isyulli: international

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Senin, 09 Mei 2011

Blaming Australian Business for Inaction is Futile

It is claimed by "specialists" that Australian business failed to plan for the high dollar. They carried on without cutting basic running costs. With over 60 per cent of businesses being involved in international trade this is deemed to be a "sin". The American Express FX International found less than 40 per cent did nothing.

The research body said it was surprised at this. It is hardly surprising in the real world where costs are kept as low as possible on a constant basis. How can a business have a program to tackle this problem when it is a daily matter of trading? Common sense would inform you that not much can be done. The market sets the price. The high dollar means firms get less profit when they receive payment in foreign currency. Running costs inside the international barrier in Australia continue to rise. Most international trade is done in US dollars and this has become very weak.

It isn't much good longing for days passed when the exchange rate was less than 50 US cent to the Aussie dollar. It is quite astonishing that the employment rate is so high when times are really tough for manufacturing and retail. Prices are being cut to the bone, apart from food which people must have. Saying firms should have locked themselves in with future exchange contracts is dwelling on something that is impossible to change. The dollar is high and it is too late. Not much can be done now. Australian industry will shake itself out with bankruptcies until survivors can benefit from a weaker dollar which appears to be a long way off.

http://www.adventure--australia.blogspot.com/
http://www.tysaustralia.blogspot.com/
http://www.feeds.feedburner.com/AdventureAustralia
http://www.technorati.com/blogs/
http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com

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Business

Rabu, 30 Maret 2011

Internet Companies Are Not Complying With Police

Despite calls by some countries for Internet companies to had over information on citizens' searches and email, the knowledge superhighway is moving in the other direction. Information stored in the cloud are out of reach of national police forces. Gone are the days when just about everything that a suspect has done is available recorded somewhere at sometime. Data is there but it cannot be accessed.

The ordinary person will not have much sympathy for police trying to "background" a suspect. They see authorities as being too intrusive anyway. For years Australian social security sent out "demand" forms for aged pensioners to provide up-to-date information about what they had in the bank. A court found that social security did not have the legal right to demand honest answers. The forms are still being sent out. Legally they are still suspect. Such is the quagmire authorities are in.

Anyway, back to the case in hand. Police are saying even getting data from Google is a problem. Even obtaining information Between Australians in Australia has barriers. In some cases it takes five year to get information via court processes. In that time period technology has moved on and not everything is stored for posterity.

The National police forces' desire for greater access is like smoke over a factory chimney. It will blow away with the breeze. Companies operating across national borders will never comply because their customers don't want them to play the game. The European Cybercrime Convention treaty is a furphy. Internet companies are watching with no intention of complying.

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Internet

Selasa, 25 Januari 2011

Microchip Criminals

Criminals had better watch out. Plans are afoot to mark them with a number. Mal Hyde, South Australia's police commissioner, wants microchips to be implanted into habitual criminals.

Not only criminals could be "numbered". He said other sections of society could also be monitored by such technology. CCTV was once considered far too 'way out" to even be considered a possibility. Now it is commonplace.

With mobile alcohol and drug testing devices widely used by police and registration/car insurance scanning systems automatically finding offenders just about anything is possible.

If bombing at international airports continues to increase, airline travelers may have to be considered for microchipping.

~~~~~Society~~~~~

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Senin, 13 September 2010

Money Should Be Spent on Technical Colleges Not Universities

Just what do Universities offer? Much has been said about the intended cuts to education leading up to the election. Now its seems more spending is in order due to the independents in government. Lecturers have been saying that we will lose the international education industry without more spending. This industry does add foreign income to Australia's GNP, but the Government provides 46 per cent of university income. Australia has the highest proportion of international students than anywhere else in the world. Yet this drain on public funds should be considered when evaluating the income.

With tighter immigration laws the education of foreign student will decline. This is inevitable due to the refugee problem. For years it was used as a backdoor way of getting Australian residency. Many students are now looking to other Western countries in search of a future home. Maybe without this concentration on the education of non-Australians universities can get on with what the are for - to do research and educate the community.

It could be said that too much money has been spent on universities. Australia needs tradespeople not academics. Support should be given to employers to keep young workers while they get a trade ticket. More technical colleges should be built and staffed. Sure it is good to give academics free reign so they can criticise government, but this is a luxury that Australia can ill afford. It doesn't affect the way the country is governed anyway.

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Kamis, 15 Juli 2010

The Internet Is Not Yet the Great Leveller

Access to the Internet prevents it from being a world levelling device. In Australia people will have to wait up to eight years to get broadband. South Africans living in "dangerous" areas will never get an Internet connection because telco companies fear theft of copper wire. India is too poor, so many regions will have to remain on dial up Internet. Those in remote places in Britain are still waiting for a method to be chosen for broadband distribution.

Leading Western countries are the main source of software for all Internet users. Even Twitter and Facebook are based in the US. People also use these sites to interact with those of similar ilk. The world is segmenting into cliques and a broad world view is not materializing. This is despite more information being available for the average person than at any other time in human history.

People are essentially parochial. They identify with the region and country they are in. Though international news is easily accessed, many choose not not to log on. They still get news from local television and radio. Such news sources now have less than 15 per cent of non-local news, particularly in the US. Ninety five per cent of Internet users in the UK go to domestic news sites. Afghanistan is the topic of most international news stories while clashes in Africa are given just cursory comment.

No doubt in time a common world view will develop. This is because urbanization is happening everywhere, so there will eventually be a common background for most people irrespective of place of origin. The readership of blogs is increasing, with most commenting on local and international issues. There is a need for barriers from language barriers to be broken down. News will travel faster when breaking stories are translated on the spot.

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Rabu, 21 April 2010

Universities Want "Automatic" Visas for Post-Graduates

Universities are suggesting that post-graduates from other countries who qualified in Australia be given Australian visas in order to secure permanent residency - all of them! Talk about setting up rules to benefit one section of society, namely, universities. Even with the new skill-based points system for immigration it is doubtful if everyone with a post-graduate degree will be accepted. If post-graduates are given visas that easily what about ordinary graduates. Surely they must have the same right.

Let's face it post-graduates in history may have something to contribute but their services are not in demand. Masters and doctorates in science and engineering could prove useful. What about MBAs? They are two-a-penny anywhere in the world.

The Government is listening. Though it appears consideration is to be given to post-graduates in certain fields. The reality is Australia doesn't train enough people to fill all university positions - teaching is an "innate"skill. This is not a great problem, however. It is common practice for universities to secure the services of people trained in other countries. It gives an "international" feel to campuses. A staff with many overseas trained people allows for differences in opinion in teaching. This is good for students. It gives them a "rounded" education.

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