Book Notes: "Hemingway on War" by Ernest Hemingway

Hemingway on War by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Although I enjoyed this collection of works I have read many of the collection's stories and sections of Hemingway's books before. It was worth reading again and a few of the pieces of journalism were unfamiliar but the collected works released by Hemingway's family are more like homages to the great man than when reading a Hemingway work for the first time. As I have completed almost all of Hemingway's major published works I have little choice but to work through the themed collections of Hemingway on War, Fishing, Writing, etc. While previously unread works are few and far between it is still worth the effort but not as good as a Hemingway original.



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Video: The Week in Politics with Michelle Grattan

VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on infrastructure reforms

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra and Michael de Percy, University of Canberra



University of Canberra professorial fellow Michelle Grattan and senior lecturer Michael de Percy discuss the week in politics, including the reforms Joe Hockey was unable to implement as treasurer and his likely new role as the Australian ambassador to the US. The discussion also turns to explore how Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull might introduce infrastructure reforms and Warren Entsch’s proposal that same-sex marriage should be voted on before the next election.


Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra and Michael de Percy, Senior Lecturer in Political Science, University of Canberra

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Book Notes: "A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I can't help thinking that "A Moveable Feast" is a kind of Facebook into Hemingway's Parisian past. Hemingway writes of himself and in particular, Scott Fitzgerald, as if he were posting on social media private details about a recent event. I don't mean to cheapen the work by comparing prosaic Facebook with Hemingway's genius but the raw public openness is analogous. I felt Hemingway's poor and happy nostalgia marks the end of his innocence and the very ending made me tingle all over - at once identifying with him while hoping it is all in the past. In short, a masterpiece.



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The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's contribution to Forward Air Control

CAC Boomerangs being assembled at Fishermans Bend, VIC: Photo from Wikimedia (public domain)

My interest in transport and communications stems from a childhood fascination with the military. In my twenties, I continued the family tradition of serving in the Australian Army that began with my great-grandfather in 1916 and continues with my son some 100 years later. In this post I revisit my childhood pursuits by writing a brief history of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation's (CAC) contribution to forward air control (FAC). CAC was responsible for producing Australia's only indigenous fighter aircraft, the CAC Boomerang, during World War Two.

2629 PTE E.B. Percy, 33rd Bn AIF

If I had done what I was told to do in life, I would have been a brickie's labourer by age 16. Fortunately, I rarely listened to others. After a light-bulb moment in 1989, I decided to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a fighter pilot. For a number of reasons, that did not eventuate, but I became an artillery forward observer and qualified as an air contact officer (ACO) in 1996. Note this role is not as prestigious as the RAAF's Forward Air Controller (FAC) role, but it is certainly the poor man's version of it! In this role (under training conditions), I learnt to call-in fighter ground-attack aircraft (F/A-18A) and bombers (F-111) from ground-based observation posts, helicopters, and sometimes from the back seat of a Pilatus PC-9. It remains one of the most exhilarating experiences I have had to date.

But the Swiss PC-9 heralded the end of the local military aircraft industry. Had I been an ACO two years earlier, I might have experienced my role in the CAC Winjeel. But the beginnings of FAC date back to 1943, when the RAAF's CAC Wirraway is credited with the first recorded instance of a forward air control mission during World War Two in New Guinea. Later FAC missions would be flown by the faster CAC Boomerangs.

Despite the end of the local military aircraft industry, the RAAF continued its tradition of forward air control with the establishment of the Forward Air Control Development Unit (FACDU) in 2009 and more recently with No. 4 Squadron RAAF, a specialist squadron focused on FAC and related roles. Yet the connection between this important military role and the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation is largely understated.

ACO training in a PC-9 in 1996

The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd was founded in 1936 at the suggestion of Essington Lewis (1881-1961), an Australian industrialist, by a syndicate that included BHP, Broken Hill Associated Smelters and later General Motors Holden. The Victorian Government provided 140 acres for an aircraft factory and landing strip at Fishermans Bend, Victoria.  

Sir Lawrence Wackett (1896–1982), a veteran of the Australian Flying Corps and one of the first officers appointed to the Royal Australian Air Force, was selected to manage the company. Wackett is regarded as "the father of the Australian aircraft industry" and was recently inducted into the Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.

Despite objections by the British, Wackett selected the North American NA-33 to be made under licence by CAC as the Wirraway (an Aboriginal word meaning "challenge"). The first Wirraways were transferred to the RAAF in 1939. The Wirraway proved to be a favourite with the artillery in New Guinea:

[The Wirraways] spotted shell bursts, lured enemy AA into disclosing their positions, reported [Japanese soldiers] trying to escape; they were forced down and occasionally crashed in flames; one daring Wirraway pilot shot down a Zero. Their work, according to the official artillery report was "superb" (Post, 2007).

The FAC tradition would continue with the CAC Boomerang and CAC Winjeel. Later CAC aircraft included locally manufactured Mustangs, the CAC Wackett, the CAC Avon Sabre, and prototypes of the CAC Woomera and CAC Kangaroo (these prototypes never went into production).

The Boomerang remains the only Australian designed and built fighter aircraft but there is little doubt that the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation made an important contribution to the development of forward air control as practised by the RAAF. It is fitting that the RAAF's No. 4 Squadron continues to provide FAC today. After all, it was No. 4 Squadron that pioneered the FAC technique in a CAC Wirraway in New Guinea in 1943.

References

Post, C. (2007). The birth of Forward Air Control: A Royal Australian Air Force innovation. Australian Defence Force Journal, No. 172: 103-109.

ACT Government leads the way on ride-sharing reform

© Depositphotos.com/@Wavebreakmedi

The ACT leads the way in enabling the sharing economy while reducing the operating costs for taxi operators. Taxis will retain their exclusive rights to operate from taxi ranks and to be hailed from the street, whereas ride-sharing operators will operate in a similar manner to hire cars.

Speaking on ABC 666 AM this morning, Chief Minister Andrew Barr outlined the first phase of deregulating the taxi industry while introducing measures to regulate ride-sharing. Some of the changes include significant reductions in government fees for taxi operators while adding new fees and requirements, such as vehicle inspections, for ride-sharing operators.

Uber General Manager David Rohrsheim welcomed the changes. Uber have been calling for ride-sharing to be regulated appropriately for some time although their tactics have been rather aggressive.

A spokesman for the ACT taxi industry also welcomed the level playing field but is concerned that insurance requirements should also be similar.

How the ACT Government's rule that drivers who work exclusively for one ride-sharing provider will be deemed to be employees will intersect with the ATO's requirement that Uber drivers register for and collect the GST remains to be seen. But the move by the ACT goes some way to address some of my earlier concerns with ride-sharing.

One seemingly minor change that will be most noticeable, however, is that taxi drivers will no longer be required to wear uniforms. But once the symbols of regulation fall away, the tenuous status of taxi drivers will certainly be reduced. Whether the decrease in taxi operating costs will reduce taxi fares remains to be seen.

But the ACT Government is to be applauded for phasing in transport reform ahead of Uber's ride sharing service being offered in Canberra. The ACT is the first jurisdiction to address the challenges being brought about by ride sharing.

Uber Regulatory Test Case: Who is in charge?

© Depositphotos.com/@Zerbor

While many consumers are celebrating the rise of Uber, those who have invested in the taxi industry are rightly upset by Mr Turnbull's support for the multinational's "disruptive" business model. It is timely that a national test case is being heard in the courts to see whether this is a truly "disruptive" business model or otherwise an illegal thwarting of existing regulations.

I have argued previously that Uber's business model does not take into account numerous externalities, in particular, those that relate to the pay and conditions for its own drivers. Of course, consumers appear not to care about what it costs to pay an Uber driver, as long as it means cheaper fares for consumers. At least while the cheaper fares last.

But taxis are one of the few remaining regulated monopolies in the country, and taxi drivers share none of the regulatory advantages that Uber is cashing in on. Indeed, ACT Liberals Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson recently spoke on 666 ABC Canberra and faced an uphill battle to convince the host that Uber were doing anything other than providing a cheaper, better service.

In my travels, I have heard others suggest that Uber's system works better than government regulation. One simply gives a driver a low rating, states they were taken the "long way", and then the company sympathises and offers a refund. That may be well and good, but while an existing regulatory monopoly is under threat, governments have done little to deregulate taxis or to make the market truly competitive.

And herein lies the real problem. Operating a taxi is expensive. Not because it necessarily is expensive, but because the regulatory model makes it so. Uber seems to be changing transport policy through sheer economic power rather than through government adopting a coordinated approach to dealing with the so-called "digital disruption".

If any new start-up can run rough-shod over existing regulations, then government needs to get ahead of the game. So far, however, government has buckled to pressure to the point where they are more or less congratulating Uber for upsetting a regularity model that government itself created.

The national test case means that government policy has yet again been left to the courts. Thankfully, the courts seem to take their unelected role more seriously than our elected representatives. Uber appears to be in a good position, but the current two-tiered regulatory model is more a result of poor policy than the case of Uber's smart business model.

Any business model that makes prices for consumers cheaper while paying workers less is hardly a recipe for success. Yet taxi operaters who comply with the law are currently being punished for doing so. That doesn't mean that Uber have it all wrong, but is does not auger well for other heavily regulated sectors of society when a foreign company enters the market and starts telling Australian governments how to regulate. 

Taxi operators are quite rightly upset. They played by the rules but the rules have been changed based on the pushiness of a multinational. Sure, transport reform is timely, but government waiting until a cheeky competitor like Uber comes along with plenty of money to get its own way is yet another example of sovereign risk that does not bode well for the future. 

Why bother to innovate while foreign companies like Uber appear to be running the whole show. Government needs to get its act together.

Is Australia ready for High-Speed Rail?

© Depositphotos.com/@yuran78

Many Australians are in awe of transportation systems overseas like Hong Kong's MTR and the super-fast Japanese and European bullet trains. But what about having a bullet train that travels past one's own backyard?

Is it possible that Australians are happy to use new transportation technologies elsewhere, as long as it doesn't affect them at home?

This is an interesting theme - one which a colleague suggested recently - and one I will explore further here.

I tend to view things as an historical institutionalist. This means that I see path dependencies and limitations in individual behaviour resulting from institutions - what March and Olsen (1989: 22) and North (1990: vii) see as the formal and informal rules of the game - and to view the co-evolution of institutions and technologies via a model of punctuated equilibrium.

There are some academic issues with this view but it is difficult to understand why a rich, well-educated and otherwise techno-savvy country like Australia lags so far behind the world in high-technology. 

As with broadband, high-speed rail is a case-in-point.

Much of the problem associated with infrastructure deployment has been a growing trend in governments avoiding debt. Even though interest rates are at their lowest in living memory.

But what makes things even more bizarre is that there is plenty of private sector investment money that is not being captured for investment in Australian infrastructure. Is this a case of yet another Australian policy regime?

Wilson (2000 citing Dougherty & Pfaltzgraff 1997) suggests that a policy regime consists of the following characteristics:

First, there is an organizational dimension made up of states, social or political institutions. Second, regimes consist of mutually accepted decision-making procedures and agreed upon rules for action. Third, regimes contain shared principles, norms, and beliefs. Finally, regimes are organized around a particular issue.

I can't help but see policy regimes in the communications and transport sectors in Australia. Even though we will often hear complaints about the way policy is "done" in this country, we never hear the idea of the "policy regime" invoked to explain the reluctance to envisage different approaches to deploying infrastructure. For some reason, most likely related to the political benefits government can gain from fixing communications and transport issues, there is little scope for a systemic change to how we "do" networked infrastructure policy.

There seems to me to be a general agreement that government is responsible for solving our networked infrastructure problems, which includes high-speed rail. To date, acceptable "unsolicited" private sector proposals for infrastructure development, in particular from Transurban, have been focused on roads.

Meanwhile Spain has constantly pushed its high-speed rail barrow, yet there has been little traction in this area. Even though Australian estimates of the time to deploy high-speed rail are rather long (according to the Spaniards), domestic media still push the NIMBY aspects of corridor preservation rather than the benefits of more efficient ways to travel. It beggars belief.

The first and most obvious impediment to infrastructure deployment is commonly (and often pejoratively) referred to as ‘nimbyism’ (from NIMBY, an acronym for ‘not in my back yard’ – see Shepherd in Butcher 2008: 122-23).

Much of the resistance repeats what is happening in the United States. Australia and the United States share their reliance on the private motor vehicle at the expense of other forms of transport. For example, the Dallas-Houston high-speed rail link has been bogged down with utter nonsense. One "resistance group" even goes so far as to suggest that:

We need more roads for citizens to travel to ease our existing roadways... We do not need a high-speed railway in Texas that will only benefit a few, while at the same time disturbing thousands of citizens within its path.

You can't build your way out of congestion. Yet in Australia we see the American context repeating: an entrenched use of private motor vehicles as the most desirable way to travel.

So what does it mean? Well, if I had the answer I'd have plenty to do rather than blog my thoughts on transport policy. But what is clear is that there is a reluctance to try new transport technologies, and this most likely has something to do with entrenched ideas scaffolded by a policy regime..

But it is strange that these ideas seem only to exist in Australia and the United States. Maybe the idea of our "Washminster" system was much more than a federation superimposed over the system developed by our less-than-democratic forebears?

In the meantime, we seem to be satisfied with less-than-ideal systems such as Sydney's light rail and Canberra's Action bus service, even though using these services for the first time is an inside job requiring inside knowledge.

Maybe we are in awe of Hong Kong's MTR because it makes sense. You buy an Octopus card simply by following the instructions, then you turn up to the station and point yourself in the right direction until a train turns up. Simple.

But why we can't have the same thing here seems to be a conflation of history, entrenched preferences, and a policy regime that can't see past the end of the next road. And I think there-in lies the problem. Australia will not be ready for high-speed rail until the government says so.

References:

Butcher, J. (ed.) (2008). Australia Under Construction: Nation-building past, present and future. Canberra: ANU e-Press.

March, J.G. & Olsen, J.P. (1989). Rediscovering Institutions: The Organizational Basis of Politics. New York: The Free Press

North, D. C. (1990). Institutions, institutional change, and economic performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wilson, C.A. (2000). Policy Regimes and Policy Change. Journal of Public Policy, 20(3): 247-274.

Smart Cities: Brave new world or no country for old men?

© Depositphotos.com/@SpinningAngel

The times are changing.  The "sharing economy" is upon us. But everyone knows it is not about sharing at all. It is about getting what you want at the cheapest price possible where everything is for sale. However, with little consequence for that once noble sentiment of the "common good", I am finding that I am reluctant to "share" in this future.

Glimpses of the "sharing" future appear in the most unlikely situations. When I was a young "Westie", being a Penrith Panthers supporter was the epitome of loyalty. The fans made the club. Yet today, the fans are providing "feedback" about the Canberra Raiders' performance and what they expect for next year.

So rather than the fans providing moral support for the club, the team is now expected to do it all themselves. "Sharing" at its finest. So I thought I would rate the fans. Dear fans, you do not pass or fail, you are expelled for behaviour likely to prejudice the Canberra Raiders.

We're all losing something every day but are too busy consuming to notice. I feel like I am John the Savage.

And when I think about the "smart" economy, I do not share Mr Turnbull's enthusiasm, even though I am pleased that he might put the "liberal" back into "Liberal". He might even put the sense of public duty back into the role of the prime minister.

But the more I reflect on the rise of Uber, traffic congestion in Sydney, having to pay for every part of day-to-day interactions, owning a property but still having to pay rent on the land, drinking unhealthy concoctions out of jars and that Canberra is somehow "cool" now whereas it wasn't before and so on, I must admit to becoming philosophical about the future. In particular, what's the point?

Now I am far from depressed or sad in any way, but I can't help heave an internal sigh of relief when I think 'Thank God that I may not live to see where all this "smartness" ends'.

Having said that, when I drove in Sydney traffic to get to Redfern at 5pm on a Friday night recently, I would have paid up to $500 if I could have shouted "Beam me up, Scotty!" and be done with it. Instead, I got caught at every no right turn and spent most of my time being abused while stuck in the middle of intersections with nowhere to go. 

Three hours later I arrived at my destination with my car sounding like a diesel for want of oil. Strangely enough, even my car recovered as soon as we got past Campbelltown on the way back to Canberra.

I do not want to live in high-density housing. I don't want to catch public transport unless it is as good as the Hong Kong MTR, and I don't want to use a smartphone or a GPS just to drive somewhere. As for Uber, that brings together all of the things I do not like. And don't get me started on TED Talks and how they are so much better than boring professors! Yet somehow this is all meant to be about choice.

So where does it all end? With population explosions in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth expected to bring these cities to a grinding halt, if nothing is done to address the growing need for more transport options, it will end badly. But what about other capital cities like Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart?

There is still some hope left. Adelaide, Canberra, Darwin and Hobart are not growing as quickly as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. This is partly driven by migrants preferring to live in the bigger cities. But there is not much being done to encourage people to leave the big cities in terms of opportunities for employment and so on. Yet it would seem that opportunities for growth in the smaller cities and even regional towns could shift the burden away from the larger cities which are already bursting at the seams.

Mr Turnbull's recent cabinet reshuffle brings cities back into the federal fold. Not since Whitlam established the Department of Urban and Regional Development, and later Hawke's "Building Better Cities" program have spatial issues been on the federal agenda. Indeed, the appointment of Mr Jamie Briggs as the Minister for Cities and the Built Environment is the first time a Coalition Government has looked beyond the market for solutions to spatial, transport and liveability issues in our major cities.

Unlike the United States, Australia has a distinct lack of medium-sized cities that can help overcome the challenge of high-density living. It is certainly not for everyone. But rather than tunnel our way into better transport networks, there are other ways to bring about regional renewal if only workplaces could be encouraged to change the way work is done.

Rather than focus on workers being in the building, a renewed focus on outcomes has the potential to change the current demand to live near places of employment. Yet we remain focused on inputs, as if the budgetary changes of the late 1990s were only administrative, rather than cultural, reforms.

If we are to offer real "choice" for people to live the life they wish, there must be alternatives to high-density living. Supporting regional growth has the potential to take the pressure off the big cities, while reviving parts of the country that are on the verge of becoming ghost towns. But changing the nature of work and providing viable alternatives to cars are key.

Higher-density living is only part of the solution. It is counter-intuitive that the easiest way to fix congestion problems is to make our cities even more compact. And it is certainly not how I would want to live if Canberra's development is anything to go by. Give me a federation house on a quarter-acre block as the bare minimum. The trouble is that many today would see such a living arrangement as an opportunity to split the property into two titles, knock down a piece of classic Australian architecture and build pokey rental properties. That's no choice at all.

Can you have your cake and eat it too? After all, the dream of a federation house on a quarter acre block in a city is well beyond affordability for the average punter. Yet regional towns have scores of classic architectural beauties on large plots of land going begging - towns that once boomed due to mining and rural industries or as important transport hubs.

There is still plenty of scope for regional renewal, and an opportunity for those of us who cringe at the thought of being a few feet away from one's neighbour every night. This is a big country after all.

What remains to be seen is whether the renewed focus on cities will improve their liveability or further erode the fortunes of the regions as even more people concentrate around improved transport and affordable housing close to employment opportunities in the major cities.

It would seem that improved transport (such as high-speed rail) and communications infrastructure targeted at potential regional growth areas would give people more options than the architectural penchant for sardine cans (complete with stacked stone that matches all of the other sardine cans on the street) in Canberra's newest suburbs that are beyond the affordability of many.

And architects really need to self-reflect. Mid-century architecture suggested that form followed function. Now architecture operates akin to Ricardo's Iron Law of Wages: Give them enough space to live in, convince them that they are privileged, then fleece them for all they're worth. The contemporary architectural mantra is closer to cheap is chic.

In the meantime, I will test my ideas by moving into a regional town. I wonder if I can rediscover the sense of local loyalty that has been lost in Canberra. I wonder if my federation house on a quarter-acre block will give me that sense of well-being that has evaded me here. I wonder, too, if I can change the current work model that has little to do with outcomes and get the best of both worlds - the living space I want with ongoing employment I enjoy.

These are the choices I wish to make but unfortunately government policy offers only a narrow set of choices that all lead to stacked stone sardine cans supported by light rail. It might as well be back to the future with workers terraces connected to workplaces by trams. We spent years trying to break the hold the slums had on our poorest souls in our major cities. I cannot see how it will be any different this time around.

But I must do something. I have had enough of feeling like John the Savage. I do not share Mr Turnbull's enthusiasm for a brave new world unless more choices are offered. Otherwise, I fear that this will indeed become no country for old men.

Book Notes: "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac

On The Road by Jack Kerouac

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Kerouac represents the next evolution in American twentieth-century literature in my view. I am also curious about the fascination with the Dharma at Big Sur and the Great Divide exemplified by the music of my most favourite composer, John Adams, and the appearance of these themes in Jack Kerouac's work. The continental fascination in Adams' work is clearly explored in On the Road. The Beat Age is clearly the mid-life crisis of Fitzgerald's Jazz Age which evolves into the hippy era in old age. Kerouac captures this beautifully and I can only imagine the reception the novel received in the 1950s. Kerouac is so obviously lining himself up with Hemingway that it is not only obvious but overt. I suspect Steinbeck's influence is somewhat more covert. Yet Kerouac's influence on popular culture is more than obvious and readers can expect to notice parts of On the Road that appear unoriginal, yet this is obviously the original source for the nuances that are so prolific today. I felt a tinge of sadness as I approached the end of the book, almost as if I wished the road would keep going forever. In many ways, I suspect this was Kerouac's point. Definitely one of my favourite reads and I am now exploring Cormac McCarthy's The Road to keep the theme going. Kerouac certainly makes me want to go on a road trip sooner rather than later. If only I could drive the Cadillacs and Plymouths and Fords of that era!

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Book Notes: "Backcloth" by Dirk Bogarde

Backcloth by Dirk Bogarde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I first 'discovered' Dirk Bogarde after reading Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and then watching the movie starring Bogarde as Gustave Aschenbach. The movie was rather true to the book and Bogarde's performance perfectly captured my mind's eye view of the story. An unusual but pleasing experience. So recently, when I 'discovered' a copy of Backcloth, I was impressed that Bogarde, after turning down Hollywood roles and refusing a 'marriage of convenience' to make American viewers happy, became a best-selling author. And no wonder. Backcloth is an autobiography, but it reads like A Year in Provence (Bogarde lived there, too). There are other volumes of his story and I cannot wait to 'discover' these, too. But after reading the story of his life from birth up until his honorary doctorate from St Andrews and the death of his life-long 'partner', Forwood, I can only imagine what else he must have done to fill more books on his life. Bogarde had a real talent for story-telling, and there is little self-aggrandisement, yet much reflection that makes one sad, yet nostalgic and happy at the same time. In essence, Bogarde captures the Portuguese feeling which escapes English translation - saudade. After feeling that I was running out of classics that were my 'cup of tea', 'discovering' Bogarde gives me hope that my reading journey still has a very long way to go.



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Applying Theory to Practice: Understanding Telecommunications and Transport Policy Outcomes

I am giving a lecture on how my transport and communications research relates to the themes of strategy, governance and innovation. The lecture will take place in the Ann Harding Centre at the University of Canberra from 9:30am on Friday 28 August 2015. The lecture is part of an event for staff and partners working with the Dūcere/University of Canberra MBA in Innovation and Leadership.

I have provided my lecture notes below. If you have any questions you are welcome to contact me via my work email, michael.depercy@canberra.edu.au.

Applying Theory to Practice from University of Canberra

Countering the myths of technology in the workplace

© Depositphotos.com/@PixelsAway

New internal research conducted by the Australian Taxation Office provides some of the first real proof that digital-mania in the workplace is driven by myths. People are simply not subscribing to the hype about technology in the workplace.

I've been an early adopter of new technologies in my work for many years. After trialling Facebook in teaching in 2007, using Yammer and Twitter in 2010, and using e-texts to replace expensive hard copies, I found that the digital native is a myth. Nowadays I focus on effective use of technology, and sometimes that means low-tech.

No so twenty years ago. When I first joined Army, we were forced to draft (by hand) endless minutes concerning every piece of administration one could imagine. Every leave application, every request for resources, every approval required a covering minute to accompany the relevant form.

I purchased an Amstrad word processor from a friend and hooked it up to a printer. Instead of the usual draft by hand, have it red-penned several times, take all day to complete one minute, I shocked my boss by adding his corrections and returning with a new minute moments later and reduced my admin time by days. Technology was effective.

Later, I hired a Packard Bell 486 SX-33 and my own Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 540 printer and admin was a breeze. It took my unit several years before computers were a normal part of doing business.

But these days, I find a 50/50 split in screen-readers and paper-readers. Colleagues found that students did not like using their mobile phones for their university study. Some students even found it "creepy". Some liked  to use their Facebook accounts for university study but others hated it.

What I found was that the more involved I became in instantaneous communication with my students, the less they did for themselves and their problem solving and written communication skills deteriorated into help-seeking and text-speak. It simply didn't work.

Up until this time, I had all of my work and personal communication mixed up. There was no line between work and personal. I was working 24/7.

To add insult to injury, the more cutting-edge I became, the more I became a one-person helpdesk for hundreds of students who were unfamiliar with the professional use of social media. One Sunday morning at 3am (during the mid-semester break) I spent an hour helping a student with an essay via Facebook. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Then I tried open source products such as Wikiversity. I found the same problem - I was a one-person helpdesk. Then, when I wanted to have Moodle's capabilities improved, I found that I had to "vote" for functionality that any commercial learning management system (LMS) provided as a matter of course.

The benefits of technology were not all-encompassing. A suggestion at one of the local "hack" sessions suggested we could "network in general awesomeness" and that was it. I went back to basics.

What I found was that so many products are sold to organisations without consultation with the users of the product. The promises of many marketing campaigns are routinely proven to be false hope. Effective use of technology is key.

The ATO's latest research on the use of technology by its workforce is a breath of fresh air. After endlessly being told by people that lecturers who do not use the latest social media are behind the times and yada yada yada and then seeing work produced by the "hypers", it was clear we had lost the plot. The ATO has proven the same point. ATO People deputy commissioner Jacqueline Curtis says it succinctly:

“The research we did really strongly suggests it is important to co-design with your workforce in order to be sure that the assumptions you are making about their needs and requirements are not just assumptions, that they are actually reflecting the needs of the workforce”

The assumption that more is better and that social media is "the way to go" is about technology for technology's sake. A reality check is needed. 

Yesterday I saw a new web-based approach that uses advanced search technology to create individually customised reports. What this means is that for the first time in about a decade, it is now just as fast to find information on the website as it used to be to find the same information using an indexed hard copy book. Wow. Ten years.

The question needs to be asked: What are you trying to achieve? Using web-based applications or social media does not help students develop sound communication or problem-solving skills. Indeed, it can have the opposite effect. 

And bring-your-own-device does not really help the user experience. It helps workers do more work while not at work, while still being expected to turn up during the required working hours. And it often means incompatibility problems that can cause unnecessary delays. And don't get me started on people who insist on using Macs.

But that's not to say that I do not use technology in my work. Indeed, I remain at the cutting edge in my teaching. But my approach is significantly different. And it avoids all kinds of hype.

The ATO's findings are food for thought for any organisation. Think about what you are trying to achieve through technology, rather than following trends created by skilful marketing.

For the love of God, ask your people what they need to do their jobs more effectively, rather than imposing yet another system that not only costs more, but makes one's job even harder because the majority of work time is spent trying to make the new system work.

And the next time some geek tells you they have some "awesome" new technology, and your old-fashioned university degree can be replaced by ten-minute TED Talks? Don't believe the hype. It's a myth </ end rant>.

The Pub Test: Did the E-type Jaguar herald the Australian Muscle Car?

© Depositphotos.com/@Sonar

I often quip about any mention of Jag based on the tongue-in-cheek humour (to non-Jag owners!) from the series Mad Men, where the Americans make endless comments about the Jaguar’s unreliability. 

But the E-type Jaguar  has a special place in the development of Australian muscle cars.

In Australian motorsport, the E-type Jaguar's fame  was confirmed after Bob Jane (founder of Bob Jane T-Mart) won the 1963 Gran Turismo competition in a 1963 E-type Jag. 

The Ford Cortina Mk1 GT and later the Mini Cooper S dominated the early to mid-60s events, leading to the development of the Ford Falcon XR GT. There was considerable pressure for Australia to develop its own muscle cars and Holden (GM - Chevrolet) and Ford Australia (earlier Falcons were based mostly on American models) saw a change from UK-inspired vehicles to US-inspired vehicles.

Finally, Australian-inspired vehicles beginning with the Ford Falcon XR GT and later the Holden Monaro GTS 350 and Holden LJ Torana XU-1 appeared.

The Australian muscle car period peaked with the development of the Ford Falcon XY GTHO Phase III, for a time touted as the fastest 4-door production car in the world, and declined with the Ford Falcon XA GTHO Phase IV amid controversy over the impact of muscle cars on the streets. The "Supercar scare" of 1972 saw manufacturers pull out of the race-bred street car game.

At the tender age of seven, I had the honour of sitting in Allan Moffat’s #1 XC Falcon GT after it won the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo Bathurst (with Colin Bond’s #2 XC Falcon GT finishing in second place, even though Moffat’s car was buggered and they finished 1-2 for promotional reasons) at Roselands Shopping Centre in Sydney (it was then considered the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere). The two-door Falcon “hardtop” remains my favourite car to this day.

I was fortunate enough to drive a 1973 XB GS Fairmont as my first car, so although I am contented with my automatic Panzers these days, there is a fair bit of petrol head in my past. In good condition, the Fairmonts sell at auction for around $36,000 these days but mine rusted out in the Cairns weather. So I do have a soft spot for Aussie grunt.

But the E-type Jaguar, combined with Bob Jane and his brother Bill Jane, is where it all began. Indeed, I would argue that the E-type Jaguar heralded the Australian muscle car in Australian motorsport. 

But could you pass the Australian “pub test” with the argument that the E-type Jaguar was responsible for heralding the Australian muscle car era?

Well, yes!

Why? When you look at the Great Race results from 1963 until the 1984, it was dominated by Fords and Holdens (except for 1966). But what if we go back just a little bit further? It was Jaguar.

The winners of the first two Australian Touring Car Championship races (the origin of the Great Race at Bathurst) were Jaguars in 1960 and 1962. But the 1960 winner was a Jaguar Mark 1 "Saloon", whereas in 1962 the E-type Jaguar was a genuine sports car.

After that, beefed-up production sedans dominated again until the XR GT. So in Australian motorsport - the type I grew up with - the E-type Jaguar heralds the beginning of the Aussie muscle car.

And I reckon that would pass the "pub test".