HOMEPAGE -- life online

Technology: How much is too much?

2010-07-13T08:14:00.005+10:00

By Nat Whiting

There may be a surprising amount of truth in the term "crackberries". The sudden rise of portable technology - like Blackberries, and the ever-increasing use of internet in our homes, schools and workplaces, has some experts claiming people are now becoming addicted to technology.

While support for the diagnosis continues to grow, debate persists within the medical profession, as to whether the term "addiction" is too strong. Dr Robert A. Zucker, director of the Addiction Research Centre at the University of Michigan in America, said the term addiction is used indiscriminately, and that the criteria of the psychological definition must be met before someone is labelled an addict.

When talking to Homepage recently, Federal vice-president of the Australian Medical Association Dr Steve Hambleton said he supported the diagnosis of technology addiction.

"Technology addiction certainly exists. That's when people are using technology in various forms, be it the internet or be it games or be it other things, and just find that it begins to take over their life."

Research is continuing to show that excessive technology users display similar behaviours to people with more common addictions, such as craving, withdrawing from others, neglecting responsibilities and compulsive usage. Dr Hambleton insists technology addiction is having detrimental impacts on people's lives.

"If you look at other addictions, in the more traditional sense, it's when people can't control their ability or they can't say no to the substance or the issue they're addicted to and it starts to interfere with their life - that's when it becomes a difficult problem... and certainly technology can take over."

Director of addictions services for the Menninger Clinic in Houstan, John O'Neill, said excessive technology use can cause people to neglect their families, and hamper their ability to communicate.

Despite on going debate over the validity of the disorder, treatment centers have already been established, targeting aspects of technology usage such as internet addiction and gaming addiction. Mr O'Neill recommends people at risk to observe their current technology use and then enforce limits on it, dedicating a certain number of hours that must go uninterrupted.

Dr Hambleton insists the first step to treatment is acknowledging excessive technology use as an addiction.

"A lot of the things that work for other forms of addiction do work. The first thing though, is getting the person involved to actually recognise they have got a problem."

Is email the new snail mail?

2010-05-04T16:36:00.004+10:00

By Nat Whiting

The process of a letter: from writing to posting to processing to delivery.

It seems inordinately long and complex in this new digital age. The advent of email has made traditional post superfluous in many ways, but as social media continues to grow, email may become the new snail mai

Nielson Online's latest report showed that time spent on social networking sites had grown by an astonishing 43%, while time spent on email had dropped by 28%.

The results have people asking: are social networking sites usurping email?

With the number of people using sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace growing everyday, it would hardly be surprising if their dominance over the online world now includes email.

As social networking sites continue to grow and develop they have taken on some of the applications previously reserved for email: sending private messages, sharing videos or online content, contacting a group of people or simply keeping in touch.

Further supporting the idea, the report also showed that 65.1% of internet users from across the world accessed email, while 68% accessed social networking sites.

Once the new, efficient form of communication is email being made redundant? Will it become the next generation's fax machine: useful, but mainly reserved for business.

Listen in next week on Homepage when I'll investigate.

Green IT

2009-10-09T07:42:00.002+11:00

Hi everyone,

On this week's show, you will hear about the exciting new front of Green IT initiatives that are taking place around Australia.

I interviewed Dr Idris Sulaiman, director of www.computersoff.org
Visit the site to find ways to improve your carbon footprint at home and at work, as well as links to more information.

Dr Sulaiman also promoted websites www.byteback.com.au and www.teleworkaustralia.net.au
Check them out to find out different ways you can stay fresh with the newest technology but still help the environment.

-Meg

Google Wave

2009-09-19T00:58:00.002+10:00

It is official Google is going to crush the world.

Well, maybe not but if in fifty years time we don't have Christmas, Easter or Australia Day just Google day, don't say I didn't warn you.

For Insight this week I am looking into Google Wave, which in my opinion will revolutionise internet communication. Honestly, I am still shaking my head at what the team at Google Australia (yes it is made in our very back yard) have done here. I'm not going to spoil all the secrets on the blog but can I implore you to tune into Homepage this week as this Insight is a must hear.

If, however, you can't wait check out wave.google.com and you can discover it for yourself. I will also add some extra bits of information that didn't make the show to this very blog, so watch this space.

I will be recording the fills for the segment tomorrow morning so wish me luck.

Looking forward to the show,

Sam

Our Twitter Minister

2009-09-13T09:17:00.002+10:00

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/enjoy-uncensored-twitter-time-20090911-fkp1.html

Seems good old Kevin is racking up the Twitter followers, hitting 500 000 mark, despite his tweets being as boring as his pre-written parliamentary speeches. He is now so popular new tweeters are directed to follow him when they start their account. In fact a large percentage of his cloud of fans comes from Hispanic regions and the U.S.A. Have we elected a Twitter tart as PM?

I would suggest not every single little tweet comes straight from Mr Rudd but possibly from his army of media advisors, but that is not important. The part that really intrigued me in this article was the Twitter activity during Parliament. Is it right for parliamentarians to be Tweeting from their Blackberries when they are supposed to be shaping the future of our country? Does this activity actually reveal how little influence debating with the opposition has on policy? Or does is, as this article hints at, allow for a concerned citizen to tweet a parliamentarian who can then raise the question in the house setting up a new corridor of communication between the government and its constituency?

Well you tell me what you think?

My very first blog

2009-09-04T10:27:00.004+10:00

Hello and welcome back to Homepage!!!!!

I'm Sam one of the not so new Producers for the tech and IT show you know and love, Homepage. I hope you have been enjoying the shows so far and if you want any details on them feel free to send us a yell and we will gladly provide (well I will, I don't know about those other producers...)

So I suppose you would like to know a little about the show I have planned for next week.

Well for Tech Talk I will be having a look at Distrubuted Computing, particularly BOINC. It uses a global network of computers to aide scientific research and has helped with projects such as the Linear Arc, a particle accelerator burried under the Swiss/German Border. And you can easily get involved yourself, simply downloading a program and setting it to work in your down time. Even I on my crummy off the shelf laptop am giving it a go. Here is the Australian BOINC team's website, if you want to get involved. http://www.boinc-australia.net/

For Hotsites I found a nifty little news site called Homepage Daily (not to be confused with your favourite radio show Homepage). It takes a very different and sometimes irreverent look at the news. It was co-founded by Richard Neville and is very much a mature version of the legendary OZ magazine he created in the 60's. Here is the site so you can go have a snoop around: http://www.homepagedaily.com/.

Hope this is the first of many more blogs; lots of love from your favourite producer.

Sam

2009-06-08T10:57:00.003+10:00

shut down in China

Micro-blogging site, Twitter is one of the many blogs, forums and social networking sites closed down this week by the Chinese government in a bid to increase censorship in the country.

In an attempt to stem online political discussion ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the bloodshed at Tiananmen Square, the shut down of social media sites highlights the influence of new technology upon Chinese youth in a society which is heavily controlled.

Each year China gets nervous in the lead up to the Tiananmen Square anniversary, where pro-democracy students protested against the government in 1989 with expected thousands of lives perished by government soldiers, but this year people across the world are outraged at the extents the government has gone to.

With China having the world largest online population with the advent of internet communities proving increasingly influential in providing public awareness, people are resorting to going outside normal controlled channels to set up communities and spreading online information.

Several blogs with anti- autocratic government activists have been blocked, along with photo sharing site Flikr, Yahoo and social networker Facebook.

Jason Khoury, spokesperson for Yahoo and Flikr says the Chinese government hasn’t offered any explanation for the blocking of access to the sites.

High profile video sharing site YouTube was blocked in March for similar censorship reasons.

Educational institutions have not been excluded from the shut downs either, with more than six thousand message boards across various websites connected with Chinese colleges and universities closed in order to shelter discussions.

New search engine Bing and its email affiliate Hotmail, have also been blocked by the Chinese Government, with creators Microsoft reaching out to the Chinese government to find a way to move forward.

In a statement from AFP, Microsoft director of Public Affairs, Kevin Kutz says "Microsoft is committed to helping advance the free flow of information, and is committed to encouraging transparency, due process and rule of law when it comes to Internet governance,"

Director of The Berkeley China Internet Project, Xiao Qiang says it has been an intensified clampdown on quasi-public discussion of awareness of the event.

"It's a discussion about where China is now and where China can go from here. So the authorities are making a major crackdown to block user-generated sites such as Twitter and show there is no right to public discussion," he says.

Hang on while I answer my shoe!

2009-05-12T14:26:00.014+10:00

Every kid growing up in the 60's wanted to be just like Agent 86 - Maxwell Smart. His spy gadgets were the envy of every child & adult alike, but were thought to be merely a dream.
That dream is no longer so, Australia has its very own Agent 86 - Doctor Paul Gardner-Stephens from Flinders University has developed a fully functioning shoe phone, just like the one on Get Smart 40 years ago.

On Gadgets & Gizmo's this week we spoke to Paul through his shoe about his very own mystery solving Shoe Phone is going to aid medicine.

Through preparations for a skit influenced by the TV series Get Smart, Paul wondered why no body had ever created a shoe phone, especially considering the hype created through the successful show- so he began on his adventure.
Paul now uses his fully functioning shoe phone and is hoping that it will assist the medical industry in their efforts to maintain remote patient monitoring.

Maybe one day the novelty of the shoe phone will hit retail stores across the globe.

For more information about Paul's Shoe Phone gadget check out http://www.realshoephone.com/

Recent news in Social Media

2009-03-30T16:54:00.003+11:00

Find friends on Fire

Yahoo has created a new Facebook application to compete with Google’s location service, Google Latitude.

The new application, called Friends on Fire, allows the user to share their location with their Facebook friends.

Friends on Fire utilises Yahoo’s Fire Eagle service, which shares your location information with specified applications, which in this case is Facebook.

Besides the new Facebook application, Yahoo has also released a Firefox plug-in for the Fire Eagle service which uses nearby wireless networks to calculate the location of the computer.

Like Google Latitude, the security measures Fire Eagle uses are a big factor. Many critics are concerned about people’s location information getting into the wrong hands.

Google Latitude has a pop-up feature which reminds users that they have the tracking software turned on and Fire Eagle’s Friends on Fire application allows users to specify how much detail about their location they want to give away, which can range from just displaying their country right through to the precise location.

Unlike Google Latitude, Friends on Fire is not available on mobile phones as of yet but the Fire Eagle leader, Tom Coates, confirmed that the company is currently developing a mobile version of the application.

Mark Zuckerberg Millionaire?

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, has been dropped from the Forbes magazine annual list of billionaires.

A net worth of $1.5billion was attributed to the 24-year-old web whiz-kid in last year’s list, now the youngest self-made billionaire is conspicuously absent.

Questions have been raised about Zuckerberg’s initial inclusion on the list last year as the figure was based on an assumed wealth calculated by various assumptions including Microsoft’s decision to purchase a $240million chunk of the company in 2007.

Although Zuckerberg's shafting from the rich list has been seen by some as proof that the economic downturn has burst the social networking bubble. A study from Forrester Research has indicated that the economic slump may actually increase commercial interest in social media as it is an inexpensive option for companies wanting to advertise.

Although using marketing on social networking sites is still in its experimental stages. 53 percent of the marketers surveyed in Forrester's research said they were set to increase spending on social media and only 5 percent said they would decrease spending. The other 42 percent said they would continue to spend the same amount.

Face court via Facebook

The New Zealand High Court has allowed a court summons to be delivered via Facebook. This follows a similar decision by the Australian Supreme Court last December to send a default judgement to two defendants who had failed to appear in court.

The defandant in the New Zealand case, Craig Axe, has been accused of taking NZ$241,000 from his father's market garden business. The plaintiff's lawyer, Daniel Vincent said that all other means of communication had been tried and as the accused was known to have a Facebook page it was seen as the next best option.

Axe is believed to be living in the UK but his exact location is unknown. The money was allegedly taken from his father's account via the internet when the defandant was in Britain.

Add a blog for Ada

A former executive director of the Open Rights Group, Suw Charman-Anderson, is trying to create new female role models who work in technology with the hope that it may inspire other women to get involved.

To make people aware of the achievements of women in technology, Charman-Anderson has established Ada Lovelace Day, on 24th March where people from all around the world pledge that they will write a blog or create another piece of online media about a notable female working in technology.

The event is named after the little known Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Bryon, who wrote the first computer program in the Victorian Era for Charles Babbage’s precursor to the computer, the Analytical Engine.

Charman-Anderson established the event after hearing of research from psychologist Penelope Lockwood that indicated that women need female role models more than man need male ones.

"Let’s come together to highlight the women in technology that we look up to. Let’s create new role models and make sure that whenever the question 'Who are the leading women in tech?' is asked, that we all have a list of candidates on the tips of our tongues." Charman-Anderson writes on http://findingada.com/.

Despite many attempts to address the imbalance women are still in the minority in the IT industry despite their high level of technology usage.

In Australia the number of women enrolled in IT courses dropped to 20 percent in 2005 and the number continues to decrease.

One way of increasing the number of women in the industry, is to get them started at a school level.

According to Denise Huender, an IT teacher at an all-girls high school in NSW, the reason many girls are reluctant to choose IT is because they perceive it as something that "only boys do".

"You still have to get past this point where they think it's all about spreadsheets and uninteresting stuff," Mrs Huender said "one of the units we do with the girls in year nine is programming, but we create a platform game that uses a simply program that appeals to their creativity. With a game like this they don't even know they are programming. They love it."

It seems fitting that blogging is being used for the Ada Lovelace Day initiative, as online social media is particularly popular with women. Social networking, especially, is one of the most common online activities by women.

Marjorie Kibby, a lecturer in film and cultural studies at the University of Newcastle, says that women use technology differently to men.

"Women are generally more task orientated (when they use the internet), they find something they want to do and they work out how to do it. They also like to use the internet for communication more than men do," Ms Kibby said.

Online traffic

2009-03-15T10:18:00.001+11:00

When it comes to various sectors of the internet industy many people fall behind with the trends - online traffic generation techniques are certainly no exception to this.

Online traffic generation is in its simplest form, online marketing. However in saying this, it can be a very involved process. This week on Insight we spoke to Chris Diprose about what online traffic generation actually is and how you can increase traffic on a webpage.

Most web pages use email, banner and search engine optimisation in order to boost hits on their pages - just like a corner store, without traffic through the doors the web page will cease to exist.

However in exciting news for the Australian Internet Industry, young Sydney based entrepeneur Leon Hill has created a new online traffic generation technique which bases itself around votes to get a page to appear on the front of social networking sites like Digg and also Yahoo and AOL.

For more information about Leon's creation check out www.usocial.net.

*Chirs is a Melbourne based web expert and works in digital consulting, design and marketing to clients across Australia.

produced by Alyce Woods

Mobile Tracking: To Be Seen, or Not To Be Seen

2009-03-02T09:21:00.000+11:00

If you weren't already tired of hearing about your friends' every move via Facebook, well now you can track their every move, with a range of mobile tracking technology. With just one touch of a button, you can pin-point friends, family and workmates' exact locations anywhere in the world. However concerns have been voiced about potential misuse of the technology and the risks it poses to people's privacy.

Founder of the Australian-based MapMates service, Michael Rosbson admits the technology has the potential to be misused, but says it is bound to prove useful for many tech-savvy Australians.

"One of my teenage sons came home one Friday afternoon and jumped straight onto My Space and Facebook to find out what his friends were doing that night," he says.

"He started texting friends on his mobile, and half an hour later he had the information he needed. About ten minutes later his twin brother arrived home and did exactly the same thing. I thought there had to be an easier way to do this."

The technology works by using the GPS navigation system in users' mobile phones. Once two users have accepted each other as 'mates', they can view each other's most recently updated location through the application on their phone, or on the system provider's website.

Mr Robson says users can choose how often their location is updated, and can even specify when each friend is able to view their location.

"Users have complete control, and can make themselves invisible whenever they like," he says.

"My son lets me see where he is during the week, but then switches it off on the weekends."

Mr Robson's MapMates was designed with savvy Gen Y users in mind, but he believes the technology could prove useful to a much wider audience.

"There has been a lot of interest from parents who say they like to know where their kids are," he says.

"The technoloyg works all around the world, and is not dependant upon your phone or phone carrier, so a lot of backpackers are finding it very useful. Coorporations and emergency services are also using it to make sure their employees are safe."

However, lack of phone reception in remote areas does pose limitations for users in regional Australia. Mr Robson says while the GPS satellite component will continue to operate, the service requires phone reception to send the location data back to the server.

"When the phone is out of reception, the system will continue to save your location history," he says.

"You may not have had reception for an hour, but when you do come back into reception, all the information that you have tracked over that hour, will be sent up to the server."

While the services may bring peace of mind to concerned families, alarm bells have been raised about the potential misuse of this technology by parents, partners or bosses. Deakin University Communications lecturer and former CEO of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, Ross Monaghan, says these are valid concerns.

"One of my first concerns is the unintended consequences of people trying out these services, and not realising that friends and family can track them," he says.

"Also, if you're on the web, anyone can potentially track you. No systems are that secure."

According to Mr Monaghan, the same pitfalls of social networking sites are likely to afflict those using location services.

"Just becuase you take down a homepage doesn't necessarily mean that it disappears from the web forever," he says.

"We just have to trust the organisations that are keeping this data, that they are going to keep it safe as well."

Mr Monaghan says an increased dedication to privacy education by social networking sites and organisations is something he would like to see.

"We are finding younger people don't necessarily look at the long term implications of publishing private details online," he says.

"This sort of digital dirt, whether it's on your Facebook page, in texts, photos, or being able to track you from one location to the next, it's something everyone really needs to be conscious of."

Despite the potential threats this technolgoy poses to people's privacy, Mr Robson believes the prospect of these systems to save lives, is worth the risk.

"Anything can be abused and misused," he says.

"This has the potential to be misused, but it also has the potential to save lives and be an extremely valuable tool.

"The day that someone's life is saved because we have been able to find somebody who has been injured or hurt, that will make it all worth while.

So is the public ready for mobile tracking? Or does it really present an invasion of privacy that is simply too great?

"I think there is a way to go before individuals will see any reason to be able to be tracked," Mr Monaghan says.

"It's too early to say that these services won't be adopted, but I think as people see the personal and business uses for them, the technology will become more and more popular."

produced by Anna McManamey

Scanner for the Blind

2008-08-02T20:04:00.002+10:00

Just a quick reminder to go to the Visual Independence website
www.visualindependence.org.au
They are the Australian charity who have brought the I.D Mate Scanner to Australia.
The scanner allows blind people to know what products they are looking at in supermarkets and around the home, and can be customised to include information not just about supermarket (and the sort) products with a barcode but items around the home as well like clothes and the dishwasher.

To find out more info- go to the website at visualindependence.org.au or contact your local vision industry (ie: Vision Australia)

All the best to all our tech groupies, Feel free to send us a message!

Will
Producer

(Don't forget to listen to Homepage on your local community radio station across Australia)

Senior Surfers

2008-07-22T12:24:00.003+10:00

The internet is often seen as a place where everyone in the world can be connected to each other.

With all the services the internet offers including search engines, email, instant messaging, and forums it seems there is something for everybody.

The reality is that not everyone is in the situation where they can simply buy a computer and access the internet.

Seniors are often perceived to be marginalised by the youth-orientated technology industry. In fact, despite the obstacles that deter some seniors from technology they are actually the fastest growing group purchasing and using computers.

According to Tony Lenn, from the Australian Seniors Computers Clubs Association, the internet and computers can be daunting for older seniors who haven’t grown up with exposure to technology.

It makes them a little apprehensive about getting started. But I think they realise that the internet is there and if they want to live in this world they have to get up-to-date. Most of them a fairly practical in that respect and they are only too keen to get going.

What initially deters some seniors from using computers and the internet?

The complexity, fear of the unknown is probably the main thing. They see computers as all ‘whizz-bang’ lights and whistles and lights and flashing things and they don’t know anything about it so it’s a little bit daunting at first.

What is the main motivation for seniors to start using the internet and computers?

It’s twofold. One is to find out information that is often referred to in other media and publications and on the television and probably the overriding reason is for communication with family and friends via email and the internet.

What are the most common tasks that seniors use their computers for?

Emails, internet browsing and searching for things on the internet. Researching family history and also for writing the memoirs their life stories, incidences they can recall just for posterity.

How does the way seniors use the internet differ from the way other groups do?

Very little. Except that we’re a little older and have a broader range of background to fall to. So I suppose that makes us a little special.

What do seniors value about online social interaction?

I think the biggest value is that they are able to communicate with others either by email, using internet telephones and so forth. It’s great to be able to get a quick response to a query or question or response from someone you’re trying to contact.

Are the things that seniors value about the internet different to the things that other age groups value?

No. I think they’re very common. It’s a basic human requirement I think rather than an age based thing.

Does the way seniors communicate over the internet differ from the way other age groups do?

Maybe the topics they look for. But the actual way they use it I don’t think varies very much. They’re not into MySpace and Facebook and things like that or they’re not so much into to downloading the latest pop tunes off one of the networks on to their iPod. But they use the internet as a communication tool which is exactly what it is.

Do they use the same type of language? Like the ‘lols’ and the shorthand that younger web users use?

Only if they are really into that scene. Generally they don’t. They tend to use longhand. Which is a bit old-fashioned I guess but at least people can understand what they are talking about. It’s hard for us older people to understand the language of the young people these days.

Do you think the internet offers a connection between the older generation and younger generations? Such as grandparents and grandchildren?

Yes that’s very important especially where there are distances between parts of the family. To be able to talk to them via the internet and see them over things like Skype and is a great bonus for everybody. A friend of mine has video conferences with her son and sees the grandchildren. The main advantage of that is that when she goes to visit the grandchildren know what she looks like.

How does online interaction benefit seniors?

It improves access and for seniors who have some sort of disability or who aren’t as mobile as the younger generation it allows them to get out an reach people much more easily without having to have the problems of physical distances.

Does online interaction change the way seniors interact in the real world?

Yes. It keeps them more up to date and better informed about what is going on in the community.

How can the internet and computers impact upon seniors lives?

It improves their communications to all parts of the community not just family also friends, colleagues and other social groups.

Although seniors are stereotyped as having little computer experience. The level of computing skills often varies depending on when they left the workforce. Some Younger seniors may have years of experience from their time in the workforce whilst some older female seniors may never had the opportunity to work at all.

Computing Clubs for seniors are a popular way for those interested in learning more about computers to do so with support from their peers. The Australian Seniors Computing Clubs Association is the parent body which individual clubs join.

The association connects the clubs to one another, seeks discounts for its members and communicates with relevant government agencies

Probably the biggest thing that seniors computing clubs do is provide training for seniors to help them keep up to date with what’s going on in the internet and technology. In that way it becomes a learning thing, a social thing and a retirement activity. It keeps them busy and keeps their minds active. Often people with more experience join us as trainers where they can pass their information on to other members of the community who don’t have those skills.
Do you think that the fact that trainers are in their peer group helps them learn and appreciate the technology?

Absolutely, because they are working at the level that seniors work at. We’ve had seniors go to more vocational type courses to try and learn computing ant they say it’s useless because the young people are there and they go a thousand miles an hour and the older people have to try and keep up because the teacher just goes with the majority of the class and the older generation is left out. So by having someone of their own generation work at their own speed is a big plus.

What other ways can seniors improve their computer skills?

By participating in computer related activities. The Australian Seniors Computing Clubs are run by seniors on a voluntary basis and we keep the costs down to a minimum so we are able to provide access to many seniors particularly pensioners who would not be able to afford that sort of facility.

Other places where seniors can find support on the internet are sites dedicated to older internet users

GreyPath is an online community created and managed by seniors. The site allows people from all over the world to engage with each other through forums, online chat, Blogging, and email pals.

Besides its social networking uses the site also gives its members access to free-courses which they can complete online.

One course provided by the site is an introduction to computers and the internet which allows seniors to learn at there own pace.

The founder and CEO of Greypath, Ray Lewis, believes that websites aimed at seniors offer many attractions including the opportunity for seniors to connect with their peers from all over the world

We’re developing a pretty substantial world reach. People from 40 countries visited us over the last couple of weeks. That’s always interesting when you catch up with them. Generally speaking word of mouth is keeping the site growing pretty substantially and with got lots of new offering coming. One of the biggest things we hope to do is rebuild our 3D senior’s community a version of Sim Life but more leaning towards seniors.

Do you think that seniors are looking for something different to the social networking sites already on offer?

I think the initial motivation is about 65% social. But we seniors are becoming rapidly more sophisticated in our expectation of the internet and the sort of internet supermarket that GreyPath has become has tangible value for us now. With 1800 visits a day and growing new members at about 5-15 new members each day. I think it supports the idea of a greater need then just simple networking. I do a lot more video on the site these days as a result of reflecting on what seniors want over the last five or six years. We’re now providing routine video editing tutorials. The profile of site visitors is that 50% are between sixty and seventy and 25% sit on either side of that.

How does GreyPath differ from sites aimed at any age group?

Many of our members are non computer literate whilst most other age groups are computer literate. We try and take special care in a non patronising way to coax people along slowly and avoid jargon. Many have to consciously think of the new meanings of words such as program, application, and accessories. For them accessories means bangles and bags. They have to learn the new meanings of these, plus words such as bandwidth and even words like mouse. It’s a new and unnatural medium to begin with. It’s non intuitive at ones first exposure so we have to keep that in mind with the site design.

As the size of the 55 plus age group increases the number of older people using the internet will also increase. Although many seniors have missed out on the opportunity to learn about computers at school or work There are many places that can help advise on the purchase of the right computer, and help those unfamiliar with the internet get started.

Contact the Australian Seniors Computing Clubs
On 02 92863871 or http://www.ascca.org.au/

GreyPath http://www.greypath.com/

Craft Communities Online

2008-06-20T12:05:00.000+10:00

It seems that there are online communities for almost everything from new mothers, to political activists, but how would a craft community, so focussed on an activity that is done physically, translate online?

Helen McLean runs a quilting website from her home in Victoria; after her husband passed away she wanted a project and something to bring in a bit of income. Her son and daughter both, who are web designers, set her up a quilting website. Helen’s site offers a whole range of resources and a place for quilters from around the world to come. Helen told me she has people from all over accessing her site

“Old, young, I had quite a big order from a shop in Norway, in almost all countries. One of my very first customers lives in Cloncurry, way out back in Queensland; a lot of ladies say ‘there’s nowhere near me’”.

The ability of online communities to break down geographical barriers is one of their main advantages, Greg Wadley, associate academic and researcher in the Interaction Design Group at the University of Melbourne is researching online communities and he says one of their advantages is that they can create community for people who would otherwise be isolated from a physical one.

“In your local neighbourhood there may not simply be enough people to form a community who share that interest, but the internet means a much larger group of people who can get together and discuss the interest and share resources of various kinds. Another advantage of online communities is you don’t have to be at a meeting place at a particular time, you can just log in when it’s convenient to you, and take turns in a conversation that might spread out over days or weeks.”

Education and the transfer of skills online is something Greg has been exploring and is something craft communities are often trying to do, I asked him what major difficulties he had come across in transferring practical skills online?

“The problem is that social information doesn’t get broadcast through the internet, by that I mean; if you’re sitting in a room with your social group then there’s much more information flashing back and forth between the people, there’s a lot more communication going on than we’re even consciously aware of. Online there’s far less information getting through.” Greg said.

So with all these communities going online is it likely that we’ll see what has traditionally been serviced by physical communities be taken over by online ones? Both Greg and Helen are doubtful.

“There have been researchers arguing a dystopian view of online community, saying that people will spend all their time sitting at a computer and the more time they spend online the less time they’re communing with others offline, but I don’t know that our experience is baring that out. There’ll always be a small number of people who will do anything to an extreme way, but most people aren’t affected by it at all. Most people find a way to utilise online and offline communities in the most appropriate way and make them work together.” Greg Said

Helen said online communities could never replace offline one’s for quilters.

“I don’ think they would replace them at all, because women just love to get together and swap patterns person to person, see what each other are doing, and I don’t know why it is but as quilters we love to feel things, I see a fabric the first thing I want to do is touch it and I don’t know why cause they pretty much all feel the same. I really don’t think it would stop (physical) groups, but if you were really isolated and you didn’t know where there was a group then yes maybe”

While it seems online communities can never completely replace physical communities, it is clear they can broaden them. In an era where people find physical communities can be difficult to coordinate, online communities are offering the opportunity to people with all kind of interests to find each other. So whether you like quilting, scrap booking, model train making or hobbytex there’s likely to be an online community for you.

The Future of News as We Know It

2008-05-21T20:48:00.006+10:00

“Popular news papers, the ‘mass newspapers’ are dying and will die, they have got no future what so ever…” Roy Greenslade Future of Journalism Conference May 2008

The Future of Journalism Summit, recently held by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, together with the ABC, hosted journalists and media industry professions from around the world.

All forecast major upheaval in the media and news industries, with predictions like Roy Greenslade’s (a greatly respected journalist with the Guardian in the UK), that with the increasing influence of the Internet, newspapers are on their last legs.

I spoke with Jonathan Este from the MEAA and formerly a journalist with The Australian and The Independent (not The Age as mistakenly mentioned in the broadcast sorry!), about some of the issues raised at the conference, to try and gain a picture of what media consumption might look like in the near future.

Jonathan said he believes much of the fuss is without cause.

There’s a lot of pessimism about the future, and I think that’s a bit short sighted. … To say "its all done and dusted, the Internet’s here, news papers are dead" that’s a very pessimistic view.

Roy Greenslade said at the summit that the decline of newspaper consumption has a lot to do with changes in societal and cultural structures, rather than a lack of interest in news.

Young People don’t red news papers and have never read news papers… (People) didn’t really start to buy newspapers until they got married, the problem now is they’re not getting married, and therefore they’re not forming the family unit around which a newspaper was a key part.

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Jonathan hosted a discussion at the summit entitled ‘Digital Natives in the Wild’, featuring three leaders in the new media field; Cinnamon Pollard (Youth Fairfax digital), Rebekah Horne (MySpace Australia) and Kath Hamilton (Yahoo7).

Jonathan explained that all three women spoke about the new audience’s desire to be a part of the process of producing and distributing news.

What they’re saying is that (generation Y) see media as being a conversation, not a lecture, they’re just as likely to be brought to stories by their friends as by newspapers, they’ll email each other saying “have you seen this story?".

They see this as an all round media experience, they’re creating media themselves, they’re creating film clips, sharing stuff, they’re creating their own networks to share news.

This new way of consuming news was referred to in the discussion as “information snacking”, I asked Jonathan if this could lead to a “malnourished” audience.

I don’t necessarily think that ("information snacking") is a reflection of disengagement, I think it’s more a reflection of convenience. People don’t want to wait 'til 6 pm to read the news. Jonathan said.

If you look at the election campaign in Australia last year, there was this huge push, the ‘Get Up’ movement, there were a lot gen’ Y people there, and they were very engaged and committed to the principle process.

I actually think that people are going to get a better quality news service, I just have the faith that journalists have the vision and the courage to maintain that investment.

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Anther shift discussed at the summit was that of an increase in audience participation, as Jonathan Este said people are seeing news as a conversation, not a lecture.

This shift is making some journalists fear for their jobs, and audiences fear for the credibility of their news sources, so will more audience participation have this feared detriment on the profession of journalism?

Roy Greenslade at the summit said that Journalists roles are not becoming irrelevant, just changing.

I want journalists to think about the fact that they are no longer secular priests, who hold journalism to be some kind of mysterious activity. Anyone can be a journalist, anyone can contribute to journalism, but, that participation, cooperation, crowd sourcing, mash ups, all the other ways now of enlarging journalism, empowering people to be journalists, are very important.

Journalism, reporting on society, telling people about things they didn’t know, and also discovering things that people don’t want you to know, which is obviously what journalism is about, are not going to be things that only professionals do, in future, and they are already not things that only journalists do.

Jonathan Este pointed out there is still plenty of work for Journalists to do in this era of public participation.

You still need people who’s job it is and who’s skill it its to find things out, and I think you need people who’s job it is and who’s skill it is to edit and moderate that.

What’s different now is that what Jay Rosen calls “the people formerly known as the audience”, they’re no longer this big, homogeneous mass, they’re a whole number of different communities and they’re coming back to you.

In a sense there is this potential for journalism to get a whole lot better, because the feedback will throw back very valuable additions to stories, or corrections.

Is eBay being anti-competitive?

2008-05-14T09:22:00.003+10:00

Online shopping site eBay recently made a decision that will see the company's online credit agency PayPal handle most of the purchase transactions made on the site. With this announcement has come claims the decision is anti-competitive.

Homepage producer Matthew Heffernan recently investigated the issue and the claims of anti-competitive business management.

eBay's user friendly chief, told Matthew the decision is based on improving user safety. PayPal is universally praised for its security measures and it makes good business sense for eBay to require sellers to give their buyers the option of using the safest method of payment.

PayPal allows a user to register their bank or credit card details to establish their online shopping balance. A user can then access funds from that balance to purchase items off the net.

eBay's decision to make PayPal the preferred option for transactions does not exclude other credit agencies from the service - but rather requires those credit cards be used through PayPal for greater security for users. According to eBay a user is four times less likely to run into a transaction problem if they use PayPal when shopping online.

eBay suggests the change to PayPal ensures better transaction security for buyers and sellers.

It's important to note that users can still pay for their goods in person for 'pick up' only purchases. So there is a cash payment option available for buyers and sellers who choose not to use PayPal.

The ACCC is currently investigating the eBay / PayPal case and has declined to comment at this time.

However, Matthew was able to speak with Jerome Fahrer from the Allens Consulting Group about the anti-competitive business claims. The Allens Consulting Group is an independent agency that examines cases like this and offers recommendations to clients on how to proceed in such cases.

Mr Fahrer suggests eBay is well within its rights to make this business decision. He further adds that because eBay is not the only online shopping site available, the company has the right to impose whatever payment system they prefer.

Jerome compared the eBay / PayPal issue to buying a car. When buying a new car you often don't get to choose what radio it comes with, but nobody is forcing you to buy that car and there are others available to you to buy.

Users shouldn't really be too worried about the decision by eBay to introduce a PayPal exclusive payment option, because PayPal offers optimum security features.

As for the claims of anti-competitiveness, we'll await the decision from the ACCC.

The Invisible Web

2008-05-12T21:23:00.000+10:00

For many of us, we peruse and search the internet using only our favourite search engine.

But did you know that by doing this, you are only covering a small portion of the web?

So, even though there may be thousands of websites popping up from your search, there could be even more vital websites you’re missing out on.

Basically, the internet can be classified into two categories – the surface web and the invisible web.

The surface web is what search engines index and dig up for us to see and what is easily found.

But the invisible web is an exception. Also known as the deep web, these websites are made to be much harder to find. They won’t show up in a typical search engine search, and if they do, they are hard to access.

These websites might be deliberately excluded by the owners using code, or the websites might be invisible because they don’t hold much significance.

It is expected that invisible web is several times bigger than the surface web, although it is hard to measure that isn’t clearly visible.

Amanda Spink, who is the professor of information technology at the Queensland University of Technology will be joining us on the program today to delve into the details of the invisible web and discover what kind of sites there are.

She says there are a number of websites you can’t access for many reasons. Organisations on the web might host their valuable company information online for easy accessibility for employees, but it usually restricted access with log-in protection.

Cyber criminals also convene online but these sites won’t be found easily.

These websites can be kept hidden embedding codes into the HTML, such as Meta Tags, which stop web crawlers from finding them.

Although there are some pages on the web that might not technically be made invisible; but become invisible as a result of narrow search techniques.

Amanda Spink says search engines don’t index every website and only cover a portion of the web. So one search engine might cover a portion of the web that another search engine might not.

There are ways to combat this and expand your searches, by using a unique and versatile type of search engine called metasearch engines such as Dogpile. These search engines are a quick and efficient way to do searches because they utilise multiple search engines.

Amanda Spink says the information on the invisible is in no way substandard to the information on the surface web. In fact the information is actually a lot more valuable.

So next time you do a search, keep in mind that there is more than meets the eye. What might be available on one search engine may not be available on another and the web stretches much further than what we normally see.

There are many other ways to do searches and get the most of what you’re looking for.

All you need is to find the right search tools, which may include federated search engines such as databases; or by using human crawlers instead of algorithmic crawlers such as StumbleUpon.

Religion Online

2008-05-12T21:06:00.001+10:00

Religion for some has taken a back seat in our fast paced, technology addicted life styles – but now it’s making a come back.
Religions are embracing the online environment as we’ve never seen before – and it doesn’t stop there. We’re talking podcasts, social networking, SMS calls to prayer – religion at your fingertips and in a form that is second nature to many people today – particularly generations X and Y.
When you think about it, the potential for religion online is just about limitless. You can find about all kinds of religions, experience other cultures, participate in online sermons and in fact, there are now some faiths that only exist online.
In Insight, Homepage producer Amy Spear chatted to World Youth Day Spokesman Jim Hanna and Doctor Kathleen McPhillips, Senior Lecturer in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of Western Sydney about religion’s shift into cyberspace…

So just to get us started today, Kathleen, are more people turning to technology to learn and practice religion?

It’s a good question. The answer is a little bit complex because part of the problem with the internet is that it’s so diverse and large, so it’s very hard to research. But I think what researchers have found is that there is an enormous amount of material on the internet, covering a very large area of topics and religious traditions and people are very engaged in virtual religion.

Is it all kinds of religion? Different religions?

Yes, it is. Well, major religious traditions, all of them have websites. Then you get new age religions, so lots of pagan websites and you get lots of witch websites and so on. Then you also get lots of religious healing sites, sects and cults are on the internet. There also very productive websites, such as interface dialogue discussions between faith tradition. So it can be a space where there is a lot of diversity and tolerance.

Are you able to tell a particular demographic that uses these? Or is it across the board?

It’s hard to know but it’s probably generations X and Y that are more active on the internet then other generations, particularly in relation to religion. I mean, one of things about religion on the internet is that it does probably encourage a more individualised use or attention to it. So the older generations may be used to going to church on Sunday or Saturday, or whenever it may be, and having a more traditional, physical relationship with their congregations. Whereas younger people are probably more adept at using the internet as a form of community and communication.

Is it that religion is changing? Or is it just taking on a new form of communication?

This is a very good question and it’s one of THE questions – does the internet change the nature of religion and religious practice? I think the answer to that has to be yes. I mean, first of all, there’s the question of the internet itself. It is a kind of mysterious technology. It’s a form of virtual or cyber space – we can’t see it. It isn’t magic – so how does it happen that we can connect up with people that live so far away from us in less than a second? So there’s a question about whether the internet itself is a kind of religious experience and may encourage people to believe in something that doesn’t exist. Then there’s another question about whether people can have religious experiences on the internet using some of the sites. So these are really interesting questions to ask. I think we have to say that it does change the social context in which we practice religion.

Religion amongst younger people has, in some cases, lost relevance over the past few years. The internet, then, could be a way of bringing it back to them – communicating through their means and providing a whole range of info.

Absolutely and I think that’s one of the things that religious congregations are hoping for – that by using these technologies that young people are much more familiar with and comfortable with, that they will be able to reach out to them. Whether they’re successful or not is hard to define. I don’t know if there are any studies done in this area. I mean, one of the things is that there would be a significant group of young people, we know this from the census, that, while they may have been raised in a religious tradition, they don’t practice it. It’s their parents who continue to practice it. So there is an element of alienation amongst young people and the internet might be one way they can keep a connection with a religious tradition active, while not feeling so disoriented and alienated by the weekly practices of that tradition which may not speak to them at all.

In your opinion, what are the most common ways people are using the internet for religion?

What I know about is the New Age sites and I think they’re using them for a lot of different things. You can set up your own website for starters and you can advertise yourself and your religious preferences. But I think for information, to join a group, to do healing practices and also to have fun. You can access things like an Ouija board, so the black arts are there as well. I mean some religious groups only have an existence on the internet and there I’m particularly thinking about Jedi Religion. Now I don’t know if you recall but in the early 2000s (2001 Census) 70 000 Australian nominated Jedi religion as their religious practice and it was a phenomenon that also happened in other Western countries like Britain. From that developed a number of internet sites on Jedi religion so you can actually join a group and become a Jedi Master or practice some of the more esoteric practices associated with Jediism.

To take a closer look at how religions are using technology, I spoke with Jim Hanna from World Youth Day about the initiatives they’ve been using to get their message out there.

World Youth Day is targeted at young people all around the world and, especially in Australia, young people are more tech savvy then the older generations – then their parents and teachers. So we know that if we want to reach people effectively, we’ve got to use the communication tools they use. That used to be radio, TV and maybe some youth magazines but now it’s the internet, it’s mobile phones and it’s a range of different things on the internet. You can’t just say the internet anymore – you’ve got to talk about chat rooms, forums networking pages etc. So we’re looking at the whole range of things and we’ve come up with a few ideas that we hope will appeal to young people and be things they will use.

In what has been termed by some as the Big Prey Out, over 60 000 Aussies from outside of Sydney will join double that from all over the world in this years World Youth Day. So are more people jumping online to find out about it and to connect with other people?

Yeah, I think it’s more the second thing that you said. It’s more connecting with other people and I think a really effective way for young people to get involved in their faith is if they see and hear other people in their own age group taking part in it and this is a great way to see other people do something spiritual. If you’re not talking about a strict religious sense, it might just be looking for guidance and I think getting online is a great way to communicate with other people but still be yourself. There’s still a reasonable degree of anonymity and you can preserve your privacy – you can be yourself a little bit more than you can in a group situation, around a table or at a restaurant or something.

Has this level of communication ever been possible before?

Well that’s right. This is going to be a first for WYD. We’re going to have a social networking space called XT3.com, that’s going to be launched this month, and for the first time Pilgrims from all around the world will be able to get online and become friends before they actually arrive here in Sydney. They can start meeting each other, getting to know each other and getting to know something about each other. We’re also going to have daily text messages from the Pope. The Pope will write something and we’ll get it out to people so it will be a direct communication to them from the Holy Father, which I think is going to be pretty cool. The other thing that I think most people are finding very innovative is an idea we got when U2 were out here the last time, where you could text your phone number to a particular number and you could see your name come up on the big screen at the event. Well what we want to do is do that in a Catholic sort of way. Often people want other people to pray for something, some intention or other, it could be world peace, it could be freedom from hunger, it could be for a sick relative, it could even be for their footy team to win – and Lord knows I’ve been doing a lot of praying for my team! They had a win last week so that’s good – it does work everyone! So what we’re doing is a Digital Prayer Wall where you can text your prayer to a particular number and it will come up on the screen where a couple of hundred people are gathered. It’s great to know that at least some of the people in that crowd would all being praying for that same intention. It gives people a sense of warmth and reassurance. So that’ll be a first and hopefully that will be something that continues on to the next WYD. We’re also going to be bringing people together who might live in regional Australia, by having some sort of webcasting (like a teleconference but on the internet) and we’re hoping to do one of those before WYD. So the Bishop here in Sydney will reach out to people further out in Australia. We’re going to work with Telstra on that.

Jim agrees that religion is now a lot more accessible, particularly to those younger people.

Yeah and I think it needs to be. I think the Church needs to enter the 21st century and I think it’s trying to do that. It needs to appeal to younger people who, as I said before, they just read and hear and see things differently. They still use the old media forms like TV and everything else but I think young people especially work in their own space. If the Church wants to be relevant to them it’s got to come to those spaces and be part of their lives.

Religion, in all its shapes and forms, is certainly taking on a whole new look. And it’s much more accessible in today’s lifestyle to boot. There is still much debate surrounding the issue, so keep an eye out for new developments.

Amy takes a look at Online Image...

2008-04-16T13:26:00.001+10:00

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder.
But knowing there could be millions beholding your image at once?
That’s a pretty daunting concept!

However that’s the reality of the internet today and image certainly plays a big part – whether it be through social networking, virtual worlds or gaming.

This week on Insight, Homepage producer Amy Spear explores the complex world of online personal image and discovers the impact that it has on users, particularly the younger group.

She chats to Dr Nadine Pelling, a senior lecturer at the University of South Australia and Dr Ashley Holmes, Senior Lecturer in Multimedia at Central Queensland University.

So, Dr Pelling, could you explain what kind of impact this has on internet users?

I think adolescents to begin with have a lot invested in their image and how they’re portrayed to others. So, indeed, a medium like the internet where you can control how you’re portrayed in your own pages at least, could actually be quite popular and have quite an impact.

Is a positive or negative impact? Or is it too hard to generalise?

Well, I’d say it’s probably hard to generalise but from a psychologist point of view, I’d actually prefer it if someone was to put forward their ideas, their thoughts, their feelings and their actions simply a little more than just a simple appearance on a photograph that could be touched up, a photograph that could be posed and carefully chosen to portray an image that someone wants to present based on their appearance vs their actions.

Going on from just straight websites these days, we’ve got virtual worlds and places where people can go online and be a whole different person. Particularly for young girls and guys, there’s been a bit of debate about how they can dress and act older. Is this a concern from a psychological perspective?

I think a lot, of people, when you think of children, they play ‘pretend’, they play ‘dress-ups’, they imagine things and I don’t see much difficulty in that. I think when it becomes something that’s overwhelming, when it takes on a very large part of someone’s existence and when its not age appropriate, it might be when we start being slightly concerned.

There’s been a bit of attention given to controversial sites such as ‘Miss Bimbo’ lately, where gamers can dress their dolls in any fashion they choose and buy products such as diet pills. The main concern aside from the ideas portrayed, stems from the concept that people begin to lose the distinction between real and online life.

I think some people realise that it is, quote, “just a game” and other people get too involved in it. Unfortunately there are always going to be people that take any activity that is meant for fun and take it to the extreme. From a feminist, psychologist point of view, I would have some concerns regarding a page that obviously that is dealt purely on appearance and appearance not in a healthy manner, but in an overly sexualised manner personally.

What are the impacts of everyone having a piece of this celebrity culture and the repercussions down the track do you think?

I don’t know about repercussions for the average person down the track. I think it’s more likely to have repercussions for those that are famous, for those that become famous. For the average person, simply putting out a few photographs describing themselves, I don’t see that as a difficulty. It’s the people that go overboard, the people that spend way too much of their awake time involved with such a difficulty, that I see as a problem.

Is there a concern about the rivalry? Having the most friends, having the best photos? Is the competition aspect of it a concern at all?

Once again it probably depends on how far you take it. I personally would be more concerned, and if I had clients that were discussing were discussing competition on such webpages, I’d probably try and focus them on the quality of their relationships. Not the quantity.

Do you think spending so much time and having a whole other persona online can have positive or negative impacts on your mental health and who you are as a person?

I’d say it’s more likely to have a negative impact. When you talk about psychological health, when you talk about health in general, we like to take what’s called a bio-psycho-social approach. You want to be healthy physically with your biology. You want to eat well, you want to exercise, you want to take care of your health. You want to take care of yourself psychologically as well. You want to have a good self image, you want to do what you believe is right, you want to think positively but not in a Pollyanna sort of manner. And you want to be healthy socially, you want to have real social connections, real friends, real family connections. You need to have people to talk to, so you can discuss not just problems but positive things that are going on in your life. Now, if you are well-rounded in a bio-psycho-social manner, I don’t see such things having a difficulty in your life. However, if you are not healthy physically, if you are lacking some of that psychological reliance, if you are lonely and you don’t have those connections, that’s when involvement with the internet, involvement with drugs, involvement with sex, involvement with just about anything can cause problems because you’re not healthy enough to handle it in a balanced manner. That’s probably when you need to get some professional assistance, not on the internet.

Dr Ashley Holmes, Senior Lecturer in Multimedia at Central Queensland University, points out that this idea of personal image online isn’t necessarily a new one. Let’s face it, image is something that concerns just about everyone and it’s been around for a little bit longer than the internet!

I believe that the internet is really just facilitating or enabling people to do more in terms of their social connections than they have been able to in the past. This happens at the level of even just keeping in touch with family, email, that sort of thing. But it also happens with the creation of new social groups or activities. Of course we all know that people like to share videos these days, which in the past they haven’t been able to do easily. Young people in particular like to participate with various types of gaming activities. Sometimes these are done on their own, as individuals, and sometimes they’re done in groups and indeed with huge groups. So there’s quite a wide variety of activities and social activities that people can engage in and they’re just enabling us to do what we’ve always liked to do really.

So it’s not a new phenomenon, it’s just an old phenomenon in a new medium?

Well I think so yes. Certainly there’s a lot of people that say that this is the case. There is nothing new in it. There is greater individualism, possibly, in the way that people are working online. We know this because we have this almost one-to-one relationship with the computer itself. But in that we’re not working in isolation or in alienation if you like. There’s a source of meaning constructed around the projects and desires of the individual. But this doesn’t substitute for face to face sociability, it just adds to it. It also doesn’t counteract forms of social disengagement that exist. In other words, if people are socially dysfunctional, it’s not going to necessarily help or improve their situation. So on the whole people are using it for fairly normal activities.

So what about this idea of having another image or persona online or getting to involved with this portrayal of yourself or other image-driven activities, such as the ‘Miss Bimbo’ game we’ve been speaking of. Dr Holmes points out that this is a line most people can distinguish.

I think being able to differentiate between play and reality is a skill that we all have. I believe that to some extent and, indeed, some philosophers would argue that we all share an illusion for our cultural activities that somehow we call actuality or a shared reality. So it’s kind of ironic really that people that the things we do engage in when we do this sort of gaming can be a bad thing. I mean certainly there are image types that one doesn’t like to encourage and I think that the site you mentioned has come to the attention of the world media for those very reasons. But it don’t seriously believe that there would be many girls who take that ‘game’ play and the role playing that is part of participating in that site to be something that they take as a real situation.

There certainly is a whole other element to the way we see ourselves when it comes to the online world – be it for better or for worse! As Amy Spear discovered the impacts of personal image on the net can be quite varied – from good to bad and all that’s in between.

Disconnected? Here are some ways to connect.

2008-03-09T23:01:00.003+11:00

Approximately a third of Australians don’t have direct internet and/or computer access in their home, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics: Household use of Technology 2006-07.

There are many reasons for this depending on individuals and their situation; but for some Australians it is a matter of:
- Not being able to afford the technology
- Because they feel daunted by the thought of turning on the computer
- Or because their situation living situation does not allow it.

As information technology become increasingly important in today’s society- State and Federal Governments, educational institutions and social support networks are have recognised its importance and are developing resources and services to help the disconnected become connected with technology.

In Insight, we will be looking at these initiatives, what they provide and how they can help more Australians get in touch using technology.

Firstly, there is the Street-Connect Outreach Technology Bus, run by the Salvation Army and it is a response to the growing demand in access to technology.

The technology bus is a van taking technology out to the people. It was developed in 2004 and circulates through cities and towns in NSW.

Reg Hierzer - the chaplain and coordinator of the street connect outreach technology program said the internet is essential in today’s society. Almost everyone uses it to commuicate and to look for information. Services on the bus include teaching computer skills on the spot with ongoing encouragement and to help them perform tasks on the computer (eg. Paying bills, doing tax, looking for accommodation). The bus has six laptops and a printer and they are all connected wireless.

Reg Hierzer said the main aim is to encourage users to utilise computers without any assistance.

The internet is proven to be a valuable information resource, even for those who may not have a home with the website: Rebeccas community (www.homeless.org.au/), which offers information resources and help for the homeless to get in touch with others in the same situation. This is just one of the many websites and services online that show why the internet is such a valuable resource to use.

However for those who feel disconnected because they do not have the experience with technology or aren’t comfortable with using it, TAFE NSW offer a wide range of courses that are subsidised and funded by State and Federal Governments to those who have an important need to develop their skills.

Kinga Macpherson is the head teacher of Access and General Education at Bathurst TAFE which runs a variety of programs and classes on IT and they’re not just limited to computing skills. Skills also taught include how to use a mobile phone, sms, ATMs, troubleshooting, word processing and how to be more comfortable with technology.

Courses include Access To Work and Training, and Skills to Further Work and Study, which are available to help people brush up on their IT skills for the workforce. Unlike other courses, they are not formal but instead they're there for people to meet their own specific goals.

Kinga Macpherson said if programs and services like these didn’t exist, some people would become isolated and disconnected because a lot of what people do now is on the computers and therefore it is an important skill to develop.

She also pointed out the main problem might be that people just don’t know where to get computer access. Some local libraries and neighbourhood information centres have free computer access.

The services pointed out in this segment are just a select few that are available in Australia. There are many services out there to cater for those who don’t have the skills or technology – some classes or courses are designed specifically for different skill levels, needs or even age groups.

Internet Censorship in China

2008-02-28T17:16:00.000+11:00

The Chinese government is notorious for having extreme censorship laws on public and private communication and information sources. The internet has not been immune from this censorship and in recent times people within China have been punished for accessing resources or publishing material the Chinese government deem inappropriate.

The 2008 Beijing Olympics will bring a flood of foreigners to China who are used to basically unrestricted internet access, however China is known for its stringent censorship laws. Aimee McIntosh spoke with David Tien a Chinese expatriate and Annamarie Reus a journalist about what effect Chinas watchful eye might have on tourists and journalists coming for the games.

David said that China’s current internet access rate is at about 12%, and that that would mean almost all people in cities access the internet. He explained how internet censorship in China works:

“There are two levels, one level is quite similar to the west, they don't want child pornography or how to make bombs for example. The other level has political concern; the (Chinese) Leadership don't want rumours spreading around. For example if you do a search on the Falun Gung movement, a lot of articles are blocked.”

One of the reasons internets is so often criticised or praised is because it is so difficult to police and monitor, Aimee asked David if people within China are finding ways to access information that is prohibited, In spite of heavy policing?

“There are ways to elude censorship; one of the common ways is to use a proxy server, which is located between the user and the website. The three well known ones are called the three musketeers.”

When China have hosted public events in the past, such as the APEC summit in Shanghai in 2001, China are said to have eased censorship laws and allowed access to banned websites temporarily, David said it was likely the same would happen during the Olympics but that it would be a temporary change.

“Even in Sydney during the Olympics everyone was on their best behaviour. I say that will possibly happen in China as well but once the games finish it will probably reverse back to normal.”

Annamarie Reus has worked as a journalist both within Australia and overseas for over a decade, she currently works for national radio news, Aimee spoke with her about what impact internet censorship might have on covering the Olympic Games.

Annamarie said the internet has become central to reporting on any event.

“Since the introduction of the internet I think it's not just about levelling off freedom of speech for different countries but it’s also about helping the work of a lot of journalists in different parts of the world. In particular technology has allowed quick access to information. I can't begin to emphasise how important the internet has become to journalists.”

“I remember when the Olympics happened in Australia, the moment any negative information came out about China, suddenly you couldn't access any comprehensive background information about those athletes.”

Annamarie said she thought it was essential for journalists to be familiar with China’s internet censorship laws so they could be sure their material was going to be accessible within China.

“I have been studying how I as a journalist can cover China, I have started looking up possibilities of where I could get my information from, and I have discovered just how difficult it is to get information. There’s already a few journalists (within China) who have ended up in gaol because they have used certain words. Words like freedom, democracy, Tianamen, human rights and democracy.”

“There is what they call the great firewall of china. There is actually an existent firewall in China that you can't get around. The people that recently ended up in gaol were the people who understood how firewalls worked and actually got around it. But after their reporting China pressured the service provider to provide the information and trace the journalists, and they all ended up in gaol.”

satellite imagery...

2008-01-11T09:01:00.000+11:00

Recently on homepage, producer Amy Spear took a look at Satellite imagery and how this could potentially help to monitor and protect the environment...

Satellite imagery is an amazing technology used by a number of organisations – as they say a picture paints a thousand words and there are many benefits to using this technology.
She spoke with David Moore, the managing director of Terranean Mapping Technologies and Len Banks, Executive Director for Scientific Services in the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change.
To begin with, David Moore explains just how a satellite image is taken:
“Remote sensing satellites take images of the earth and it’s like having a big scanner orbiting the earth at about 700km above the service and scanning lines backwards and forwards and measuring the visible light and infrared from the earth’s surface. That is transmitted back down to the earth to a ground receiving station and put together into an image which looks like an aerial photograph covering a very large area of the earth’s surface.”
There are certainly many benefits for analysing the environment…
“Mapping the environment and land use is a big one and, for example, a local counsel who is doing their planning not only wants to know where the native forest and native vegetation is now, but they want to put that into a historic context and go back and see how it was in the 1970s and see the changes that have occurred since then. There’s a nationwide program that is being run where every two years they actually measure the number of trees or the amount of woody vegetation over the whole country. They can calculate from the changes in that how much extra CO2 has been released from the tree clearing or taken back in by regeneration so that they can actually account for the changes in CO2. Also they’re using them for monitoring tree clearing – different states have different tree clearing legislation and using satellite images from two different times (before they brought the law in and after they brought the law in) they can see very clearly where trees are being cut down. It’s very good for monitoring in that sense.”
David’s background is in ecology – so while it’s interesting to see the way landscapes fit together and interact, he says it can also be very sobering to see the impacts of industrialisation from 700km in the air. He believes that these images, particularly in historical context, could be more readily available to the public.
So what can we expect from this technology in the future?
“Some of the things that are really driving this are getting quick turn around images – so people are now looking at the idea of putting a geostationary satellite up which is always looking down at the same time and just sending the images down so you’ll be able to see people driving along in their cars and get information in real time.
The other thing they’re looking at is measuring the entire spectrum in very great detail so that you can get very subtle differences in plant health, different soil types and geology and be able to do a lot more detailed scientific analysis of things.
As every one or two years goes past there’s a new satellite launched with even higher resolution of detail so we get can closer and closer to centimetre type scales of resolution.”
The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, in conjunction with the rest of the State Government, is one of the organisations making full use of this technology. Len Banks, the executive director for scientific services in this department, explains why it is an important tool in the field.
“The NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change uses satellite imagery so that we can get a digital representation of the landscape. The satellites pick up different reflections from the various features of the landscape. So whether they be trees or soil or water or buildings and so on, that builds up a picture of those different features. So being digital data, we can analyse the various components that come through in an image to measure, for instance, areas of particular density or features so that we can combine that then with other digital data like soils information or roads or planning decisions and approvals that might be spatially referenced and therefore in a digital format.
We can produce multiple layers of information about the landscape so that we can then compare differences over time or make investment decisions about where’s the best place to make changes in the landscape.”
There are, of course, a range of reasons this technology can be used. One example that is becoming apparent at the moment, is the use of imagery to capture land clearing crimes.
“One of the uses we’re putting the imagery to – we use it for a whole range of reasons – but an important one is to identify areas where there has been a change in vegetation. The satellite will tell us where there has been tree loss or perhaps even regeneration. That area of tree loss… could be through fire or land clearing or trees dieing from drought for instance. It tells us where people on the ground can go and check it against land clearing approvals and see where investigations need to take place. So it is a useful tool in pointing those investigations in the right direction and making those investigations much more efficient.”
Len says the NSW government is moving forward from the LandSat Imagery, which gives a resolution of about ten metres, to getting images through the Spot 5 satellites at about 2.5 metres squared. So now instead of seeing clumps of trees, they’ll be seeing individual ones on the landscape.
It will be interesting to see what is spotted in the future by this incredible technology.

The Rise of the Digital Tune

2008-01-02T13:50:00.000+11:00

It's time to face the facts: the digital era is here and it's affecting nearly every aspect of our lives. How we order our food, how we talk to people and even how we relax - all have been changed by digital in some way.

Thankfully the advent of digital has been largely for the better. But there's some concern about digital's impact on the world of music.

Homepage producer Matt Heffernan investigates.

Just like the CD killed the vinyl record, digital music downloads are beginning to kill off the CD. Disc players have been almost completely replaced with MP3 players and now the medium is undergoing the switch to the digital MP3 format.

But should this be a cause for concern?

Well, first of all, one must consider the audio quality of a digitally downloaded track in comparison to that of a CD. Generally speaking, a retail CD will nearly always beat out an MP3 download in the quality department. This occurs as a result of MP3 compression.

But what does that mean?

Essentially, compression requires the quality of the music to be shrunk down in order to keep the file size of the MP3 as low as possible, creating for faster downloads. A common quality, or bit rate, for an MP3 is 192 kilobits per second.

If you have iTunes installed and you're a little curious about the quality of some of your downloaded tracks, simply right click on a song and select "Get Info" and the bit rate information will be displayed on screen.

Most people, however, simply cannot notice the difference in quality between CD and MP3 audio when the music is played through an average sound system. The differences in quality become much more glaring, however, when MP3s are played through a classy car audio or well set up home entertainment system.

Essentially, the louder you bump low quality MP3 tunes the more they may begin to distort.

But what do the musicians themselves think about the rise of the digital era?

Matt had a chat with experimental band A Stranger's lead guitarist Brendan Smith about the issue of quality.

"I think it's a natural process...technology is advancing so fast now, it probably won't even be that long until MP3 audio is on a par or even better than CD audio... interesting times".

If musicians aren't too worried and the average listener can't pick up the difference in audio quality, there probably isn't too much for you to be worried about just yet. Although there is no doubt that the CD will one day be replaced by the MP3, there is still quite a long way to go before the CD is completely forgotten and thrown upon the musical scrap heap.

And for those of you shaking your heads, wondering what on earth you're going to do with all your old CDs when retail albums are finally replaced, don't worry because you can simply convert your CD's to MP3 on your home PC by using programs like iTunes and Windows Media Player. But don't fear...the digital changeover is still a few good years away.

Gaming stereotypes

2007-12-10T15:59:00.000+11:00

Computer games are always a hot and contentious topic. They're often at the centre of heated debates about censorship and their influence on young minds.

The gaming world is traditionally seen as a male one, with war games, medieval role plays and gangster shoot-ups all themes long assumed as typically masculine.

Recently the mobile gaming company 'Champagne for the Ladies' released 'Coolest Girl in School'; a game they see as targeting a largely untapped female gaming audience.

So, if guns and violence are the attraction for males to games, what ingredients are seen to lure women?

Holly Owen co-producer, writer and director of 'Coolest Girl in School'gives producer Aimee McInstosh a description of the game.

"Coolest Girl in School lets players live out their high school fantasies by inviting them to experiment with fashion, spread rumours, while avoiding real-life embarrassment. Lie, bitch and flirt your way to the top of the high school ladder".

Holly adds the game doesn't claim to meet every woman's interests.

"The thing that's important to remember when we talk about making a game specifically for women is no two women are the same, their likes and dislikes are going to vary significantly. We're not claiming that every woman on earth will love this game".

"We wanted to make a game that focussed on things central to that teenage girl's universe. It draws very much on high school movies and television shows".

Even though 'Coolest Girl in School' has not yet been released it has attracted a lot of attention from parent groups, angry that a game would promote behaviours they see as unsuitable.

Debate about how influential computer games are on people are common in many fields. Aimee asked James Tulip, head of the Games Technology course at Charles Sturt University, if he believed games can influence the way people see the world.

"It's got to be said there are some games that are the equivalent of violent pornography, and it's been shown time after time that consumers of violent pornography are more likely to indulge in those behaviours.

So bottom line is if your game shows bad attitudes toward women, kids are going to pick up bad attitudes towards women, if your games show racism, they are more likely to show racist attitudes".

Computer gaming is coming to be seen as more significant in popular culture and entertainment than Hollywood so it would seem that it's potential influence is hugely significant.

So what are the images being displayed in these games? In the area of gender there actually seems to be a mix of both male and female heroes. In some games they battle against each other and females are not the weak and submissive stereotypes women have tried to fight for so long.

However Kate Seymour, a lecturer in gender politics at Charles Sturt University, said this new power woman might just offer another unattainable stereotype.

"It's a fraught issue because it's definately a positive thing to be presenting different images of women around women being strong. However, I'd be hard pressed to think of any female heroine that hasn't also been very much sexualised.

I think it's a bit of a double edged sword in that messages about power and strength for females to be taking on are good, positive messages. However those imgages tend to be very much associated with those very stereoptypical bodies".

Aimee asked Holly if she felt 'Coolest Girl in School', which requires players to manipultate in order to succeed was also reinforcing negative female stereotypes.

"Not at all, this game is about playing with stereotypes, it's about critically engaging with them and subverting them".

Kate Seymour wonders how much of a challenge can be made to stereotypes in the context of a game like 'Coolest Girl in School'.

"I can't really imagine how a mobile phone game could in itself challenge stereotypes. If if stimulates discussion and debate on a broader level than that's potentially productive but how that would actually work on an individual level I can't see how that would work".

So how much responsibility should the gaming industry be taking for its influence on the way people see and interact with the world?

"Gaming or popular culture can have a role in shifting stereotypes but I don't think it can produce change in itself, it can only gradually shift. But, having said that, I think that is the answer around shifting stereotypes in the way of presenting figures that aren't stereoptypical in all sorts of ways." Kate said.

'Coolest Girl in School' is a joint production of Holly Owen of Champagne for the Ladies www.champagnefortheladies.com and Karyn Lanthois of Kukan Studio www.kukanstudio.com.

Virtual tours

2007-11-02T15:19:00.000+11:00

Have you ever looked at a picture or photo of an object or a room and wondered what the surroundings and angles of it would look like?

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to scroll side to side up and down to get a better perspective of things?

Some of you may be familiar with java virtual tours which are available on online sites; especially in the real estate industry.

It is another clear example of what the online environment can provide computer users without the need to leave a computer.

Homepage producer Elizabeth Leong spoke to Greg Solon from Dynamite photography about how these virtual tours and panoramic images are created and then placed online for our viewing.
Greg Solon talks about using a unique ultra-wide lens SLR camera to capture the image before using photo stitching software and java viewers to create the interactive experience.

Photo stitching software is quite intelligent – using control points to create a smooth image to create the 360 degree by 180 degree images seen in virtual tours.

Compared to photography, offer a more interactive experience visually and can enhance what would normally be communicated by a photo. Virtual tours can also incorporate voice overs or natural sounds in the environment to make the experience more real. But it is highly unlikely to take over what photos have to offer: a solid image in the mind and the simplicity of producing them.

Greg Solon says the potential of virtual tours will be limitless as technology and software develops in both photography and imagery software; but one of the limitations of virtual tours is that it will never ever replace the actual experience.

Online gateway to Burma

2007-10-26T17:07:00.000+10:00

For the past month the media has been plastered with images of thousands of Buddhist monks marching the streets of Rangoon, as they try to bring world attention to the rule of an oppressive militant government.

There have been rallies world wide and huge media coverage to try and gain international momentum for the situation.

However it's not the first time Burmese civilians have taken action agains tehir government. Last decade rallies of a similar scale were happening in Burma but they were shut down much more quickly.

Homepage producer Aimee McIntosh spoke with Cheri Mangrai, a Burmese language journalist for SBS and radio free Asia and co-founder of Burma Gateway, a website that aims to bring information about Burma to Australians.

Aimee asked Cheri what had changed to give the Burma movement a stonger impact this time. Cherie says Burma becoming more connected to the world has opened up channels for information to be exchanged.

"For a long time the military regime has been very successful in having a media black-out in Burma. However, recently the Generals have become more confidnt so they have become a bit more sophisticated. They have gone cyber to catch u8p thwith the world in the name of development. Of course this has got its drawbacks for the governemtn; it simply means that the people have a means of sending our graphic images, news and events almost instataneiously."

Cherie says it's important that information about the Burmese situation is accessed by outside

Politics Online

2007-10-10T10:49:00.000+10:00

It's that time again when everyone is asking...who will you be voting for?

A different source of information and influence is on the rise in the political sphere, and today on homepage we explore what role the internet might play in the 2007 federal election campaign.

How soon can we expect to join other countries in voting online? When will internet popularity impact on the polls? To answer these questions homepage producer Amy Spear talks to David Marshall, Professor of New Media at the University of Woollongong, James Griffin, founder of iVote Australia and Greg Smith from Edith Cowen University.

Professor David Marshall suggests the internet is allowing for a new kind of access to politics and voting. This is being achieved through various mediums such as blogs and videos - and the result could be a change in our political culture. The internet makes a wider field of politics more accessible to the general public where in the past newspapers, television and radio have shaped our opinion forming during election campaigns.

Professor Marshall says it's important for politicians and political parties to embrace online culture, but unless it's developed to be interactive it can certainly backfire. If you don't understand how the internet engages audiences then you can end up looking out of touch - even when you're trying to be edgy.

Some suggest it's inevitable that voting will someday move online but the transition might not be received as readily as other aspects of our online life. Voting in democracies is ritualistic, according to Professor Marshall. The voter doesn't impact greatly in the lead up to an election and contemplating online voting would possibly reduce political engagement even further. Alternatively online voting could be very effective for plebiscites or referendums.

In choosing to found a website such as iVote Australia which is dedicated to raising political awareness in young people, James Griffin was seizing on the popularity of the internet for spreading a message.

The internet ensures that people aren't just consumers anymore, it's an interactive medium and James believes it was only a matter of time before it trickled into Australian politics having been embraced by the USA. James suggest it's a good way for young Australians to get involved.

In Australia where the population is sometimes apathetic towards politics, providing information to people through the internet could be a good way of getting people more active. In the lead-up to, and during the first weeks of the 2007 federal election campaign we've seen our politicians adopt the internet as a communication tool and interact with voters in a new way.

James suggests there are two points to note for using this campaign strategy. The first is having inspirational leaders or candidates who are standing up to be counted in politics, and the second is having powerful social tools like the internet to demonstrate that interest in politics covers a broad cross-section of our community.

James goes further to suggest that the introduction of an online voting system might change the the traditions associated with voting day.

They've had glitches in America with the system and some question whether online voting can ever be safe - will the results of an election be true if using online voting? Professor Smith has considered the idea of a smaller party having its membership vote online for policy, achieving results and action a lot faster.

Concern for malfunction and cyber crime might delay the introduction of online voting in Australia. However Greg argues that convenience, particularly for people living in remote areas or who are away from home on polling day, must be a determining factor for implementation.

We've already seen political activity on the internet for this election and even though we're not yet able to vote online, will the internet play an influential role during this election?

Probably not says Greg. The quality of the websites from the candidates is not likely to influence anyone. The problem also lies in the fact that if you want to get information from the net, you often have to be connected at the right time or set up your own account - you really have to be keen to look for it. Greg suggests the problem with politics on the net is that it isn't done seriously. The site managers need to better target their audience and be better presented. Greg further suggests that candidates on the internet for this election haven't really thought through their online intention - they look like their imitating what's coming from USA. Greg reckons that Kevin Rudd has had a better shot than John Howard's online team, because the Kevin07 site is a stand alone site which is easier to locate.

So will you be jumping online to learn more from our politicians during this election campaign. Would you consider taking the next step and voting online too?

Politicians, political parties and the voters are increasingly embracing the internet as a political medium. While it might now still be in relatively early stages, we can only sit back and watch as it grows. Recently Ten's Meet the Press announced their program will include a segment where MySpace users can use videos to ask politicians questions. Good, bad or ugly, political culture is on the move...and it's coming to a computer near you.

Prisms

2007-10-08T10:23:00.000+10:00

The homepage team regularly surfs the web to discover new and interesting sites. We've found there is a growing number of sites offering support and resources to deal with medical, social and lifestyle challenges.

Aimee looks at a website offering a support network for single mothers. It's called Providing Rousources for Independent Single Mothers after Separation or PRISMS. Kate Wet is the founding director of this web based organisation.

Kate says the site aims to offer women information and resources but it's main focus is to provide connections between women who have experienced or are experiencing single parenting and relationship separation.

"Probably the cornerstone of the whole website is that online forum which is an opportunity for women to share their stories and hear about other people's experiences".

Kate says she was inspired to launch the site based on her own experiences of separation. "The idea came about when I first separated almost three years ago. I really formed it (the site) because of the lack of information (available) and particularly the idea that the internet is such a vital tool now for people getting information and networking and finding support."

Kate suggests the advantage of online support networks is the flexible access. "The internet is an incredible tool, one of the key reasons why I formed PRISMS was that I wanted there to be a responsive organisation essentially based online that would be there for me when I needed it, even if it was at 1 o'clock in the morning. Often as a single parent you get very little time to yourself, when finally your kids are in bed you can't go out to the office of an organisation to meet somebody at ten o'clock at night".

You can look up PRISMS at http://www.prisms.com.au. You'll find resources and advice for single parents, a forum for members and details about support groups that meet all over the country.

using SMS at school

2007-09-25T13:41:00.000+10:00

It seems the days of writing absent notes, signing excursion forms and having to convince your kids that they really should tell you when parent-teacher night is on, might soon be drawing to a close.

Now it's all about SMS - instant information for parents and students about what's going on in school.

While the predominant use of this system is still to confirm a student's whereabouts, we're not only seeing the use of it for general information, but more the arrival of advanced systems such as swipe cards and fingerprinting.

Amy Spear chatted to Isabella Reily, a year 12 student at Newcastle High where they have been using SMS for two years now. She also caught up with the principal Peter Kilburn and Vladimir Ostashkevich from attendance system developers Academy Photography.

Isabella Reily says the system is quite effective - you only have to be a little bit late for class and the SMS system will kick into place, informing your parent or caregiver about your absence. However, she does find that this can sometimes be too much.

Her Dad, a busy teacher himself, will often receive messages saying Isabella is absent when she has a free period and is therefore not required to be at school.

There are certainly mixed messages coming from the student body. While many don't have a problem with the system, feeling that it's merely a good thing to embrace technology, some do feel that it can be an invasion of privacy.

Isabella suggests that it should be based on the relationship between a child and a parent - for some, a text message is an effective way to know what they're up to. For others, however, it's an unnecessary precaution. She also knows of instances where students have given a false number (for example, their own or a friend's), effectively making the system redundant.

However most embrace the system for what it is - Principle Peter Kilburn describes it as just a quicker, more convenient update of the old note system, one that can quickly cover 80% of the student population.

He says that the general response from the school's community has been overwhelmingly positive. In fact, it's now not just absent notes that are distributed through SMS, but information about parent-teacher nights and other school functions. Guess that means that there will be no 'forgetting' to get the note out of the bag anymore!

Mr Kilburn admits that mistakes can be made, and plenty of parents will tell you that they've received a message when their child was simply on role-duty. However, the school feels that it would rather err on the side of caution, then fail to take up their duty of care.

But what about issues of privacy? Mr Kilburn can't understand how a message could invade privacy - it's simply doing what has been done forever in schools, marking attendance and informing parents.

There are now other systems on the market, such as fingerprinting and swipe cards, which are creating quite a stir amongst some groups, claiming that it is going too far. A sentiment that Newcastle High will stick to now, with no foreseeable plans of this kind of system in the future.

Vladimir Ostashkevich, of Academy Photography and Attendance, is a company who develops these systems from SMSing to student fingerprinting. It became apparent a few years ago that there was a demand for newer student administration technology and, as they already provided bar-coded library cards as part of their photography package, this seemed the logical next step.'

Vladimir agrees with Mr Kilburn, in that the technology is simply the next step forward. When he was in school, attendance was kept in a number of books and notes sent home to Mum. Now it's simply a matter of reading a barcode and a quick SMS - or fingerprinting and card swiping which is being introduced over the next few years. Therefore he too doesn't believe it's anymore of a privacy concern than old systems - it's instantaneous rather than over a period of week or so.

His suggestion to combat giving the school false number or the accidental response of "yes, I'm sick" is to have the parent call, rather than SMS back as often as possible.

It's great to see schools embracing the technological age and now that everyone is so adept at using a mobile phone for example, it certainly is convenient. But whether some measures are going too far will remain to be seen.

Online counselling and grieving

2007-09-24T15:53:00.000+10:00

Life is full of obstacles and it is inevitable at some point most of us will face challenges in our lives that will cause us to grieve and look for others to offer support and advice. Death networking is a recent online trend where people are turning to the internet to grieve and make memorials and tributes for their loved ones. They can also meet people over the internet that are also in the same position. This in turn can help people through their grief.

This trend inspired Homepage producer and presenter Elizabeth Leong to look at how the internet can help people that are experiencing tough times in their lives.

Elizabeth talks to Roger Chappell, the manager of a company called Media-two which runs an online memorial site. Roger explained people are more comfortable expressing themselves online because it’s like writing in a diary – there’s no need to hold back.

There are also many other factors which make the internet an attractive medium – convenience is an important one because the internet is easily accessible by most people and can be accessed any time; proximity is another because people all over the globe can access the one memorial.

The Chief Executive of the Australian Counselling Association Peter Armstrong argues this point: people are going online to express themselves not because they’re more comfortable in doing so, but because of convenience. He uses Princess Diana’s death as an example: people were not able to travel across the globe to pay her a tribute, so many opted to go online to express their thoughts instead.

However Kids Help Line senior researcher Phillipa Hawke says telecommunication mediums are attractive because of the anonymity it offers users for users behind the phone and a computer. It helps people who want to talk about issues which may bring up feelings of embarrassment and/or shame – communicating through telecommunication mediums provides these people with a safer environment.

On the other hand Phillip Armstrong says people need to be mindful when they’re seeking for help online because one negative comment can have potentially shattering effects. He says someone could come in and make a remark or a comment which could send many people into crisis because it can confuse, be hurtful and cause complicated grief. However, comments made online can also be therapeutic because it can reassure someone that there are people who can understand and relate to their situation.

Phillipa Hawke also looks into the dangers of not going to an online accredited counsellor, saying seeking help from other online venues requires stepping in with caution. She says older people can take advantage of vulnerabilities in younger people and information can be misused.

Phillip Armstrong and Phillipa Hawke also discuss the pros and cons of going online over face-to-face counselling and discuss future aims and developments in this field concerning telecommunication mediums.

Services include the Kids Help Line, which is a free 24 hour telephone and online counselling service aimed at young people between the ages of 5 and 25. Lifeline 131 114 is another 24 hour crisis line offer counselling over the phone not only for the grieving and abuse/violence, mental illness, life direction, suicide related issues and, but not restricted to – loneliness.

Health Online

2007-09-24T09:26:00.000+10:00

The World Wide Web is beginning to compete with human interaction as the amount and range of services provided on the net meet and sometimes even exceed those available to us in our neighbourhoods.

But can the internet meet all our needs?

One service that is being offered over the internet through thousands of websites is healthcare information and advice.

Some argue that these resources are a danger to people who have health problems because the internet is so difficult to mediate or standardise, however the accessibility of the internet does seem to open up a lot of possibilities to the world of medicine and health.

Dr Peter Garcia-Webb is the chairman of the Australian Medical Association IT committee. Aimee McIntosh speaks with Peter to find out about the world of online health.

"I think it (online medicine) offers a huge amount. Obviously there are some areas like anything where the information is not such good quality, but there also are some quite good quality sites. And particularly when an individual is considering the follow up of disease and looking to get a bit more information."

Dr Webb explains that the online world can be good for follow up and information, however it faces obstacles in the area of diagnosis, and so online health has to be approached together with consultation with a doctor.

"One of the difficulties in a person trying to find out what's wrong with them from using the web, is that they might miss the real problem. There's got to be a balance between trying to fix it yourself and getting professional advice."

Some websites offer online consultation with a qualified doctor. Aimee asks Dr Webb if these 'medical chat-rooms' could substitute face to face consultations.

"One of the major difficulties of just chat-room type medicine is that the doctor doesn't end up seeing the patient, and although you could say you could easily manage over the phone, in point of fact if the patient is blue and I don't know that, that is slightly different to if they're pink. So it's quite possible to miss things quite seriously if we're dealing with just words."

There are many excellent health resources available on the internet but like anything on the net, it's important to be careful and critical of information, look out for sites run by organisations that you know and trust, and always make use of information along with advice from your doctor.

A couple of helpful and reliable websites include:

Lab Tests Online - This is a website launched last month by the federal health minister Tony Abbott, which offers in depth but easy to understand explanations of all the tests your doctor prescribes for you http://www.labtestsonline.org.au/

Department of Health and Aging - This website for the government's department of health and aging which provides information on health services and health products in Australia and links to to other reliable health information on the internet http://www.health.gov.au/

Technology & Farming

2007-09-03T09:48:00.000+10:00

The face of farming as we know it is changing. Now you need to be just as adept in using a computer as being able to identify a good animal when you see one. How are farmers adapting to the change? Is farming technology a welcome development for those working on the land?

Neil Inall of the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology suggests the image and practice of farming is shifting and technology is playing a role in that shift. While there are some in the farming sector adopting to new technology, there is still some resistance among many long-time farmers. Neil suggests that, in order to see the value of new innovations, the farming community need to be shown how they can use different systems to the benefit of their work.

It's been the subject of many debates, and one that always finds its way in to the media...are people living on the land serviced adequately in terms of communications technology? All these new systems and software are well and good, but they'll make no difference if people living on the land can't access them. Neil believes a policy to address this situation in rural Australia might be a vote-winner in the upcoming election.

Will farms be able to operate in the future without the level of communications as we know them now? "Yes," says Neil, "but don't expect them to make any money."

To take a closer look at the software and technology available, there's a whole range of products that come under the farm management title. You've got programs to calculate estimated breed value and manage entire herds of animals. Records can be kept and easily accessed in order to monitor breeding plans and keep track of, for example, a temperamental cow that is treading a very fine line between paddock or sale yards. They cover the financial side which enables farmers to watch over income and expense. There's mapping and climate information at your fingertips and of course, you can delve into automated irrigation and tractors that can be programmed to drive themselves.

But how important are having all these gizmos and gadgets? homepage producer Amy Spears asks Stephen Lil from cattle company Chadwick Downs if technology is an essential tool for every day farm life and business? Stephen says when it comes down to whether or not technology and software can assist with the basic task of breeding cattle, a farmer needs to look beyond the surface of the software because cattle and farming don't fit to a calculated equation. While breeding software programs can help you identify, monitor and predict herd traits, you can't truly track nature.

Stephen is a avid adopter of computer technology and uses a website and email for 80-90% of business dealings. Additionally he uses technology to keep records of his farming activities. One thing that technology can't do though, is bring the rains.

e-waste

2007-08-27T10:35:00.000+10:00

How many electronic items do you have in your home? And how often do you replace them? It seems like every time a new computer program is release you have to buy a new computer to use it.

We live in a fast changing world, and as technology becomes faster and cheaper, upgrades seem to become more essential.

But of course with all these upgrades the old computers, phones and TVs have to end up somewhere. Electronic waste, or e-waste is a problem that's growing as fast as technology's advancing. In fact 20 to 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated every year worldwide.

Griffith University in Queensland has established a research project which is working with councils and large organisations around Australia to develop better ways to manage the problem of e-waste. homepage producer Aimee McIntosh talked with Dr Georgina Davis, a researcher involved with the project.

Dr Davis pointed out there are many dangers posed to the environment by chemicals contained in the materials electronic items are made up of, but also dangers posed by irresponsible energy consumption and unnecessary use.

Through looking into these projects Dr Davis has found councils committed to e-waste initiatives can sometimes find it hard to fund relevant projects. Dr Davis believes that more awareness about the importance of responsible e-waste management will provide the resources councils need.

While there are projects that need to happen at a community and council level to deal with e-waste, Dr Davis also gave some tips on how the individual can deal responsibly with e-waste. Some of these include:

buying a computer from a company that offers a pick up and recycle service at the end of the computer's usable life
sharing computers and printers
refilling inkjet cartridges with soy or non-petroleum based inks
printing only what is necessary
recycling paper waste
giving away your old computer to charity, family or friends
choosing computers that minimize energy consumption (laptops are the best)

There are plenty of options we can make use of in dealing responsibly with e-waste. There are also plenty of resources on the net that explain how to deal with e-waste and a variety of other green computing initiatives. Some useful web links are:

EPEAT is an organisation that calculates environmental ratings for computers http://www.epeat.net

Griffith university's e-waste project website is: http://www.griffith.edu.au/ewaste

Homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Where's CDMA going?

2007-08-20T10:09:00.000+10:00

Are you a current user of the Telstra CDMA network?

Then you've probably heard by now that it won't be long before you'll be upgrading to the new 3G or NextG networks...in fact, perhaps you already have.

Telstra's latest move has caused quite a stir from both those who are affected by the change and by government officials.

There's concern from rural citizens that the new networks won't have the same coverage and signal as experienced now, and therefore are reluctant to change. This week on tech talk we explore the time frame, the effects, the opinions and the basics of this very hot topic. homepage producer Amy talks to independent candidate for Calare, Gavin Priestly, CDMA customer Marilyn Tillig and Senator Andrew Bartlett of the Queensland Democrats.

So first of all a bit of a rundown of the networks.

The CDMA network is in the process of being phased out after the announcement to build the Next G network in 2005. Customers can keep their existing CDMA phone until they choose to update...but it's crunch time, with the phase out expecting to take place early next year.

The Next G network is said to cover 98% of the population - 1.9 million square km as opposed to the current 1.6 million. Telstra has promised that it will be faster and provide access to new technology such as video calling and high internet speeds.

3G covers 50% of Australians and provides access to advanced mobile technology.

Unfortunately, at this stage there are concerns about blackspots throughout the country - areas that aren't receiving the same service under the new networks. It is Telstra's ambition to remedy this, to make the network equivalent or better, before phasing CDMA out.

One such place affected was the NSW regional town of Orange, however Telstra has just unveiled the last of three towers intended to improve signal. The independent candidate for Calare Gavin Priestly believes this is a step in the right direction. He says that previously coverage had been quite varied throughout the town - Telstra had acted to improve the overall signal. While this is a promising solution, will we have to see new towers pop up in all affected areas throughout Australia? Mr Priestly believes that they will attempt to improve the Next G signal from the current towers, but may need new ones in high density areas.

Country people need to make sure that all of their services, particularly in communication need to be kept on a par with the city. There needs to be some sort of comparison so that these areas can grow and develop. Let's face it. In this day and age, the convenience of a mobile phone is a great comfort, particularly to those living on property.

Marilyn Tillig lives in a rural area halfway between Albury and Wagga. So how important is mobile coverage for her? It means that in a time of emergency she can call who she needs to call without the network breaking up.

Marilyn would be happy to upgrade to the new networks - provided they really are upgrades. She's not so concerned about making video calls and downloading music videos - all she wants is for the new networks to improve coverage and fix blackspots.

Like others in her situation, she is expected to update to the NextG network and a suitable handset by early next year. It is understood that many will have to do this anyway as plans expire.

Senator Andrew Bartlett also has concerns for regional Australia. He notes that is is always good to update and improve - as long as it is just that. There has certainly been a lot of debate over whether this is the case.

Senator Bartlett believes much of the debate is a result of the Government's decision to privatise Telstra without sufficient control.

The National Party has decided to lobby Telstra to keep the CDMA network until the emerging networks have been proven.

It appears there are advantages to the new network, but there's also plenty of concern. If this topic hits close to home, you've still got until early 2008 to get things sorted and make sure you've got the best telephone system for you.

(homepage requested an interview with a representative from Telstra about this issue, but at the time of going to air, we had no response.)
Homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Online Mapping Technology

2007-08-13T14:56:00.000+10:00

Ever find your self lost or wondering where is it?

With the continual rise in popularity of the internet (52.5 million users nationally) maps and aerial photos have made their way online- giving users a more interactive and detailed way of finding their route from A to B.

An example of one of these sites is Whereis.com: an online digital map and aerial photo database which offers maps and photos for locations all over Australia with the options of finding precise directions and locations.

Homepage producer Elizabeth Leong spoke to the senior product manager of whereis.com Belinda Lang about the website and about what options are available online compared to traditional street directories.

Belinda explained the process of capturing aerial and satellite images of capital cities:
Aerial photos are taken with in a low flying plane with a digital camera. It allows users to view an actual picture of a specific area – with 15cm being equivalent to 1 pixel on screen, so objects can be zoomed in and be seen in specific detail instead of just seeing a map.

There are 2 key things a person can do on the site: they can search for a map or they can search for specific directions giving turn by turn directions, or directions can be provided for walking on foot with directions on pathways.

One of the advantages of using maps online is the convenience of not having to flick from page to page like with a normal street directory. This is because the option of panning is available, where a mouse can be used to slide the map across the screen to see what’s in the surrounding area.

To cover a larger area, online maps have the option of zooming out and panning across; or the user can zoom in to see specific roads and details in the area. They also have the option of searching what facilities are available in certain areas; for example: police stations or camping sites, which can be useful for various purposes.

There are two general options when searching for directions: the fastest time or the shortest distance. The fastest time gets the user to the destination quicker as there is the likelihood of travelling along freeways or highways. But shortest distance is shortest distance by kilometres which involves travelling through side streets but may not be the fastest due to lower speed zones.

There is a wide variety of mapping services available online many differing to accommodate specific search categories.

http://www.ga.gov.au offers geoscience maps of Australia (topographic maps, geology maps, mineral maps and satellite images)
http://earth.google.com/, offers satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings, allowing you to explore locations in 3D views.
http://www.atlapedia.com/ offers physical maps and political maps as well as key facts and statistics around the world.
http://www.railmaps.com.au/ offers information and maps of rail networks all over Australia.
http://www.toiletmap.com.au shows the location of more than 14,000 public and private public toilet facilities across Australia.

Homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Robots in our Oceans

2007-08-06T09:36:00.000+10:00

Did you know there are robots in our oceans?

homepage producer Aimee didn't until she spoke with senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Julie Evans, about the Bureau's latest website Blue Link.

The website which was developed by Australian Scientists in collaboration with the Royal Australian Navy, the CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology, makes use of new technology using buoys in oceans all over the world called Argo Ocean Profilers.

These buoys collect data beneath the oceans surface and transmit it to satellite every few days.

Information from the Argo Ocean Profilers is combined with satellite images to give forecasts of ocean currents, temperatures, levels and salinity.

Accessing this information has been a crucial part of developing the Blue Link service that gives forecasts of ocean conditions in real time.

Looking at the visual map of the ocean forecasts is a bit like the opening of a James Bond or Austin Powers film; fluorescent, psychedelic patters swirl along the Australian coastline showing changes in ocean temperature and depth.

Jule explained that these patters are very exciting for oceanographers.

"For oceanographers, who study the ocean, it's probably a bit like meteorologists when they first got satellites that could see cloud patterns from space."

Aside from scientific use though, Julie said the forecasts would be useful for many different industries and individuals.

"Anybody operating in our offshore currents; the locations of fish and other marine animals tend to be very sensitive to these eddies and whirls in the ocean that we can't see just normally looking from space. And also marine environmental management, disaster mitigation and safety of life at sea I guess, there will be quite a few users out there".

The Bureau of Meteorology have also updated their radar, offering more detailed maps when you look at a weather forecast, for the advantage of people in more isolated areas so they can find their position on weather charts more accurately.

"You can select to have major roads or railways, rivers, lakes, catchments on or off on your radar image. So especially for people in rural areas who perhaps aren't near a town and wonder where a particular thunder storm is appearing on the radar relative to them, they'll have a lot more information to be able to place themselves on the radar".

Julie said they were just waiting for a bit of rain to test it out.

The Blue Link website is: http://www.bom.gov.au.oceanography/forecasts

The Bureau of Meteorology's improved radar system can found at:
http://mirror.bom.gov.au/weather/radar

Homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Smile for the Camera

2007-07-30T14:31:00.000+10:00

This week homepage producer Rochelle Nolan interviews Steven Hutcheon (Digital Editor of SMS and The Age online) about digitally manipulating images. It is ethically unacceptable for journalists to manipulate images, but in an age of citizen journalism propelled by advancements in communications technology, even the best journalists can be fooled by a photo someone sends in that appears untouched but has in fact been manipulated.

Many news services take advantage of technology and invite citizens to send in their own photographs or footage of events. This can be really helpful for news teams (think mobile phone footage captured in the London bombings where news teams were able to broadcast footage their crews wouldn't have been able to access) but it can also prove disastrous.

Technology such as Adobe Photoshop and other image alteration programs are now so advanced it's easy to change photos in so many ways, and not be able to tell at all.

Steven suggests there seems to be one set of rules for news journalists and another set of rules for the people who design fashion magazine covers and apply digital manipulation technology in order to create a sort of 'preferred reality'. Steven also says people can use this technology in their own personal photo collection to create their own preferred reality.

There is no current code of ethics or guidelines in place specifically dealing with image alteration.

Homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org/

Automated Self Service

2007-07-23T15:17:00.000+10:00

It's been a concern for the last twenty years...that developments in phones and internet capabilities have seen an increase in technology replacing human tasks. Sometimes this also means a risk of people losing jobs.

For insight producer Elizabeth Leong investigates automated self-service, a style of system and software that's offering reliability, intelligence, productivity, convenience and speed for mundane customer service tasks. These include general customer service, help desk, directory assistance and support. Elizabeth asks the questions: how effective and reliable is this technology and what about security and the decline in personal service?

To find out the answers Elizabeth speaks with Hank Jongen, General Manager of Centrelink and Chief Technology Officer of VE Commerce, Brett Feldon.

Brett says in recent years we've seen the rise of self-service in general due in part to more and more organisations doing business over the internet. He adds, more recently we've seen the development of self-service over the telephone with speech recognition software which is able to recognise words and direct a caller. For most businesses self-service technology is implemented for convenience sake.

Centrelink is an example of an organisation that has adopted automated technology into their services and Hank Jongen says the decision to do so was based on customer expectation. Today Centrelink customers can choose to use self-service for about 50 different transactions including accessing details of Centrelink payments. For Centrelink the decision to implement self-service technology was about providing a choice for customers.

hompage is produced in the studios of 2MCE, Bathurst for the Community Radio Network and is supported financially by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can hear homepage on the 2MCE streaming service each Monday at 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Getting your face on FaceBook

2007-07-16T14:28:00.000+10:00

Maybe you've heard of FaceBook? It's known as the older, less personalised version of MySpace. It's the 7th most visited site in the U.S. and it's currently sweeping across Australia and garnering huge support and usage. So much so in fact that our politicians are using it and creating their very own FaceBook page. It seems politicians are increasingly making use of technology to reach people in new ways.

homepage producer Rochelle Nolan speaks with journalist and avid FaceBook user Guy Logan to find out what FaceBook is and get some insight why it's such a popular tool for politicians in campaigning as well as where this might lead in the future.

Rochelle discovers that FaceBook is a networking site which was designed along the lines of an interactive university year book. On FaceBook you upload a photo of yourself with as little or as detailed accompanying information as you like.

Guy says that FaceBook is used by politicians in the U.S. because it's in the top 10 most visited sites on the web. Politicians use FaceBook to talk to almost 30million users world-wide...almost 100 000 users logging on to FaceBook every day. With these numbers, politicians can use FaceBook to connect with their communities and gauge what the public are talking about.

homepage is broadcast nationally each week to community radio stations across Australia via the Community Radio Network. The program is produced with financial assistance from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can stream homepage Monday 3pm EST via http://www.2mce.org.

Addiction to Games

2007-07-09T15:35:00.000+10:00

You can't live without it....everything pales in comparison to getting your next fix...well, at least that's what some people are saying. No, we're not talking about drugs or alcohol...homepage producer Amy Spear investigates recent claims that gaming can be addictive. Amy asks what makes gaming appealing to so many people? Is it the status you achieve or the social aspects? Is it the content, the graphics or is it merely something to do? Perhaps it's more the chance to escape from reality and live an entirely different life where you're a warrior saving the world from ultimate destruction...or maybe that's just Amy!

To answer these questions Amy speaks with IT Sales & Service Professional Tom Wilding, and games expert Chris S. Johnson from the University of Technology in Sydney.

Games technology is now the fastest growing segment of the entertainment industry. The world of mass multi-player online gaming is changing the way we interact with other people, the way we kick back and have fun, and even the way we view our world. Over the past few weeks it's been brought to our attention that some doctors are calling for gaming addiction to be classified as a psychiatric disease. While the medical and games industries have both expressed the need for more research into the area, there can be no denying the seriousness of the claims. And with 40million gamers world wide this is one issue that can't be put on the back burner.

Chris S. Johnson reckons humans find anything addictive. He says "games are addictive in as much as they present people with challenges. They're an active form of entertainment as against, say TV". Chris agrees games can be addictive but adds he doesn't believe games are any more addictive then other things like TV.

Tom Wilding works with computers and is a keen gamer himself. Tom likes the social aspect of multi-player gaming which allows people to meet and interact with likeminded people.

Ever changing, always growing and undeniably appealing, there's no doubt that games technology is set to become even more a part of our lives. But do we need to take action to cerb unhealthy use? When is too much really too much? The calls to identify gaming addiction as a serious illness are there. How far will it go?

homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE Bathurst and is distributed nationally via the Community Radio Network. The program is made with financial assistance from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can listen to homepage on 2MCE via our streaming at http://www.2mce.org.

Broadband in the Bush

2007-07-02T16:44:00.000+10:00

New to the homepage team is Aimee McIntosh and for her first episode of homepage, Aimee looks at how the internet affects farmers across Australia and whether or not the Federal Government's plans to bring broadband access to more Australians will make a difference to farming communities.

The 2006 census revealed that 60% of Australians have the internet connected to their homes and over half of these are connected to broadband. The Federal Government's recent announcement of a plan that will see 99% of Australians able to access broadband is hoped to boost business and productivity across Australia.

Aimee has fond memories of growing up in Bourke and first connecting to the internet. She recalls:

"Growing up in Bourke I remember when one of my friends got internet at their house. We would all come over to check emails and the surf the net, but the thrill pretty quickly wore off when we decided we didn't want to wait the ten minutes for a page to load. Since leaving Bourke and experienceing faster internet I don't have the patience to wait 60 seconds for a page to load. It seems obvious that the internet will not be popular among farmers as long as they only have access to dial up."

In order to gauge how people in regional Australia use the internet, Aimee speaks to two farmers about how the internet is used in farming practice and what effect access to broadband would have on their lives.

Ian Cole is an irrigation farmer in Bourke, New South Wales, who says the internet plays a crucial role in his daily life as a farmer and that access to broadband would make a huge impact. Ian tells Aimee the slow speed of his current internet connection hinders what would otherwise be much faster work and that broadband would be a welcomed upgrade.

Jim McIntosh is a dairy farmer in regional Victoria who says access to the internet means he can stay in touch with bankers and business that he would otherwise only see once a year. Jim adds he uses the internet to stay in touch with family who live in other parts of Australia.

Aimee learns that while Ian and Jim depend on the internet for different things they both agree that they couldn't image their lives without it. Aimee concludes that broadband access will enhance business and communication for farmers and their families and help bridge the gap between urban and rural communities.

homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE Bathurst and is distributed nationally via the Community Radio Network. The program is made with financial assistance from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can listen to homepage on 2MCE via our streaming at http://www.2mce.org.

Virtual Volunteering

2007-06-25T15:26:00.000+10:00

The Universal Declaration on Volunteering states:

Volunteering is a fundamental building block of civil society

Through volunteering you can contribute to the betterment of your local community. Technology now makes it possible to volunteer in a global community. Virtual volunteering, also known as online volunteering, opens up the traditional options of volunteering work. Through virtual volunteering you can contribute to development produces happening in Africa, India or South America without leaving your home.

For homepage, producer Michelle O'Connor investigates the field of online volunteering.

In 2000 United Nations Volunteers started an online volunteers service to see if they could link volunteering projects in developing countries with online volunteers from anywhere in the world. The project worked very well and continues to grow today. Michelle speaks with Elise Bouvet, Program Specialist for the online volunteering service of UNV in Germany who says there are benefits for both the organisation and the individuals in online volunteering projects. http://www.onlinevolunteering.org/

Michelle also speaks with Rebecka Delforce an online volunteer living in Sydney. Rebecka volunteers to write for the e-magazine of the Volunteer Centre of NSW. She's also the founder of a not-for-profit organisation which builds eco-friendly children's villages in developing countries. Michelle discovers that for Rebecka the decision to be an online volunteer is based on time management. http://www.foodwatershelter.org.au/

While virtual volunteering is a successful program for the United Nations Volunteering service, Michelle discovers in Australia online volunteering is still very new. Julie Pollard the CEO of Volunteering Australia reports there is some interest in online volunteering and good growth potentioal. Their figures show that young people are the most likely candidates for online volunteering. http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/

One of the major reasons most volunteers nominate for engaging in voluntary work is the social aspect....getting to meet likeminded people. In a virtual Volunteering world where your volunteer work is solitary, how eill volunteer managers meet the challenge of keeping volunteers connected? Julie Pollard suggest online volunteering programs will need to incorporate methods to help volunteers keep in touch with each other.

So how will we volunteer in the future? Wrapping up the report for homeapage this week Julie Pollard predicts that online volunttering will become a popular volunteering choice but won't replace traditional face to face volunteering work.

homepage is produced in the studios of 2MCE Bathurst and broadcast nationally via the Community Radio Network. The program is made with financial assistance from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can listen to homepage on 2mce via our streaming at http://www.2mce.org/

The Webby Awards

2007-06-18T16:11:00.000+10:00

On Homepage producer Rochelle Nolan takes us to the Webby Awards. The Webby Awards are the leading international award honouring excellence on the internet including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile content. Now in it's 11th year the Awards effectively take a snap-shot in time of the state of the internet, the industry and the world and as you can probably imagine the past 10 years has seen some radical changes. The success of The Webby Awards corresponds to the rise of the internet. Today the web has emerged as a critical tool of business and daily life and an established media vehicle. The Webby Awards serve as the most important award honouring acheivement in interactive media. And the 2007 winners are:

Webby Lifetime Acheivement Awards - David Bowie and E-Bay
Webby Person of the Year - Co-founders of YouTube Steve Chen and Chad Hurley
Webby Best Acress - Jessica Lee Rose from New Zealand for her portrayal of Bree in the blog Lonely Girl 15.

For a full list of winners, more information and a massive list of some absolutely amazing internet sites check out http://www.webbyawards.com/

Homepage is broadcast nationally each week via the Community Radio Netwok and is financally supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation. You can listen to Homepage on 2MCE Monday at 3pm EST via our streaming at http://www.2mce.org.

Flickr on homepage

2007-06-11T14:10:00.000+10:00

homepage producer Michelle is moving house and during the packing process she found boxes full of random photos...from overseas travel, birthdays, holidays and baby photos. What to do with them all! Well the answer could be found at the online digital storage website flickr.com. For techtalk Michelle looks at flickr.com for some info about how to sort out all those photos.

http://www.flickr.com/

Bronwen is a huge fan of the 80's global concert Live Aid organised by Sir Bob Geldolf. In 1985 either you were there at Live Aid or you watched it on television. In 2007 another global concert is being planned to spread a message about global warming. 22 years after Live Aid how will Live Earth be watched by an international audience? You won't need to be there at the concert, or even glued to a television screen. You can stream the concert to your desk top and talk about the concert in an online chatroom. Bron speaks to Ken Eustace, lecuturer in computing and mathmatics at Charles Sturt University about the effects of online communities on society in 2007.

This week's hotsite is blackpages.com.au - Australia's only national online Indigenous business and community enterprise directory. Check it out at http://www.blackpages.com.au/

You can stream homepage each Monday afternoon at 3pmEST via http://www.2mce.org.

virtual classrooms in Second Life

2007-05-29T14:41:00.000+10:00

Have you ever considered going to school in a virtual classroom?

For Insight Michelle O'Connor talks to Jo Kay about the education possibilities of Second Life. Jo tells us there are a number of education programs currently using Second Life as a platform for bringing students together to learn. Some of these are:

GippsTAFE where staff and students built the Paluma Bay resort - a virtual holiday resort - in Second Life. Students completed their Work Related Skills unit by becoming virtual staff at the resort.
Harvard Law students conduct mock trials inworld at Harvard's Berkman Centre for Internet and Society
Ohio University has a campus in Second Life where they offer 'learning kiosks'

Jo works in collaboration with Sean Fitzgerald researching and exploring virtual worlds and their use in educational delivery. Together they have developed a wiki space online to allow educators to explore the educational uses of Second Life. This resource also has information about how to get started in Second Life and provides links to finding Jo inworld. Go to http://sleducation.wikispaces.com.

Peter Shanks is a TAFE teacher and he outlines some of the reasons he wouldn't choose to use Second Life to teach students. Peter prefers some of the game platforms for education/simulation projects and suggests these deal with the access issues associated with Second Life.

Bronwen spent time doing what she loves the most....surfing the internet for TechTalk this week and has put together a piece on blogs...the history, their purpose and how to start one. Combining with her other love of watching television for hotsites, Bronwen discoved the behindbigbrother.com website revealing all the hidden secrets the producers of the tv show don't want you to know. Bron spills the beans.

You can stream homepage each Monday afternoon at 3pmEST via http://www.2mce.org.

Homepage 21/05/07

2007-05-21T14:41:00.000+10:00

On this week's episode...
Ben Harris speaks to Choice magazine spokeswoman Indira Naidoo about the latest GPS Navigation systems- are they really worth the money and hassell?
In insight, I take a look at 'Cyber Bullying'- is this just a new buzzword to gloss over the fact bullying is still rife in our schoolyards? I talk to Mubarak Rammatullah, a senior lecturer in social administration & social work at Flinders University in South Australia about whether this is a new phenomenon in bullying. I also speak to the Chief Executive Officer of the Inspire Foundation, Kerry Graham, about the new partnership between the Inspire Foundation & MySpace to raise awareness about depression and where to get help through the Inspire Foundation's many projects. I was interested in tackling this issue as I find it interesting that technology is seeming to be the scapegoat in this issue- bullying is still the issue whether you make mobiles or the internet or Myspace the means of bullying. I was suprised to find out the perception of invisibility- hiding behind monitors and mobiles- is the main reason for cyber bullying which shows the bully's themselves are really the cowards.
In Hotsites Ben takes a look at the SES and how they're here to help!
As always, you can stream Homepage live every Monday at 3pm from www.2mce.org

Migrants and Refugees accessing Technology

2007-04-30T15:18:00.000+10:00

Computers are commonplace in the business, social and work life of most Australians. For migrants and refugees however technology might be something new. Michelle O'Connor explores some of the issues faced by people in migrant and refugee communities as they experience the digital age and computers for the first time.

My interest in this story was sparked from media reports earlier this year that the Tamworth regional council had turned down an offer to have several Sudanese rufugee families resettle in the town. The decision was eventually reversed and the refugee families welcomed into Tamworth but the coverage made me think about how little many Australians understand of the experience of refugees (myself included).

In many cases refugees who arrive in Australia are survivors of civil war. There is a long list of things that are 'new' for refugees when they resettle in Australia, things which most Australians would consider as commonplace. Annette Sharma is the Migrant Coordinator at the Canberra Institute of Technology and she says in Insight that her students from Sudanese refugee communities view technology as the key to their new future and a universal link to the modern world. In most cases they consider learning about technology as important as learning to speak and understand English.

Philip Ross is the Cultural Arts Officer for the Blacktown Migrant Resource Centre and he talks about how limited access to computers for migrants and refugees might limit their learning opportunities for this new technology.

Both Philip Ross and Annette Sharma are interviewed by Michelle O'Connor in this week's Insight on homepage.

Game Developers' Conference '07 special

2007-03-22T09:32:00.000+11:00

This week we join David Cameron at the 2007 Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco.
Dave talks to self-described "industry cockroach" Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts and now a leading innovator in the design of games for mobile phones. We also hear highlights from keynote presenters including Sony's Phil Harrison, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, alternative reality gamer Jane McGonigal, and game designer Warren Spector. The program wraps up with a visit to a video game museum and a chat with Stanford University's Henry Lowood about the need to develop an archive of classic computer games.

Trip Hawkins interview

2007-03-19T21:45:00.000+11:00

(image from www.gdconf.com)

For more than three decades, the video game industry has been an arms race of new technologies and designs aimed at creating the most immersive entertainment experiences possible.

At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, much of the talk was about the latest competing technologies behind the new high-powered games consoles on offer from Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo.

But some industry insiders are looking to the mobile phone as the next big games platform. Trip Hawkins is a video game pioneer. He founded software company Electronic Arts and he’s now tackling the mobile games market as the boss of his new company which is called Digital Chocolate.

His keynote speech to game designers was titled 'Making mobile phones the ultimate game platform'.

You can download the full homepage interview with Trip Hawkins (.mp3, 3.19Mb).
You can also subscribe to occasional Homepage radio specials by copying the following URL to your podcast software such as iTunes: http://feeds.feedburner.com/homepageradio

We don't need no education...

2007-03-19T10:32:00.000+11:00

In this week's Homepage, Dave investigates the Gecko Phone- a mobile phone targeted at young kids in Gadgets and Gizmos.
Bron looks at a 'Virtual Classroom' emerging in the Orange area in central-west NSW. Five schools in this area offer resources and subjects online to high-school kids who may not have certain classes or materials at their school. Bron interviewed Orange Schools Director Pam Ryan about what it means to have a 'virtual classroom' and how it benefits high-school kids in regional areas.
In Hotsites, Bron speaks to the NSW Director of HSC Online, Bob Dengate. Bob explains how HSC Online can benefit year 12 students by providing extra resources, past exam papers and a glimpse at what to expect during the HSC exam period.

Homepage at GDC 07, San Francisco

2007-03-01T09:48:00.000+11:00

Homepage will be at the annual Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco March 5 - 9.
Keep an ear out for reports during future episodes.

new programs for 2007

2007-02-21T16:03:00.000+11:00

homepage returns to community radio stations across Australia in 2007 with some great new programs. You might have heard our 'best of' episodes over the summer period - Rochelle and Patrick had great fun listening to some old programs from 2006 and picking out their favourite pits to put together for the 'best of' summer series.

We welcome David Turner to the homepage production team in 2007. Dave teams up with Bronwen Matherson who joined us late 2006, to bring you the best from the world of IT.

Early in the year and we're already on top of what's current in IT. Dave takes a look at the new ghecko phone for kids and investigates the technology behind the controversial Access Card with an interiew with independent member for Calare, Peter Andren. Bron starts the year with a story about music, looking at bandmanager.com.au and takes a close look at the ever increasing blurring of the lines when using IT for business and pleasure.

You can hear homepage live on the 2MCE stream at www.2mce.org. Log in on Mondays at 3pm EST. Or check our your local community radio station for their program times.

What's On - 27 November, 2006

2006-11-29T22:04:00.000+11:00

On the show this week, I speak with Dale Clapperton from Electronic Frontiers Australia to find out some information about new copyright laws coming into effect. Dale explains what has been happening in the US with music file sharing, and what these new laws will mean for ordinary Australians.

Pat checks out online credit site mobux.com.au in Hotsites, while I take a look at some of the most popular games on the Christmas market to clue in any mums and dads on the basic concepts and features of each game!

As always, NetNews fills you in on the very latest IT news.

Check your local community radio station for Homepage air times and find out everything you need to know about life online!

Is this the homepage homepage?

2006-11-15T15:23:00.000+11:00

We've always thought it a little odd that Australia's longest running radio show about the Internet didn't have an online presence. Despite tracking the development of online culture for the past seven years or so, we never seemed to find time to develop our own Website. We're simple radio folk, not Web monkeys. But we thought we'd give this new fangled blogging business a try because it's free, and because we might find just enough time in between interviews to keep you up to date with what's on the show each week. Enjoy, and keep listening to homepage on your local community radio station.

What's On - 13th November, 2006

2006-11-15T13:24:00.000+11:00

This week on Homepage, Pat takes a look at the massive problem that is Bluetooth Piracy. CNET's Manira Catardia explains how it will affect the average mobile phone user, while Motorola's John Demitzies describes what his company is doing to combat the problem.

Pat, frustrated as a result of many an hour spent typing assignments, checks out Dragon Technology's ninth version of voice recognition software. Derek Austen from New Arts, the company that makes the software, explains how the software has been developed for the past decade and where it is at now.

I chat to James King, co-administrator of the boredofstudies.com website which is increasingly popular among HSC students. James explains why he and three friends created the site, what features are available to users, and talks about the digital Student Assessment Modeller.

Another program jam-packed with all you need to know about life online!

What's on - 6 November, 2006

2006-11-08T18:19:00.000+11:00

Rochelle talks with homepage founding producer/presenter David Cameron and communication researcher John Carroll, authors of the new book Real Players – Drama, technology and education, for their views about the digital world, media distribution and how kids are creating their own media.

Patrick speaks with Stephen Hutchins, Digital Editor of SMH.com and The Age.com about the emerging 2nd life of cyberspace.

Patrick also talks to Daryl Bennett about the Australian Dictionary of Biography online edition.

Homepage is aired every week on community radio stations across Australia. Check your local program guide for details.

About homepage

2006-11-06T19:08:00.000+11:00

Homepage is an award winning radio program produced at the studios of 2MCE-FM. It is broadcast around Australia via satellite from the Australian Community Radio Network.

The program has reported on the Internet, information technology and communications industries since 1999. Each week the producers surf for website reviews, research information on new technology and investigate developments in the industry.

While information technology has become an accepted part of our daily lives there is still little attempt by the media to explore social and cultural IT issues. Most reporting of IT fails to go beyond the marketing hype of new products.
Homepage aims to present balanced and independent viewpoints covering IT and related industries, and thus remains a unique radio program in the Australian media landscape.
Homepage was founded by David Cameron, who still contributes to the program both on air and behind the scenes. Doing the really hard work is Executive Producer/Wrangler Michelle O’Connor (moconnor at csu.edu.au), and a small team of journalist/producers.
Many of our weekly content contributors are journalism students at Charles Sturt University, reflecting CSU's commitment to community broadcasting for the past 30 years.

The program is financially supported by the Community Broadcasting Foundation.