Latest Story
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Should uninsured bushfire victims receive donated or government money to rebuild their homes?
MikeM | March 5, 2009Is it fair for government or donated money to rebuild uninsured homes, given that it leaves little incentive for homeowners to insure their homes in future?
Close to 2000 homes have been destroyed by the Victorian bushfires, and fires are still burning. It is suspected that while many of these homes were insured against fire, a large minority were not. Is it fair for government or donated money to rebuild uninsured homes, given that it leaves little incentive for homeowners to insure their homes in future? And when it comes to that, why is property insurance in Victoria so darned expensive anyway?
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How old is old enough to … get pocket money ?
Catherine Fritz-Kalish | March 5, 2009Does getting pocket money teach children the value of money and from what age can this lesson be taught with confidence that the message is getting through?
My 6 year old son has a tuck shop at his school and now and then he asks me for money to buy a treat at lunch time. Once in a while I oblige. On the days that I don’t think it is necessary, he tells me that his friends all get pocket money and that they don’t have to ask their parents for money to buy things at the tuck shop, they just use their pocket money when they want for what they want.
So, how old is old enough to get pocket money?
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What is privacy really all about?
StephenWilson | March 4, 2009You can expect national security advisers to have some disdain for privacy, but they cannot simply re-define it.
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Open Source and SMEs
Leo Silver | March 3, 2009A few years ago you did have to be a techy to run on Open Source, now it's relatively easy. SMEs should make the most of it.
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When it comes to online safety – it’s not just kids who need education
Julie Inman Grant | March 3, 2009There is a clear need for a program to help educate parents, teachers and carers on how to help children stay safe online.
My last Open Forum blog was on the subject of cyberbullying and some of the surprising findings about the extent of the problem in Australia. A Microsoft-sponsored survey, performed by Galaxy Research, found that even though a quarter of children surveyed reported they had been cyberbullied, a startling 83% of parents did not know what to do in response to the problem.
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Poetic Justice and a Child’s World
foggy | March 2, 2009Poetry and storybooks give the imagination space to roam in a way computers never will, for adults & children alike.
The imagery in a poem especially, of flowers, stimulates the faculty of an adult’s imagination much like the reading of a bedtime story does a child’s. Below is an excerpt from one of my favourites: lines 78-93, Acon and Rhodope; or Inconstancy, by Walter Savage Landor:
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Postcard from Argentina
Katie.Silver | March 2, 2009Combining work and play is a shortcut to getting under the skin of another culture.
When I arrived in Argentina to begin my AFS community service exchange, after only three weeks of Spanish classes, I even couldn’t even spell much less pronounce the name of my host family or hometown.
Oh dear!
But nobody held it against me and living with the Nachtriebs of Gualeguaychu has been nothing short of delightful.
Living with a family, studying and volunteering has meant that rather than just being a tourist, I’ve developed real relationships within the community.
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Intelligent Protection
Robert.Pregnell | March 2, 2009Only strong combination of artificial and human intelligence will protect you from the threats you can see, as well as those you can't.
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Childish consumerism
alison gordon | March 1, 2009As role models, guardians and parents, we can surely do more to stop our kids falling prey to savvy and toxic marketing campaigns.
Do you have a "tween" in your house, or are about to have one? Perhaps you’re now grateful you have a couple of teenagers, or even young adults still living at home. Maybe you’re even relieved to have only boys in the house!
We’ve all been affected by the downside of consumerism, but if you thought you’re precious little ones were safe, particularly your girls, rest assured this "market" has been well and truly discovered. You might be one of the many believers that it’s much easier to raise boys than girls, and regardless of whether this is true, we can probably all agree there are lots to raise an eyebrow at in 2009.
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Evidence and guilt
MikeM | February 27, 2009While DNA evidence may be sufficient to establish innocence, it is not sufficient by itself to establish guilt.
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How to Change Current Attitudes Towards Careers in IT
David.Gage | February 26, 2009There is a huge opportunity to utilise technologies in a creative manner to enhance customer experience and profitability.
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The ethics of the carbon economy
Senator Eric Abetz | February 26, 2009The question is not only how can we make an emissions trading scheme fair and yet still work, but also: is now the right time to have one?
The industrial revolution of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century marked a major turning point in human society, leading over the following centuries to rapid and unprecedented increases in life spans, living standards and general quality of life for those in the western world, culminating in the early 21st century with what economist Ross Garnaut has frequently described as the "Platinum Age".
Little wonder that 180 years later the so-called "developing" countries are also seeking to build their own wealth and social well-being through similar means.
The wealth and growth of the Platinum Age was built on the so-called "carbon economy", powered by two new sources of energy: coal, and then oil.
