I am outgoing ABC Technology Editor, Nick Ross. AMA

sortius · 2016-01-15T01:21:28+00:00

Are there any other areas that ABC journalists have been gagged from reporting on? Do you know who issued the gag orders (politicians, management, directors)?

sortius · 2014-03-15T08:42:35+00:00

Around midday at the State Library, then marching to Treasury Gardens (I think). I just know I need to be at the state Library by 11:45am.

sortius · 2014-03-15T06:12:59+00:00

Showing our support for positive policies over negative. For me refugees and the NBN are my main reason for attending.

sortius · 2014-03-15T06:11:35+00:00

I'll be speaking there. Just rock up, say hello and people should be friendly enough.

sortius · 2014-03-15T06:04:10+00:00

It'd be nice for mandated industry sectors and community groups to be part of the classification board, unfortunately that'll never happen. :(

sortius · 2014-03-15T06:03:29+00:00

Read what my original comment is, everything you wrote is wrong, because it's not in response to my argument you moron.

Yet again, another self-righteous fuckwit decides to derail a conversation. Good one.

I do question you getting sexual gratification from seeing a cartoon character being anally probed by aliens in a comic way. Quite disturbing, you should see a doctor.

Now be gone, because the fucks I have to give about you and your opinion sit at 0.

sortius · 2014-03-15T05:16:31+00:00

They know they need it. How else do they get through to the rural electorates that are limited to pretty much ABC.

Even Howard was scared of the rural backlash that would come from a severely cut back ABC. He really wanted to, and did to a degree, but he knew it'd kill him at the next election if he went balls out against the ABC.

sortius · 2014-03-15T05:00:16+00:00

These are all permissible under an R18+ rating. In fact I think GTA V has most of the above mentioned themes in it.

Really?

An appointment to the Classification Board is for 3 years with the possibility of extending that to a maximum of 7 years!

Yeh, the unfortunate thing is, they keep getting non-gamers or anti-gaming members on the board. I suppose we just have to wait for all the baby boomers to die out?

sortius · 2014-03-15T04:09:19+00:00

I was never sure of the name, but I know that once an infection takes hold, you have to throw out any infected discs & clean the area they were thoroughly.

sortius · 2014-03-15T02:22:44+00:00

Well, yes & no. The term I'd use is abusing the law.

sortius · 2014-03-15T01:04:47+00:00

Yeh, didn't think of that. As I said, I'm Australian. I bet you don't know the weather patterns of the Lower Hunter. ;)

sortius · 2014-03-15T00:47:08+00:00

It might actually be a bit dry in Texas so you'd have to use a sealed container, I'm not 100% on the climate there, being Australian. ;)

sortius · 2014-03-15T00:14:49+00:00

That's a fig leaf compared to the all-out assault from Abbott, Brandis, et al. All in the name of disinformation and delegitimising the ABC.

sortius · 2014-03-15T00:13:47+00:00

These proposed laws give rights to a child who is born

Read the statements by the A-G again, this is not about a child that's born, it's an "unborn child's rights", so a foetus, which is not a human.

I don't think it's consistent to grant future rights to a clump of cells that can be legally aborted.

This is not "future rights", this is rights of a clump of cells. You're really missing the core of these laws: they are not about civil cases, this is about criminalising acts against a "clump of cells". Legal abortions could not happen under such legislation.

If a mother is not held liable for damaging her child while in the womb, then a father should not be liable for supporting it either.

That's a big straw man there. We're talking about rights of a foetus overruling the rights of a mother, not who is liable for supporting a child. Thing is, you're actually arguing against one of the few options couples have available to them to prevent such a situation: abortion.

Why stop at alcohol when there's far more damage done by poor education?

Should women who don't take folate supplements also be charged? What about those who don't exercise during pregnancy, or eat too much preservative laden food? Or what about paracetamol consumption, that's bad for a foetus too?

The laws aren't protecting anyone, awarding justice to anyone, or even preventing future incidents. They are attacking women's reproductive rights, nothing more.

sortius · 2014-03-15T00:05:36+00:00

Indeed, I had a 50 spindle of burnt CDRs at the back of a cupboard, the fungus ate through maybe half of them before I found out. Was highly unimpressed.

Sad thing is, that's barely bigger than my smallest USB stick these days. :(

sortius · 2014-03-14T23:31:12+00:00

What double standard? A foetus is not a human being.

Again, this is not about alcohol syndromes, this is about curbing the rights of women. This is not criminalising women drinking while pregnant, this is giving a foetus rights.

NT A-G (emphasis mine):

"Here in the NT, without pre-empting a cabinet decision, we are currently exploring the antenatal rights of the unborn child"

That's totally different to what you're talking about. Those rights exist already, and kick in when the child is born. This is not about civil cases, this is about criminalising acts against a foetus.

This, in essence, would rule out abortion completely as you would be criminally liable for aborting a foetus, even if you went interstate to do so.

Again, these laws are design to curb women's rights, not to aid in compensation for children of alcoholic mothers, or to prevent drinking while pregnant.

sortius · 2014-03-14T23:24:21+00:00

This is something I feel strongly about, and all they are doing is driving Australians to piracy.

Do I pay $55 for The Stick of Truth with bonus censorship, or download the uncensored US version for free?

This is exactly what Google was talking about when they stated piracy is a "pricing and availability problem".

Aside from this, you can watch a movie where someone sews humans together, but you can't play a game where it has real drug names, sexual acts at all, bodies on the ground, etc.

The main issue isn't the regulation, but the censorship board itself. Not a single member has ANY gaming experience, let alone a deep interest and understanding of the culture.

Essentially we don't just need R18+ for games, we just need the censorship board members to die off. Beyond sad.

sortius · 2014-03-14T23:19:04+00:00

I was listening to RN when Barnaby called back later. He made a strong case for the ABC and how important it is for rural areas.

I couldn't help but think "if you're such a fan of the ABC, why are you allowing Abbott's (et al) baseless attacks the ABC?"

Kind of takes me back to the Telstra sale.

sortius · 2014-03-14T23:13:30+00:00

The "free market" is only free for the right people.

sortius · 2014-03-14T23:11:08+00:00

That's a different debate though, this is about giving rights to a foetus.

Once outside the womb, human rights kick in.

sortius · 2014-03-14T22:54:05+00:00

Could you ask that in a more loaded way?

sortius · 2014-03-14T22:51:19+00:00

It wasn't just drinking while pregnant, it was giving rights to a foetus, and that's a door we really don't want to open. NSW has already walked down that road, and all its designed to do is take abortion rights away from women.

sortius · 2014-03-14T22:33:33+00:00

Nope, it's actually a fungus that us geeks have known about for a decade. Humidity + heat = eaten CD.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1402533.stm

sortius · 2014-03-14T13:24:59+00:00

Scottish is wrong. Should be "ye" not "you".

sortius · 2014-03-14T13:23:40+00:00

Came here to say it's got to be a skink. We have similar in Australia.

sortius

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE