bush
GPS
12:03PM Nick Broughall | Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the bush. Walking. Bushwalking, I guess you’d call it. But back in those days, all you had was a map and compass and maybe – if you were lucky – some skill in using the two. These days, there are gadgets like the new Garmin Dakota and Oregon 550 to help you work out which way is north… More »
Garmin Has New Toys For Outdoors Types
12:03PM Nick Broughall | Growing up, I spent a lot of time in the bush. Walking. Bushwalking, I guess you’d call it. But back in those days, all you had was a map and compass and maybe – if you were lucky – some skill in using the two. These days, there are gadgets like the new Garmin Dakota and Oregon 550 to help you work out which way is north… More » 
Vehicles
Transportation Bill Gives US$45 Million To Maglev Project, Sets It Up For Fail
2:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | A new transportation bill signed by Bush on Friday would free up US$45 million to build the U.S.’s first maglev train. The train will travel between Disneyland and Las Vegas at up to 480 kph and is meant to help ease traffic on the 400+ kilometre ride on Interstate 15. While I’m all for high-speed trains and efficient public transportation, isn’t the Bush administration forgetting something? More »
Gadgets
Gadget Turns Your Water Bottle Into a Portable Shower
8:40AM Sean Fallon | When you have been roughing it where showers are hard to come by, you will be happy to to have a Universal Shower Diffuser close at hand. Basically,the device attaches to the top of a standard PET water bottle and restricts the flow of water so that it can be dispensed like a shower head when squeezed. Just make sure you don’t use that bottle you took a leak in during the car ride—unless you are into that sort of thing. Available for around US$50. [Made in Design via Swissmiss via Likecool] More »
Gadgets
Bathe With the Bears Using Sea to Summit’s Pocket Shower
10:00AM Gizmodo US Edition | Usually camping and showering are either/or activities, but for those of you who absolutely have to cart the body wash and loofah into the wild, the Pocket Shower from Sea to Summit could be for you. More »
Networks
3:20PM Nick Broughall | A couple of months ago, Telstra wanted to shut off their CDMA network. The government told them to get stuffed, after they found that there wasn’t sufficient coverage for rural Australia.
Yesterday, Senator Conroy decided that our brothers in the bush would be adequately serviced by Telstra’s NextG, and gave the thumbs up to those technicians at the big T whose specific job it is to flick the switch on the CDMA network. Within two weeks on April 28, anybody still using a CDMA handset will hear little more than the chirping of crickets through their handset, although it’s more likely to sound like silence.
Although Telstra refused to say just how many people will be rushing out to their local Telstra dealer to buy a NextG handset in the next fortnight, the SMH is reporting that Deutsche Bank analysts believe the now obsolete network had 200,000 subscribers in January.
To make sure nobody’s left listening to the silence, Sol’s team of happy customer service representatives will be sending letters, SMS messages and calls to anybody still using a CDMA phone in the next two weeks.
One thing’s for sure – there’s going to be a huge uproar come April 28, when all of a sudden thousands of people realise that their phone doesn’t work anymore. No matter what the big T does about it between now and then.
[SMH]
More »
Telstra To Close The Curtains On CDMA, NextG Reigns Supreme
3:20PM Nick Broughall | A couple of months ago, Telstra wanted to shut off their CDMA network. The government told them to get stuffed, after they found that there wasn’t sufficient coverage for rural Australia.
Yesterday, Senator Conroy decided that our brothers in the bush would be adequately serviced by Telstra’s NextG, and gave the thumbs up to those technicians at the big T whose specific job it is to flick the switch on the CDMA network. Within two weeks on April 28, anybody still using a CDMA handset will hear little more than the chirping of crickets through their handset, although it’s more likely to sound like silence.
Although Telstra refused to say just how many people will be rushing out to their local Telstra dealer to buy a NextG handset in the next fortnight, the SMH is reporting that Deutsche Bank analysts believe the now obsolete network had 200,000 subscribers in January.
To make sure nobody’s left listening to the silence, Sol’s team of happy customer service representatives will be sending letters, SMS messages and calls to anybody still using a CDMA phone in the next two weeks.
One thing’s for sure – there’s going to be a huge uproar come April 28, when all of a sudden thousands of people realise that their phone doesn’t work anymore. No matter what the big T does about it between now and then.
[SMH]
More »
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