University of Wollongong graduate Cooper Lees now works at Facebook. While the Facebook hours are flexible, the days can be long. Lees typically leaves home at 7.30am and does not return until 9pm. Demarcation between work and home life is blurred, with all meals offered free on-site.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/expertise/facebook-fishing-for-new-talent-in-wollongong-20131212-hv5go.html

HSC students are picking easier subjects and arriving at university ill-prepared partly because universities have decided not to mandate required knowledge for entry into certain degrees, education leaders acknowledge.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/educators-acknowledge-hsc-flaws-20131211-2z6fm.html

Homeless man learns code on streets and launches his own app, Trees for Cars

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/technology/homeless-man-learns-code-on-streets-and-launches-his-own-app-trees-for-cars/story-fni0byfm-1226780823390

President Barack Obama kicked off Computer Science Education Week on Monday with a simple message: “Don’t just play on your phone. Program it.” “Learning these skills isn’t just important for your future, it’s important for our country’s future,” Obama said in a YouTube video. “If we want America to stay on the cutting edge, we need young Americans like you to master the tools and technology that will change the way we do just about everything.”

http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/12/obama-code/

Why movies like The Hobbit are moving from 24 to 48 fps

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/128113-why-movies-are-moving-from-24-to-48-fps

NSA spied on Xbox Live and World of Warcraft to infiltrate terrorist groups. Perhaps unnervingly, the leaked documents did not reveal any indication that the spying uncovered any kind of terrorist activity.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/172288-nsa-spied-on-xbox-live-and-world-of-warcraft-to-infiltrate-terrorist-groups

Design by Victorian firm Slash judged best plan for rebirth of Royal Adelaide Hospital site. "The jury was impressed by the depth and breadth of research Slash and Phillips/Pilkington Architects took into the social and physical history and condition of the RAH site," she said. "The winner's scheme offers a vision for an evolving, dynamic civic place and it offers a high degree of economic viability. "Their proposal presented a sustainable proposition by minimising energy and waste.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/design-by-victorian-firm-slash-judged-best-plan-for-rebirth-of-royal-adelaide-hospital-site/story-fni6uo1m-1226779633812

An Australian surveillance executive whose firm was contracted by several clients to sweep for hidden mobile interceptors and other spying devices in Australia and Asia has found dozens of them. Les Goldsmith, chief executive of ESD Group, told Fairfax Media his company found about 20 physical bugs when conducting sweeps in Australian business and local government offices, and another 68 in Asia between 2005 and 2011. The firm found 47 bugs in Papua New Guinea, ten in Singapore, three in the Philippines, five in Thailand, two in India and one in Fiji in several searches.

http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/spy-bugs-found-in-australia-and-asia-20131206-hv4kl.html