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Newsletter 20 July 2005 
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Music has always been shared between friends. Years ago this meant
swapping tapes and records. Now it means sending music via e-mail
or MSN. It is one of the most important ways of exploring new music,
which at times leads to purchase. Repeated exposure is usually a
precursor to purchase. It used to happen and still does via radio.
Now it is happening through downloads, followed at times by concerts
and then purchase of the artists’ CDs. For music consumers
it is the individual and shared music experience that is at the
centre. When digital rights systems also focus on the music experience,
there is a possibility that the rupture between the copyright regime,
DRM and the users will diminish. She says the main key was to understand what was important and then say you can do without other things. It meant saving to spend and saying no to things like $180 track suits for athletics and shoes for the children that were out of the budget. It also meant buying groceries in bulk, sewing the family’s clothes or buying from an op shop, never using disposable nappies and never buying new furniture. But it also meant she sent her eight children to a private Catholic school. Sending them to a school where they would get the values of social justice was important to her. Her values have been reaffirmed. The children who have completed school are in the areas of medicine, international trade and the environment. They too have not borrowed money except one child who has borrowed to buy a car so she can attend university in Melbourne. The values have been pushed at them all the time: it is o.k. not to have everything new. It is o.k. to work hard for something. These family values have meant she has chosen work that is part time and that allows her to be at home with her family. That has been difficult, for other than their incomes, there is no other money coming into the household. She does not charge her children board for they have always had to save for what they wanted. Afterwards, she says she would not have minded a cupboard full
of new clothes, but her choices were different. While microfinance is often associated with small loans programs
in the developing world, there is a growing interest in approaches
to microfinance and many examples of successful microfinance projects
in Australia. The United Nations Association of Australia is holding
a two-day International Conference at the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne
on August 29-30, 2005 which will provide an opportunity to share
the practical lessons and discuss the wider issues for business,
governments and NGOs with leading international experts and delegates
from both the developed and developing world. The International Journal of Human-Computer Studies has a special issue on privacy and security. One of the papers, authored by Anne Adams and Ann Blandford, has particular relevance to the User Centred Design of Financial Services Project, and discusses the findings from two studies within the health domain which reveal a gap between organisational and user perspectives of security. The article describes how an understanding of ‘communities of practice’ can help to make sense of existing security and privacy issues within organisations. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=JournalURL&_cdi=6829&_auth=y&_acct=C000000593&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2735&md5=0f1af1ae6b537b0efac00ec023818b45
Finextra is a leading independent newswire and information source
for the worldwide financial technology community. Finextra covers
all significant technology news in wholesale and retail banking
(including e-banking), the capital markets and insurance. Finextra
also publishes a wide range of research articles, features, white
papers and case studies. *Conducting Internet Surveys – A Practical Focus This paper primarily describes the methodology employed in a study of Australian Internet users, conducted in early 2004 but it is also intended as a practical reference for researchers undertaking Internet research; particularly national or larger studies. The research design used in the study is outlined in detail, along with the various methodological choices and potential problems that researchers may be confronted with, offering advice and strategies to overcome them. For a copy of the paper please email carmen.gould@rmit.edu.au ********************************************************************************* *Symposium on Security Open Enterprise and the Implications of Web Services and Security
was the topic of the one day symposium hosted by the Australian
Computer Society in Brisbane. There were interesting discussions
from the Qld Police Service, Gartner, Microsoft and Queensland University
of Technology's security specialist Prof Bill Caelli. There was
talk about 'seamless computing' and Microsoft's attempt to make
this happen with their upcoming operating system Longhorn. The main point made was that our PCs are only as secure as the operating system. The majority of Internet attacks are aimed at the node level, not at the network level. Many organisations are feeling comfortable with their security as "we have SSL", which was referred to as 'just a point to point cryptography'. However - SSL doesn't secure the nodes where most attacks occur, leaving most organisations vulnerable. In the US 'Chains of Trust' is a hot topic, referring to the way
that applications are only as secure as their Jenine Beekhuyzen <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><<><><><><>< |