Cupstart, a platform used by many coffee lovers to order their favourite brew and pay for it online, was started by Mike Boyd. The entrepreneur believed that this business will succeed—thanks to customers not wanting to wait in line to have their daily caffeine fix. What Boyd didn’t realise was that it’s not the queue that customers hated. It was the fact that they had to carry cash to buy coffee.

Cupstart, like other online businesses, requires users to make an account and purchase prepaid credits. From there, registered users can browse the menu and select the nearest partner cafes where they can pick up their order. Once a selection has been made, users can give their orders directly to the barista without waiting in line before their orders can be taken. This scenario is perfect when you’re running late for work; You can just go online using your laptops, computers, iPads, and mobile phones to order your favourite cup of coffee.

Incidentally, Vella Nero Coffee store owners and sisters (Gina, Vicky, and Aileen Young) are not surprised by the success of the online coffee business. Vella Nero, which happens to be the winner of Champion Espresso award and is considered as Sydney’s Best Coffee in 2008, has been growing through the years. The Vella Nero cafe is located at 259 Clarence Street, Sydney CBD and also offers their products online.

Aileen said ” The coffee industry is rapidly growing and with new developments in technology it’s fun time for all coffee lovers.

Visit Vella Nero at www.vellanero.com.au and Cupstart at www.cupstart.com

Environmentalists all over Brisbane are continuing to rally against the planned coal mine being built and developed by Xstrata, one of the biggest mining group worldwide.

Environmental groups in Australia such as Friends of the Earth are trying to stop the construction of the coal mine by appealing to the court. According to the group, they are refusing this construction because of it will be a cause of a massive climate change impact that will affect not only those who are living in Brisbane, but other parts of the world too, since the said coal mine will be the largest coal mine in the southern hemisphere. 30 million tonnes of coal are expected to be extracted from it for export.

According to Dr. Bradley Smith, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, the coal mine will create an unacceptable amount of carbon dioxide pollution which has been estimated to be around 1.3 billion tonnes.

However, Xstrata lawyers are saying that they are willing to put an expert in the testimonial stand to clear up all the fears and speculations. The company is also saying that they have adhered to the best and most responsible environmental practice. They have also presented economic benefits such as the $336 million that can be earned in the operations and the $3.7 billion in royalties it is expected to earn over the 30-year lease, as well as their future plans such as the rehabilitation of the area when the mine closed.

Related Resources

1. Xstrata Mining Group- www.xstrata.com
2. Friends of the Earth Organisation – www.foe.org.au
3. Coal Mining Services – www.coalservices.com.au

An unfortunate incident has taken the lives of eleven people, most of whom are children. The incident happened in Wagensveldt Street, Kingston, South of Brisbane. It is believed that the fire, which has taken the lives of 2 Tongan and Samoan families sharing the ruined house, occurred while the victims were sleeping. There is also reason to suspect that those who passed away belong to three generations in the family.

One of the fathers, Misi Matauaina, jumped out the window and was able to leave the burning house with minor scratches, but he lost his whole family. The same thing can be said of the other father. One of the male survivors suffered facial injuries while the other male survivor got an injury on his shoulder. Witnesses say that a cushion was placed under the window and that one of the fathers was urging the children to jump out of the window. Unfortunately, the children couldn’t jump out and huddled together instead.

It seems that the fire was so great that the roof fell in. According to acting police chief superintendent Peter Ryan, “The house has been reduced to a charred hull”. He further notes that the interiors of the house were a complete wreck.

On one note, superintendent Powers says that, “”Never in my service, never have I seen anything like this.” He also says that given the extent of the fire, formal identification of the victims may rely on dental examinations. He also adds that it could take some time before identification of the victims’ bodies could be confirmed.

The survivors are expected to give detailed information about the incident once they have recovered from the shock of this ferocious fire incident. They are the only ones who can help piece together the cause of the incident.

You can find more information about this article here.

Kondoot, a social network focused on streaming of videos, aims to take on Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Kondoot started last month and is now slowly but surely making itself known in the world wide web. Apparently, the best of Brisbane’s tech-heads have gathered in order to reach this goal.

Kondoot, as compared to YouTube, will be featuring live videos from its users. Nathan Hoad, representative for Kondoot, mentions that there will be text chat and video calls for said social networking site. Users from over a hundred countries have joined and can befriend other users. The main selling point though is that Kondoot offers various options of video streaming. Hoad also says that “It’s mostly about connecting people and video is just one way to do that.”

Hoad, who also happens to be one of the programmers, says that it took more than a year to come up with Kondoot. It is also mentioned that the Kondoot team is working 18 hour/day shifts to ensure that the site feature new features that users will enjoy.

With 750 million and 250 million users from Facebook and Google, respectively, Kondoot has a lot of catching up to do if they wish to take over the social networking scene. However, they have only just started and it seems things are looking up for this new social networking site

Brisbane recently got a taste of another side of Indonesian music. The Pesta Merdeka Festival, otherwise known as Independence Day Party, was celebrated last 17 August 2011 in Brisbane Powerhouse, New Farm. The celebrations started at 4pm.

Krongcong, one of the oldest forms of Indonesian music and as Nyak Ina “Ubiet” Raseuki describes is a “contemporary popular music,” will be introduced in said gathering. Also, krongcong is the name of a musical instrument that resembles a ukelele that was introduced sometime around the 16^th century in Indonesia by the Portuguese. Ubiet is the lead for the group named Ubiet and Krongcong Tengarra.

The Pesta Merdeka Festival showcased several traditional dance and acoustic numbers, Indonesian food, and have given Australian locals a peek at Indonesian culture. The Independence Day Party started with the flag-raising ceremony and singing of the Indonesian national anthem called Indonesia Raya. Said festival then ended with a bang from Ubiet’s number.

A student of Indonesian Student Association of Queensland, Lystia Hardiana, mentioned that since the celebration is done at the month of Ramadan, there will be a call for a 5:30 PM prayer. Guests were invited to take part in the “breaking of the fast.” Food, traditionally served at fasting months, such as satay, rice cakes, and grilled chicken were offered in the bazaar.

Furthermore, Indonesian Consulate General were offering Indonesian citizens some services that are related to state documents like passport renewal and registration.