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I'm mostly just hiding from the heat right now - it's not stinking hot, just enough to be uncomfortable - and we're having delicious Vietnamese-style rice paper rolls for dinner, with mint.
Good news: GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's biggest drug companies, has a new CEO and he has a conscience! They're going to drastically reduce drug prices in poor countries (which is in competition with the generic companies, yes, but will give more people access to new drugs, or, indeed, any drugs at all); putting neglected patents on under-researched diseases (read: Third World diseases) into a patent pool for other researchers to use; and funding hospitals and clinics in poor countries. A drug company doing this is absolutely astounding - it has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people now and in the immediate future. I'm waiting for them to revert to classic bastardry at any moment.
Meanwhile, New Zealand is about to give control of its citizens' internet connections to the record companies! Good move, there, New Zealand. Basically, if APRA (the recording industry's mouthpiece in NZ and Australia) accuses you, Jane Kiwi, of possible infringement of copyright, your internet connection can be cut off until you, Jane Kiwi, prove your innocence. Obviously, this will be a simple and straightfoward process, involving long, involved and expensive court battles, which you will somehow pay for yourself, while you can't work or contact anyone because you have no internet access. Goodbye, NZ fans. It was nice knowing you. We'll join you back in the 1970s shortly, when our internet filter goes online and Senator Conroy decides what is suitable content for Australians to view - on a secret Government blacklist which he doesn't have to show to anyone. While the internet slows up to 87% in a country whose internet speeds are already the laughing stock of the developed world. I've written to Conroy, but his reply (on very nice paper indeed) accused me of wanting to download child pornography. Repressive tactics indeed!
The internet filter in question, BTW, doesn't affect SSL connections, torrents, anonymisers, or (probably) streaming video, not that our internet connections can keep up with that anyway. That'll show the child pornographers, who surely wouldn't know how to use any of those fine technologies in their ongoing efforts to hide from the law.
Good news: GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's biggest drug companies, has a new CEO and he has a conscience! They're going to drastically reduce drug prices in poor countries (which is in competition with the generic companies, yes, but will give more people access to new drugs, or, indeed, any drugs at all); putting neglected patents on under-researched diseases (read: Third World diseases) into a patent pool for other researchers to use; and funding hospitals and clinics in poor countries. A drug company doing this is absolutely astounding - it has the potential to improve the lives of millions of people now and in the immediate future. I'm waiting for them to revert to classic bastardry at any moment.
Meanwhile, New Zealand is about to give control of its citizens' internet connections to the record companies! Good move, there, New Zealand. Basically, if APRA (the recording industry's mouthpiece in NZ and Australia) accuses you, Jane Kiwi, of possible infringement of copyright, your internet connection can be cut off until you, Jane Kiwi, prove your innocence. Obviously, this will be a simple and straightfoward process, involving long, involved and expensive court battles, which you will somehow pay for yourself, while you can't work or contact anyone because you have no internet access. Goodbye, NZ fans. It was nice knowing you. We'll join you back in the 1970s shortly, when our internet filter goes online and Senator Conroy decides what is suitable content for Australians to view - on a secret Government blacklist which he doesn't have to show to anyone. While the internet slows up to 87% in a country whose internet speeds are already the laughing stock of the developed world. I've written to Conroy, but his reply (on very nice paper indeed) accused me of wanting to download child pornography. Repressive tactics indeed!
The internet filter in question, BTW, doesn't affect SSL connections, torrents, anonymisers, or (probably) streaming video, not that our internet connections can keep up with that anyway. That'll show the child pornographers, who surely wouldn't know how to use any of those fine technologies in their ongoing efforts to hide from the law.