On the BOM Help page they note:

The Bureau’s current networking environment makes it a challenge for the web address ‘bom.gov.au’ to be used. So, for now, ‘www.bom.gov.au’ will remain as the domain name for the Bureau of Meteorology.

Hmm… surely this one little effort had no effect

STUDENT absenteeism is to plummet in high schools as wayward pupils are lured back to class by free laptops.

Source: Laptop of learning in luxury

he he… yeah right.

I work in a school with daily absenteeism of 25% or more. Laptops are not going to change this updated: I should say, they are not going to make this figure plummet, the reasons for this absenteeism are social.

Watching in a browser window is far from ideal. I say that as the wife and I sit at two different computers, both watching the same episode (me with headphones) – most people’s computers aren’t placed in a way that’s comfortable for two people (or more) to view.

The solution – download. We still need the TV networks to latch onto downloads.

Apple have worked this out. The Apple TV coupled with iTunes allows you to download TV episodes for some shows on Australian TV as soon as the day after it airs.

But, in Australia, Apple have no competition for downloadable TV

Another solution that you might be thinking is a PVR, but I still think there’s a place for downloads.

When I point out some of the negatives (my speciality); for example, that these machines should be considered ‘sub-computers’ or that it’s a response by government which has required a cheque book, but little thought – and blame for any implementation failure will undoubtedly lie with teachers — the response has been “but you’ll get one”.

It’s seems to be said in such a way that suggests I should be thankful or appreciative of getting a laptop. The strange thing is, these are usually people who in their occupations depend on a computer, and expect it to be on their desk, and somehow see this as a luxury for teachers.

So, let’s compare screen sizes of the machine I will be getting and what I actually use to ask part of my job, although not paid for by my employer.

Really, I’m plugging it, because they asked to use a photo of mine.

National Gallery of Australia on Schmap.

Last week, the Australian Government announced that it would:

establish a new company that will invest up to $43 billion over eight years to build and operate a National Broadband Network source

(Did you know we had a Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy? which gives a nice domain name of dbcde.gov.au. I would suggest that they change their name to the Agency of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.)

Two concerns came to my mind when I heard this announcement:

1. The cost to taxpayers if the return is not what the Government expect. The return may not be what the Government expect because:
   • Their network will duplicate network that exists in many parts of Australia. At my place, I could connect to ADSL, the Optus cable (overhead) or the Foxtel/BigPond cable (underground). With BigPond looking to up their download speeds on cable to 70-100Mbps (only in Melbourne initially), the Government’s network would have to be very competitive for me to switch (although the NBN would probably offer higher upload speeds).
   • The cost of the NBN service may be prohibitive. I’ve heard that analysts expect the cost as a consumer would be twice current costs. Paul Broad from AAPT suggests “the average punter will be paying something like $200 a month for this service” ABC Lateline Business.
     
     
     Optus overhead cabling in a street near my house (from Google Maps, Street View) – I love the extra piece of cable hanging down, it’s still there.
     
2. Remember the furious roll-out of the Optus and Foxtel cables years ago? Foxtel was mainly going underground, but in some suburbs hung their cable from the power poles, like Optus, to reduce cost and quicken the roll-out. Many residents did not like additional overhead cables, and because of that still do not have the HFC cable in their street. The Government’s NBN is unlikely to be concerned about aesthetics, will we see another big black cable hung along our street?

On the other hand, the National Broadband Network may bring some much needed competition to the market for BigPond (current plans where we pay by volume will hopefully get a shake up) and indirectly for other media providers (wake up Australian TV stations).

I guess we will wait and see.

According to the AustraliaIT article, the machine selected is the Lenovo IdeaPad S10e.

To see the technical specifications I went to the US site. Unless the machine given to the DET is changed in some way, I don’t think it meets the mandatory specifications. The mandatory specifications in the tender specified a 6 hour battery life (for a whole school day). In the tech specs, Lenovo say the S10e does 5 hours on a 6-cell battery.

The specs on the Australian site note a hard disk drive rather than a solid state disk drive.

The Machines will ship with Windows XP, Office and some Adobe applications.

Updated
The Premier of NSW’s media release only notes the battery life as “extended”.

Updated 2
A rant on my MathsClass blog.

Visit eBay for details.

Books include:

• 2000 Solved Problems in Electronics
• Applied Photovoltaics
• Calculus of Several Variables
• Calculus. Differential and Integral
• Complex Variables and Applications. 5th Edition.
• Computer-Based Exercises for Signal Processing MATLAB
• Control Systems Engineering
• Digital and Analog Communication Systems
• Digital Design Fundamentals. 2nd Edition
• Digital Signal Processing
• Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems
• Elementary Linear Circuit Analysis. 2nd Edition.
• Feedback Control of Dynamic Systems. 3rd Edition.
• Linear Algebra. 3rd Edition.
• Microcomputer Systems – Architecture and Programming
• Microelectronics. Second Edition.
• Microprocessor System Design
• Probability and Statistics. 3rd Edition.
• Signals and Systems: Continuous and Discrete. 3rd Ed
• Signals and Systems. Schaum’s Theory and Problems
• Vector Analysis and Cartesian Tensors. 3rd Edition.
• VLSI Design Techniques For Analog And Digital Circuits
• Writing and Speaking in the Technology Professions