Here's a new twist on climate change!

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Conrad Walters
SMH Online, 26 April 2009

AS IF spam email wasn't unloved enough already, new research shows all those unsolicited messages, 62 trillion of them last year, generate greenhouse gases equivalent to driving a car around the planet 1.6 million times.

More than 80 per cent of the world's email traffic is now deemed spam and - between the energy devoted to sending, storing and sorting phoney messages - 33 billion kilowatt-hours of power is wasted.

The study, commissioned by the computer security firm McAfee and conducted by climate change analysts at ICF International, notes that when one spammer, McColo, was closed by its internet service provider last November, worldwide spam fell by 70 per cent overnight.

But the robot computer networks, or botnets, that McColo harnessed to send spam were quickly redeployed and the relief was short-lived, McAfee's regional spokesman, Michael Sentonas, said.

"A lot of spam is generated from botnets and that makes it very hard to identify where it's coming from," he said. "The botnet may be spread across 10 countries."

He said some experts once thought spam would disappear as consumers learned to ignore emails that promised to enlarge their bank account or their anatomy, but spam has changed.

"Today, spam comes with malware [malicious software] with links to compromised websites," Mr Sentonas said. "Spam is a great tool to steal someone's identity, [and] identity theft rates are growing exponentially."

Globally, one reason for that proliferation is email servers that can be used anonymously. With a single spam campaign involving up to one million messages and spammers needing a success rate of only 2 to 5 per cent, it takes little effort to steal credit card details, for example, and make a profit, he said.

Australia, to its credit, has closed its mail servers to unknown entities, said Peter Coroneos, chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, and our ranking on a list of spamming nations has fallen.

Elsewhere, spammers have paid ISPs to keep email servers open.

Mr Coroneos believes spam can only be thwarted by understanding - and undermining - the economics of its use.

Much as polluters once saw little reason to curb the chemicals they spewed into the sky because the air was considered a free resource, spammers now send their messages through the internet at virtually no cost.

Charging for each email, even less than one cent per message, would quickly make most spam unviable, he said, but consumers have shown little willingness to pay for a service they have always considered free.

Legislation can help, and Australia's Spam Act of 2003 has served as a model for Canada and Korea.

The only other solution Mr Coroneos sees is greater authentication. Just as some banks now require a customer to use a token to verify their identity, this could be used to combat spam. Whether consumers will be prepared to leap that extra hurdle to send email may depend, in part, on the benefits they perceive to protect their identity - and the environment.

The Age, 2 April 2009

George Gittoes is a filmmaker who rejects the 'rules' of documentary making, writes Paul Kalina.

EVEN by the unholy standards of George Gittoes' unconventional career, The Miscreants sets a new standard in audacious and courageous filmmaking.

To make the film, the acclaimed Australian war artist and filmmaker (Soundtrack to War, Rampage) travelled to one of the most dangerous pockets of the world, Pakistan's North-West Frontier.It's in this lawless region, on the Afghan border, that Osama bin Laden is thought to be holed up.

Gittoes based himself for six months in the capital Peshawar, which today is under siege by Taliban militants and off-limits to Westerners.

The local Pashtun film industry is among the victims of the Taliban's crackdown on non-conformists. So Gittoes decided to finance and star in a couple of feature films, enlisting his friend Javed Musazai, a "Taliwood" action-film hero, and others from the entertainment industry.

Meanwhile, around them, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated and Pakistan descended into meltdown.

"This was a theatre of terror, and I had a front row seat," Gittoes says near the start of his unpredictably disturbing, funny and revealing, yet constantly surprising, film.

But this is no journalistic report from the front line, nor is it the expected excoriation of the Taliban and other religious fundamentalists.

As well as revelling in movie-making capers — Gittoes plays the bad-guy, atrociously too, in his own estimation — it casually observes those living under the Taliban's "coercion by fear" and also offers chilling insights into how popular culture and technology have become a weapon of freedom and terror.

"Nothing is clear any more. The multi-layered strangeness of the film reflects the way it is," Gittoes explains on a recent visit to Melbourne.

Gittoes regards The Miscreants as the final film in "a trilogy that covers the Bush era in my own weird way through culture".

Pashtuns account for roughly 40 per cent of Afghanistan's population and 15 per cent of Pakistan's. Regardless of how quaint and corny their movies might appear, film is the vehicle that can change attitudes and artists are the brave warriors of reform, Gittoes believes.

"Their culture is unique. They need a film industry more than we do because their social structure is so different to ours.

"As well, the people in that industry are the most liberal people in the country and if we want to see things change for women … You can do an aid project, give them some knitting, but the one thing that can change attitudes is local film.

"The reason the Taliban are popular is because the whole country doesn't want — even more than the French — to be Americanised. They have a traditional life and have fought against every invader. The Taliban are protecting extreme tribal values more often than they are protecting Koranic values.

"The Taliban are not so worried about American films because they know that (local) film has this power to create a more liberal society."

Gittoes rejects the notion that a documentary filmmaker should observe but not participate. "In the fine art world, the idea is to break the rules, whereas with documentary makers, the rules are engraved in granite.

"In The Miscreants I've gone all the way; you don't know what's real and what's acted. I'm not looking forward to question time at film festivals. The first people to put up their hands will be people saying that in docos, you're not allowed to intervene. I just don't believe it's possible not to intervene," he says.

Rolling Stone magazine coined the expression "Super Doc" for the wave of anti-establishment films of 2004-05, which included Gittoes' Soundtrack to War (fragments of which Michael Moore used in Fahrenheit 9/11).

"We adapted reality TV methods to movies, which is all about intervention," says Gittoes. "Whereas most documentary filmmakers were saying 'isn't this reality TV terrible', I asked why would people prefer it to documentary? The Super Doc came about by throwing out these stupid rules."

Unsurprisingly, Gittoes works alone, which has as much to do with his creative preferences as it does with not subjecting others to the risks he is prepared to take.

"He packs a little bag and goes on his own. This forces him to make contacts in the region," says Gabrielle Dalton, who produced his last three films and is, incidentally, his ex-wife.

Gittoes shoots most of his films before going cap in hand to broadcasters.

"There's enough (footage) there that if I get killed they can use my death as part of the film. I can't get keyman insurance. And let's face it, what I do is Russian roulette."

Intuition and observation play a large part in his survival, he says, and in the case of his travels to Pakistan, an understanding of the locals' language and culture.

"The thing that keeps you alive is getting everyone to love you really fast. In those cultures, people love storytellers. Even if they're the Taliban, you sit down with them and tell them a story and if in that story you include your children … it's pretty hard to kill someone who's just told you how he went lobster catching with his son when he was 12 years old."

But he holds great fears for his actor-friend Javed Musazai and others who made the two films he financed. Musazai was recently kidnapped and released, says Gittoes, as part of a campaign to intimidate artists.

His friends ask him to send a copy of The Miscreants. He won't, because he knows that it will be pirated and circulated and could end up endangering them.

Daily Telegraph Online,
13 April 209

KYLIE Minogue has splashed out more than $82,000 on an anti-ageing spa break in Spain.

The 40-year-old singer, who recently confessed to having tried Botox, has spent two seven-night breaks at the SHA Wellness Clinic, in the Sierra Helada Natural Park, during the past six months.

The News of the World newspaper in Britain said the singer indulged in a range of treatments, including a $6000 facial, and was fed a macrobiotic diet to help her body's ongoing recovery from cancer.

"She loved it here and sees looking after herself inside and out as a wise investment," a clinic source told the newspaper.

"She had six months of chemotherapy after her cancer was diagnosed and this clinic not only allows her to hide away so she can have beauty treatments but also makes sure her body is healthy too.

"She had lots of massages and hydrotherapy treatments, but Kylie was there for the macrobiotic food and rejuvenation therapies."

Minogue, who has been dating 31-year-old Spanish model Andres Velencoso, ate a diet of raw fruit, vegetables and brown rice during her stays and signed up for the "integral facial rejuvenation" package.

The facial is designed to help smooth "expression wrinkles" and return "the healthy and young appearance to the skin".

The treatment involves a patient having their own blood platelets injected under the skin to help stimulate skin cells to produce collagen, elastin and retain water molecules.

"It is not cosmetic surgery but the effects are amazing," the clinic source said.

However, Minogue's wrinkle-free skin and diminishing facial expressions have raised questions over whether the star has gone under the knife to hold back the years.

While she claims she hasn't, Minogue told Elle magazine this month she has tried Botox.

She said she no longer has the cosmetic injections because of her 2005 breast cancer battle.

"Why would I inject myself with Botox? It's a poison," she told the magazine.

"I've tried Botox, I've tried all. I'm preferring to be a lot more natural these days."

A DNA test showed a 13-year-old boy in Britain is not the father of a baby born to a 15-year-old he had unprotected sex with once.

Chantelle Stedman told Alfie Patten, who was 12 when he slept with her, he was her newborn daughter Maisie's father.

The story caused a worldwide media frenzy, while politicians criticized what they called Britain's declining morals.

At first Stedman said Patten was the only boy she had ever slept with, but soon after other teens came forward saying they too could be the baby's father, because they claimed to have had sex with the girl.

Last month a friend of the Stedman family claimed Patten was scammed by the girl's parents who wanted to cash in on the sensational story.

It is still not clear who the baby's father is.

Daily Telegraph Online
27 March 2009

AAP, from cnet.com.au
11 March 2009

Social networking is a more popular online activity than email, according to a new survey.

The survey by market research firm Nielsen Online found that on average one of every 11 minutes spent online around the world is devoted to social networking and blogging sites.

The survey identified Facebook as the world's most popular social network with 108.3 million users, followed by MySpace with 81 million users. Far behind in third place was Classmates Online, with 19.7 million users; Orkut, with 17.5 million users; and LinkedIn, with 15 million users.

Facebook seemed to be the most addictive of the social networking sites with the average user spending three hours and 10 minutes online every month, the survey found. But Orkut had by far the highest penetration in any single country with 70 per cent of online Brazilians using the Google-owned service.

The survey found that growth in social networking was three times as fast as the pace of general online growth with much of that acceleration coming from the middle-aged.

The most popular age group with Facebook in terms of growth is the 35-49 category, which increased by 24.1 million people last year.

The category of men and women aged 65 and above moving to social networking grew by 7 per cent, while the 17-and-under category dropped by 9 per cent.

AAP

Daily Telegraph Online, February 15, 2009 02:48pm

THREE teenagers now claim that they - and not 13-year-old Alfie - fathered Chantelle Steadman's baby girl - amid reports she was sleeping with eight boys.

The story in The Sun last week caused an international outcry when it was revealed 13-year-old Briton Alfie Patten had fathered little Maisie with his 15-year-old girlfriend Ms Steadman.

The News of The World now reports that Richard Goodsell, aged 16, insisted he often shared a bed with Chantelle over a period of three months around the time she fell pregnant - and  has demanded a DNA test to prove he’s the true father. 

A third boy, 14-year-old Tyler Barker, fears he may also have fathered little Maisie - and is terrified at the prospect.

And amazingly the News Of The World uncovered claims Ms Steadman was sleeping with as many as eight teenage boys around the time the baby was conceived on the Old Town estate in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Mr Goodsell, a trainee chef, said he had sex at least three times with the young mother at her home, adding: “I know I could be the father. Everyone thinks I am. My friends all tell me that baby has my eyes - even my mum thinks so."

“Only a DNA test is going to sort this out properly. If I am the father, I have the right to know.”

And schoolboy Tyler Barker admitted to the paper: “I slept with Chantelle in her bed about nine months ago and I’m really worried I could be the father."

Read the boys' sensational claims and see their pictures in News of The World.

Tony Hagon, drive.com.au, 29 Jan 2009

An electric car looks set to go on sale in Australia next year for as little as $30,000.

The top secret plan to sell the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, codenamed Project Green Drive, has been in the pipeline for almost a year led by a team predominantly in their 20s and 30s.

Officially, Mitsubishi is embarking on a feasibility study for the egg-shaped four-seater that goes on sale in Japan this year, but the company's Australian president and CEO, Robert McEniry, rates the chances of it arriving in local dealerships by 2010 as "very high''.

"We think there's quite a groundswell for a vehicle like this,'' says McEniry. "We're fairly confident that demand is there. At the back of my mind I'm saying 'yes' [to selling the i-MiEV here], but there's got to be some commerciality behind it. But I think we'll be staggered with the support we'll get and that will probably do it.''

Mitsubishi is bringing two i-MiEVs - innovative Mitsubishi Electric Vehicle - to Australia on February 12. One will be for display starting with next month's Melbourne motor show  and the other will be driven by potential customers, many of which could be governments and companies looking to promote a green image.

"Clearly [this will appeal to] companies and fleets that really have the resolve to reduce their carbon footprint,'' says McEniry. "Then I think the public will pick them up. In places like Sydney and Melbourne ... for city commuting they're ideal.''

Unlike hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius, which uses an electric motor in conjunction with a petrol engine, the i-MiEV runs purely on electricity, so emits no carbon dioxide (CO2).

It has a 47kW electric motor (about 25 per cent less power than a Toyota Yaris) and can be driven for up to 160 kilometres on each charge. It can be recharged in a regular powerpoint in about eight hours, or for just 20 minutes in a dedicated higher voltage outlet.

Pricing hasn't been set but insiders suggest it could be as low as $30,000.

McEniry says the plan to evaluate the i-MiEV is an effort to embrace new technology.

"There's been quite a bit of talk about EVs,''he says. "What we're saying now, though, is the future is here, now, today.

"These cars are not just a golf buggy electric car. They're a fair dinkum four-seater.''

Mitsubishi is in discussions with two suppliers regarding recharging infrastructure and other issues surround electric vehicles.

McEniry is also aware of the negative perception of running cars on electricity derived from coal-fired powerstations prevalent in Australia, but says Mitsubishi is looking at green energy suppliers as part of the project.

There's also the issue of the electricity grid coping with cars being recharged; the heatwave in Melbourne this week led to widespread blackouts.

Mitsubishi is not the only manufacturer looking at selling electric vehicles here.

Holden has committed to selling the Volt, a plug-in hybrid that runs almost entirely on electricity, by 2012.

Micro car specialist Smart wants to sell an electric two-seater here, Toyota says it will evaluate the FT-EV, Nissan the EV and Mini is looking at its E car.

Will Swanton, Sydney Morning Herald
January 17, 2009

Djokovic's decision to change racquet brands had already been placed in the spotlight by Roger Federer the previous day. Federer suggested it was a risky move and that Djokovic might be plagued by doubts about his new racquet when under extreme pressure in Melbourne.

The Serbian, coming off the most successful year of his career which included his first major championship triumph at Melbourne Park, has rolled the dice by using a new Head racquet instead of his trusty old Wilson. He is now Head's marquee player whereas he used to play second fiddle in marketing campaigns to Federer at Wilson. His pay packet is huge.

Djokovic had already blamed his first-round loss at the Brisbane International on his new stick. His racquets are being carried around Homebush Bay in a black-and-white bag with "Head - Tour Team" emblazoned on the side. He is also using a yellow vibration dampener in his strings with a smiley face on it. Perhaps this is to remind him to cheer up if he starts wishing he still had a Wilson.

One regulation backhand from Djokovic yesterday was so wide it nearly hit the annoying spectator in the head. Pity it missed. The world No.3 dunked endless forehands into the middle of the net. Occasionally he looked mightily dispirited. Another forehand, waist-high in the middle of the court, flew off the frame and over the back fence.

Whatever the reason, unfamiliar racquet or not, he was struggling. He would miss a groundstroke and stare in disbelief at the spot where the ball had landed. On some groundstrokes, he was tentative. On others, he was wild. He battled himself as much as Nieminen.

Equipment choices are not a trifling matter. Players become attached to their racquets. The slightest variations in weight or feel, even the wrapping of the grip, can make a world of difference.

Pete Sampras used an outdated version of Wilson racquets for most his career. World No.1 golfer Tiger Woods switched to Nike drivers after a lifetime of using Titleist, and all of a sudden he could barely hit a fairway. He went back to Titleist before Nike finally developed a driver he felt comfortable with. British Open champion David Duval switched to Nike clubs from Titleist and has barely been seen again.

Nike had spent millions of dollars researching and designing a driver for Woods. His multimillion-dollar contract allowed him to revert to Titleist for a while. He issued Nike with a very public challenge. In a worldwide advertising campaign, the man regarded as the greatest golfer in history dared his new sponsors to come up with clubs worthy of him.

Head representatives might also be starting to sweat with every Djokovic defeat. His loss to Ernests Gulbis in Brisbane was overlooked as an early-season hitch. Going down the gurgler to Nieminen the week before his Australian Open defence is a genuine cause for concern.

Twice yesterday Djokovic threw his racquet to the ground. On the second occasion, perhaps tellingly, the smiley face had to be retrieved from the other side of the court.

Asher Moses in Las Vegas, SMH Online
January 10, 2009

This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/01/10/1231004338170.html