AustraliaTag Archives

Outland – Disability, Australian, Scifi, Gay – ticks all the boxes for me:)

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An Australian tv series about gay *(disclaimer) scifi fans – with a disabled woman? Could this appeal to me any more succinctly???

Btw, fans (like me) of the absolutely marvellous Boxcutters podcast have long been waiting for this:)

The new television series Outland, set to air on Australia’s ABC1 in February, has been described by some as a gay answer to The Big Bang Theory. Says the show’s producer: “[C]loseted science fiction fans will finally have a voice… a full family of gay Australian characters can go where they never ventured before – prime-time television.”

via Upcoming Outland TV Series: Australian, Geeky, Gay.

*(disclaimer)Ok technically my sexuality is fairly ambiguous, i subscribe to the love the person, notice the packaging later theory – I happen to love my husband, and have for many years, but have loved women too. I find both sexes attractive, IF I find the personality attractive – looks alone just cannot do it, and people become more attractive the more I like them as a person anyway. Thats another post though, but I just don’t get the need for labels and putting people into strict boxes of definition – unless that is where they WANT to be).

timelady

November 19, 2011

Disability, Films/TV, Sexuality

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Australia, Big Bang Theory, Boxcutters, gay, Gay Lesbian and Bisexual, Outland, Television, Television program

Never fight a land war in central Asia…

Image by mknobil via Flickr

A quote form The Princess Bride that still resonates with truth. Maybe more politicians should have sene that classic and paid some attention.

The media has been engrossed in the saga of Qantas quite understandably – greedy execs! evil unions! country to hostage! weary travellers! sound bites! tension! outrage!

Perfect camera fodder.

There was, however, other main stories happening. One tragically huge one.
Three young men were gunned down, shot in the back by an Afghani soldier, someone they had treated as a comrade, someone who they believed they were helping train to defend his country. It sadly turned out his idea of that defence and theirs were polar opposites.

The lack of media involvement with this sad case, overwhelmed by the more media glamorous, and, to be fair, quite genuine upset of the travellers, does question how much consideration was given to real victims of long term suffering, the families left behind by these latest deaths. And how many more families, and how much longer are we there for…isn’t it time we stopped berating yet another greedy CEO and ask these questions for a while? The CEOs will obligingly still be opportunistic parasites, and thus will be there after we have tried to find solutions to this particular disaster.

As we mourn the death of three young men and their wounded comrades, perhaps we should be spending more time reflecting on how and why it is that they won’t be coming home. Surely it’s as important as showing us a middle-aged man angrily waving a Qantas frequent flyer card and berating the fact that he’s suck in the Qantas Club at Bangkok airport for an extra day.

via When your journey’s not just disrupted, it’s ended – The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Industrial deal may backfire on Qantas (theage.com.au)
Deadly attack won’t shake us, vows Gillard (theage.com.au)

timelady

November 2, 2011

Disaster Tragedy, Economy, Events, Meanderings, News Reporting, Politics Rights

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army, Australia, media, news, princess bride, qantas, tragedy, war

Rolling in The Hamster Wheel

As a sometime only Chaser’s fan, i am revelling in The Hamster Wheel – looking at media in Australia in a way that is very Australian but with elements of Chasers & The Daily Show crossed. The Hamster Wheel comes from a quote from Jay Rosen “The Hamster Wheel isn’t speed; it’s motion for motion’s sake. The Hamster Wheel is volume without thought. It is news panic, a lack of discipline, an inability to say no.”

The Hamster Wheel – ABC TV.

timelady

October 27, 2011

Films/TV, News Reporting

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Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Chaser, Hamster Wheel, Jay Rosen, Media of Australia

Labor soul searching?

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Labor soul searching – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Well, not much soul left, when will the searching stop, and the change begin?

I used to be passionate about politics, and believed labour had something to offer, but now, the diference between parties cannot be found in the Large Hadron Collider!

Australia, Australian Labor Party, Politics

Support Gizmodo’s Campaign For Kate Lundy As IT Minister | Lifehacker Australia

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Gizmodo wants to get rid of Senator Stephen Conroy (well, who doesn’t), and suggests the rather better suited for the job Kate Lundy….I know, someone with some tech savvy, bit weird, but hey, it this crazy idea might just work!!

Support Gizmodo’s Campaign For Kate Lundy As IT Minister | Lifehacker Australia.

Thoughts On Lundy For IT: Geordie Guy, Vice Chair Electronic Frontiers Australia (gizmodo.com.au)
Australia Gets Its 1st Female PM as Rudd Ousted (time.com)
Politics and Technology….. (beastorbuddha.com)
Australian firewall wobbles under pressure from all sides (go.theregister.com)
Julia Gillard: Australia’s First Female Prime Minister (huffingtonpost.com)

timelady

June 23, 2010

Internet Technology, Politics Rights, Tech

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Australia, Australian Labor Party, Lifehacker, Oceania, Politics

More on why Stephen Conroy is a secret commie spy…

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Once people had a fear there was ‘a red under every bed‘. A 1950′s ocmmunist fear that led to the Anti Communist trials of Joe McCarthy in Hollywood, those despicable equivalents of the Salem witch trials.

Now, it seems we have been right all along, but didn’t know it. Th fear the faceless communist masses would swallow us up and we would lose our precious freedoms were dismissed as nonsense. However, Stephen Conroy has done all but declare his allegience to Chairman Mao.

I have previously mocked our great Senator *coughing fit at use of word great* here. He seems determined to move from mere laughing stock to full threat to democracy. Man obviously is ambitious….

First a few articles from ZDNET AU

Inside Australia’s data retention proposal “Telecommunications industry sources have called the claims by Attorney-General media relations that web browsing history would not be recorded in a controversial data retention proposal “a bit cute” and a question of terminology and semantics.”

Yet it gets better : Govt wants ISPs to record browsing history “Companies who provide customers with a connection to the internet may soon have to retain subscriber’s private web browsing history for law enforcement to examine when requested, a move which has been widely criticised by industry insiders.“

Now TIME has noticed the great debat…debacle.

First, China. Next: the Great Firewall of… Australia?. “The concept of government-backed web censorship is usually associated with nations where human rights and freedom of speech are routinely curtailed. But if Canberra’s plans for a mandatory Internet filter go ahead, Australia may soon become the first Western democracy to join the ranks of Iran, China and a handful of other nations where access to the Internet is restricted by the state.”

Australian Gov’t Says ISPs Should Spy On Users… At The Same Time It’s Trying To Attack Google For Doing Less? (techdirt.com)
Australian Censorship Boss Has His ‘Series Of Tubes’ Moment (techdirt.com)
SMH joins the Google privacy fight – a month late (mumbrella.com.au)
Australian Censorship Minister Claims People Under Attack From “Spams Through The Portal” (inquisitr.com)
Save us from democracy, Mr Conroy (mumbrella.com.au)
LOL – Australia under attack as “The Spams come through the portal!!!!” (thenextweb.com)

timelady

June 17, 2010

Blogging, Internet Technology, Meanderings, Politics Rights, Privacy

1 comment

Australia, Canberra, China, Content-control software, Freedom of speech, Internet service provider, Iran, Stephen Conroy

Sniggering at Stephen Conroy (come on, it isn’t that hard…)

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More Misinformation From Minister Conroy, followed by his genius statement : “There’s A Staggering Number Of Australians Being In Having Their Computers Infected At The Moment” – thanks to the gang at Gizmodo Au. Taking one for the team there guys!

Listening to his sheer lack of understanding of the Internet is still so disconcerting – that he is in charge of technology in this country. No, stop laughing, it isn’t funny.

HE is, but the situation isn’t. More of Stephen Conroy having no idea. Probably thinks the Internet is a series of tubes…