Sources said representatives from Amazon have been in touch with real estate circles to scout for high quality and affordable warehouses. It appears that the company’s expansion plans in the Asia-Pacific region include setting up shop in Australia.

The move is a wise one. Having a distribution centre in Australia would mean significant savings for the company. Amazon would benefit from more efficient deliver times and lower operational expenses especially for customers within the Asia-Pacific region.

The news, however, is causing nervousness among local retailers. Local shops are already feeling the pinch, no thanks to increasing trend of shoppers going online for sales and purchases. Data showed that 10 percent of retail sales come from online.

Sources said that Amazon representatives are likely to visit Australia in the next few months for ocular inspection of prospective warehouses. Amazon would either lease a property or agree to be a pre-committed tenant.

Real estate observers predict that Amazon is likely to look for a property near transport hubs to ensure smooth warehousing and delivery operations. Some of the potential areas include Sydney, Port of Melbourne, and Port Botany.

Amazon made a name for its online book retailing business. Over the years, it has expanded its business by including other products in its offerings like DVD, e-readers (Kindle), video-on demand, among others.

The State Internet Information Office implemented the web crackdown. It is the government agency in charge of monitoring and policing Internet activities.

The crackdown reflects the government’s uneasiness of its citizens’ increasing use of the web to discuss political matters. It is also a way to prevent rumors from getting blown out of proportion.

The detained people have not been identified. The closed websites had as many as 300 million active users. Sina Corporation and Tencent Holdings, owners of websites similar to social networking site Twitter, also announced that the comment sections would be disabled temporarily to clean them up.

China is experiencing one of its worst political crises. The punishments arose after rumors spread about military vehicles entering China’s capital Beijing.

These rumors, meanwhile, stemmed from the termination of Bo Xilai two weeks ago. Xilai revealed leadership issues of the Communist Party, a topic that is not usually shared outside the group.

Before Xilai’s termination, a top aide from the party escaped and fled to a US consulate. The aide wanted to seek an asylum status, a move that violates the ruling party’s rules.

Xilai is believed to being groomed for a senior leadership role in the party. The job is highly sought and is the center of intense bargaining.

Terms such as “court order” have been changed to “softer terms” like “government request” to circumvent some laws. The term “court order” implies that authorities can get data from web companies literally without a ruling from the courts. The term has now been changed to “government request.”

Vaile is concerned that this pattern would lead to “fishing expeditions,” an act that extracts information without the need to get a search warrant. This can pose a serious threat to privacy.

Vaile said that a court order provides a roadblock to authorities because of the need to justify their actions. Without this clause, authorities can just request for user data without heavy justification. Authorities may also start routinely requesting for user data even without a justifiable need.

Google has recently updated its Privacy Policy. The policy indicates that the company may provide user data upon the request of government.

Google, however, refused to discuss the details of the privacy changes. It released a statement saying requests are all evaluated. The web giant reiterated its commitment to privacy saying users are notified if changes affect them.

Mia Garlick, Facebook Communications and Policy manager, said that Facebook places safety and security as top priorities. Garlick said the company has a strong relationship with local authorities and that systems are in place in case they need assistance.

Once sold door to door for close to $2,000 for a set of 32 ornamental books, it appears as though the digital age has taken yet another victim. Encyclopaedia Britannica will instead focus on its online web services and school curriculum products. President of Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. Jorge Cauz remarked:

It’s a rite of passage in this new era, Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The website is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.

The final set of immaculate leather bound encyclopedias will be the 2010 Edition, in all its 32 volume glory. Whilst many will be disappointed that the beautiful books will no longer grace the world’s living rooms, questions will inevitably be asked whether the printed encyclopedia could have been saved with a more modern business model.

It it clear that there was a time when the printed versions had a monopoly over knowledge before research became about Googling. Knowing this, there was a relatively high markup on the printed encyclopedias which could no longer be justified in the online world. Britannica never dropped their prices to modernize it’s market appeal and re position itself as a viable alternative to having a computer switched on 24/7.

The point may be moot now, but I expect if they Britannica could have slashed the cost of printed encyclopedias, the living room education of the world would not be tainted by Wikipedia, which has an over supply of serial know-it-all types hell bent on making their view the world view.

Australian Taxation Office
10/03/2012

TAX REFUND NOTIFICATION

Dear Taxpayer,
After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a tax refund of 254.33 AUD

Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days in order to process it.

To access your tax refund, please follow the steps below:

.....- download the Tax Refund Form attached to this email
.....- open it in a browser
.....- follow the instructions on your screen

A refund can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline.

Regards,
Australian Government

Now, if you were to open the said attachment, the form would ask you for your credit card details which is what the phishing is about. Why anyone would actually open the attachment baffles me as there are so many clues identifying this email as a hoax.

I am going to list five reasons why the above email is clearly not who it claims to be from:

[checklist]

• The ATO will never email you asking for information
• There is no annual calculations of fiscal activity
• There is no such thing as a tax refund form, it is called a tax return.
• The ATO will not usually describe your tax refund as 254.22 AUD
• The ATO processing time is never 6-9 days, it is either 14 days or 28 days.
• The ATO will never sign off as Australian Government

[/checklist]

There are plenty more (feel free to comment on them) but i think we all need to invigorate ourselves with a healthy degree of skepticism when it comes to people or organisations contacting us and asking us for things.