NEWS
NBN will install even more FttC and is tinkering with 10Gbps fibre in the lab NBN's chief of engineering is attempting to save his career (dude will need a job when the NBN is privatised) by dribbling out that they're doing trials of 10Gbps fibre with Nokia with the hopes of rolling it out to FTTP areas one day. Also announced today, a total of 1 million homes will get FttC (fibre to the curb) - an increase of 300,000 from previously announced plans. Pretty much everywhere that had Optus-HFC only will get FttC and some lucky FTTN areas will get FttC instead. Related to the NBN is this interview with the CEO of Enex Testlab, who will be ones measuring NBN speeds on behalf of the ACCC, explaining in very vague detail how they plan to do the testing. Discuss
Minecraft Coins are coming soon Minecraft will be getting in-game currency in a few months, meaning kiddies can exchange real money for Minecraft Coins. Third party developers can now sell addons and shit to the 121 million Minecraft users out there. The Coins will be available via in-app purchases on platforms that have it (iOS, Android, etc.) and every piece of content will be reviewed by Microsoft (no Minecraft Porno Pack with animated pixel sex to scare the kids). Either way, if you have kids, set aside a few hundo in the household budget for them to buy Minecraft Coins. Discuss
Qualcomm cracks the shits with Apple Qualcomm has fired back against Apple's lawsuit against it, saying Apple's claims that Qualcomm is anticompetitive and that it owes Apple US$1b in unpaid royalties is total bullshit and actually, Apple would be nowhere if it wasn't for Qualcomm's awesomeness, so shut the fuck up. Oh, you think I'm being funny here? This is Qualcomm's statement today: "Apple contributed virtually nothing to the development of core cellular technology. Instead, Apple's products rely heavily on the cellular inventions of Qualcomm and others. Apple's iPhones and other products enjoy enormous commercial success, but without lightning-fast cellular connectivity—enabled in large part by Qualcomm's inventions—Apple's iPhones would lose much of their consumer appeal." Qualcomm is saltier than a jar of anchovies. Discuss
Westpac suspiciously launches Samsung Pay Ahh Westpac - only a few days after getting slapped down by the ACCC for their Apple Pay cartel shenanigans, they go and launch Samsung Pay. The first Aussie bank to do so. This is different to Android Pay - it only works on Samsung phones and smartwatches. Westpac already offers Android Pay. This is the banking equivalent of fucking your ex-girlfriend's best friend right after you dump her, isn't it? I reckon Westpac will come crawling back and launch Apple Pay quietly in a few months, as will the other banks. Discuss
My Health Record's default privacy settings suck Australia's computerised health records system, is unsurprisingly, shithouse. A report from the Daily Telegraph (it's behind a paywall, so use this Google News link instead, also sorry for linking to News Corp trash) explains how first of all, basically nobody is using it - you probably don't even know it exists. Big more importantly, when the Turnbull government made the system opt-out instead of opt-in for about 1 million people in the Blue Mountains area as an attempt to get people actually using it, it also left the privacy settings wide open so any registered medical professional (anyone registered with APHRA, not just your GP or surgeon) can cop a look at your private medical info. Just another example of our technologically inept government. Discuss
COOL SHIT
KFC is the premiere music distribution channel in Indonesia This is only vaguely technology related (or is it?) but it is so wild I wanted to mention it anyway - KFC in Indonesia is a killer way to sell music. Yeah, fuckin' secret herbs and spices KFC! While in the developed world everyone's got a credit card or a way to pay online and we're using Spotify or iTunes or whatever to get our tunes, Indonesians don't have the same level of internet access or online payment methods. All the legit music stores have shut down because of piracy, so according to this article, the only way to sell music in Indonesia is on a CD thrown in with a 2 piece feed at KFC. Discuss
Maccas using Snapchat to lure in kids to work for em McDonalds Australia is leading the world in recruitment innovation by asking prospective employees to send them 10 second video clips recorded in Snapchat and overlaid with a McDonalds uniform filter. Maccas calls em Snaplications and are pretty much a recruitment marketing tool to get kiddies thinking about working for Filthy Ron. I assume if someone isn't willing to debase themselves in this fashion for minimum wage, then they just aren't McDonalds material - making it an excellent screening tool. Check out the video, it's everything people hate about modern life. Discuss
What the fuck happened to the NBN? Paddy Manning has a ball-tearer of a story in The Monthly about how the NBN got into the pathetic situation it is in now and the consequences Australia faces for dropping the ball so badly on telecommunications policy. It outlines how the NBN came about in the early 2000s, how the Libs ratfucked it at the 2013 election and have been flogging it senseless since, at the expense of taxpayers and our economic future. You gotta read this one. You might also like this article I wrote a few years ago before the 2013 election, going over the government's long history of crap internet related policy. Discuss
Here endeth the sizzle (until tomorrow!) --Anthony
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