In the wake of AFP raids at Labor senator Stephen Conroy’s house over the leaked documents showing cost-blow outs to the National Broadband Network (NBN), Australia’s most expensive infrastructure project has again been thrust into the headlines. Both major parties are yet to address the rollout delays and slow connection speed, despite Australia continuing to fall in global internet speed ranking. According to The ‘State of the Internet’ report, produced by online content delivery specialist Akamai Technologies every quarter, Australia slipped 14 spots in the past six months, and now sits at a global ranking of 60th, behind fibre-rich countries such…
Author: Gemma Mollenhauer
The Queensland Government has approved the $20 billion Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin, but environmental groups say the mine will fuel global warming and further threaten the Great Barrier Reef. The multi-billion dollar project, headed by Indian multinational Adani, will extract 60 million tonnes of thermal coal each year. It will create more than 5000 jobs during construction and over 4000 during operation. The Adani Australia CEO has said thermal coal will be used to generate power in poverty stricken parts of India. The Australian Youth Climate Commission (AYCC) has protested the development of the mine. It said the government…
Twitter users have united to make Frozen heroine, Princess Elsa, Disney’s first LGBT character in the blockbuster’s highly anticipated sequel. Alexis Moncada, who created #GiveElsaAGirlfriend, said she wanted young girls to understand a princess can fall in love with another princess. “Growing up, I never saw a princess fall in love with another princess — and neither have girls growing up right now,” Ms Moncada reported for MTV. “The entertainment industry has given us girls who have fallen in love with beasts, ogres who fall for humans, and even grown women who love bees. “But we’ve never been able to see the purity…
Do you struggle to focus? You’re not alone- according to a study by Microsoft Corp, the average attention span of a human is less than a goldfish. Since 2000 (or around when the mobile revolution began) the average attention span of a human has dropped to 8.25 seconds. To put that into perspective, a goldfish can maintain a solid 9 seconds and even remember where it has left its food for up to 2 weeks. We’ve developed a short list of apps to help you make the most of those 8.25 seconds in the exams to come. 1. Maths Alarm…
In a sport dominated my middle-aged men in lycra or MAMIL’s, the Cycling Australia initiative: She Rides, rolls in this Saturday. Established in 2014, the program aims to encourage more women to cycle regularly. Delivered as a series of weekly sessions over an eight week period, She Rides includes different programs for both mountain and road riding, including basics, confidence building and group riding. Illawarra program leader Jules Verheyen said she was excited to be running the program for the third time. “Each time we have the program we have 16 ladies come through and then they filter on to…
As cycling grows in popularity worldwide, University of Wollongong PhD student Lance Barrie, from the Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research (AUSCCER), has immersed himself in the two-wheeled subculture in order to better understand why people cycle. With his research focused on the lived experience of cycling in Wollongong, Mr Barrie wants to start a discussion around negative attitudes towards the “cockroaches on wheels”, and create more cycling infrastructure and educational programs. “Wollongong provides a nice area where cycling is increasing at the moment and Wollongong council currently has a Bike Management Plan which highlights the infrastructure needs of Wollongong,” Mr Barrie said. “But there’s little about…