Kate Hennessy : Freelance Writer

During the Industrial Revolution, workers staring into the iron maw of machinery that did not fatigue, responded by fighting for the eight-hour day. Underpinned by the belief that quality of life was best maintained by eight hours labour, eight hours rest and eight hours recreation, now the Information Revolution is infiltrating all three.

The internet and its glossy harem of mobile devices give us access to information and entertainment anytime, anyplace. They have delivered a knockout blow to previous ways of life. Those of us cynical of technology’s benefits are considered old-fashioned or – worse – ‘out of the loop’. But constant connectivity is shadowed by health and wellbeing concerns. These include stress, disturbed sleep, less dedicated family time, plummeting concentration skills, weight problems, eroded holidays and burnout. Still, we can’t get enough. Demand for iPhones grew by 230% in Australia last year and globally children spend more time online than ever.

Spinning like tops in the middle of all this convenience and connectivity – are we happier?

Susan Maushart decided to find out.

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A CAREER GAZING INTO THE FAR REACHES OF THE GALAXY AND BACK TO THE WONDERS OF THE TINIEST MOLECULE HAS BLESSED SPACE ARTIST JON LOMBERG WITH UNIQUE INSIGHT.

“Thirty-two years ago something extraordinary happened to me,” wrote American artist Jon Lomberg in 2009.

“I was sitting in the viewing stands at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, watching the launch of NASA’s Voyager 2 mission to the outer solar system and beyond.”

Lomberg had reason to be watching Voyager so keenly. Something he’d laboured over very hard was on board. It was August 20, 1977, and in the six weeks prior to take-off a small team selected by NASA had created the Voyager Interstellar Record, a 12-inch gold-plated phonograph record that contained the best account the team could summon of our world to date.

Its intended audience? Extraterrestrials.

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WITH A RICH HISTORICAL HERITAGE AND FINE WINE AND DINING EXPERIENCES IN THE PRESENCE OF BREATHTAKING NATURAL SCENERY,  MUDGEE IS A LITTLE SLICE OF PARADISE FOR ANY TRAVELLER.

“Some winemakers go along in a tractor spraying the vines and never getting dirty — we call them ‘windshield viticulturalists’.”

It’s six in the evening at Thistle Hill organic winery in Mudgee. The January heat still shimmers across the vines and, in the distance, rise the picturesque hills that give the area its Wiradjuri Aboriginal name — Mudgee means “nest in the hills”. We’re sitting in low, dappled sun, sipping on a prize-winning 2009 Riesling.

The road from Mudgee to Gulgong

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Xmas trees, by the numbers.

Do you remember it as a kid – ABC TV’s Behind the News (BtN)? The program has been producing children’s news stories for more than 30 years and reaches about 500,000 children weekly.

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