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Australian Blog★
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Australian Laws Lag Behind Technological Change

Culture changes steadily with technological development. Some values have their own inertia which means that they stay around for much longer. Legal adaptation to a new environment is very slow. We are living with laws suited to a pre-internet era.

The Uber app took the world by storm. It spread through many countries and clashed with legal restrictions which were made for the benefit of taxi drivers and the public. Unfortunately, people do not like rapid change to the legal system. It upsets the way they live.

Like the Chinese, Australians embrace new technology, much to the frustration of government. Whether it is legal or not we adopt new things. They "get in" because their is some legal framework that benefits some participants in the market place. New systems get under the barrier, so to speak.

Australians seems to lead the world on illegal movie downloads. This is because the market is distorted. We pay over the odds for the latest films due to overpricing by American companies: they obviously do not understand that they lose money in the long run.

Some market distortions are being dismantled by Companies who have had the market to themselves for years. The pay TV business Foxtel has halved its small packages largely due to the appearance of Netflix Australia. Unfortunately, Teltra partly owns Foxtel and sells the premium Foxtel service with their broadband bundles. The Foxtel subscription remains the same but with two free movies a month given now. Some companies will never learn! This is why consumers move to new products, legal or not.

Science by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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Biomass is the Wrong Way forward

Much has been said about the adoption of biomass technology to replace wind and solar energy production. Biomass involves the burning of sugars, starches and oils from crops to make biodiesel and ethanol. The cost of gathering this waste has not been factored in. Wind and solar need maintenance but for the most part they just sit there and do their job.

Farmers have simply left waste in the fields - ultimately burning or plowing them in. They do not see money in gathering up the left overs from crops. Environmentally, biomass looks good. However, financially they are a no-go. Who will pay a higher price for electricity? Charges are already extremely high using coal which is just dug from the ground.

The biggest problem is that biomass involves burning while wind and solar do not. Just substituting biomass for widely available conventional fossil fuels is not a an ideal move forward. This is like electric cars which are only substitutes for petrol motor vehicles - a poor and inefficient one at that.

Saying that biomass can be made from wood and straw and could reduce the use of normal fossil fuels is a mistake. It is not as if oil is running out: it isn't. Australia is a "bowl" of natural resources. We do not have to be efficient with industrial waste like European countries which have to import oil.

To make biomass productive will take capital that Australia does not have. This country has a large deficit. It caused the Coalition government to abandon the carbon tax and redistribute savings back to the consumer. After tax collection costs, the government got very little income from the tax. It is simply not rational for Australia to abandon coal in power generation when other countries do nothing to reduce carbon emissions.

Technology by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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An Efficient Hydrogen-Hybride Bike (Hy-Cycle) Developed

If you want to clean up the environment get a bike. Not just any bike though: you need a Hy-Cycle with pedal power assisted by hydrogen. A team of developers at the School of Chemical Engineering led by Associate Professor Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou has put a lot of work into the new bicycle.

The main problems in the past has been storage and cost. Hydrogen is now safely stored in hybride, a stable metal. This "compound" is then secured in a canister. Hydrogen is fed into a fuel cells that charges a lithium battery. The battery range is 125 kilometers at a cost of $2.00. This distance is sufficient for a day's use on one charge.

Major cities across the world have already established bicycle pools where people can collect a bicycle, ride it to their destination and leave it at the nearest bike station. It would not be difficult to hire out the new powered Hy-Cycles at a small fee alongside ordinary bicycles.

Improvements are already on the way. The current storage system holds 100 liters of hydrogen in one kilogram of hybride. A similar amount of hydrogen can be stored in 50 grams of borohybrides. A new technique nearly perfected. It seems the barrier is not investment or capability it is human culture itself.

✴ Technology by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Australian Blog★
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War Looming That Russia Cannot Win

The situation in Ukraine could be leading to a world war. Putin could also be doing the world a favor because Russia and China are decades behind the U.S. in war technology. If a war breaks out now the West would clearly win. Their isn't much doubt about this. Leading in scientific weaponry has always favored the side that is ahead.

It is certain that what is left of Ukraine, if there isn't a world war now, will push Ukraine to join NATO. Putin thinks his actions will prevent this happening. This is a great strategic mistake on his part. Adding eastern Ukraine onto Russia will make the rest of the Ukrainian people fearful.

A new cold war could result instead of a war, Probably a face off of missiles along the remaining Russian-Ukrainian border, much like North and South Korea. The thing is, Russia is a very small target. The West is a very large one. How can Russia possibly defeat the whole West. It isn't possible.

Russia is heading for further isolation that is pushing it backwards technologically. Furthermore, taking in eastern Ukraine will be a tremendous financial burden. Russians may like what he is doing now, but they will change when economic hardships begin. Note that the conflict has already pushed Russia into recession.

✴ Politics by Ty Buchanan ✴

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Australian Blog★
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The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) Should Not Interfer in the Market

Was the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) set up to improve business or just be a nuisance to operations. Its job should be to police the industry and make things run smoothly. However, putting one's nose in when it is not needed is not the best thing to do.

The mining boom is coming to an end as the Chinese economy pulls back from high growth due to wages rising thus demand falling. Companies are looking to move to other Asian countries where labor is cheaper. Australian mining companies are looking to become producers of other things such as technology.

With this move comes threats from ASIC for the miners to keep their noses clean. Apparently they must inform shareholders before they buy tech companies. We have not reached a point yet where shareholders manage companies. Surely, it is up to the CEO and the board to set future company developments and intentions.

ASIC is making accusations that mining companies are "cooking the books" while buying up tech companies. It has said that miners must not use backdoor listing to hide purchases. ASIC is watching Minerals Corporation Limited, InterMet, Nemex, MacroEnergy and Latin Gold.

Surely, with ASIC already making its claims open, shareholders already know what is going on - normal business behavior. Changing business models is not an area ASIC should be watching. This is nothing to do with ASIC. It should stick to asset valuation and financial reporting. It is ridiculous to monitor how capital will be raised. Interfering in the market just distorts it.

Economics by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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Wearable Technology Will Go the Way Of 3D and 4K Televisions

Will people buy wearable technology? Looking back on computers, purchases were out of curiosity and it eventually became a "must have" when games began to be cracked. Some even enjoyed the long tedious entering of code to produce a "useful" program that was painfully slow when you ran it. It took three whole days to do a spell check on a five page paper.

Then there was the verbal war everywhere with the majority advising to buy a Mac when universities only used Microsoft PCs. If you wanted to further your education a Mac was useless. I believe this state of affairs is split now but most colleges still favor Microsoft.

The iPad is still not a device one uses to improve knowledge, though some still soldier on in the fruity Apple world. There isn't much doubt that an Apple product is a prestige item. All Apple devices are grossly overpriced and owners know the ordinary Joe will never afford one.

In regard to wearables they are just curiosities at the moment, much like 3D and 4K televisions. Billions were wasted on investment in these "dead ends". Watches are so old fashioned. Even before mobile phones people were leaving them at home because there were clocks everywhere. Like cuff links they have gone to the dogs. It would be different if power and battery life was comparable to mobile phones. Unfortunately, it isn't.

Wearables will remain locked to the health and fitness world. This is where a low power, short battery life product fits in with what the user wants. Google glass will eventually fade away as non-users feel threatened by them. Eventually, someone is going to get a black eye for filming without another's consent.

Another issue with wearables is the mistaken belief by manufacturers that human behavior is predictable and consistent. People are notoriously inconsistent, going off at a whim on the spur of the moment. A meeting could start with the dust mite and end up on Mars. All conversations are like this.

Technology by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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New Technology Not for Everyone

Playing around with new tech devices and writing reviews full of praise is all well and good, but many people in all countries are still using dial-up modems. This brave new world is not available to them.

Even for users in built up areas where ADSL2 is available, 200GB is never going to be enough to watch streaming high-definition movies. Magic dongles are wonderful for those on the main line. However, some will never be connected to this line.

Netflix is being accused of using up to half of all bandwidth. This state of affairs cannot continue. The Internet will ultimately slow down. It is not a bottomless pit. There are limits.

Third world countries will never put fiber in for the majority. Capital cities in all countries will probably get very fast Internet. Even in suburbs though fast speeds will never be seen.

Technology by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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Australia Involved in New Telescope Technology

Australia continues to make great strides in new developments thus helping the world move forward. For such a small country in population terms it is in the big league.

CSIRO as always is at the forefront, leading the research team. Recently in Western Australia the SKA Pathfinder radio telescope (ASKAP) took a photo of the sky with much improved clarity and over a larger area than ever before. It is much faster as well.

Professor Brian Boyle said a new era for astronomy has arrived. ASKAP is part of the International Square Kilometer Array (SKA) with South Africa. Scientists are so impressed they are touring Europe explaining their results.

The aperture-synthesis telescope is the first of its type to be used. CSIRO's phased array has perfected the system. Performance is much better than current telescopes. Photos are created from radio waves.

A massive area of 10 square degrees is covered, which is 50 times bigger than the a full moon. The "snap" is just that: the series of nine overlapping pictures are taken and composed into one photos in one snap. However, the time to scan takes 12 hours. The telescope "freezes" in one position while the stars and Earth continue to move. Surveying of the sky is at least 50 times faster than current telescope systems and will be made even quicker in the near future.

Technology by Ty Buchanan

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Australian Blog★
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New Technology is Feared by Many

Australians are like people everywhere. They want change but they fear it. Advancement in technology appears to make our lives easier, but in a way life is becoming more complex.

People make themselves known to millions of others. They fear that in the long run they will regret it. As they grow older what they did in their carefree youth will come back to haunt them.

Only half of people feel secure about the technological future. One would expect that this would be higher. Young people in particular seem to welcome new gadgets with open arms. Nearly half of the population believe robotization will make their lives worse.

Many use wearable gadgetry to help with their exercise and fitness. However, these could turn out to be just faddish endeavours like all the new exercise machines advertised on TV.

The giant technological companies are experimenting with weird ideas. They have run out of rational concepts. These have been used up. Reviewers condemn the new tech offerings as silly and laughable. Then see people adopt the latest new thing with gusto.

Technology by Ty Buchanan

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