We all knew nz’s?

THE Federal Opposition's new immigration spokeswoman has raised strong concerns about the Government's new seasonal worker program.

Sharman Stone, from regional Victoria, where many of the new visa-holders would work, said the program was confusing and lacked detail.

Regulations to allow 2500 Pacific Islanders into Australia as guest workers were introduced into Parliament on Tuesday.

Unease over seasonal jobs - National News - National - General - Central Western Daily

My editor of choice is Scite and there's been an enhancement with one of the 'packages' I use that just drives me crazy. Autocompletion of quotes and brackets. This feature autocompletes your quotes, such that everytime your enter a single or double quote " the editor will automatically put in the second ". Feature drives me crazy.

Got on the 7:49 to City Circle (Wynyard) this morning and was surprised that the carriage I got on had just had the partial face lift operation. It had that glossy look of a fresh coat of paint, and it also had the nice lingering smell.

Only 40 minutes left then I can get off.

Sure would hate to be on this train this afternoon. With Sydney starting off with hot weather this spring (currently 17 deg. C and expecting a high of 23 deg. C)  the paint mixed with afternoon mass transportation body fumes is not something I wish to contemplate.

Weird,

The train ride this morning paused a little at Birrong Station.

The weird factor?

The train normally drops/picks passengers at Birrong Station and then pauses between stations. This seems to be a common practise on the rail line (at least on City Rail) where the driver would get a radio/computer update on our schedule and bring the train to a halt where passengers can neither get off/on.

This morning, the driver must have received his message early, or started late on his/her shift.

What difference is there being stuck at a station and in between?

 

Weird,

The train ride this morning paused a little at Birrong Station.

The weird factor?

The train normally drops/picks passengers at Birrong Station and then pauses between stations. This seems to be a common practise on the rail line (at least on City Rail) where the driver would get a radio/computer update on our schedule and bring the train to a halt where passengers can neither get off/on.

This morning, the driver must have received his message early, or started late on his/her shift.

What difference is there being stuck at a station and in between?

 

The context for the 2008 Talanoa is ready to rumble and although a little heady for techno nerds, the ‘stuff’ is beginning to get some tasty flavouring.

Make the time and come on over. If you know any pakehas, palangi who must deal with the rabbles from Pasifika, forward them an invite it cannot but enlighten them to the context from which their pacific partners hailed.

If you’re from the Pacific and you’ve been in Australia for too long but still need to think about that Bigpond question:

What’s important about January 26th for Australians?

A day off to watch the cricket (eyebrow raised)

Then you’re just punching to turn up. You’re part of the ‘problem’

2008 Conference
Mana, Vanua, Talanoa
Abstracts received for some of the presentations

Welcome & opening event

The opening event will follow the expected structure of a traditional lotu ceremony, with negotiations to embody the complexities of PI migration. Participants are encouraged to flow the event (or go with the flow if you prefer!) and be respectful of the tapu of the land where we will gather, and the talanoa of the Barramatugal clan and Darug people who cared for it over many generations.

Roots and Routes: Who are we?!

This panel will explore the challenges that Pacific Islanders face when we move overseas, torn between commitments to the homes from where we came and the necessities of settling into new homes. This panel consists of first generation PI migrants, and will explore issues related to church, education, law, justice system, culture and so forth. Members of panel: Liva Tukutama, Filimone Olivetti, Vetinia Waqabaca, Alisa Peacock, Seini Afeaki, and others

Computers can be configured to ‘wake-up’ to certain peripheral device activities, something (as I recall) pioneered in the PC Space by Apple’s Nubus back in the ‘dark ages?’ The idea is that we can conserve electricity by putting our computers to ‘sleep’ and have some event (such as someone wanting to talk with the computer) wake up the computer.

Today, ‘wake-up’ is a common feature offered on computers.

Apart from the security implications of a computer activating (or being owned) when you plug in a Firewire / IEE1394 device (such as some external drives and Digitial Video Cameras) there’s a nice feature in Windows Vista that would ‘wake-up’ my laptop when I move my external/usb mouse.

Wake-up on USB is a nice feature, that you love half the time, and hate the other half.

Put the laptop into sleep, or just let the screen saver do it and go away from your desk for a cup of coffee or something. It is seriously convenient to just get to back, bump the mouse and be back online browsing the web (oops, working!!!.)

On the other hand, it is hugely inconvenient to put the laptop to sleep, shutdown the screen and then have someone else bump the mouse for the laptop to be active while the screen is down (i.e. no clear indicator for me that my battery is draining away.) It doesn’t help that it seems that since I have my laptop authenticate after waking up, it doesn’t go back to sleep so my battery can be totally drained with the lid down.

Don’t even go into the problem that many people have, where something wakes Windows/Laptop up while it’s in your bag giving the laptop a good chance to drain the battery and heat it self up silly.

As a given, if you put your Windows box into sleep mode, and you don’t want it to wake-up because you’re putting the laptop into your bag, pull all the USB devices out before Windows gets into ‘sleep’ nirvana.

The lessons.

Decide on the level of inconvenience your prefer. Until Windows is intelligent enough to figure out that Monday ~ Friday between 5:00 and 6:00pm when I put the thing to sleep, I don’t want it to wake up until I open the lid, live with it. Actually, if Windows and this laptop can just figure out I don’t ever want the laptop to wake-up while the lid is down, that would be a huge success.

Like, how often do you hear of people on battery power turning on their laptops while the screen is shut. they must be in a different world over at Redmond?

For battery life, get another power-brick for your laptop (unfortunately I’m over-geeked and carry two laptops with one power-brick between them.) Come to me sayeth Windows, for I will make your yoke heavy.

Of all the naysayers, fanboys out there for Google’s new engine.

Has anyone noticed the contribution Google is doing by BSD licensing the product?

Just as OpenBSD ‘saved’ the world by contributing OpenSSH as a BSD licensed product (so everyone and their dog can use the best SSH server/client without reprisals or arguments) is Google trying to push Chrome’s Javascript Engine V8 to become a new standard that everyone can use ?

If V8 is faster, more compliant then any other pseudo javascript engine out there, then why would you not incorporate it into your browser? Especially if it gives your end-users (browsers and developers) a better experience.

Go Google, Go IE9

Naahhh,

There are people out there who still believe security is an overrated issue not worthy of their time. “There are more important issues” (disclaimer: I work for an IT security firm?)

Zero in a bit’s article: MBTA Hack shows security hasn’t improved in 10 years reminds us that IT security in the broader context of society, can be a life or death situation. I may not care about your losing money, but I sure as hell care if your security failings can cause me loss of life, limb, and/or liberty.

Zero in a bit references hacks that can literally ‘stop your heart.’ Which draws us to other examples of security failings that can be disastrous. I sure don’t want the Rail System I’m running on hacked, they’ve got computers all over the network (i.e. in every suburb they have a train station) and you can just imagine the day when someone plugs in a wireless modem onto one of those desktops and gives some hacker direct access into the Rail Information System.

I’ve got enough problems with the current timetabling then to have some hacker running the system as if it’s their private train-set and trying to crash the trains together.

Continuing the medical security scenario, we are reminded that software security isn’t just about protecting the “system” from outside interference, in its holistic sense, software security is about protecting the software from itself. We don’t want to be sitting under an X-Ray, Laser cutter when the machine has a buffer overflow and decides to give you 10x or 1000x dosage. Wait, that already happened.

Took off my jacket @ Newtown station because the night air, though chilly, was warm enough for only a single ‘jumper/cardigan.’

Train gets in, I get on, and immediately have to put the jacket back on. Geez the train is freezing.

But let’s just blame the State Government Owned, and Operated Railroad operators for the continuing incompetence. Or, better yet, let’s blame the lackey worker who has to put in double-shifts and isn’t allowed to question the efficiency of the network. After all, the current government (State) has only had 10+ years running the show, they haven’t yet completely put their buddies into all posts in the organisation.

The previous government really screwed things up when they sacked all those incompetent managers and replaced everyone. 10 years is about minimum to get our buddies back into the system and totally screw the populace.

Democracy, the NSW freedom to ‘game’ the system so you can legally screw people!

With the right amount of money, what is the ‘real’ difference between democracy and dictatorship?

My sister-in-law suffered sadly for beauty on Saturday, then spent Sunday coiled up in front of the television keeping warm (supposedly) or was that not going to church so she could watch movies.

It seems a sad maxim of the ‘civilised society’ that so many link their self-worth to their exterior outlook, or just as sadly the number of brand things dangling.

Too sady, too true.

As I continue my mundane, but necessary, rituals of getting up in the morning slogging the way to the train station to get to work and back it’s good to be reminded of the mortality that is life. Lu’isa Tae Kami passed away over the week-end and having lived her life to the max, in such a short time, she’s given those around her a great opportunity to reflect on their own mortality, and purpose in life.

16 August 11:40pm... Gone Home...

Tae passed on in her sleep at 11:40pm this evening. She mentioned this morning she might be gone by midnight and kept her word. Heaven must be buzzing as she flies through its gates new body, new heart and spirit intact.

She has asked that the theme for her service be taken from the Bible -  Romans chapter 8 - "the whole chapter". Tonight I can only think of the verse: All things work for good for those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose...

You can follow the celebration of life, funeral proceedings on the above page. You can also find out a heck of a lot about her journey from the site, and on her Bebo page.  Included in the links on her Bebo page should be heaps of videos from all over the place (including Tonga and NZ Television) documenting her life and her influence on the Tonga and Pasifika communities.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Taholo and Sina, siblings and the rest of the clan and very very extended family from Tae’s ‘family.’

Tae’s journey with cancer has been draining and fullfilling for her immediate family and a new extended extended family that have grown out of her needs but especially because of the composure and faith she has shown “forged in fire.”

Walk on Walk Strong Tae, and may we meet with you again.

Some people have their act together, and the abstracts have come out for the up-coming Talanoa Conference. Some of them sound really interesting, and some of them a just ‘interesting.’

2008 Conference
Mana, Vanua, Talanoa
Abstracts  Out

Pauline Luafutu-Simpson (Pauline.Luafutu-Simpson@nzca.ac.nz) and Sam Utai,
“Standing outside the tick boxes”
This presentation will examine the changing face of Pasifika communities – 'Christchurch'  perspective. It will be based on a framework/model we developed to help us articulate  what we saw evolving within our Pasifika communities and the young Pasifika people we were working with that either stood on the periphery of both mainstream and traditional Pasifika communities - in fact in double jeopardy

‘Epeli Taungāpeau (epeli.taungapeau@paradise.net.nz), “How can I be Tongan in a
strange/promised land? Cultural and Theological Diversity in the MCNZ”
      This paper outlines the social and religious issues of a “TALANOA” that most Pacific Islanders especially Tongans who have migrated overseas and made their home in  a foreign land face in life.  Although the talanoa are not new, it is important to revisit  these experiences to identify key reference points that impact on the lives of the individual in the context of their family and how these factors will ultimately shape and
inform how Pacific Island migrants fit in their new society.

      There are several factors that influence an individuals talanoa including social location, identity, dreams and aspirations and the integral place of faith, tradition and custom, life experience and the bible. This Talanoa outlines the journey to Aotearoa, of a young nineteen year old Tongan male accompanied only by the talents, gifts and identity and the discovery of the means to fulfill a dream by pursuing the enhancement of
educational success in NZ.

      This talanoa explores the “call” to ministry in the Methodist Church of New Zealand  and the importance of faith and tradition in the process of migration to the land of the  Long White Cloud – Aotearoa New Zealand. It discusses several issues that Tongan  people who are members of the MCNZ encounter within the Church and the solutions.
      The commonalities within the talanoa provide useful tools for the church’s people to explore the development of durable options/solutions and illustrate a possible way forward when working with Tongan families in the Methodist Church of New Zealand. 

I had hoped that that Sonny Bill William’s saga would have died away by now, but I guess it just wanted to have as many people push across their own agenda items. Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is an incredible high profile athlete who played Rugby League in Sydney for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs. My son’s team.

In short, SBW left in July for France, breaking an existing player contract (with lot’s of money) to go to France for even more money. The bigger story is more complicated, otherwise the ditched club and industry (CB Bulldogs, Australia’s National Rugby League) wouldn’t be spending heaps of money on lawyers to try and prevent SBW from playing in France.

Apart from the legal jurisdictional, sovereignty land mines with this law suite, you have to wonder how real this effort is in suing someone to come back and play for you.  How is that to work? Supposedly SBW will be forced to come back and play with the CBB, and he is supposedly going to run on the park every week-end putting in his best because he has been shown the LOVE by his club.

Breaking Contract.

I’ve heard some flawed commentators (former players) going on and on about how vile this whole thing of breaking his contract. All while forgetting their own high profile, press covered, contractual fights where he and his employer reneged on a number of contractual details.

Contracts are for the benefit of the guy/gal with the biggest stick. Unfortunately for the NRL, SBW spewed in their face and put himself a distance away where he hopes the NRL’s big stick can’t touch him.

You really have to watch “The Legend of Johnny Lingo” to get a Pacific view of what contract negotiations should be, as opposed to the bastardised system it is now. It shouldn’t just be a Pacific view.

Differences

If you are running a Million/Billion dollar organisation, such as the the NRL or Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and are dependent on Pacific Islanders as part of your product, then I think it behoves you as a business to get a better understanding of your product.

If in Australia and you manage such a corporation and you’ve never been to a Kava Party, or a Hangi, a Pacific Wedding, or a Funeral, never seen at least “The Laughing Samoans,” or “Sione’s Wedding,” or God forbid you’ve never seen “The Legend of Johnny Lingo,” please don’t even assert that you have any idea about your Pacific bread.

If you’ve not gone to church with a Pacific Islander, you’re never going to understand the social binding integration of Pasifika.

Recent high-profile (huge money spinner) moves by ‘Isileli Folau at the Melbourne Storm moving to Brisbane, as well as Digby Ioane moving from the Western Australia Force back to Brisbane should have rung bells in the hallowed halls.

Islanders aren’t whites, they’re not blacks, they’re not like your other products. They’re loyalties and frames of reference are different.

In New Zealand the whole Islander thing was forced on the white culture by the gangs, and has evolved into a deeper cohesion between the different cultures. Of course, people being forcibly moved from their land may some day display anti-social behaviour and in retrospect you’ve got to consider the Maori and Samoan response have been quite civilised. In Australia, minor cultures are easily subverted and/or ignored.

Move On

The SBW saga highlights a number of shortcomings in the existing entertainment industry using athletes.

Either the industries learn from it and deal with it in a constructive manner or things are going to get from worse to worse.

The Pacific Islander issue needs to be reviewed and dealt with, that’s one way forward. This has always been a problem brushed under the table in Rugby League and increasing in Rugby Union.

Avoided it for a couple of hours, but after looking it up it wasn’t that hard after all.

Summary:

I needed to connect to a client’s broadband modem to do some maintenance. Unfortunately we’ve set the client up such that administrating the modem is only possible ‘from inside’ the client’s side of the cable modem.

The 2nd problem is that the modem is administered through a web interface so the question is, how can I securely get Internet Explorer to connect through a machine on the inside back to this modem ?

In fact, only one machine on the network can access the modem.

I was side-tracked with another problem using tunnels, but the solution for this particular scenario was relatively simple.

 

ssh –L local-port:modem-ip:modem-port internal-host

local-port is the port on my local machine that I will point the browser to (for example: http://localhost:local-port)

modem-ip is the IP address for the modem, from the internal-host. For example, a non-routeable/private IP address such as 172.16.11.1.

modem-port. The port on the modem where the web interface is listening. For example 80 or 443

internal-host is the Host inside the network to which I can jump to from the outside (usually a machine with a public-ip)

ssh –L 4321:172.16.11.1:80 host.example.org

I can access the modem by starting up Internet Explorer and using the address http://localhost:4321

ssh –L 4322:172.16.11.1:443 host.example.org

I can now access the SSL secured interface by using the address https://localhost:4322

Using the above scenario you can supposedly daisy-chain (connect from one server to the next) by having multiple terminals making one link to the next.

There’s also some ssh fu where you can chain from one machine to the next to the next on a single command-line, but we’ll leave that for another day.

Woo hoo, built my first box in aeons.

Been playing with various bits and pieces at work trying to piece together at least another functional box. Sometime later we decided that we needed a new box and we would look at reusing as many components from the trash pile I was playing with.

Unfortunately, bits and pieces of the trash pile was working, but together there was no ensemble. We decided to get new bits for the parts that looked like were dead and yesterday was my turn to put the bits together (and pray I don’t fry anything.)

I think the last time I actually had to put a box together from scratch was back in 1998? As I recall we had a bum machine at QSC and had to get the motherboard from Australia(?) Ever since then I’ve basically had some under my wings that I told to read the Taiwanese documentation and cable the box together. Of course that was an experience in itself in finding ports not working because they just weren’t wired up.

Anyhow, a relative newbie and not wanting to ever open this box again I made sure every lose wire got plugged into something even if there was no likelihood that it would ever get used. Double checked the bits I couldn’t figure out with our resident hardware dude, crossed my fingers and pushed 240v into the machine.

Poof, no-sound, nothing! Woo hooo, go software dude. In the distant pass, when computers don’t power up, and you’re somewhat certain that the power supply works fine, pull the PCI boards out and see what happens. So, pulled out a few boards and voila machine sings beautifully.

That wasn’t too bad, now was it?