It's been a while. In fact, I recently wrote a rant about job interviews and personal enlightenment and got a bit of status on BlogCritics. Seems I started a trend of people talking about mental illness and social distance.
Now, however, I've started writing about intellectuals and how they function within society. How does one be an intellectual and how does one hone those skills? There is much to consider, but so far I have quite a few ideas bubbling upto the surface.
Meanwhile I'm letting a few ideas boil up in regard to my fantasy/alegory about the financial crisis, which is kind of interesting. But you know how it is.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hi to everyone who reads this thing. I've been kind of busy lately. I mean, much of what I'm finding out about the postal service is drying up. I mean, it is interesting to look at the global context, but the information I want is in entirely different cities, so I think I may have to put this project on hold for the time being.
Anyway, in other news I have been thinking about the role of institutions in disseminating information, and in particular I have been thinking about the role of educational institutions in the pursuit of this ends. After all, while much of the communication we have in society is dependent on print, broadcast and interactive media, educational institutions are set up to disseminate certain information and socialize the practice of certain behaviour.
The regimentation of rules and standards are a form of communication that has as much influence as the things that we read or write. And it is from this vantage that social hegemony is established.
Something to think about.
Anyway, in other news I have been thinking about the role of institutions in disseminating information, and in particular I have been thinking about the role of educational institutions in the pursuit of this ends. After all, while much of the communication we have in society is dependent on print, broadcast and interactive media, educational institutions are set up to disseminate certain information and socialize the practice of certain behaviour.
The regimentation of rules and standards are a form of communication that has as much influence as the things that we read or write. And it is from this vantage that social hegemony is established.
Something to think about.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Well, I don't have to go back to job seeker training for a few weeks - or ever if I get this job I've been getting interviewed for. It's tech support for Apple computers. Yeah, I know, I can't stand Macs, but it's work and so long as I at least do it for a few weeks, I can go off and then back on centrelink, and thus have an even longer break without JST.
Meanwhile, my research has been delayed until such time as I can actually dedicate myself to it. And, with me going in for an interview most of tomorrow, I'll be able to visit the state library in the evening.
That said, I've gotten very interested in the literacy rates of the colonies since it occurs to me that literacy would have had to be reasonably high in order for the mail to have so much importance. And what I've found so far is that emigrant literacy was often higher than the countries they were leaving in 1841. Of course, this says little about the literacy of the convicts themselves, but it is something to keep in mind.
Anyway, that's all for today.
Meanwhile, my research has been delayed until such time as I can actually dedicate myself to it. And, with me going in for an interview most of tomorrow, I'll be able to visit the state library in the evening.
That said, I've gotten very interested in the literacy rates of the colonies since it occurs to me that literacy would have had to be reasonably high in order for the mail to have so much importance. And what I've found so far is that emigrant literacy was often higher than the countries they were leaving in 1841. Of course, this says little about the literacy of the convicts themselves, but it is something to keep in mind.
Anyway, that's all for today.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
My research into the mail has been progressing with very interesting results. And in particular, I'm trying to figure out if the mail is part of what allowed people to sprawl. After all, the gold rush pushed the establishment of post offices, but it was the metropolitan areas that saw the greatest benefit from the post.
Does it necessarily follow that any communication technology is going to have a long tail, with a huge resources slant toward the city? I wonder. So far as I can tell, the post office suffered the same problems as the telephone and internet, and we must consider the extent to which the city has been expected to subsidise mail routes, wiring and broadband outlay, for the rural communities that would otherwise be left behind.
Speaking of which, I have just been inspired by the following video about violence epidemics, and it has inspired me to consider how technology might in fact be spread in the same way that viruses, fads and memes do. That is, by transmission. And it seems possible that the reason for the cities to become hotbeds for technology might have a lot to do with the opportunity for people to spread it to their friends. Anyway, enjoy the video:
Does it necessarily follow that any communication technology is going to have a long tail, with a huge resources slant toward the city? I wonder. So far as I can tell, the post office suffered the same problems as the telephone and internet, and we must consider the extent to which the city has been expected to subsidise mail routes, wiring and broadband outlay, for the rural communities that would otherwise be left behind.
Speaking of which, I have just been inspired by the following video about violence epidemics, and it has inspired me to consider how technology might in fact be spread in the same way that viruses, fads and memes do. That is, by transmission. And it seems possible that the reason for the cities to become hotbeds for technology might have a lot to do with the opportunity for people to spread it to their friends. Anyway, enjoy the video:
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ok, further research at this point has suggested an interesting twist in the hunt for why QLD sought the establishment of a steamship company with which to trade directly with Singapore and Java.... coal.
Granted, the postal route was important in that it allowed for business mail to transpire, but it was not long before Queensland split off from New South that significant deposits were discovered near ipswitch and up north. I will have to explore this further, because at this stage it appears to be a holistic solution - sell coal and, perhaps more importantly, escape isolation.
See, the thing is, up until the establishment of the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company, which was set up with the subsidy of 20K from the state government, P&O offered absolutely no mail routes to Brisbane or northern Queensland. The post had to go via syd, which was ultimately ineffecient. And it would be some years before it was possible to send messages north by telegraph.
Queensland's connection to Asia was also crucial as a source of cheep labour, so you can imagine the value of that connection.
Granted, the postal route was important in that it allowed for business mail to transpire, but it was not long before Queensland split off from New South that significant deposits were discovered near ipswitch and up north. I will have to explore this further, because at this stage it appears to be a holistic solution - sell coal and, perhaps more importantly, escape isolation.
See, the thing is, up until the establishment of the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company, which was set up with the subsidy of 20K from the state government, P&O offered absolutely no mail routes to Brisbane or northern Queensland. The post had to go via syd, which was ultimately ineffecient. And it would be some years before it was possible to send messages north by telegraph.
Queensland's connection to Asia was also crucial as a source of cheep labour, so you can imagine the value of that connection.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
This weekend began with a further examination of Postal History, and it is interesting to consider the role of population. Especially given some of my sources.
For a start, it's interesting that trade with Asia didn't really open until mid century, and that it was only in the 1859 that Queensland broke off from NSW... prior to all this other stuff, QLD population stats had been lumped together with NSW, which raises questions about the true pop of the region we think of as NSW.
Of course, we should keep in mind that Sydney was pretty big in and of itself. What's interesting however, is that Brisbane got it's own post office in 1842, and then becomes GPO just after separating from new south.
More importantly, the general post office always popped up in the state capital, regardless of geography. For instance, Mail travelled 17 hours by horse and carriage between Launceston and Hobart. Yet despite Launceston being closer to Sydney and the southern states by ship, the mail left port from Hobart. And all the royal mail went from Sydney anyway, so it's no like Hobart had ships carrying mail directly to England via the great circle route.
Given that Hobart was the original settlement and held the bulk of the population, you could probably infer that state wide mail took priority over inter-colonial. Especially when you consider that Launceston has been roughly half the size of Hobart for much of the 20th century, it's fair to say that there was less demand for the mail there.
As for Queensland, mail travelled between two main post offices at the time. The Springs near the Darling Downs (home of the squattocracy) and Brisbane (the home of disenfranchised arrivals). And there was a whole class-warfare going on at this time, with worker shortages driving squatters to bringing in bounded indian labour - later followed by the mass immegration of chinese exiles.
No doubt this would have been facilitated by international trade, and the Queensland government would later pursue the creation of trade and mail routs that went north via singapore and india to England. Could it be that geography was going to shape the technology after all?
We'll have to wait and see what happens in the second half of the 19th century post.
For a start, it's interesting that trade with Asia didn't really open until mid century, and that it was only in the 1859 that Queensland broke off from NSW... prior to all this other stuff, QLD population stats had been lumped together with NSW, which raises questions about the true pop of the region we think of as NSW.
Of course, we should keep in mind that Sydney was pretty big in and of itself. What's interesting however, is that Brisbane got it's own post office in 1842, and then becomes GPO just after separating from new south.
More importantly, the general post office always popped up in the state capital, regardless of geography. For instance, Mail travelled 17 hours by horse and carriage between Launceston and Hobart. Yet despite Launceston being closer to Sydney and the southern states by ship, the mail left port from Hobart. And all the royal mail went from Sydney anyway, so it's no like Hobart had ships carrying mail directly to England via the great circle route.
Given that Hobart was the original settlement and held the bulk of the population, you could probably infer that state wide mail took priority over inter-colonial. Especially when you consider that Launceston has been roughly half the size of Hobart for much of the 20th century, it's fair to say that there was less demand for the mail there.
As for Queensland, mail travelled between two main post offices at the time. The Springs near the Darling Downs (home of the squattocracy) and Brisbane (the home of disenfranchised arrivals). And there was a whole class-warfare going on at this time, with worker shortages driving squatters to bringing in bounded indian labour - later followed by the mass immegration of chinese exiles.
No doubt this would have been facilitated by international trade, and the Queensland government would later pursue the creation of trade and mail routs that went north via singapore and india to England. Could it be that geography was going to shape the technology after all?
We'll have to wait and see what happens in the second half of the 19th century post.
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