Divorce 2

Remember how I wrote about deciding it's time for a divorce?

Well I wrote to the dear soon-to-be-ex about a month ago giving her three options.  By this morning, I'd heard nothing so I trundled off to court and lodged a divorce application without her, and then lodged an application for 'Dispensation of Service', which means because I d0on't know where she is or how to contact her, I don't have to serve documents on her.

Well bugger me... I get home this afternoon to find an email from the in-laws in my inbox telling me the girld has (after years of me asking) finally decided to play ball.

Sorry honey, too late.  Application's in now and the court date is set.

Earth Hour... Again (Yawn)

Divorce

You know, it's been eight years since I last saw my wife and I decided today that it's time for a divorce.

Not that I haven't tried before.  Several times actually, but she steadfastly refused to participate in a joint application so I have to go it alone.  Actually, when I say she 'steadfastly refused', what I mean is I wrote to her via her parents because I do not have her address.  To date, I've had no reply, except one from them saying 'she'll contact you' which she hasn't.

So... today I called the Family Court and asked for advice.  What does one do when one's partner just doesn't want to be found?

I took time out this afternoon to visit the Electoral Commission to see if she's registered there.  No joy... I found four people with her name but without a birthdate, I have no way of knowing if any are her.

Ah well.

What I may have to do is 'go' to court, stand before a judge, and petition for 'substututed service' so that I can have the papers served on her parents (if indeed they still live where I though they lived), or, if I don't know where she lives, apply for 'dispensation of service' so I don't have to serve them at all.

In desparation, I've sent her parents another email.  Give me her address.

Bah!

What Ever Happened To Chester The Bear?

I'll admit it.  I lost interest in this blog for a bit.  You know how it is.  Got distracted.  Had other things to do.  Ran out of things to say.  Forgot my password.  Forgot my email address (I have many... one is easy to forget).
But here I am.  Back.  Maybe.
So what's changed?
Well I remembered that email address and password.  That was a step in the right direction.
And I decided to go back to "work".  Not that I wasn't "working", but really, what I was doing just wasn't fun any more and this opportunity came along that sounds... um... interesting. I'll tell you all about it sometime.
I start on the 4th.
I know... what ever happened to that killer web software I told my readers about?  Well it just wasn't robust enough, though I'm still rewriting bits of it so maybe it will see the light of day sometime.
And what about the book I was writing?  That's nearly finished actually.  It's a ripping yarn.  Stuff gets blown up.  Girls fall in love.  Heroes save the world.  Of course, finishing it is one thing.  Actually getting it published is an entirely different proposition.  Maybe I'll sell it as an e-book one chapter at a time... because I dare anyone to stop at just one!
And what of my business?  Well we've really wound that back.  Too many bureaucrats in the way, and we've had huge supply problems with our biggest selling product.
So all that means Chester is (probably) back.
If you like, comment.  If not, comment anyway.  You know I don't care what you think anyway.

Domain Names Lost

Our Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, thinks of himself as a bit of a communicator.  He has a flashy website at kevinrudd.com, and I think he's even on Twitter and Facebook too, just to show us how plugged in he is.

Except...

Kevin, when you're trying to build a brand, you need to register ALL of the domain names.

He didn't, so some guys over at Modus Interactive registered ".com.au" way back when he was first elected, and just sit on it. 

Sadly, that didn't teach our Kevin a lesson, mostly because he doesn't listen to anything much, other than the sound of his own droning voice, so an opportunity came up yesterday for your favourite bear to register "kevinrudd.info".  It cost just ten bucks, and because I already have brilliant content management software, I'm hard at work actually doing something with it.

Sadly, whatever I'm doing, Kevin's not going to like it.  Too bad, I say.

And if the guys from Modus read this, maybe they'd like to point their kevinrudd.com.au name to kevinrudd.info.  They'd be welcome.

Fatally Flawed

I'm writing to blow the whistle on yet another Rudd Government stuff up... one that will make Insulation and the BER look like case studies in good management. I have to qualify this by saying that I'm not directly involved, so what I am about to say is second or even third hand, in that I had a conversation yesterday (in an unrelated setting) with an individual (call him “Paul”) who is directly involved. Therefore, what I pass on to you is my understanding of what he told me but be assured Paul does exist, and the conversation did take place.

I'm sorry if that's too distant from the source, and there is always a possibility I have misinterpreted something Paul said. I also apologise for the length of this, but to get the problem across, a little explanation in necessary.

The Rudd Government here in Australia is stubbornly persistent in its plans to proceed with the National Broadband Network, at an estimated total cost of somewhere between $35 and $42 billion.

Now I'm at the front of the queue when it comes to wanting faster broadband, but unfortunately, the NBN is fatally flawed. Of most concern is the lack of security in data transmission.

To put it in simple terms, the NBN is designed like a daisy chain, or an old-fashioned telephone party line. Houses are grouped together in rows. Each row of houses is linked, house to house, so that to get to me, the data passes through equipment in my next door neighbour's home, and to get to my other neighbour, data passes through my home.

At each home, there is a little box on the wall that receives the signal, decodes it, extracts what it needs for me, then sends it on its way to the next house. The NBN people will tell you that data coming down the line to my house is secure. They're right. Unfortunately, though, data going back up line is not.

Let's say I am the CEO of a big mining company. A foreign agent looking to gather evidence in, say, some bribery allegation, moves in a few houses down the street. All he has to do is tinker with his box on his wall, and now he's seeing all of my outward internet traffic... He can read any email I send, he can see what websites I visit, and he can listen to my side of any internet phone call I make.

Or perhaps the foreign espionage example is extreme. Let's say I'm just an ordinary person. A few doors up a low life with a little technical expertise has tinkered as well. He now has access to any data I transmit... passwords, bank account log-in details, email, anything I send. In other words, he now has the keys to my life, and I have no way of knowing he's there.

It's sort of like me going into my study, locking the door and having an intimate conversation with my lover. Unfortunately, my wife might as well be sitting in a chair next to me because all she has to do to listen in is pick up the phone in the bedroom. (Not that I have a lover, but you get the point.)

No high tech wire taps. No need to access exchanges or cables in the street, or even to plant a listening device in my house. The NBN has done all the hard work, so now a spy, or a criminal, or a government, or anyone who wants to keep tabs on what an NBN subscriber is doing, just has to access one of those little boxes in the same daisy chain.

To complicate matters, the Government has shortlisted Huawei Technologies to supply core components for the network. Huawei is a company with links to China's People’s Liberation Army, and some believe it is a front for China's intelligence services.

The government has been warned about this fatal flaw, but has chosen to ignore it. For this government, in everything it does, it seems that it's more important to stick to policy no matter how bad that policy is, than it is to do something right. Maybe Senator Conroy doesn't understand the technology, or maybe he's too arrogant to admit the error. I'd hate to think he's exposing Australians to this level of risk deliberately.

The bottom line... $40 billion+ is about to be squandered on building an already obsolete network that places national, corporate and personal security at huge risk.

Not Islamist Enough

Life really does immitate art.

Did anyone happen to notice, last week, the goings on in Gaza? It seems the Islamist "Warriors of God" group rose up against Islamist Hamas, accusing them of "not being Islamist enough".

It reminds me of that scene out of Life of Brian...