49243091
submission
pcritter writes:
With the Australian Federal Election looming, Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Australia's biggest newspapers is looking to unseat the incumbent Labor government over its centerpiece National Broadband Network policy. The media mogul sees the NBN as a threat to his media empire and has ordered newspapers to attack the project at every opportunity. The NBN seeks to bring 100Mbps Fibre-To-The-Premises internet to 93% of the country with wireless and satellite for the remainder. It currently reaches 4% of the population and is slated to complete in 2021. The conservative opposition has promised to dramatically scale back the project.
42246713
submission
pcritter writes:
Australian firefighters are enlisting the help of tiny pill to battle fires. In a training exercise, 50 firefighters swallowed the LifeMonitor capsule which is equipped with a thermometer and a transmitter. The pill transmits data to a device worn of the chest which also gathers heartbeat, respiration and skin temperature. This data is relayed in real-time allowing better management of heat-stress during firefighting. Victoria's Country Fire Authority trialled this new mechanism when they found that the standard measurement of temperature by the ear was an ineffective indication of heat-stress. The pill is expelled naturally after two days.
33295495
submission
pcritter writes:
In a rare coup for accountant's association CPA Australia, CEO Alex Malley interviews Neil Armstrong, whose dad worked as an Auditor, bringing him back 4 decades to the pinnacle of the space race. Neil reveals that "I thought we had a 90 per cent chance of getting back safely to Earth on that flight but only a 50-50 chance of making a landing on that first attempt". The 4 part video series is now posted on CPA Australia's website.
31622917
submission
pcritter writes:
With the Oracle v. Google trial date set for next Monday, the Judge has asked Google and Oracle to take a position on whether a programming language is copyrightable. This presumably relates to whether Google violated copyright by using a variant of the Java language and its APIs in the Android framework. Oracle, who thinks it can be, has used Klingon as an example of a language that is copyrighted. Google disagrees.
31052539
submission
pcritter writes:
The Australian Government has just announced the 3 year roll-out plan for its ambitious National Broadband Network. The plan details 3.5 million premises (30%) across the country to be connected to the NBN by mid-2015. A map is available showing coverage areas. The plan represents a major milestone in the NBN project, which aims to connect all of Australia with high speed broadband by 2021, with the 93% of the population on fibre to the premises (FTTP) of speeds up to 1000Mbits, and the rest on fixed wireless or satellite. The conservative opposition party had threatened to demolish the project if elected.
