I have noticed over the years that the quality of the comment spammers has been improving. It is to be expect really, as the tools to combat spammers step up and gets better so the spammers will improve their scripts and tools.  Not that I like it.

Over the years you get to see the general type of spam:

• Simple link list comment spam.
• Comments made up of paragraphs that at first glance appear to make sense and are full of link bait.
• Generic comments on how good the post or site is.

But Wait… there is More…

Well now there is a new kid, (well for me).   This one is going to be a little bit of a pain – The Real Duplicate Comment.

Basically the comment is well structured, it even makes sense, in fact it’s on topic. So often a fair amount of thought has gone into the comment – well at least a few minutes.

The IP addresses are random, as are the email addresses.   The URLs (no follows are on by default on this blog) go to spammy web sites, you know the type.

The only way you get to know that it’s not a real comment is that it’s often duplicated within 24-48s of posting by an exact copy of the original comment from an different commenter.

Currently my only solution is to mark them both as spam when the duplicate comment turns up.

I would be interested to know if others have encountered similar comment spam.

It’s an interesting point is the ability to code in CSS, HTML and JavaScript a skill that is relevant to the User Experience practitioner.  Or should that be left to the developers and designers.

Why ask?  Well I’m at a crossroads.

You see the nature of the local industry here is such that there just isn’t a constant stream of User Experience work at commercially viable rates.  So a I have been supplementing my UX work with a little front end design and development from time to time.

Not a bad thing really I enjoy the work. Especially when I get designed into a corner and have to try and make it all work with css/html, the challenge can be very rewarding.

Times a Changing

However recently I have noticed things are starting to change locally.  I also seem to be making a few changes around here of late, maybe I’ll just getting bored, or it’s a mid life crisis (nah, too old for that beastie).

Maybe it’s time to drop the frontend development work and finally do what I have been trying to do for the last 4-5 years, focus on UX and IA type work and nothing else. Afterall UX isn’t about the implementation, it’s about the planning and initial design only.

Mind you on the other side of the coin.   Frontend development and design skills are very handy with prototyping in html and the like.   It’s just something as you don’t have to sub contract out.   You can just do it yourself.   Even better for doing the odd hack or patch between user testing sessions on a prototype.

Also, I’m told, that people with both UX skills and frontend development are rare these days.  Now I don’t really have any idea on this one. To me they don’t seem to be that rare.   Maybe it’s just different in the US or something.

Would be nice to retain the skills, seeing as I have come so far with them, and invested a lot of time and money developing them.  But again its another skill set to keep upto date, another pile of reading to do.   Hard choice.

Guess I’m being a little conservative here, but when you have a family it’s not just you that is going to suffer if you make the wrong choice.

It’s UX or Nothing

No matter what I decide, I’m no longer taking on any more new clients for  front end development work.  It’s all going to be UX and IA and the like. Lets see how this all goes. Brave move in a way, as I’ll be turning away paying work I can very easily do.

So if you are have work in the User Experience, Information Architecture, Usability or  Accessibility areas, then we need to chat.

Still I ask you, do you think it is time to drop the front end skills and move on, or are they at least a handy prototyping skill?  What do you think?

Over the last few years I have really  come to question the point of various web industry professional associations.

Yes, it’s all about member benefits, relevancy, and value for money.   What I also look for is the chances to network, face to face or online, ways to enhance my professional development (offline and online).  Also the validation that you are following industry best practice as well.

Still the most important requirement is a sense of  community and belonging.

However when this sense community is hard to find, as it is really a localised clique or just doesn’t seem to be the right mix to be relevant.  It’s at this point that the time that the money you are shelling out for these organisations just seems a little pointless.

Within the web industry in Australia and beyond there are a number of organisations that  have over lapping spheres of influences that cross into the realm of the web industry.   Granted now I have not joined and used all their services, however I have had a very close look at most of them.

• Australian Computer Society  (ACS)

  I joined the ACS when I used to work in the IT industry (that was a lifetime ago),  and they were relevant then.   However over the years they have become an ageing IT managers club.   The seminars and conferences are just no longer relevant.  It’s either I don’t fit in the IT industry or the ACS isn’t relevant anymore.

  Currently even the networking at local ACS meetings involves the same people month after month. There is just no value it with this group as a whole when then can’t seem to understand the concept of usability, user experience design or the like.

  The only reason I continue with the membership is it’s now a lot harder to rejoin the ACS than it was when I first joined. However if I breakaway why would I rejoin.

  I have even considered maybe volunteering for the local committee and trying to make a change from within.   But it seems pointless, overall the ACS just doesn’t seem to be that open to people from the web industry.   Guess the dinosaurs just don’t get this web thing.

• Australia Web Industry Association (AWIA)

  I have soft spot for AWIA as I have served on the committee, and have been a member for a number of years. So okay I’m bias.

  AWIA is very web industry specific, they aim to represent and promote the web industry in Australia.  Considering the small number of active volunteers AWIA has achieved some amazing things.

  The problem is that although AWIA has run some very successful events like conferences, seminars, and a national web awards, there is still a air  that they are Perth centric, despite efforts to change this.

  Like most young associations it has a good sense of community, with a hard working team of tireless volunteers.

  This is the heart of AWIA’s problems, the team of volunteers.  You see there is a point that every professional association gets to when the volunteers can no longer do everything without regional branches or a paid admin support team.   AWIA is at that point.

• Web Industry Professionals Association (WIPA)

  If I was living in Sydney I would be a member of WIPA, not AWIA.   Basically WIPA is the same as AWIA, except they are based out of Sydney.

  WIPA is facing the same issues that AWIA is, volunteer burnout.  There is nothing wrong with WIPA at all, it is supporting, representing the promoting the web industry just like AWIA.

  In fact, maybe AWIA and WIPA should be considering, egos of both committees aside,  merging and making a solid, unstoppable, truly national professional association for the Australian web industry and the  benefit of members.

• Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA)

  Okay a disclaimer on this one, I’m not a member of AIMIA.

  The scope of AIMIA is focusing on anyone working in the media industry, that’s marketing, advert production, interactive promotion, and the web.

  My issue is that AIMIA is like the ACS, the web is just a minor slice of what they are looking at.  Granted it’s a larger slice and of more relevance that with ACS.

  Sure they run a good deal of events, on the east coast.   An Australian awards competition, with a low regard from web standards and best practice.

  However living in Perth, does AIMIA has any relevance, is there any benefit from AIMIA that will help me in Perth. There also doesn’t even appear to be  an online community that I can see.

• Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG)

  You know when you get an organisation that you just wish they would be relevant.   You know that the overall subject matter is one that is close to what you are professionally interested in.

  Well that is what it is like with CHISIG, from what I can see CHISIG is just there to support a series of regional annual conferences which really just has focus a little too much in the theoretical world of academia for my liking.

  This is a real pity as I can envision CHISIG becoming a very important organisation in the future.  Locally CHISIG run the annual conference OZCHI.

• Information Architecture Institute (IAI)

  The IAI is focused on the promotion, best practice and use of Information Architecture, the membership is mostly US focused as all these like overseas associations tend to be.

  The major benefits for members are a a closed email list, a mentoring program, the Journal of Information Architecture, and an annual conference (in the US, so that’s not going to happen any day soon is it).

  In general the IAI has provided a considerably high level of interesting resources and benefits for a low fee of US$75.

• Interactive Design Association (IxDA)

  The IxDA is a very interesting association, again like the IAI its very US centric, but with volunteers from around the global, local chapters are very quickly popping up all over the place.  It’s centred around a mailing list. The cost of membership is free.  The IxDA also runs an annual conference in the US – Interaction.

  Not really much of a professional association at the moment as a support group for people interested in Interactive Design.   However, things are changing with the IxDA. One to watch.

• Usability Professionals Association (UPA)

  If I wasn’t involved with the local UPA chapter (in formation) I really don’t think I would bother with the UPA.   I just seem to have lost interest in the UPA.   Yes I’m still passionate about usability, but just not the UPA.

  There is no online community, no mailing list.  There is however a quarterly magazine and number of online resources limited to members.

  The usability and findability of the information on the UPA website really is a distraction from the overall benefits as well.  Mind you the membership fee is only US$100, so the resources are reasonable for the price.

  The UPA just don’t seem to be living in the same world as we are in Australia.  Even their policy for chapter formation is just unrealistic for regional centres like Perth.

  At present I’m hoping the UPA can see the error of it’s ways and move forward and improve.

• Internet Industry Association (IIA)

  The history of the IIA is they formed mainly out of the need to lobby the Australia government in relation to issues effecting ISPs.   This greatly effects their policy and direction, making then somewhat relevant to the web industry.

  However they are not focusing on the coal face of the our industry but the service providers.

• Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)

  The AIIA does have a local Perth branch, and they do run regular events.  However the event prices and membership fees (staring at $600 per business) indicate that they are focusing on the top end of town.

  The AIIA runs some amazing events, that are a very good networking resource, even an ICT awards competition, in a way they are like the ACS for business.   The relevancy of their professional development benefits, and the like, are just a little low for the web industry, mind you it’s higher than the ACS.

• Web Standards Group (WSG)

  A number of years back the WSG was up and coming, with local branches around Australia and regular seminars and meet-ups.

  However as volunteer numbers have waned over the years and so has the local involvement, despite membership being free.

  The WSG is now mainly an online community, with adhoc meetups on the east coast, however it still should be considered as it promotes an idea of web standards and best practice for web design and development. Which is a good thing.

I know there are a lot more like associations than the ones listed above, some are very much developer or designer specific, some not.   If you like list any extras in the comments below.

So are  these associations still relevant?  Would you consider joining or should we put them on notice.   Or maybe I’m just missing something, you tell me?

Where does the the web industry fit in the world. You would think that after 15 plus years that we would have worked that out by now and found our place. But alas this isn’t the case. I still ponder what category should we sit under in a corporate or business structure, let alone what role we should all be.

Something that really frustrates me, is when you go to fill in a survey and they list off the industry types. I’m always very confused where do I put myself, my business. Which one of the categories do I choose.

You know the ones. You end up looking at the choices like, Information Technology, Communications, Marketing, Business Services or something completely different. Still you look and think. Often I have just given up and skipped the survey entirely due to this question alone.

Anyone that has discussed the web industry with me knows I’m passionate about it. They also know that I’m extremely vocal on discussing where it sits in the business world.

We are Not Information Technology

It’s an issue, some of us have come out of the design industry, some from and IT background. I know in the early days the web was often controlled by a single enthusiastic individual who came from one of these areas, if they were lucky they came from both or maybe none.

I know that there is a very strong argument to say that it’s all IT based due to the programming skills required for the developmental side of the work. I disagree – strongly .

It’s not a cut and dry issue, but I’m of the belief that we have moved on from the text editor, programming centric days of web site development.

Yes granted that web development is still a large segment of the process. Still we have progressed away from the IT Department.  Just because we use computers to construct and document the planning for a web site, doesn’t mean it has anything to do with IT.

For example, I would end up categorising a industrial designer or an architect into IT. if that was the case as they both use computers and even do  a little scripting too

Besides in some organisations there are more programmers in the engineering section than the IT section. Maybe it should be in Engineering then?

If Not IT, then Where?

Let’s have a look at the processes used to develop a web site and the type of branches in a typical organisation that could supply skills to complete the process:

• User Research: Marketing and Public Relations
• Business Analysis: Engineering or IT
• Information Architecture: Information or Records Management
• Site Interface Design: Interface Design from Engineering
• Graphical Design: Design team from Marketing or Public Relations
• Branding Experience: Marketing
• Usability Testing: Marketing and Public Relations
• Development: Engineering or IT
• User Acceptance Testing : Engineering or IT
• Copy writing: Marketing and Public Relations

With all that IT and Marketing input this reminded me of the old Designers verses Developers debate.

Now I know that this does run into the age old adage – “It depends”. Yes, true it does depend on the project. The smaller projects will use more of the Marketing branch resources and the larger ones will use more developmental (Engineering or IT) focused resources.

Still if you look at all the processes and techniques that we use and where we have borrowed them from, you can see than the web industry is maturing, moving away from  IT and seeking  input outside it’s usual sphere of influences.

Here is a list of the areas that have influence web site production from tools, techniques to processes and procedures:

• Records Management
• Library Science
• Animation
• Industrial design
• Cinematography
• Engineering
• Information Technology
• Graphic Design
• Public Relations
• Brand Marketing
• Marketing Research
• Environmental Planning
• Interior Design
• Software Engineering
• Psychology
• Film Direction
• Cartooning
• Architecture

Sure, the list is a little biased toward influences of User Experience design techniques. Hey it’s what I do.   Still if we consider these fields that have a shared skill, maybe the Web Industry just needs to go in a new category called the Interactive Industry, and walk proud as a new communications industry.

What do you think, time to walk away from the old IT industry label.

I have volunteered and helped out a good number of professional, sporting and community groups over the years;  up till now I have never really questioned why I do it. I guess it’s just the drive to make a difference.  Now with my 2 year stint as the Treasurer of the Australian Web Industry Association coming to a close maybe it’s time to reflect on why I nominate myself for such things and what the benefits of volunteering for your community are:

1. Workplace Experience

   You know volunteering can give you a lot of valuable varied workplace experience and in some cases open doors for potential employment or alternative career paths your wouldn’t have otherwise have thought of.

2. Increase your Network

   Also you get to work with other people outside your usual sphere of contacts, this in turn allows you to expand your network of contacts, locally and around the world.

3. Personal Satisfaction

   I wouldn’t be honest with myself if I did say that volunteering can be extremely rewarding.  In some cases you can find yourself leading or  involved with projects that you wouldn’t normally ever get the opportunity to do.   On completion, you get an immense feeling of  satisfaction, usually from producing or contributing to something that a lot of people have got a benefit from.  Yeah, it’s a little ego centric. But you do get a buzz –  for example knowing  that you helped get a lot of people to come to an event, in which they all learnt about the latest techniques.   So in a small way you pushed your local community forward.

4. Pay Your Dues

   You get a real sense of giving something back.   I really can’t explain this, but it’s like a personal justification, well it is for me anyway.   It’s like you have to pay your dues or something like that.  Volunteering to a local not-for-profit, and a professional association in a way for me for fills that requirement.

5. Build Confidence

   We all have those areas in which we aren’t that confident, if you don’t you’re lying to yourself.   Well, I have found with volunteering you often get to work in situations that can help boost your confidence, all while being supported by the organisation of fellow volunteers around you.

6. Stay on the Edge

   You get to ensure that your skills and techniques are on the leading edge of your professional community as you are often associating with like people on the top of their professional careers.

7. Contribute, stare them down.

   No one can look you in the eye at any event or gathering and say “well what have you contributed? Bet it’s nothing, much.”  Bit of ego here. Hell yeah.   But often you have earned it.   This did happen recently to me.   It was interesting to see the look on this person’s face when I told them the number of community groups I was activity involved in.   In this case I think I may have inadvertently  shamed them into rethinking their own contribution to society.

8. Make a Difference

   This may seem silly, but you really do get to make a difference.  Often the things that you personally do can make a major difference; even if it’s just to spring board ideas for others to take up and move forward with.  Often in professional associations and  not-for-profit the resources and opinions of each volunteer are highly valued.

9. Grow and be Challenged

   Working with a group of different people, that you wouldn’t otherwise choose to work with can be challenging.  This is frustrating at times, but it’s also fantastic as it makes you learn and grow as a person and not remain just a mindless zombie churning out the 9 to 5. Anything that challenges me is good in my book.

10. Build Community

    You get to build community and bring people together, especially in some professional communities around Australia that have become fractured over the years.  Not looking at you Melbourne.  The sense of personal achievement with this is just fantastic.

11. Hone Disused Skills

    Sometimes you have a skill set that just isn’t getting used at work, so why not put it to use with a community or professional association.   Say you are good at marketing, but just don’t get to practice the ground roots marketing anymore as you are now in management driving a balance sheet. Well volunteer for a marketing position with a not-for-profit organisation may help keep those skills from going rustly.

12. Have Fun

    Finally you know with the hard work comes a lot of fun, good times, laugher, and often a real sense of comradeship, their isn’t any cliqueness that people often speak of.   Just a gratefulness that you are willing to help, and donate your time.

Well that’s my personal list of reasons that I contribute to the my community, be it on a professional or general interest level.   I’m a great believer that what you give to the community it will in turn give back to you three fold.

Volunteering doesn’t take much, sometimes its just a few hours a week, if that, and frankly the benefits outweigh any downsides.

So what are you contributing to your community?

Sometimes you come across something that you just have to share.   The other day I got the chance to go back in time.  Back in the past, to feel and  to see something of raw beauty that I personally have not experienced before.

Im talking about  the work that I found in an exercise book and the craftsmanship in some Victorian era books.

The work in the school exercise book was lovely completed by a middle class Irish 10 year old, under English rule at the time.  Those 03 dates on this work are not from 2002, but 1902, all the way back to the Edwardian era.

Look at the workmanship, the beauty in the character formation.   The level of care.  Looking through this simple school book, one can see into an era that was a lot slower. Where the time was taken to learn a skill, to master it.  Where the time was taken to do things right.  Please remember these are not preseved works, they have had no special care, so they have bled out in places, but still you can see the degree of care taken.   There is just something raw and untamed in these works, something that the digital world can’t produce.

To often we are locked in our digital design words, away from the feel of paper, the smell of ink, the texture of the canvas and the grease of the paint.  Maybe it’s time as designers from time to time we re-found this old school world of the analogue

Draft, Draft and Draft Again

However you may think that this was the first draft the student did in these books.   Not so I also have access to the draft workbook also, in which everything is drafted in pencil.   This just goes to show that even in an Edwardian era things have a parallel to present day.

It seems sometimes that we forget that the best way to get close to perfection is draft the work, over and over.  To this day that still holds true, even if we do tend to forget it, in our rush, rush disposable world of pixels and images that are a flicker of the eye.

For the Beauty of Old Books.

Now that we have gazed over this typical school work of the 1900’s lets roll it back with a common Victorian era  book.  If you have opened a book of this era, you will totally understand what I’m talking about, they are amazing, an artwork in themselves. The quality, even in just like the type setting, the typeface, the marbling, the binding is to behold.   Things that I love about these old books is the wood carving or plate etching artwork that  is contained within.  The level of detail is just amazing considering the handcraft process on how the books on this era where constructed.

I know some of my readers are going to say, so what, this is just a 120 year old book.  Fine yes it’s not that old in the scheme of things, but for Australia it is old, very old, it’s all relative, see we are a young country.  Still  you can turn your  nose up at it, but for me it’s a doorway to a world of wonder of fine forgotten craftsmanship.

So what things from the past inspire you, what old “design” treasures do you love to look over?

Now Perth can be busy place, with lots of professional networking events every month, seems that there are even more now with this financial hiccup, as people scramble for those networking contacts.

Funny thing is that most of the new ones  now want to sell me something or get me to join some exclusive networking group that will bring me riches and world domination by afternoon teatime.  All I have to do is just sign over a few thousand dollars a year and  feed thew group them all my business contacts for good measure.   Now I don’t know about you but the only bugger getting rich here is the person that set that scheme up in the first place.  Pyramid anyone, just without money.

Bring on the Coffee

Still all the these usual events, either cost ($10 to $90) or are very industry specific and top that off with that they are all at night.   Now that is great for the average punter that is working the 9-5 treadmill.  The evening networking events suit these people – just pop along to the event after work.

However things are a little different for freelancers, so this got me thinking.  Why not have an event that freelancers and solo workers can attend, that is  not in the evenings when family ties can hold you back from coming along.

Make it easy to get to, cheap, causal and relaxing.   Now everyone loves going to a coffee shop, even if it’s not for coffee.   So why not have a regular event that people can relax, socialise and network at the same time at a coffee shop.

Hence Freelancers Coffee was born.

It’s just really a concept, to help freelancers get out and meet people and stop being isolated, nothing more than that.   No pimping of other networking or marketing snake oil groups.  Just a simple meetup, ideally across all industries from bookkeeping, photography, marketing, graphic design, web design and so on. The more diverse the better.

Perth Freelancer Coffee

In Perth , we have a monthly Freelancers Coffee meetup, each one being at a different place each time, always near a train line, or good public transport.   Such that it moves around the suburbs, attracting different people.

This month it’s on Thursday 7th May from 10:30am at Mooba Central, 3/22 Railway Rd (near Outridge Crs), Subiaco.  If you are a freelancer of solo worker why not come along, it’ free. Well you do have to pay for your coffee.  No registration, no rsvp, no hassles, just rock up,   friendly people.

What would be ideal is if the concept of Freelancer’s Coffee were to taken up in other places around Australia if not the world.   All it takes is a few freelancers to get together and spread the word to others.

Cloud computing is all the buzz at the moment, another trendy topic, but it isn’t that new in relative terms, either is the SaaS models, having grown out of the ASP model of the last century.

But you know despite being immersed in all this web “stuff” from day to day,  I just have this nagging feeling about the information we put out in the cloud. Is it really that safe!

At the Edge of Web Conference colleague Stephen Collins in his Enterprise 2.0 – A New Age of Aquarius? talk touched on the social aspect of SaaS and that most of his software that he uses is in the cloud. Leaving very little in terms of desktop software.

Sure I get the advantages:

• Low entry cost, no major software license costs
• You can operate anywhere you can get a reasonable unrestricted connection.
• You can get some degree of cross SaaS product integration.
• The vendors have an interest to ensure that the respective application is good, otherwise you’re just going to leave.
• There is a high level of security and infrastructure investment by vendor, or is there?

But still I have this niggle about it all, so what are the disadvantages:

• It’s all about trust, trust of the vendor to hold your information and be a constant reliable source.
• Not all your software is in the cloud, especially for specific industries.
• If you don’t have a web connect, what then.

So What’s the Issue

It’s not that I haven’t tried it. I use the following on a constant basis:

Flickr –

Hosts my photos (well some).

LinkedIn –

Is my resume and professional contacts.

Google Docs –

For some of the basic business documentation and online calendar, handy but would like to be able to sync with iPhone with ease in one step.

Facebook –

Some social and professional networking interconnection.

Twitter –

Professional networking interconnection.

Slideshare –

Manages my meager presentation set.

Delicious –

Manages my bookmarks, tagged so I can find them.

But there is a list of other things I’m just holding back on. You know they are great in concept but something is holding me back:

Upcoming –

Good, but limited for events management by the lack of take up.

Saasu –

Great application, but we are talking finances, this is my bread and butter, without these any business can be a lot of trouble. I guess this comes down to trust. At present I like to keep my finances close, despite bad desktop applications.

BaseCamp –

Tried this early on, and despite all the hype, just could see the justification in using it.

Gmail –

Really needs to have more desktop based functionality, before I will move my email fully into the cloud.

Time Tracking –

You know I have yet to find a good time tracker that will do what I want, and not attempt to have me shoe horn my procedures into their mold.

CRM –

This is an area I’m seriously looking into. Not tried it yet but I’m looking at zoho.

Drop.io –

Online sharing space. Nothing critical gets stored here. Overall I’m very skeptical about the future viability of these free services, especially after a few recent failures in this area.

It’s all About Trust

Guess it really just comes down to the trust factor. Do you trust the company concerned. Are they going to be here in the future, despite you paying them. Will you wake tomorrow and find all your records gone, like the VCs of earlier this year.

You see large companies like Google and Yahoo, have gained our (my) trust, but the smaller ones still leave me very hesitant. Sure you can always export your data and back it up, but we all know how bad we are at backing things up. So expecting someone to weekly export data from 10-15 sites is just a little bit of a pipe dream. Mind you that would be a cool automated SaaS in it’s self, market there for an idea.

And then there is the applications for which I have no cloud version:

MS-Office –

Seriously the size on some of the spreadsheets used for IA analysis puts the humble desktop Excel under a good deal of strain. I doubt any online version would do any better. Office despite my love and hate relationship also offers the best formatting for my reports, proposals and the like. Mind you Microsoft are moving slowly into this direction.

Photoshop –

Heavy duty and rapid response is what I need, sure I don’t use it like this all the time, but at least once or twice a week Photoshop and the like graphics editors are put through their paces. The online versions just don’t cut it.

WireFraming –

Be it Omni Graffle or Axure, like Photoshop you need the responsiveness and immediate grunt from a desktop application.

Prototyping –

Again depending on how you generate these, there is bound to be component that is going to require some intensive graphical or interactive aspect, to which the desktop is more suited. Mind you Protoshare does look interesting.

But seriously these are all hard working applications really need to be on the desktop, so I’m not expecting anything in this area in the short term. Sure there are some dicky “toy” applications, but frankly that’s all they are toys. So it seems that SaaS only really works well when:

• It’s not linked to the social network,
• Is feeding data from a traditional “store/ retrieve / display” model and
• Operates as a service for generic administration functions.

So am I doing it all little old school and am I set in my ways, or should I just put it all out there in the cloud and trust in always having that web connection?

What the hell has got into Australia in the last few years.

Now we have the railroaded implementation of Labor (right wing christian) Senator Conroy’s Internet filter.   In case you have been off the planet for the last month, Conroy is now rolling towards his personal agenda of implementation. Our only hope is that he has to enforce it with a Bill in Parliament.

The filter he proposes is a multiple tier one.  The first tier being the mandatory ISP driven automatic   filtering of all the web nasties that are illegal under current legislation. The second tier is the the removal of all material that is deemed inappropriate.  This effectively makes the internet safe place for children.

Again it’s time to get political on this blog.  I talked about this issue previously.   But now it has gone from a mild concern to the stupidity of implementation of an extended “on the run” person extension of labor policy [PDF].  It’s time that we all stood up and acted.

So What is the Big Deal.

Sure the filter is going to block the porn, the deviant sites and other such nasties so kids can’t stumble across them.  Okay that is good.   I have no object to that at all. None!  But…  you knew there was a but.

Closest to date on what Conroy is really thinking comes from questions in a Senate Standing Committee when Conroy is questioned [PDF] by Greens Senator Scott Ludlam:

We are talking about mandatory blocking, where possible, of illegal material … we are enforcing current law and ACMA determine this based on existing law … so you can have a chat with them about how they go determining it. But the general sort of stuff that we are talking about is child porn and they are the sorts of sites we are targeting. We do not believe that you should be able to opt in to child porn. I am sure you do not either.

What really gets me is that, Conroy has also bundled the great catch all “inappropriate content”. What is inappropriate. For example, what is inappropriate to a 5 year old girl maybe critical information for a 14 year old girl on sex education, drug use and teenage pregnancy. Under Conroy that is going to be questionable and sanitised.

So far as proposed by Senator Conroy the filter systems will not be a manual list, but in general and automated filtering process based on various criteria, supplemented with short white and black lists.

Lots of people have been discussing this issue, it’s basically not that clear and simple that some people are making out.  It’s not a case of  - “oh but it’s illegal, so who cares”.

Okay in the way this is all about bringing the internet inline with the current practices for general publications.   But with the internet there is just way too much information for any board or committee to rate.   Hence the use of filtering algorithms with a list of know bad sites

The problem is that these algorithms that are used are not that perfect.  They have a percentage of false positives, yeap they get in wrong from time to time.  Now with a high number of web sites in the world,  Even an error rate of 2-3% is way too high,  Consider if suddenly by random a few thousand books where removed from the public library system from no real reason.  Would we really stand for it, all for the greater good of a perfect socialistic society.  I don’t think so.  Is it worth while to have all that information lost for the sake of society.

Watching the Watchers

Then consider some of the sites that don’t have a method to classify them.   For example Second Life. As you know it’s not a web site it is a virtual world,  so does that make it a game or something else.   If you say it’s a game then it gets banned as it have content that is way over the MA15+ in certain areas (remember Australia doesn’t have an adult computer game rating), this type of internet application is a problem, it has no media type.

It has also been pointed out that there is a fair chance, going on previous records, that the banned list of sites will not be publicly available whether they are the tier one list or tier two banned list.

This is a little extreme if you consider that we do know that books, magazines, comics, films and computer games that are banned in each state (yes it is controlled on a state level) .  But this could be a closed list, one has to question why.

There is also the technical issue of the white list to counter an over zealous filtering algorithms, who gets to decide what goes on what list.

My main concern is who is watching the watchers, the system needs to be totally transparent, with no closeted under informed public servant making any key decision at all.  There needs to be space for public review.   We need to look at the freedom of information and not the dictates of minority political groups to set the agenda.

Time for Action

So what can we do.

The Australia Web Industry Association (AWIA)  has an information site – Keep Your Filter off Our Internet, and there is the No Clean Feed campaign, Electronic Frontiers Australia plus dozens of other sites and information sources.

The Australian Computer Society, didn’t what I expected them to do, fence sit, send it off to a committee, suppose it’s reflective of the membership base of the board.

You can contact Senator Conroy’s Office and complain, but really he is not going to change  his mind, best we can hope for is that he alters the proposal or waters it down somewhat.

The real clincher is to contact the power brokers in the upper house (Senate), as the lower house is dominated by labor.   In this case it’s the Green’s senators, Bob Brown (Tas), Christine Milne (Tas), Sarah Hanson-Young (SA), Scott Ludlam (WA) and
Rachel Siewert (WA). That said contacting and at least talking to your local member will help.

With any correspondence I have found that the best method to get results or be remembered by ministerial staff and the relevant member of parliament is to do everything from a personal perspective.   That means ringing them having a chat.   Don’t bother with a chain letter, a personally written one is better, just ensure you research it well.  Understand that a staffer will read the letter, and it will be answered by public servant if it’s going to a minister.

First of it’s no good talking technical on this.  Unless your are figurehead from a technical view point like iinet’s Mike Malone It’s not a a technical issue. It’s not about the speed.   It’s about the information, more often it’s about sex.  It’s about the morality of  information.   The media have battered it about that it’s for the children, and the filtering is for them.

It’s about emotion.   Politically driven emotion. This a policy leveraged of the core of the current government, to placidate the wishes of the moral minority in the positions of power in the senate, particularly Family First and the Prime Minister’s personal preferences.  Again we see the Church influencing state.  Remember any counter argument has to be the same when discussing in the public forum.

I’m not happy on this at all.  Yes I don’t want the dirty underbelly of the web, but its not really about that is it, I question:

• Who is watching the watchers?
• Is loosing a percentage of the information worth the effort for a politically religiously motived policy?
• Are we letting a minority group dictate the fabric of our information society?

As many of you know I operate out of our home studio. It’s ideal for my freelance lifestyle. Plus all the trendy people are doing it now. So this meme is going to be different, I’m not technically going home from work as that type of photo-shoot would be just two or three pics at best.

So what to do. I was going to do going home after a AWIA / Port80 meetup, but that didn’t work at all, as it’s at night and I’m using my crappy N80 phone camera (see rules).

What I ended up doing what my return journey home after dropping the kids of at school one morning. Technically it is going home, just then I go to work as well. The photo set is on flickr as well.

Bit of a backwards approach with this, I’m going from home to work, not the standard going home from work. Time to set the wheels in motion for the next participants.

The Rules

Well these are very simple:

• Use a simple camera, the simpler the better,
• Upload them to flickr or whatever your preference is, but as long as they can be seen through the web,
• Tag them if you can with “onmywayhomeme”,
• Blog it and tell the story,
• Tag your mates.

The Tagged

The following folk are tagged with this meme:

• Alexandra Graham
• Myles Eftos
• Michael Newby
• Bronwen Clune
• Kay Smoljak
• Matt Didcoe
• Gian Wild