Monthly Archives: August 2007

You little ripper – a public service bleg

Posted on August 31, 2007 by Nicholas Gruen

This webpage surveys the various products on offer to rip (a groovy word meaning ‘record’ I guess) streaming video and audio into files like MP3 files. I’m not too interested in video, but occasionally want to convert a streaming audio … Continue reading →

Posted in IT and Internet | 20 Comments

Oxfam: friend of the world’s poor?

Posted on August 31, 2007 by Nicholas Gruen

Many years ago I used to donate quite a bit of the money I donate to charity to Community Aid Abroad. It seemed like a good idea to try to combine charity and aid with some attempt to address some … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics and public policy, Society | 53 Comments

Confused Constitutionalism

Posted on August 30, 2007 by Cam

The American innovation on English Constitutionalism was that there is fundamental law – expressed in the constitution – that cannot be ignored by the executive and cannot be statutorily pasted over by the legislative. The Americans called them natural rights … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics - national | 9 Comments

Punishment for the open sourcer

Posted on August 30, 2007 by Nicholas Gruen

From PC Pro: He’s already endured five months in prison. But now a Linux user convicted of piracy is facing the ultimate punishment – he’s being forced to run Windows. Scott McCausland was the one time administrator of the Elite … Continue reading →

Posted in IT and Internet | 2 Comments

The politics of industrial relations

Posted on August 30, 2007 by Fred Argy

Politics is all about compromise and trade-offs. Sensible politicians target the median voter not the extremists on either side. On that test, Labors IR package seems to get it about right. Moreover the proposed changes are transparent for all to … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics - national | 45 Comments

Missing Link – graphical edition

Posted on August 29, 2007 by

We’ll start with a community service announcement: The Australian Blogging Conference is to be held at the Queensland University of Technology on September 28 this year. Peter Black, one of the Missing Link crew, has put a considerable amount of … Continue reading →

Posted in Missing Link | 6 Comments

Joshua Gans guest blogs for Troppo

Posted on August 29, 2007 by Nicholas Gruen

On behalf of all Troppodillians I had lunch with Joshua Gans today. Actually it wasn’t on behalf of anyone. I just felt like writing something pompous. Anyway, we spoke about many things including writing columns. Joshua writes all or many … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | 4 Comments