Australia is entering a golden age of all-you-can-eat streaming music.

Who needs pirate radio with a music library at your fingertips?

Twelve months ago things looked pretty grim on the subscription music front. Australians looked on with envy at impressive foreign services such as Rhapsody, which they could only access using trickery such as VPNs and US credit cards. Yet as we enter 2012 we’re awash with subscription music services, and there are more on the way.

If you’re keen for a taste of a local subscription music service, your options include Rdio, JB HiFi Now, Zune Pass, Songl (formerly Anubis.fm) and Music Unlimited (formerly Qriocity). Several more will be launched in the next few months.

Many work with the impressive Sonos Digital Music System, designed to stream music around your home. Some work with smartphones and tablets, plus you’ve got others targeted at specific mobile devices, from the likes of Samsung and BlackBerry. Along with all of these you’ve got Apple’s iTunes Match, although it only lets you listen to songs you already own.

Subscription music services put millions of songs in your pocket, but the trade-off is that you don’t “own” them. To be honest I doubt this will deter most people, nor will the MP3-esque sound quality. These days convenience and flexibility are what most people are chasing. I don’t think people will stop buying music immediately, at first they’ll use subscription services to flesh out their back catalogue and try new music before they buy.

Eventually the concept of “owning” content will seem irrelevant, but it might well take a generational change. As fixed and mobile broadband gets faster and cheaper, the music listeners of tomorrow will expect an entire music library at their fingertips.

At the risk of treading into Produce territory, I note the arrival of an update for Final Cut Pro X.

Final Cut Pro X caused a stir when it arrived, mainly for the wrong reasons. One particular concern was the lack of compatibility with projects created in previous versions, and Apple eventually conceded by providing a mechanism for enterprise customers to buy additional Final Cut Pro 7 licences. A low-cost third-party conversion tool (7toX for Final Cut Pro) has just arrived, and plugins to extend Final Cut Pro X are appearing.

As expected, Apple has pressed on with Final Cut Pro X development. The just-released version 10.0.3 delivers some interesting features. It's unlikely that they'll result in anyone switching back to Final Cut Pro if they defected to another editing suite after Final Cut Pro X debuted, but they do reward those who stayed with the program.

Apple is highlighting the multicam feature, which automatically synchronises clips taken from different angles by matching the audio waveforms, time and date, or timecode - even if the source clips are in different formats, frame sizes or frame rates. It's then easy to watch multiple angles while editing and cut between them as required.

You can see how useful that would be even for amateur projects - for example, two or three parents could work together to shoot their kids' sports match or concert, and then combine the results for a much more professional look. I've shot my share of one-camera videos of such events, and the lack of cuts between angles leads to a boring result. It's not that it's been impossible to combine clips from multiple cameras, just that it has involved more work than most casual videographers could be bothered with.

It's a sign of the times that software costing $319.99 is considered expensive, but even so Final Cut Pro X is within reach of a moderately serious video enthusiast.

Chroma keying has been improved in version 10.0.3 to the point where Apple claims "You can tackle complex keying challenges right in Final Cut Pro X, without having to export to a motion graphics application, and view your results instantly with realtime playback."

The other good thing about Final Cut Pro X is that as it is sold via the Mac App Store, updates are free and the program can be used on all of the buyer's Macs. If you're not already sold, a 30-day free trial is available here.

I misled my Windows Media Center last night and instead of recording some obscure 3am program on the ABC, I instead managed to record an old, long lost favourite of my pre-youth, Thunderbirds. (I still miss Fireball XL5 and Supercar!)

Now call me old fashioned, but even in middle age (careful!) Thunderbirds still rates up there with Lego, Meccano and model train sets as things to bring a smile to my face. I was initially attracted to Thunderbirds as a 6 year old due to the fantastic model making demonstrated by the skilled artistry of the workshops of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. I have always wanted to be a model maker, but have the skills and dexterity of a goal post.

You also have to remember that this was the beginning of the space age, and all sorts of weird and wonderful devices and ideas were being played out by people trying to guess the future and us kids lapped it up and had imaginations fired. We’d draw our versions of space ships, laser guns, death rays, flying cars and it was wonderful!

The exotic craft and gadgets of Thunderbirds were borne of those very minds. I distinctly remember seeing the first Toyota Crown (1973) and thinking, “Hey, I drew that as a one man submarine in 1966!” (I still dabble in 3D visualizations using Cinema 4D as a relaxation thing.

Back to Thunderbirds.

Okay the storylines might have been naff, and a pink six wheeled Rolls Royce would not be allowed today without a hefty licencing fee, but that wasn't the point! They were meant to be fun!

And that they were. Comparing today's TV is like chalk and cheese. We are swamped with US sitcoms with overbearing laughter tracks to non-funny dialogue and there is usually some daffy squeeky voiced blonde in evidence as the fall guy.

How about our TV and film makers being a little brave and stepping out of the comfort zone and bringing back some magic to the screen. There has been some of late; Dr Who springs immediately to mind as does Sherlock (the Stephen Moffat version). And Midsomer STILL drags in major audiences as does Grand Designs, the Vicar of Dibley and Doc Martin.

But what about something different apart from the 'kids in the coffee shop who live in the same block of 'apartments', the impossible crime scene, the hospital or the dysfunctional family. Surely there are writers and producers who can do better than this?

Go on be brave! Think ahead as against copying the mundane. I dare you!

I recently sat through a presentation by the owner of a small software firm who was busy pitching a new cloud-based computing offering to sporting clubs.

The sales patter highlighted some key benefits: smoother administration, reduced book work, easier tracking of membership details and faster collection of fees.

The presentation was warmly received by a number of club leaders who were obviously tired of dealing with exactly these kinds of issues.

While many were not sure exactly what cloud computing might be, the benefits it seemed to offer had them queuing for more information at the end of the session.

As I watched, it struck me that this is where a huge growth wave in cloud computing services is going to emerge - micro businesses.

While the IT managers in large, mid-sized and even small businesses are well aware of the benefits of the cloud, there are tens of thousands of micro-businesses that stand to gain just as much from the concept.

Software and service providers that spot this trend stand to make some healthy profits. Sure, each sale is going to be relatively small, but multiply small by 5000 and the number gets interesting.

Have you come across any cloud-based applications aimed at micro businesses? I'd be interested to hear about them.

Which gadgets do you take on holidays?

Most of Australia is taking a sickie today, turning Australia Day into a four-day long weekend. It's the perfect chance to get away for a few days before business picks up and school goes back.

Improving mobile broadband coverage means it's practical to take smartphones, tablets and notebooks away with you - even if it's just to update Facebook, play games and listen to music. But you probably don't want to take them all, so which is best?

If it's a working holiday then I'd probably favour a notebook. If the budget allows, I'd invest in an ultrabook or a MacBook Air. A good keyboard is important to me, which is why I'd be reluctant to rely on a tablet or smartphone.

But if you're determined not to work, a tablet is probably a good choice. But it can be a hassle if you're looking to transfer photos from your camera, or if you rely on services which require a desktop browser (in my case, Content Management Systems for blogs). One handy workaround is to use Logmein to access a computer you've left running at home. It can be a little cumbersome, but worth the hassle if it means you can leave your notebook at home.

What goes in your tech travel bag?