As people return from the beaches and head back to the desks, the blog count for 2008 has begun to climb this week with more posts addressing the significant issues and events concerning the IT sector.

Following last week’s post on the Government’s internet censorship plans, Ian Grayson on Hydrapinion provides his thoughts that Rudd’s plans are not only “impractical and economically irresponsible”, but are sure to damage Australia’s international reputation.  Just as China has suffered global backlash with its decision to block inappropriate internet cites, Ian Grayson warns so too will Australia.   

Stephen Fenech on Connect comments on various Aussie innovations showcased at the Consumer Electronics Convention held in Las Vegas this week.  One invention that Steve mentions, we are a real fan of; the Moletech Fuel Saver Kit founded by Andrew Kelly allows motorists to save up to 20 per cent in fuel costs. Now that has to be a winner! The kit burns fuel more efficiently by using “ceramic pellet-shaped sensors, which are dropped into a car’s fuel tank and attached to the air filter and radiators, to breakdown fuel molecules and reduce carbon build-up.”  Another Aussie company to showcase a unique invention is Blueant, with a voice controlled Bluetooth headset.  Users will no longer have to press buttons on the handset, as the device responds to voice commands making it completely hands-free.  To discover more Aussie inventions, read the full blog here.

Laurel Papworth’s Online Communities cites an interesting article claiming Australian employees addicted to Facebook are costing their bosses nearly $3000 a year.  The figure is based on a survey conducted on 2800 Facebook users, where almost half admitted to accessing the website at work and 20 per cent used it more than two hours a week. I guess we at Espresso better quickly log-off then!

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  Tech Blorge, Cornered, Business and Blogging, Connect, Fuzzy Logic

Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: Online Communities, Frankarr, stealthpuppy.com, ChiefTech, MSDN Australia News and Events

For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.

Welcome to the first perspective update for 2008!  With many bloggers still off on holidays, it has been a relatively quiet week with few blogs posted for the New Year.

The hot topic across blogsites for our first perspective is the Government’s proposed plans to censor internet porn and violence.  Although Kevin Rudd’s new scheme has its heart in the right place, Stephen Fenech on Connect argues the censorship plan will largely compromise internet speed.  Fenech includes a link to a Daily Telegraph article which further explains Rudd’s plans to be trialled later this year.  The article states the policy will be achieved by preparing a blacklist of inappropriate sites which each web search must be checked against.  Peter Coroneos, a spokesman of the Internet Industry Association explains “the more sites you attempt to block the greater the effect on the network performance and speed”.  The article further indicates a pilot study conducted by the Howard government in 2005 found censoring sites could slow down internet speed by between 18-78 per cent depending on the sites being blocked.

Alex Zaharov-Reutt on Fuzzy Logic is also on Rudd’s case by stating the proposed censorship plans will undermine Labor’s election promises of faster internet access speed and new networks.  Zaharov-Reutt further argues the responsibility of censoring sites should not be placed in the hands of the Government but rather in the hands of parents with many filtering software programs readily available.  You can read the full blog here.

Dipping into the Blogpond introduces a new forum called Aussie Bloggers to connect Aussie bloggers and those interested in Australian blogsites.  The forum’s aim is “empowering, encouraging, supporting and promoting Aussie Bloggers and the Australian blogosphere in general”.  It officially opens on the 21^st of January and we look forward to seeing its impact on the local blog scene this year!

Top five journalist bloggers of the week:  TechBlorge, Open Sauce, Free Access, The Beer Files, Gizmodo

 
Top five IT Professional bloggers of the week: The Tower Blog, Dipping into the Blogpond, Mossyblog, Talking Technology, Online Communities

 
For more information on the week in review, or to make a comment, please contact Helen Smith at helen@espressocomms.com.au.