Stalin and Mao weren't TRUE atheists. No TRUE atheist would do such a thing.

Ah, where the hoomans are. Even after RTFA I couldn't work out exactly where the northern reaches of Antarctica were.

Fair point, but I have to say that hearing guys complain about the chafing their wedding tackle is getting after a week in the desert wears a little thin after a while.

My point exactly. You're the one who said that unprovable assumptions are invalid.

If you've done any work in epistemology over the last fifty years you'd be well aware that the biggest problem with bias is that we're not always aware of it, and even when we are we don't always know what to do with it. Any observation we make about the world has to be interpreted before we can use it to make statements about the world and is therefore suspect.

The best we can do is minimise the effect by separating raw observation from interpretation. That's why double blind testing is the gold standard in science. That's easy in physics and chemistry, but hard in armchair sociology. It's also why I'm glad when job applicants don't put their gender or date of birth on their résumés.

So you're assuming that unprovable assumptions are invalid. Could you please prove that and thus validate your claim?

+1 - I have a very similar setup to you, 720p panasonic plasma from about 3-4 metres. When I go to my friend's place, who has a 1080p panasonic plasma at the same distance, the difference is obvious. I could tell the difference 10/10 times from the same source material (we both have PS3s which are used as Blu Ray players).

Likewise the difference between 480p and 720p is not "noticeable" from 3-4 metres, it's instantly, glaringly obvious.

I've seen charts like this before - basically a bunch of HDTV nerds who prefer what some dubious analysis of biology tells them over their own eyes.

Do you like movies, sport, and high quality TV shows and value image quality?

Yes: buy a 1080p plasma and a blu ray player and enjoy insanely high quality video in your living room.

No: buy any other TV on the market and a DVD player then sit around congratulating yourself because "no-one can tell the difference between DVD and blu ray anyway" etc etc (or post the same on slashdot every time a TV related comment is made).

Yes, in November 1975. The Whitlam government was sacked by the GG, John Kerr.

I think you miss the parent's point. The problem he(?) has is that if he is to get a place at the shelter he has to spend the day running around doing busy work to keep the shelter's stats up instead of looking for work/accommodation/whatever.

I've seen people miss job interviews because their case worker has forced them to attend classes on how to handle job interviews.

Everyone is assuming that desktops are the target here.

There is no reason why MS can't run a strategy of Windows 7 continuing to be supported as the primary desktop/serious OS, and Windows 8 being deployed for a disparate range of non-desktop applications. That would be quite smart, actually.

AFAIK there has been no indication that Win 7 is about to become unavailable or unsupported.

Exactly - another product I can cross off the list of possible future purchases due to a decision to lock buyers in to an association with Apple in order to get full use out of the product.

I'll put it on the list with every clock/radio alarm clock in existence and various other cars.

What absolute crap.

For starters, Labor is centrist or perhaps slightly right of centre on most social issues.

Secondly, the previous (right wing) government favoured authoritarianism and money-as-power and introduced things like: indefinite detention of refugees; harsh anti-terror laws, including detention without trial; scrapping cross-media ownership to reduce diversity and allow corporations to control the media; stacking the independent public broadcaster with right wing loonies to shut down objective news reporting; vilifying minorities; supporting the torture and detention of foreigners and Australian citizens via the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; etc etc etc.

Labor isn't much better. But the Liberal Party is about as anti-participatory democracy as it gets.

The current government is suffering from deep popularity problems and will be very nervous about further antagonising an already angry and disillusioned public. They will be aware of what happened with SOPA and what is happening with ACTA right now in Europe.

So make some noise, damn you. Stop telling us these people don't represent you, and start telling your government.

Write letters, emails, tweets, Facebook updates:

- tell everyone you know about this - if they are even slightly interested (or skeptical of your claims) be prepared to explain the situation and issues to them politely and without frothing at the mouth

- write to newspapers, comments on on-line news articles, generally increase the amount of negative feedback in places where strangers will see this

- for god's sake, write to your local MP and state senators. You may think it doesn't change anything, but if they get enough letters they get nervous, and when they get nervous they apply pressure on those in control of their party's agenda. I suggest telling them: that you voted for them last time and might vote for them but won't if they keep this up; that you are prepared to protest about this and will do everything you can to spread the word about it; that you will be agitating for a change of policy in every forum you can think of.

- write/email/tweet to the Liberal Party telling them this issue is important and you feel betrayed by the Labor government, and ask them what their policy is and what they are going to do about this

- write to the minor parties and tell them you are concerned and want them to raise this issue in parliament

- see if there is an organised campaign via GetUp, EFA etc and get involved - give them money, at minimum, actively help if you can in other ways

Our system isn't properly representative, but our politicians are driven by self-interest. You will notice that the net filter went on the back burner and never came back - the same can be achieved with this issue.

What doesn't achieve anything is complaining about it to a bunch of people who agree with you!

Interesting - so iTunes will let me buy, download and play video in Australia on my PS3, which I already own? Good to know.