with 2 sleeps to go

School holidays and the kids are in a virtual world of their own. Do you know where they are on line?

Have a read of this from The Age, Technology, and maybe you can steer them somewhere safer Have a think about it and decide for yourself OR

Get in The Game, READ, school holiday activities are now filling fast @ Hobsons Bay Libraries, book now.


In a world of their own The Age, December 29, 2008
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Virtual worlds can be a mystery to parents. Lia Timson guides you through the most suitable for children.
Some children may know more about computers than their parents and when it comes to virtual worlds they can be years ahead. But it pays to keep an eye out to ensure they don't stray too far.
These multi-player computer-simulated environments are a world unto themselves, with shops, meeting places and their own fictional currencies. Here children can play with others in real time and can communicate via special in-world language, gestures, chat and occasionally voice.
Some virtual worlds are free to join, others require paid subscription or the purchase of currency with real money.
The thing to remember is that this is their world. One that children can - for the most part - control. They choose where to go, who to play with, what to buy and who to be. Frankly, that's a lot more freedom than they have at home, so it's no wonder the online experience is so fun and popular.
But it doesn't always make it safe, hence with school holidays upon us we've fashioned a guide to some entertaining and secure virtual destinations.
As always, go online with your children to ensure they are safe and watch for any changes in the site or games available. You could even create your own avatar and check it out for yourself. Some virtual worlds were designed for adults and although some children fake their age when registering, they are not for them - so check the parent pages if in doubt. Here are a few sites we recommend:

CLUB PENGUIN
clubpenguin.com

This Canadian site is still a primary-schoolers' favourite. Take on a penguin persona, decorate your own igloo, adopt a pet "Puffle", play games and meet up with friends at arranged times after school.
A basic account is free but membership starts at $6.95 a month, which guarantees an advertising-free site. One of the founders of Club Penguin, Lane Merrifield, told us he wanted to create a safe cyber playground for his kids and their friends. Merrifield's own experience as the recipient of bullying at school shaped his desire to shield children from predators.
"We want kids to feel safe like they are walking down in the middle of Disneyland," he says.
The Disney-owned site comes with a live moderating panel that, together with word filters, ensures safety. The company opened an Australian office this year, so phone support now resolves parents' questions and account suspensions in local time. An unavoidable consequence of "Disneyfication", however, is the now available Penguin merchandise through the online store. Other Disney sites in the same vein include the new disneyfairies.com.au, sure to capture the imagination of young girls everywhere.

POPTROPICA
poptropica.com

This one-year-old virtual world is proving a hit with youngsters. It is owned by Pearson Education, a worldwide publisher of educational books and multimedia courses, so expect fun but meaningful games. It is devoid of instructions and visual pollution but somehow children have managed to navigate their way to and through the site with ease.
No email address or personal information is required for joining Poptropica and it is free and has no advertising.

TOONTOWN
toontown.com

Also a Disney-owned site, Toontown is now using the expertise of Club Penguin's founders as company employees, so expect it to become more user-friendly. Unlike its sister site, it feels more like a CD-ROM game and requires a special software download, which in our experience was clunky. Basic membership is free but paid options afford special benefits.
It's a good clean game (except for the pie-throwing), full of familiar Disney characters for very young children who can read.

THE HABBO HOTEL
habbo.com.au

This hotel-like world bills itself as a hangout for teens (13+) and you'll see why. It has public rooms, games and organised events, as well as customisable guest-rooms. It began in Finland but 100 million teenagers worldwide are hooked, so now there are several local versions, including in Australia. It's free to join but purchases in-world are paid with real money via card, money order, SMS or phone bill - so check this premium service doesn't blow your budget.
One teenager we spoke to felt not everyone in the place was nice. But that is the lesson to take away from all virtual experiences - players must use their judgment to decide who to socialise with. The site says it employs police-vetted safety moderators that screen chat and messages. They are available for live consultation during the hotel opening times of 6am to 2am.
It is a known advertising platform to reach teenagers, with ads appearing in-game, on recommended pages and as flashes between room changes. Habbo Club VIP memberships attract extra costs.

TEEN SECOND LIFE
teen.secondlife.com

This is not just a game, it's a parallel universe. It feels like play because residents must create a persona, learn to navigate the 3D islands and become familiar with the gestures and rules of the place but real-world properties such as universities, shops and brands have islands here, so it's also an opportunity to socialise, learn and do business.
You must download the proprietary software to play but basic membership is free. It is separate from the adult version of Second Life to help keep it safer for under-18s. Parents are encouraged to go on a tour with their children to learn more about it.

3 sleeps to 2009

Before you record all the events of 2008 on Facebook read this article from "The Age"

THE WALLS HAVE EARS



December 29, 2008

Dan Warne shows how to keep Facebook posts private.


The first time is so often the best in life. And so it is with Facebook and the intoxicating effects of signing up and discovering how many people you know on there.
If you're like most Facebook users, you'll have gradually built up hundreds of friends, including family, school friends, old teachers, current friends, work friends, your partner's work friends and possibly the managing director of your company.

That's all good until you show what a laconic and self-deprecating person you are by setting your status line as Jack (or Jill) as "a one-can screamer; epic hangover" and you take a day off to nurse your throbbing temples.
Halfway through your mid-afternoon nap, you wake up with a start and the painful realisation that all your workmates and your boss, and your boss's boss, can read your status lines too.

By now the tale of AAPT call centre employee Kyle Doyle has passed into legend. The story goes that Doyle was fired after posting on his Facebook page: "--- -- i'm still trashed. SICKIE WOO!"

There's been speculation about whether this was a hoax - but that's not the point. We laughed because it could so easily happen. If only Kyle had known how to separate work and personal friends on Facebook, he could have saved his job.

Here's how (and note: the answer is not to create two identities on Facebook - one for your personal self, named "Jake the caped crusader" and one for your work colleagues, named "Jake Green").

STEP 1: Set up Facebook friends lists

Once you've logged on to Facebook, go to the "Friends" tab. In the left-hand column, you'll see a "Friend lists" column. Click the "Make a new list" button.

Type a name for your new list. You can add friends to it by typing their names into the "Add to list" box Facebook provides.

If you have a lot of friends, it might be easier to click the "Select multiple friends" link, which provides the familiar interface of all your friends in a grid, with the ability to click on them to select them. Once you've selected all your friends for a list, click "Save list". Now repeat this step until you have made lists for all your various types of friends.

This bit can be rather tedious if you have a lot of friends but it's a necessary part of setting up different privacy settings for your work and personal friends - otherwise Facebook can't tell your friends apart.

STEP 2: Set up privacy settings

Now, go to Facebook's privacy settings page to set up different privacy settings for each list of friends.

In the very top menu bar, select "Settings", then "Privacy Settings" from the drop-down menu.

Now you can set which of your friends can see different parts of your profile. For example, if you didn't want your family to see your friends' obscene wall posts on your profile, select the "Profile" section, then the drop-down next to "Wall posts". Select "Customize . . ." .

A window will pop up that lets you customise your settings for wall posts. Here you can select an appropriate general privacy level, such as "Friends of friends" or "Only friends".

The "Except these people" box below is the key to the whole thing.

In this box, you can type in individual names of friends or lists of friends.

So, for example, you could type in "family" if you had a friends list called "Family" - this would block them from seeing your wall posts.

Repeat this process for each part of your Facebook profile to ensure you're showing the right parts to the right people.

Now, click "Save changes" at the bottom.

STEP 3: Lock down who can search for you

If you're worried about your antics coming up on Google in the future (employers are increasingly Googling applicants' names to find out more about the "real them"), you can set who should be able to find you on Facebook too.

In the privacy settings, go to "Search" and you can select to let everyone (any random person), just friends of friends or only current friends find you on Facebook. You can also control whether your profile should be listed publicly on Google.

Back to WebWilly land & 4 sleeps to go to 2009

Sad as it is to cross the border K@Willy is back to countdown to the New Year (oh no not more counting?!)


4 sleeps to the New Year 2009 and lots of fireworks and partying.

"1 for the money" 1 day to go

Yes thanks to the inspiration of Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series if you are a fan youll see the last 10 or so blogs are all based on titles of her books.

Stephanie as a bounty hunter is always a bit zany , loves food (her Mums especially) and Im sure shed be racing around last minute creating or avoiding a disaster and forget to shop, so yes, it would be money in a card at this late stage, which is good as think of all those sale bargains that can be purchased Boxing Day.

K@Willy hopes her KK enjoys her gift, that it really lights up her life, is environmentally friendly (solar powered) and you all enjoyed the xmas lights courtesy of youtube on the blog. Take a look if you havent yet.

So, signing out now for a few days as K@Willy is now in the City of Lights or is that Churches for a few days.

Wishing you all a great Christmas and safe holiday break.


Santos building
Originally uploaded by badjonni

Santos building with lights on depicting a Christmas tree

"2 for the dough" days to go

So, dough meaning money might be your only opportunity if you cant find that gift. Or does dough mean being creative and cooking in the kitchen.

ok caught out saved this yesterday to save time but still comes up in original order
Its definitely 2 days to go 23rd December

"3 to get deadly" serious about shopping

Time is flying by and yes its only trhee days to go. eeeek.

K@Willy is addicted to the net and loves broadband so was interested to read this article today

Missed opportunities in copper's evolution
Kenneth Davidson
December 22, 2008 from The Age

Telstra is the ideal choice to deliver our high-speed broadband network.

THE telecommunications chickens are coming home to roost in a way that spells bad news for the Federal Government unless it can show some understanding of how the fixed network was built and how it should be developed.

Until the late '80s, the telephone network around the world was built on a two-part tariff. The first part was a below-cost connection fee that encouraged households to have the telephone installed, and the cost of building the network was recouped by charging above cost for calls.

This suited everybody. Poorer households got the security of a telephone with access to essential services, while business users got the external benefit associated with an extensive network that covered practically the whole population.

The market fundamentalists and the opportunists argued that the pricing system was inefficient because the usage cost of a fixed line once it is in place is close to zero. A combination of free market ideology and greed saw this as an opportunity for arbitrage dressed up as competition.

In Australia, this led to the introduction of competition in the form of a second licence in 1991. The successful tenderer, Optus, paid $800 million for the licence, took Aussat off the government's hands and in return gained the right to interconnect with the then Telecom network at a subsidised price estimated to be worth at least $2 billion in 1990 dollars.

Today, Optus rents 400,000 unbundled lines from Telstra for $15 a month each and typically charges its customers $30 a month, which is pure arbitrage worth about $70 million a year. Every day Telstra's competitors can delay the introduction of fibre to the node at the end of the street (which bypasses the exchanges where the arbitrageurs interconnect with the network) adds at least $500,000 to their bottom line at the expense of Telstra.

If Telstra's fixed network monopoly had been maintained so that its economic rents had been retained instead of distributed to its competitors via arbitrage, the introduction of fibre to the node would probably now have been connected to up to 80 per cent of network customers.

Telstra failed to explain that investment in fibre was simply a further evolution of its network. It should have explained to the public, the regulators and the politicians that the copper network was run down and needed replacement with fibre.

Telstra had so little faith in the regulators and the ability of the government to comprehend the nature of the network that it feared if it was upfront and explained the implications of this natural progression in the network that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would have blocked it by extending the current pro-competitive regime, meaning an inadequate return on capital that would have destroyed the investment case.

Instead, fibre was sold as a new network that would bring the politically desirable goal of high-speed broadband. As a result, the high-speed fibre cable is now incorrectly seen as separate from the existing copper network in the minds of lay people, which unfortunately includes the politicians and regulators responsible for the rules governing the network.

Communications MinisterStephen Conroy betrayed his lack of understanding by implicitly suggesting there were two networks when he responded to a question about the exclusion of Telstra from the broadband tender: "If we didn't think anyone other than Telstra were capable of building the network, we wouldn't have set out to have an open and competitive process, we would be just sitting down at the table with Telstra."

If, for example, Optus were to win the tender, it could only proceed if it had unfettered access to Telstra's local network. In effect, it would mean that Telstra would have to hand over a $30 billion asset to Optus. It would require anti-competitive legislation and at least $30 billion in compensation to Telstra shareholders before even one centimetre of additional fibre is laid. There is no way Optus will pay this.

Does Conroy seriously want to put the Commonwealth in danger of a multibillion-dollar compensation claim from Telstra shareholders when the alternative is to abort the tender or let it run its course and admit that there is no practical, economic alternative to letting Telstra continue upgrading the network? All the Government has to do then is change the regulatory structure to put adequate return on capital for new investment ahead of the present ersatz competition requirements and let Telstra get on with the job without cost to the taxpayer.

kdavidson@theage.com.au

"4 to score" a Christmas bargain

Yes, that right, only 4 more sleeps to bag a KK bargain so hit those shops today. Sorry you net people too late now to order on line and have delivery in time.
How bout a ticket for the Southern Star

Yes WebWillys big news of the day is the lighting up and opening of the long awaited Southern Star

Click on the link for a time lapse video of the construction of the Southern Star @ Docklands