While discussing internet trends, a work colleague said: “have you seen all these blogs; they can say just anything! It’s terrible!” I of course admitted that I too was a blogger, and that I too say just about anything. While there may be problems associated with a democratisation of media, the pros far outweigh the cons.As the established media struggles to deal with the transition to online publication, an ever expanding army of bloggers relentlessly pumps out material that was once the exc... Read Full Story

The Australian government is planning to introduce internet filtering at the ISP level. This will make the internet up to 87% slower, more expensive, and will accidentally block up to one in 12 legitimate sites, while missing the vast majority of inappropriate content. Anyone who has worked in a government department behind an overly aggressive firewall will know what this is like: incredibly frustrating, inefficient and largely unworkable.The government will allow users the opportunity to &#... Read Full Story

Miss Naked Beauty purports to promote the cause of ‘real women’. It’s contestants are supposedly vying for the opportunity of being ambassadors for ‘natural beauty’ and the idea that a woman doesn’t have to be young and thin to be beautiful; in the winner’s immortal words (in fact, I think all the girls said it) everyone is beautiful. We are invited to believe that the winners of this reality TV contest will form the grass roots of a movement in defiance of the odious fashion industry, which ... Read Full Story

It is undeniable that to some men, size really does matter and the bigger the better. The inventor of soft porn, Russ Meyer was evidently obsessed with highly well endowed women such as Helen 'kitten' Natividad and Pandora Peaks. Meyer's trashy 60s movies like UltraVixens made an art form of the over sized booby, and these were all natural; no surgical enhancement here. Similarly, Howard Hughes also harboured a large breast fetish. He was so obsessed with Jane Russell's breas... Read Full Story

Caution: do not swallow chewing gum before an aerobics class... Read Full Story

"I Give You All My Money" by Scottish Artist Cathy WilkesA naked mannequin draped in horsehoes sitting on a toilet is one of several art works nominated for Britain's Turner Prize this year. Scotland-based Cathy Wilkes, who has also positioned a mannequin with her head in a bird cage in the work, is one of four artists nominated for contemporary art's most prestigious prize at London's Tate Britain museum. Brisbane TimesPhotos: the nomineesAlso on display are old porridg... Read Full Story

Several years ago a passing trend emerged in advertising; using sexualised images of men. In 2002, Voodoo produced an ad featuring a woman in a mini-skirt "walking" two naked men wearing collars - an image strangely prescient of the prison abuse images which have come out of Iraq. Is there such thing as reverse sexism? Who cares, as long as it creates a controversy that generates sales.Voodoo's "men-on-leash" ad generated about 60 complaints to the Advertising Standard... Read Full Story

Of course this photo of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin has been digitally altered, but it does outline what she stands for to at least some extent. Fake bikini pics of Sarah seem to be all the rage at the moment. Her popularity as an object of desire has been compared to that of ex British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Many of 'the iron maiden's' political colleagues expressed that they thought Maggie was a nice piece of crumpet. Her one-time junior minister, the late philandere... Read Full Story

dancers perform at the women's beach volleyball gold medal matchJust what is the fascination with athletes in skimpy costumes, posing nude for magazines etc. etc. all about? There are surely much more explicit pornographic images all over the internet. Just why are pictures like these so popular? It's about the context of course. We somehow associate the Olympics with ideals of 'athletic purity'. Seeing semi dressed or nude athletes is all the more titillating because it seems... Read Full Story

Posing nude for the cameras is a trend gaining increasing popularity with athletes. Four German Olympic sportswomen: sailor Petra Niemann, hockey striker Katharina Scholz, canoeist Nicole Reinhardt and judo fighter Romy Tarangul have posed for German Playboy, joining a host of other stars like Amanda Beard using nudity in the name of a cause. British triple jumper Phillips Idowu , British cyclist Rebecca Romero and Scottish swimmer Gregor Tait have also bared all for an advertising promotion... Read Full Story