wonk v3.0

Sales leak takes shine off CD gongs. (The Age / Neil McMahon)

From the article: “Australian Idol winner Casey Donovan’s victory parade was marred when it had barely begun. Her debut single, Listen With Your Heart, was given double platinum status when it had sold fewer than a third of the CDs represented by the award.

The leaked first-week sales figures brought to light a little-known fact about the charts: while rankings reflect actual sales, the gold and platinum gongs accompanying them do not. The latter are based on the number of CDs shipped to stores, meaning a singer or band could theoretically be hailed as a multi-platinum artist without selling a copy.”

There is a lot of this sort of dodgy shenanigans that goes on inside the recording industry. If I were somehow able to take advantage of record company accounting methods I would be able to earn a days wages simply by thinking about going to work. Now that’s an interesting idea…

Tick tock of the biological clock. (The Age / Sushi Das)

From the article: “About 22 per cent of Australian women are predicted to remain childless, according to ANU demographer Professor Peter McDonald. Of those, 7 per cent will choose not to have children, 6 per cent will be infertile and about 9 per cent will be childless through circumstance.

The impact of very low fertility is widely documented: a rapidly shrinking population, a chronic shortage of young workers, a dwindling tax base, increasingly child-unfriendly institutions; less competitive economies and unhappy people who do not fulfil their desire to have children. A few weeks ago, in his first speech to Parliament, Liberal MP Malcolm Turnbull warned: “The demographic storm is coming.”“

Market forces go ape over Bush portrait. (The Age / Larry Fine )

From the article: “Bush Monkeys, a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market’s managers to close down the 60-piece show that was scheduled to stay open for the next month.

“We had tons of people, like more than 2000 people, show up for the opening on Thursday night,” said show organiser Bucky Turco. “Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. ‘The show is over. Get this work down or I’m gonna arrest you’, he said. It’s been kind of wild.”“

The likeness of George Bush when viewed form close up can be seen to be made up of a number of monkeys swimming in a marsh. Pictured below if the painting and its creator, Christopher Savido.

Photo from Reuters

Telstra refuses to cut prices. (News.com.au / Michael Sainsbury)

From the article: “TELSTRA has raised the stakes in its escalating battle with the competition regulator, refusing to back down on the prices it charges competitors for access to its raw copper wires.

Such services are growing in importance as Telstra’s competitors plan to use its copper to build their own high-speed internet networks using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.“

Hopefully if a proper split of Telstra’s Wholesale and Retail arms takes place the ACCC will be able to get a comparison between the ULL rates for wholesale customers compared to what Telstra charge its retail arm. Personally I don’t see how Telstra can be claiming it makes a loss on ULL when they have retail phone services available for not much more than the ULL wholesale rate.

it is now fairly certain that Howard will push through the full sale of Telstra in his current term, despite the complains by National party members from rural areas. What remains to be seen is how the government expects to control Telstra after selling its remaining shares.

Silverstone seals British GP deal (BBC)

From the article: “The British Racing Drivers Club and F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone have signed a contract through to 2009.“

I am pleased to see the parties involved have been able to reach a deal for the contination of the British F1 grand prix at Silverstone. While a street race through the London may have been an interesting alternative Silverstone has a lot of history associated with it and I think all fans will be pleased with this outcome.

Laptops can be risk to fertility. (SMH / Reuters)

A good example of why laptop computers should not be overclocked.

Have you ever wondered what it would cost if you bought all of the items from “The twelve days of Christmas” song? Neither had I, but someone at the PNC Bank did, and for the last 20 or so years they’ve been keeping track of the changes. They like to call it their Christmas Price Index. It’s an interesting read, especially the fact that if you buy the items over the internet it will cost almost twice as much as buying them from a traditional shop. I suspect this is related in part to shipping costs, but that point is never clarified.

Telstra’s network split for sell-off. (The Australian / Michael Sainsbury / Katharine Murphy)

It looks like Telstra has finally agreed to create a split between its wholesale and retail arms. There aren’t any real details in the article, but unless this is some PR smoke and mirrors a split should be good for the telecommunications industry in Australia.

If there is one thing worse than shopping, it is Christmas shopping.