Net Traveller

Green ICT Job at ANU

2010-02-09T15:30:00.003+11:00

The Australian National University is advertising for a Green ICT Project Officer. ANU Green previously arranged projects for my Green Information Technology Strategies students to do. So the content of that course will give some idea of what the job involves. Green ICT Project Officer Facilities and ServicesFixed Term of 14 Months We are seeking a qualified, highly organised person

Lack of transparency impeding government data centre consolidation

2010-02-09T11:36:00.005+11:00

In response to my request for input on "Training Green Technologists" Bernard Robertson-Dunn commented that "A more advanced, comprehensive and effective approach is contained in the whole of government data centre strategy that was presented to government at the end of last year." This appears to be a reference to the strategy for the Australian (Federal) Government, developed in response to

Smart Home in Sydney for Free

2010-02-09T08:16:00.004+11:00

The NSW Government is offering a family a free smart home in Sydney for a year. The family will receive free accommodation in return for writing about their experience using the energy and water efficient features of the house at the Newington Smart Village Project in western Sydney.A "Smart Home Family brief" is provided. This is a 2.39 Mb zip file with: Smart Houme (sic.) add 8-2-10.pdfSmart

Standards Australia Needs New Priorities

2010-02-08T13:57:00.004+11:00

Standards Australia Limited has issued the Discussion Paper "Project prioritisation process and criteria" (Version: 1.0, 5 February 2010) for comment. As a representative of the Australian Computer Society to standards Australia, I will be consulting the ACS on an official position. However, as an individual ICT professional I believe the SA approach to be fundamentally flawed and not addressing

Insoles for Crocks

2010-02-08T11:16:00.003+11:00

The Ascent "Geelong Urban" shoes I purchased recently came with insoles made of a flexible rubbery plastic covered with fabric on the upper surface. These looked similar to those sole for $70 in shore stores. Unfortunately I had to remove these to put the hard plastic custom made orthotic insoles in the shoes. I was reluctant to throw away the insoles which came with the shoes, but wondered what

Shoes for flat feet

2010-02-08T10:27:00.004+11:00

Having Flat feet (pes planus or fallen arches), shoes are always a problem for me. On a trip to Greece my shoes fell apart and I ended up with a pair of Scholl Professionals from the local apothecary (chemist). These are black leather walking shoes have worked very well.Recently my feet were hurting and the doctor prescribed a bottle of champagne: not to drink, but to fill with cold water and

Government reports as ebooks

2010-02-06T22:02:00.010+11:00

One response to my talk on "Making e-Books for e-Learning on i-Pads" at BarCamp Canberra 2010 was from Senator KateLundy. She tweeted: "With so much govt information online, Tom's talk makes me wonder about the merit of publishing public info in ebook formats too". This seems an idea worth investigating.I have long advocated providing government reports as a set of web pages, rather than as one

Paper makes ebooks real

2010-02-06T21:29:00.003+11:00

One of my throwaway remarks at BarCamp Canberra 2010 got the attention of the Twitterarty:vinhvanlam Show someone single copy of a "real book" & they'll read and trust the online version says Tom Worthington #bcc2010 moodle to mobi to kindleAndrewBlanda "When you have a real book (just 1 copy), people then begin reading the online version" Tom Worthington #bcc2010This is something I noticed when

Wragge's identity finder

2010-02-06T16:47:00.003+11:00

Wragge's identity finder is a simple little web service shown at BarCamp Canberra 2010. It lets you search a database of well known Australians maintained by the National Library of Australia and produces some HTML code you can paste into a web page. The idea is to create a semantic web in an easy way. I was flattered to find "Tom Worthington" (that is me) is listed in the system.

BarCamp Canberra 2010

2010-02-06T09:38:00.004+11:00

Greetings from BarCamp Canberra 2010 at the famous Room N101 at ANU in Canberra. There are about sixty people here so far and the room is filling fast. About one third of the room seems to be from Sydney, boosting the Canberra economy. You can follow the event in Twitter: #bcc2010.The infrastructure is well set up with video projectors, WiFi, power-boards and Senator Lundy just arrived with

Making e-Books for e-Learning on i-Pads

2010-02-05T14:14:00.003+11:00

For the BarCamp Canberra 2010, tomorrow I have prepared "Making e-Books for e-Learning on i-Pads". This is about how I used simple web pages and free open source software to create a university level e-learning course and accompanying e-book. Educational materials can be provided for the Netbooks, Amazon Kindle, Google Android, Apple iPhone. This technique should also work for the recently

Breakfast at O'Connor

2010-02-05T11:05:00.004+11:00

A cliché of 1960s Hollywood comedies is an exotic neighbour climbing through the the window of your apartment (Barefoot in the Park, 1967). Ideally you are a struggling writer (Breakfast at Tiffany's, 1961). I thought this fanciful, until it happened this morning.Interrupted while making some changes to my latest book, I opened the door of my Smart Apartment to an Amazon. This was a neighbour

Data Centre Green Technology in Melbourne

2010-02-04T22:34:00.004+11:00

Data Centre GreenTech Melbourne 2010 is on 26th February 2010, with William Ehmcke (Connection Research), Albert Y Zomaya (University of Sydney), Graeme Philipson (Connection Research). I will be speaking on "Training Green Technologists": Here is draft outline (correction, comments and suggestions welcome):Training Green TechnologistsTom WorthingtonGreen Technology Course DesignerThe

e-Learning needs better tools

2010-02-04T15:41:00.003+11:00

The webinar on “Trends in Personal Learning” by Stephen Downes, at Canberra Institute of Technology today was disappointing. Stephen was billed as "a reliable forecaster of trends and events in online learning", citing his "prescient" 'Future of Online Learning' and other works. But the technology for the webinar did not work properly. This made anything he said about using such technology less

Some suggestions for ACS in 2010

2010-02-04T09:09:00.005+11:00

The first meeting of the Canberra Branch of the Australian Computer Society for 2010 was devoted to hearing suggestions from the members. Here are some suggestions I made:Make web site mobile okay: Currently the ACS home page scores less than zero out of 100 on the W3C mobileOK Checker: "This page is not mobile-friendly!". I suggest aiming for a score of 80/100 on the mobile tests for the ACS web

Contemporary Art Exhibitions in Canberra

2010-02-04T08:15:00.004+11:00

Free exhibitions of Glass, Painting, Print media, Drawing, Ceramics, Textilesl, Gold, Silversmithing and Furniture are being held at the ANU Gallery in Canberra, from 3 February to 26 March 2010. "NEOLOGY" showcases the work of the ANU School of Art.School of Art Gallery ProgramNEOLOGY│GRADUATE SEASON 2010 │ 3 February - 26 MarchA series of exhibitions showcasing works produced by candidates for

Delphi e-Academy

2010-02-03T13:29:00.005+11:00

Inspired by walking the sacred way at Delphi, I suggest a portable green e-classroom. Idris Sulaiman asked if there are any Australian guidelines on Green Computer Labs. This got me thinking about the Green Learning Commons, back to a portable e-learning classroom I proposed previously.Last year I visited the Delphi site in Greece. Walking up the sacred way I

Green Learning Commons

2010-02-03T12:10:00.001+11:00

Prompted by "What Happened to the Computer Lab?" I was asked by Idris Sulaiman if there are any Australian guidelines on Green Computer Labs. This is a good question. Computer labs are evolving into general purpose computer equipped teaching spaces in the information commons and spreading across university campuses, as well as vocational education and schools. As a result there will be more

ODF Format for Danish Government Documents

2010-02-02T17:29:00.003+11:00

According to Heise Media UK Ltd the Danish Parliament has agreed to use the Open Docuemnt Format (ODF) format for government documents, in preference to Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML format). politiken.dk says that this will not come into effect until April 2011 and that PDF/A (the archival version of PDF) will also be used. There was some detailed and technical discussion in the Danish

Canberra Constructed Wetlands

2010-02-02T17:13:00.002+11:00

The ACT Government is seeking community input into the design of wetlands at Dickson and Lyneham. Workshops are being held on 3 and 4 February 2010: Proposed Dickson and Lyneham WetlandsFlemington Road Ponds Project Media Release - Work Underway on Wetland PondsBanksia Street Development Application

Tata Magic Iris

2010-02-02T16:55:00.003+11:00

Indian vehicle maker Tata have announced the Magic Iris, which is essentially a minivan version of the Tata Nano micro-car. Just as the Nano is intended to replace scooters for personal transport, the Magic Iris is to replace three wheel auto-rickshaws:"The Tata Magic Iris, to be launched this year, is for public transportation, offering safer and more comfortable mobility for those who depend

Bus rapid transit for Sydney

2010-02-02T16:44:00.003+11:00

The NSW government is reported to be rethinking plans for the Sydney Metro. One option would be to expand the current Metrobus into a bus rapid transit system. This could use bi-articulated as now being trialled in Brisbane. This could also make use of the simplified MyZone system, announced recently.

Train Sleep Mode to Reduce Energy Use

2010-02-02T16:31:00.003+11:00

The new Class 380 Desiro Electric Trains for Scotland will have a "sleep mode" to save power. Apparently trains are not simply switched off overnight when not in use. Also the air conditioning system will sense if a carriage is empty, thus saving further energy.

Controlling robots via the Internet

2010-02-02T12:14:00.003+11:00

Professor Sandra Hirche will talk on "Human-oriented telerobotic control over the Internet" at the ANU in Canberra, 16 February 2010: SYSTEMS AND CONTROL SERIES Human-oriented telerobotic control over the InternetProf. Sandra Hirche (Technical University of Munich (TUM))DATE: 2010-02-16TIME: 11:00:00 - 12:00:00LOCATION: RSISE Seminar Room, ground floor, building 115, cnr. North and Daley Roads,

Australian Whole of Government Computer Tender

2010-02-02T09:09:00.009+11:00

The Department of Finance and Deregulation has issued a Request for Tender for a "Whole of Government Desktop Hardware (Computing Equipment) Panel". This includes desktop and mobile computing equipment, monitors, installation and disposal. All agencies will be required to buy through the panel.There is an extensive 235 page "Statement of Requirements" available to tenderers. This not only