Warren Seen

I’ve forked the Rails auto_complete plugin to add support for the following usage:

<% form_for(@foo) do |f| %>
  <%= f.text_field_with_auto_complete :bar %>
<% end %>

This fork also supports nested fields_for calls:

<% form_for(@foo) do |f| %>
  <% f.fields_for(@foo.baz) do |baz_f| %>
    <%= baz_f.text_field_with_auto_complete :quux %>
  <% end %>
<% end %>

You can find my fork on Github, here.

Sick of economic turmoil? Do something drastic about it!

Coincidence is a funny thing. I’ve just finished reading Richard Florida’s Flight of the Creative Class, and it’s scary how timely this book is right now. The US is coming to the climax of an election year where (AGAIN!) the politics of class is playing a central role. Meanwhile, their economy has seen fit to start collapsing, which has a knock-on effect being felt in the rest of the world.

In the book, Florida talks about what the US can do to secure its future as an economic leader, and where it currently fails in retaining members of what he calls the “creative class” (a superset of the more well known knowledge workers).

Opportunities
As an Australian, I had a tendency whilst reading the book to look at the opportunities where Florida perceives “threats” to the US. In particular, I noticed that for a country of 20-odd million, we seemed to rate consistently well on many of Florida’s criteria for supporting the creative class. I suspect that a lot of our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s policies are driven by this kind of research (he is, after all, an arch-policy wonk), he loves to waffle on about the need for developing Human Capital, and the correlation of things like literacy improvements to GDP growth.

So, assuming that we’re heading in the right direction here, and again, assuming that Florida is right and the US isn’t, now seems to me to be the perfect time to aggressively recruit US citizens to move on out here to the land of Oz.

Reason the First – Economy
While our economy isn’t bullet-proof, we proved 10 years or so ago during the Asian Financial Crisis that we are well placed to weather downturns compared to some of our trading partners. In networking terms, our economy is “dual-homed” on both Wall St, and China. The resource boom has seen a lot of capital flowing from China into Australia, and while the Chinese economy may be momentarily slowed by what’s happening now, I think it’s going to recover a lot faster than the US and pull us along with it.

Reason the Second – Florida’s Three T’s, Talent, Technology, Tolerance – We have it
At the risk of sounding like a bad TV show, Australia’s got Talent. We’ve got some world leading researchers in biotechnology, clean renewable energy and other high tech growth industries. Australia is becoming a hotspot for international students, a factor that Florida identified as playing a part in increasing the quality and depth of the talent pool.

In terms of technology, we compare favorably with the US in terms of broadband market penetration, speed, etc. Major cities like Sydney and Melbourne have nearly ubiquitous 3G cellular coverage (soon to be 21Mbps in the case of Telstra), and while the pricing may not be spectacular, it’s heading in the right direction. We’re of course, also on the doorstep of SE Asia, home to the world’s semiconductor manufacturing industry.

Tolerance is Florida’s third T, and I have to say I think we do pretty well here too. The fundamentalist right doesn’t have its hooks deep into our political system and I feel fairly confident in saying that in terms of social equality, many Australians just don’t care about what people do in the privacy of their own homes these days.

Reason the Third – lifestyle
So maybe I’m a tad biased here, but compared to the European nations listed in Florida’s book that match or exceed Australia in terms of the creativity index, Australia is going to produce the least culture shock for a US “refugee” moving here. I mean, most of what’s on TV comes from the US, most of the music you’ll hear played on local radio comes from the US, fast food franchises, the list goes on.

The climate is milder too, we think snow should stay where it belongs – on mountains and not on the streets where it’s just frankly in the way. As a bonus, if you move here now, you’ll get two summers in 12 months, how great is that?

This concludes our presentation…
OK, so you might think I’m, to use a local expression, pushing shit uphill, trying to convince Americans to move halfway around the world in the middle of an economic downturn. I certainly do. But while the premise of this post is a little bit tongue-in-cheek, maybe it will serve as a reminder that if you’re not considering doing something drastic, then things probably ain’t as bad as you think?

Repost of a comment submitted to this piece on Business Spectator, in case it gets edited or does’t end up being posted at all.

Hackles raised, set phasers to KILL.

You had me nodding my head until the last paragraph, what a ridiculous conclusion! The argument that all the Internet is used for is piracy and porn has echoes of Richard Alston, our former comms minister who was illustriously crowned the “world’s biggest luddite” for making a similar assertion.

First, I want to cover off this porn argument: basically, you’re making a moral judgment here – the vast majority of porn on the internet, whilst tasteless and lacking in artistic merit, is actually legally created by consenting adults in jurisdictions in which it is legal to operate. Raising this as being in anyway relevant to the FTTN debate is a straw man argument designed to tug at conservative heartstrings.

Secondly, piracy: Where did you source the figure of 60%? Has it been independently verified? Because it smells funny to me. If you really have concrete evidence that all of this data is illegal, then why is there not an enormous backlog of court cases prosecuting these alleged pirates?

I would submit it’s because “60%” is a made up figure promulgated by an industry group such as the RIAA or MPAA in the US, who are trying to tar many legitimate users of software distribution systems such as bittorrent, as pirates.

The fact is that many of these groups are threatened by the internet, not because of piracy, but because the participatory nature that high-speed networking enables means that the existing music/motion picture/television industrial-complex is currently being smashed apart.

Consumers, tired of being treated like the personal pocket book of these industries in exchange for pitiful offerings are becoming producers of content, cutting out the fat middle-men and engaging their audiences in new media ventures that are far more relevant, personal and engaging than anything the TV or motion picture houses have ever produced.

The “mainstream media” is dying, they just don’t know it yet.

Please, explain to me why, in 2008, you cannot design a washing machine that has a fail-safe mode of operation when filling?

Yes Simpson, I’m looking at you and your alleged “Ezi-Sensor” upright washing machine that we bought 3 weeks ago, which has proceeded to flood once, and attempted to overfill a further 2 times – luckily I was there to stop it. Since you know, walking across a tiled floor with standing water on it to operate an electrical device isn’t on the list of things I do for kicks.

Seriously, how much would it cost to add a cutoff to the solenoids if, you know, water is gushing out of the bowl and onto the floor? I would have thought that would indicate a non-standard mode of operation!

It’s not rocket science. It’s not even software engineering. It doesn’t even require any electronics!

FFS.

• Tassie lags nation in net take-up | Mercury – The Voice of Tasmania
  A bare 54 per cent of Tasmanian homes are connected to the internet and just 28.9 per cent of homes have a broadband connection. The state lags the national averages of 63 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.
  (tags: broadband tasmania)

• If Telstra wins the fibre fight it will be on the way back to monopoly | Business | The Australian
  THE battle to build and control the nation’s fixed fibre to the node broadband network is almost literally a battle to the death between the country’s two biggest telcos, Telstra and Optus. In a really fundamental way it is the pivot point for the competi
  (tags: fttn broadband)

• OPEL project gathers pace | Australian IT
  THE OPEL broadband consortium is galloping to bring its service to market, undertaking a raft of planning and other work before an expected flood of tenders due to be released as soon as federal funding is finalised. Elders telecommunications general mana
  (tags: opel broadband tasmania)

• Broadband spectrum stoush looms | Australian IT
  WIRELESS internet service providers are preparing to push back against the federal Government’s $1.9 billion broadband plan, as static builds over the proposal’s impact on spectrum around the country.
  (tags: opel broadband wimax)
• Top level tactics blew it in bush | Australian IT
  IN late November last year a group from Telstra’s Countrywide division, headed by well-regarded veteran executive Don Pinel, presented a proposal to the company’s senior leadership team for the Government’s Regional Connect program.
  (tags: opel broadband)
• iTWire – Opel broadband proposal: more holes than Jarlsberg cheese
  The biggest hole to appear so far has been revealed by Tasmania’s finance minister, Michael Aird. The Opel proposal, according to information released by the Federal Government, is proposing two new optic fibre links to Tasmania: one a completely new cabl
  (tags: opel broadband wimax fttn tasmania)
• Telstra riposte on ADSL | Australian IT
  TELSTRA is preparing to fight back against the Government’s $2 billion regional broadband project and protect its effective monopoly in the bush by providing faster ADSL technology on its ubiquitous copper network. The company also has the option of cutti
  (tags: broadband opel wimax)
• Labor whips up broadband anger | Australian IT
  LABOR is encouraging losing bidders for the federal Government’s now $1 billion rural and regional broadband subsidy to consider a complaint to the Auditor-General over the tenders for the grants. Opposition communications spokesman Stephen Conroy yesterd
  (tags: broadband opel)
• Mixed messages on WiMax | Australian IT
  A WEEK after the launch of its national broadband strategy, the federal Government is still at odds with the winner of the $958 million tender for regional broadband funding over the capabilities of its chosen WiMax technology. At the launch of the plan l
  (tags: opel broadband wimax)
• Coonan returns fire on Basslink | Australian IT
  THE federal Government has refuted Tasmanian claims that it has taken control of the Basslink undersea cable, saying the Australia Connected initiative will bolster broadband to the entire state. A spokeswoman for Communications Minister Senator Helen Coo
  (tags: broadband opel tasmania)
• Behind the bullying on broadband | Australian IT
  THE interesting thing about the bickering between the Government and Opposition on broadband is that they are both right.
  (tags: fttn broadband g9)

• CONFUSION OVER HOWARD GOVERNMENT BROADBAND PLANS – Michael Aird, MLC – Tasmanian Government Media Releases
  (tags: opel broadband tasmania)
• Telstra slams rival network plan – Business – Business – theage.com.au
  TELSTRA has told the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that any attempt to cut into the “final mile” of its copper telephone lines to connect consumers with a rival fibre-to-the-node broadband network would be illegal and would increase the i
  (tags: fttn broadband g9)
• CommsDay | The Home of the CommsDay Family of Newsletters and Events
  WiMax is real and its one case study in Australia gives us a window into the potential for the Opel business plan. Buzz Broadband in Hervey Bay offers a genuine, bona fide WiMax service with full voice and a 2Mbps broadband service. It has already claimed
  (tags: opel wimax broadband tasmania)
• Telstra urges acceptable tender process – Breaking News – National – Breaking News
  Telstra says it will only take part in a tender to build a fibre-to-the-node (FTTN) broadband network if it deems the process to be acceptable.
  (tags: fttn broadband)
• Canberra, Hobart battle on Basslink | Australian IT
  TASMANIA has raised concerns about the federal Government’s $2 billion rural broadband announcement, saying it has no right to grant access to the Basslink undersea cable.
  (tags: opel broadband tasmania)

• Wireless to set pace in broadband deal : thewest.com.au
  Australia edged closer to a wireless broadband future yesterday when the Federal Government revealed that Optus and Elders (OPEL) would get $958 million to roll out a high-speed broadband network in regional and rural areas.
  (tags: opel broadband wimax)
• No quick fix for a slow internet : thewest.com.au
  No matter who wins the battle between the Optus-led G9 consortium and Telstra over the right to build Australia’s new broadband internet network, one thing is clear: Australians are unlikely to see any real improvement in their internet speeds for many
  (tags: g9 fttn broadband)
• Howard says yes to $1b for Optus broadband, mobile upgrade : thewest.com.au
  The Federal Government will today unveil part of its long-awaited broadband package, including almost $1 billion of new funding for Telstra’s biggest rival, Optus, to improve access and speeds in regional areas.
  (tags: opel wimax broadband)
• Bloomberg.com: News
  Deutsche Telekom AG, Europe’s largest phone company, said it has “no knowledge” of a bid to build a network in Australia’s major cities, denying a report that the German company may take part in a government tender.
  (tags: fttn broadband)