• Temporize
• Web log
  2009
• 05/01/09

Luis from BladBlog emailed to let me know that he has just updated his blog, which is looking great, and that he has also updated the url, which is now http://bladblog.nl If you’re not already subscribed to this site, I suggest doing so.

After 10 days away in New Zealand enjoying the snow, I’m back in Melbourne and in the studio once more. I’ll have a few pix up later on in the week (I’m still using film) but for mean time, here is a little something that came up this morning … As I’ve just seen, Fairfax digital has redesigned the template for the sites for their two main newspapers, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, which I couldn’t help noticing looked very similar to The Guardian’s new(ish) look … Unfortunately I find the new template still leaves the page looking quite loose, and lacks the order and containment of information that The Guardian website has achieved.

Last post I mentioned Network Neutrality and how AT&T and most other leading telcos in the US are opposed to it. Briefly outlined here, Network Neutrality is basically about keeping the internet open, and out of the hands and control of companies such as AT&T.

This rather unnerving article about DPI (Deep packet inspection), is what Network Neutrality is all about stopping (a long article, but worth a read). DPI gives ISPs the ability to read and identify every piece of information sent and received from your computer, be it email, P2P traffic or a Skype phone call, and block it according to whether you have paid for that particular “service”. As well as being another way for the telcos to charge people even more to access the internet, it also raises a lot of issues relating to privacy. Not surprisingly, the companies who develop DPI technology currently make a living by selling to software to international governments who like to keep a closer eye on what their citizens are up to.

The most frustrating thing is that all of this is happening with little or no public awareness, and that if Net Neutrality fails in the US, it won’t be long before the effect filters through to the rest of the globe.

Google have stepped into the ring to take on the US telco giants in the upcoming government auction of radio space. Outlined more specifically on Machinist, the online superpower is offering up 4.6 billion in attempt to keep wireless America ‘open’, as announced on their blog. While companies such as AT&T claim that adhering to Google’s demands would be damaging for the internet, I’m not really going to believe anything that comes from the CEO of a company who is opposed to Net Neutrality.

After coming across a piece on Jinbei Yamada and his bicycle brand Arrow in issue three of Monocle magazine (it only just came out in Australia), I went to the website to find out a bit more on this amazing designer. Unfortunately, the site is all in Japanese, but then again you don’t need any translation to appreciate the beauty and simplicity of Yamada’s designs.