Microsoft is touting freshly-launched Internet Explorer 8 (IE Eight) as its champion in the competitive Web browser arena, urging holdouts to upgrade from earlier versions of the software.
IE 8 has been catching on since its release five months ago, but Microsoft is hoping to leave behind aging IE 6 as well as much-maligned Vista after Windows 7 operating system launches in October.
Despite being released nine years ago, IE 6 still claims 27.2 per cent of the browser market, according to figures released in July by Net Applications.
“The reason to still be on IE 6 at this point is lack of awareness, or the ‘good-enough’ problem that people are satisfied with what they are using,” said Amy Barzdukas, general manager of IE and consumer security at Microsoft.
“Particularly in this economy, it is difficult to be cavalier and just say update to IE 8.”
Best known for co-hosting Sale of the Century, Jo Silvagni is making a return to national television as the host of the Nine Network’s answer to MasterChef Australia, The Great Aussie Cook Off.
Silvagni – formerly Bailey – will join comedian Vince Sorrenti to host the eight-part family-friendly program, which will air from October 11.
The former model, who came to notice as the youngest ever co-host on quiz show Sale of the Century, most recently appeared on Melbourne Weekender.
But the mother of three said she was looking forward to getting back in the limelight.
“I’ve been doing a lot of Victorian things so it’s nice to be out and doing national things again,” Silvagni told AAP.
“Working with families, and not just adult family members but kids as well, (and) travelling around Australia just sounded like the complete package for me.”
Each episode of the new program will feature two families who are required to cook a three-course meal in 30 minutes using some mandatory ingredients and some of their own flavours.
Food experts, who will change each week, will judge the creations.
Filming started in the NSW town of Mudgee on Saturday, while another episode will be shot on the Sydney Harbour foreshore on Sunday.
Rock legend Bob Dylan was treated like a complete unknown by police in New Jersey when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighbourhood.
Dylan was about a two-hour drive south of New York City in Long Branch on July 23 as part of a tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp that was to play at a baseball stadium.
Long Branch business administrator Howard Woolley says a 24-year-old police officer apparently was unaware of who Dylan is and asked him for identification.
The singer of such classics as ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ wasn’t carrying any, so police took him back to his hotel, where tour staff vouched for him. No charges were filed.
How did it feel? A Dylan publicist hasn’t returned a telephone call seeking comment.
Foxtel now has 1.63m subscribers and continues to grow.
Foxtel CEO Kim Williams said recently:
“Our results have been built on a continued commitment to innovation and investment and to providing our customers with a great value entertainment option – which we have developed through extensive customer research and daily customer feedback to our dedicated customer centre.
“While there are some welcome signs that the economy is starting to rebound, conditions still remain economically challenging with unpredictable outcomes for business and this will clearly provide Foxtel with some challenges in maintaining its growth momentum – especially with potential increases in unemployment and the unpredictability in the positive movement in consumer sentiment”.
The Australian Masters announced today a multi-year broadcast partnership with the Nine Network and FOX SPORTS.
In 2009, Nine will broadcast live coverage from Kingston Heath Golf Club on each of the four days with FOX SPORTS also providing live coverage on pay television.
Nine will also incorporate The Today Show into its Australian Masters coverage, featuring interviews with key players and showcasing the world class course at Kingston Heath.
Commenting on the partnership, David Rollo, Vice President-Director of Golf, IMG Australia said:
“Nine and FOX SPORTS have a rich history of broadcasting world class sporting events and IMG is thrilled to enter into this partnership. The change programme and vision we set out for the Masters late last year is being realised and based on the unprecedented interest this will be Australia’s hottest sporting ticket this coming summer.
As we fully expect the event to be a sell out, fans disappointed not to have secured a ticket will still have the opportunity to experience the event on Nine and FOX SPORTS.”
Jeffrey Browne, Executive Director of the Nine Network, said it was exciting to welcome such a high profile event to Nine’s Wide World of Sports:
“Our brand is built on bringing the best world class events to Australian viewers and the Australian Masters fits perfectly, preceding our summer of International Cricket and our Winter Olympic Games coverage from Vancouver.”
David Malone, CEO of FOX SPORTS said that the Australian Masters was an exceptional addition to the extensive coverage of international golf tournaments that FOX SPORTS already offered viewers across its five dedicated channels.
“Golf is a popular sport with our subscribers and we are delighted that we can continue to provide them complete live coverage of the Australian Masters.”
The Australian Masters will be held at Kingston Heath Golf Club from 12 – 15 November, 2009 and is proudly supported by the Victorian Government.
Melbourne Storm rugby league player Greg Inglis has been arrested over an alleged assault of his girlfriend.
Inglis was arrested at his western suburbs home today and questioned by police over an attack on his partner, which left her with a black eye.
Inglis was later questioned by police and charged with recklessly causing injury and unlawful assault before being bailed to appear in Sunshine Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the Herald Sun reports.
A TV program on the suicide deaths of four students at a Geelong school has been withdrawn from screening at the 11th hour following an injunction against its broadcast by beyondblue, the mental health organisation.
The Nine Network’s 60 Minutes was scheduled to show a segment titled Searching for Answers on Sunday but received notice of the injunction shortly before going to air.
The Big Bang Theory will finally make a go of a Leonard and Penny relationship this fall, but things get off to a rough start.
“After two years of foreplay, they finally [have sex] and it doesn’t go so great,” reveals exec producer Bill Prady.
“There was so much anticipation that when they finally make it all the way, they have trouble finding their groove.”
They won’t be the only ones going through an awkward adjustment period.
“Sheldon does not like waking up and finding Penny in their apartment, which happens in the second or third episode,” says Prady. “And he’s not happy when she makes French toast on oatmeal day.
“But Sheldon believes this is a temporary anomaly,” Prady adds. “He thinks [the romance] will come to an end and everything will be back the way it is.”
Multi Channel Network has signed a deal to sell advertising on British pay-TV company BSkyB’s network of 150 international websites.
The sites include Sky.com, Football 365, Cricket 365, Liverpoolfc.tv and Arsenal.com.
MCN chief executive Anthony Fitzgerald has told Media the deal, which would see MCN serve advertising to Australian users of those sites, would boost MCN’s online network to almost 200 sites, and increase its overall traffic by 30 to 40 per cent.
“This takes MCN’s total reach from four million unique browsers to five million.”
The $10 million TV adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel Cloudstreet has been denied funding by Screen Australia, caught in a dispute over the level of licence fees paid by pay-TV channels to Australian drama projects.
The board of the federal funding and development agency last week told pay-TV network Showtime it would need to reassess its financing structure to get any funding.
The dismissal of the project is an embarrassment for the pay-TV network, Showtime, jointly owned by four of the world’s major film studios — NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox.
Soccer coverage will increase significantly on FOX Sports over the coming year, the network has announced.
Around 650 outside broadcasts of soccer matches will be arranged by the network.
Hyundai, Optus, Schweppes (Solo), Carlsberg, Hungry Jacks, Mitre 10 and TAB Sportsbet have signed up as sponsors or advertisers during the broadcast of English Premier League and A-League.
FOX Sports News anchor Melanie McLaughlin has also joined the coverage, broadcasting from Townsville last weekend for the first time.
Premier Media Group chief executive David Malone told Media covering the expanded A-League in season five is a “step-up for us in production requirements”.
TVSN appears to have dodged the retail slump that has affected high street stores, hard-selling its way to year-on-year revenue growth of more than 15 per cent.
Marketing manager Robyn Ball has told The Australian TVSN first had to overcome negative perceptions about buying direct, but once people began to watch the channel, its success had been driven largely by word of mouth.
Ms Ball said once buyers had been recruited to TVSN through a first-time purchase, 92 per cent returned to make more purchases.
“People find the channel primarily through channel surfing,” she said.
Telstra is likely to axe the print edition of The Trading Post, and it may happen by October, sources have told The Australian.
Closing the print operation would result in hundreds of redundancies, with only a handful of staff retained in each state to sell advertising for the site, according to one source.
A Telstra spokesman refused to confirm or deny the closure reports, saying via email: “We do not comment on speculation or rumour.”
Adult Playschool, jokingly referred to as Federal Parliament by those with no brains, returns this week after a six week hiatus.
ABC’s ratings will soar with the one-hour question time from 2pm Tuesday to Friday… or maybe that’s just in my house.
Thankfully A-PAC has arrived, and now political junkies like me can watch it around the clock. Oh the joy!
It’s not looking like a good week for Malcolm Turnbull though. It’s almost time for the Liberal Party to take him out the back and shoot him. Dr. Brendan Nelson’s remains are in Tuggeranong somewhere I’ve been told, along with Dr. John Hewson, Alexander Downer and the ghost of Peter Costello.
To me, as a member of the ALP, it seems Mr. Turnbull cannot do anything right. The backstabbing bastards in his own party are willing him to fail, the populace see him as a gullible fool, but to me he just seems to be a person who craves being wanted.
Dissatisfaction with the way Mr. Turnbull is doing his job as opposition leader has risen significantly in the wake of him conceding he was fooled by a fake document at the centre of the OzCar scandal.
The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows the dissatisfaction rating for Mr Turnbull rose by seven points to 57.
A week after Treasury official Godwin Grech admitted he had faked an email which Mr Turnbull used as evidence to call for Kevin Rudd’s resignation, the opposition leader’s satisfaction rating fell to just 26 per cent.
Rebecca Wilson, part of VEGA 95.3′s breakfast trio, is leaving the network after five years.
The News Limited journalist has been an integral part of the fledgling station’s lineup and has helped improve the audience share with adult fun and great music from the 70s, 80s and now. The Rock Legends format fits the 40-54 core demographic perfectly, and Wilson will be missed by the audience and her colleagues. She will continue to appear alongside her brother Jim on the Seven Network’s top-rating Sunrise.
“I want to wake up at a normal time and not spend the rest of the day jet lagged. I have never really adjusted that well to early starts,” says Rebecca. “My two boys who are 15 and 17 are at a great age and I want to hang out more with them. I want to be able to give them breakfast and drive them to early sports training after a couple of years of leaving them to it,” she says.
“The past five years at vega have flown and I have enjoyed so much of it, particularly working alongside Tony Squires and Mikey Robins. Leaving here was a tough decision but I want to cherish the next few years before my boys grow up and leave home.”
“I have one doing his HSC so it has been tough on him studying late at night without having a mum to make hot chocolate. I want to give both of them some normal time with their mother before they become adults and don’t want to know about me anymore,” says Rebecca.
“I have enjoyed it beyond words. Radio is so intimate and warm and immediate,” she said. “I love it – radio gives you the ability to be yourself and to relate instantly to listeners. The great thing, too, is that I have been able to work with my mates – a rare treat. They are my lunch buddies as well, though, so I will get my weekly fix of them.”
As GO! launches in little over thirty minutes time, the question needs to be asked – is there anything on Nine’s supplementary channel that you will be watching?
At Rutherford shopping centre... haven't seen a person with a full set of teeth yet 3 months ago
listening and rocking out to Renee Cassar - great alternative Aussie rocker. 2 years ago
is pleased to hear Tarryn Edwards back at KO/NX doing the news - even if it is just to fill-in! 2 years ago
breaking from 2MMM - Rick Stone will be the new coach of the Newcastle Knights - just confirmed. 2 years ago
morning folks - bucketloads of work today and some new plants (roses) going into one of my back gardens. I feel a backache coming on already 2 years ago
Microsoft is touting freshly-launched Internet Explorer 8 (IE Eight) as its champion in the competitive Web browser arena, urging holdouts to upgrade from earlier versions of the software.
Best known for co-hosting Sale of the Century, Jo Silvagni is making a return to national television as the host of the Nine Network’s answer to MasterChef Australia, The Great Aussie Cook Off.
Foxtel now has 1.63m subscribers and continues to grow.
The 2009 ACRA Award nominees have been announced.
A TV program on the suicide deaths of four students at a Geelong school has been withdrawn from screening at the 11th hour following an injunction against its broadcast by beyondblue, the mental health organisation.
The Big Bang Theory will finally make a go of a Leonard and Penny relationship this fall, but things get off to a rough start.
It’s a Monday.
GO! premiered at 6.30 last night on D99 and D88 (regionals).
Rumours are growing around Macquarie Street in Sydney that Premier Nathan Rees will call a leadership spill of the NSW Caucus this morning.
Multi Channel Network has signed a deal to sell advertising on British pay-TV company BSkyB’s network of 150 international websites.
The $10 million TV adaptation of Tim Winton’s novel Cloudstreet has been denied funding by Screen Australia, caught in a dispute over the level of licence fees paid by pay-TV channels to Australian drama projects.
Soccer coverage will increase significantly on FOX Sports over the coming year, the network has announced.
TVSN appears to have dodged the retail slump that has affected high street stores, hard-selling its way to year-on-year revenue growth of more than 15 per cent.
Telstra is likely to axe the print edition of The Trading Post, and it may happen by October, sources have told 
Alison Carabine, 2UE Political Editor, has resigned and will join ABC Radio National’s Breakfast with Fran Kelly in a fortnight.
Adult Playschool, jokingly referred to as Federal Parliament by those with no brains, returns this week after a six week hiatus.
Reality, Rugby League and Australian drama are leading the pack when it comes to 2009′s top television programmes, new figures reveal.
Rebecca Wilson, part of VEGA 95.3′s breakfast trio, is leaving the network after five years.
