Archive for September 24th, 2009

Dear Customer, to help you use our new billing system please find our other customers’ details enclosed

UK Internet service provider Demon Internet has had a peculiar self-induced security breach.

Demon Internet has sent out a spreadsheet containing the personal details of thousands of customers with one of its new ebills.
[..]
The Excel spreadsheet – which isn’t password protected – contains more than 3,600 records. It includes the full name of the customers, email addresses, telephone numbers and names of the customers’ businesses. Police forces, NHS trusts and government officials are among the email addresses listed in the database.

The file also includes two unidentified fields which adopt the same format as the username and password for the ebilling system that was sent to the PC Pro reader.
[..]
Demon Internet is blaming “human error” for the security breach.

Apparently they have since changed the passwords of affected customers…I doubt that they’ll offer to change the phone numbers of people with silent numbers though.

The mind boggles as to what all of this information was doing in a spreadsheet to begin with.

Samuel

September 24th, 2009 at 10:13pm

Canberra Radio Ratings #2, 2009

Originally filed at 12:13am, September 24
Updates are now complete. All ratings data is below.

Nielsen will release the 2nd and last Canberra radio ratings for 2009 later today and, as usual, I’ll post the results here when they come in.

The figures were sent to radio stations yesterday and some details have leaked. According to Jock’s Journal, 104.7 leads the pack on 18.3% and Mix 106.3 is in 2nd place on 18%. This means that 104.7 have retained first place, but lost audience share, dropping from 20.5%. 666 ABC Canberra have been bumped from 2nd place and have lost audience share, they were on 19%. Mix have climbed from 3rd to 2nd and gained audience, jumping from 16% to 18%.

Unlike the ratings for “metropolitan markets”, the publicly released ratings for Canberra are only overall figures and not shift-by-shift and age group figures, which means those figures get selectively released in the press releases from the stations…and in leaks. So far all that I have heard is a figure which relates to 2CC…apparently the Mark Parton breakfast show, the Steve Price morning show and weekends all increased their audience share, while the Mike Welsh drive show lost audience share. I’m awaiting confirmation of this. (Update: Breakfast audience share didn’t move but the number of listeners went up, and evenings went up as well)

More details to follow.

Update: The ratings are in, and we have shift-by-shift figures as well.

1st: FM 104.7 18.3% (down from 20.5%)
2nd: Mix 106.3 18.0% (up from 16.0%)
3rd: 666 ABC Canberra 16.1% (down from 19.0%)
4th: JJJ 13.5% (up from 8.8%)
5th: ABC Radio National 7.5% (up from 6.9%)
6th: ABC Classic FM 7.4% (down from 7.7%)
7th: 2CC 6.3% (up from 5.6%)
8th: Combined unlisted 5.4% (down from 5.5%)
9th: 2CA 4.1% (down from 5.9%)
10th: ABC NewsRadio 3.4% (down from 4.1%)

Summary graph

Summary since Survey 1, 2005
Summary Historic graph

Gains and losses this survey
JJJ +4.7
Mix 106.3 +2.0
2CC +0.7
ABC Radio National +0.6
Combined Unlisted -0.1
ABC Classic FM -0.3
ABC NewsRadio -0.7
2CA -1.8
FM 104.7 -2.2
666 ABC Canberra -2.9
Gains and losses graph

Gains and losses since Survey 1, 2005
Gains and losses Historic graph

Leaderboard positions since Survey 1, 2005
Leaderboard graph

Click here to download the full Nielsen summary including shift-by-shift and demographic data. (link fixed…my usual trick of uploading to the wrong folder, sorry)

I’ll come back and update this with further details, including a summary of shifts later on. Unfortunately I don’t have any time to do so right now.

Update 3:23pm: OK, back again, and time to go in to detail about the ratings, and as I’m in the unusual position of having a metro-market style report in my possession, I might as well cover the shift-by-shift and demographic figures, albeit without graphs as I’m not going to drastically alter my spreadsheet for what is probably a once off occurrence. This will take a little while so I’ll update the page every few minutes as I go.

Incidentally, I see that the less detailed public report is now online as well.

Weekdays 5:30am-Midnight
1st: FM 104.7 (19.7%)
2nd: Mix 106.3 (18.3%)
3rd: 666 ABC Canberra (16.2%)
4th: JJJ (13%)
5th: ABC Radio National (7.6%)
6th: ABC Classic FM (7.0%)
7th: 2CC (5.9%)
8th: 2CA (3.9%)
9th: ABC NewsRadio (3.4%)
Unlisted: 5%

Weekday Breakfast 5:30am-9am
1st: 666 ABC Canberra (21.0%)
2nd: FM 104.7 (18.8%)
3rd: Mix 106.3 (17.1%)
4th: ABC Radio National (11.5%)
5th: JJJ (9.2%)
Equal 6th: NewsRadio (4.9%)
Equal 6th: 2CC (4.9%)
8th: ABC Classic FM (4.7%)
9th: 2CA (4%)
Unlisted: 3.9%

Weekday Mornings 9am-Midday
1st: Mix 106.3 (21.2%)
2nd: FM 104.7 (16.5%)
3rd: JJJ (14.3%)
4th: 666 ABC Canberra (14.0%)
5th: ABC Classic FM (9.0%)
6th: 2CC (8.5%)
7th: 2CA (5.1%)
8th: ABC Radio National (4.8%)
9th: NewsRadio (2.2%)
Unlisted: 4.4%

Weekday Afternoons Midday-4pm
1st: Mix 106.3 (22.5%)
2nd: FM 104.7 (19.3%)
3rd: JJJ (16%)
4th: 666 ABC Canberra (12.8%)
5th: ABC Classic FM (8.3%)
6th: 2CC (6.0%)
7th: 2CA (4%)
8th: ABC Radio National (3.9%)
9th: NewsRadio (1.7%)
Unlisted: 5.5%

Weekday Drive 4pm-7pm
1st: FM 104.7 (27.1%)
2nd: Mix 106.3 (16.5%)
3rd: 666 ABC Canberra (13.5%)
4th: JJJ (12.4%)
5th: ABC Radio National (7.9%)
6th: ABC Classic FM (7.7%)
7th: NewsRadio (3.5%)
8th: 2CA (3.4%)
9th: 2CC (3.2%)
Unlisted: 4.8%

Weekday Evenings 7pm-Midnight
1st: 666 ABC Canberra (18%)
2nd: JJJ (17.6%)
3rd: FM 104.7 (15.8%)
4th: 2CC (9.7%)
5th: Mix 106.3 (9.4%)
6th: ABC Radio National (8.5%)
Equal 7th: ABC Classic FM (5.5%)
Equal 7th: NewsRadio (5.5%)
9th: 2CA (1.7%)
Unlisted: 8.3%

Weekends 5:30am-Midnight
1st: Mix 106.3 (16.9%)
2nd: 666 ABC Canberra (15.7%)
3rd: JJJ (15.1%)
4th: FM 104.7 (13.6%)
5th: ABC Classic FM (8.9%)
6th: 2CC (7.6%)
7th: ABC Radio National (7.1%)
8th: 2CA (5%)
9th: NewsRadio (3.1%)
Unlisted: 7%

Demographics (age groups), 5:30-Midnight every day
10-17yo
1st: FM 104.7 (47.1%)
2nd: Mix 106.3 (27.2%)
3rd: JJJ (13.8%)
4th: 666 ABC Canberra (3.3%)
5th: 2CA (2.4%)
6th: ABC Radio National (1.8%)
7th: NewsRadio (1.5%)
8th: ABC Classic FM (0.4%)
9th: 2CC (0.3%)
Unlisted: 2.2%

18-24yo
1st: JJJ (40.7%)
2nd: FM 104.7 (37.5%)
3nd: Mix 106.3 (10.2%)
4th: 666 ABC Canberra (2.4%)
5th: 2CC (2.3%)
6th: NewsRadio (1.3%)
7th: ABC Radio National (0.7%)
8th: ABC Classic FM (0.3%)
9th: 2CA (0%)
Unlisted: 4.6%

25-39yo
1st: FM 104.7 (29.6%)
2nd: Mix 106.3 (23.5%)
3rd: JJJ (22.8%)
4th: 666 ABC Canberra (8.6%)
5th: NewsRadio (3.5%)
6th: 2CC (2.7%)
7th: ABC Radio National (2.5%)
8th: 2CA (1.6%)
9th: ABC Classic FM (1.4%)
Unlisted: 3.8%

40-54yo
1st: Mix 106.3 (29.1%)
2nd: 666 ABC Canberra (18.9%)
3rd: FM 104.7 (13.4%)
4th: ABC Radio National (8.3%)
5th: 2CA (6.6%)
6rd: JJJ (6.2%)
7th: 2CC (5.5%)
8th: ABC Classic FM (3.7%)
9th: NewsRadio (3.4%)
Unlisted: 4.9%

55+yo
1sy: 666 ABC Canberra (27.2%)
2nd: ABC Classic FM (18.9%)
3rd: ABC Radio National (14.3%)
4th: 2CC (12.4%)
5th: Mix 106.3 (6.3%)
6th: 2CA (6.1%)
7th: NewsRadio (4.4%)
8th: JJJ (1.6%)
9th: FM 104.7 (1%)
Unlisted: 7.8%

Music Vs Talk
Music 61.3% (up from 58.9%)
Talk 33.3% (down from 35.6%)
Combined Unlisted 5.4% (down from 5.5%)
Markets Survey 2 2009

Music Vs Talk since survey 1 2005
Markets History

Music Vs Talk: Average per station
Music 12.26% (up from 11.78%)
Talk 8.325% (down from 8.90%)

ABC Vs Commercial
ABC 47.9% (up from 46.5%)
Commercial 46.7% (down from 48.0%)
Combined Unlisted 5.4% (down from 5.5%)
Type Survey 2 2009

ABC Vs Commercial since survey 1 2005
Type History

ABC Vs Commercial average per station
ABC 9.58% (up from 9.30%)
Commercial 11.675% (down from 12.00%)

AM Vs FM
AM 34.0% (down from 37.4%)
FM 60.6% (up from 57.1%)
Combined Unlisted 5.4% (down from 5.5%)
AM Vs FM Survey 2 2009

AM Vs FM since survey 1 2005
AM Vs FM History

AM Vs FM average per station
AM 8.50% (down from 9.35%)
FM 12.12% (up from 11.42%)

Company Results
This is a new rating which I have introduced for this survey and produced backdata for, comparing the audience share of the companies who own the radio stations. Participating in the Canberra Ratings are:
Canberra FM Radio (Mix 106.3 and FM 104.7)
Capital Radio (2CC and 2CA)
ABC (666, Radio National, NewsRadio, Classic FM)

ABC 47.9% (up from 46.5%)
Canberra FM Radio 36.3% (down from 36.5%)
Capital Radio Network 10.4% (down from 11.5%)
Combined Unlisted 5.4% (down from 5.5%)
Companies Survey 2 2009

Company Results since survey 1 2005
Companies History

Compan Results average per station
ABC 9.58% (up from 9.30%)
Canberra FM Radio 18.15% (down from 18.25%)
Capital Radio Network 5.20% (down from 5.75%)

Samuel

2 comments September 24th, 2009 at 11:48am

Drivers to be breathalysed leaving AFL Grand Final

The Victorian Police have issued a blunt warning to drivers attending the AFL Grand Final on Saturday…you will be breathalysed.

Every driver will be tested as they leave the MCG carpark with the aim of removing drunk drivers from the road.

“We’re putting the message out early – if you’re planning to drink and drive, think again because there is a very high chance that you will be caught,” Superintendent Leane said.

“It’s a simple thing to avoid. If you want to have a few drinks on the day, organise a designated driver, take public transport or hop in a taxi.”

There will also be a higher-than-usual number of random breath tests conducted throughout Melbourne on Saturday night, and a large police presence at the Grand Final.

So, how many people will be arrested? Do Centrebet have a market on this?

Samuel

September 24th, 2009 at 10:15am

Now dust storms cause global warming

It just never ends does it. The dust storm which affected Sydney and other places in recent days is the latest thing to be blamed for global warming.

Farms are losing valuable topsoil in a rare dust storm across NSW and southern Queensland that has also raised concerns about an increase in carbon emissions.
[..]
“That’s a problem because that (the topsoil) is where most of our organic carbon is stored and carbon is a big issue in terms of emissions and sequestering carbon,” Dr Cattle said.

Dr. Cattle, whose sentences are as elegant as those written by cattle, is apparently a “soil scientist and dust expert at the University of Sydney”…yes, a dust expert. Did you ever know that such a thing existed?

Thankfully though, Dr. Cattle did admit to the ABC that the storms will occur whether we like it or not, and so didn’t blame global warming for dust storms which are now to blame for global warming…wouldn’t that be an interestingly vicious cycle?

“So to an extent we can control the severity of these storms, but at the end of the day nature will always win.”

Oops, sorry, I spoke to soon. The American Socialist Action group have already blamed Global Warming for dust storms. It looks like we have a vicious cycle after all.

Samuel

September 24th, 2009 at 06:23am

Teaching multiple languages in schools

An email to KXNT’s Alan Stock

G’day Alan,

I was most interested by your story about Californian students performing better when they were only taught English.

I’m not sure about the rest of the country, but here in Canberra our primary schools (K-6) have a bilingual program with a second language being taught for about an hour a week. At my primary school we were taught Japanese. From seven years of Japanese I learned how to count to ten, how to say “hello”, “goodbye”, “thank you”, “yes”, “away” and “welcome” and make the noise of a few characters of one of their alphabets.

I continued Japanese in the first year of high school because the education system forced me to. I did no work and got 100% on the first test based on my primary school knowledge, and failed every other test, except for the one where the teacher didn’t notice that the test I handed in was full of her own handwriting…she had given me the answer sheet by accident and I just put my name at the top.

Basically, eight years of my education was wasted on bilingual education, most of which consisted of the class sidetracking the teacher who could waffle on for hours about Japan if prompted, instead of presenting the planned lesson.

English should be the only language mandatorily taught in public schools both here in Australia, and over there in the US. Other languages should either be an optional extra for students old enough to make that decision for themself, or taught outside of school if the parents so desire.

Regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra, Australia

4 comments September 24th, 2009 at 02:02am


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