McKinsey and KPMG have just released their $25 million dollar study into Conroy’s fibre-to-the-home plan. But their suggestions aren’t exactly what the government was promising. Jock Given explains.
Revealed
US military running private spy ring in AfPak
The NYT reveals the US is still is running a potentially illegal “rogue operation” of private spies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, employing former CIA agents and Special-Ops soldiers to gather information.
The secret to winning at pool
A mathematician has developed equations for scoring the best shots in pool. And no, it’s doesn’t involve the amount of beers drunk increasing shot accuracy.
The most important chart in the budget
Tucked away in Budget Paper Number 1 is a fascinating little chart showing the most politically important piece of data in the entire budget: justifying the stimulus package and giving likely scenarios for if it didn’t exist. Possum Comitatus investigates.
Will Facebook “friend” foursquare?
TechCrunch takes a peak inside Facebook’s code, revealing the site is planning to add a “location” feature — just like the latest social media fad, foursquare. So are the two in cahoots, or will this be the next great online war?
Inside Facebook
Read an excerpt from David Kirkpatrick’s new book The Facebook Effect: the Inside Story of the Company That Is Connecting the World, revealing how wunderkind CEO Mark Zuckerberg turned the site into a $20bn company.
Meet the group behind Arizona’s “draconian” new immigration laws
Arizona’s harsh new immigration laws are the work of a group called Federation for American Immigration Immigration Reform — and it stands to make a tidy profit from it.
How Sandra Bullock blindsided the paparazzi
With winning an Oscar and then her cheating husband, Sandra Bullock has struggled to keep out of the headlines this year. So how did she manage to keep quiet that she adopted a baby boy months ago?
Read the Goldman Sachs emails [PDF]
Goldman Sachs is currently facing intense scrutiny in the US Senate, and these internal e-mails — where top company executives gloat about making “serious money” from the 2008 financial crisis — have been released as evidence, causing quite a stir.
How British Airways pulled a wet Willie
Infuriated British Airways CEO Willie Walsh, sick of waiting for clearance after the Iceland volcano, played a game of chicken and sent BA planes to Heathrow, daring the UK government to send them back. They chickened out.
Liberal infighting breaks out
A power struggle has broken out between federal Liberal director Brian Loughnane and his deputy James McGrath, threatening the party’s critical marginal seat strategy for the upcoming election.
How the health deal was done
Simon Benson has the inside story of how the health deal was struck, with Kristina Keneally’s powerful secret handshakes, John Brumby walking out of meetings and the last minute $800m sweetener.
Google maps government censorship requests around the world
Google reveals — via Google Maps, naturally — the number requests to censor content received from governments worldwide, in six months alone. Brazil tops the list, though a big red question mark still hangs over China.
Apple’s next iPhone
Some soon-to-be-fired (or worse) Apple employee accidentally left the new, unreleased Jesus Phone in a Silicon Valley bar. Gizmodo found it, swears it’s the real deal, and has disassembled it for your pleasure.
Apple’s patent application for 3D glasses
Is 3D Apple’s next big iMove? The company has applied for a patent for a pair of 3D glasses, complete with inbuilt earphones, infrared sensors, voice and motion control. Read the full application
The enormous bribes of the Rio Tinto Four
The trial of the Rio Tinto Four is providing damning evidence of extensive bribery, involving huge sums of cash, watches and Stern Hu skimming a 30% personal commission, reports John Garnaut.
US has “no plan” for Iran
A secret internal memo from US Defense Secretary Robert Gates says America has no long-term policy to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to White House insiders.
The WaMu rap: “I like big bucks and I cannot lie”
On the eve of the GFC, Washington Mutual employees at a company retreat busted out a fat cats version of Baby Got Back. “You gotta spends, like it never ends, cuz you gotta have that big new Benz”. Impeccable timing.
must read 
I was a pregnant embedded journalist in Afghanistan
Elizabeth Rubin tells of her time as a pregnant war journo embedded with the US military, dealing with injured mothers and children, relieving her bladder in drink bottles and watching the Taliban kill those around her.
How a single hedge fund made the US housing bubble bigger, longer and nastier
ProPublica’s seven-month investigation into hedge fund Magnetar’s role in the financial crisis reveals it was creating assets designed to fail.
US Iraq War soldier: “We were told to just shoot people”
US soldiers who have served in Iraq tell truthout they were encouraged to shoot first and question later, with instructions that: “The difference between an insurgent and an Iraqi civilian is whether they are dead or alive.”
Fake illness and gangsters: why I left as Fujitsu’s president
Japan has a culture of corporate loyalty, but recently ousted Fujitsu president Kuniaki Nozoe spills on the problems plaguing Japanese companies, the rumours of organised crime and the real reason he lost the top job.
Gordon Brown’s election manifesto
British PM Gordon Brown is set to march down to Buckingham Palace to trigger an election for 6 May with a new Labour manifesto in hand, and the Guardian has a sneak peak: national service, a 16-year-old voting age, and new rights for football fans.
Antony Green: The full Tassie election results
The Tassie election will go down in the history books as one of the most dramatic state election turnovers of all time, writes Antony Green
