The Internet


Cable broadband: the real challenger to the NBN

Cable broadband networks are moving to deploy fibre-to-the-premise for new network builds, writes Dermot Cox.

Second Life starts to grow again

Just when you thought virtual world Second Life was sooo 2007, user numbers have been on the rise again.

Time to start paying for online news?

A new venture called Journalism Online will offer a one-stop subscription site for access to multiple online newspapers and magazines. But will the punters pay?

Domino’s Pizza posts apology video

Domino’s Pizza have created an online video of their own after a clip of two employees defiling food went viral and caused a PR disaster.

Five broadband myths busted

The Rudd Government’s proposed fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband network has generated a rich variety of ill-informed media commentary. It is time to debunk some of these myths, writes Rod Tucker.

Fairfax hurts itself by holding out on link love

Fairfax seems to prefer to treat its readers a bit like a jealous man who tries to stop his girlfriend from meeting other men in the hope that this will protect the relationship, writes Tim Burrowes.

Rundle: Henderson’s Media Watch Dog. Epic fail.

Guy Rundle rips apart Gerard Henderson’s new project: Media Watch Dog.

The Internet is a mirror of society, hatebloggers and all

Most of the problems with Internet culture reflect deeper social issues — and that’s where we need to look to understand why the net hasn’t fulfilled its astonishing potential, writes Jeff Sparrow.

The digital divide holding back disadvantaged kids

Children whose parents do not have a computer, or cable TV or a DVD player, or cannot afford monthly internet service bills will be at a serious disadvantage in the future, Drs Patricia and Don Edgar write.

The Internet’s feral goldfish get it very wrong

Last night Australian time, the geekiest parts of the blogosphere were all aflutter, writes Crikey’s geek in residence, Stilgherrian.

Richard Farmer’s political bite-sized meaty chunks

Meaty snippets from the home of government by Richard Farmer.

@KevinRuddPM stumbles into the Twitterverse

By mid-evening, KevinRuddPM had more than 700 followers. Those hanging out for a response eagerly devoured the second Prime Ministerial tweet, writes Stilgherrian.

ISP filtering: who’s exploiting the kids?

The elevation of children as the justification for censorship will make this campaign harder to stop, writes Bernard Keane.

Media briefs: Aks your newsagent… Radar dies… Seven wins again…

Aks your newsagent… Radar dies… Seven wins again… Barack Obama’s excellent command of the English language… depressed astronauts get high-tech comfort…

And the Wankley Award goes to … Conroy’s net filtering scheme

Won’t someone think of the adults? Australia’s march to a Chinese censorship regime took a interesting turn this week when new details emerged on the Rudd Government’s Great Firewall of Australia internet filtering scheme, writes Duncan Riley.

Flapdoodle is a squirrel I met on the internet…

He is heavily into social networks

Google’s Chrome browser blows Microsoft out of the water

Whatever Google hopes Chrome will achieve, the benefits to Google – and there will be plenty – are probably less obvious than the benefits to users, writes Antigeek.

ABC rural sells content, just don’t tell the journos

It’s not ABC Rural Online, but visitors to EFarming.com could be forgiven for mistaking it so, including the ABC’s own journos, writes Calli Weitenberg.

Internet filters a success, if success = failure

When it comes to internet filters, there’s bad news and not quite so bad news. But you won’t hear Senator Conroy say that out loud, writes Stilgherrian.

Cyberspace and your child…

Nielsen online readership numbers: take with a grain of salt

More about newspapers online, and more reason to doubt the worth of Nielsen Net Ratings, writes Margaret Simons.

Australia’s web 2.0 wipeout on the wave of the future

Australia holds a fairly unimpressive place in the burgeoning world of online innovation, argues technology writer Stilgherrian.

Chinese government atwitter as clampdown continues

When China’s last big earthquake hit in 1976, rumours were spread by word of mouth. Now it’s twitter, not that you’ll hear a peep from the official press, writes Jane Nethercote.

Second Life rises above the freakshow

Second Life was a media darling throughout 2007 - for all the wrong reasons. But it’s cracked down on gambling, vritual banking and sex play, and is returning to business as usual, writes David Holloway.

eBay faces wrath, ACCC investigation over PayPal move

eBay Australia isn’t making friends by requiring its sellers to use eBay-owned PayPal to receive their money, writes Stilgherrian