Discount Crikey

[link]

$50 for a year is horrendously good value… Even with that Mayne bloke.

Weirder and weirder: Converseon

Yesterday I posted on the iPhone and Telstra.

Today, I notice in my stats ~30 hits from this site, to that particular post, from a user known as ‘jdoak’. That’s strange, I thought – it wasn’t a ping back, and when I followed the precise link, I was taken to a weird ‘login‘ page. Fearing some kind of preamble to a DoS attack (Attack of teh n3rDz!), I thought it was worth googling.

My quick search led me to believe that these Converseon fellows seem to be 3rd party ‘product monitors’, basically employed to watch over community attitudes toward certain products. Their robots search out blogs for terms, and then a human sifts through the posts looking for ‘bad’ or ‘good’ reviews. This was confirmed when I managed to track down the very same jdoak here.

Which leads me to the conclusion that either Apple, or Telstra, or both, are monitoring the intertubes with the view to altering public discussion and perception. That is, they employ these Converseon types to search out reviews/news etc. on their products, and quite probably clutter relevant comments sections with praise for the product. It’s hard to understand any other use: you don’t spend money seeking out public opinion without a view of altering it in your favour.

I await the re-appearance of jdoak to confirm/deny!

Carl has cable: Telstra has iPhone…

The good part: Telstra finally came round today to fix the cable connection that couldn’t.

The weird part: the Telstra man had an iPhone.

He was thoroughly embarrassed when I picked up on this, but with a little prodding, he admitted Telstra has just acquired the exclusive rights in Australia.

Going on past Telstra dealings, something tells me it’s going to be disgustingly expensive…

Republicans Lose Election

McCain votes ‘No’ to torture ban.

Language Matters

The Prime Minister MUST – MUST – get a speechwriter. Or a new one. OR, LIKE< SOMETHING!@@

Here’s why:

In following sentences he “reflects…on…mistreatment.”

The first time was unnecessary once he elaborated on it in the second. Sound bite – network time – ticking away…

“…on these our fellow Australian’s.”

Hang on. ‘Those’? He meant “on our follow Australian’s.”… right?

“…all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous,”

Equality is the removal of difference, and appearance of such. In a speech enabling said equality, difference should not just not need pointing out, but should not be pointed out.

“A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions…”

Possibility???? Oh my, what an insipidpiring future

Language matters. It really does. I expect better, and I ain’t no expert.

Having said all that, it’s about bloody time.

This is my apology:

Australia has a torrid history of indigenous relations. Past governments have effectively destroyed indigenous culture, and intentionally distorted history in favour of such policy.

I am profoundly sorry of, and apologise wholly for, this embarrassing record.

I have no doubt that, now united, we will continue to create a better future.

UPDATE: TFD timing

Underbelly Banned

“You can’t ‘Come to Wednesday’s’” Justice King remarked in her decision. “For Wednesday is a time – not a place. Thus, it should read ‘Coming soon on Wednesdays’.'”

Romney Quits

Fascinating immediate outcomes here. 

Super Stuff

The Super Bowl is a must see. I won’t reveal the results, lest you want to type it into something and watch it all.

In other Super stuff, it’s 1 day 22min and counting till polls close on the East Coast. I’ll be keeping up via C-SPAN1 and CNN Polling Data. My predictions are somewhere below re: Obama v Clinton 1.5:1, and I expect McCain/Romney/Huckabee/Paul to show 39/29/15/12. Democrat voters will out-number Republicans, but only just. No particular polling to back that up (I learnt that lesson), just gut.

UPDATE: Uh-oh! CNN is dying… try FOX (I know, I know) instead.. MSNBC is the bomb (Video / Analysis), but not for Safari.

FINAL ANALYSIS: Time Mag

So, Democrats I got fairly well wrong – pretty much a 1:1 split, voting and delegate wise. However, I was fairly accurate on the Republican side of things, just +4 to each candidate, which is well within a fair margin of error. Go me.

Keelty vs. Rudd

 ”I absolutely have full confidence in Mick Keelty, [but] the government has its own view ” [Kevin Rudd] told the Fairfax Radio Network today.

I’m being cynical, I know, but that’s exactly the sort of language I’d expect to be used to soften up the ground for a resignation…

US ‘08 Predilection

It’s at that stage when any worthwhile MSM pundit should make a bold statement predicting the outcome. Can’t find anything in particular, so I thought I’d have a go myself…

Of course, this is all barring some unforseen climate changer, like say, 9/11 or sea levels rising 10m.

Now Guiliani is out, and has endorsed him, McCain will win the Republican nomination. Veep could get interesting: GOP brokers will probably force a conservative choice so they can get out the vote, but I expect McCain to press heavily for a similar mind.

Obama, with Edwards out and Kennedy’s endorsement, will take the Democratic nomination. Further, he will steamroll Tuesday 1.5:1, yet the Clintons will hang-in till they lose at the convention. It’s the Democrat way… Obama will probably run with Edwards as veep.

Obama will beat McCain 44/55 (58% turnout: inevitable factor)

However, if the Clintons somehow manage to swiftboat Obama and steal the nomination, she will lose to McCain 48/50 (70% turnout: The only time a ‘real’ conservative would vote for McCain is to beat the Clintons). They may however, still take the White House with an electoral college coup.

When I’m inevitably proven wrong, I shall introduce myself as a Young Liberal for a day.