High speed Broadbands waiting!

Stephen Conroy speaking during the announcement at Midway

Point in Tasmania last week.

Communication Minister Stephen Conroy revealed the Government's $43 billion network would offer speeds of one gigabit per second.

Senator Conroy said he had only been informed of the new turbo-charged capasity by NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley yesterday.

Not to mention, the timing was profitable for Ms Gillard, who used the plan to further mock the Opposition's $6 billion broadband proposal unveiled early last week.

The Coalition's plan said would give speeds of 12 megabits per sec using a patchwork of different technologies and stimulus funds.

The Opposition Leader Tony Abbott however hit back immediately, questioning together the timing of the plan and its plausibility.

"it is very hard to believe the idea of making wonders just because it's under enormous pressure in the closing stages of the election campaign," he said

Ms Gillard and Senator Conroy are campaigning in Tasmania where the communities of Midway Point, Scottsdale and smithton are the first to experience the fibre-optic network

"If we say that what we've got now is acceptable enough, we are actually condemning Australia to that kind of frozen-in-time attitude," said Ms Gillard

Without super-fast broadband Australian businesses would be at a competitive disadvantage compared with other countries, she continued.

Tony Smith the Shadow communications minister however said he made no apology for deciding not to spend big on broadband.

"we're not running fibre down every street at the taxpayer's expense, whether people want it or not." he said

Jokes that turned nasty..

A baby and toddler suffer facial burns after acidic liquid land on their pram from a Melbourne multi-storey car park. A boy has been taken into custody and question by the police.

Police said, the baby boy aged 12 month, and girl aged two suffered superficial facial injuries when the sodium hydroxide landed on them as their mother pushed them along in their pram.

The mother was said to be walking along Bray street in South Yarra which is parallel to Chapel S.t when the incident happened.

The MFB (Metropolitan Fire Brigade) Melbourne, said that the substance may have been tile cleaners and appears to have been poured of squirted from above.

Police said two youth are suspected throwing them from the top of a multi-storey car park.

Agatha Rao, waitress, was at a nearby restaurant told the ABC that the mother ran in screaming for help.

Stonnington Detectives are investigating the case and said they are trying to find out whether the accident was deliberately or accidental

Ambulance treated both of the children at the scene before they were taken to the Royal

Children's Hospital.

Terra Nova

The new sci-fi family TV series named Terra Nova will be located in Queensland Australia. The multi-million-dollar television series directed by Steven Spielberg himself, was said to be destined for shooting in Australia because it needed locations that could resemble prehistoric lands that were home to dinosaurs

As late last week, the US state of Florida was a possible home to the series, and Mexico was also touted, although security remained a major concern there.

The movie will be shot at the south-east Queensland and the production will be based at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Goal Coast. The first season will feature 13 one hour episodes.

The Spielberg series is considered to be a win for a local sector that has struggled to attract box office movies and television series.

Queensland premier and Minister of Arts Anna Bligh said 80% of the crew, cast and extras on the series would be Queenslanders.

She added that her government are providing large sum of incentives through Screen Queensland to secure this production which will generate thousands of jobs and economic income.

Jim sharp, executive vice-president of production at 20th Century Fox television, said Queensland was perfect for the series.

"Queensland had the right look, climate and terrain, a vibrant production community and attractive economic incentives," he said. "We are very exited to be shooting our first production there"

Prime Minister's cash bonus for top teachers

It is the latest initiative by the Julia Gillard government in its investment to boost education standard.

Julia Gillard yesterday outlined a scheme paying the top 10 per cent of teachers, 25000 staff a one-off bonus based on their performance, including their students' results and involvement in school.

Based on the current salary levels, the bonus can be as high as $8100 for senior teachers and along $5400 for beginning teachers.

Not to mention, reward will be also be offered to schools that demonstrate the greatest improvement in their students' academic and attendance - $100 000 for high schools and $ 75000 for primary schools.

Ms Gillard said improving numeracy and literacy outcomes was essential to lifting national productivity and economic growth.

Under the same reform policy released yesterday, a Gillard government will also introduce a national year 12 credential, the Australian Baccalaureate, as an alternative to state-based final-year certificates and International Baccalaureate, which is more and more adopted around the nation.

Plus, The Labor Party will also develop a national online assessment and learning bank for parents, students and teachers. "Now is the time for the next major round of reforms, and education is the linchpin for the reforms we need for the future," continue Ms Gillard.

In the first term on the Labor government, Ms Gillard introduced national literacy and numeracy test, which allows the direct comparison of schools nationally for the first time.

Six students expelled every week??

The new figures show that six students are being expelled from the Victorian state schools in Australia every week. Half of the figures are blamed for acts of significant violence while many more for threatening behaviour. The Australian Principal Federation state president mentioned that most of the principal are giving excuses concerning welfare issues. He also said that the communities are getting harder to handle nowadays.

Victorian Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh suggest that every primary school should have its own welfare officer and nurse. Moreover, the principals' groups were disappointed that extra resources were not provided in the last state budget.

Last year, $6.3 million has been allocated by the government in order to run different programs for troubled students. They said that welfare officers and student support service officers are available to help schools. Of the 103 expulsion, 55 involved significant violence against a person or caused significant damage. Eighteen cases involved drugs and others related to behaviour that caused defames, degrades or humiliates another.

The effects of television viewing ::final::

Television has become a necessity for people nowadays. It is estimated that more than ninety per cent of households in developed countries have at least one television set ( Sharif 1999). Based on the American Time Use Survey (2003), the US population spends most of their time watching television rather than participating in sports, socializing, playing games or computer and other leisure activities. The ability to portray actions, educational ideas, latest information and a lot more has become the main factor why television is so hard to resist. However, this particular habit of watching too much television provides its own consequences.

Firstly, watching television continuously is believed to affect the development of children thinking process. Children are likely to form ideas of life and behaviour as portrayed by the programs they watch (Sharif 1999). There have been cases where children imitate the stunt that their idol made inside the television and injured themselves. Plus, it can lead to the development of poor behaviour when children follow their favourite actor unpleasant attitude after watching a particular movie. Moreover, the experts on child development criticize television programs that allowed violence to be premiered. Research has shown that children who watch violent programs continually become desentised to violence (Sharif 1999). Indirectly, the children may think that violence is common in life and is a main option to solving problems.

Other than that, watching television continuously may risk people to serious health problems. It takes very little effort to press the button and turn the television off, yet for some it means gathering every ounce of will power to do so (Rutherford 2002). This has lead to more people to switch channel and search for something interesting to watch rather than doing their house chores and exercise. In addition, some families are used to watching television and having their meals at the same time. According to Rutherford (2002), it is a sedentary activity and, when indulged in with snacks, can cause obesity and related diseases. Prolonged period in front of the television mean that the children are not being physically active (Sharif 1999).

Too much of television is also proven to stunt the academic growth of students. From the time television was invented it has fascinated its audience both young and old (Leigh 2001). According to Leigh (2001) again, Dr Geraldine Jones, an educational psychologist, is convinced that children who are heavy viewers are among the lowest achievers at school. She describes that watching television is a passive activity, these children do not develop skills which are crucial in creating problem solving and organisational ability. Referring to Leigh (2001), Dr Thomas Alexander mentioned that television programs are designed to demand undivided attention. Thus, we can say that when television is on, it is very difficult for student especially to concentrate on homework.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that the disadvantages of watching television surpass its benefits. Health, academic performance, and the children’s way of thinking can be extremely affected by only continuous watching of television. Television may provide unlimited information but without limit, there is a “high price” to bear.

Effects of watching television draft 2~

Television has become a necessity for people nowadays. It is estimated that more than ninety per cent of households in developed countries have at least one television set (Modern Child Development 1999). Based on the American Time Use Survey (2003), the US population spends most of their time watching television rather than participating in sports, socializing, playing games or computer and other leisure activities. The ability to portray actions, educational ideas, latest information and a lot more has become the main factor why television is so hard to resist. However, this particular habit of watching too much television provides its own consequences.

Firstly, watching television continuously is believed to affect the development of children thinking process. Children are likely to form ideas of life and behaviour as portrayed by the programs they watch (Sharif 1999). There have been cases where children imitate the stunt that their idol made inside the television and injured themselves. Plus, it can lead to the development of poor behaviour when children follow their favourite actor unpleasant attitude after watching a particular movie. Moreover, the experts on child development criticize television programs that allowed violence to be premiered. Research has shown that children who watch violent programs continually become desentised to violence (Sharif 1999). Indirectly, the children may think that violence is common in life and is a main option to solving problems.

Other than that, watching television continuously may risk people to serious health problems. It takes very little effort to press the button and turn the television off, yet for some it means gathering every ounce of will power to do so (Rutherford 2002). This has lead to more people to switch channel and search for something interesting to watch rather than doing their house chores and exercise. In addition, some families are used to watching television and having their meals at the same time. According to Rutherford (2002), it is a sedentary activity and, when indulged in with snacks, can cause obesity and related diseases. Prolonged period in front of the television mean that the children are not being physically active (Sharif 1999).

Too much of television are also proven to stunt the academic growth of students. From the time television was invented it has fascinated its audience both young and old (Leigh 2001). According to Leigh (2001) again, Dr Geraldine Jones, an educational psychologist, is convinced that children who are heavy viewers are among the lowest achievers at school. She describe that watching television is a passive activity, these children do not develop skills which are crucial in creating problem solving and organisational ability. Referring to Leigh (2001), Dr Thomas Alexander mentioned that television programs are designed to demand undivided attention. Thus, we can say that when television is on, it is very difficult for student especially to concentrate on homework.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that the disadvantage of watching television surpass its benefits. Health, academic performance, and the children’s way of thinking can be extremely affected by only continuous watching of television. Television may provide unlimited information but without limit, there is a “high price” to bear.