Essentially, content providers will have to check the age of a user where necessary, i.e. whether a person is above 15 or 18, depending on the material being viewed. The Australian Communications and Media Authority will be able to force providers to remove content as well as links being deleted.

The restrictions apply to chatrooms, websites and mobile phone content. It has been stated that there will be an ‘opt out’ option for the restrictions, how this will be implemented however remains to be seen.

As part of a wider discourse on the web and how it should be used, I’m all for protecting children. However, surely the best form of protection would be to have an adult viewing material with their child? Chatrooms in particular are demonised on the internet – due to the fear of ‘predators’ lurking behind pseudonyms and fake i.d’s.

I’m all for protecting children as I said, however there are smarter ways to do it than putting a blanket like this over the internet. It also makes me concerned that more and more countries around the world are putting in place some kind of restriction on what we should view and read, and how we should interact with this information.

Reporters Without Borders is a group that hilights the ways in which the freedom of the press can be limited. This certainly applies to the internet, one of, historically, the most free arenas on Earth to state your beliefs.

The web is a genuinely amazing place. It has changed the way we communicate with one another whether it is through blogs, social networks, chat forums or even online phone calls like Skype. Nonetheless, governments haven’t been slow to see the trend, and many have already decided to use it to their own ends.

One example from Iran is the case of Mojtaba Saminejad, imprisoned since February 2005 for making available online material that is offensive to Islam. Of course, Iran being a Muslim state, one could argue that extra care is needed when being a digital (or other) author. But it begs the question of how are the government can go?

China however is the nation that continues to come under fire for particularly harsh regulations and restrictions on the internet. Originally, China was merely using a range of technologically high-tech means to monitor citizens (and in particular political dissidence) on the internet. However, this has recently changed.

More than 130 Chinese citizens have access to the internet, but rumour has it that more than 62 people (and some say this is an extremely conservative estimate) have been jailed for their views online. Unfortunately, Zimbabwe (not known for freedom of speech, press and human rights) is not in the due process required to purchase monitoring/censoring equipment from China.

A number of other nations are now at work to develop technology that bars pornography, political dissidence, web email systems, religious criticism and more. Ironically, the West even came in for criticism for shipping material that could be used to control citizens of other nations.

I truly believe in freedom of choice and expression and so I really do feel that this is a worrying trend – but it is one that is set to continue apace around the world.

Mac users are aware that the beauty of the MagSafe Power Adapter lies in its ability to seamlessly come off one’s MacBook with a quiet click, saving the Mac user a few months of heartache had his or her MacBook come crashing to the ground and, though highly unlikely, rendered beyond repair.

And yet I only realized how truly amazing the MagSafe adapter was when one time I awoke to my floor becoming an indoor mini-pool after an hour of rain, which fell upon my world when I was deep in REM.

After ten seconds of blinking through a half-stupor, reality sunk in. Panicked, I snatched up my adapter’s main body from the floor. The “main body” is the square part of the adapter. Since I’m using the mega extension that came with the MacBook kit, the plug is safely perched on my router/electricals/book ledge.

When I examined the MagSafe adapter, wonder of wonders, no sparks were literally flying, as it was dry as a whistle due to its amazing design.

As you can see here, the power connectors themselves are way deep in there. There is no way that it will get wet in a puddle, unless you actually submerge it.

So when I came to and closed the windows, I was in sheer wonderment, and I decided I had to write about this engineering wonder at one point in my existence, or at one point within a month, at least.

I think that happened two weeks ago. At least month hasn’t passed by, right?

I finally realized the full potential of the MagSafe adapter back in August, when I saw this curious PDF File called the “MacBook Users Guide” in my Root folder. Eek. You’d think I read that first, right? I found that around FIVE MONTHS after owning, loving and totally abusing my beloved Sayuri. What a Dummy indeed!

In there, I discovered that you can lift these gizmos, marked by that line near the top (leftmost picture):

And turn it into that contraption (middle picture), which is for wrapping the rest of the cord around it, so you won’t trip over it, or just for easy storage when you’re traveling and you’re going to carry your MagSafe in a bag.

The rest of the power cord set includes this thing, which I call the “mega extension,” because its cord is so fat and thick, and the plug itself is a wonderful monstrosity.

There is also this nifty foldable connector with two prongs, which, because of abuse, and partly ignorance, its prongs have bent a bit:

I said “ignorance,” because I didn’t realize that the mega extension had a use until August. And it was because of this epiphany that I promptly told my parents to send it over. Since then, I’ve been happily working on my MacBook without needing to take the darn plug out or whatever when I need to adjust it if I want to lie down on my bed while still surfing. It is that long, and my room is that small. Haha!

It just needs that converter adapter whatever it is that allows a three-pronged plug to connect to a two-pronged socket. You can get that at cellular phone shops for a little over a dollar here. Mall hardware and do-it-yourself shops have that, too.

It was only on that fateful rainy afternoon that I finally could say, that I no longer have any qualms about my MacBook, all that permeated my being (yes, it was that profound for me) was the realization that Apple engineers are geniuses.

And here is the one contraption that it came with that I never got to use:

Thus concludes the chronicle of my MagSafe Power Adapter love affair. Steve Jobs, I will miss you when you retire. *Sigh*

P.S.

…I needed to cover my face because I don’t think it’s ethical to show my face here. I still need to buy a digicam; starting to be on your own is one helluva expensive venture. :p

The iPhone is probably one of the fastest selling units of all time. I am thinking of getting one myself especially with the thought that it has already reached one million units sold way ahead of its schedule. Any way you look at it that is impressive.

Hackers have finally succeeded in unlocking the Apple iPhone, ending AT&T’s exclusivity for the product that has become the biggest gadget must have of the year.

The dubious distinction of unlocking the iPhone has been earned by the team from iPhoneSIMFree.com. As proof of their success they posted pictures of the unlocked phone where it can be clearly seen that it is operating under the T-Mobile network. The team, said to be composed of six people, claimed that they worked on unlocking the iPhone since launch day and are quite proud of their feat. The group, however, have not indicated if they plan on releasing instructions or software to break the simlocks on the iPhone.

One of the things that I admire about Apple is that they never fail to release products that make you go “I want to buy that NOW!” I blame the near diabolical mind of Jonathan Ive and his team of industrial designers for consistently coming out with such mindblowing designs that make you want to whip out your credit card even without knowing the specs of the damn thing.

That tradition of giving us the WOW factor is still very alive when the company officially revealed the iMac Aluminum, ending months of speculation and rumors about the product.

The iMac aluminum comes in a, you guessed it, brushed aluminum finish and is as svelte as svelte can be. The unit, which will come in both 20″ and 24″ models, is one of the thinnest desktop computers in the market. I was quite awed by how thin they had managed to make this new iMac. It is so thin that I can’t even begin to imagine what kind of innovative heat dissipation methods they have used for this new iMac.

The iMac Aluminum will ship with an Intel Core2Duo processor, built in WiFi and camera, ATI Radeon graphics chip, and will also be bundled with iLife ‘08. Oh, and to make the iMac more attractive and functional, it will come with an Apple Remote (it is a multimedia entertainment center!) and a newly redesigned Apple keyboard with an anodized aluminum enclosure and low profile keys that amps the cool factor. The iMac Aluminum will be priced at $1199, which makes it within reach of those impulse buyers at the mall.

[tags]Apple, iMac Aluminum, Intel[/tags]

I’ve been working at home for the better part of a decade now. A lot of my friends tell me that they envy the fact that I can earn money while staying at home. They then cite all of the attendant benefits of telecommuting. I have to agree it does sound like a good setup, except for one glaring, undeniable downside to this whole gig. I have gotten FAT. Working at home means the most strenuous exercise you will probably get is that short walk to the fridge or the bathroom. I have so much work that going to the gym is not even an option.

That’s why I think the Nintendo Wii is such a godsend for us work at home drones. What better way to shed those pounds than play an actual “game” on your TV with a machine that actually prevents you from just sitting down? Great, eh?

Well, Nintendo does see some potential in the Wii as an actual fitness aide and they are reinforcing it with the announcement of the Wii Fit. This is a new game title, ok, exercise game that lets you do various exercises and physical mini games while monitoring your BMI (that’s body mass index for those who’ve never even seen the inside of a gym).

The Wii Fit will be used in tandem with a new peripheral, the Wii Balance Board that will detect how your weight shifts in response to the commands being issued on screen. The Wii Fit is scheduled for release in Japan at the latter part of the year and will have its US debut during the first or second quarter of 2008.

Until then, I’ll just need to diet and walk up and down the stairs.

However, all this talk has been confined to the real of mainstream media and news. The techies and geeks of the ‘Web 2.0 world’ seemed to have been on the sidelines and have not contributed much to the discussions.

Probably because there are still that do not understand the over-all picture. It’s not because they’re totally apolitical, maybe the subject has been less appealing to the geek and techie world because of the language being used. So for the benefit of the many techies out there, here’s what’s going on in Iraq and how the Bush administration has been fumbling with it.

A parody by MAD TV that pokes an eye of both the Bush Administration and Apple.

Wasn’t the “iRan” a bombshell?

International eco-watchers Greenpeace has praised Apple, Inc. for its recent moves and efforts to make its electronic products cleaner and more friendly to mother nature.

Greenpeace has moved Apple up its green electronics rankings thanks to Steve Job’s promises to phase out PVCs and other chemical nasties from its products, but the top spot goes to Nokia.

Greenpeace takes an aggressive tone in criticizing electronics manufacturers for e-waste, stating: ‘The electronics ranking guide has been our answer to getting the electronics industry to face up to the problem of e-waste. We want manufacturers to take responsibility for the unprotected child laborers who scavenge the mountains of cast-off gadgets created by our gizmo-loving ways.’

It all started when Greenpeace launched the Green my Apple Campaign. A cyber campaign that aimed to increase the awareness among consumers and Mac users that the Macs they so love could be harboring environmentally-dangerous chemicals like brominated flame retardants (BFR) and vinyl plastics (PVC). It also called on for a more active participation of Apple in managing and handling old, discarded Macs so that their processing as ‘e-junk’ doesn’t do any harm to the environment, the people who process them and the community that surrounds the waste processing facilities.

Greenpeace rates the big electronics companies on the following criteria:

Chemicals policy and practice (5 criteria)

Policy and practice on Producer Responsibility for taking back their discarded products and recycling (4 criteria)

Enthusiasm and support from the community particularly Mac users proved to be effective as Steve Jobs finally made some announcements for a Greener Apple.

It is generally not Apple’s policy to trumpet our plans for the future; we tend to talk about the things we have just accomplished. Unfortunately this policy has left our customers, shareholders, employees and the industry in the dark about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener. Our stakeholders deserve and expect more from us, and they’re right to do so. They want us to be a leader in this area, just as we are in the other areas of our business. So today we’re changing our policy.

Wonderful news indeed. And thanks to this, Apple has moved up the green charts of eco-friendly electronics companies. From the languishing in the bottom of the list last year, Apple has moved up the field into 10th position and Greenpeace has the details:

Apple has finally moved off the bottom of the scorecard and is now in 10th position with improvements on many criteria. The company has committed to eliminate all uses of PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in their products by the end of 2008. They now provide
examples of additional substances that they plan to eliminate with timelines, such as arsenic in LCDs and mercury, and Material Safety Data Sheets for all their products. But, Apple has yet to give consumers products free of PVC and BFRs.

Top marks to Apple for reporting on its recycling rate as a percentage (9.5%) of sales 7 years ago and for setting goals to recycle nearly 30% by 2010. It could score better by supporting the principle of individual producer responsibility for its end of life products globally.

Kudos to Apple! Mac users worldwide must be really proud of their Macs right now and even more ecstatic that the iPhone is now available to the masses.

Speaking of the iPhone, here’s one nagging question; How green is that iPhone?

Photo by Outbreaker

Adobe specializes in graphics software, with Acrobat and Photoshop as its most familiar products. Sun, on the other hand, aside from being a notable hardware company, it is also behind Java, one of the most popular programming languages ever.

The RIA Battle

A few years ago it would be difficult to see how these three companies could ever compete side by side, but here were are in 2007, in the middle of a war for desktop, mobile, and the web supremacy, particularly in the rich internet applications (RIA) arena:

• Adobe, having acquired Macromedia to stengthen its online media arsenal, upgraded the ubiquitous Flash with Flex. (A similar program for the desktop is Apollo.)
• Microsoft swiftly answers with Silverlight, now touted the “Flash-killer”.
• Finally, Sun just announced JavaFX (during the annual JavaONE Conference held this week), also meant for creating and providing highly graphical and interactive media.

What Would You Choose?

All three companies seem to promise compatibility across platforms, mobile devices, AJAX and other web-related acronyms. More importantly, they each want to be the vessel that brings you the most advanced stuff on the internet.

To which company would you trust that (hopefully) mind-blowing experience? The company dedicated to programmers and system administrators? The company catering to graphic and web designers? Or the company that is the most ambitious in the world (next to Google, that is)? Chances are, if you’ve worked closely with either Adobe, Microsoft, or Sun products before, you might be unconsciously biased towards one of them, too.

Similarly, the latest Fifa 07 features dynamic crowds, pitches and hoardings. Hoardings are no doubt paid for by the advertisers with real money – even though the ads are in game – and they probably don’t come cheap either. Fifa is one of the biggest sellers of the year (every year) so that’s some good penetration of the market, including twenty-somethings with a good disposable income.

Benefits
The main reasons for ads in games would be a sense of realism. If you’re playing a game set in a modern city for instance you’ll want and have an expectation of realistic billboards, posters etc correctly displayed in the game-world. The development team should ensure they met expectations to provide a fully realised virtual world.

Another benefit of advertising (at least with well placed ads) would be to gibe news about the latest products – Halo had some of the best advertising outside of games in the form of Ilovebees.com. This was a fun ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that become entertainment itself as folks tried to figure out what on Earth it was about.

Detractors
Of course, there are a number of reasons why games shouldn’t feature advertising, and one of the main ones would be totally unsuitable ads appearing in games. For instance, I’m a fan of Ikaruga. Now, that game would have been totally compromised as an experience if, half way through, an ad for soap or something appeared. It would have been weird and unnatural, and would rip the player right out of the game world.

Another example would be the world of Oblivion. To the best of my knowledge, it features no advertising, which is a very, very good thing. Imagine that there’s a billboard out there somewhere with a picture of the latest convertible tucked away before the entrance to Uriel’s palace? What a horrible idea – though if I were the developer I’d have put one somewhere just to see if anyone found it in the massive gameworld!

Joking aside, advertising has a relevant place in gaming, it’s just not suitable however when it is forced down our throats or completely unsuitable. Regardless, can you actually remember the last in-game ad you remember seeing that had any effect on you, barring of course the playing of a demo – a great form of in-game advertising! I think publishers should pay for my referrals; many a friend has bought a game on my nodding and recommendation… However that’s another story for another time when we get our revenge!