Peter Black's Freedom to Differ

Stephen Colbert on the Slate Political Gabfest

The Slate Political Gabfest is my favourite podcast:

The Drum 5 March 2013

Last night I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including visas for foreign workers, a funding boost for the aged care sector and should there be limits to executive pay?

The Drum 5 March 2013 from Peter Black on Vimeo.

The Drum 14 February 2013

Tonight I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including the Coalition's leaked plan for 100 dams across Australia, Wayne Swan's refusal to rule out an income tax rise, and how far does the British royal family's right to privacy extend?

The Drum 14 February 2013 from Peter Black on Vimeo.

 

Download This Show: Zach Braff, Wearable Technology, Ecomobility

Today I was a guest on Radio National's technology show, Download This Show.  Host Marc Fennell chatted to me and Jen Dudley-Nicholson, the national technology editor for News Limited, about the Zach Braff, Wearable Technology, Ecomobility:

Death by internet: Just imagine waking up one day, turning on your computer to find out that you are dead, or at least that's the story spreading around the world thanks to a bogus news story. Comedian, star of the TV show Srcubs and world-class nerd Zach Braff on what it's like to be killed off by the web, the power of social media and how people in the public eye should use the internet.  Plus, why put your phone in your pocket when you it could be on your wrist? We look at the future for wearable technology.

Download the audio here.

You can also listen to previous episodes here.

Listen to me on SoundCloud

As you may be aware, I've experimented with various different podcasting apps over the years - Audioboo, Posterous and Ipadio - but I am currently using SoundCloud to post the audio of my radio appearances, as well as the occasional thought or rant:

 

GR8 DEBATE! Digital Culture is killing reading and writing

If you are interested in digital technology and education, come along to this debate I will be moderating on Tuesday 21 August:

Come along for an entertaining investigation of how digital technologies, such as iPads, social media, and the 'instant' internet culture are impacting upon our core, traditional abilities and views of reading and writing. 

It is particularly relevant in the National Year of Reading, to take stock of the advantages and disadvantages that digital culture has for the future of reading and writing.

We have a tremendous panel lined up to battle it out:

On the Negative side, convincing us that digital culture is not the death of reading and writing:

John-Paul Langbroek is the QLD Govt Minister for Education, Training and Employment & Member for Surfers Paradise 
Jane Cowell is the Director Public and Indigenous Library Services at the State Library of Queensland 
Marcus Foth is Associate Professor & author in Urban Informatics at QUT specialising in social media & mobile apps

On the Affirmative side, arguing that digital culture is indeed having an adverse effect on our reading and writing skills:

Natalie Bochenski is the state political reporter for 4BC news, author, director and travel enthusiast 
Bruce Woolley is an international journalist and correspondent & sessional academic in journalism at QUT 
Erica Hateley is a lecturer, author & researcher in children's & adolescent literature at QUT

Moderated by Peter Black - Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at QUT, specialising in internet law, media law and the legal and policy issues surrounding social media.

When:	Tuesday 21 August 6:15pm for a 6:45pm start
Where:	Gibson Room, Level 10, Z Block, QUT Gardens Point Campus
How much:	$10 non-ALIA Members $7 for ALIA Members and Current Students
RSVP:	Friday, 17 August ip.alumni@qut.edu.au | Fax: 07 3138 1514 | Phone: 07 3138 1843 If you are not a regular Alumni event attendee, please complete the RSVP form(PDF,94.9KB)
QUTPay:	You have the option to RSVP and pay online through QUTPay. https://qutpay.qut.edu.au/CART/Categories/Alumni.aspx

Please download a copy of our event flyer (PDF,412KB) to share with your colleagues and friends.

We look forward to seeing you there!

 

The politics of the social web

This study from Engage looks at the politics of social web:

Over the past few months, we’ve crunched countless “Likes” from thousands of users of Trendsetter, our first-of-its-kind platform that ties together polling, social influence data, and consumer preferences. We’ve used it to map the politics of the social web, analyzing the political partisanship of the user bases of various social properties. Using predictive modeling of Facebook likes, we tied political preferences and engagement to one’s choice of social media, and this bubble graph is the result:

I'm not sure if you would get the same results in Australia.  In particular, I'm surprised that Twitter has a lower level of political engagement than Facebook, and is also slight right wing.  

A must read piece on how CNN and Fox screwed up the Supreme Court Obamacare decision

SCOTUSblog's Tom Goldstein has written a fascinating piece on how the media covered the Supreme Court's decision regarding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:

Inside G42, the press room staff hear the Chief Justice say over the speakers that the Court will have to confront the government’s arguments under both the commerce power and also the tax power. But none of the reporters hear him; they are all gone.

The CNN and Fox producers are scanning the syllabus.  Eight lines from the bottom of page 2, they see the following language:  “Chief Justice Roberts concluded in Part III-A that the individual mandate is not a valid exercise of Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause.”  They immediately and correctly recognize that sentence as fantastically important.  The individual mandate is the heart of the statute, and it is clear that the Court has rejected the Administration’s principal theory – indeed the only theory that was discussed at great length in the oral arguments and debated by commentators.

Into his conference call, the CNN producer says (correctly) that the Court has held that the individual mandate cannot be sustained under the Commerce Clause, and (incorrectly) that it therefore “looks like” the mandate has been struck down.  The control room asks whether they can “go with” it, and after a pause, he says yes.

The Fox producer reads the syllabus exactly the same way, and reports that the mandate has been invalidated.  Asked to confirm that the mandate has been struck down, he responds: “100%.”

Read it here.  It really is a must-read.  Andrew Sullivan describes it as a "gripping second-by-second breakdown of how the media handled the Obamacare ruling", and Jason Kottke says it is "impeccably sourced, straighforward, and surprisingly compelling".  I couldn't agree more.  Again, read it here.

 

Download This Show: Google TV Box, Influence Economy, NutritionRank

This week I was a guest on Radio National's new technology show, Download This Show.  Host Marc Fennell chats to me and Chloe Lake, a freelance technology writer, about the Google TV box, the influence economy, and NutrititionRank:

Just how much money is your social media following worth? This week we examine the phenomenon of The Influence Economy. Plus we look at how Google & Sony have entered the battle to control the next generation of television sets. And we test out the new food evaluation site called Nutrition Rank.

Download the audio here.

You can also listen to previous episodes here.

 

The Drum 28 June 2012

Tonight I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including asylum seekers and the future of News Limited and Fairfax:

An Anarchist Constitution for Twitter

Of late we've come across a couple of guides for living our lives on Twitter, and, you know what, we're sick of rules. Yesterday, for example, Daily Intel provided a mini Twitter rule book with this list of "Things Journalists Do on Twitter That We Despise," that included habits such as retweeting things and only adding "+1" or "THIS." A little while back Buzzfeed had its own set of guidelines, telling us "11 Ways You're Annoying on Twitter," banning certain irritating behaviors like tweeting about food. While some of these things can be annoying at times, the assertion of rules has become so much more annoying.

We say no more rules for using Twitter. The service has been around long enough that we don't really need someone telling us how to use it. We call for Twitter anarchy. No more rules! To establish this new paradigm, we offer the last and only Twitter laws the Internet will ever need in the form of this Anarchist Constitution for Twitter.

We the People of Twitter, in Order to form a more perfect Twittersphere, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Anarchist's Constitution for Twitter.

Article I

Section. 1. If one tweeter doesn't like something on Twitter, they can breathe for one moment and then either ignore said tweet or respond to that person with a gripe. The recipient of said nasty @ reply, however, has the right to respond and a spat may ensue, for which bloggers and the rest of the Internet can judge you.

Section. 2. If one tweeter does not like what another tweeter tweets on a regular basis, they can breathe for one moment and either ignore or unfollow that person. The unfollowed person has the right to unfollow back. 

Section. 3. Feel however you would like about gaining and losing followers. Recognize certain behavior will either increase or decrease your following. 

Article II

Section. 1. Twitter should be for humans in all their wondrous forms. Spam bots are considered renegade outlaws of the Twitter community. 

Section. 2. Do not be a Spam bot.

Article III

Section. 1. If one tweeter tells another tweeter how to tweet, the recipient of said advice in no way has to listen.  

via www.theatlanticwire.com

Hear, hear!  There are no rules as to the correct way to Twitter, and nor should there be.  I think Article I, Section 2 of this Constitution is the most important - if you don't like someone on Twitter, either deal with it, or unfollow them.

The Oatmeal: The State of the Web

Too Much Copyright

"This disconnect between the public's view of copyright and fair use and what should and should not be prosecuted, versus the 'copyright maximist' view of the law, is our generation's Prohibition," says Ben Huh, CEO and founder of Cheezburger and a loud voice in the recent backlash to SOPA and PIPA, two congressional bills aimed at curbing internet piracy.

Copyright exists to "promote the useful arts" according to the US Constitution. But is it still doing that? And should the government protect so-called "intellectual property" in the same way it protects other forms of property? Reason.tv posed these questions to Ben Huh, as well as a professor and a movie studio representative.

How social media is changing journalism

An infographic from schools.com:

Courtesy of: Schools.com

A Manifesto for Creativity in the Modern Era

The Drum 21 March 2012

Tonight I was on The Drum ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including Clive Palmer, a constitutional challenge to the mining tax, celebrity diplomancy and US politics: 

Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod

Comic author Rob Reid unveils Copyright Math (TM), a remarkable new field of study based on actual numbers from entertainment industry lawyers and lobbyists.

Silencing Lex Wotton: Palm Island riot decision a blow for freedom of speech

Image via Wikipedia

I have a piece up at The Conversation on the High Court's decision in Wotton v Queensland:

When a prisoner has served their time, it’s difficult to understand why they would be stopped from engaging in public debate or communicating with the media. But a new precedent has been set by the High Court with serious implications for freedom of speech.

The court found against a Palm Island man, Lex Patrick Wotton, who was charged with inciting in a riot on Palm Island following the death in police custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee. He was convicted, and on his release his parole conditions stated he was not allowed to speak to the media and needed to gain permission before he could attend public meetings on Palm Island. Wotton challenged the constitutional validity of the laws underpinning these conditions in the High Court.

This case highlights how limited Australia’s constitutional protection of free speech is, and how restricted our legal rights really are.

Read the full piece here.

War on WikiLeaks event in Brisbane: Saturday 17 March 2-4pm

I will be speaking at this event on Saturday 17 March:

Everything is a Remix Part 4

Over the past few years New York filmmaker Kirby Ferguson has been working on a project called Everything is a Remix, which looks at "remix" within our culture.  His first video looked at remix remix within music, his second video looked at remix within film, focusing on Star Wars, and his third video looked at the elements of creativity.

His fourth video is on system failure:

Our system of law doesn't acknowledge the derivative nature of creativity. Instead, ideas are regarded as property, as unique and original lots with distinct boundaries. But ideas aren't so tidy. They're layered, they’re interwoven, they're tangled. And when the system conflicts with the reality... the system starts to fail.

Will Marieke Hardy’s Twitter case change Australian law for ever?

I have a piece up at The Conversation on Twitter being sued for defamation:

Twitter is being sued for defamation by a Melbourne man who was wrongly identified as the author of a “hate blog” directed at writer and TV personality, Marieke Hardy.

Hardy posted a tweet last year to “name and shame” Joshua Meggitt, the Melbourne man she incorrectly identified as the blog’s author, leading Meggitt to sue Twitter for defamation.

While Meggitt and Hardy have already apparently reached a (confidential) legal settlement, the broader issue of Twitter’s moral culpability and legal responsibility for allegedly defamatory tweets has now been brought sharply into focus.

This is the first time under Australian law Twitter has been sued for defamation, and it raises three interesting legal questions with respect to the liability of online intermediaries or platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Read the full post here.

The Drum 16 February 2012

Tonight I was on The Drum ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including unemployment numbers, the week in federal politics, the Queensland election, cooperatives and racism in TV soaps:

3 Reasons Not to Get Worked Up Over Super PACs

Nick Gillespie has produced a short video outlinging three reasons not to get worked up about Super PACs:

Star Wars Uncut: Director's Cut

Star Wars Uncut, a complete, feature-length replication of the original Star Wars film, completely crowd-sourced and edited together using submitted 15-second snippets, has been released online after years of production:

In 2009, Casey Pugh asked thousands of Internet users to remake "Star Wars: A New Hope" into a fan film, 15 seconds at a time. Contributors were allowed to recreate scenes from Star Wars however they wanted. Within just a few months SWU grew into a wild success. The creativity that poured into the project was unimaginable.

SWU has been featured in documentaries, news features and conferences around the world for its unique appeal. In 2010 we won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Creative Achievement In Interactive Media. 

There is more information at http://StarWarsUncut.com.

Watch the movie:

Carr and Stelter on Wikipedia's Day of Protest

David Carr and Brian Stelter, in this TimesCast video, discuss the decision by Wikipedia to close on Wednesday to educate its audience about proposed antipiracy legislation in Congress that it considers a threat to an open Internet. Time to crack open those old copies of Encyclopedia Britannica.

via mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com

PROTECT IP / SOPA Act Breaks the Internet

This video does a good job explaining what is wrong with the PROTECT IPA / SOPA Act:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

 

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week:

Weekly_Wrap_9_January_2012.mp3 Listen on Posterous

 

Convergence Review Interim Report

The Convergence Review is an independent review established by the Australian Government to examine the policy and regulatory frameworks that apply to the converged media and communications landscape in Australia.  The Convergence Review Committee is chaired by Glen Boreham with Malcolm Long and Louise McElvogue as committee members.

Today the committee released the Convergence Review Interim Report. The report sets out the committee's vision for fundamental change to the regulatory framework of Australia's digital economy, and identifies key areas for reform:

Convergence Review Interim Report

I will try and read the report in its entirety over the next few days and post some thoughts.

The Drum 13 December 2011

Tonight I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including the Cabinet reshuffle, the latest book by climate sceptic geologist Ian Plimer, the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the US Republican race:

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Image via Wikipedia

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week. 

This week we discussed whether Facebook is making us miserable, the possible regulation of social media in Australian politics, the Republican primary content in America, and federal politics, including possible constitutional recognition of Aboringal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples:

The Drum 1 November 2011

Tonight I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including interest rates, the fallout from the Qantas grounding and hipsters:

America in Primetime

In the US, PBS will be showing shortly a documentary series called America in Primetime that will talk about the best shows created since the invention of television:

America in Primetime is structured around the most com-pelling shows on television today, unfolding over four hours and weaving between past and present. Each episode focuses on one character archetype that has remained a staple of primetime through the generations - the Independent Woman, the Man of the House, the Misfit, and the Crusader -- capturing both the continuity of the character, and the evolution. The finest television today has as its foundation the best television of yesterday.

The series has been getting great reviews - check out this one from NPR here.

Here's an eight-minute video introduction to the show:

I can't wait to watch this series.

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed federal Australian politics, the Apple-Samsung patent battle, vegemite chips and competition law, and I defended FoxNews:

Everything Is a Remix: The Matrix

I've blogged a few times about a proect called Everything is a Remix by New York filmmaker Kirby Ferguson, which looks at "remix" within our culture.  His first video looked at remix remix within music, his second video looked at remix within film, focusing on Star Wars, and his third video looked at the elements of creativity. 

He has now posted a new video, which isn't technically a part of the series, but was made by Rob G. Wilson to highlight a variety of things in the movie The Matrix that appear quite similar to works in other movies:

Everything Is A Remix: THE MATRIX from robgwilson.com on Vimeo.

Techdirt blogs about this latest video here.

"Elections 2.0: Reflections on the 2010 federal election and the future of Australian electoral law"

An article I wrote on the 2010 federal election has been published by the Alternative Law Journal:

Elections 2.0: Reflections on the 2010 federal election and the future of Australian electoral law

This article analyses the 2010 federal election and the impact the internet and social media had on electoral law, and what this may mean for electoral law in the future.  Four electoral law issues arising out of the 2010 election as a result of the internet are considered, including online enrolment, regulation of online advertising and comment, fundraising and the role of lobby groups, especially when it comes to crowdsourcing court challenges.  Finally, the article offers some suggestions as to how the parliament and the courts should respond to these challenges.

You can purchase the article here or download an unformatted version here:

Elections 2.0: Reflections on the 2010 federal election and the future of Australian electoral law

Also, you can follow the Alternative Law Journal @AltLJ on Twitter or like it on Facebook.

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed the debate over prostate cancer screening, depression and Beyond Blue, Steve Jobs, the Brisbane International Film Festival and federal politics:

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed federal politics, pokies and tax reform, some US politics, Syria and Facebook (among other things):

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed 9/11, At Home with Julia, Australian politics and sport:

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed WikiLeaks, some interesting people visiting Brisbane (including John Cleese, John Waters, David Sedaris and Ira Glass), pokies and the Salvation Army and the fallout from the High Court's decision on the Malaysia Solution:

The Drum 1 September 2011

Tonight I was on The Drum on ABC News 24 discussing the news of the day, including the High Court's decision on the Malaysia Solution:

The Drum 1 September 2011 from Peter Black on Vimeo.

 

An Australian law firm embraces Twitter ... and will use Twitter to select Summer clerks

Australian law firm Marque Lawyers is using Twitter to select who they will interview for their summer clerkships.  Not only is this a really innovative use of Twitter, it also a remarkably unorthodox strategy to emerge from the traditionally conservative legal profession.  The advertisement also demonstrates a sense of humour, something you also don't typically associate with lawyers.  This social media stunt will no doubt generate some publicity and goodwill for Marque Lawyers (as well as some disapproving looks from some parts of the legal profession) but the real test will be whether this results in high quality summer clerks for the firm. 

You can read the advertisement below or visit the Marque Lawyers website here.

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed Libya, American Presidential politics, federal politics, State politics, Steve Jobs and choppergate:

(And my apologies for the bad audio.  Please contact me if you have any ideas as to how I can better capture the audio each week.)

Digital Munch Podcast - Episode 15

I'm participating in a new weekly podcast with a few friends - Dan Barrett from Televised Revolution, Michael Meloni from Somebody Think of the Children, and Sarah Moran from @reviewbrisbane - called Digital Much.  Episode 15 of Digital Munch is now online for your listening pleasure (minus Sarah Moran):

We talk each week about digital culture and digital media on Digital Munch, but what effects is it actually having upon our lives. What are the negative implications of digital media on our lives, but also, how has it enriched our lives?

Podcasting! Alcohol! Web Addiction! Domain Name Addiction! Batgirl Costumes!

We cover it all.

As with every episode of Digital Munch, we review a snack as we talk all things digital. In the Digital Munch bowl this week is Kelloggs Frosted Chocolate Cookie Dough Pop Tarts.

You can listen or download the podcast here or subscribe to it in iTunes here.  It's still very much a work in progress, so I'd love to hear your feedback.

Digital Munch Podcast - Episode 14

I'm participating in a new weekly podcast with a few friends - Dan Barrett from Televised Revolution, Michael Meloni from Somebody Think of the Children, and Sarah Moran from @reviewbrisbane - called Digital Much.  The fourteenth episode of Digital Munch is now online for your listening pleasure (minus Sarah Moran):

Google Plus. It comes on the Internet now.

What does the panel think of this new social networking service? While some of us see the service and its potential as the absolute bees knees, others are far from convinced.

As with every episode of Digital Munch, we review a snack as we talk all things digital. In the Digital Munch bowl this week is Arnotts TeeVee Snacks Malt Sticks.

You can listen or download the podcast here or subscribe to it in iTunes here.  It's still very much a work in progress, so I'd love to hear your feedback.

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed the federal politics, the global economy, the Census, the tablet patent wars and the Brisbane Writers Festival:

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed the federal politics, anonymity online and the Brisbane Festival:

Digital Munch Podcast - Episode 13

I'm participating in a new weekly podcast with a few friends - Dan Barrett from Televised Revolution, Michael Meloni from Somebody Think of the Children, and Sarah Moran from @reviewbrisbane - called Digital Much.  The thirteenth episode of Digital Munch is now online for your listening pleasure (minus Sarah Moran):

Death. It’s an unfortunate part of life, but we all have to face it at various points through our existence. In this day and age of digital media where a digital fingerprint can last forever, how do we deal with death? How do we talk about death when a notable figure passes away? What happens to our own public profiles when we die?

With singer Amy Winehouse passing away this week and death fresh in our collective 2.0 minds, this was as good a time as any to discuss the impact death has on our online activities.

As with every episode of Digital Munch, we review a snack as we talk all things digital. In the Digital Munch bowl this week is Kettle Chips Peri Peri variety.

You can listen or download the podcast here or subscribe to it in iTunes here.  It's still very much a work in progress, so I'd love to hear your feedback.

Patch Monday podcast: Games, crime, porn and Facebook (laws)

I am interviewed about the R18+ classification for games, internet filtering and Facebook by Stilgherrian in this week's edition of Patch Monday:

An R18+ classification for computer games is long overdue in Australia and internet filtering based on the Interpol blacklist is "reasonable enough", says legal expert Peter Black. However, he does have concerns.

The decision by South Australia's Attorney-General John Rau to "re-badge" all MA15+ games as R18+ to further restrict their access in that state is "very strange", says Black. He also notes the lack of oversight of the Interpol blacklist.

Black teaches internet and media law at the Queensland University of Technology. On this week's Patch Monday podcast he discusses the many recent legal moves in Australia that affect the internet and technology, including:

• The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) decision to introduce the R18+ games classification;
• An inquiry into a legislated right to privacy;
• The spread of "voluntary" internet filtering against the Interpol blacklist;
• Laws relating to cybercrime; and
• Calls to bring Facebook under control.

The 2008 report into privacy by the Australian Law Reform Commission already provides a "perfectly good" set of recommendations, Black says. "The hard work has already been done for them."

Meanwhile, since our last conversation about filtering, more internet service providers have begun blocking access to child exploitation material using Interpol's "worst of the worst" blacklist.

"Certainly the Interpol list is a good list," says Black. "I am comforted by the fact that it does require at least two law enforcement agencies in two different countries to refer sites." He is concerned, though, that blacklisting could be used as leverage against recalcitrant hosting providers.

The SCAG meeting also resulted in calls for more regulation of Facebook and other social networking services, including the possibility of Facebook being restricted in Australia to those aged 18 and up rather than the existing age limit of 13, as well as the ability for parents to access their children's profiles.

"It's a monumentally stupid idea," Black says. "What more do you need me to say?"

Patch Monday also includes my usual look at some of last week's news headlines.

To leave an audio comment on the program, Skype to stilgherrian, or phone Sydney 02 8011 3733.

Running time: 42 minutes, 24 seconds

My weekly chat with Andrew Bartlett on 4ZzZ

Every Monday morning I appear on Andrew Bartlett's 4ZzZ breakfast radio show to discuss some of the current public and political issues of the week.  This week we discussed the carbon tax, the News of the World controversy, Queensland state politics and the Dalai Lama:

Digital Munch Podcast - Episode 12

I'm participating in a new weekly podcast with a few friends - Dan Barrett from Televised Revolution, Michael Meloni from Somebody Think of the Children, and Sarah Moran from @reviewbrisbane - called Digital Much.  The twelfth episode of Digital Munch is now online for your listening pleasure.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to participate in this episode, so it will probably be much more enjoyable listening as a result:

This week we talk coffee ordering. With regular panelists Peter Black interstate and Sarah Moran feeling unwell, Michael and Dan take this opportunity to have a chat with Mike Boyd from Cupstart.com – an online takeaway coffee ordering platform.

What is Cupstart, how does it work, and what challenges has Mike encountered as he set up the service? We discuss it all on this weeks podcast.

With so much discussion of Cupstart, don’t think that we’ve forgotten about our weekly snack. Heavens, no. This week the panel sample Kooka’s Country Cookies.

We love to hear feedback from you about the podcast and any snack recommendations. So, please leave comments. Also, don’t forget that you can subscribe to the show on iTunes. Just click HERE.

You can listen or download the podcast here or subscribe to it in iTunes here.  It's still very much a work in progress, so I'd love to hear your feedback.