Cablegate - the top tech story of 2010?

It would appear that 2010 might very well be the year that the Internet came of age - the year that it stepped out of its middling adolescence and became a fully grown-up member of the information community. The furore that has been generated in recent days over what has become known as "Cablegate", or more practically the "United States diplomatic cables leak", represents the biggest technology - and Internet-specific - news story of 2010, and marks a large shift in how people view the Internet's ability to release and disseminate information in a very quick and efficient manner.

The fact is, the recent leaking of USA diplomatic cables might not be a very interesting story in and of itself, since the contents of almost all of the cables are nothing more than gossip and personal opinion, but what it does represent is a serious breach of US national security, and proves more than anything else ever has that in this new digital era we live in, it is extremely easy for documents and files to be copied and transmitted out there. And unlike previous forms of communication, once the material is out there, it's nigh on impossible to get the genie back into the box. The house is very much outta the barn.

The reason the content of these cables is interesting is because of the implications inherent in the US having their once private conversations about various countries and world leaders aired in public. Some of what the US pollys have said in these are really rather embarrasing, and in so many ways have dealt a serious blow to US diplomatic relations around the globe. The simple fact is, the alllies of the USA cannot rely on the US going forward regarding matters such as security, confidentiality, and above all just plain simple trust itself. This really has been a game-changer. To quote Wikipedia on the contents:

The contents of the U.S. diplomatic cables leak describe in detail events and incidents surrounding international affairs from 274 embassies dating from 28 December 1966 to 28 February 2010. The diplomatic cables revealed numerous unguarded comments and revelations: critiques and praises about the host countries of various U.S. embassies, discussion and resolutions towards ending ongoing tension in the Middle East, efforts for and resistance against nuclear disarmament, actions in the War on Terror, assessments of other threats around the world, dealings between various countries, U.S. intelligence and counterintelligence efforts, U.S. support of dictatorship and other diplomatic actions.

The leaked cables expose that British official revealed that diplomats of the U.S. and Britain eavesdropped on Secretary General Kofi Annan in the weeks before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, even though international treaties prohibit spying at the UN. Further, they reveal that U.S. diplomats told an Afghan government official to keep quiet after they learned that a major U.S. government contractor firm was pimping little boys to be auctioned off to be homosexually raped by Afghan policemen in parties organized by the contractor.

This was all material that was never meant to see the light of day, but now has - all because of how easy it was for a single US soldier stationed overseas to download the cables onto portable media and get it shipped off to Wikileaks. The fact that an online distribution system was chosen, rather than a more traditional print-based media, makes the leaks all the more interesting. Despite attempts at various levels to shut down Wikileaks by the US Government, and prevent the cables from being released, now that they're out there, an infinite number of copies exist. There's no going back from here.

The really sad part to this whole story has been the deep focus on Wikileaks for releasing the cables, as opposed to the flaws in US Defence security which allowed for the cables to be leaked in the first place. The fact the media have been more than happy to go along with the US Government's line about Wikileaks being the problem here makes things just a tiny bit scary. We clearly now live in a world where the mainstream media can effectively wage a war against a single organisation, with scant regard for the integrity of the process involved here. I guess it's just sour grapes that they didn't do the leaking.

I guess this story is going to be evolving quite rapidly between now and the end of the year - already there's been reports about Amazon having to relinquish their hosting of Wikileaks, possibly due to Government interference, but also apparently Paypal have cut off their donation facility to Wikileaks. Really, though, I think the mainstream media's reaction is the worst aspect of this story, and I can sum it up like this - if my Hotmail account were hacked, and the contents of my emails distributed over the Internet, would the MSM media be calling for the culprit's arrest? I really do somehow doubt it...

Flowerz on Windows Phone 7

Continuing my look at the games available for Windows Phone 7, I want to next review the first XBox Live title that was released for Windows Phone 7 - and also incidentally the only freebie one available in the Marketplace. I guess Flowerz was kept free not only because it was such a simplistic game that is already freely available as an online Flash game, and as such possibly charging for it might seem a bit wrong, but it also offers any new Windows Phone 7 user a chance to try out the full XBox Live experience on their brand new device without dropping a single cent on any purchased games. So while Flowerz might be a simple game, it's also a great time waster, and offers a greatly challenging gameplay model that is highly addictive. It is the perfect game to waste away those minutes we find during the day when we're waiting for something else to happen, like catching a bus or a train, or waiting in a very long queue.

The idea behind Flowerz is very simple, and follows a tried and trusted method of gameplay. You are presented with a grid of squares, and a set of flowers of various colours and patterns. You simply have to drop them into lines of the same type. Get 3 in a row, and they vanish, thus freeing up space for more flowers to be dropped onto the grid. You can line them up vertically and/or horizontally, but not on a diagonal. As you progress through the levels, the grids get bigger, and you find yourself being handed more variations on the flower designs. This makes the game a lot more complex as you progress further. Early levels also see the grid reset after each round, but later levels do not have this feature. That means that while you can sometimes stuff up a grid in an early level, only to just make it through, later levels have a flow-on effect of bad decisions in the past haunting you into subsequent levels.

The graphics and sound are both basic, and merely serve to make the game work. Having said that, there is something rather attractive about the presentation. Simple basic use of colours, and an even simpler set of sound effects to accompany each button click, are really all you get. This is no high-end 3D game, and does not tax the GPU power of any Windows Phone 7 device. But this game isn't about graphics and sound - it's about good old fashioned casual gameplay, and in this area it delivers in spades. Because this is an XBox Live game, there are a set of a dozen or so Achievements to conquer, and in this regard it's a great way to get new gamers, who might have only just created their first XBox Live account, into the idea of Achievements, and to get them on their way towards a half-respectable Gamerscore. Just as a side note, this particular scenario was actually me, and I found Flowerz a great way to start off my list of Achievements, which thankfully go with each new week thanks to buying new XBox Live games for my phone.

Overall, Flowerz is a great starting point for any new XBox Live gamer on Windows Phone 7. It's free, quick to download, and highly addictive. It's also a great casual game in its own right, and is a perfect starting point for any gaming library on Windows Phone 7. In fact, if you really want to see what the game is like, you cannot go far wrong by checking out the online Flash version.

Telstra, NBN Co, and the pathetic Opposition

Source: ABC News

So it would appear that yet another document has been released to support the business case for the National Broadband Network - this time, it's NBN Co. actually releasing a summary document - and at 36 pages that's one heck of a summary document - which outlines the reasons why and how much the rollout of the NBN will cost between now and 2020. This document further strengthens the Government's stance on why the NBN is such an important piece of future-proof infrastructure for Australia, and sadly once again all the Opposition can do is whinge about the lack of a true Cost Benefit Analysis and play party politics over what is fast becoming an annoyance in terms of how they treat the issue. One assumes that no matter what the Government does, the Opposition are vehemently opposed to the NBN as a concept, and will never agree with it.

The more interesting story related to the NBN of recent days was the Senate's decision to approve a bill to structurally separate Telstra, which means that, assuming the House of Reps passes the bill tomorrow, going forward into 2011 the actual network will slowly be converted from copper wiring into fibre-optics, and that as that happens Telstra will hand over the ownership of those sections of the network to the Government. The beautiful irony about this latest decision is that it actually corrects the biggest flaw of the Howard Government's slow privatisation of Telstra during the 1990s and 2000s, that by allowing Telstra to become a corporate entity, but still control the primary telephone network in the country, it created an awful mess where prices were artifically kept high, and competition was kept low. That has now been corrected.

I was lucky enough on Friday to be driving to Brisbane, and was able to listen to the Senate deliberations on the passage of the bill. To say it was a disgusting display on the part of the Opposition would be an understatement. At every opportunity, the Opposition were obstructionist, forever calling for Divisions on even the tiniest of points. They wasted a large amount of time desperately asking for an extension on the bill's discussion time, despite having had ample time already, presumably so that it would be put off until early 2011. It is clear the Opposition tactic right now is to wreck the NBN at every chance, and even on this particular point - itself not directly related to the NBN - it was sad to see the Opposition refusing to acknowledge that even structurally separating Telstra, who agrees to it as well, would be a good move for Australia.

But at least that is now behind us. And with the release last week of the NBN Business Case Summary, we can see that the costings themselves are well within the original $43b estimate offered up by the Government all those years ago. The network would appear to be only costing $35b to build, which is down $2b from the previous estimate. And while it will cost around $13b to gain access (ergo buy back) the Telstra network chunks required to build the new network between 2011 and 2020, the prognosis seems to be that there will be more than $13b of revenue generated over that time period, thus offsetting any expense related to buying back the Telstra network channels. While the Opposition tried to claim this meant the NBN would cost $49b, that was simply another example of them being morons. Really, will wonders never cease?

The Government, badly wounded after what has been a disaster of a year for them, can at least go into the Summer holiday break with some good news - the NBN is now slowly starting to get on track, with the various pieces falling into place. So long as they can hold onto power until the next Federal election in 2013, enough of the NBN should be constructed between now and then, as well as having enough customers connect up, to ensure that the Opposition cannot use it as a stick to beat the Government with. Let's hope that by 2013 enough people are enjoying 12 - 100mbps connections in Australia to cancel out any potential scare campaign by the LNP, or indeed undermine any pledge to cancel the NBN in its tracks should they win Government. Because, let's face it, that is just the sort of thing those bunch of clowns would do...

The Harvest on Windows Phone 7

I've always been a gamer, chiefly, a PC gamer. Never really got into consoles - I always felt that the PC gaming experience was far superior in terms of sound & graphics to anything found on a console. As well as that, my two favourite types of games - 3D shooters and real-time strategy games - always seemed so much more playable with a mouse & keyboard than any sort of controller. Having said that, there was one console that for the last few years I've envied from a distance, and really considered buying one. That was, of course, an XBox 360. It seemed to be the best non-PC gaming platform available, but until now I've never dabbled in the XBox ecosystem (the closest I've ever gotten is I regularly use the Microsoft Games for Windows Live service). But with Windows Phone 7 now under my belt, something I am enjoying is the chance to play some Xbox-esque games on a portable device. For all the hype surrounding WP7, one thing is clear - this thing is going to be an awesome mobile gaming platform, especially when you consider it has the same technical DirectX 9 underpinnings as the full-blown XBox 360 console has. In the first of what I hope can become a monthly series, I am reviewing the WP7 Xbox Live game The Harvest, which was one of the main demo titles for the platform 9 months ago, but is arguably the poster child for the launch of XBox Live on Windows Phone. Thankfully, the game rocks on all levels.

The plot of The Harvest, such as there is, is incredibly thin, but that's not a complaint - it just means there isn't a lot of complexity to get in the way of the gameplay. You only have to look at the success of Halo to see where a thin plot isn't an issue. To quote the press materials for the game: The Harvest is a science fiction themed Action RPG that takes place on future Earth, some years after the fallout of a destructive alien invasion. These aliens, who have been come to be known as The Harvesters, use humans and animals to create cyborgs: crude amalgamations of flesh and machinery. Mankind, in the form of the Global Defense Force is fighting a war against The Harvesters using human controlled mechanized infantry units. The GDF army has been deployed to various parts of the world in order to fight back against The Harvesters in hope of restoring Earth to its rightful owners. You are part of a group that has been sent to investigate reported Harvester activity in the region of the ruins of an ancient city that was once used as military base for an organization that was a precursor to the GDF, which is where the game begins. And that's really it. The game consists of exploring this ruined city, finding powerups for your character, battling the Harvester hordes, and trying to find the keys and devices that will unlock more levels, and access more weapons and technology. Oh, and there's the customary bunch of bosses thrown in at each level end too.

The graphics of the game are, quite simply, staggering for a mobile device. Certainly, when you compare it to the games available on the Nintendo DS, for example, you can see why Windows Phone 7 is being positioned as a cutting-edge mobile gaming platform. You can also clearly see the console XBox underpinnings, with some gorgeous high-resolution textures being used throughout the true 3D environment. The environment is also ever so slightly interactive - for example, do a power jump and you can watch the stone underneath your character crack (although it does seem to do this effect no matter what you are standing on - I managed to get a wooden bridge to "crack" like stone when I did it there). The textures used on the characters within the game are really nice as well, as is the sound design. My only minor complaint would be that at times the music on intro and load screens can become slightly repetitive, but thankfully the soundtrack is cool, so it's not a major issue. The controls for the game relies on touchscreen gestures, rather than any use of the accelerometer. I have found myself on occasion obscuring the screen with my fingers as I attempt to move the little man around, but thankfully again this was infrequent and minor. Having the player character use AI during combat scenarios is a nice touch - you just set him off, and he will use his own thoughts to divert the fight if more than one enemy is attacking.

Because the game is a fully-fledged XBox Live title, this means that it comes with Achievements to unlock, and these all add to your XBox Live gamerscore. While the game doesn't come with the same number of Achievements as a proper console game would, there's still enough in there to really get the die-hard "Cheevo" junkies going. I've unlocked so far about 8 of the 15 or so that are available, and am slowly working my way through getting them all. I have to say, I can see why unlocking Achievements is so addictive. In addition to this, the game features a number of in-game powerups, that you can use to upgrade or add to the abilities of your primary character. These include adding new abilities, such as energy shields, through to health upgrades and agility upgrades. You can either choose to implement these elements yourself, or get the game itself to do the upgrades for you, keeping all of the character's respective attributes fairly balanced. This is a nice move, because while someone such as myself is quite happy to let the game take care of the upgrading process, those gamers who enjoy tweaking their character to a very personal level have this chance as well. While you only really have the one weapon of which to speak of, there are secondary characters you can take with you on certain missions who bring their own weapons into the mix, and thus provide you with a bit of extra firepower while you're battling.

Overall, I have to say that I really think The Harvest is one of those seminal games that people will remember for years to come. Certainly, it's the most recognisable launch title for Windows Phone 7, and it makes great use of the underlying graphics & sound power to really show off what the new platform is capable of. A thin storyline aside, the game is extremely immersive, with excellent graphics, an effective set of controls, and some excellent detail in the area of Achievements and internal powerups. While I doubt the game isn't a sprawling epic (although I am still yet to finish it!), it's certainly big enough to draw you in and keep you playing for many dozens of hours. Certainly, one of the big selling points for XBox on Windows Phone 7 was the fact the same XNA code can be used on both WP7 and the XBox 360  - this suggests to me there is a chance we could see some sort of game set in the universe of The Harvest on the XBox 360, because I hope The Harvest doesn't end up being an isolated title on either XBox or Windows Phone 7. While I am not normally a big fan of Action RPG games, the balance here seems to be in favour of the action, rather than the RPG. If you own a Windows Phone, and are looking for one game to buy to see what the new platform is truly capable of, then grab a copy of The Harvest from the Marketplace. I can honestly say, you will not regret it.

Windows Phone 7 Review

In this, the second part of my attempt at an exhaustive Windows Phone 7 review, I want to take a more specific look at the operating system that is powering this whole new generation of mobile devices. WP7 is the late response on the part of Microsoft to the emerging smartphone threat from both Apple's iPhone series, as well as the more recent Google Android platform. While Microsoft have been in the mobile phone game for longer than either Apple or Google combined, their previous strategy of "corporate first, consumer second" has proven to be a failure, particularly given the slow consumerisation of IT, as well as the fact that people want a full Internet + multimedia experience on their handheld device. Thankfully, while Windows Phone 7 feels about 2-3 years behind the curve, and still lacks a few key features, as a bold re-start of their existing Windows Mobile platform, it's a great first release. In this review, I want to examine the key elements of Windows Phone 7 that, I feel, make the new OS such a winner, and manages to take the best bits from both Apple's and Google's strategies, without inheriting either platform's shortfalls.

The first thing that really struck me about how different Windows Phone 7 is appears when the device is first switched on. Unlike iOS and Android, which present you with nothing more than a grid of icons for each application installed on the device, WP7 uses a striking 2D interface called Metro, in which coloured squares and rectangles adorn the Start screen. Some lead into apps, some lead into what are called Hubs, collections of information and interactive elements. Some tiles are static, much like an application icon, while others are "live" - that is, they display dynamically updated information, much like a widget. This approach to the Start screen, which is essentially the next generation of their Today screen from Windows Mobile, really is beautiful. So much nicer than a plan grid of app icons. The entire interface, in fact, feels well thought-out (a rarity for a Microsoft product), and is pleasingly 2D and focussed more on presenting gorgeous text-based material, where the "chrome" of the UI gets out of the way, and lets you get the job done you need done. Oh, and did I mention it was nice to look at? Because it really is.

I'd previously mentioned this UX notion of Hubs, whereby common applications, tasks, and data sets are grouped together in a logical way. This is quite possibly the biggest differentiator between WP7 and iOS / Android, and there is no better example of why the WP7 approach is superior than the Pictures Hub. On say, the iPhone, if you want to look at some photos on the Internet, it's a two-step process. Remember which online service the photo is hosted on, then go into the respective app for that service, and find the picture. This "in out, in out" mentality is extremely old fashioned, whereas on WP7 if you are looking for photos, the Pictures Hub nicely integrates every photo stored on the device and in the cloud, no matter where it is stored. The nice timeline interface allows you to look at every photo you have access to, no matter where it lives. One Hub, one click, all your photos. It couldn't be easier. The same goes for the People Hub, pictured above, which integrates not just your contacts, but also Facebook / Windows Live status updates. Oh, and did I mention the Pictures Hub is gorgeous, complete with personalised wallpaper?

If there is one area that Apple has defined itself in, it's that mobile gaming is a boom market. The sheer volume of great games available for the iOS platform is breathtaking, and Microsoft have an obvious killer ace up thier sleeve on this front - XBox Live integration. The notion of a "XBox Portable" device has been floating around the Internet for several years now, and in WP7 it becomes a reality. Featuring the ability to plug in your Gamer details, complete with full avatar integration, the XBox Hub on WP7 is a great front end for account management, Achievements reflection, and of course, purchasing and playing games. The gaming platform for WP7, the DirectX 9 powered XNA, is the same programming environment used on the XBox 360, which means in theory that the games available on WP7 have the potential to be on the XBox 360 with minimal code changes. This means great sound and graphics, and combined with the touchscreen and accelerometer support, WP7 is now easily on par with the iOS platform for gaming excellence. I will talk more about WP7 games in future blog posts, including some actual game reviews.

In a nod to the corporate roots of Windows Mobile, WP7 features a full Microsoft Office 2010 Hub, complete with pocket-sized versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, and Outlook for Exchange-based e-mail. Not only can you view and edit documents on the device, but if your place of employment utilises a Microsoft SharePoint server, you have the ability to plug the device directly into that corporate environment, and have on-demand access to your work files. While at this stage WP7 only supports a limited number of ActiveSync security measures, and certainly far less than the previous Windows Mobile OS, it offers enough that any consumer wanting to use this in a corporate setting should feel comfortable. It is nice to have this level of enterprise support within the device out of the gate, although I am not entirely sure how effective this particular Hub will be in terms of selling the device to consumers. Still, Office is one of Microsoft's biggest brand names, and since WP7 is all about integrating almost every Microsoft service into one platform, it makes sense for it to be here, and I for one cannot complain about the great implementation.

No modern smartphone platform can be considered a serious contender unless it offers a way for users to buy and download applications to extend the functionality of the device, and WP7 is no exception. Building on the very simple foundations developed for Windows Mobile 6.5 and its Marketplace, the Windows Phone Marketplace is bursting at the seams with great applications in a variety of categories. OK, so the new Marketplace might not rival the 1m+ applications to be found in the iOS AppStore, and at the time of writing can only boast approximately 320 apps available - but let's not forget the WP7 Marketplace has only been open for 3-4 weeks, and they seem to be growing at the rate of around 80 new apps a day. Which isn't bad. What's already there is excellent, with staples such as apps for Facebook and eBay appearing alongside a slew of XBox Live games such as Flowerz and The Harvest. You'd be hard-pressed to not find an iOS-equivalent app on WP7 at this stage, fart apps included, and coupled with the more attractive Metro UI means that Windows Phone apps are already in a league of their own.

There's a lot more I could say about Windows Phone 7, like the excellent e-mail & calendar support, the superb Zune interface for Music & Video, integrated system-wide Bing search functionality, and the pleasing to use Internet Explorer web browser. As well as that, I could talk about the desktop functionality as well that supports the phone, including the various Windows Live services and Zune desktop client software. I could talk about the major letdown of not having Australian ZunePass music access, or the lack of cut-copy-paste or true multitasking. So many elements still to discuss. But if I were to talk about all of that, this review would nearly triple in length. What you need to do, really, is get yourself a Windows Phone 7 device if you are in the market for a new mobile, maybe your first smartphone, and are looking for something a bit more dynamic and user friendly than either the iPhone or an Android device. Sure, Windows Phone 7 isn't perfect, but in the areas it really matters - ease of use, speed, reliability, functionality - it excels, and is certainly going to be giving the major players a run for their money in 2011. WP7 is a total winner.

All images are courtesy of Microsoft.