SMH acting-editor will stay. Amanda Wilson, currently acting as Sydney Morning Herald editor, will be appointed permanent editor. Many say the long-time section editor would have had it years ago, but for the failing boys’ club running the joint. Others say it’s the Kirner/Kenneally phenomenon, and that they’re letting go only when it’s going down. […]
December, 2010
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours
Crikey Says: Crikey says: left, right, left …
As all-out war erupts on the internet this morning, led by Anonymous, safe to say this issue is a little more complex that framing it in any left/right divide.
Simply Red, simply raunchy
In a recent interview Simply Red lead singer Mick Hucknell admitted to having sex with at least three groupies a day in the early 80s. He’s apologised, but it sounded a smidge like a boast and anyway it’s pretty hard not to be impressed by the mathematics, writes Tony Martin.
Hackers ahoy! Nerds attack anti-Wikileaks websites
A group of London based hackers have orchestrated a cyberattack campaign on companies that have taken a stand against WikiLeaks, such as Mastercard.com and Visa.com.
Cable Crunch: Historical
Crikey is picking through the WikiLeaks cables currently available, categorising them into different subjects and grabbing the most potent highlights from each, plus the reaction — if any — that embarrassed governments are giving. For your perusal, here’s the juiciest of the ye olde — the oldest starting in 1966 and going to the early 90s — historical cables published, compiled by Amber […]
Cable Crunch: Climate change
Crikey is picking through the WikiLeaks cables currently available, categorising them into different subjects and grabbing the most potent highlights from each, plus the reaction — if any — that embarrassed governments are giving. For your perusal, here’s the juiciest of the cables discussing climate change, compiled by Bernard Keane: CABLECODE#: 09STATE63860 Date: 2009-06-19 Diplomatic Security Daily Key point: Cyber attacks […]
Four decades on, Florida set to pardon Jim Morrison
Florida Governor Charlie Crist has reportedly shored up enough votes on the state’s Executive Clemency Board to issue a pardon to Jim Morrison for an indecent exposure conviction, which the legendary Doors frontman was in the process of appealing when he died in 1971.
Obama, the politics of poker and the poker of politics
What can a President’s skills at the card table say about their leadership style? Barack Obama is a conservative poker player who keeps his cards close to his chest, which reflects his personality as a logical and patient President, writes Randall Lane.
Tonight: Farewell Kerry O’Brien!
Make sure you take the time out tonight to watch Kerry O’Brien present the final edition of The 7:30 Report. Love him or hate him, O’Brien is a TV institution and truly represents the best of the old guard, writes Dan Barrett.
Peering into the crystal ball of corporate social media
Corporations are still in the trial phase of working out how to best harness the powers of social media and there’s no doubt it will have a massive impact on commercial practices in the future. Here are a few predictions from Lauren Fisher.
In nervous anticipation of My School 2.0
Julia Gillard is preparing to unveil the My School 2.0 website, which is set to expose just how bogus the school comparisons were in the first version. 2.0 will include extra information like financial data, but that like many facets of the site will be problematic, writes Chris Bonnor.
Wordle of the Week: captains who won an Ashes Test
Crikey Sports latest wordle is constructed from captains who won an Ashes Test (the more Ashes Tests they won as captain, the larger their name appears). One thing they discover is that there are a lot of English captains called Mike…
irish bailout 
Dublin after the crash: surveying the calamity, rebuilding from the rubble
In the wake of Ireland’s disastrous economy crash, one thing is for certain: the old economy is dead and nobody knows what will replace it, writes Julian Glover.
PHOTO GALLERY 
How the iPad is transforming web applications
The rise of the iPad has had a big impact on the evolution of web design, which Mashable dubbed “the iPadification of the web.” This photo gallery compiles a collection of before and after iPadified screenshots.
How close did Qantas and Virgin Blue get in their near miss?
The WebTrak site shows the vertical separation of the Virgin Blue 737 and a Qantas 767 during Sunday afternoon’s near miss while climbing away from Melbourne Airport as being as little as 28 metres, reports Ben Sandilands.
Aaron Sorkin: Sarah Palin and her army of arrogant assholes
Phony pioneer girl Sarah Palin preaching about hunting is arrogant rubbish. Killing an animal for fun and bragging about it for political gain is not the same as buying meat from the butcher, writes an angry Aaron Sorkin.
film reviews Megamind — supercharged existential animation
Megamind is the bulbous blue-headed protagonist of Dreamwork’s bright and fiendishly clever riff on post-mod superhero fiction, helmed by director Tom McGrath. Surprisingly, perhaps, it has more than a touch of existentialism about it, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Bob Gosford’s Bug of the Week: the Garden Praying Mantis
The Garden Praying Mantis share our gardens around Australia, usually hunting with its cryptic colouring and shapes in foliage for its diet of other insects. Away from our gardens it is found in open forests and rainforests, writes Bob Gosford.
Mark Arbib: the faceless inside man
Federal MP Mark Arbib has been revealed as a confidential contact for the US embassy in Canberra in a WikiLeaks cable released to Fairfax early this morning, reports Luke Buckmaster.
How close did Qantas and Virgin Blue get to a collision?
The vertical separation of the Virgin Blue 737 and a Qantas 767 during Sunday afternoon’s near miss while climbing away from Melbourne Airport was as little as 28 metres. The incident is now under investigation by the ATSB, explains Ben Sandilands.
science The entire universe…in one website
Science geeks, eat your heart out! This website endeavors to encapsulate the scale of the universe. And it damn near succeeds.
The extradition case against Assange
Julian Assange could spend months in a British jail before being extradited to Sweden. And he could then face a similar request from the USA, writes freelance writer Jessica Crouch and Crikey intern Caroline Zielinksi.
Rundle: ringside for Assange’s court appearance, in all its gory detail
WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange is in custody in the UK tonight, after failing to win bail on a European arrest warrant issued to extradite him to Sweden.
