Polycarp,
You spoiled it, you were almost reasonable untill you started
Please stick to the topic or go away.
You are intellect Black hole, lots goes in but only volatile crap comes out.

Interesting piece in Crikey by Noel Turnbull at RMIT, on the topic of "how others see us", gathered from various surveys.

"In summary, the findings are that we are pretty well-regarded around the world (except -- surprise, surprise -- in India, Indonesia, other parts of Asia and the Middle East) and that we are seen as a friendly, welcoming lot with a good lifestyle in a beautiful country but not very dynamic, innovative or clever. Australia is considered a great place to visit, in other words, but not too flash when it comes to the key components of modern, successful societies."

And...

"... we've launched an international tourism campaign that focuses on the fact that we are friendly, welcoming lot with a good lifestyle in a beautiful country, conveniently omitting any references to dynamism, innovation or being clever. The Opera House does get pictured, but the images are carefully focused on the exterior, and a group of amateur singers, to ensure that the campaign doesn’t inadvertently inform people that professional cultural events are held inside."

I guess, if we are a country that aspires to mediocrity, there's every chance we will achieve it.

However, the article does also throw a bit of cold water over the likelihood of a "tourist destination" future, which might be a bit of a problem.

"Australia’s fundamental tourist problem is that it is a long way from anywhere else and it takes time to get around when you get here. It’s also the sort of place you tend to see once..."

Keep digging that potato patch, Boaz.

I have read the posts on here with interest.
I was in a past life involved with what were then cutting edge machines.
So I read the BBC article with great interest.

However all the comments are "Business as Usual" era remarks.
In the future, it will probably be difficult to keep such m/cs
operating. We will be more interested, as AlGore is Rich said;
>whizz kids' but they can work a lathe or milling machine..
will be far more to the point.

We will be needing more people with agriculture knowledge and plant
genetics. Also many more farmers will be needed than we currently
have on the land.

We need to focus on what our needs will be in a time of depleting
energy and bringing back home all those jobs that mainly went to Asia.
We need starting now to refurbish the Tafe Colleges as one that I
know about has no electrical or electronic training course at all.

Forget all this high end futuristic science and get on with survival skills.

How many of these shock and awe reports are thinly disguised sales brochures for hardware and services?

All of the big consultancy firms for instance are continually producing surveys and profiles to prove that anything business or government might have is old hat and definitely not new wave.

A cold glass of water and learn to breathe, IBM and others will always have something to sell and it is always crucially urgent for 'change' to hardware and software.

I suspect that what we should be doing more of is blurring the differences between the sciences and engineering. We are held back more by the differences and problems in communication between disciplines than the lack of computers with brains as big as a planet.

Bazz..one thing I'm always thinking about is AquaCulture.

If a bloke has a bit of land...it's quite feasable. Using Singapore as an example.. even a back yard would work for that.

Examinator..is English your first language ?

Polycarp.

No, But logic, proportion and reasoning are clearly foreign to you.