Auspol July - A Paradise of Orcs - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol July - A Paradise of Orcs

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birdstrike: Oct 30, 2008; i;m gay

racing identity posted:

cyclists and drivers are both bad

the only good thing to do is never go outside

busb?

# ? Jul 31, 2017 09:36

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# ? May 2, 2024 20:23

bandaid.friend: Apr 25, 2017; My first car was a stick

http://www.smh.com.au/business/cons...725-gxi8bh.html

quote:

For the residents of one of Sydney's tallest buildings, the arrival of the national broadband network has spelt the end of fast and affordable high-speed internet.
Six years ago, the residents of Elan tower in Kings Cross paid Telstra to weave "state of the art" hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) cables through the 40 floors, and since then have been enjoying download speeds of 100Mbps.
But last year, NBN ordered Telstra to scrap the HFC system and move customers onto its fibre-to-the-building (FTTB) technology, which it had installed using the building's 20-year-old copper phone lines.
One angry resident is well-known property developer Rick Graf. He is refusing to switch, aghast at the poor experiences of his neighbours.
"With the HFC backbone, I'm getting 120Mbps internet � over Wi-Fi," he said. "A neighbour of mine has switched to NBN and on a high-paying plan, and he can't get more than 50Mbps."

Residents who have tried to switch back to the HFC network have been blocked by Telstra.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 09:59

Endman: May 18, 2010; That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even anime may die

50Mbps is fine.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 10:25

MysticalMachineGun: Apr 5, 2005

bandaid.friend posted:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/cons...725-gxi8bh.html

Any complaints/stories/columns about the NBN should list specifically who each person voted for.

If you voted Liberal Rick, get in the bin with your lovely internet

# ? Jul 31, 2017 10:44

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Living Soul

Senate crossbenchers will move to refer One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts to the High Court if the government hesitates, all but guaranteeing his eligibility will be decided by the court.

But Senator Roberts, whose office threatened to report Fairfax Media to police for "stalking" in response to questions over his eligibility, is now delighting in the "unbelievable" increase in his profile the furore has created.

"I too believe in the interest of transparency the documents that support Senator Roberts standing in the Senate should be shown, however it will be through appropriate means which does not involve exclusively giving them to a single news source," Senator Hanson's spokesman said.

"Next week the Senate will be provided with supporting documents that prove Senator Roberts had renounced his citizenship.

"In the meantime, Malcolm Roberts is enjoying the unbelievable spike in public profile. He can't thank you enough."

Always a silver lining

(he may literally drink collodial silver)

# ? Jul 31, 2017 10:56

Mr Chips: Jun 27, 2007; Whose arse do I have to blow smoke up to get rid of this baby?

Endman posted:

50Mbps is fine.

at 80% the rollout cost, lower network resale value, lower bandwidth growth headroom, and higher operating costs it's not a compelling alternative to GPON with fibre media that can do >10,000 Mbps

# ? Jul 31, 2017 11:12

CrazyTolradi: Oct 2, 2011; It feels so good to be so bad.....at posting.

Endman posted:

50Mbps is fine.

I remember when 56kbps was fine too.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 11:32

bandaid.friend: Apr 25, 2017; My first car was a stick

Lid posted:

"In the meantime, Malcolm Roberts is enjoying the unbelievable spike in public profile. He can't thank you enough."

Senator Roberts' office later sent fifteen unsolicited emails to Fairfax, each assuring he wasn't at all upset

# ? Jul 31, 2017 11:49

Senor Tron: May 26, 2006

Endman posted:

50Mbps is fine.

TBH right now if it was 50/50 it would be an incredible waste of money given what the FTTH rollout could have done, but would have been at least a good solid baseline.

However all the alternatives routinely fall apart in upload speed, which is a massive chunk of why the NBN was so exciting.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 11:51

CrazyTolradi: Oct 2, 2011; It feels so good to be so bad.....at posting.

Senor Tron posted:

However all the alternatives routinely fall apart in upload speed, which is a massive chunk of why the NBN was so exciting.

Yeah, this is exactly the problem with HFC and FttN, the upload speeds are horrible. Malcolm loves to rant on about the innovative and agile economy, but the poo poo upload speeds we have stymie the gently caress out of content creators and innovators because when you're trying to upload anything that's over 100mb on 1-2mbps, gently caress that for a joke.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 11:56

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

CrazyTolradi posted:

Yeah, this is exactly the problem with HFC and FttN, the upload speeds are horrible. Malcolm loves to rant on about the innovative and agile economy, but the poo poo upload speeds we have stymie the gently caress out of content creators and innovators because when you're trying to upload anything that's over 100mb on 1-2mbps, gently caress that for a joke.

I do Telehealth stuff, it's even worse trying to perform tests with packets dropping everywhere.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:07

MikeJF: Dec 20, 2003

Zenithe posted:

I do Telehealth stuff, it's even worse trying to perform tests with packets dropping everywhere.

What you're saying is that Malcolm's NBN murders babies?

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:10

CrazyTolradi: Oct 2, 2011; It feels so good to be so bad.....at posting.

Zenithe posted:

I do Telehealth stuff, it's even worse trying to perform tests with packets dropping everywhere.

Yeah, I'm not surprised to be honest. Before I left Telstra, they were dumping millions into a new product which was basically just a DSL service bundled with 3 VOIP lines. Imagine my surprise as it flopped and become a money pit. The importance of upstream is just lost even on those in the industry.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:19

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

How is media watch not a 30 minute program get it done Guthrie ya Murdoch shill.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:22

EoinCannon: Aug 29, 2008; Grimey Drawer

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

How is media watch not a 30 minute program get it done Guthrie ya Murdoch shill.

Oh god those breakfast telly shill-pieces are unbearable. How can people sit through that?

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:29

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

EoinCannon posted:

Oh god those breakfast telly shill-pieces are unbearable. How can people sit through that?

People who can't handle all this sexy:

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:38

EoinCannon: Aug 29, 2008; Grimey Drawer

I have Michael and Virginia on in the mornings but I'll mute them as soon as they try to be funny, editorialise about anything or do the "kids the days" routine

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:43

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

MikeJF posted:

What you're saying is that Malcolm's NBN murders babies?

Anything super serious you wouldn't do this way, but what it has the potential to do is save health services millions and millions of dollars, and provide specialist health services to anywhere in Australia. Or it would if rural Australia had anything except laughable internet.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:52

Mad Katter: Aug 23, 2010; STOP THE BATS

Did someone say bikes?

# ? Jul 31, 2017 12:57

dr_rat: Jun 4, 2001

Mad Katter posted:

Did someone say bikes?

Bikes and cars both be damned. Why won't anyone ever thinking of the poor innocent pedestrans, just looking for a nice quite stroll, while bikes and cars ever on the hunt for them, looking to rip those most magnificent people who walk, limb from limb at any moment.

To the guillotine with all those blood lusting devils who ride bikes and drive cars I say, the sooner the see the inside of hell the better.

Walking's where it's at. So relaxing and nice. :cool:

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:22

Solemn Sloth: Jul 11, 2015; Baby you can shout at me,
But you can't need my eyes.

dr_rat posted:

Bikes and cars both be damned. Why won't anyone ever thinking of the poor innocent pedestrans, just looking for a nice quite stroll, while bikes and cars ever on the hunt for them, looking to rip those most magnificent people who walk, limb from limb at any moment.

To the guillotine with all those blood lusting devils who ride bikes and drive cars.

Walking's where it's at.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:22

Bucky Fullminster: Apr 13, 2007

What have humans ever accomplished by walking.

HookShot posted:

Mia Freeman continued to prove she's a giant sack of poo poo by fat shaming a lady and Hobo Erotica had a meltdown defending her. Do not talk about Mia in this thread.

Haha nice work going out of your way to do this poo poo btw

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:33

Squidtits: Mar 30, 2004; Spank me, you know you wanna

The estate I live in has FTTN and also FTTP and I have marked on the map where the node is located.
The purple dots are those in the estate that have FTTP.
Considering that FTTP speed is not affected by distance, NBN took a big poo poo on the estate because it looks like there are more FTTP homes closer to the node then the people who are reliant on being close to the node.

My synch rate on ADSL2+ was around 20Mbits and now its 32Mbits. Sure its 50% faster than it used to be but I can't help feel that I am now part of a technology ghetto. It certainly is not future proof and the sad thing is our house is only 6 years old and this part of the estate not much older.

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:47

norp: Jan 20, 2004; TRUMP TRUMP TRUMP

let's invade New Zealand, they have oil

It really doesn't look like they were aiming to keep line lengths down does it

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:57

DancingShade: Jul 26, 2007; by Fluffdaddy

norp posted:

It really doesn't look like they were aiming to keep line lengths down does it

Why do it right when you can get paid to do it poo poo, then get paid again twice to fix it in a few more years time?

# ? Jul 31, 2017 13:58

dr_rat: Jun 4, 2001

Hobo Erotica posted:

What have humans ever accomplished by walking.

It's gotten humans to the local park, so that they can lay on the grass, in the sun, on a nice day. :colbert:

What more could transport possibly ever need to do!

# ? Jul 31, 2017 17:42

NTRabbit: Aug 15, 2012; i wear this armour to protect myself from the histrionics of hysterical women

bitches

norp posted:

It really doesn't look like they were aiming to keep line lengths down does it

Nodes were installed next to existing pillars, because the copper goes from your house to the pillar, and then in bulk from the pillar to the node, and they really didn't have to worry about distance when installing pillars decades ago.

It's not the fault of the installers, it is, again, the fault of Mr. Trumbles shitful broadband plan.

# ? Jul 31, 2017 22:52

Stevefin: Sep 30, 2013

NBN is said to be out at my place around October this year, which is surprising considering last year they where saying sometime in 2020. and it looks like they decided to go from FFTD to FTTN, That will be interesting as we had the local Telstra mechanic over a few times to get internet to work, even say the network out here is very lovely and confusingly built. I would imagine more so when the NBN happens

# ? Jul 31, 2017 23:26

Bucky Fullminster: Apr 13, 2007

dr_rat posted:

It's gotten humans to the local park, so that they can lay on the grass, in the sun, on a nice day.

What more could transport possibly ever need to do!

It's literally how we colonized the world. :ssh:

Well, that and a few boats. Maybe some horses here and there. But mostly lots and lots of walking. I love thinking about that. Generations over tens of thousands of years walking all the way from Africa to Tasmania

# ? Aug 1, 2017 02:33

open24hours: Jan 7, 2001

quote:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/aug/01/revealed-how-australia-dumped-so-much-loving-money-on-asylum-seeker-ad-campaign
The Australian government �dumped so much loving money� on a company behind a taxpayer-funded campaign to deter asylum seekers arriving by boat that it made more than US$277,000 in profit for three days� work, the Guardian can reveal.

The Singapore-based company Statt Consulting has been paid at least $15m by Australian taxpayers to target advertising inside Afghanistan and Pakistan, aimed at persuading would-be asylum seekers not to attempt to travel to Australia.

New tender documents show Statt was contracted to produce �printed publications� for just under $1m between February and June 2017 following the Australian government�s announcement of a US resettlement deal for refugees on Nauru and Manus Island.

An email seen by the Guardian raises questions about Statt�s profit margins from government contracts under Labor and the Coalition between 2011 and 2017. Government procurement rules state that �officials must gain value for money�, and set out rigorous standards to ensure this value has been met.

An email from October 2013 shows Rene Le Cussan, a director of Statt Consulting, discussed the withdrawal of company dividends for herself and other directors. Le Cussan wrote: �Since we are being honest about biases, mine are... 1, customs has dumped so much loving money on us in the last few months that I feel it is the most likely time we are going to be able to take dividends. Including the fact that we just made an extra USD 277,000 profit yesterday for literally 3 days work.�

She continues, to list her second bias as �I�m in the middle of buying a house�.

That $277,000 sum was worth about $292,000 Australian dollars at the time.

Luke Falkner, a director of Statt, told the Guardian: �Given the nature of our work and our confidentiality obligations to our clients we are unable to comment on the specifics of our work. Our contracts on behalf of the Australian federal government were awarded through an open and competitive tendering process.

�They are subject to a rigorous compliance program which includes regular external reviews for compliance and delivery in accordance with highly specific objectives. In addition, our business is fully audited by an independent firm on an annual basis, with the most recent audit completed in February 2017.

�At all times our fees are completely transparent to our clients.�

The Australian customs agency approved more than 10 extensions of its contract with Statt, culminating in a single contract worth $15m, further documents released under freedom of information legislation show.

It justified this in part because Statt was originally selected in 2012 �as being able to provide best value for money following a competitive process for the conduct of offshore communication activities in the Middle East�.

Statt�s sophisticated messaging operation operated more like an intelligence operation than any conventional communication team. The organisation codenamed its Australian operation �Auspipe�, and an online portal was built so that the Australian government could directly access data gathered by Statt.

The company bought up TV and radio slots in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. It placed print ads in local magazines and news outlets, and produced graphic novels that were distributed across Afghanistan. It held interviews and seminars in Kabul and across the country to persuade community members not to attempt to arrive by boat in Australia.

In one instance Statt paid a subcontractor to deliver 20,000 100-page notebooks in Afghanistan as a �novelty item� with Australian government messaging on the front and back covers. �This will give the communication campaign a long last[ing] effect and a very visible face, can be distributed to high school and uni students in locations of interest,� a 2015 document states.

In another instance the company was contracted for an Iranian �media blitz� in local news outlets from October-November 2013 when Tony Abbott�s Coalition government introduced hardline immigration policies. Internal government documents show the company was given A$409,554 for part of this work to produce 30-second TV slots on prime time television in Iran.

Statt began receiving government contracts in 2011 from the Australian customs agency, which is now part of the Australian Border Force. It was initially asked to conduct research on migration and resettlement patterns. Documents released by customs under FOI show it was tasked for surveys in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with titles such as Project Joya, Project Intrepid and Project Whisper.

The company also picked up work from other governments, including those in Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Timing was on Statt�s side. It had placed itself in a pivotal position at a time when immigration was once again becoming a central issue in Australia. The Labor government led by Julia Gillard was acting on the recommendations of the 2012 expert panel and was seeking to implement the Malaysia solution, which involved Malaysia becoming a processing hub for asylum seekers seeking to enter Australia.

In November 2012 Statt was invited to provide a brief to customs outlining �the most effective messages and delivery methods� for a broad messaging program across the Middle East. A short time later it was granted the contract.

The work involved buying up media slots in countries across the Middle East, but also more direct campaigns. Consultations with hundreds of community members in Afghanistan would be held to continue the government�s efforts to deter asylum seekers. Refreshments would be served in parts of Afghanistan � all funded by Australia � where Statt�s subcontractors would convene community meetings.

Then the company was the beneficiary of Kevin Rudd�s second Labor government, which instituted the �no advantage� policy for asylum seekers who arrive by boat and expanded the offshore detention regime on Nauru and Manus Island after a series of variations.

Documents suggest Australia�s management of the contract with Statt was patchy at times. In January 2013 an email from Le Cussan queries the contracting arrangements with customs, with their contract set to expire that week.

Julian Warner, the director of customs� national intelligence collection and policy division, responded: �It is unlikely we will have something on paper for tomorrow � the Australia day holiday has seen people on leave. The extension contract will need to list the services which have been the subject of recent emails. At this time next week for a contract is more likely.�

The officer then agreed to Statt continuing to produce content at a cost of $25,000 without a formal contract.

When Tony Abbott came to power in September 2013, he implemented an even more aggressive policy of deterrence for asylum seekers, including what is known as Operation Sovereign Borders. This military-like force introduced turn back operations for asylum seeker vessels at sea. It also led to a greater focus on messaging for migrant communities at their source.

A further increase in their contract in January 2014 said that �strategic delivery of outreach and messaging services� was �integral to OSB [Operation Sovereign Borders�] objective of defeating people smuggling and achieving a substantial and sustained reduction in irregular maritime ventures in Australia�.

Ordinarily there are strict requirement for holding tenders under Commonwealth Procurement Rules. But customs could be exempted from some of these rules because the services to be delivered were advertising campaigns �that will be sourced and consumed outside Australian territory�. With each extension customs suggested it would imminently be undertaking an open tender process; but across the length of time covered by the documents this did not happen.

A spokesman for customs said a panel process was now in place for these offshore communications activities.

�The department has no comment on alleged email communication from an external organisation. Statt Consulting was engaged by the former Australian Customs and Border Protection Service via a direct procurement arrangement, consistent with commonwealth procurement guidelines.

�In 2014, the joint agency task force Operation Sovereign Borders established a panel of providers to deliver offshore anti-people smuggling public information campaigns. Since this time, the joint agency task force has referred to this panel when seeking to procure services for its offshore anti-people smuggling communication activities. Statt Consulting is now engaged by the department via this panel arrangement.�

While other companies have now been asked to provide services, Statt remains a key player. Following a deal with the US to take refugees from Australia�s detention centre in Nauru, the Australian government ramped up the ad campaign in Afghanistan once again, including graphic novels, radio and TV spots.

New tender documents show that Statt has been contracted to produce �printed publications� for just under $1m from February to June 2017.

A radio script to be distributed and produced in relation to some of their recent work for Australia surrounding the US resettlement deal states: �The Australian government�s arrangement with the United States of America to resettle some refugees is a one-off solution that is not available to new arrivals.�

A spokesman for the immigration department said: �Strategic communication is a cornerstone of Australia�s anti-people smuggling operations and strategy, and the success of Operation Sovereign Borders in significantly reducing the number of illegal maritime ventures to Australia has in part been due to the intensive, wide-reaching, high-frequency anti-people smuggling campaign.�

They never cease to find new ways to disappoint.

# ? Aug 1, 2017 04:12

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Move to the new thread ya muppets

# ? Aug 1, 2017 05:14

starkebn: May 18, 2004; "Oooh, got a little too serious. You okay there, little buddy?"

Anidav posted:

Move to the new thread ya muppets

how can we if nobody has linked it

# ? Aug 1, 2017 05:19

Senor Tron: May 26, 2006

starkebn posted:

how can we if nobody has linked it

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3828600

JBP actually did a pretty good job with the OP.

# ? Aug 1, 2017 05:23

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

Senor Tron posted:

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3828600

JBP actually did a pretty good job with the OP.

So the Aus Pol equivalent of the Turnbull NBN?

# ? Aug 1, 2017 05:32

JBP: Feb 16, 2017; You've got to know, to understand,
Baby, take me by my hand,
I'll lead you to the promised land.

Cartoon posted:

So the Aus Pol equivalent of the Turnbull NBN?

Shut the gently caress up and go to the new thread.

Mods!?

# ? Aug 1, 2017 05:37

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

page 69

nice

# ? Aug 1, 2017 06:06

Senor Tron: May 26, 2006

Tokamak posted:

page 69

nice

# ? Aug 1, 2017 06:46

freebooter: Jul 7, 2009

eXXon posted:

As much as I appreciate Australian labour laws and wages, suburban Perth blows. I'd rather have a sprawling, lively metropolis than endless fields of sidewalk-less cul-de-sacs and perfectly manicured green lawns that require desalinization plants to keep from wilting in the summer. Also, being thousands of kilometres away from everything starts to gnaw at your psyche after about ohhh I'd say 3-6 months.

I'm a Perthite so I definitely agree and I think that was actually a big catalyst in my latent Anglophilia in the first place - I mean half the books and movies and TV shows you ever consume are British, and when you're isolated from the rest of Australian society you start getting cultural cringe real bad. It's sort of odd that I lived in Melbourne three years but still felt determined to go live in London (before gratefully returning to Melbourne). I had this idea that I wanted to live in a big city, and also that the UK and Europe more broadly was "the real world." I also mistakenly wrote Australia off, as a whole, when the only place I'd really properly lived in was suburban Perth.

But I think the reality of living in any big city - London, New York, Paris - is harsher than the fantasy. Perth was too small and parochial for me (even in the inner city), London was too big and polluted and miserable and stressful, inner-city Melbourne is just right. For me. I'm sure I could have thrived in London if I lived in Hampstead and made an extra 15,000 quid a year, but the lesson I ended up with was that Melbourne was my goldilocks zone.

Anyway I would never discourage any young Australian from going off and chasing their dreams, it's a valuable experience no matter what happens. (Though when I talk to younger people planning to move to the UK these days I recommend they go to a city other than London, because they'll probably have a better time). I can't remember who it was who said you need to live in at least two other countries to understand your own; I definitely needed to live in the UK to stop taking Australia for granted.

# ? Aug 1, 2017 11:10

WhiskeyWhiskers: Oct 14, 2013; "هذا ليس عادلاً."
"هذا ليس عادلاً على الإطلاق."
"كان هناك وقت الآن."
(السياق الخفي: للقراءة)

Heard Trumball on the radio yesterday saying the terrorists are agile and innovative. Is he capable of stringing a sentence together without saying the slogan? Have the libs started trepanning all their PMs?

# ? Aug 2, 2017 17:11

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# ? May 2, 2024 20:23

LIVE AMMO COSPLAY: Feb 3, 2006

I just want to thank Micallef for calling out foxtel receiving that 30 million, I hadn't heard that story. gently caress that.

# ? Aug 2, 2017 22:59

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol July - A Paradise of Orcs

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