Thousands of Uni Students Outraged at myUniAssist
Mood:  irritated
Topic: myUniAssist failure
Thousands of Uni Students Outraged at myUniAssist The Going to Uni Website which allows students to access their payments loan debts via myUniAssist system does not work. Many thousands of uni students have complained that they cannot access their personal details even if their personal details are correctly filled. Yet again the Commonwealth government have spend millions of dollars on a system that does not work and only offers errors instead. This is just another waste of tax payers money on technology that is unworkable. As one uni students said "I've attempted on numerous occasions but it does not display my details what a load of rubblish". It just proves next time perhaps before 6 months of its implementation to university students it should have been tested which makes more common sense.

Hygiene in NSW schools Kept Secret by NSW Health Department
Mood:  surprised
Hygiene in public and private school toilets compared to staff toilets are below what is recommended according to health standards. The health department has taken a blind eye to a issue that all parents should be worried. Even though one Private school in the South West had their student toilets closed by the Health Dept due to Hygiene and a lack of sanitary disposal units . Although this may not be such a new issue according to the NSW Commission for children and young people survey which showed that over 80% of students surveyed didn't like using school toilets while 56% felt they were unsafe and in some cases private school toilets were much better than public school toilets in terms of design and hygiene. In addition older toilets that weren't renovated were worse than their renovated counterparts,many toilets were dangerous (poor lighting, ventilation, water on floors, no toilet seats); privacy was a problem (locks were broken and door heights were insufficient); some bathrooms were cleaned infrequently. However the core of the issue is that sanitary disposal units were not available in some primary schools. It can be emphasised that yet again this is a factor when parents choose between public and private schools. Despite the fact parents should take it upon themselves in P & C meetings to raise the issue for the sake of their children's health.

TV RATNGS
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: TV RATINGS
The war of tv ratings will be even harder for network 10 due to the fact that 7 is screening the Winter Olympics and Nine the Commonwealth Games. Despite this Ten needs to concentrate on the 16-35 yrs old audience to cement its place. This can be achieved by showing on Sundays Monk at 6.30pm, Joker Poker at 7.30pm, Law and Order Criminal Intent at 8.30pm and NCIS at 9.30pm. The probelm with Seven is failings at its Sunday night slot perhaps its line up should be 6.30pm National Geographic, 7.30pm Las Vegas, 8.30pm Alias and 9.30pm the Sunday movie. The move of Bert Newton to Nine could see Nine's line up become as normal however Bert could have his new tv show called G'day Australia with Bert Newton in the 1pm-4pm time slot after Dr Phil and have Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless following it. However online source suggest CHANNEL 9 will throw small-screen legend Bert Newton into TV's hot seat when he returns to the network next year. Newton, 67, will host a revamped version of the popular national game show Family Feud.After 14 years in morning television, Newton will be back in prime time with Feud to screen five days a week at 5.30pm. It will be up against Seven's runaway hit Deal Or No Deal, hosted by Andrew O'Keefe. With Nine's news struggling in Sydney and Seven increasing the news pressure in Melbourne, it is a measure of the network's respect for Newton's talents that it has chosen him to spearhead its recovery at 5.30pm. "It's a nice change for a 67-year-old," Newton said. "It'll be something different for me. "The show is loosely based on Family Feud, but I want to try and give it new life, and I certainly hope it gives me new life, too. "It's basically a career change for me. I've done panel and quiz shows before, but they've never been the things that I've been best known for." Family Feud is played by two competing family teams of four, with members playing against the clock, and the chance to win a huge family cash jackpot. "It will be nice to do a show that is format-driven, but still allows flexibility for the host to work within it," Newton said. "I work best when I'm given a framework and am allowed to work around it. Family Feud has that capability." Newton said the time was right to leave Ten, where he had hosted GMA for 14 years, after the network decided to axe the morning program. "I had a wonderful run at Ten, and you don't always get these decision things right, but it niggled at me that maybe I should move on, too," he said. "Ten had made me an attractive offer to stay, but a couple of other things came along, and one was a call from Sam (Chisholm, Nine CEO) and wham-bam here I am. "There's no doubt in the world he's a man who knows television. "His phone call came just at the right time. "Maybe in three or four years it wouldn't be the right time. I think I've made the right choice." Newton has signed a reported seven-figure deal tying him to the network for two years. The contract allows him to continue working in theatre should the opportunity arise, and providing it doesn't interfere with his commitment to Family Feud. Newton says the five-day-a-week schedule didn't faze him. "I was going it at Ten. It's not within my psyche to take it easy," he said. "You keep doing it until someone taps you on the shoulder. "It's a compliment to be moving into what is one of TV's hottest seats. "I'll just give it my best shot and we'll see what happens. "You can only do your best and hope for the best." The prized 5.30pm slot will no longer exist because the The Young and the Restless will be in its time slot. Network 7 in the meantime should rescreen the British thriller CI5: The New Professionals on Saturdays and Largo following it or rescreening Vertias: The Quest. The current time up on Saturday's Rosemary & Thyme and Judge John Deed is failing simply because Saturday's are not important to Networks but the tv series of The Phantom may change that or repeat screenings of Batman and Batman Beyond cartoons may assist Nine with Ten showing TMNT cartoons . However it will be reasonable to assume that the West Wing, Two and a Half Men, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle will return over summer because of lower ratings earlier in the year. Although the new tv series Everybody Hates Chris based on the childhood of Chris Rock will become a instant hit for Network Nine on Mondays when the ratings period begins again in Feburday. While 7 has the rights to the hit US series Comander in Chief. Network 10 needs a facelift by allowing Kath Robinson or Ebbeny Farrandah to become newsreaders over Summer. A tv series by one of the networks called Australia's Century of Change Since Federation could give one network more ratings next year. Also networks could have a show called Unilife where they go behind the scenes of Australian Universities comparing them from 20 years ago to the present. The Networks have a abundant of ideas however the finance necessary for these projects do not exist. One interesting fact is that network 7 may not know that since MGM was purchased by Sony it may lose the Australian rights to Las Vegas and Crossing Jordan to Nine in the future will suffer lower ratngs than Ten by being more reliable then ever on the success of Lost and Desperate Housewives due to its ancient deal with Disney which proves yet again Nine is not still the One.

DIGITAL TV
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: DIGITAL TV
In the U.S. the Senate moved the digital TV transition one step closer to reality on Thursday, setting a firm date for television broadcasters to switch to all-digital transmissions. Lawmakers gave broadcasters until April 7, 2009, to end their traditional analog transmissions. The so-called "hard date" was included in a sweeping budget bill. The bill also would provide $3 billion to help millions of Americans buy digital-to-analog converter boxes for their older television sets so those consumers will continue to receive a signal once the switch is made permanent. However in Australia the Howard Governnment have no plans to subsidise set top boxes unless a impending election may comprise promises of subsidises for all Australian householders to purchase set top boxes for their analog TVs when the anlog signal expires. Currently only 12 per cent of Australian households own a set-top box, the technology that converts analogue TV to digital. Also the Federal Government still has a ban on multi-channelling, which means free-to-air and the new digital services can't be seen on the same television. It appears likely that it'll be 2011 before every TV will need a set-top box for viewers to see free-to-air channels and pay services. While in Britain, UK citizens can listen to digital radio via digital TVs which is banned currently in Australia. Although Australians have to purchase a separate digital radio which can cost up to $1,200. The ones who suffer are the Aussie battlers where television is a luxury and if the reason why digital set top boxes cannot be incorporated will both digital radio and tv spectrum is simply a mystery or perhaps both medians will lose valuable advertising revenues which is not in either's best interest . Otherwise the buck stops with the Commonwealth Governement where the media industry heavyweights are at its crossroads for change.

IR REFORM
Mood:  sad
Topic: IR REFORM
Two of Labor's most successful former leaders have tonight attacked the Federal Government's planned IR changes. The former prime minister Bob Hawke says it strikes at the very essence of the Australian character - the idea of a fair go. In a speech in Sydney this evening, Mr Hawke accused the Federal Government of slavishly following American policies in foreign affairs, and now Labor relations. The former PM said that We, in this country, have already paid far too high a price for the Americanisation of Australian foreign policy under the Howard Government, including our unqualified identification with the dangerous and self-defeating American adventurism in Iraq. But the damage that that has done to our country is as nothing compared to what this move down the path to an Americanization of labour relations in Australia. In the USA, minimum wages are just US $5.15 an hour (KNOWN AS WALMART WAGES) and have not increased for eight years, leaving hundreds of thousands of the poorest working families living below the poverty line. The Government's proposal for a Fair Pay Commission, rather than the Industrial Relations Commission, to set the minimum wage was a subject of derision for Mr Hawke. The mere existence of a FPC would I put a simple question - in whom can the low paid workers of this country have the greater confidence that their meagre income will at least maintain its real value? Firstly, permanent members of a tribunal with a century-old tradition - going back to Higgins and the harvester judgement - of concern that they not be left behind. Or, (b) a body made up of fixed-term members appointed by the Howard Government whose reappointment depends on the whim of Government? He described the IR reforms proposed laws as conservative ideology gone mad, Labor's longest-serving prime minister claimed Australia's very core beliefs are under threat. What John Howard is proposing is not just an attack upon an effective, independent conciliation and arbitration tribunal and a free trade union movement. It is an assault upon the very core of what generations of our citizens have been proud to boast of - at home and abroad - as the essence of the Australian character. The 'fair go', the belief that might is not right, that it is not those already with privilege who should be protected by Government, but the most vulnerable in our society. Despite this Federal Government's majority in both houses of Parliament, there's little they can do to stop the proposals from becoming law. One will never know whether such a refrom proposed in 1980s will be effective in the 21st century, however it may be years before one can comprehensively say its benefits outwait its disadvantages if any exist. Although the future of generations of Australian employees will be at risk whatever outcome transpires.

AWB WHEAT
Mood:  not sure
Topic: AWB WHEAT
Acording to online sources Australia's reason for not tendering for the expected $800 million wheat bound for Iraq was to allow its coalition partner the U.S. to gain the contract for which it was the lone bidder. This was due to a agreement between Canberra and Washington allowing Australian sugar exports to the U.S. which were not in the FDA and thusly allowing the U.S. to have a future monopoly for wheat exports to Iraq despite years of Australian wheat which is favoured amongst the people of Iraq.

SPAM
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: SPAM
The world's large anti-virus vendors have proved to be hopelessly inadequate in coming up with an effective anti-spam solution. Despite having a top of the range anti-spam filter installed, we still get loads of spam coming through to our inboxes daily. Meanwhile, our anti-spam folder is jampacked with legitimate messages that we have to retrieve. So it's comforting to know that good old Aussie ingenuity is around to save the day. The only problem is that no one seems to be taking any notice. The company, New Millennium Solutions, has been around since 1997, and its product, Total Block, has been available for the past three years. The way it works is based on a simple acknowledgement protocol. If you receive an email from an unknown address, the system blocks it and asks the sender to verify who they are. Once the senders do that, all future emails from that address get through. Spammers, of course, will never verify who they are and therefore their emails don't make it to your inbox. New Millennium Solutions chairman Peter Stewart believes his company's product is nothing less than the solution to the world's spam problem. "However, we can't get any interest from the ISPs or email providers," he says. In case you don't have the patience to wait until a US company buys New Millennium Solutions, you can find out more at www.totalblock.net.

MIDDLE EAST SUPER HEROS
Mood:  happy
Topic: MIDDLE EAST SUPER HEROS
Middle East's first superheroes out to change their world.Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Jalila, the new Arab super heroine, coursing across the sky, black hair flying, in her battle to right the wrongs and ensure that justice prevails in West Asia. Egypt's homegrown comic characters offer young readers much-needed powers, writes Ed O'Loughlin.Sara Kareem is not particularly mild-mannere but, like Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, she leads a double life.By morning the 25-year-old literature graduate teaches English to Egyptian businessmen. But in the afternoon she assumes her alter ego, one of a small but dedicated team working high above the streets of Cairo to use super powers to save the Middle East. "It's a very nice job in the sense that I don't have to deal with reality," she says. "I can do whatever I want."Launched in Egypt last year, the Middle East's first home-grown superhero comics are trying, in their own small way, to change the world."There is common throughout history these stories of Hercules, Achilles, the pharaohs - every culture created superheroes," says Marwan al-Nashar, 30, managing director of AK Comics."A superhero is a role model, someone to look up to, to make you hope things can be changed for the better. People look at the television and see there is war, there is occupation in the Middle East. Kids need superheroes and the sense of pride and optimism that you get from them."Since February 2004 AK Comics has been publishing monthly titles based on four main characters. Zein is a mild-mannered Cairo philosophy professor who is also the last of an ancient line of immortal pharaohs, using lost technology to save modern Egypt from other revenants from a more powerful past.Jalila is a mild-mannered young scientist who secretly gained superpowers when - yes - she was irradiated during a terrorist attack on Dimondona, a thinly disguised reference to Israel's nuclear weapons facility at Dimona. She juggles her day-job with the task of saving the "City of All Faiths" - read Jerusalem - from being dominated by the warring Xenox Brigade and United Liberation Front. You can work that one out for yourself. Aya the Princess of Darkness is a mild-mannered law student driven to secretly fight crime when her mother is framed for her father's murder. Expert in martial arts, forensics and disguise, she rides a big motorbike. Rakan is a wild-mannered warrior who overcomes a crippled childhood to roam the war-ravaged wastes of a medieval Middle East, dodging savage beasts, wizards and armies of crusaders and Muslims in search of his slain master's daughter. Heavily influenced by American powerhouses DC (Superman, Batman) and Marvel (Spiderman, X-Men), with their emphasis on individual powers and weaknesses, AK comics also draws on the more recent trend (exemplified by Britain's 2000AD comic and its progeny - Judge Dredd, Alan Moore's Watchmen, Frank Miller's Batman: The Dark Knight Returns) of setting personal struggles in a noir political context. With the exception of Rakan, all of AK's characters live in the near future, in the aftermath of "The 55 Years War", at a time when terrorists and criminals threaten a fragile peace. While clearly Middle Eastern, the characters are not assigned any ethnic or religious identity in the interests of neutrality. Published in Egypt in both English and standard literary Arabic, the comics have recently begun to target other Middle Eastern countries and have picked up subscriptions further afield.A number of Jewish organisations subscribe in the US and there are two dedicated readers in Australia.This year AK Comics made its debut at the massive international comics convention in San Diego and secured a world distribution deal with industry giant Diamond. "People have told us that the words Middle East and hero don't get put together very often," Mr Nashar says. For founder Dr Ayman Kandeel (the company name refers to his initials) AK Comics is both a labour of love and, he hopes, a paying proposition. He spent four years in Los Angeles working with US writers and artists, and preparing the ground for a superhero invasion of his native Middle East. Mr Nashar said the comics now sell 15,000 copies per issue and are about to break even. Pilots are already being made for a prospective TV series to go out on Arabic satellite channels.Meanwhile, the comics have to cope with the Middle East's cultural sensitivities. A lack of experienced local artists means that most of the strips are being produced by artists in Brazil. To avoid creating a costly scandal the company had to ask them to tone down the pneumatic physiques and skimpy costumes of the female characters. For Sara Kareem, the comics' subtexts - pro tolerance, peace and female empowerment - are the main attraction of the job. "I have a vision of how we see the Middle East in the future and I think I share this vision with Ayman Kandeel and Marwan, that we don't like what is going on right now and we want to make lots of changes and we can't do it in reality … [so] we are trying to do it through comics," she said. AK comics website can be found on the links page.

Australian Bureau of Statistics
Mood:  surprised
Topic: Australian Bureau of Stat
It seems that in some parts of NSW the Australian Bureau of Statistics have been cooking the books in regards to Australian Statistics. In both the 1996 and 2001 surveys of private boarding schools who received ABS forms allowed students to sex up by writing inaccurate personal details which lead to increased funding for the Private schools and less funding for public schools. one source revealed that "the school does not care what i write , i just pretended to be a 65 year old grandmother, its not like the school going to read what i wrote because its invasion of privacy". In addition in one instance a unnamed city in Sydney saw its popluation fall from 145,000 to 140,000. However its true population is over 150,000 meaning less funds for the local council which is distributed by the commonwealth government

TELSTRA
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: TELSTRA
The Telstra debate continues with claims that more then 50% of Telstra customers do not have access to caller ID display services on their landlines. According to documents received by us Telstra not only under invested $4 billion on upgrades but customers with no access to caller id are unlikely to receive the service if the sale of Telstra is passed in the Senate. While its British equivalent British Telecom plans to spend over $3 billion every year for the next 5 years to strengthen its Network infrastructure