lives of others - they can be heard as echoes of the laughter of those who share stories of us when we're long, long gone. Where do you store YOUR treasures? It makes you think. </voice>
Caleb and (new partner) Olivia have been featured on the main page of 'Online Danceline' following their successful debut at the Metropolitan Championships on the weekend.
Great photo - and great results for their first comp - two first places, two seconds. See it here (for a limited time)
Spending Your Savings (David: April 6, 2009 11:20 AM)
Only a few weeks to go before WA votes on the final, yes definitely, never again referendum on whether to keep observing Daylight Savings after its three year trial.
The ABC has set up a useful site to explain how the previous referenda were split, and general opinion is that while Perth is split, the farmers don't like it.
I was surveyed about it recently - judging by the questions, there seems to be a perception that a yes vote these days is more based on business needs than a pressing urge to get to the beach after work every day. For that reason, I think there's now some pressing need to get WA in line with the rest of the country.
However, given that the recent elections in WA established that the country folk carry more than a little electoral clout these days, I predict another NO vote.
The SHEAP Website receives a new lease of life today, hot on the heels of today's Parliamentary Forum. Join it, or Facebook, to keep in touch with the latest.
Maths Rules The Universe (David: February 19, 2009 4:05 PM)
New Scientist has a great article on a topic close to my heart - Mathematics: The only true universal language - which speculates that were we to meet with extra-terrestrial beings, we'd be better off talking to each other in the language of numbers, rather than letters.
Robots and Marketing (David: February 16, 2009 6:08 PM)
Marketing Colleagues - if you're interested as to why I describe my marketing job as 'robot wrangling', there's an ADMA conference coming up in Sydney and Melbourne in which I describe it all in living, breathing 3D.
Mapping the Devastation and the Loss (David: February 10, 2009 3:00 PM)
It's hard to get your head around the impact of the Victorian Bushfires, especially for those of us in other parts of the world. Leaving aside the terrible human tragedy, with hundreds of lives lost, the fires of the last few days have destroyed a massive chunk of Australia's natural and cultural heritage.
The CSIRO/Geoscience Australia has battled to keep the 'Sentinel' site alive, which the emergency services themselves use to plan their response. It shows what the current situation is, within a few hours.
And, most poignantly, Google Maps Mania has a timely post, which uses Google Street View to show you what the country towns looked like before the disaster of the past weekend.
UPDATE: Google has released their own dedicated page to display an up-to-date map based on CFA updates.
UPDATE: Amazing photos published by The Boston Globe, of all places.
Australia: Stranger Than Fiction (David: January 25, 2009 1:54 PM)
Came across this great essay from the BBC's H2G2 site (Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy) which explains Australia fairly accurately to the novice outlander. Some attribute it to Douglas Adamas, which I don'tbelieve (I'm an admirer of DA's style of writing, and this ain't it, Someone's probably been confused by its placement on the BBC site)), but it's still an accurate view from the outside: somewhere in the UK.
Highlights:
The second confusing thing about Australia are the animals. They can be divided into three categories. Poisonous, Odd, and Sheep.
Australian beaches are simply the nicest and best in the entire world. Although anyone actually venturing into the sea will have to contend with sharks, stinging jellyfish, stonefish (a fish which sits on the bottom of the sea, pretends to be a rock, and has venomous barbs sticking out of it's back that will kill just from the pain) and surfboarders. However, watching a beach sunset is worth the risk.
New Ambient Synth/Sequencer for a New Age (David: January 22, 2009 11:42 PM)
You know, I was going to post a long and rambling commentary on today's audio wasteland known as 'ambient' music, when this wonderful technological advancement was revealed. It sated my bloodlust and expressed the disdain on my behalf most eloquently. (via Synthtopia)
The Blog Is Back, Again, Sigh. (David: January 6, 2009 2:03 PM)
Seems every few couple of years, my hosting company seems to enjoy locking the site away for a week or two. Always a concern, seeing that occasionally, it's deleted completely, but it appears that the site is back and running.
I say 'appeared', because no-one has told me what is happening on the hosting side of things. Poor, poor, poor service.
Might take that backup, now. Any suggestion for replacement hosts, folks?
Hurlstone Quotes - About Environment and Heritage (David: November 24, 2008 9:38 PM)
The School was the first agricultural high school established in Australia and the first in NSW to accommodate boarders. The current site for the school was established in the 1926 and has been responsible for fostering and developing a unique and scientific approach to managing Australia's rural enterprises. Hurlstone Agricultural High School has been assessed as being of high local significance.
Mapping the Hurlstone Debate (David: November 23, 2008 12:05 AM)
For all those (including myself) who need to know a little more about the land that is being discussed, I've put together a map that can be used in Google Maps (in your browser) or Google Earth (if you have installed the software).
It shows some detail of Hurlstone, and some of the other schools that are being mentioned in the media, on the web and in Parliament.
Hurlstone Quotes - About The Future Role Of Agriculture (David: November 20, 2008 8:25 PM)
Investment by governments and international partnerships in research and development is another key part of the productivity equation. Today, we have improved technology; better farming practices, plant breeding and food distribution systems But we are constrained by limited available agricultural land and shrinking water resources. Governments must refocus on investment in agricultural research and development to boost productivity within the constraints of land and resource availability.
Hurlstone Quotes - About The Budget (David: November 20, 2008 7:34 PM)
The follow quotes are from a meeting of the GENERAL PURPOSE STANDING COMMITTEE No. 2: "Examination of proposed expenditure for the portfolio area: EDUCATION AND TRAINING" of Wednesday 19 November 2008. The full transcript is available on the 'Save Hurlstone' FaceBook group.
They are attributed to Mr M. Coutts-Trotter, Director General, Department of Education and Training
...we are going to have a look to see whether some of that site, potentially up to 140 hectares of that site, could be sold, but that is a process that is going to take quite some planning and quite some consultation first and foremost with the school community.
...Obviously there is a history and tradition at Hurlstone that we have to consider and respect, but there are other students and other schools in the southwest of Sydney that are looking for other opportunities - Casula, James Meehan and other schools. If we can find a way that respects and supports the quality of what happens at Hurlstone Agricultural High School but we can also free up many millions of dollars for reinvestment in other public schools as a starting point, I think that is a fair and appropriate thing to do
Q: What if the community said they did not want to sell it, they want to keep it? Your consultation with the community almost presumes that you are going to sell it anyway. Mr COUTTS-TROTTER: Consultation with the community starts from the starting point that we would like to sell some of the site because it is simply so enormous. It now sits on very valuable land. Q: It is really about the value of the land? Mr COUTTS-TROTTER: In part, of course. It is about the value of the land to generate money that can be reinvested in other schools in western and south-western Sydney and other parts of the State.
...I think the fact that the farm runs at a loss is a correct statement, but the indication that that is the reason why we are looking at Hurlstone Agricultural High School as a potential site for some asset sales would be wrong. The reason we are looking at it is we have a chance here to release money for reinvestment in public schools.
Q: Of the 160 hectares at Hurlstone Agricultural High School, how much land are you looking at selling, or have you not made a decision about that? Mr COUTTS-TROTTER: We have not made a decision. We need to go through a very detailed process of consultation and planning. It is a 160-hectare site. I think the school buildings occupy more than 20 hectares. Obviously there is the issue that has arisen about the memorial forest. I understand the Premier has given a commitment that the memorial forest certainly would not be considered for sale. That just indicates that with a site of that size, we will have to go through a very detailed process of planning and consideration, and that will happen over the next two months.
My main takeaway-from this: during exams and marking, and over the holidays, the school community will be consulted not about if, but how much of the land will be sold.
