The Sauhsoj Files

Aaron William Samuel

2009-10-24T13:05:00.003+11:00

Aaron William Samuel was stillborn in the early hours of Monday the 19th October, after 37 weeks gestation.

Named after his paternal grandfather Ralph Aaron Samuel and great grandfather Aaron Tischler (Ron) and maternal great grandfather William Meade (Bill), we had decided on the name a few months ago, after the CVS test revealed the gender to us and said his chromosomes were normal. William was a family name used amongst a number of generations in Karen's grandmothers family and Aaron was also the biblical brother to Miriam.

We noticed that Aaron had stopped kicking on Sunday evening, and when cold water and cold milk had not coaxed him to kick, we promptly went into Frances Perry House, where the CTG could not pick up a heart beat.

An ultrasound and CTG during the week had both been normal, and Karen had been well throughout the entire pregnancy.

Karen's obstetrician was there promptly and an emergency c-section was performed with Karen under general anesthetic.

Aaron never took a breath. Resuscitation was attempted first by the team performing the c-section, followed by the team that responded to the pediatric code blue call from the Royal Womens hospital, but his heart was not beating.

It is believed that the most likely cause was that Aaron had a heart attack, though no certain cause of death has been determined (and is unlikely to be ever be determined).

Sudden cardiac death in utero is a rare documented phenomenon that can occur in any pregnancy, but is slightly more common in diabetic pregnancies.

One further theory is that we have significant cardiac history on both sides of the family and that this could also be a contributing factor. No genetic testing would currently be able to pick this up.

Although there are always risks with pregnancy, and we knew that we were of higher risk, there was nothing at all to indicate that anything was wrong ahead of time.

A small private funeral was held on Wednesday.

Karen is recovering well and Miriam is helping us with her cheeky grin and big hugs.

We thank everyone for your love and support at this time.

Volvo C30 Electric Car Confirmed

2009-08-14T08:24:00.001+10:00

Electric cars are finally becoming a reality - even Volvo thinks they are feasible now.

See the blog post on GoodGreenCars.com:

Dreams Do Come True: Volvo C30 Electric Car Confirmed:

"A couple of years ago, Volvo introduced the ReCharge hybrid electric concept; now, it’s taking the idea a step further by giving the little Volvo C30 hatchback an electric motor with a 130-mile range.

A plug-in electric Volvo C30 will debut at the Innovation for Life event just after the Frankfurt Motor Show in September, according to a report in Autocar. Unlike the ReCharge, the C30 won’t have four small electric motors at all four wheels. It will instead have a more conventional single-motor set up.

The New York Times Wheels blog said the car could maybe possibly be part of a small test fleet. Fingers crossed. I’ve driven the gasoline C30, and for a city car, it’s brilliant. Swap out the gas pump for an outlet, and I’ll be in line. I’ll start saving my pennies.

Image courtesy of Volvo Cars."

2010 Prius - models and US prices announced

2009-04-22T09:09:00.003+10:00

Toyota Pressroom has announced the prices and packages for the 2010 Prius in the USA.

Interesting is that the extras packages allow either safety or comfort, but not both.
That is - you can either get the Sunroof Package or the Advanced Technology package, but not both.

The sunroof package gives you SatNav + a Sunroof with remote control operated air conditioner.

The Advanced Technology package gives you radar assisted cruise control, radar assisted pre-collision avoidance system, lane keep assist (to stop drowsy drivers drifting lanes) and semi-automatic parking.

Looking out to see what the Australian prices look like, and giving it a test drive when it eventually arrives.

Latest addition to my friends blogs list.

2009-03-09T11:03:00.004+11:00

Kaz is considering blogging more. See her latest post for a description of what she might post about.

2010 Prius - Photos leaked and released

2008-10-17T08:51:00.002+11:00

PriusChat has some pictures of the 2010 Prius which someone posted onto their forums.

It looks like the centre console has had a major revamp, with the gear selector moved to a more conventional location and the speedo/instrument screen looks like it has been revamped.

The front grill has also changed, with it looking sleeker than the existing model.

The "Prius Team" has also posted a teaser picture to the forums, which shows a logo saying "Welcome to Prius" - it looks like this may be the new startup screen for the display.

The 2010 Prius is slated to be launched in January 2009 at the Detroit Motor Show.

Honda Reintroduces the Insight Hybrid ahead of new model Prius

2008-09-05T13:36:00.006+10:00

CNN Reports:

Honda Motor Co. unveiled a pure-hybrid concept car Thursday that hopes to go head to head with Toyota's wildly popular Prius.
The carmaker showed images of the Insight that will go on sale in the United States in the spring, it said. The car, which will be sold only as a hybrid, will be a five-seat hatchback and will be priced "significantly below hybrids available today," Honda said in an announcement.

The picture on the CNN website looks almost exactly like the current model Prius. It will be very interesting to see what price range they can make this car, what mileage is can get, as well as what features it comes with.

Toyota is also expected to announce new hybrid models, including a new Prius in January at the Detroit motor show. Detroit News reports that there will be a Lexus hybrid with a completely different design to the Prius, as well as the next generation prius.

Baby proofing the house

2008-06-18T19:17:00.001+10:00

I think we missed a spot.

Blakes 7 Set for Comeback?

2008-04-26T20:24:00.003+10:00

BBC News is reporting that Sky One has commishoned 2 x 60minute scripts for a possible remake of Blakes 7.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7364663.stm

A consortium which includes Paul Darrow, actor of Avon from the original series, acquired the rights to Blakes 7 in 2003 and is working alongside Sky One in this production.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3102295.stm

Evil Monkey’s Guide to Kosher Imaginary Animals

2008-04-24T08:46:00.001+10:00

The title says it all! A list of imaginary animals and comments on if they are Kosher.
http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2008/04/17/evil-monkey%e2%80%99s-guide-to-kosher-imaginary-animals/

With lots of further comments on the article on Boing Boing:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/20/which-imaginary-anim.html

Fusion Reaction advances

2008-02-27T08:43:00.001+11:00

Thanks Thorne for pointing out some of the latest advances in Nuclear Fusion.

Very exiting.

Google Video here

Hybrid Car News

2008-01-16T08:28:00.000+11:00

According to the New York Times:

The chief executive of the Toyota Motor Corporation said Monday that he is pushing his company’s engineers to develop a plug-in hybrid-electric vehicle with a lithium-ion battery before 2010, raising the stakes in a race with General Motors.

They also said that it would release 2 new Hybrid cars at next years Detroit Motor show, including a larger Hybrid Toyota car and a new Lexus Hybrid.

This was also reported by HybridCars.com .

Futurism

2007-09-04T16:01:00.000+10:00

Thorne posts about a potential future of Mobile Phones on his blog:

The potential phone-of-the-future that this presents is really obvious: It looks just like an iPhone; a flat little tablet with a screen covering its entire surface, except that there’s no little port for a camera on this one, the screen is the camera. So long as phones continue to be used as cameras as well, there will probably be a screen/camera on both sides of your future-phone. If you like, the screen on the back can display a precise 3D rendition of your head when you hold it up to your ear, so that it looks transparent. In fact, why not do that all the time, so that the phone always looks transparent? Take that Aqua! To take a photo you just hold up your empty phone-frame, and press the button on the side…

I like this idea, and also had a vision of Apple using this new technology from Sharp, when I read the slashdot article. I like Thorne's extrapolation to a transparent phone.

Toyota Debuts Plug-In Prius

2007-07-28T17:27:00.000+10:00

Extremetech reports that on Wednesday Toyota Motor Corp. has unveiled a "plug-in" hybrid car based on its popular Prius model.
Toyota is going to test the fuel-saving vehicle, currently called the Toyota Plug-in HV on public roads—a first for the industry, with 8 Prototypes being built and tested.

Toyota does not intend these cars for later production, as they are using Nickel Metal Hydride batteries (as currently used in the Prius), which they consider inappropriate for a plug-in vehicle. They are waiting for Lithium Ion batteries to improve before commercialization.

Hybridcars.com also has an article, based on the same press release.

Media Centre Remote

2007-05-21T08:44:00.000+10:00

Ricavision Media Centre Sideshow Remote

This bluetooth remote does almost everything (except unfortunately control your other, non-computer connected devices, such as the stereo or DVD player).
Windows Sideshow allows you to navigate your music collection on the remote and add songs to the playlist as well as see what is currently playing. It displays this information on a 2.5" QVGA LCD screen.

If a universal remote version of this comes out, it would be very tempting to buy.

Next-Gen Prius - Hybrid X

2007-05-17T14:09:00.000+10:00

The next generation prius is going to come in 3 Flavours, all under the Prius label.

One car will be approximately the size of the current Yaris, the next size up will be slightly larger than the current Prius, and the larger version will be slightly smaller than the Camry. They are expected to release these models in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively.

The Camry Hybrid is expected to be dropped from the lineup.

This, along with the announcement that all of their cars will be hybrids by 2020, suggests that the existing line-up of cars will slowly be phased out, rather than converted to support a hybrid petrol/electric design.

Toyota to be 100% Hybrid by 2020

2007-05-17T13:59:00.000+10:00

Toyota has announced that they plan on producing 100% of their cars as Hybrids by the year 2020.
Previously, Toyota had announced that they would have their full range of cars available in a Hybrid form by 2010.

Currently the Prius is the only Toyota branded Hybrid available in Australia, with a Camry Hybrid available in the USA. Lexus has a range of luxury Hybrid cars available, at a much higher price.

Reuters reports that Toyota is hoping to make as much money from hybrids as it does from conventional cars by the end of the decade.

...

Experts are predicting that the new model [ed: 2008/2009 Prius], due late next year or in early 2009, will feature a cheaper lithium-ion battery system.

As for alternatives, Takimoto mentioned that plug-in hybrids, which run on electricity alone and can be charged from a household power socket are still years away from being feasible. While diesel vehicles, as favored by the European carmakers, require expensive particulate filters and other traps that cost almost as much as the first generation hybrid technology.

Student Arrested for "Suspected Terrorist Activity"

2007-05-15T13:48:00.000+10:00

A student has been arrested for "Suspected Terrorist Activity" after creating a map of his school in a computer game and playing this game with his friends.

The student was also expelled from his school, despite not being convicted of the charges yet, and moved to the "M.R. Wood Alternative Education Center".

Original Story at FortBendNow.

Also reported by Bandon Paddock's blog

New Fence

2007-04-06T17:25:00.000+10:00

Since we moved in, we've talked about replacing the fence along the side of the house, that has been falling apart and leaking bits of garden onto the street.
We've finally replaced it.

The rest of the photos can be seen on PicasaWeb:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/jsamuel/NewFence2007

Next stage:

Get new trellis and put the climbing plants back against the fence
Pave the section where we've relocated the gate to.
Fix up the irrigation system so that it drips into the garden again before next summer.

Google Maps - Australia

2007-02-06T14:02:00.000+11:00

Google has announced that they now have full support for Australian maps, including driving directions and local businesses.

By using the url http://maps.google.com.au, it defaults to Australian addresses, and seems to work really well for me.

It is also now allowing me to do things like search for Pizza in my local area.

Lookout Sensis - Google has just invaded your market space.

Intel announces replacement for Silicon Dioxide

2007-01-27T18:33:00.000+11:00

Betanews reports that Intel has announced that they are going to change the material used in the transistors on their semiconductors, as they move to a 45nm process.

The new materials are a hafnium based gate oxide (replacing the SiO2) and a metal gate (alloy undisclosed, replacing polysilicon).

They are planning on releasing CPU's using this new process in the second half of 2007, with higher clock speeds and similar thermal characteristics to the current Core 2 Duo processors.

"For Penryn, we're going to deliver some micro-architectural features that will improve performance, and separate from that and orthogonal to that, we're going to deliver some clock rate improvements," Intel's Smith told reporters. "You can expect some frequency increase within the same thermal envelopes; we know that is possible, and that's our plan for these."

Smith also confirmed that the new Penryn series will implement the long-anticipated fourth set of Streaming SIMD extensions to its instruction set - its next generation of single-instruction, multiple-data instructions that have steadily improved Intel CPUs' capability to manage multimedia and streaming data. "We already see those running in our lab successfully," he stated, "and what we're seeing is excellent, multiple-double-digit performance gains on media-type applications. So we're seeing the result we expected there from SSE4 in our initial evaluations."

On power consumtion, Jim McGregor says (from the same article):

"As we've seen, more miniaturized components should require less power to operate, as the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad series have clearly demonstrated. But at layer thicknesses of just one or two molecules, conventional materials behave differently, leaking current and thus using more power. HK+MG solves Intel's problem today, In-Stat's Jim McGregor believes, but it might crop up again later."

Books in a Minute - SF/F

2007-01-22T09:16:00.000+11:00

Books in a Minute:

Don't have time to read it all?
Let's face it. There's a lot of science fiction and fantasy out there and very little time to read it in. Well sit back and relax, because your troubles are solved! We here at Book-A-Minute SF/F have come up with a solution. We've taken several great speculative fiction novels and extracted the important stuff, cutting out all the filler. (You'd be surprised how much filler there is sometimes.) With our ultra-condensed versions of your favorite speculative fiction, you can read entire books -- entire series, even -- in just one minute! You can have your books and read them too!
And it costs nothing!

Spoliers may be contained (briefly) in the links below...

Books In a Minute - The list of abreviated books
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/sff.shtml

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/hobb.royal.shtml

Illuminatus Trilogy!
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/sheawilson.illuminatus.shtml

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/adams.hitchhiker.shtml

and an ultra-condensed version of Anne Rice's Interview With the Vampire
http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/b/rice.interview.shtml

iPhone drool

2007-01-11T13:54:00.000+11:00

No, not the device by InfoGear in 1999, but Apples new toy.

What thorne says. I agree. There is a really nice Demo that steve jobs gave at MacWorld that looks pretty sweet.

I especially like the scrolling with you finger, and the slide to unlock. The pincer action to zoom into the photos is nice too (but wouldn't be used as much).

With Samsungs new NAND memory doubling in capacity all the time, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 16GB model late this year.

The first model only has GSM + EDGE + WiFi + Bluetooth.... 3G is "comming".

11 Goats for Africa - wonderful!

2006-10-30T18:08:00.000+11:00

(Actual goats probably won't look as they are depicted in this image).

Thanks Guys!

Microwave engine

2006-09-24T20:15:00.000+10:00

New Scientist reports: "Relativity Drive: The end of wings and wheels?"

Of course, any crackpot can rough out plans for a warp drive. What they never show you is evidence that it works. Shawyer is different. He has built a working prototype to test his ideas, and as a respected spacecraft engineer he has persuaded the British government to fund his work. Now organisations from other parts of the world, including the US air force and the Chinese government, are beating a path to his tiny company.
The device that has sparked their interest is an engine that generates thrust purely from electromagnetic radiation - microwaves to be precise - by exploiting the strange properties of relativity. It has no moving parts, and releases no exhaust or noxious emissions. Potentially, it could pack the punch of a rocket in a box the size of a suitcase.

Magnolia

2006-09-18T20:21:00.000+10:00

Our magnolia has survived the winter, and is now starting to shoot!

I was quite worried about it, as about 4 weeks after it got planted, the last leaf fell off it (after all, we did plant it in Autumn...), and there had been no signs of life until now.

Not expecting any flowers from this tree for a few years yet.