On today’s show:
Ben Barren is a Melbourne boy who has been around this innanet thing since day T-1. He’s worked for some of Australia’s top innanet companies and is now running a Web2.0 start-up. Ben’s a voracious listener of podcasts and reader of blogs, so I turn to him for the latest updates on what the hell is going on in the world of Web 2.0.
His blog is also famous for including piccies of hot chicks in each post. Don’t ask me why. I guess it’s his advertising background. Sex sells everything else, so why not a blog?
Listen in while we talk about Mark Cuban, GYMAAE, the future of podcasting, why he’s addicted to del.icio.us, the latest in facial recognition technology, and Web2.0 business models.
Happy New Year!
CENSORSHIP!
Is there a need or even a justification for censorship of adult material in 21st century Australia?
Today I caught up with a coffee and a chat with my mate Paul aka “Gonzo” from PolyEster Books.
PolyEster Books in Melbourne has been on a mission “TO PROVIDE THE FREAKIEST UNDERGROUND BOOKS, MAGAZINES, FILMS AND COMIX” for 20 years. In the process, the store, has become a Melbourne icon.
On the 16th November 2005, Polyester was raided and searched by several police officers with a search warrant. Several hundred videos and dvds – with an X-rating or deemed un-rated – were confiscated. While legal in Canberra and the Territories, X-rated material is considered illegal in Victoria. And while anyone over the age of 18 with a credit card can order this same material from international corporations like Amazon, a Melbourne businessman is facing (at best) serious fines and (at worst) even jail. His business could go under.
The issue here, as I see it, has nothing to do with porn.
As Helen Vnuk, a former editor of Australian Women’s Forum and author of Snatched: Sex and Censorship in Australia said in this well-written article in 2003:
The ease with which a banned film can be downloaded and viewed raises the question of censorship’s relevance in the age of the internet. But strangely enough, in the few years since Australians have had access to the net and been able to call up anything from Ken Park to The Anarchist’s Cookbook to farmyard porn, censorship guidelines in Australia have been tightened.
The same principle is at stake – that adults should be able to read, hear and see what they want – but while plenty of people are prepared to defend art-house films and books, few want to be seen defending X-rated videos and adult magazines – or, as they’re more effectively labelled by their opponents, filth and smut.
You can sign a petition to save PolyEster (even if you don’t live in Melbourne) here.
Just the Cam. Having a rant.
Ya know, for some time now I’ve missed just being able to talk to you guys about shit that’s been on my mind. Whether or not you want to hear it, I need it. G’DAY WORLD started out as my therapy and, along the way, it turned into an interview show. I think that was when Mick and I both got too busy to talk to each other.
But anyway, I need to rant and so I’ve decided to go back to doing rantcasts for a while. The interviews will still be here once or twice a week, but the other days of the week you can expect to hear me jabbering away about what’s been on my mind. Maybe Mick will even join me. And if any of you want to come on for a yarn, you are most welcome. Skype me and let me know.
Some of the things I mentioned in the show today:
Walt Mossberg on Dan Farber’s cast – a must listen. I didn’t mention it on the show, but I met both Walt and Dan at DEMO last February. Both very charming gents.
Sony’s DRM bullshit. Speaking of Sony, someone called Ian left a comment on Webmink’s post about Sony’s DRM disaster (which I discovered via The Gadget Show), which I thought was a classic:
Sony’s new slogan should be ‘Sony: redefining evil’.
Rod Adams is based in Maryland in the United States. He founded Adams Atomic Engines in 1993 to design and market nuclear powered gas turbines.
I chatted with him recently about the safety of atomic energy vs fossil fuels. Some of the stuff he has to say might challenge your current perceptions.
This show was recorded using Skylook, the awesome cool plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, based in Melbourne Australia.
Oh and if you hadn’t noticed… it was sponsored by our very good friends at MOTOROLA.
Michael F. runs the Teen Podcast Network (the other TPN).
He’s 14.
That’s all I’m going to say.
Oh, except for this…. this show was recorded using Skylook, the awesome cool plug-in for Microsoft Outlook, based in Melbourne Australia.