New computers not fast anymore

Anything up to a few years ago, when you bought a new computer, there was always that thrill that the new machine just felt so much faster. I'd typically get a new CPU every 2 to 3 years. Upgrading from a 300Mhz Pentium 2 to a 866Mhz Pentium 3; then a 3Ghz Pentium 4. Every time, the machine was around three times faster (and certainly felt it!).

Definition of "young" is absurd

I went to a presentation being run by the Institute of Engineer's "Young Engineers Australia" (YEA) division on Intellectual Property last night. This event was being run by YEA, for YEA members.

Disappointingly, IEAust defines "young" as between 18 and 35. That's a massive range. Some of those 35 year olds could almost be old enough to be the younger members' parents.

Project doomed before it starts

Sometimes you just know a project is doomed before it's even started. Today, for example, I overheard a highly paid consultant having a chat to someone in our IT section. The guy in IT asked him a question about .NET languages. The consultant started spurting out languages. C#. C++. COBOL.

Hang on a minute there... COBOL? .NET?. Sure, it's possible. But then again, one could construct an entire content management system where all the data is stored in one table.

Free city-wide wireless canned

In 2006, Morris Iemma, the NSW premier, announced that Sydney would have free wireless internet in 2 years. That plan's just been canned.

I can't say it's a big surprise. It would have been a fairly expensive project, and target dates would have inevitably been drawn out. But I'm actually surprised that the premier of a state would even propose something in the first place.