Category: Blog

Some good news out of the Canberra this morning as Environment Minister Peter Garrett has agreed in principle that a national e-waste recycling system needs to be put in place, even if a tax is attached.

Currently, when people finish with an old computers or other CE gear, they either chuck it out with the council recycling, or in some cases, councils will have computer waste collection days.

So what kind of dangers lurk in your computer or old CRT TV? Plenty. There is lead, mercury and cadmium in many of these products. Capacitors, transformers and wires are usually insulted with PVC, which can contain cancer-causing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

That aside, a lot of the componentry in computers,VCRs and mobile phones contain valuable metals that can be reused, so it is not only about a clean environment, but about making the most of your resources. So, well done to Peter Garrett, and let’s hope he pushes forward with the scheme. It does help that manufacturers such as Dell, HP and Apple support such an idea.

As an aside, I would also like to have a quick word about the term ‘eco-friendly’. This term is usually banded about by vendors when trying to persuade consumers that their product is more friendly to the environment than the opposition’s goods.

I take issue with that description, as anything with any plastic part to it, or internal mechanisms that include metallic alloys and compounds etc is not eco-friendly. They do deserve a pat on the back for reducing the amount of pollutants, or using recycled products, but at the end of the day, if it isn’t grown naturally, or can decompose in quick, smart time, it isn’t eco-friendly.

I’ve always believed that technology has a way of drawing people together – the immediacy of the Internet, email and mobile phone gives us instant access to people like never before.

To bolster my belief, a press release recently crossed my desk from a branding company, which was claiming success in an experiment involving Twitter. Basically, they set up an account pretending to be a NSW police department, and managed to get 2,000 followers. What they wanted to know was; would people interact with the police through a social media? Would people react positively or ignore the police?

The agency, Mentally Friendly, is claiming success even though they didn’t inform the police of what they were doing (at the time of print, the NSW police were not too happy with the experiment, but no other information is forthcoming as to if they plan to take action against the company). Now, I have no way of measuring the success or not, after all, they didn’t give out any facts or figures such as how many of the 2,000 followers engaged positively with the pretend police. But what it does raise is an interesting question. Will people engage with state or government departments when given the opportunity? It seems the answer is yes. And, according to the agency, a lot of the interaction was constructive.

I have no idea how this would work at a governmental level – I mean who wouldn’t love a job working for a government agency where you are tweeting all day, even if it is troubleshooting. Yet, what it does do, is bring the government closer. Some might gag at this idea – both federal and state governments are hardly the most popular institutions – but then again, if you are one of those who always feel the government can do a better job, what better way than social networking.

It is immediate, lets you vent, and if you get enough followers on a particular subject, how could the government ignore the people? A cynic might say “easily’, but I have more faith in politicians and people power. It will be interesting to see how this develops.

Great to hear that the Federal Government has finally got its act together with regard to companies who sell premium SMS services to consumers.
For far too long some of these operators have gotten away with taking unsuspecting customers for a ride, with some shonky companies charging exorbitant prices for premium services that some people don’t even realise they have signed up for.

From July 1, this is all about to change with some of these companies facing fines up to $250,000 if they don’t follow certain guidelines. Some of these companies are charging up to $5 a minute to use their services.

For those of you who take the moral high ground and use the “well, they signed up for the service,” or “nobody forced them to sign up, pay your bill” arguments, a recent survey found that up to 90 percent of people didn’t even know they had signed up to an agreement. Another 55 percent said they tried to unsubscribe, but either couldn’t, or the attempt to do was so convoluted that they couldn’t see the woods for the trees.

Let’s call a spade a spade. There are operators out there that offer up honest, transparent services. They are not the problem. Unfortunately, there are a group of “entrepreneurs” (and I use the term loosely), whose sole purpose is to try and rip as much of your hard-earned cash away from you as possible, using dubious and nefarious means. And this is who the legislation is aimed at.

Finally, the government has given the Australian Communications and Media Authority the ammunition to fire a broadside at operators that are a blight on the SMS landscape.