Individuality lost in a web of advertising

Follow the money and you'll end up at the ads. IS ADVERTISING the financial enabler of the internet or the ultimate debaser of its potential? Is it the web's vital creative engine room or a usurping beast that demands that all other content and activity be without value? Would we all be happier if the internet were ad-free?

Memorial of little miracles and essential stories

THE chimney stands alone among the towering trees €” a token of home and hearth, but also, in the absence of the homestead that once surrounded it, a reminder of the desolation of Black Saturday.

'Legends' are worthy of long, overdue debate

There was a lot of grey hair and more than a few paunches, when Football Federation Australia unveiled the latest inductees into the Hall of Fame at a function alongside the banks of the Yarra River this week.

Reality Bites? A Second Life Is Virtually Yours

RICARDO MALVEIRA has a simple piece of advice for those faced with the grim reality of the slowing global economy: avoid it.

Go Forth And Multiply . . . Bloggers, You Are Not Alone

The image of bloggers as sad, lonely and friendless fails to reflect the complex, and very social, reality.

Virtual Reality Cinema Trains Miners For Danger

A VIRTUAL reality system developed at the University of NSW has overcome a classic conundrum for the coal industry: how to provide realistic training for emergencies which does not put people at risk.

My Virtual Chance At A Second Life

A virtual reality computer game is leading players on a journey into the future.

$12m Taste Of Reality

ILLAWARRA coalmining training is to undergo a high-tech revolution through a $12 million training facility and virtual reality simulator.

Virtual Imaging Could Be Cheaper Goal

The company offering to solve the AFL's goal umpiring problem with virtual reality imaging believes it can supply the most accurate solution at less than half the price of the other options being considered by the league.

Virtual Tourism Is Here

The Science Centre and Planetarium has long led visitors on voyages of discovery - soon it will allow them to travel into the realm of virtual reality. IMAGINE being able to wander through the Illawarra's many attractions without taking a single step.

Virtual Treatment Soothes The Brain To Ease The Pain

Doctors at The Alfred hospital are helping burns patients cope with the pain of having dressings changed, using distraction by virtual reality, a first in Australia.

Virtual Surgeon But Real Operations, As Blue Mountains Leads The World

The State Government has turned to the internet, setting up a ``virtual reality" unit in the emergency department of a Blue Mountains hospital to address a critical shortage of specialists.

Now The Dream Is Virtually A Reality

Virtual reality technology has come a long way, writes Adam Turner.

Law Body Fears Virtual Verdicts

Jurors will be taking virtual reality tours through crime scenes by the end of the year using technology that Victorian police have developed.

Art Of The Virtual Kind

Meredith Walsh is really into her art. The Canberra-based artist is four months into a year's residency with the CSIRO's virtual reality group, where she is exploring the potential of virtual environments.