Videoconferencing is Green

By Philip Siefert

A large organisation can replace upwards of 20,000 round-trip, short-haul flights annually with video meetings, saving 2,200 tons of CO2 from being released into the environment.

For companies to "go green," they need solutions that positively impact the environment without raising costs or sacrificing productivity.

However, to make an impact, we all need to take personal action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  The longer we wait the more difficult it is going to be.  The point is to get started doing something now.  So I say, accept that this rebellion is real and realise that the time for taking action on global warming is not tomorrow, not even today, but this very minute.

The key to engaging enterprises in this endeavour is to identify CO2 reduction programs that do not raise costs or sacrifice productivity.  It is possible to be environmentally responsible and stay competitive, without breaking the bank.  Companies must be presented though with workable steps that they can take today to reduce their carbon footprint.

Online Question Time for Patrick Secker MP, Federal Member for Barker

Here's where e-Democracy hits the ground running! As part of our exciting new Online Question Time initiative, we're inviting kids from all over Australia to put their elected representatives on the spot, and ask them about the issues that matter to the young people of  Australia.

Our next guest is Patrick Secker MP, Member for Barker (South Australia), Liberal Party of Australia.

If parents are the key to the future, what do they need?

By Divonne Holmes à Court  

We're not doing enough to equip parents with the best information to make parenting a little easier and a little less stressful.

One of the most significant events of Kevin Rudd's term in office so far has been the recent 2020 Summit in Canberra. Over a busy two days, hundreds of people spent time together to discuss the best ideas and solutions for our country's future. Some ideas were smarter than others, but one of the most interesting themes to emerge was around prevention. We're all aware that acting now helps avoiding problems later – the 2020 summit discussed that investing in prevention today has a much better long term payoff than waiting for the problem to occur down the line and then trying to cure it.

But looking ahead to the future is hard and planning for it can be even harder. I only started thinking about the future when I became a parent for the first time.

Keeping our kids safer online

Our kids might understand and recite the safety messages we tell them, but this rarely has much impact on their everyday behaviours.

The cybersafety discussion is more important today than it has ever been. Not simply because of the scare stories that are emerging with ever-increasing frequency (only last Thursday [5 June] we witnessed large numbers of Australians, including at least one teacher and a police officer, identified in the worst type of child exploitation). But more so because, (i) children are changing their use of the Internet; and (ii) their parents are evidently not taking responsibility for the implications that arise from that use.

Why we’re teaching kids to teach their parents

By Mark McPherson

If little Jimmy comes home from school and asks you to scan the home computer for trojans, listen to what he's talking about – chances are he knows more than you do.

This week we'll be working with kids from about half a dozen schools in Brisbane and taking them through a series of workshops at a purpose-built training facility at the University of Queensland.

We're going to break them up into mixed groups where they'll work with their  teachers to solve real problems faced every day by home computer users.

The challenge for us at AusCERT is that many of the attacks these days are carried out from computers in average homes, in average suburbs, often without the knowledge of the computer owners, so we're hoping to enlist average Australian kids in the struggle against cybercrime.

Does e-Security Matter?

By Rob Forsyth

The worldwide revenue from cybercrime is now more than $100 billion per year – this is the extent to which organised crime has embraced the internet.

Why should you be interested in the message of e-security week?

Let's imagine, for a moment, that you are already familiar with the many risks on the internet. Your employer is running good software at your email and web gateways. Your HR department regularly gives you sound security advice, such as not opening unexpected attachments, even from people you trust. (How do you know they really sent it?)

You have an active firewall; you use strong passwords and protect them; you bank using two-factor authentication; and you don't surf to internet sites that aren't related to your business. You're protecting yourself, and you realise that at the same time you are protecting the next guy, too, through responsible internet citizenship.

The shifting expectations of corporate etiquette

By Mary Ann Maxwell

The expectation that all calls received will be responded to within 24 hours fails to take into account the way business is conducted today.

Ever get that strange feeling that something's different? We all look the same, more or less, we're all out to achieve the same sorts of goals, but there's something very different about  the way we're talking to each other, and it's causing more than a bit of intergenerational confusion in the office.

Those of us who have been in business for the last few decades should be forgiven for feeling a little out of sorts with more recent entrants into the business community. See, we came into the corporate world at a time where hierarchies were strictly observed, and controlled by the simple fact that there were relatively few forms of communication we could use to break down those walls.

Things have changed, some for better, and some, well, for not so better, but the only way we're going to be at peace in this emergent business world is to recalibrate the rules, and update our expectations when it comes to communication.

Politics & Technology (& blogging) conference coming up in Canberra

Andrew Bartlett questions the value of the internet in increasing participation in the democratic process.

On June 25, during my final sitting week in Parliament, I'll be speaking at a Politics & Technology conference organised by Microsoft. The keynote speaker will be US political writer, Matt Bai. I guess it will sort of mark the point I make a shift from a blogging politician to a person blogging about politics.

The roles of blogs in political campaigning seems to vary a lot from country to country. There is nothing remotely comparable in Australia or the UK to the way blogs have developed in the USA. This piece by Matt Bai from 2006 details the first major convention of liberal (i.e. left leaning) bloggers in the USA, attended not just by 1000 or so bloggers, (including a few with a daily readership on a par with all but the largest newspapers), but also by major political heavyweights like Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean. Even though this might at first seem like a huge shift in political influence, Bai puts in it context…

Stuck in the coal age, when the solar century has already begun

Martin Ferguson, let the cat out of the bag shortly after the Budget, when he said that carbon capture and storage would be "essential for the long-term sustainability of coal-fired power generation." With those words, he betrayed the fact that his government prioritises the coal sector’s profits over climate protection.

If that seems like a long bow to draw, look at the evidence that the Budget presents.

In the vital area of commercialisation of technologies, the myriad of renewable energy options that are ready to roll out now were allocated precisely zero for the coming year, with only $125 million in this term of government. Next to that, the pipedream that is ‘clean coal’ received $35 million this year and $250 million this term.

US soldier refuses to serve in ‘illegal Iraq war’

By Andrew Bartlett

A US soldier has appeared at Congress, stating his refusal to serve in Iraq, citing grounds that the US military presence there "is unconstitutional and illegal."

Sergeant Matthis Chiroux had already served in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and the Philippines before he was honorably discharged and placed in the reserves, which immunises him against any cheap shots that he is just a coward.  As a reservist, he was due to be deployed next month in Iraq. He's also showing further bravery by staying in the US and opening himself up to charges, rather than heading off to Canada or elsewhere.

A comprehensive national feed-in law

By Tim Hollo

A new Bill by Greens Senator Christine Milne advocates greater financial support for the commercialisation of renewable energy technologies.

Against the backdrop of several appalling Rudd Government Budget decisions that will undermine the renewables industry in Australia even further (some of which are detailed here), Christine Milne introduced a Private Member's Bill in the Senate this morning to establish an comprehensive national feed-in law.

Feed-in laws support the rapid and unlimited growth of the renewables sector by giving certainty to investors, guaranteeing them a market at a set price.

The climate Budget betrayal

By Christine Milne

Tuesday night's Budget was a slap in the face for all those Australians who voted for the Labor Party at the last election in the belief that a new government would be willing and able to make Australia a true global climate leader.

From the day he took leadership of the Labor Party, Kevin Rudd worked hard to present himself in contradistinction to John Howard on climate change. Climate was, more than anything else, supposed to be symbolic of the generational change from Howard to Rudd. My warnings at the time, that the Rudd Opposition had not fully digested the science, did not understand what was required, and was not offering well-thought out policy alternatives, did not fit into that narrative and were largely ignored. Hate to say it, but …