Politics

Labor leader Anthony Albanese is pushing for more protections for gig economy workers

- February 10, 2021 3 MIN READ

Anthony Albanese will risk a backlash from employers when he releases an industrial relations policy promising a Labor government would substantially increase the legal rights and protections for Australians in insecure work. Wednesday’s policy unveiling will ensure industrial relations is a major political battleground in coming months, with the opposition already declaring it will vote… Read more »

Tesla
Politics

US accelerates EV revolution as the Morrison government rules out incentives for Australians

- February 8, 2021 4 MIN READ

The Morrison government on Friday released a plan to reduce carbon emissions from Australia’s road transport sector. Controversially, it ruled out consumer incentives to encourage electric vehicle uptake. The disappointing document is not the electric vehicle jump-start the country sorely needs. In contrast, the United States has recently gone all-in on electric vehicles. Like leaders… Read more »

Topic

Why shared e-bike startups could succeed where earlier bike schemes failed

- February 6, 2021 4 MIN READ

Shared mobility devices such as bicycles and electric scooters have experienced significant growth across the globe and Australia is no exception. In cities with such offerings, users are able to get around in more convenient and flexible ways. The recent emergence of dockless shared e-scooters (i.e. Lime and Neuron) heralded a new-age of micromobility. In… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

The rise Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that began as a joke, reveals how memes can move markets

- February 4, 2021 4 MIN READ

One of the most difficult problems in finance right now is figuring out the fundamental economic value of cryptocurrencies. And the past week has complicated this further. For many cryptocurrency investors, the value of Bitcoin is based on the fact it is artificially scarce. A hard cap on “minting” new coins means there will only… Read more »

Politics

Facebook and Google’s howls over media bargaining laws reveal how little political clout the tech giants have in Australia

- February 3, 2021 4 MIN READ

Over the past few weeks, Google and Facebook have engaged in desperate attempts to avoid regulation under the Australian government’s proposed mandatory news media bargaining code. Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg even appealed to Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher personally last week, hoping to shift the government’s hard stance. Both platforms’ strategies… Read more »

Global tech

Here are the alternatives to Google search

- January 30, 2021 3 MIN READ

The Australian government’s push to make Google pay news organisations for linking to their content has seen the search giant threaten to pull out of Australia. Google Australia’s managing director Mel Silva said if the government’s proposal goes ahead, “we would have no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia”. Prime… Read more »

Politics

Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee says the government’s news media bargaining code could break the internet, but there is a fix

- January 22, 2021 4 MIN READ

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, has raised concerns that Australia’s proposed News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code could fundamentally break the internet as we know it. His concerns are valid. However, they could be addressed through minor changes to the proposed code. How could the code break the web?… Read more »

food delivery courier
Business

Online food delivery is turning into a massive environmental problem and burgers are the biggest culprit

- January 20, 2021 4 MIN READ

Over the past few years, Australians have embraced online food delivery services such as UberEats, Deliveroo and Menulog. But home-delivered food comes with a climate cost, and single-use packaging is one of the biggest contributors. Our research found Australians placed 27 million online food orders in 2018. By 2024, this number is projected to increase… Read more »

Donald Trump
Global tech

Social media v free speech: A note to Australian politicians – no, you don’t have a right to incite

- January 13, 2021 4 MIN READ

The recent storming of the US Capitol has led a number of social media platforms to remove President Donald Trump’s accounts. In the case of Twitter, the ban is permanent. Others, like Facebook, have taken him offline until after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration next week. This has led to a flurry of commentary in the… Read more »

Global tech

It took a riot in the US capitol for Facebook and Twitter to finally tackle Donald Trump head on

- January 8, 2021 4 MIN READ

Amid the chaos in the US Capitol, stoked largely by rhetoric from President Donald Trump, Twitter has locked his account, with 88.7 million followers, for 12 hours. Facebook and Instagram quickly followed suit, locking Trump’s accounts — with 35.2 million followers and 24.5 million, respectively — for at least two weeks, the remainder of his… Read more »

Chatbot assistant conversation, Ai Artificial Intelligence technology
Other tech

Meet Edna: the chatbot that helps patients make a difficult medical decision

- January 4, 2021 4 MIN READ

Allow us to introduce Edna — Australia’s first “genomics chatbot”. The opening dialogue of Edna the chatbot. Edna (short for “electronic-DNA”) helps patients make informed decisions about seeking “additional findings” testing. Additional findings testing looks for variants in patients’ genes that aren’t relevant to their current health, but may be later on. For example, it… Read more »