Editorial
A Pot Pouri
No theme to today's column... just a mix of things I've come across in the past 24 hours.

Yahoo! Goes Down
The world's most visited website had its doors unintentionally slammed shut this morning when, at 8:30am NZDT, it went offline unexpectedly.

An hour later -- it's still down.

Sources tell me that there is no substance to the rumour that Microsoft's competing MSN site recently recruited a large team of hackers to its "dealing with the competition" department :-)

Censorship Stupidity
Those Australian censors are still determined to show the world how stupid they can be. Now they've demanded that a specific usenet posting, available through Deja.com, should be censored.

Of course they forget that every day there are quite literally thousands of far more potentially offensive postings passing through the news-spools of newsgroup servers around the world.

The forget that any Australian with a credit card can subscribe to one of the (mainly) US-based companies that specialise in providing unfettered access to the more than 70,000 newsgroups that cover every subject you can think of from "abortion" to "zines" -- and a whole lot in between, including just about any sexual fetish or perversion you care to name.

Perhaps, at an Internet level, Australia should start promoting itself as "Australia -- the New China Online"

Digital TV
As I've discussed before, the NZ government has been so worried about the hundreds of millions that it will cost to turn TVNZ into a digital broadcaster that it's deferred such a move for at least 12 months.

The great thing about the TVNZ plan was that it would be funded without dipping directly into the pockets of taxpayers. Britons are not quite so lucky -- the BBC wants the government to whack an extra fee on top of their broadcasting license to cover the change.

The interesting thing is -- their government hasn't dismissed the proposal out of hand.

That KBE Problem
As most regular readers will know, I started 7am.com more than three years ago and grew it from a simple news-summary Web page into what is now the world's most widely syndicated web-based news service. Yes, despite the best efforts of successive governments to scuttle this enterprise through a backward looking attitude to technology industries, 7am.com has continued to grow and now, according to the Nielsen reports, has a larger audience than Wired, Salon, The Wall St Journal, the BBC news site, and even Playboy.com!

However, we're finding it incredibly difficult to recruit new staff for technical positions -- just like many of those who emailed me in dispair after yesterday's column and their own futile efforts at recruiting.

However, just in case there's some Aardvark reader who fits the bill -- here's the job description:

Wanted: Web-Master/Developer/Programmer 7am.com, an Auckland based international internet news provider, is looking for a self motivated and innovative individual to maintain and manage the 7am.com web site. Within 18 months of launching, 7am.com became the world's most widely syndicated web-based news service - and today it is growing faster than ever, with over 1.5 million hits every day. Our team is characterised by individuals who aspire to lead internet advancements and absorb challenges with relish. Committment to delivering above expectation and before time are cornerstones of the 7am.com team spirit - along with a healthy dose of high spirits and humour. Your responsibilities will include: Day to day management of the Internet site Production of CGI Scripts to support the Internet site Definition and implementation of processes to automate and improve the Internet site. Preparation and presentation of web site statistics. Internal Systems Administration The ideal candidate will have at least 2 years relevant experience in Web site administration, HTML, CGI Scripting in PERL and UNIX. Exposure to Dreamweaver, Cold Fusion, Flash, Apache and log file analysis would also be beneficial. The role will initially be a 3 month contract, leading to a permanent position when successful completion of the trial period is achieved. Due to the growth of 7am.com, it is envisaged that an individual displaying the appropriate attributes and spirit can rapidly attain advancement within the organisation. Candidates with the necessary qualifications and drive are encouraged to email their details to jobs@7am.com

Any takers?

As always, your comments are gladly received.

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