Research e-Labs

A few folk here at SSC recently decided to set up a IPv6 network. As most will know, global IPv4 addresses are running out. A global IP address is needed for anyone who wants make a web server or any other service available on the internet. The predictions are that the world will run out of IPv4 addresses in about four years (given current consumption). IPv6 introduces a far larger address space, a different syntax or way the addresses are constructed, simplified routing and adds increased security.

Our goal is to set up a small isolated IPv6 network, then to connect this to the internet and test what works and what doesn’t. In part one I attempt setting up the isolated network with various operating systems, wireless and DNS, then testing a few applications. What follows is a diary or log entry style format showing my progress and thought patterns. Full article »

For many users the way to insert a macron (ā,ē,ī,ō,ū) whilst writing is to find a page with one and copy/paste the needed character. Obviously there are easier ways, in this post I explore and experiment with a few methods to easily add macrons when entering content for the web. Full article »

There is increasing recognition of the economic impact of Open Source Software (OSS), offering productivity gains for local industries and generating export revenue by servicing offshore markets.

The Australian Open Source Industry Community Report 2008 says “…conservative projection of earnings suggests that the Open Source industry generates $500 million in revenue each year, with over 50% of that being directly related to Open Source”

Full article »

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows you to read and keep up to date with articles from multiple sources (websites, blogs, wikis etc). This is done by the publisher creating an RSS feed (an XML file) at a web address. Full article »

Almost every web user will have encountered a ‘404 - Not Found’ error at some point. After reading an interesting discussion topic started by Ben Bradshaw on the Web Standards Wiki about 404 good practice I decided to fix our site’s 404 error page. Full article »

A revealing video from The Office of Privacy Commissioner of Canada highlights privacy issues on social networks. Full article »

Well - maybe you don’t yet. It’s one thing to promote standards for exchanging information and transactions across the web, quite another to manage the result.

Within the New Zealand government domain, a framework is taking shape that aims to manage key objects and make them available. Object types include XML (and other) schemas for data exchange, agency or industry defined coding schemes, web service definitions and many others.
Full article »

Barry Polley at the Ministry of Justice has updated his paper covering the adoption of Open Source technologies in government. Full article »

Richard MacManus of ReadWriteWeb wrote an interesting article last year about how current e-Government web trends are moving away from Portals or ‘one stop shops’ towards reusable web services. Full article »