On the Net

with Chris Goh

Manners maketh the mobile

I visited St Peters and the Vatican Museum in Rome as part of my trip and was deeply saddened but the behaviour of visitors to these sacred places. Despite clear warnings prohibiting their use, people talked on mobile phones and took flash photos. Guards tried to wade through the crowd to those responsible, but like King Canute, they were trying to hold back the tide - an impossible task.

Later on, I went to a Latin Mass at St John's, where, to my astonishment, tourists wandered through the ceremony taking flash photos and chatting away with family and friends. No Catholic guilt there - or a mea culpa.

A recurring theme of my columns is how often we abuse the privileges that come with improved technology. As the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, trusting people not take advantage of it becomes a really big ask. Aside from criminal intent, it's about manners. We seem to have forgotten the context of using technology, so people use it while ignoring the comfort and amenity of others. In some cases, the tail wags the dog and it rules the environment. Seeing such selfishness saddens me greatly, because it seems that the values we once held dear in society are being abandoned for some economic measure of the opportunity cost. Would people really miss out that much if they followed a few simple, polite rules? Values are about standards - benchmarks and disciplines we agree to impose on ourselves. They should not be bartered away for our own conveniences. Some theologians would argue that society is increasingly lacking spiritual conviction. My reading is that the economic and political emphasis on the individual has led to a decline in common convictions because our ability, as a society, to identify what is important, has been waning.

Whilst it's right to admire the diversity of people and cultures, and our uniqueness, it's also important to remember our common bonds and the similarities that unite us so we can work together.

If we lose sight of that, we'll forget what makes us successful as a society.

Maybe this Christmas we can all find the time to look for those common traits that ultimately bring family around the Christmas table. And maybe we won't look on time spent with family and friends as an opportunity cost from answering emails or making money. Because love has its own intrinsic value, it is something that is right to do. Maybe this Christmas we'll celebrate the virtues and the key aspects of this day - the gift of living, the gift of choice and the birth of Christianity.

Hotnews

CyberTrust has won the Federal Government contract to store biometric information on electronic passports. To comply with new international civil aviation standards, travel documents have to contain biometric data. Australia is one of the first countries to comply.

IBM and Toshiba are partnering with Sony to use the 'Cell' processor - designed for PlayStation 3 - in a new range of desktop PCs and high-definition interactive TVs. At the same time, IBM has announced that its desktop division is up for sale.

Telstra is undertaking a $700 million trial of its Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) program, which aims to roll out fibre cables to residential properties, replacing the old copper cables. The move is pioneering and set to offer new levels of access to broadband.

US company Commerce One has filed for bankruptcy. That's nothing new in the business world, but what caught the IT world's attention are the 37 patents, fundamental internet protocols and processes, owned by Commerce One.

Former US president Bill Clinton recently launched Accoona, a new search engine using artificial intelligence, which its makers claim is better than Google. The Chinese Government is one of several large backers of the project and has given Accoona a 20-year exclusive partnership with the China Daily Information Co., the government agency running the official Chinese and English website. It also gives Accoona acces to data on around 5 million Chinese companies. But given China's propensity to block and ban things it doesn't approve of, don't expect searches for topics related to Taiwan and Tibet to throw up much more than government propaganda. Speaking of which, the Chinese government recently banned the game Champion World Soccer 2005 because it features Taiwan and Tibet.

Hotlinks

www.quackwatch.org

Second only to get-rich schemes, when it comes to hooking in victims, are get better schemes. Health-related frauds that promise you improved physical and mental health, but deliver little more than the Placebo effect, are on the rise. Read about it and discuss it at Quackwatch before buying that new magic pill.

www.oznetlaw.net/home.asp

The Communication Law Centre is a non-profit research, policy and educational organisation that specialises in online and internet law. It has excellent fact sheets for individuals, businesses and non-profit organisations about their online rights and obligations. What a great effort.

www.gut.nsw.edu.au

The Gut Foundation offers education on a topic that is sensitive and important, but poorly understood - gastrointestinal health. It provides health tips (plus a recipe of the month) as well as advice on methods of screening and diagnosis of stomach-related problems.