Bioluminescent Snails!

     How cool is this?  A glowing green snail!  Hinea Brasiliana.  Ok, so it's only a sea snail, not something you'll find in your backyard.  And this snippet of info disputes the green bit - but hey, a blue-white light is pretty cool as well.
     It's theorised that they use their bioluminescence as a defence mechanism, lighting up when disturbed to either try and scare away predators or simply light them up so something bigger and badder again can eat what's attacking them.
     The mechanism they use to light their shells up is pretty neat as well.  The shell actually acts like a light transmitter/splitter, picking up the light from a small bioluminescent organ and spreading it throughout the entire shell.  Sort of like one of those plastic light tubes, where a light shone on one end illuminates the whole thing.  See Fibre Flare for an example of what I mean.
     Even more intriguing, the mechanism by which the shell transmits light is wavelength sensitive - it only lights up when hit with a greeny-bluey light, it won't transmit red for example.
     Neat little thing, but not quite enough to take the coveted "favourite snail" position away from the Otways Carnivorous Black Snail, Victophanta Compacta:

     Sure, this one doesn't glow - but you have to admire the persistence of something that slow deciding it's going to live by hunting other critters.  (Unfortunately they're endangered, so it's not working out so well for them.)


Original Article: BBC

3 mobile phones no longer roaming to Telstra?

     Over the past few weeks (possibly months, time gets away on you....) I've noticed some real issues with my mobile phone which is on the 3 network.  I used to love the service.  I got cheap calls and very cheap data rates while around the city, and when I went to the country it just roamed onto Telstra's network - which undoubtedly has the best coverage in the country.   It was a great deal as far I was concerned.
     Recently though, I've noticed that my phone not getting any coverage whilst in the country any more.  The first couple of times this happened I just put it down to something glitchy going on with the network.  But three trips to the country without any reception made me start digging a little deeper.
     I took a look at 3's mobile coverage map and noticed that it's looking much sparser than previous versions.  Especially Telstra's, which they used to roam to when I signed my contract with 3.  Ugh, seems like I'm starting to personally see the first effect of the 3/Vodafone "merger".  Abysmal support for anywhere outside of major cities, a massive degradation on their prior service.  Yay 3.
     Needless to say I've taken it up with 3.  I'm sure there's nothing they can do to improve their service, but I do expect them to unlock my phone and release me from any early exit contract fees as they're no longer providing the service I signed up for.  Thankfully Telstra pricing has become far more competitive in the year or so since I signed my 3 contract.
     I personally find it highly immoral that they've made this change without even notifying me.  People rely upon their phones for emergency contact - what they've done is not just an annoyance, it's a safety issue.
     Hopefully I hear back from 3 quickly and don't need to take it up with the telecommunications industry ombudsman.

Apple TV 2 4.1 Firmware Update Failure

     So I just went to update the firmware on my Apple TV 2.  The process was very straight forward, looking very similar to doing an iPhone firmware update.  Unfortunately it failed and my sleek little media streamer is now a sleek little white led flashing device.  It's rather disturbing to see that big "plug this thing into itunes!" symbol on your TV screen.
     Ok, so the firmware update failed, no big deal.  Maybe that's why apple makes you connect iPhones for an iOS update rather than doing over the air (even over wifi) updates.  I thought I'd just plug it into iTunes, the new firmware would download and away I'd go.  Not too much of a problem.  (Though I guess I'll need to drag the power cable out from behind my TV as well, sigh...)
     Now here's the really unfortunate bit, which Apple should be held accountable for.  They've chosen to put a micro usb socket on the Apple TV.  I've got no problem with them choosing the latest and greatest connector version - by all accounts the micro usb design is more durable than the much more common mini usb.  (Though I'd hope I don't need to plug my Apple TV into a usb connection enough for durability to be an issue!) But micro usb is still in it's very early stages.  I don't have any other devices that require a micro usb cable.  I'd expect that many people don't.  There's certainly nothing else in the Apple ecosystem that needs one.  Yet Apple didn't see fit to include one in the box.
     That's incredibly galling.  It means I've got a (temporarily) bricked device with no way of recovering it until I can get to the store and buy a cheap usb cable.  Way to fail, Apple.

     For those interested, my Apple TV connects to the internet via 802.11n from an Airport Extreme, running with WPA encryption.  I've seen some anecdotal evidence which states that the firmware update is more likely to fail over WiFi.  I'd recommend you don't attempt the update until you've got a cable on hand, just in case.

UPDATE:  Once I got a micro usb cable and plugged the Apple TV into iTunes the update went fine.  All updates since this one (up to 4.3.1 at the minute) have, thankfully, worked via wireless.

Kinect the dots.

     There's some neat IR video of the Microsoft Kinect peripheral for Xbox floating around on the web.  Basically the device shoots out thousands of points of IR light for the camera to pick up on.  I wonder how the algorithm which deciphers the dot pattern works?  They grid they form seems to be more random than structured from what I can tell.  I wouldn't have thought that the IR camera in the Kinect would have the resolution necessary to pick up on different sized dots for different distances.  (The light beams that Kinect shoots out aren't parallel, things closer to the Kinect have smaller dots.)  Does it pick up elongated dots and interpret them as angled surfaces?  Interesting stuff.
    This video seems to indicate that it just uses the IR grid for depth perception.  That's probably a lot simpler - it doesn't need to measure the individual size or elongation of the dots, only how far apart they are.  You can do this with a much lower resolution (i.e. cheaper) camera.
     Still, it's nice to see MS doing something interesting for once.

Iron Man 2 DVD Copy Protection

     So today, on a whim, I bought the "Iron Man 2" DVD - I hadn't seen the film but thought I'd like it & it was on sale  *shrug*.  As I do with any DVD I purchase, I popped it into my computer to convert it to a format I can easily watch on my iPhone, or stream from a computer to my TV.  The computer buzzed a bit, and spat out a heap of garbage but no video files.  Ughhh.  I flipped the case over and saw the tiny but dreaded "This DVD is copy protected!" symbol.
     It's completely immoral that they're allowed to sell crippled non-standard discs like this as DVD's.  If they want to try and force their waste-my-time copy protection crud down consumers throats then it needs to be clearly labelled.  I don't mean subtle either - I'm talking an industry agreed on standard strip at least 1cm high running across the front cover of the DVD.  Something which states clearly that it's a non-standard DVD and may not provide the functionality expected of a DVD.
     I'm _very_ against pirating.  I think people deserve to paid for their creative efforts.  However it's insane that I need to jump through a bunch of hoops to watch a movie that I've bought, when I could pirate it and have a copy of the movie that just works.  Copy protection (DRM) doesn't stop movies being pirated, it just annoys those that have legitimate copies.  Idiots.
     Paramount (the studio for this particular DVD) seriously needs to rethink their consumer strategy as their current one is "irritating" people that would otherwise support them.  Yeah, they suck.

World's Longest Tunnel Nearly Complete

     So after 15 years the swiss are nearing completion of a 57km railway tunnel, burrowing up to 2km deep underneath the alps.  The cost for the tunnel is close to $10 billion AUD.  What's it for?  High speed rail.
     Australia is comparatively pretty flat, and certainly wouldn't require any tunnels of this magnitude but apparently it's still not viable to run a high speed rail up the east coast.  I know our population is a lot more dispersed, but it's still disappointing that we can't get programs like this off the ground.

Original Article: The Age

Sintel Released

     The Sintel movie has been released!  Go and watch it!  It's an impressive piece of work, and a fairly good showcase for the capabilities of Blender, but I get the feeling it was rushed out to meet a deadline.  There's quite a few little animation/texturing/rendering glitches that really don't help show Blender off to its best advantage.  That's a real shame, because it's an amazing tool.
     Still, what's been produced is far beyond anything I've ever done (worlds beyond) and it's an enjoyable little short.  I'm wondering what the next project will be.

Shapeways Sampler Arrived!

     So my Shapeways sampler turned up in the mail today, only took a few days of transit time.  I've never ordered anything from them before so I was very excited to get a look at the finish on some of the materials.  The level of detail on the parts is really impressive and, aside from the "grey robust" material,  the level of striation from manufacturing is really quite minimal.  The stainless steel had much more heft and solidity to it than I expected, it really does come across like a cast piece.  Overall I'm very impressed with the quality and finish of the parts - I'm currently dreaming up things to have made. 

Stainless steel doesn't look that "bronzey" in real life, not a great photo.

Weirdly, my coloured sandstone piece is actually formed completely backwards!

Griffin Woogie - Toddler iPhone Case

     So Griffin have released a new iPhone/iPod Touch "case" aimed at toddlers.  The Griffin Woogie.  Not only is it a funky looking bright green 6 legged plush case (they pretty much had me sold right there!), it also includes a powered speaker.
     I've actually got a first generation ipod touch which isn't much good for my son, due to the lack of speaker.  Coupling that with this case looks like a perfect solution.  iPod gets sound without having to worry about earphones, along with some pretty sturdy looking drop protection and a whole bunch of cute.  My orders in.
     The only obvious design flaw I'm spotting at the minute is that external jack for the iPod.  Why they didn't position the cord in the end of the pocket away from little fingers is an interesting question.   I'm also giving them the benefit of the doubt that the speaker will be removable and the Woogie washable - hopefully that's a flaw too obvious to miss!

UPDATE:  See my review.  (By the way, they missed that flaw!)

iPhone 4 Bumper

My free bumper arrived today, not bad timing given the original estimate was the end of September. The case though.... Well, it leaves a lot to be desired.

The fit is reasonable, but a little loose on the sides. The rubber component isn't very grippy at all, which some people might like but it's not what I was after. It makes it easy to slip into your pocket, but also off tables etc.

The biggest issue though is the opening around the dock connector. I'm not sure how many of you noticed that the connection cable which ships with the iPhone 4 is a little more svelte than every previous connector cable they've made? Including the AV connection cable? Yeah, none of those old cables connect properly when the iPhone is in its bumper case. Sheesh, what a PITA.

C'mon Speck, hurry up and make an iPhone 4 version of the ToughSkin.

Sugar doesn't relieve newborn's pain?

     It's a sad day for tiny babies everywhere.  My son was given sucrose just after he was born, it was amazing to see.  He looked like he was in heaven, and it was an immediate reaction.
     Now there's a study which indicates that the babies may still be feeling pain after they get the sucrose, and the facial reaction is just an expression.  I'm not sure I buy that - I'm not surprised that the pain signal doesn't go away, but the distraction of a first mouthful of sweet has to be a good thing.
     If you've seen the expression on a babies face when they get the sugar, you'd let them have it even if just a nice distraction rather than a true analgesic.


Source: The Age

Geelong Ring Road Live in Google Maps. (Almost!)

     I just noticed this morning that the final section of the Geelong ring road has finally made it into Google maps.  Well, kind of.  It knows about the ring road when it's working out directions but the road itself still isn't shown.  I'd imagine it cant be far off if the topography data is already uploaded though.  Hooray!

Hidden Ring Road Section On Google Maps

Live link to google maps:

View Larger Map

2010 Pike's Peak Hillclimb Video

     Hit this link for 10 minutes of motoring bliss, watching Nobuhiro Tajima throw his 670kW Suzuki up Pike's Peak.  Amazing stuff, I wish I could do that.  Unfortunately I've neither got the opportunity or the skill!
     The fact that it's not a perfect run - there's at least a couple of traffic cones and a haybale that don't survive the run - shows how hard he's pushing the car.  He takes some pretty scary lines around some of those corners as well, with more than a little of his wheels hanging out in fresh air at times.
     Great camera angles, great driving and a great sounding engine.  I could watch this over and over.

Source: Youtube via Wired

Oracle suing Google over Java usage.

     So apparently Oracle are suing Google with patent and copyright infringement charges, relating to the usage of Java as an underpinning for Android.
     Heh!  Good luck with that one Oracle.  If you're planning on snapping up a company and using it for patent trolling (R.I.P. Sun!) you might want to get in before they open source a lot of their most interesting developments!
     I hope this case gets stomped on really quickly.  I wonder if the EFF is going to offer to support Google?  The thought of that makes me smile a little.

Source: Marketwatch

Yeah, I'm never climbing while hungover....

     You really just need to go and watch this video.  His friend (the blogger I believe) is remarkably calm about it.  That's the kind of guy you want to go climbing with. :)

Pyramid of Conservation

     This is a neat little graphic for anybody that ever wondered about the various payoffs from "Greening" their home, cutting energy usage and so forth.  There's so many possible projects that it can sometimes be hard to find a starting point.  Start at the bottom for the biggest bang for buck and work your way to the top.

     I'm very impressed that this was put together by an energy supplier, the more people take this advice to heart the less they stand to make.  Kudos to them.

Source: Minnesota Power via Treehugger

Purple Carrot Health Benefits

     So it seems like purple carrots are useful for more than just looking funky.  Apparently some research carried out at the University of Southern Queensland have shown some pretty remarkable effects, although it's only an early study at the minute.
     Rats were fed a high fat, high carbohydrate diet (sounds like my usual fare) for 16 weeks, and had number of unhealthy conditions as a result.  They grew fat, became glucose intolerant and suffered liver and heart damage (maybe I need to rethink my diet).  For the next 8 weeks the rats had their diet supplemented with purple carrot juice.  The negative effects of their diet disappeared.
     Apparently a lot of the benefits may be due to a high level of anthocyanins - which are the same antioxidant giving blueberries their colour.

     On a completely unrelated note - did I mention I ordered some purple carrot seeds?

Source: The Age

Implantable Glowing Glucose Monitor

     A group of researchers from Tokyo University and the BEANS research group have come up with an implantable gel which can be made to glow in the presence of either high or low blood glucose levels.  This would be a wonderful thing for diabetics, allowing them to more easily monitor their blood sugar and adjust their diet/medication accordingly.
     It would also be a fantastic thing for people that just like body modification I think.  Though I couldn't help playing with it if I had one, overloading on sugar to see how much I could make it glow.  It'd probably cause me personally a lot more health problems.
     It seems like they've still got some issues to work out at the minute though, one of them being the bodies tendency to form a pocket of scar tissue around foreign objects - reducing the light output.
     Apparently "5-10 years" before they've got something to market.

Source: DigInfo via Engadget

iPhoto Tips

     Macworld has an article up with a half dozen tips for improving your photo editing workflow in iPhoto. Clever ones, most of which I didn't know about!
     My two favourites are:  Holding down the shift key while editing toggles between the original picture and your modified version, and having the Adjustment palette open before hitting the enhance button will show just what Apple thinks it needed to do to enhance your photo.  Both very neat and useful tricks.

Electric Datsun 1200, 10.4sec Quarter Mile

     Now this is an electric car I'd be happy to own.  Sure it's a hand crafted one off, focussed at drag racing rather than being a car you'd be happy to live with every day, but still....  I want it.  Kudos to the guys that have put this together, looks like an incredible machine.  I'd love to see it in the flesh.
     More details about the "White Zombie" at their website.  They've actually broken down the history of the changes made to the car throughout it's life, interesting stuff.

Toshiba Libretto W100

     Ok so the link is just pointing at Toshiba's website for this laptop, but I think I love the concept.  A dual screen netbook sized clamshell laptop.  Instead of a keyboard, you have a touch screen.  I'll be very interested in seeing one of these, but there's a big caveat.
     The secret behind making a device like this desirable is going to be all about getting the user interface right.  Last time I looked Toshiba was a hardware company, so that makes me think that their first foray into this market is going to be a little clumsy.  Having it paired with windows wouldn't be my first preference either, but if I was trying to get the device to market it'd probably be what I'd choose too.
     On a portable device though, where space is at a premium, taking up, at a minimum, a third of the physical real estate just for a keyboard seems to be a very unwise choice when there's newer technology available.  The ubiquity of other touch screen devices (*cough* iPhone *cough*) will have undoubtedly helped to warm the market up to the idea of doing away with the keyboard entirely.
     I want my next laptop to be configured like this.

And Google Waved Goodbye

     Awww, I'm sorry to see the Google wave project die.  I have to admit though, the main reason I'm sorry to see it go is the name.  (Firefly fan here.)  The project always seemed like a mish-mash of ideas with no real purpose to me.
     The most interesting thing to me is that Google has killed off such a high profile project.  They must have had some serious man-hours devoted to it if they've pulled the plug so publicly.  They typically just let abandoned projects languish without further updates.

Madget Physical Actuated Widgets

     Youtube link to a video in the title, showing off what the Media Computing Group is calling Madgets.  These things are pretty neat, though they need to run on a custom built surface at the minute.  Essentially these guys have layered together an LCD screen, a bunch of electromagnets and a camera for object detection into a very impressive input/output device.  Watch the linked video, it explains what they've done very clearly.
     I can envisage a lot of situations where this would be really handy.  I'd love to have a giant touchscreen desk as my main computer interface.  Having the ability to add little actuated controls would be fantastic.  Imagine working with a mouse (mice are still much better for some input tasks) then just flicking it off to a corner of the desk when you don't need it.  When you do want it back, you could just gesture on the table/screen and the mouse would come scurrying back to your hand.  Or being able to hit a key and have all your input devices move out to the edges of the table to leave you a completely clear screen to work with.  Tap another button and the devices (mice, keyboard, dials, whatever) all rearrange themselves back to their home locations.
     Get it to market guys!

Deadwood on ABC2

     So I was flicking through the TV guide to see if there was anything good on TV tonight.  Turns out, Deadwood is getting an Australian airing.  Yay, I liked Deadwood the first time I saw it.  Then I looked a little closer:

     Notice the channel it's playing on?  Deadwood is airing on ABC2.  ABC2 being the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's dedicated kids channel.  Hmmm.  Now as I said, I really liked Deadwood, but I think it's definitely a show that's going to educate kids language in areas where most parents won't want it educated.

     I'm not going to add any links, but if you don't know the show just search youtube for Deadwood Swearing and you'll get the idea quick enough.

Clueless Family Gets Stranded Following GPS Directions And Lives To Tell About It!

     Ok, so my headline is a little different from the one in The Age but it probably highlights the more important part of the story.  Anybody that blindly follows GPS directions rather than real signs and local knowledge is asking for trouble.  GPS maps tend to be updated at _most_ once per year.  Roads, and gravel/dirt roads in particular, can change wildly over the course of a single week.
     I love taking shortcuts that my GPS highlights, but it boggles my mind that there's people who trust them over signage clearly stating "Don't Come This Way!"

Shapeways Showing An Interest In Australia?

     I haven't got any particular commentary to add to this link, but I really like the idea behind Shapeways.  If they're keen to have a more local Australian presence, I'm keen to help promote them!
     Shapeways is essentially a rapid prototyping service - you send them a 3D computer model and they send you back a physical object.  Check out their website if that sounds at all interesting to you.

Greens Want to Give Money For Nothing

     Interesting statement from Queensland's Greens candidate Larissa Waters:

"What we're saying is people should be paid for all of the energy they generate, irrespective of whether they then use some of it in their home,"

     I wonder if I can just tell them that I generated a massive amount of electricity, but managed to use it all?  Or that I generated it, but "lost" it on the way to the grid.  I mean the end result to everybody outside of my home is the same, I'm not giving them anything.  Does it matter if I didn't really generate anything?  Do I still get paid?

     I think I'm generally a fairly "green" leaning person, but things like this just annoy the heck out of me.  If you want to get serious about solar for Australia, fund some solar plants.  Solar updraft towers or one of those systems based on parabolic reflectors and a centralised heating location like the Andasol one both seem like a good idea to me.

     Centralising generation gives higher energy conversion efficiencies, cheaper installation cost per Joule, cheaper maintenance and easier load balancing.

     Having each individual home generate its own electricity means lower transmission losses & a greater sense of contributing, but that's about it.

/rant

BP (soon to be ex) CEO's payout

     Report on Treehugger about the payout that Tony Hayward is likely to receive when he resigns.  Just a little under $19 million in Australian dollars.  While it's not particularly surprising, CEO's walk away with giant payouts for doing lousy jobs all the time, it is still very disappointing.
     Mind you, I think it's most likely that the actual oil spill probably had nothing to do with the guy - but $19 million for the horrible PR job that he's done since then?  It just shows how wrong society has gotten some things.

Jelloware!

     The title really speaks for itself, cups made from Jelly!  Well almost, it's actually agar agar which is seaweed based - the end effect is very similar though.
     The Way We See The World is just a design house, so there's no purchase links on the website, which is a shame.  I'd buy some for novelty value, though a lot of the attraction for me is the flavourings they've put into the glasses.
     Not that I think the flavourings are really a good addition, but the idea of having "rosemary-beet" flavour slowly infusing into my summer drink is just gross enough that I'd like to try it.  Probably only once though.

Blade Electric Vehicles Unhappy Over Government Preference For i-MiEV

     So it seems that the governments decision to lease a trial fleet of 40 electric vehicles has met with some response other than shrugging after all.
     The director of Blade Electric Vehicles is (understandably) upset that the government has entered into an agreement to lease 40 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs, rather than Blade Electrons.  While I sympathise with him, and think it would be nice to see the government supporting an Australian company, it's readily apparent to me why they haven't.
     The Electron simply doesn't have the visual impact of the i-MiEV.  I doubt very much that such things as performance and cost (two areas where Mr Blade states the Electron betters the i-MiEV) even entered into the equation.  With a fleet of only 40 cars I'd imagine the only thing the government wants from the test fleet is positive press.  Due to the shortcuts taken in creating the Electron - it's a Hyundai Getz retrofitted with an electric powertrain - the vehicles would go completely unnoticed on the road.

Blade Electron

Mitsubishi i-MiEV

     Pretty clear which one of these stands out more.  Maybe BEV should invest in some ugly bolt on fibreglass panels to make their vehicle look more techy.

HydroSTICK - Hand Held Fuel Cell

     So it seems like Horizon have finally got their hand held fuel cell to market.  I like the system that these guys have come up with, basically instead of batteries you plug in little "Solid Hydrogen" cartridges.  Ok, I'm absolutely sure that's marketing guff and the cartridges only contain "Solid Hydrogen" in the loosest sense, but it's still a neat idea.  And ok, so the cartridges aren't really equivalent to batteries - though I'm sure Horizon loves that comparison.  Batteries are completely self contained, hook them into a circuit and electricity flows.  Attach a wire to either end of a HydroSTIK and nothing much will happen, it's just a fuel tank.  The hydrogen needs to be recombined with oxygen in another unit (the fuel cell) to get anything useful from it.
     Horizon make a couple of different fuel cells for use with their HydroSTIK, one designed for RC cars (Ok, that's kinda neat...) and one designed to be useful, providing power for usb devices - the MiniPAK.  Everything looks pretty slick, however there's a few shortcomings.
     Firstly there's the energy density, the HydroSTIK is quoted as having 12 Watt hours of energy.  Probably this doesn't mean much to you?  It's about the same amount of energy as you get in a C size battery, or about 3 AA's.  Volume of the HydroSTIK is a little larger than a C cell though, it's a little narrower & a fair bit longer.  Overall it's got about an extra 10% volume.  So the energy density is down on your standard garden variety batteries, but not by _that_ much.  An extra 10% bulk to feel good about my green ways?  I might live with that.
     But...  Ooops, I forgot - the HydroSTIK doesn't do anything without its fuel cell.  Hmm, the extra bulk is starting to add up quite a bit now.  Looking at the size of the Horizon fuel cells, I'd guess the overall package is only going to have around half the energy density of current batteries.  Not really ready for prime time yet.

     Now looking at the MiniPAK device charger they're quoting a maximum output of 400mA.  This is also just a little underwhelming - the USB spec is meant to be able to provide up to 500mA at maximum capacity.  I think there's some devices (I'm looking at you iPhone - I know it won't charge from only 300mA) which may not like only getting 400mA.  It seems a little random that they've only designed the MiniPAK to put out 400mA, but maybe that's the best they could get with the technology they're using.  So keep in mind if you're using your MiniPAK to charge something, it'll likely go slower than it would plugged into a USB port.

     So while I think that the whole HydroSTIK ecosystem is a neat idea, to my mind it's really just proof of concept stuff at the minute.  I hope that Horizon is successful enough to be able to get generations two and three of their products to market though, then I think I'd really be interested.

MasterChef Vs. Politicians - Foodies Win!

     I'm not sure if I should be laughing or blushing for our country over this.  It seems as though the televised debate for the upcoming election has been rescheduled to avoid the finals of MasterChef.  Are there really that many people that are deeply interested in both politics and MasterChef?

     I mean, at a maximum there'll only likely be around 20% of Australia watching Masterchef, and I'd guess about a third of that watching the election debate.  So it'll probably work out to be around 1 in 100 that's keen on watching both?  I thought we were a democracy, the majority of people aren't going to watch both shows.  Is it really worth the global humiliation that'll be heaped on us because of this due to those few people? :)

     (Ok, I'm definitely coming down on the laughing side over this.  I really do love Australia sometimes.)

iPhone Cases & Windows Anti Virus

     I was thinking about Apple's decision to give away cases with the iPhone, and wondering about how much of an impact that was going to have on 3rd party case manufacturers.  I'm sure it'll hurt them a little bit, but I think that the majority of cases get bought for customisation as much as protection.  Either because people like the look of the case, or because it provides some extra functionality that the phone (or other device) doesn't already have.  For mtcase of choice, the Speck ToughSkin, it's a combination of both.  It is more skewed towards function than aesthetics, but that just gives it more aesthetic appeal to me.  Anyway, enough sidetracking.
     With the apparent fix to most of the iPhone 4's reception issues being a case, the accessory industry was probably counting on a windfall.  A bumper season even.  (Sorry, couldn't resist.)  With the Apple cases being given away for free it seems they're likely going to sell less cases rather than more.
     What I find interesting is the potential parallel between iPhones with cases, and MS Windows with antiviral software.  If you're reliant on having a case with your iPhone 4 or having to suffer through a miserable user experience, then you're in a similar boat to PC users having to use antiviral software.
     Now the way the two situations have come about are almost polar opposites. the need for antiviral software grew slowly over time.  While some may argue that the need for it came about due to Microsoft's poorly engineered product, in reality it was more to do with a changing world and people who worked hard to find flaws and outsmart the MS engineers.  If the Apple situation really is due to the antennas shorting, then the need for a case has just been thrust abruptly into the marketplace due to some bad engineering.
     It makes me chuckle to imagine accessary makers banding together to complain to Apple at the launch of the iPhone 5, as due to design improvements cases were no longer needed.  Thinking about things in that light really highlights how ridiculous McAfee & Symatec's complaints of anti-competitive behaviour by Microsoft when it was trying to launch its own anti-virus product really were.

     Just to clarify my view here - I don't really believe that cases on the iPhone 4 are as necessary as anti-viral software on Windows.  It's just an interesting parallel to ponder.

Apple's Antenna Press Conference

     So Apple has held a press conference attempting to reassure everybody that the iPhone 4 antenna issues aren't really any worse than any other smartphone.  So thanks for that Apple, you've pointed out that I can "Death Grip" my 3GS into a state of minimal reception as well.  Am I meant to feel better about the iPhone 4 issues because of this?  I do not.
     I accept that there's going to be some signal attenuation when you hold the phone and cover the antenna.  I accept that all phones do this to some extent, it's just physics after all.  I don't think the issues that have surface with the iPhone 4 are to do with a simple blocking of the antenna though.  Apple hasn't admitted that it's any more than this, though they may have offered a solution to the real problem with the free bumper cases.
     After all, the iPhone 4 antenna goes around the entire phone.  Unless you've got hands like boxing gloves or are so worried about dropping your shiny glass tech-toy that you're using a two handed grip, you're not going to be able to cover the whole antenna.  So if that's the situation, why is the attenuation actually worse on the iPhone 4 than the iPhone 3G?  Less than 1 more dropped call per hundred, but worse nonetheless.  Also, why do the problems go away when you do something to stop conductivity to the antenna, either with a case or a strip of tape?  Because when you do these things you solve the root cause of the iPhone 4's antenna problem.
     You see, I believe that the problem with the iPhone 4 isn't the same signal attenuation problem that you do get with every mobile phone.  It _is_ due to the external conductive antenna.  Hence why the "Touch of Death" decays the iPhone 4's reception as much as the death grip on a comparable phone.  See this video for an example.  You don't need to "Death Grip" the iPhone 4, just touch it in a way that shorts the antennas.
     Apple came a long way with their recent press conference, but for whatever reason, they stopped short of admitting that the iPhone 4 has a fundamental design issue which causes it to be more sensitive to signal degradation than normal phones.  It's odd that they'd go so far, but stop short of admitting the whole truth.

     At the end of the day though, they _have_ taken steps which will rectify it with the bumper case, and I'm guessing there'll be a minor hardware change to coated metal bands by September.  I don't think it's been handled in the best way, but there's no hardware issue I can see with the phone which would deter me from buying it.
     There's a caveat to that statement though.  I plan on putting mine in a silicone case, I'd put one on with or without the exposed metal and shatterable glass - I just like the grippiness that cases provide.  I've got a Speck ToughSkin on my 3GS and think it's great.  If I was buying the phone for its industrial design though, I think I'd wait until September and see if there's little hardware tweak.

New electric motorbike - Brammo Empulse

     So electric motorcycle manufacturer Brammo have just released a new series of bikes, the "Empulse".  (It's up for pre-order now, but deliveries don't start until 2011.)  This is the first commercial electric motorbike I've seen that actually looks cool.  Even better it's priced equally with their main competition - Zero Motorcycles while completely creaming it in the specifications department.
     The two companies are looking to make very different products with the Zero bikes* aiming more at a weekend crossover dirt bike market and Brammo seeming very focussed on the road, but the comparison has to be made:

Brammo Empulse:

• Range ~ 100km (For the "cheap" $10k US one.)
• Top Speed - 160km/h
• Power - 41kW
• Torque ~ 79Nm
• Weight ~ 180kg
• Capacity - 6kWh (Again, for the cheap one - they also do 8 & 10kWh versions for extra range)
• Charge Time ~4 hours (Based on Aussie 240v)
• Neat looking without being over styled.  (Ok, just a personal opinion there!)

Zero S:

• Range ~ 80km.
• Top Speed - 105km/h
• Weight - 124kg
• Capacity - 4kWh
• Charge Time, Less than 4 hours (Probably much less on 240v)
• Power & Torque - no information.
• Bordering on ugly, looks like a cheap Chinese eBay bike.

     Pretty clear which one comes out on top eh?  I actually quite liked the whole package of the Zero bikes when they first launched, but I think it was more for the novelty value of riding something quiet off road mostly.  As a street electric bike though, the Brammo Empulse blows it away.  In fact I'd go as far as saying that the Empulse might wind up being the first electric motorbike which people will consider against standard petrol bikes.

     I hope it handles well, be interesting to see some reviews closer to launch.  I'm also just a little bit too curious as to how much it'll cost to land one in Australia. :)

More info on the Empulse at the Hell For Leather site, from people that have actually spoken with Brammo.

*Hmm, I never realised what an unfortunate name that was for their company before.

iPhone 4 launch likely to be delayed.

     Well, it's not like the linked Gizmodo article is saying anything particularly revolutionary.  Especially after the delayed iPad launch I think most people would've been betting money on the iPhone being delayed as soon as Apple started getting the bad press for the antenna issues.

     I'll throw on my prognosticating hat while I'm here and say that I expect during the press event tomorrow the following will be announced:

•  the iPhone launch to the rest of the world will be delayed by approximately 1 month.
• Apple have made hardware changes to better insulate the antenna.  These changes will involve some sort of barely perceptible clear coating over the steel band, rather than a purely internal change as some sites have speculated. (I could go further and say that the coating on early units will begin peeling within 6 months, but that'd just be being mean.)
• Apple will offer free bumpers to existing iPhone 4 customers, or the option of swapping their phones for one of the new insulated versions when they become available.

Rex the Exoskeletal Wheelchair Substitute

     This thing looks pretty amazing, just from a technology point of view.  I'm not really qualified to know about the medical benefits that the user in the clip is talking about, improved circulation and so forth, but it seems to make sense for that as well.
     I think they really need to work on getting the speed of this thing up to a standard walking pace, as it is too many people are going to see it and say that it's too much slower than a wheelchair to be feasible.  I suppose at the minute, for general purpose usage, they'd be right.  For specific circumstances though, even with the current fairly underwhelming speed I'd think should greatly assist some difficult access areas.
     Go New Zealand!  It's nice to see them up on the world stage for something other than the Weta Digital for a change.
     I'm really looking forward to seeing how devices like this develop over the next few years.  I think Rex Version 4 should be a real winner - so long as they don't make try and make it wireless... There's a lot of contact points on a persons legs that could short an antenna out. :)
     There's some more details at the Rex Bionics website, but not too many unfortunately - for example there's no mention of range, battery life, speed etc.  Hopefully the flurry of media attention they're receiving now encourages them to come forth with a few more details.

Harsh conditions for Australian cricket team.

     This morning I happened to catch a snippet of the 8:00am news on Channel 9's "Today" program, where they had a little bit of a mix up with the background footage to a story.  The presenter's spiel went something like (paraphrasing):

"And the Australian cricket team are facing tough conditions in Pakistan this week..."

     Meanwhile the footage in the background showed some soldiers, fully kitted out with packs and rifles stomping through some war torn country.
     I know Pakistan isn't exactly peaceful at the minute, but I think they might have been exaggerating the hardships the Aussie team are facing.  It got a chuckle out of me if nothing else - anybody else catch this one?

Toyota unintended accelerations more hype than fact?

     So it appears that the US department of transport has been having trouble finding much evidence of true runaway accelerations on Toyota vehicles.
     Out of 3000 reported cases, there's only one confirmed case, which was traced to the floor mat trapping the accelerator pedal rather than a fault with the electronic throttle control.  Though there isn't any mention as to how many of the 3000 cases have been analysed so far.
     Aside from the issues with the floor mat, the most common problem seems to be driver error.  People think they've hit the brakes when really they've hit the throttle, then panic and won't release it.
     I suppose this is good news for Toyota, after all it is what they were saying from the start - at least until they got too much bad press over it.  On the other hand, if it was a design flaw at least it'd be something they could fix.  If the problem is just that your customers aren't competent to drive, well...  That's a harder one to work around.  Maybe they'll have to start giving people a competency test before they let them buy a car, I'm sure that'd go over well.
     I'm mostly joking there - it's entirely possible there's a design flaw of some type to do with pedal positioning or angle which is the real problem.  I'd think if it were that simple though then Toyota would've been shouting it from the rooftops by now.

Apple disappearing Consumer Reports iPhone 4 forum mentions.

     It seems like Apple is banishing forum posts which mention the Consumer Reports findings of degraded phone reception when bridging the iPhone 4's antennas...  I.e. holding the phone.
     It's not really a surprise - if I recall correctly Apple seems to have a propensity for doing things like this.  They don't like discussions which go against the company line appearing on their forums.  I can understand that, but I think binning them isn't the smartest move.  They should know that once something makes it onto the web once it's almost impossible to erase.
     You could argue that it was the tone of the removed thread (cached here, by Bing for all the conspiracy theorists!) they weren't keen on - there's a fair bit of snippiness between posters.  Given there's a bunch of removed posts with those when googling the Apple forums though, it's hard to believe this was the sole reason.

     Personally I don't see why this is still such a big deal, both from Apple's side and from those covering it.  Any phone you hold is going to have its signal somewhat degraded, just because there's a lump of meat in between the mobile tower and your phone.  The iPhone 4 is going to cop this, as well as (I believe) an extra impact from having its two antenna modules bridged by somebodies sweaty palm.  Personally, I'm not a radio expert - I've no idea how much impact that bridging is going to cause.  Some people seem to think it's very significant, and some that it only has a minor effect.
     I do think it's likely to be a real issue, and I believe Apple should step up and acknowledge this to a greater extent than they have done - but I'm not sure it's as much of a problem as it's been made out to be.  Only more testing will prove that out, one way or another.
     I would love to know if Apple product engineering is madly testing painted/dipped clear coated metal bands though - but only from curiosity, if I get one I'll be putting it in a nice grippy silicone case anyway.
    

Spotify Available For Linux

     Hit the link for more details, but it seems Spotify have released a Linux client.  I'm inordinately cheered by this, given that the service isn't technically available in Australia.
     It seems a little limited at the minute - online music only, premium (i.e. add free) version only.  But it's just a Beta, I think they'll iron those issues out.  That the good people at Spotify have even developed a Linux version is enough to make me take notice of them.
     I'm not the biggest "social" media convert, the main reason that I'm so interested in services like Spotify & Last.fm is that I have trouble discovering new music and artists that I like.  I just don't get to listen to as much radio as I'd like anymore.  For me they definitely a lot of the niche that radio used to have carved out.
       Anything which helps to point me towards new music that I might not have heard, but might love, gets a big stamp of approval.

Campaign Against Mandatory Internet Filtering

     Just a link to a campaign against the mandatory internet filter.  I don't necessarily think their add is that great, it's a little cheesy and a lot sensationalist but I do agree with the message that they're trying to get out.  You can allow  them some liberties for trying to make the message more catchy and more easily consumable by the average consumer.

     There's a couple of links on that webpage that are worth looking at, and they've put together a nice summary here.  Without wanting to sound too tinfoil hat, basically the filter will be ineffective at performing the task the government says they're implementing the filter for.  At the same time it will slow down general net access, while allowing the government to filter whatever they decide to - with absolutely no public transparency.

     If you're at all concerned about freedom of information, or even about not having your internet experience degraded, then this is definitely something that should concern you.

Carbon Sequestering Issues

     The linked article only glosses over the details, but it throws out a number of only a 1% release of carbon per 1000 years for any carbon sequestering system to be useful for preventing global warming.  That's not really a shock to me, but I wonder if anybody who thinks they're going to save the world by "sequestering" carbon through biological means has read this.

     It really gets under my skin when people talk about using tree plantations, or even farming as "Carbon Sinks".  What do they think happens to the carbon wrapped up in those trees and crops when the trees get milled and the food gets eaten?

     Trees could at least have some merit as a delaying tactic, once you've churned the atmospheric carbon into wood, it'll take quite a few years for it to be released again - providing the wood isn't just burned.  I don't even want to think about eating produce from crop which is going to be able to "sequester" carbon for any significant period of time though.  I'm picturing something like the worst scone ever.  Extra dense, heavy and dry, that's going to go in one end but never leave.  And it'll last longer than you will.  Yech.

ATO eTax Failure

     See the linked article for the ATO's pathetic statement regarding the lack of availability of the eTax software for anything other than Microsoft windows.
     Honestly, this abysmal situation has been going on that long that I've ceased to be surprised when another year rolls around and the ATO have still made absolutely no moves towards making electronic tax return submission available to all computer users.  Just because I'm not surprised, doesn't mean that I'm not outraged.
     I've been bumping into this issue for years, mostly using Linux and being able to get away with WINE....  Except for last year when I had to install eTax on a borrowed windows PC to do the actual submission.
     The ATO don't even make a token effort at having their official, publicly funded, software available to those who choose not to use Microsoft Windows - they should be raked over the coals for this.


For anybody else that's as annoyed about this as I am, the official ATO complaint address is:

Complaints
Australian Taxation Office
Locked Bag 40
Dandenong Victoria 3175

Apple's iPhone 4 Bar Dropping Explanation

     So Apple has put out a press release stating that it's aware of the perceived issues with iPhone 4 reception, and that's all it is - a perception issue.  Albeit one that Apple themselves created.  The actual iPhone 4 is apparently getting better reception than any previous iPhone and people should stop with the complaining.

     Apple are going to issue a software update, but it's not an actual "fix" for the problems that people have been seeing, it'll just mean that the number of signal strength bars displayed on the Apple phones reflects more accurately the actual signal strength that people are getting.  You'd think there'd be a standard for that, but apparently not.

     Personally, I don't think there was anything "accidental" about the original way that Apple worked out it's signal strength to bar ratio.  It's a little disingenuous for them to be saying they just did it accidentally.  I think it's certainly possible that there were some bad marketing decisions made though.

     There are a two main ways I can see the iPhone shipping with an over optimistic indicator of signal strength.

• Apple studied how to set the number of bars relative to signal strength.  They looked at other phones on the market and realised that as long as you had (for example) 3 or more bars, the majority of people were perfectly happy with their call quality and data transmission rates.  Rather than annoying people by showing them a less than adequate looking number of bars, they just simplified things and made 5 bars on the iPhone equal to 3 bars on most others.  I could see Apple doing this, it seems very much the way they design products - removing complexity where it doesn't add any benefit.
• The other possible reason is more tied to the iPhone situation in America.  With the phone locked into a single carrier, and not necessarily the best carrier for coverage, maybe there was a little pressure from AT&T to artificially inflate the perception of reception.

     Whatever the reason, it's easy to see why Apple would want to backpedal on this now.  Why would they want to make the iPhone seem like it's got issues with its call quality, when it's really at least as much to do with the service provider not having enough coverage?  Well, maybe in America with one carrier there is a reason to share the pain with the AT&T - you don't want the customer to think that by buying an iPhone they're locking themselves into patchy coverage as well.

     I've seen many reports on each generation of the iPhone saying that it's a great device, but a pretty ordinary phone.  My personal experience is that it's a pretty good phone too.  I'll be interested to see if the opinion of the iPhone's general call quality improves once Apple rolls out the update and the number of bars more accurately reflects the signal strength people are receiving.  You'd think that people should be expecting slightly lower performance once they realise they don't have perfect reception.

     I'm curious to see how many bars I drop on my 3GS.  There's definitely some locations I'm at regularly where I've been very surprised to be getting a solid 5 bars, but a 20m shift will drop those 5 bars back to 1.

The New Prime Minister & The Resource Super Profits Tax

     I suppose that it's not so surprising that one of the first things Julia Gillard would do when stepping into power is to begin to backpedal on the resource super profits tax.  The bad sentiment towards Kevin Rudd that everybody involved with mining developed over the new tax was, after all, the final bit of backing she needed to take power.  I hope this only extends to advertising changes, but it'd be a fairly naive view to actually expect that.

     The resource super profits tax is a good idea, we're talking about a finite resource that cannot be replaced.  From that point of view, there's almost no value you can place on it that would be too high.  The government has looked at the mineral wealth of Australia and realised that we (the Australian people) aren't getting a fair price for our resources.  I think the implementation of the tax could even be on the soft side - it's not as though more is being charged for prospecting rights, which may or may not pan out.  With the tax in place the mining companies simply pay more as they pull more from the ground.

     If the level of tax is right (I don't know enough about the mining industry to judge this, but I certainly haven't seen anything from the "Pro Mining" community that shows mining is now unsustainable.) it will funnel more money to government for essential services, while at the same time slowing the rate at which we're losing our mineable materials.  Win Win.

     The mining companies aren't going to walk away from the profits they're still able to generate under the new tax scheme, however there will be an incentive for them to do things on a smaller scale.  What this means that rather than being in and out of a place in a few years,  the overall process will be slowed down - acting more like traditional forms of employment for people, possibly even allowing communities to develop.  Even if that doesn't happen, not rushing all of Australia's mineral onto the table at once means that we'll get a higher price for it in the longer term.

     Before Julia Gillard became the PM, she apparently felt the same way, quoting her from a television interview before the leadership debacle:

"These minerals, you can only dig them up once, you can only sell them once, we've got to make sure the nation gets a fair share,"

     I hope that the pressure she'll be feeling from her new backers to rescind the tax doesn't mean that the cost of our first female Prime Minister is billions of dollars lost that could've be spent on healthcare, education,  sustainable power & industry, public transportation, etc, etc etc....

Link to a document explaining the tax: Resource Super Profits Tax

Infrared Photography

     I quite like this gallery of infrared images.  There's not a lot of information about them, but they seem to be mainly infrared with a gentle blending of normal colour information added back in post processing with photoshop.
     It's very easy to go wrong trying this sort of thing, and end up with some very... "striking" or "interesting" images which aren't actually pleasing to look at.  Whomever prepared these though has shown some nice restraint.
     Most digital cameras are able to capture infrared light to some extent - take a picture looking at the end of your TV remote with a button pressed.  Voila, infrared photo.  Typically cameras have some heavy duty IR filters though, as otherwise the photos you take won't look much like what we can actually perceive.  There's some ways around it - either by _heavily_ filtering the visible spectrum and only allowing the IR through, or modifying your camera to remove the IR filters.
     Search for infrared photography if you're interested, there's plenty of links on the web.

New Mac Mini

     So it seems Apple have finally gotten around to refreshing the mac mini, case and all.  About time really.  Not that there's anything wrong with the original design - I've still got a G4 ticking away as a home "server", it's a great little form factor.  I suppose that Apple wanted all the WWDC coverage to focus on the iPhone, but I still find it amazing that they passed up the opportunity to release this a week earlier and grab some extra press.  I'm not sure if any other companies would be able to show that level of restraint.
     Making the new computer even smaller though has to be a good thing, providing that Apple haven't messed up the thermal footprint.  I've seen a few blog posts comparing it in size to the Apple TV.  Given that mini now has HDMI out it's a fair comparison to make, and surely a revised Apple TV with HDMI out can't be far away either.  It is small too, no doubt about it - I was comparing the dimensions to a Wii I've got nestled nicely beneath my TV and it'd make the Wii look bulky.  Having an integrated power supply is a massive improvement as well - again, providing Apple have the thermals worked out.
     However there's a definite downside to the new sizing - it's not just shorter as I originally thought from the images.  It's gotten wider.  Pffft.  No longer will the mac mini and Airport Extreme make a neat little hardware stack.
     If there was a new wireless standard floating around I'd be betting Apple had a revised router on the way as well, but there's not....  It seems a little clumsy and unlike Apple's usual attention to detail.  Yes, I know it's now the same size as the Apple TV, but how many people stacked a Mini & ATV together?  Though I suppose the argument can be made that the all plastic router has never looked like a fantastic match with the mostly metal Mini.
     Still it seems with the new form factor that Apple is giving a definite hint to Apple TV owners looking for an upgrade - this little box will do everything you asked for in an upgraded ATV.  Shame about the price.

Obligatory iPhone 4 Post

     So the Stevenote announcing the iPhone 4 happened a couple of days ago.  I've been thinking about what was announced, trying to decide if it's worth upgrading from my current phone (3GS).  I probably won't rush into it and pre-order one, but...  While most of the updates that have been made seem nice, I can see that there's two things that I'm not going to be able to fairly quickly dismiss as trivial.
     Firstly, I'm a sucker for a nice screen.  I've got a feeling that when I get the chance to play with one of the new iPhones I'm going to be suddenly very dissatisfied with my 3GS.  Not that I think the 3GS screen is bad - I'm very happy with it.  I watch quite a few movies and TV shows on it, I use it a lot as an e-reader, as well as for general casual web browsing.  You can definitely see the pixelation though.  (As a side note, why on earth did Apple design the iPad to be the resolution it is when they were bringing this to market so soon afterwards?  I wish I could see the chain of reasoning that Apple went through to reach that conclusion.)
     I've got a feeling the difference between 3G & 4 is going to be like the jump to HD TV.  I wasn't really at all excited about HD TV, until I saw one in person showing a good quality HD signal.  I was totally blown away, and started planning to get one.  I'm a bit like that with sound quality as well, I guess most people are to some extent.  (Another side note - most Australian HD broadcasting is terrible!  There should be a compression limit you can't cross and still call it HD.)
     The other really nice feature for me is the 720p video recording.  I've been looking to replace my current handycam with something newer.  Something cheap and cheerful like the Flip or one of those waterproof Kodak ones was seeming like a pretty good way to go.  Depending on the quality of the video from the iPhone, those two could be pretty much crossed off the list.  iPhone already one-ups them in one respect at least with the led "flash".
     I'm really eager to see some actual footage recorded with the iPhone.  Apple does have one snippet here.  It does look fairly nice, with a reasonable amount of detail in the waves and froth crashing on the beach, but I'd really like to have some original "as recorded" video to download.
     Still, with the iPhone not coming to Aus until (at least, if the iPad launch is any judge) July, I've got a bit of time to mull over any purchases.

Apple Magic Trackpad

     I'm not sure if I hope THIS article from engadget is true or not.  I really like the larger trackpads on the macs, and don't miss the mouse for most of the things I do with my computer while mobile.  While planted at a desk though, I'm not sure it's going to be that much benefit to me.
     I suppose I hope that Apple does announce it, and that it adds enough new functionality to my desktop setup that I'd want it.  From my experience with the laptop trackpads, I feel like it'd be useful... I just can't quite picture how at the minute.
     If they could integrate it into a basic keyboard as a replacement for the number pad, while keeping the number pad functional, I think I'd be sold on it.

6 Legged Rugby Robot!

     Ok, so the title is probably more than a little sensationalist but the idea is pretty cool.  Unfortunately details on the thing are kind of scarce, but Thales Aerospace have built a scrum simulating robot - see THIS link to Gaea Times for more details.  Anything which helps reduce injuries is a positive, no arguments from me there, but the details seem a little disappointing all the same.
     When I saw a snippet about it, I was thinking more along the lines of something like BigDog but specifically designed to tackle people.  (How neat would that be!)  Given the lack of pictures I can find of the Thales device though, I doubt it's that exciting.
     I was kind of hoping this would be the precursor to some robot vs. robot rugby.  Or even robot vs. drug pumped, genetically modified humans.  Either of those might get me watching more sport.

Cost of Fuel Economy

Wired Autopia Article

Linked article skims over some of the general added vehicle costs to improving fuel economy.  I think one of the most important statements from it is this one:


"Regardless of the level of hybridization, the biggest gains come in vehicles specifically designed to maximize aerodynamic efficiency and minimize rolling resistance while using the smallest possible gasoline engine, the study states."

Hybrids help in specific use cases - particularly heavily built up areas.  So across Australia, that's mainly the state capitals.  Outside of those areas it's just extra cost weight and complexity to lug around.  As a marketing ploy though, their usefulness seems almost unlimited.

You know, that's not too bad....

     So, I tend to have a little fascination with bad foodstuffs.  Over-processed, wrongly coloured, bad flavour combinations, things like that.  I got a free sample of this "Dilmah Exceptional Peppermint & English Toffee Real Leaf Tea" on a magazine recently.  Looking at that name, I was sure this would be right up my alley.
     Well it is... But only because I drink a lot of tea.  The black tea flavour is pretty mild, the toffee adds a nice sweet flavour and the peppermint leaves a nice fresh feel in the mouth.  I'm not sure I'd drink it everyday, but it has some definite pleasant qualities about it.  I'm almost dissapointed. :)

Really?

Is it wrong that I found the strangest thing about this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10207486.stm that people actually have up to €1000 dollars invested in virtual goods for Habbo hotel.
Honestly, if anybody wants to spend this much money on something they can't hold - send me a new laptop and I'll send 'em back a picture of it.

I bet the Habbo admins haven't just reinstated the "stolen" furniture because they expect these guys will be gullible enough to repurchase it.  *Sigh*

/rant

eBook Gripes

  So, lately I've become quite a fan of reading eBooks rather than physical ones. Yes real books are nice, and much more durable when accidentally dropped in the bath, but the convenience and instant availability of eBooks is a real winner for me. Plus they are cheaper, and cheaper is often a bonus.

  Availability in Australia is a real pain though. I can't wait for the day that there is one common format, and all the books available in print are available electronically. I think that day may be more than a few years off though.
     So far the majority of my eBooking has been on an iPhone via the Kindle app.  I was really excited when Borders made their eReader available.  Ok, so it may only be a Borders branded kobo app, but it does look a lot nicer IMHO.  Besides which, the main benefit of the Borders app was some competition for Kindle.  (The B&N eReader is available in Australia, has been for ages, but the books aren't - interesting marketing you got there B&N.)
     Anyway, I grabbed a sample book (The Night Angel Trilogy if anybody is interested, it's kind of trashy but I chew through a lot of books) and was almost immediately caught up in it.  Great I thought, I'll buy this one - and so much cheaper than I expected, it was a price I would expect to pay for one book of the trilogy as a paperback.  However, it's vanished from the Borders eBookstore, oops!  Probably I got it off the international store because somebody flicked the wrong switch when turning on the backend for the Borders app?
     Now if I want to keep reading I need to buy the books elsewhere, blegh.  I can get them as an eBook from Amazon, which is fine.... Except I need to buy all three individual books, it'll cost me a lot more than the price for the compiled trilogy.  I'll probably still do it but it's frustrating that it's so hard to actually buy something you want.  (I think to get an electronic copy it'd be easier to not buy it judging from the links that popped up when I searched for "Night Angel Trilogy eBook".)
     While I'm grumbling:  Borders, Amazon - you guys really need to get in app purchasing sorted out.  Being bumped out to safari is pretty annoying.  Borders one-ups amazon here by at least letting you browse the store from within the app.