November 2013 - luv-talk

Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement IP chapter leak
by Bianca Gibson 30 Nov '13

30 Nov '13

Hi everyone, You may have heard that wikileaks released a leak of the IP chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement. This is an international trade agreement being negotiated in secret. There are some very concerning proposals in the leak. Criminalisation of copyright infringement, legal protections for DRM, ISP liability, terminating internet access for copyright infringement, rules around patentable subject matter and rigid restrictions around exceptions to copyright. Once it's in trade agreements it's really hard to go back on, trade agreements often require signing up to a list of old ones. They stack on top of each other and stick around for a really long time. Choice have a petition to release the full text which I would strongly urge you to sign and pass on: https://choice.good.do/dont-trade-it-away/release-the-tpp-text/ Cheers, Bianca

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Re: [luv-talk] Should I feel sorry for Queenslanders?!
by Petros 25 Nov '13

25 Nov '13

Quoting "Jason White" <jason(a)jasonjgw.net> > Russell Coker <russell(a)coker.com.au> wrote: > >> I think that the current system of giving all secondary schools the >> same goals >> is a bad one. The needs of kids who are destined to drop out at >> 16, the kids >> who will finish school but not do university, and the kids who are going to >> university are very different and would be best met by different schools. > > Some systems separate children into these categories quite early. > for example, > apparently the German school system has separate curricula. > > I understand and appreciate the benefits of such a model; the question is > whether people who are misclassified have the opportunity to overcome their > educational disadvantage and move up into the more intellectually rigorous > stream destined for higher education. There will always be people who are > pushed into the wrong stream, and the real problem is for those who are > "downgraded" inappropriately. IMHO the German system creates losers. It is not very fluid. Kids are "stuck" from early age. The selection happens in year 4, and it's based on teacher recommendations. Quite often, so it seems, it is more judging the social background of a child than the child's abilities. In East Germany we went to school for ten years together, afterwards only a few went to finish year 12 and go to Uni. The East German schools were in some ways "old-fashioned", with the teacher in front of the class, all kids facing the teacher. Interestingly, even after 23 years of unification (and more or less adapting the East German school system to the West German), the East German students still achieve better results in scientific subjects and maths, compared to West Germans. We could not choose between different subjects in that area, maths, physics, chemistry, biology were mandatory and separate subjects. I find the "modern" way of lumping the subjects together as "fluffy". Quite often I think the results are not impressive. Then there is all the "environmental studies" stuff etc.. I am not sure whether that is a waste of time. (Don't get me wrong, I am not against considering environmental issues or other society-relevant ones. But that has to do with world views, and a school is, in my opinion, not the place to teach kids "how to think". Sometimes it helps to know some facts to form a view, not only to have an opinion. E.g. everybody who is reading a bit of the business part of a newspaper, and compares it with the general political pages, will understand what I mean.) I like the idea of SEAL classes, selected entry accelerated learning, as my daughter is in now. It challenges them as well as keeps them in a "normal" school background, helpful in developing social skills. I can imagine Faye's problem. I hear a similar story from a German friend over there. I don't think it is easy to solve. The SEAL classes are a step in this direction, I think. The teachers there have an understanding how to deal with brighter kids. At the end, schools reflect culture. And, IMHO, Australia's system is helping kids having self-esteem and be positive "can do people". It is a value too. If I had a wish, I would get rid of all this private school stuff and use the money to pay teachers well. That's money better invested than in a million dollar concert hall or a super-gym. Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] Problems with Modern education was Re: Should I feel sorry for Queenslanders?!
by Petros 25 Nov '13

25 Nov '13

Quoting "Rohan McLeod" <rhn(a)jeack.com.au> > In fact I suspect that not only does modern education (primary, > secondary and tertiary); > fail to inspire an interest in learning in a majority of students; but > it actually destroys , > what little curiosity, they may have originally had; It is probably part of a bigger picture, the lack of dreaming. Future seems to be dystopia, just look at the Hunger Games which are fascinating the masses. When we saw Brian Cox being fascinated by the effortless jumps of kangaroos I mentioned the obvious solution for our inner city traffic problems: let's learn from the kangaroos and retrain our skeleton so we can jump long distances at the average speed of cars from home to work. We just test it with a newborn of a friend. Okay, that's a joke - but what we are sold as reality (e.g. the tunnel around the corner) is a joke too - and it is completely free of any imagination. We definitely need better jokes! Regards Peter

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Re: [luv-talk] Should I feel sorry for Queenslanders?!
by Petros 25 Nov '13

25 Nov '13

Quoting "Russell Coker" <russell(a)coker.com.au> > On Mon, 25 Nov 2013, Petros <Petros.Listig(a)fdrive.com.au> wrote: >> Quoting "Jason White" <jason(a)jasonjgw.net> >> > I understand and appreciate the benefits of such a model; the question is >> > whether people who are misclassified have the opportunity to overcome >> > their educational disadvantage and move up into the more intellectually >> > rigorous stream destined for higher education. There will always be >> > people who are pushed into the wrong stream, and the real problem is for >> > those who are "downgraded" inappropriately. >> >> IMHO the German system creates losers. It is not very fluid. Kids are >> "stuck" from early age. >> >> The selection happens in year 4, and it's based on teacher >> recommendations. Quite often, so it seems, it is more judging the >> social background of a child than the child's abilities. > > But in a system like the Australian one where kids aren't streamed would such > kids do much better? There has been some research to show that a teacher's > belief in the ability of the kids has a significant effect on the educational > results. So if a teacher believes that some grade 4 kids aren't going to > learn much then they won't teach them much and they might as well be in a > school for less intelligent kids. I have seen more care for "outsiders" in schools here than I remember or hear of from Germany. I have friends with a slightly autistic child, he had a lot of support and understanding at school. They are moving back to Germany. We are frankly worried - I do not think German schools are that inclusive. Nothing is perfect but there is a lot good things to say about how people deal with each other, at least here in Melbourne. >> (Don't get me wrong, I am not against considering environmental issues >> or other society-relevant ones. But that has to do with world views, >> and a school is, in my opinion, not the place to teach kids "how to >> think". Sometimes it helps to know some facts to form a view, not only >> to have an opinion. E.g. everybody who is reading a bit of the >> business part of a newspaper, and compares it with the general >> political pages, will understand what I mean.) > > "How to think" would mean logical analysis of arguments etc and the "debates" > about the environment provides many good examples where young > children can see the flaws in arguments. Hmmh, I feel a bit misunderstood. I do not have the feeling that schools are particularly good these days in teaching fundamentals. E.g. a friend from East Germany (we both studied IT together) moved to the country side and is doing studies in agriculture. She still remembers all that stuff about pH value, acids, salts.. and is amazed how much less a few of her fellow students know here even if they are much younger so shouldn't have forgotten that much yet. "We are harming the land, it all gets saltier" Okay, what does it mean if you do not remember anything about the basics? It's the talk of a parrot. > If "normal" in this case means anything like most schools then it's not > helpful in developing social skills unless you are preparing kids for prison > life. > > My observation is that for boys socialisation in high school is largely based > around how to use force to get what you want. Someone who graduates > from such a school has probably learned a lot that would help them > in a career dealing > drugs, but for a career in IT (the original topic of this thread) it's not > particularly useful. That's a bleak picture.. It does not fit my observations.. > People need to understand that there are things that they are good at and > things that they aren't. If you're not good at something and working in a > team then you should try and find someone else who's better in that area to > help train you or help you do the work. Agreed. I prefer to be praised for having good maths skills than to be put down for not being good in drawing.. I guess I figure out myself that my neighbour's pictures are much prettier. > Not that paying teachers better will necessarily improve things. There is a > limited number of people in Australia with the skills to teach well. > Of those people I think that the majority are already teaching. I am not that certain. Being a teacher is nothing to be proud of. Teachers are lazy, have too much holidays, can't do anything with kids, at least not with my child - that's the public picture of a teacher I hear. I am the punch bag for everyone, and the money isn't good either. What's the incentive of being a teacher? > I think that the best thing to do is to reduce the amount of schooling. > Encourage kids to leave school at 16 if it's not working for them and both > reduce the number of classes (getting rid of some of the less capable > teachers) and reducing the class size (some teachers who can't handle 25 kids > can do well with 12). There are kids leaving school at 16. Two of them quite capable apprentices in the factory here. Regards Peter

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Should I feel sorry for Queenslanders?!
by Daniel Jitnah 24 Nov '13

24 Nov '13

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/it-pro/business-it/microsoft-wins-spot-in-s… Daniel.

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Fwd: RE: [luv-ctte] [general inquiry] prepaid internet on linux system
by Daniel Jitnah 22 Nov '13

22 Nov '13

Hi Luvers, Time to spread some more Luv.!! Anyone living in the Greenvale area or Airport area or around there who is able to help Peter? (see below) Cheers Daniel. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [luv-ctte] [general inquiry] prepaid internet on linux system Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 12:27:46 +1100 From: Peter Siveski <psiveski(a)corpuscc.org.au> To: 'Daniel Jitnah' <djitnah(a)greenwareit.com.au> Hi, Thanks for your reply. We are based in Greenvale. I am an older man so I would not be able to travel far. If we could meet somewhere nearby or at Corpus Christi Community (where I live) it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help Peter -----Original Message----- From: Daniel Jitnah [mailto:djitnah@greenwareit.com.au] Sent: Friday, 22 November 2013 11:48 AM To: LUV Committee private mailing list.; psiveski corpuscc.org.au Subject: Re: [luv-ctte] [general inquiry] prepaid internet on linux system Hello Peter. we would need more info about your system to be able to help you. Generally though Optus 3G modems work well with Linux. Are you able to come to a LUV beginners workshop? next one is 21 December. (see luv website for time and venue) Else, if urgent, where are you? IF possible someone may be able to meet you. Cheers Daniel ----------------original message----------------- From: "Lev Lafayette" lev(a)levlafayette.com To: "LUV Committee private mailing list." luv-ctte(a)luv.asn.au Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2013 11:00:30 +1100 ------------------------------------------------- > Can someone else pick up this one? > > On Thu, November 21, 2013 1:42 pm, psiveski(a)corpuscc.org.au wrote: >> Peter sent a message using the contact form at http://luv.asn.au/contact. >> >> Hi, >> I have a laptop with Linux system installed and I cannot access internet >> connection with an optus prepaid connection. What is suitable to access >> the >> internet on a Linux system?? >> Thanks >> _______________________________________________ >> luv-ctte mailing list >> luv-ctte(a)luv.asn.au >> http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-ctte >> > > > -- > Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GCertPM, MBA > mobile: 0432 255 208 > RFC 1855 Netiquette Guidelines > http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt > > _______________________________________________ > luv-ctte mailing list > luv-ctte(a)luv.asn.au > http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-ctte >

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TPG - Google problems
by Russell Coker 21 Nov '13

21 Nov '13

Currently it seems that TPG customers can't send packets to Google addresses due to routing problems. So if you use Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) on a TPG connection then things won't work. Also you can't access www.google.com and other Google sites. TPG apparently aren't taking phone support requests, there is an automated message saying that they have no known problems but that the queue is too long before hanging up. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/

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Problems with the national health data-base (an example)
by Rohan McLeod 20 Nov '13

20 Nov '13

Assembled cognoscenti ! The national health data-base seems to have a number of problems: -financial, -data-acquisition and -legal , I am wondering if it has a low-tech distributed solution.! Firstly let me say as a result of two contacts with hospitals I am really enthusiastic about the idea of having all my medical history accessible to doctors (with my permission) available 'on-line' During these contacts, it was quite frightening to realise that doctors were relying on my memory for for details of diagnostic and prescription history. (Yesterday is not quite an unknown land, but it often requires quite a lot of reconstruction !) So when the option came up I jumped through all the hoops to enable an online version of my medical history. Problems which became apparent in discussions with my local GP recently 1/ My 'paper' medical history is physically distributed amongst the various doctors I have used over the years, so it would need to be gathered from these doctors, -data acquisition problem #1 2/ IF it could be gathered and IF a standardised data-base format could be agreed, upon it would need to be converted; - data acquisition problem #2; 3/ Thus far per capita cost of the above seems not to have been calculated, or if calculated pubicised; not to mention who is to pay ; me, my doctor or the Australian taxpayer ? -The direct beneficiary would seem to be myself, but thus far no-one seems to be asking me for money, 4/ Thus far the current model seems to be a vast centralised repository, Further problems become apparent : - having gathered, converted and transmitted the data to this repository; complex data access permission problems seem to remain because, 'publicising ' the data in this way (even with my permission) seems to expose my GP's and respective diagnostic test providers to legal liabilities -thus currently accessing my data would seem to involve not just my permission but the permission of the GP and if relevant the permission of any diagnostic test provider, on a per item basis !.....an extremely unwieldy arrangement It occurred that perhaps it might be cheaper and easier to leave the records where they are and unconverted and have the central repository merely consist of a set of links to this raw data. If a solution to legal liability of the test- providers could be found ; then it might be simpler and cheaper to just pay the GP's to copy and transmit the records on demand; flames, thoughts, queries ? regards Rohan McLeod

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Greens Senator Scott Ludlam questions on security (of Microsoft software cooperation with PRISM) inside Parliament House network
by David 19 Nov '13

19 Nov '13

http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/content/estimates/threats-it-network-s… This transcript is from Senate Estimates on Monday 18 November 2013, one of many at http://scott-ludlam.greensmps.org.au/posts/estimates

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Free (iphone) app turns phone into a hearing aid
by Rohan McLeod 13 Nov '13

13 Nov '13

Assembled cognoscenti: I am getting a bit deaf , with much loss of high-end sounds. (Subjectively words as sounds, have a greater tendency to blur together ). But thus far don't feel quite ready to embrace a hearing aid ; particularly as it mostly seems to affect mobile phone conversations . So I thought surely it must be possible to simply boost high end sound to compensate for reduced sensitivity; (that being what hearing aids do presumably.) .......wouldn't that be a good idea for an android app ! But wait, maybe someone has already done it ! After some googling I came across: http://www.theengineer.co.uk/medical-and-healthcare/news/free-app-turns-pho… but unfortunately it is an iPhone app to which religion (iPhone), I have some ideological and considerable economic objections ! Further googling found : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.overpass.earassist&hl=en .....review, opinions, theories,flames ? thanks Rohan McLeod

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