tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-165028182009-01-06T10:12:03.783+11:00Technology travel reports from high speed trains, hot air balloons and about bicycles. With some thoughts on e-commerce, net business and IT education by Tom Worthington.Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.comBlogger1532125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-1491142629225589082009-01-06T09:25:00.004+11:002009-01-06T09:37:43.358+11:00

An interesting point I came across in preparing a Green ICT course is that who does the auditing of CO2 emission schemes is still up in the air (pun intended). The Australian Department of Climate Change issued a Draft National Carbon Offset Standard, 19 December 2008, along with a Discussion Paper and an External Audit Consultation Paper (October 2008). I have summarised these for week 12 of the

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-54523610471506636572009-01-05T13:46:00.005+11:002009-01-05T14:13:36.541+11:00

The Canberra Times newspaper included an item with predictions of what will happen with computers and telecommunications in 2009 ("Big loads in gloomy paths", Simon Grouse, Canberra Times, 5 January 2009). Here is a summary of mine (much the same as for 2008): ... Moore's law will result in the ICT spend reducing in 2009, while delivering more service. Telcos will sell a lot of 3G wireless

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-6909494658587019112009-01-04T16:42:00.002+11:002009-01-04T16:52:16.182+11:00

The article "Static Screens" (Popular Mechanics, January 2009) covers the issue of Phosphor burn-in well, but fails to suggest computer users set their screen saver to switch off the screen and save power. Old CT computer monitors suffer from burn-in when an image is left on the screen too long. Screen savers counter this by replacing the static image. However, a better option is to set the

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-72324059888836644412009-01-04T16:12:00.003+11:002009-01-04T16:41:52.977+11:00

The Canberra Business Council made a submission on "High Speed Rail for Australia: An opportunity for the 21st century" in April 2008. They also light rail for Canberra in an Infrastructure Australia submission. However, it should be noted that the Sydney to Canberra route at 270km could be serviced in under three hours by conventional railways already in service in Australia, with a modest

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-74519934296380254812009-01-04T15:08:00.003+11:002009-01-04T15:53:07.219+11:00

Banrock Station launched its "Ecomate" in mid 2008. This is wine in cardboard Tetra Paks, using the same technology as for keeping fruit juice fresh without refrigeration. Banrock make much of the environmental credentials of this form of packaging. But apart from reducing the weight and bulk of packaging, thus reducing energy used in transport, it does not appear particularly ecological.

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-37293501410420395392009-01-04T13:26:00.011+11:002009-01-05T08:20:35.555+11:00

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a bulletin at 0211z 04 Jan 2009 on a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in Irian Jaya, Indonesia. The reports of tsunami wave activity were not serious (Saipan US 0.10m, Tosashimizu Shikoku 0.15m). However, a potentially serious problem is that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center web server was not responding: Message pacific.2009.01.04.020955 Fatal error:

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-45193854534828493072009-01-04T12:46:00.003+11:002009-01-04T13:19:08.549+11:00

Happened accross the Tamil food fair in the grounds of Homebush Public School, Opposite the Homebush South shops in Sydney. This has Tamil and South Indian cuisine cooked by a very organised team of community volunteers. The Monthly Food Fair is on the first Saturday of the month (10am-3pm). Most people were getting take away, but a few stayed for a picnic. The Biryani (rice), lamb and Dosa

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-15440401533254383772009-01-02T15:47:00.002+11:002009-01-02T16:29:59.662+11:00

In Part 12 I discovered I had scheduled two week sevens as part of preparing a new e-learning course on "Green IT Strategies", to be offered as part of the ACS Computer Professional Education Program. Having merged some of the topics so I had the required number of weeks for the course I got on with preparing the remaining content. This became progressively more difficult as I got to the more

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-39221729218161207242009-01-02T14:26:00.005+11:002009-01-02T16:31:14.326+11:00

In December 2008 TiVo introduced "Blockbuster Movie of the Week". These are full lenght movies downloaded over the TiVo's Internet connections (rather than from the free to air TV tuner). The service came with a lengthy warning about first checking if downloading large video files would fit with the download quota of my ISP, as the movie files are 2 to 5 Gigabytes each. This was described as "

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-15407069211885422182009-01-01T10:42:00.007+11:002009-01-01T11:35:12.825+11:00

Harvey Norman are having a half yearly clearance sale, with the Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse reduced from the recommended retail price of $19.95 down to $8. At the same time Microsoft are having a 25% cashback offer on hardware. The redemption is based on the RRP, so you get $5.00 back, resulting in the mouse costing $3. I was curious as to how Microsoft could run a cashback offer on low value

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-75432245981298287402008-12-31T10:40:00.004+11:002008-12-31T10:50:16.069+11:00

Dr Idris F. Sulaiman, CEO of Computers Off Australia, has pointed out that the latest survey of household internet use from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that: the ACT leads the nation in broadband connections with 68 per cent of dwellings plugged online via fat pipes in JuneAustralia's connectivity is behind leaders within the OECD (who are also leaders in the Asia Pacific) but

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-89358413211818421042008-12-30T11:07:00.004+11:002008-12-30T12:05:40.354+11:00

For more than 20 years I have been a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). This is one of the oldest IT bodies and has been respectable and useful, up until now. In the last year I have noticed an increase in the number of annoying email messages from ACM. The number of newsletters, announcements, surveys and renewal reminders from ACM has been getting annoying, to the point

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-83094626207093465542008-12-30T10:37:00.002+11:002008-12-30T10:41:35.967+11:00

The Registry of Open Access Repositories (ROAR) provide a useful service where they chart how many new entries there are in open access repositories. The information is presumably automatically extracted from the repository. As an example, for the ACS Digital Library: ACS Digital Library (410 records)Running Other softwares (various), based in Australia and is registered as e-Journal/Publication

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-1182357788891383072008-12-30T08:24:00.006+11:002008-12-30T09:42:45.787+11:00

For Christmas I got a Hand Plane, or more specifically a Jack plane. This is a metal hand tool for working wood.The plane allows very fine shavings of wood to be removed to curve or flatten a piece of timber. Using the plane is a very satisfying feeling as you can sense the grain as you use the tool. The immediate use for the plane was to make an arm for a King Furniture sofa. The sofa came with

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-21641968597072709312008-12-29T09:32:00.003+11:002008-12-29T10:25:05.671+11:00

The Green Void architectural installation at Customs House in Sydney is a success, but only as a commentary on the cynical actions by architects who value self promotion over the interests of the community. The installation by Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA); consists of a green fabric sculpture filling the atrium of Customs House, with accompanying sound and projections. Reading

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-88186743284275553332008-12-29T08:32:00.003+11:002008-12-29T09:01:27.781+11:00

The recent showing of the film "A Beautiful Mind" prompted me to read the book it is based on "A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash " by Sylvia Nasar. The book at 459 pages, with 44 pages of end notes, and extensive bibliography and index is not a novelisation of the film but a carefully researched biography. This is also a book about the politics of

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-75637843618263209572008-12-28T10:24:00.004+11:002008-12-28T12:20:44.721+11:00

Back when specifying the the fit-out for my "Smart Apartment" in 2001 I included a sofa bed from King Furniture. I purchased a Delta model from the King range. This is their lowest cost range and most modular. While not cheap, this has worked well as both a sofa and an occasional guest bed Searching for Sofa Bed Recently a friend needed a guest bed for a visit by a guest and we did the rounds

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-74896191449359602392008-12-24T15:13:00.002+11:002008-12-24T15:25:55.116+11:00

An "Ecologically Sustainable Annandale 2009 Exhibition" is being run at the Leichhardt Library in Sydney, 30 December 2008 - 31 January 2009. This features glass and discarded packaging sculpture, photographs and drawings inspired by local themes. Events in association with the exhibition: Eco-Annandale 2009 Exhibition Leichhardt Library, Italian Forum, Norton St, Leichhardt (Sydney) 31

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-21119156816338267162008-12-24T11:48:00.004+11:002008-12-24T12:23:13.652+11:00

When travelling, having to carry a razor to shave and electric clippers to trim my hair is an annoyance. With their BG2020 Bodygroom Shaver Philips (Norelco) claim to have a razor which can be used for saving and hair cutting. I have to carry two devices which essentially do the same thing: cut hair (and two battery chargers). Why can't one device be used to do both? But razors and electric

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-26940685489375039552008-12-24T11:34:00.002+11:002008-12-24T11:46:49.441+11:00

The Office of National Assessments (ONA), the Australian Prime Minister's intelligence agency, is advertising for a Director of their Open Source Branch. Open source intelligence is based on publicly available information, rather than finding out secrets and has come to prominence with the Internet. The ONA OS Branch uses the Internet to disseminate intelligence reports, as well collect

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-50064657960371742182008-12-23T09:49:00.008+11:002008-12-24T08:45:00.723+11:00

I hope whoever is doing the greenhouse gas accounting at the Department of Climate Change is better with numbers than their web-master. A National Carbon Offset Standard Discussion Paper has been released. According to the web site, this is 5.48 MB of PDF. I thought this would be useful for my Green ICT students to look at. When I downloaded a copy I found it was 548 Kbytes, one tenth of the

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-81935186782558114862008-12-23T09:05:00.005+11:002008-12-23T09:34:39.322+11:00

A National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) commences in 2009, with $6.1B for social housing, private rental assistance, accommodation for homeless and home purchasing assistance. One way would be to combine public and private housing in the same developments as was done at City Edge in Canberra. The Australian Government released a White Paper on Homelessness: T he Road Home on 21 December

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-77578608051430909992008-12-23T08:46:00.002+11:002008-12-23T08:53:13.042+11:00

Airservices Australia have issued a Request for Tender for an "Online Recruitment Management System" (ASA - PRN530, 22-Dec-2008). Unfortunately, this is essentially the same system which three other agencies have already tendered for: IP Australia, 8 May 2008 (IPAC2008/11476)Australian Bureau of Statistics, 7-Mar-2008 (ABS076).Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, 30-

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-26557606501668490812008-12-22T16:19:00.002+11:002008-12-22T16:30:36.627+11:00

Each day I get a few "bounces" of email messages I never sent. To counter this I am asking my ISP to insert an SPF record in the DNS entry for my domain name. The problem is that spammers can forge an e-mail message from me by putting my e-mail address as the sender's address. To counter this a list of the mail servers I use can be inserted in the DNS record for my web site. When a mail system

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16502818.post-7126862038799266212008-12-22T08:23:00.003+11:002008-12-22T15:49:07.977+11:00

The tanker aircraft being built for the RAAF (Airbus A330 MRTT) have a fly-by-wire, refuelling boom (the CASA Advanced Refuelling Boom System (ARBS). This is controlled by an operator on the tanker aircraft flight deck looking at a synthetic 3-D image on a screen (the Remote Aerial Refuelling Station) and "flying" the boom with a joystick. As the boom is electrically operated with a computer

Tom Worthingtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18437898895608697334noreply@blogger.com0