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[Starver]

Discussion of Australian internet reminds me that once thought it quite exotic to find myself looking at Wollongong University's pages on Gopher, once, looking at stuff like their library opening hours, etc. And not because it was on Gopher[1], but because I'd never really been anywhere beyond .uk, .de[2] and of course the iTLDs that were probably predominantly 'Merkin.

No surprise that it was a University, *.ac.uk (or UK.AC.*, depending upon protocol) via JANET pretty much dominated anything 'local', and of course Wollongong Uni was likely to be connected. I imagine that a farmstead 100 miles away from the nearest regularly repaved road in the middle of the western desert is still going to be at the tail-end of even a POTS/dial-up connectivity 'revolution', never mind getting gigabit optical broadband that many (though by no means all, or even most) might expect over on this small island.


[1] This was slightly pre-web. Gopher was exotic, I suppose, but only at the Presentation Layer level. The underlying mechanism was no different from ftp or telnet. And my first Web access was likely on Lynx (on a telnet login), until we got Mosaic running on X, so very much the same.

[2] And maybe other European mirror-hubs/resources, but probably saw .fi more than .fr because the latter tended not to have so much anglophone-accessible material .

[feelotraveller]

There was a lot of politics involved in the upgrade to australia's internet network. A partial overview of it can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/10/secret-figures-reveal-coalitions-cut-down-nbn-tech-three-times-more-expensive-than-forecast

When the Coalition won government in 2013, then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull commissioned a strategic review into the national broadband network to validate switching from rolling out fibre-to-the-premises for 93% of homes to a mixture of older technology using Telstra and Optus cable networks and fibre-to-the-node which then utilised existing copper lines to premises.

No idea where the notion of copper networks everywhere as best practice comes from, that was certainly never considered by anyone.

The TLDR; is that Labor (the left-er party) had a decent plan for fibre  back about 15 years ago but then the right wing parties (the coalition) got into power and cooked up a degraded plan on the justification of cost savings.  It's not clear that any money was saved (and in fact more may well have been spent).

Full disclosure, all I know about Aussie politics is the completely impartial hilarious Honest Government Ads series.
Seriously, check it out on youtube if you haven't yet.

To be honest, apart from the humour involved, these will stand you in good stead.  Largely.

[MaxTheFox]

Specifics I don't know about our internet. Mines fine for the most part but can get laggy if playing with others over in US or UK.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Broadband_Network#2020 is the main plan countrywide for the internet. It varies a lot depending on where you are with differing amount of fiber to metallic cables depending on what type of connections you have to the network.

As for coal. Sorry. You'd think we'd be head in the world for solar but opinions are mostly stuck on what it was like 20+ years ago.

Your link doesn't seem to work.

It's fine for Mech but we're on the other hemisphere, so we have to flip it: 0ᄅ0ᄅ#ʞɹoʍʇǝN‾puɐqpɐoɹq‾lɐuoᴉʇɐN/ᴉʞᴉʍ/ƃɹo˙ɐᴉpǝdᴉʞᴉʍ˙uǝ//:sdʇʇɥ

lmao

[Mech#4]

Doh, I did the dumb and mixed up where you put the URL and heading in the code again. NBN (National Broadband Network)

Hello, I'm still around. Always reading just losing knowledge on how to post on forums.

[Bumber]

Apparently, Biden and many others got windshield cancer from all the oil slicks in Delaware.

[hector13]

Windshield cancer is a serious problem, I’m glad someone has the balls to talk about it.

[anewaname]

Californians Will Be Able to Sue Those Responsible for Illegal Assault Weapons and Ghost Guns

Modeled after Texas’ abortion law upheld by SCOTUS, California to become first state allowing individuals to sue for damages those spreading illegal weapons

The article link.

A link to California state government's text of the law.

Texas has introduced a new standard of justice-via-curbside-lawsuit...

[da_nang]

And the countdown to overturning California's law as unconstitutional begins.

[Loud Whispers]

Nice bit of show and tell

[Micro102]

I see your stupid politicians, and raise you "If global temperatures are increasing, why does snow exist?"

[hector13]

It is horrifying.

Whenever I get angry I sometimes remember this and I just want to shout in his face “WINTER EXISTS YOU PILLOCK.”

[Micro102]

I don't really find the stupidity to be in the accusation, but rather the attempt. As if they think people are stupid enough to fall for that. I don't believe that he thinks that it's a good argument. I think he thinks other will fall for it, and is fine with causing mass starvation and bloodshed for some bribes from oil companies.

[Starver]

It seems Pelosi is looking to visit Taiwan, to the expected annoyance of China (various vague threats of some action, which may or may not be military in nature... "And the US will be responsible for all of the serious consequences"[1]). Biden is luke-cold about the idea. Publically. He could be anything from overjoyed to vastly annoyed in private, you can't be sure what he really thinks. I'm sure he's pleasing nobody (while trying to not actively upset anybody).


[1] The same sort of thing as "Of course we had to invade Ukraine. It's entirely their fault for putting us in potential conflict with NATO..."

[Il Palazzo]

It is horrifying.

Whenever I get angry I sometimes remember this and I just want to shout in his face “WINTER EXISTS YOU PILLOCK.”

But if temperatures are rising, why does winter exist?

[Lord Shonus]

Biden is smart to be trying to make nice with China right now. It is very much not in the interests of the United States to be risking a diplomatic crisis with a major nuclear power when so much US military equipment (and make no mistake, it is a huge quantity even by US standards) is going to the country defending from a different major nuclear power in an outright shooting war. Not to mention that a diplomatic breach with China is all too likely to significantly damage the global economy that is shakily recovering from the twin shocks of COVID and a shooting war in Europe.

If it was a "draw a line in the sand or China invades" situation, it would be one thing, but that's not the case. China doesn't have the military force to retake Taiwan without completely destroying it, and there's no point in retaking the territory if everything on it worth having is rubble. I'm all for standing up to the PRC, but one crisis at a time.