Throughout the course of 2012 I’ll be using danieljames.com.au to update you on various projects I will be working on including the recording of a new album of my original compositions.

In the meantime there is plenty for you to hopefully keep you entertained.

All the best for 2012.

Daniel

I make no comment on his personal life, his personality or his business practices.

I would sum up his legacy as the guy that brought rock ’n’ roll to computing and putting truly user friendly, personally empowering computing technology in the hands of millions. I can only speak for myself but one of the defining moments of my life was the day I got an iPod. I had resisted the iPod for months, I thought it was a gimmicky, overhyped device for people who weren’t ‘real’ music fans. So when I eventually got one and spent all night uploading my entire music collection to a device that could fit in my pocket I was gradually seduced by its simplicity, its design and the sheer awesomeness of being able to have my music collection with me wherever I am 24 hours a day for the rest of my life.

The iPod changed the way people listened to music, have access to music and the way we share music. In many ways it democratise music while at the same time smashing the business model of the music industry and providing artists with access to a world-wide audience at the click of a mouse.

Of course we’ve had many other revelations from the dream factory that is Apple since then and many have been just as compelling. The key to Apple’s rejuvenation that has made the company America’s largest, is that it understands the human form and what motivates people’s use of technology. It means that people young and old have access to the world at their fingertips. A world where people can connect and share with each other in ways that we could not have thought imaginable even a decade ago.

In the end  the mark of someone’s life is whether they left the world a better place than when they came into  it, in Steve Jobs case, we can resoundingly say yes, the world is a better place for having Steve Jobs around and it will be a little less exciting without him.

Rest in peace Steve Jobs.

]]> http://danieljames.com.au/a-man-of-vision-rip-steve-jobs/feed/ 0 http://danieljames.com.au/the-launch-of-the-simpleton/ http://danieljames.com.au/the-launch-of-the-simpleton/#comments Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:24:40 +0000 Daniel James http://danieljames.com.au/?p=1778 Continue reading →]]> It is with much excitement that I can announce the impending launch of the new website – The Simpleton.

The Simpleton is a site for those of us who aren’t part of the journalistic, intellectual or political “elite” but still have something to say about the world. Written by articulate punters for you, The Simpleton aims to bring you a diverse range of news, humour and opinion from around the world.

The site will be launched in the next week. If you or you know someone who is passionate about writing and the world then please put a submission in to write for the Simpleton by clicking on the following link – http://www.thesimpleton.com.au/write-for-us

DJ

The ugly protest yesterday, attended largely by right-wing middle-aged men and women from Sydney, on the lawn of Parliament House showed disturbing early signs of a Tea Party type movement in a country where the public has traditionally had a healthy yet laconic skepticism of politics and politicians.  Of course like any robust democracy such as Australia’s there will always be fringe elements at both ends of the political spectrum, which will be largely ignored by the general populace, and both major parties.

The union movement can’t plead innocence in its use of placards and colorful language during protests and political rallies. The 1996 storming of Parliament House early in the term of the Howard Government is one case in point.

The major difference with yesterday’s anti carbon tax rally and rallies of the past is that never have we seen a major political party embrace the type of sexist and hateful vitriol espoused by some more of the extreme elements of the rally.

Yesterday’s rally, which included One Nation founder, Pauline Hanson and members of the Australian League of Rights, the anti-Semitic movement that rails against an “extravaganza of Jewish power.”

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and several of his Shadow Ministers addressed the rally standing in front of placards referring to the Prime Minister such as, “Ditch the Bitch”,  “Juliar Bob Brown’s Bitch”, “Ditch the Witch” also referring to the Ms Gillard as a “frump”.

Writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Prime Minister refused to back down on her carbon pricing stance, “I believe Australia must reject the extremes of this debate, no matter from where on the political spectrum they emerge. We see those who don’t believe in the science arguing the government shouldn’t act. They are vocal and they have some powerful friends who share their view. I don’t agree. I’ll be taking my science from the CSIRO, not the radio shock jocks.”

Indeed Radio personalities in Sydney, Melbourne and Sydney have been very vocal in their opposition to the carbon tax often personalizing issue with 2GB shock jock coining the term “Juliar”.

Mr Abbott while referring to some of the language used as “regrettable” has refused to distance himself from the protestors.

Whether the Opposition Leader and several members of his Shadow Ministry will come to regret their association with the rally is too early to say. However one cannot but help think that Mr Abbott was poorly advised in attending the event as the Government pushes ahead with it’s attacks on the Opposition by trying to paint them as “deniers” who are being captured by the extreme fringe of the debate.

The political fortunes of the major parties concerned are in many ways is by the by. What is of greater importance is the nature of the national political discourse. In one of my earlier blogs, “Political Vitriol” I lamented the state of American politics and the level of vitriol that many believe lead to the attempted assassination of Arizona Democrat, Representative Gabrielle Giffords. I added how relieved I was to live in democracy such as Australia’s which has a far less heated approach to national debate.

Perhaps I spoke too soon. In recent weeks the Prime Minister has been called a liar and has been likened to Libyan dictator Mamur Gaddafi. Independent MP Tony Windsor has received death threats for his links to the carbon tax proposal.

The call by Tony Abbott for a “people’s revolt” is fine rhetoric but when coupled with that hate spewed out on the countries radio waves and blogosphere is creating a divisive culture where the most vocal and extreme have a multitude of platforms to air their grievances.

Ultimately political culture becomes a question of political leadership. In this modern age of social media and the seeming abandonment of reporting for opinion by many media outlets means that heated political rhetoric can have many unforeseen ramifications.

My name is Daniel. I’m 5 ft 11” and enjoy sailing and bush walking. I love cooking and long romantic walks along the beach and sunset. I enjoy cinema and spending time with friends and when time permits in my hard working life I take time out to write poetry and paint oil landscapes.

I am a connoisseur of fine wines and like to have one or two casks a day. I am told that my personal hygiene isn’t up to “modern standards” so I’m trying to bathe on a more regular basis.

The fungus under my right large toe is treatable and I apply cream at least once a week when I can remember. My “bad breath” is caused by a rotting wisdom tooth that I can’t afford to get extracted at the moment because of my medium to significant debts.

I like to lead an active lifestyle because my piles mean that sitting down for any prolonged period of time results in quite a deal of pain. I love women and of the two remaining restraining orders in place I am quietly confident that there will be no more complications this time as my phone has been disconnected and my car impounded.

I am looking for a woman who will take me for who I am and not ask questions about how acquired my skin condition. Must like vacuuming.

So ladies if you’re interested please call me on 555 999 555, but not all at once lol!

Look forward to hearing from you soon!

D

martyr noun, a person who suffers very much or is killed because of their political or religious beliefs, and is often admired because of it.

megalomania noun, an unnaturally strong wish for power and control, or the belief that you are very much more important and powerful than you really are.

The controversy over Wikileaks and the subsequent treatment of Julian Assange, the curiously charismatic founder and face of Wikileaks, has created headlines around the world. Much has been written about the rights and wrongs of leaking to the world of classified and highly sensitive diplomatic cables. A great deal has also be written about Assange himself.

The complex arguments and counter arguments about Wikileaks seem to have come down, for the time being, to a basic public relations exercise, a battle for the hearts and minds of the average person in the street in the court of public opinion.

To millions around the world Assange has become a cult figure, a leader of resistance against all that is wrong with the world’s pre-eminent super power. Those close to Assange have described his battle against the US and extradition proceedings brought against him by Swedish authorities as a “David and Goliath” battle.

Regardless, there can be no doubt as to where the United States stands on Assange’s actions, Secretary of State has been damming, “The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information. It puts people’s lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems.”

Some right wing commentators in the US have called for Assange’s execution on the grounds of treason, of course forgetting Assange is an Australian citizen. Vice President Joe Biden has called the Wikileaks CEO a “high tech terrorist” and vowed to explore all legal avenues to bring prosecution proceedings against the 39 year old Australian. Leaders around the world have condemned Wikileaks.

The pressure being mounted by the US and the allegations of rape brought by Swedish authorities play very much to the idea of Assange being a martyr. A notion that Assange has done very little to down play. Assange has had high profile support from within the legal, journalism and celebrity communities, it is clear that Assange and his supporters are keen to paint him as a freedom fighter, a purveyor of truth.

According to several opinion polls, opinion is very much divided on Assange and his actions. Naturally there are wild variation in results depending on the publication and web site, yet what a brief analysis does show is that there is a PR battle to be won. It’s a battle that in all probability should be won by the under dog.

However is Assange at risk and bringing down he’s own comparative advantage. Daniel Domscheit-Berg, the former Wikileaks spokesman who left the website after a bitter dispute with Assange has described him as behaving like and emperor or a slave trader.

In an interview for Australian television’s Four Corners, Domscheit-Berg said of Assange and his motives, “I think he was aiming at taking up the biggest fight possible, and that fight was by taking up a fight against the United States maybe in that case, as the biggest political player in the, in the sphere. And that has some megalomaniac tendencies.”

Can these “tendencies” be seen on display in recent weeks as he fights extradition proceedings? Assange has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, there was speculation that he would be Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. One can’t help but think that Assange is lapping up the notoriety and the attention. The issue is no longer about the leaks, it is now about Assange.

Is Julian Assange a martyr or a megalomanic? As with all of the complexities involved with Wikileaks and its associated media frenzy, the truth undoubtedly lies somewhere in between.

While the wording and contents of such a preamble are likely to be debated and argued ad nauseam, its eventual addition  via a referendum should be a no brainer. What may turn out to be more difficult for a majority of voters in a majority of states to stomach would be further reform to Section 51 of the Constitution. Further reform, of course means additional ammendment following the 1967 Referendum which provided overwhelming support to amend the section as follows:

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:

(xxvi)  the people of any race , other than the aboriginal race in any State, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws.

to

(xxvi)  the people of any race,  for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws.

This very small amendment by removing, “other than the aboriginal race in any State”, in addition with the complete removal of Section 127 which read, “In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, Aboriginal natives shall not be counted”, effectively gave recognition to Aboriginals as Australian citizens.

The case for further reform has been bought about by the law of unintentional consequences.

While the amendment of  Section 51 and deletion of 127, gave acknowledgement for Aboriginal people, as citizens of the Commonwealth with associated rights. These rights included the right to vote and to access social security and welfare. However the referendum  also gave powers to the Commonwealth ie, the “power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to: (xxvi)  the people of any race , for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws.”

Therefore the main change from 1967 was to give the Commonwealth authority to make special laws for Aborigines when required. This was most markedly evoked by the Howard Government in 2007 with the “Northern Territory Intervention”. One of the strongest criticisms of the intervention was the effective suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 which makes it illegal for Governments to make laws, policies or rules based on race.

So now in light of the ongoing intervention in the Northern Territory which continues to have bipartisan support in the Federal Parliament, the question of constitutional reform in relation to the Aboriginal community has moved past that of an inclusion in the preamble but back to section 51 and whether it provides too much power to the Commonwealth when making laws for the people of any race.

A referendum on such an issue is likely to act as a quasi referendum on the intervention itself. The Federal Government has established an Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians which is due to meet for the first time next month to determine such matters. As with all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy it is likely to be a controversial, hard and lengthy debate before we see reform take place.

If you’re passionate about this issue there will be ample opportunity for you to submit to the expert panel and have your say. For more information visit -

http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/progserv/engagement/Pages/constitutional_recognition.aspx

DJ

]]> http://danieljames.com.au/constitutional-reform/feed/ 0 http://danieljames.com.au/australia-day/ http://danieljames.com.au/australia-day/#comments Wed, 26 Jan 2011 01:01:05 +0000 Daniel James http://danieljames.com.au/?p=1479 Continue reading →]]>

A couple of Australian beauties wrapped in the Union Jack

At this time of year in this big brown land of ours a national debate about Australia Day is rekindled. You know the thing- is it the right day celebrate the birth of our nation or are their other dates that better represents the essence of what it is to be Australian? Well let’s have a look at Australia Day and some of the alternatives.

Australia Day

On this day 223 years ago a bunch of scurvy ridden, flea bitten and over sexed convicts under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip laid anchor at Sydney Cove and hoisted the British flag, declaring British sovereignty of the east coast of New Holland. Thus we have the birth of “Australia”.

While this may have been good news for the first settlers, having arrived in paradise and all soon after their King George III had recently got his arse handed to him in the American War of Independence, it wasn’t such great news for the mob that had been inhabiting “New Holland” for the previous 60,000 years.

Thus for the past 80 years or so Australia Day has usually been marred in controversy as the Aboriginal community and an increasingly larger slice of the broader community recognise 26 January as Survival Day or Invasion day.

Should we recognise 26 January as Australia Day? Hmmm..nah, surely there’s a better day, one that’s less divisive.

Federation

On the 1st of January 1901, it was proclaimed, some some 123 years after the founding of New Holland, that the six self governing British colonies that covered the continental land mass of Australia would unify to form The Commonwealth of Australia. Even though the  Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (UK) was passed in the House of Commons and given Royal Assent some six months earlier. With these proclamations the Colonies became states and all within them became citizens of Australia…well almost everyone.

There was only one slight problem with the Australian Constitution drafted 0ver several painstaking years by Australia’s constitutional fathers, it was racist! It is quitely uttered in defence of the Constitution that it was merely a document of its time and that any racist undertones, ie the exclusion of Aborigines as having the right to be Australian citizens, was born out of the ignorance of the period. Nah it was racist plain and simple and just to make sure you couldn’t mess with their master work, the nation’s father made very sure that it would be very difficult to change and it wasn’t until 1967 that Aboriginal people were recognised  as Australian citizens.

So should we celebrate Federation as Australia Day? Nah, plus January the 1st is already a public holiday, what would be the point of that?

Commemoration of the 1967 Referendum

The sixties were a decade of cultural revolution. Across much of the world a liberation in sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll was defining a generation of Baby Boomers. Here in Australia, while we recognised Aztecs thanks to Billy Thorpe, it wasn’t until 1967 that Australia discovered that were a  race of people known as Aborigine’s that had been here for some time and refused to go away.

On 27 May 1967 with a vote in favour of 90.77% Australians decided it was time to recognise Aboriginal people as their fellow Australians. This was indeed a momentous occasion and came after generations of campaigning from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal warriors alike.

The victory was a clear sign that Australia had matured as a nation and was looking to move beyond the White Australia policies of…hang on.  One of the first acts passed in the new Australian Parliament of 1901 was the Immigration Restriction Act. In short the act formed the basis of a conglomeration of policies that became know as the White Australia policy that as the name suggests forbid the immigration or greatly restricted the immigration of  ‘non-white’ immigrants to Australia.

The policies were strengthened up until the second world war and then gradually relaxed there after. However it wasn’t until the legislation of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 that made the use of racial criteria for any official purpose illegal. So in 1967 while Australians decided to recognise the first Australians, government policy was still pretty iffy about letting non-whites into the country.

Should the commemoration of the 1967 Referendum be recognised as Australia Day? Nah, there’s still more work to be done on the Constitution and plus it’s too close to the Queen’s Birthday!

Hmmm what other days can we contemplate?  Anzac Day?

Anzac Day

Nah it’s Anzac Day! The day many brave young Australian and New Zealand men and even more British men gave their lives to make Turkey British. Maybe that’s a bit flippant, it was the first time that servicemen from around the country had served as Australian Armed Forces in a theatre of battle and it is said to have gone along way to defining the nation’s character or at least our character as perceived by foreigners.

Should Anzac Day be Australia Day? Nope, it’s an important day unto itself. Leave it be.

Bloody hell I’m running out of suggestions and smart arse wise cracks. When was Don Bradman born? When’s Shane Warne’s birthday? Nah neither of those would work, NSW wouldn’t be happy with Warne’s birthday signifying Australia Day, he’s Victorian for Pete’s sake!

Here’s an idea. Maybe, just maybe, if we amend the preamble to the Constitution to recognise the First Australian’s and in the same referendum pose the republican question again and both receive a majority of votes in a majority of states then that would be an historic day and one worth celebrating or even marking as Australia Day.

However could we do  it on the proviso that the referendum is held in the second half of the year? After the Queen’s Birthday, public holidays are pretty scarce in this big brown land of ours. Let’s say September/October? The weather’s on the improve and it’s around the time of the footy finals and a number of cultural festivals. Just a thought.

DJ

I’ve been watching quite a few films from the 70’s and 80’s recently and I always find it amusing to reflect on how far technololgy has come since the days of typewriter pools, tea ladies and photo stat rollers. These days we have the world at our fingertips, an increasing number of us have smart phones in our pockets that are basically little computers that can tap into the ether at anytime of the day and night and provide us with the answer to our question or at least point us in the right direction.

Email has made it so much easier to communicate with a multitude of stakeholders thus allowing for a virtual paper trail, the written word with the speed of a telephone. It’s a great way for small or large businesses to participate or monitor progress on a project. You can inform many people of the same thing featuring pictures and reports in a much easier and quicker way than via a face-to-face meeting. You can make hundreds of people aware of business meetings or anything else with the click of the mouse. Those poor fools back in 70’s wouldn’t have dreamed of such technology.

Yet, something else also occurred to me. While the technology of the office environment has progressed in leaps and bounds, the office itself looks pretty much the same now as it did then. The workers or junior staff are usually out on the office floor in open desks or compartmentalised in carrels while the senior staff and decision makers have their own offices with framed photos of love ones and some patronising and irrelevant quote from a hero fixed on a wall, usually accompanied by a hideous piece of art created by their 5 year old child or grandchild. Accompanying all office workers are reams and reams of paper. Many of you may be reading this in such an environment.

It was back in the 70’s that our collegial forebears thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we could do away with all this needless and stifling paper and go paperless, I mean think of the rain forests of the world and future generations”.

A very noble sentiment and yet fourty years later and despite a totally transformed technological world, the office space remains relatively untouched, the office environment is an unhealthy place to spend 8 or more hours a day, five days a week for 40 odd years. New office buildings today have pretty much the same layout and lack of thought to the mental and physical health of their workers as they did 30 years ago, well to be fair, the lifts are probably more reliable these days.

So what happened to the paperless promise? Furthermore what happened to the notion of the home office? Many businesses have made greater progress on the flexible working front than has been made on going paperless, given the strain on the modern city paticularly on public transport. Even so a medium size city like Melbourne still has 771,000 people that travel into its CBD every working day taking a toll on the system and the people.

So in the world of email, instant messaging, skype, video conferencing twitter etc etc why do we continue to subject ourselves to this daily grind? Why the need to have everyone up and out on the roads and rails at the same time every day risking nasty paper cuts. Probably because the professionals in authority now were the junior staffers in the 70’s and 80’s and don’t know or want to know any better.

The Golden Globes are seen as the leading indicator for a film maker’s chances at the industry’s night of nights  The Oscars! This all sounds very prestigious and compelling and is treated as such by the industry itself and increasingly an obsequious media. However, I am sure that there are many punters out there who think the whole awards season is a self serving, naval gazing load of tripe .

It would appear that one person firmly in the later camp is Ricky Gervais…the host of the 2011 Golden Globes Awards Ceremony. Less than 24 hours after the ceremony has been done and dusted Gervais has left a trail of devastation behind him. It would appear that Hollywood lumanaries haven’t seen anything like his performance before.

Many of Hollywood’s heavy hitters have sworn to never work with Gervais again. According to the BBC, Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein joked that Gervais would “not make it out of town” that night.

“There are seven people that we’ve hired to kill him and deservedly so. Knowing that Ricky Gervais will never work again means a lot to me, I’m going to make sure of it,” he told journalists backstage.

Many on Twitter were speculating that Gervais had been fired mid show while others expressed genuine concern for his safety because of some of his jibes relating to Scientology.  Robert Downey Jnr, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen made critical asides during their presenting duties and after suggesting he had to help HFPA president Philip Berk “off the toilet and pop his teeth back in”, Berk fired back at Gervais: “The next time you want someone to qualify your movies, go to another guy.”

Others in the audience such as Robert Deniro, Alec Baldwyn and Hallie Berry were seen laughing uproariously at some of Gevais’ venomous jokes. After the awards ceremony Christian Bale and others declared Gervais a genius.

So what does all this tell us about Hollywood?

Well the first thing to note is that television ratings for the awards are at an all time high after  several years of declining interest. A peruse  of the blogosphere does seem to indicate an overwhelming support for Gervais. It would seem that he was merely reflecting what many at home actually think about Hollywood and all the self congratulating and back slapping that happens during the awards season.

I for one think that Gervais is a breath of fresh air in what is a stale and unhealthy environment where the rich and famous are idolised to sickening levels. I think that many on the other side of the Atlantic and in places like Australia will see the funny side and I’m confident that many in the US already do or will do over time.

DJ