Mayor4Unley

DPTI has just contacted me to advise that over the next 3 nights there will be overhead works at the South Road tram overpass. Throw screens will be installed on the recently fixed cycle/pedestrian bridge. I hope that the new throw screens don't cause the same problem as last time. I'm sure that the new design has been carefully scrutinised (and certified). Anyway, there will be night works with noise and some traffic diversions over the next 3 nights. The cycle/pedestrian bridge is due to open in ~ 6 weeks. I understand that it will be a grand opening with dignitaries aplenty; more-so with the approaching SA Election. I will be there in lycra to wave the cyclists through.

There's so much buzz about Bitcoin and other crypto currencies. So much envy about those making an absolute killing on the crypto currency market. There's so much ups and downs. So much desire to get some of the action. But is it too late or do we just wait a bit and then buy in. To compound the situation, there are approximately 1,300 crypto coins and the reality is that most will become zombie coins; so we need to choose carefully with a huge helping of luck. Yes, there will be winners in the crypto space. However, it may not be Bitcoin; despite being the first. But what would I know? To put crypto currency into perspective and to do a bit of a reality check, here's a monkey story to ponder ... A lot of monkeys lived near a village. One day a merchant came to the village to buy these monkeys! He announced that he will buy the monkeys @ $100 each.  The villagers thought that this man is mad.  They thought how can somebody buy stray monkeys at $100 e...

Its amazing the apps now available on smart phones and devices. Now there is one that gives reliability to the rhythm method of contraception. A new mobile app for monitoring body temperature to track a woman’s menstrual cycle has been extensively trialed and now has been certified as a medical device for contraception by a German regulator.  The Natural Cycles app records daily temperature and uses an algorithm to plot fertility on an in-app calendar. The app was part of a clinical study in 2016 of one million women and it is claimed that it could be as effective as the contraceptive pill. The German certification body TÜV SÜD has approved Natural Cycles as a Class IIb medical device. The app developer now claims that the software is the first of its kind to be certified as a contraception alongside condoms, the pill and intra-uterine devices (IUDs). It is stated that ... “Our high quality clinical studies, together with the required regulatory approva...

Shave heaps off your electricity bill by replacing old lights with warm white LEDs. I've completed the switch from incandescent to fluro to LED. I was tired of the lag time and warm up time with fluros. They're still pricey, but they have a long life; and the payback time is quick. It's nice to again have instant light. A final tip: if the light switch has a dimmer, then you must get an LED that is dimmer compliant. I discovered this the hard way. They don't cost much more. Here's a link to more information

Last Wednesday I attended the launch of Pokemon Go in Unley; actually in Everard Park. Downloaded to my son's phone. After just a few days, Pokemon Go has become a killer app. It's being used by kids, youth, young men and women, older men and women and Mums and Dads. It's wild; totally sick. There are virtual Pokemons everywhere. They hang out at Pokestops and do battle at a Gym. Typically they can be found at parks, schools, community centres, historical locations, public swimming pools, libraries, ... everywhere; even in the home and in the backyard. One was seen perching on my shoulder. I even felt it. On the positive side it gets people out and about, wandering the streets looking for them and doing battle at a Gym. On the negative side, people are driving around, parking in front of Pokestops and on street corners; in dangerous locations. This app will cause accidents. My whole family (except for me) are into it; it's become totally obsessive. I'm ...

It was a blistery cold day up in the Adelaide Hills. It is at this time of the year. I was visiting friends at Crafers. And they were so pleased with themselves; they had just bought an electric toilet seat and wanted to show it off. The thought of such comfort just made you want to go; to experience the warmth on the buttocks. It was glorious; just so soothing and warm. The thought of getting electrocuted did pass my mind, but it passed as the warmth seeped in. I'd read about them, but hadn't experienced one. The problem with most households is who has a power point (plug) in the toilet to connect the device? Most I suspect do not have power in the toilet. I just hope that my friends buy green electricity to power their bottom warmer. Back home, there is no such luxury; and there won't be. At home, to avoid a cold bottom during winter, it's a matter of strategy. If you need to visit the toilet (to sit down) then wait until someone has been. Wait for a few minu...

Here's a great photo from the bush. Just love it! A clash of old and new power saving technologies, The windmill is iconic Australia. Solar panels are delivering extra power, especially to the rural areas. At Unley, in the Village Green, there is an old windmill; a relic from a bygone era when the area was primarily agricultural. One of my pet projects and desires is to restore the windmill and install an underground tank to be used to simulate pumping water. There needs to be a bit of controlled leakage just like with real windmills in the bush. Solar panels on the nearby Council building would power the pump and help to turn the windmill blades.At night, soft LED lights would highlight the feature. It would be a magnificent working art feature. Before I leave Council, I want to see this happen. I had better start working on it soon ;))

Recently I attended the launch of the Spirit of Anzac Centenary Experience at the Showground in Adelaide. A wonderful exhibit and experience. I carried an iPod-like device and tagged exhibits that I found interesting and wanted a link for future reference. Excellent use of technology. My tagged exhibits can be viewed by this link Click here

Good news about Origin Energy partnering with solar power company Natural Solar and reselling Tesla Energy’s Powerwall to the Australian market. This is a state-of-the-art Li-Ion battery system that will provide electricity off the grid and be available in case of a mains power outage. It's time I started thinking about a solar system. Read the story

Li-Fi is an emerging technology, a new form of wireless technology that transmits data up to 100 times faster than conventional Wi-Fi. It may revolutionise the way in which we transmit data on a smartphone, tablet or computer. It is wireless technology that uses flickering LED lights to transmit up to 1 gigabit per second; much faster than current Wi-Fi data speeds which average around 11 megabits per second. Read more about Li-Fi

The notorious hacker group called Anonymous is planning revenge against ISIS and its supporters for the murderous assault on the innocent citizens of Paris. They have started with hacking 5,500 Twitter accounts and changing #tags and publishing personal details of the account. Twitter accounts are being shut down. They have declared a cyber war on ISIS. As Anonymous says, they doesn’t have to act within the constraints of the law. Normally I would frown on hackers, but in this case I applaud their effort in a just cause; to avenge the death of innocents in Paris. Click here for more information Tip: be careful with the #tags or Anonymous may target you.

hhmmm the Internet of Things aka. IoT People ask me, what is it? The term was first coined back in 1999. Interesting that it has taken so long to emerge and begin to become mainstream. It is certainly going through a hyper phase at the moment; of what is and what might be achievable. Within 24 months we will have embraced it or become entwined in the technology and taken it for granted, perhaps with some trepidation in the early stages. But, what is it? A few definitions will help to explain ... A definition: The  Internet of Things   ( IoT ) is an environment in which objects, animals or people are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction Another definition: Simply put this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cell phones, coffee makers, wash...

Why is the limit of an SMS 160 characters? It’s not a decimal number ie. not a multiple of 10 and has nothing to do with dozens (12), not  even  a butcher's dozen. So why is there a limit of 160? BTW if you often push the limit of 160 characters, then you really need to get a life. But, back to basics … why the limit of 160? There are 2 stories and reasons suggested. A man called Friedhelm Hillebrand, Chairman of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), had the task of setting the limit on the amount of characters a text message could contain. This would become the international standard. He did this by analysing  typical  sentences viz. questions and answers. He also reviewed messages written on postcards and received by Telex transmissions. (Telex was not so long ago the state of the art message transmission technology.) Friedhelm Hillebrand arrived at the answer of 160 characters. His recommendation became the standard. T...

I was recently on holiday in Port Douglas and Cairns. Mid afternoon I was in the pool having a swim and cool off before it was gin and tonic time. A few of the other swimmers, mostly women from down south (we all were from down there or now, from down here) were having a conversation about their mobile phones - how it never rings long enough. Actually I had the same problem and had never bothered to fix it. After the swim, shower and a lovingly made gin and tonic, I googled the problem. They were impressed when I left a note on one of the sun beds with the code to enter into their phone. To make your mobile phone ring longer before it diverts to voicemail, Enter **61*101**30# (and from memory then press call). Note: the 30 above is the number of seconds for the phone to ring. Within minutes there were no women in the pool. They were programming their phones and expressing delight that it works. It will be damn frustrating for the caller when the phone now rings and rings ...

FYI a friend sent me an article on the pervasiveness of acronyms today; the push for more and more acronyms is probably driven by the desire to fit more words into a 140 characters text message. BTW I am simply reprinting what was sent to me; without my usual edit of spelling and grammar. This article is from the August 15 issue of The Australian Digital Edition.   The acronyms are coming. Marching across the language in their thousands, blunt, unlovely, artificial abbreviations, easy to coin and virtually ineradicable, forcing out perfectly good words and replacing them with ugly initials. Acronyms are the grey squirrels of language. Two acronymic films will be competing at the box office: The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which stands for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, and the Bond movie, Spectre (Special Executive for Counterintelligence , Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). The men from U.N.C.L.E. fight an evil organisation called Thrush (Technologic...

The other day I was asked what does ‘J’ mean in email and text messages. Some people have strange understandings eg. joke, smile with a big mouth, big cheesey grin, etc. Wrong! It all came about through an accident with one computer converting a smiley face to a a J. Now people associate J with a J and use both interchangeably; without wondering why. The technical explanation is as follows ... Answer: If you've ever received an e mail with a mysterious J in the body of the message, you may have been perplexed by its meaning. Some messages have a single J, while others have several. Most Js appear at the end of sentences, but they can appear anywhere in the message. So what does this character mean and why does it show up in e-mail messages (and now also text messages)? The J is actually supposed to be a smiley face. If you have Wingdings font installed on your computer, the character J will appear as a smiley face. Otherwise, it will be the letter J. This is beca...

What a fantastic initiative. A Virtual War Memorial website has been created and receives SA Government funding to enable students to contribute stories. Schools  are being encouraged to get students involved. School children will be urged to get involved in an online project telling the stories of those who have served Australia in war. The South Australian Government is providing $780,000 over four years to a partnership project between the state Education Department and the Returned and Services League (RSL). The Virtual War Memorial was launched as a Centenary of Anzac project. It is planned to increase the collection of online biographies and records of servicemen and women. It’s a good looking website that encourages participation. Make sure that your local school is involved. For more information, click here For more information, click here Click here to visit the Virtual War Memorial

Identity theft is a growing problem … and people are not helping themselves. In fact, they are making it easier for thieves to steal/acquire identities. One of the key items that is often freely available is a person’s date of birth. It is freely provided in competition entries and online in social media and forms. If a thief has the date of birth and some details about a bank account there is a good chance of gaining access to the ban k account and draining funds. For many many years I have never been 100% honest in surveys I have done (except for the Census). My age is never exact and some other personal details are almost right, but not quite. People (doing surveys) don’t need an exact profile on me. Well, actually they would like that because it is usually on-sold. Be careful about the details you give-away about yourself. Have a read of this story

Just when I was about to buy a newer smart phone, along comes news that holographic technology is about to emerge on smartphones. We will soon be able to receive holographs on our mobile phones. Maybe I should wait a bit for the technology to emerge and mature. To understand the technology and where we are headed,  click on this link

Every day on the Internet we are obliged to read terms and conditions and then tick the Accept/Agree box before proceeding with accessing the service on offer. Wrong! We never read the terms and conditions. Who does? We all tried once and quickly ticked the Accept box. A guy by the name of Alex Hern decided not to use any Internet service without firstly reading all the terms and conditions first. After 7 days and and 146,000 words later, he penned his thoughts. He read and analysed all the small print, the legal stuff. He wrote … When was the last time you read all the terms and conditions for a service you used? Have you ever read the terms and conditions? Probably not. So why do we spend so much of our time ignoring the thousands of words of legally binding “end-user licence agreements” (EULAs, if you like) legally-binding contracts we agree to every day? Is it even possible to read the T&Cs for everything a typical person does? Is there any value in reading all ...