I am typing this on a 1500/256 connection, after living with a 512/128 speed broadband plan for two years. It is surprising the difference it makes, it is (or seems at least) much more faster than before. I thought it would be fairly decent but this is much faster than I thought it would be. Still nothing like American or European (or even cable) quality speeds. But decent for a regional area like where I am.

I am on the iPrimus bundled (Phone + Internet) DSLPLUS Extreme plan. 1500/256 12000mb/mth for $49.95. Plus 10% off the total bill each month because it is bundled. Not bad, after looking around the average was $79.95 a month so I think we have a fairly decent plan.

Ever notice Kevin Rudd and John Howard look suspiciously alike? Notice that some of Rudd’s platforms are also similar to Howard? I am all for Rudd winning and attempting to get the country back on track, but is the only way for Labour to get back into office to mirror Howard in many ways except Industrial Relations?

I have heard too many times Rudd agreeing with Howard’s ideas and platforms, by either endorsing Howard’s moves or attempting to build upon them (such as the recent Health Care Reform plan). Rudd would probably make a decent PM and I am sure he and Julia Gillard would make a good team. It would have to be better than Howard and Costello who appear to be in a game of The Three Stooges, twice in the past 12 months it has been revealed Costello has been trying to push Howard out. Along with Howard bumbling along this election campaign, really struggling to get a hold on the sinking ship that is the Liberal Party. The corker being Howard’s fall when attempting to enter a radio station last month.

The Liberals are out of power in every state and it appears may not be able to hold onto the Commonwealth any longer, fingers crossed.

Wikipedia is one of the most successful websites on the internet at the moment. According to Alexa it is the 9th most popular website on the internet. The idea of an Encyclopedia anyone can contribute to is something that was never seen before Wikipedia came along.

While Wikipedia has the ability to have more information on more topics and the articles kept up to date whenever something happens due to millions of editors and the ability to update within seconds, there are some problems with the service. One of the more significant problems is incorrect or dubious information posted. Without proper citations or sources an article can have glaring omissions which can make the whole service unusable for people who need an encyclopedia with 100% correct information on a certain topic.

One of the other major problems is vandals who deliberately insert incorrect, dubious or offensive material into articles. Wikipedia does have functions to help crack down on this but not enough is being done according to some people. They can block IP addresses or users, they can lock pages from being edited but one thing Wikipedia objects to doing is blocking Anonymous IP addresses from editing articles. A large percentage of articles vandalised on Wikipedia are done by edits from IP addresses. If Wikipedia simply blocked anonymous edits it would mean less work for editors who would much rather be contributing than having to constantly revert or report vandals.

The other problem is only Administrators are able to block IP addresses and do certain tasks like locking a page from vandals. While it is necessary to stop everyone being able to have full abilities to do certain tasks, requesting certain actions like getting a certain page locked or reporting a vandal is still a difficult, time consuming and thankless task. IP addresses can easily be changed at the end of the day so even blocking one does not mean that vandal will stop.

Something that has just been revealed in the last week or so is IP addresses used by large corporations have been found tampering with articles, usually in the interest of the company. Removing controversy sections or attempting to discredit criticsm to the company or even adding criticism to other companies. An example is a Fox News IP address which was caught attempting to exaggerate criticism in the article of broadcaster Keith Olbermann’s article. He happens to be a presenter on rival MSNBC who has displayed vocal opposition to Fox News.

Vandalism is prone to happen on anything that is open to the general public, it always comes down to one rotten apple spoils the bunch.

Inspired by a number of people who have been listing the programs they use on their own computers I decided to give it a go myself. These are the programs I use on a near daily basis, There are a number of other programs I use for different things however do not need a mention here such as Anti-Virus programs. It’s interesting going over the list and see how many programs you actually use. I recommend you give it a go yourself post it online and link it back so I can check it out.

Browser/Email:

• Firefox: Firefox, easily the best browser on Windows.
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007: For email I use Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, I did use Mozilla Thunderbird for a long time but upgraded to Outlook 07 upon recommendation by an acquittance.

File Readers/Extractors

• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007: For RSS feeds, I like the idea of managing email and feeds via the one program.
• Foxit Reader: Foxit Reader is a excellent, lightweight PDF reader and creator.
• Winrar: Great ZIP and RAR extractor. Does everything I need.

FTP/BitTorrent:

• Filezilla: The easiest program I have found to use. The new Beta is also a nice change.
• Azureus: Not a fan of their new beta Vuze. However their general program is easy to use and light.

Audio/Video:

• iTunes: Decent for music on Windows and Podcasts. Also a must have for an iPod.
• VLC: The best video player available. Plays basically anything without the need to download codecs.
• Windows Media Player 11: Decent for WMV files. Only thing I use it for.

Graphics:

• Macromedia Fireworks 8: I have tried the new CS3 version from Adobe however it isn’t much different except the name change. I love Fireworks, great for simple tasks.

Communications:

• Windows Live Messenger: I really like their program. Good features such as sharing folders.
• Pidgin: Formerly known as GAIM. Great program for YIM and AIM protocols.
• Skype: Use for podcasting and free PC to PC phone calls.

Today is the 1568th day since the declaration of Mission Accomplished in Iraq.

This week on The Ploy, Ben and I talk External Hard Drives, Car Vandalism, the regular Hollywood Blitz and Tech with Ben as well as checking in with Jackie’s Diary! Take a listen to The Ploy 57 to listen to the fun.