Archive for July, 2010

Masterchef serves up iPhone treats

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

The Masterchef finalists are going all out to help Telstra attract iPhone buyers, in preparation for the iPhone’s official sale date on Friday, by cooking up Apple-inspired treats to attract the Apple fans.

To help customers from having to line up in the strangely cold weather in Sydney overnight, Vodafone and 3 will allow people to register their iPhone 4 purchase at the George Street Vodafone store from 10pm today.  Customers have also begun queueing at the Optus store on George St.

Click here to access the best iPhone plans.

Internet sales of illicit substances circumvent Australian Customs

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

The internet has allowed makers and suppliers of ‘legal highs’ which may contain illicit substances, to sell their goods directly to the public online.

Sydney Morning Herald today reports that Australian Customs faces new problems with emerging technology, as it is difficult to monitor, and exposes a potentially wider section of the public to drugs.  Some of the pills are simply caffeine-based, whereas others contain ingredients such as ephedrine, one of the precursors of methamphetamine. They are sent through the post and Customs said “many packages are opened and assessed each day”, but not every package can be opened.

Customs does not have the legal authority to shut down online sites selling the drugs but has forced some of the websites to include import restrictions warnings.

Apple iPhone 4 fuels recall speculation

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

Continuing faulty antenna issues with the iPhone 4 may lead to a product recall, an embarrassing event for Apple, which may have costs of up to $1.5 billion USD.  It is harder to put a price on the cost to Apple’s reputation.

Consumer Reports stated that it could not recommend the iPhone, due to the antenna, which, if the device is held a particular way, substantially cuts the phone’s reception resulting in “signal loss issues”.

This result was upheld by Engadgets, who in their own testing, found that the iPhone 4′s dropped calls and experienced low data rates at a much higher frequency than other phones.  Engadget‘s full review of the iPhone 4 is here.

Consumer Reports blog contains further detail as to why the iPhone 3 is preferable to the latest model.

Support those suffering from depression with 30 Days of Fitness

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

30 Days of Feel-good Fitness is an initiative designed to get more people active, demonstrate the impact this has on their mood and raise funds for the Black Dog Institute.

Take up the challenge to get moving for just 20 minutes a day, for the entire month of September, 2010. Why?

  • To improve your mood, give you more energy and improve your overall health & well-being.
  • To show your support for people with depression and their famillies.

One in five Australians will experience some form of mental illness within a 12-month period and almost half of all Australians have experienced a mental disorder at some time in their lifetime. This is your chance to make a difference, both to your own mood and the mood of others.

Click here to sign up now!

PM Gillard to keep up web filter plans

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has no plans to back down from the plans to develop the controversial web filter in Australia.

However, there may be some modifications to the original proposal by  the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy.

”I understand that there’s a set of…technical concerns about internet speed, and also concerns that somehow this accidentally doesn’t move into taking away legitimate use of the internet,” said Ms Gillard.

The legislation to introduce the web filter is unlikely to be introduced before the election.

To view the full article, click here.

Are arcade games teaching children to be gamblers?

Monday, July 5th, 2010

A complaint from anti-gaming establishments is that clubs which install arcade games are encouraging children to be gamblers at an early stage, thereby ‘grooming’ them to be problem gamblers as adults.

Independent senator Nick Xenaphon is encouraging the federal government to take action on this point, as there is no legislation handling it in the meantime.  Mr Xenaphon believes that while parents play the pokies inside a club, the kids are getting the same ‘training’ on arcade games not far away.

The Productivity Commission appears to be in agreement with Mr Xenaphon, in its report on gambling which states that “minors should not…be exposed to gambling areas within venues”.  Unfortunately, the report did not continue on to make further recommendations about fixing this problem.

To read the full article, click here.