John

Member since: Mar 5th, 2006

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Engadget	24 Comments
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Recent Comments:

Fiber optics get political in Australia as opposition party vows to scale down national broadband plan (Engadget)

Aug 10th 2010 11:57PM @pidgit

Large infrastructure projects like this are an investment in the long term. If managed properly, and so far it is being managed properly, then the long term pay-off can be huge. There are also big short term benefits in terms of employment and other economic factors. Although I was a critic of Labour's "stimulous package" this makes much more sense.

A lot of people are only talking about the short term payback but this I believe is a mistake. The NBN will mean that we are well placed in terms of communications infrastructure for the next 30 years, long after Conroy's name will have past into history.

By trying to patch into an ageing copper network we are throwing good money after bad. There is only so far that the current copper cables can take us.

Fiber optics get political in Australia as opposition party vows to scale down national broadband plan (Engadget)

Aug 10th 2010 10:38PM @Mike10010100

Rubbish! Where do I start. First it is a non-policy since it merely continuing the roll out of ADSL 2+/WiMax that is currently underway. This is blocked by RIMS and even though it covers "93%" of Australians it cannot serve those peole since the technology is technically limited and many of those 93% will not be able to be connected. As for the rest they are relying on Wireless which is now used to cover many of the people currently in ADSL 2+ areas who cannot connect to ADSL 2+.

Compare this with fibre to the home and it is chalk and cheese. (And I am not talking about those rubbish processed plastic type cheeses you get in individual plastic sandwitch sices slices).

Fiber optics get political in Australia as opposition party vows to scale down national broadband plan (Engadget)

Aug 10th 2010 10:31PM The oposition's plan is "no change". Look at it. ADSL2+ for those who can which is just a continuation of the current roll-out by ISPs. Then Wi-Max or 3G for those who cannot, which is the current strategy. Then Sattelite for the rest, again status quo. Their policy is in effect to have no policy and pretend that it is a policy. It is just a pity that none of the journalists do not have enough understanding to call it for what it is.

Although not a natural Labour supporter (take the mind numblingly stupid internet filter plan) the NBN is one thing that they got right the first time. This is a very smart investment into the long term communication infrastructure which will serve Australia well into the future.

Japanese team takes top prize at World Solar Challenge (Engadget)

Nov 2nd 2009 3:09PM Got some pictures up from the finish on Sunday here

http://jmbh.org/gallery/v/Events/sc2009/

Tesla Roadster keeps on rollin', goes 313 miles on single charge (Engadget)

Nov 1st 2009 9:37PM Got some pikkies up at last.

Se the actual car at the bottom of this page here

http://jmbh.org/gallery/v/Events/sc2009/?g2_page=4

Tesla Roadster keeps on rollin', goes 313 miles on single charge (Engadget)

Oct 31st 2009 8:50PM Was actually at the finsih line of the bi-yearly solar challenge yesterday (Photos up soon) and saw this vehicle in the flesh - as well as the 30 odd solar vehicles. The winner averaged about 100kph and came in a day earlier than the winner in the last race here in 07.

Was fascinating to see all the technology on display and to chat with some of the teams.

And FYI Simon is the CEO of one of the ISPs here in Australia.

Fugly Friday : MSY Technology (Download Squad)

Sep 4th 2009 7:44PM Ha ha! Pretty aweful and the shops are about the same. But I have to disagree with the people who do not like shopping there. I have had nothing but good experiences with the staff.

They are waaay the cheapest place to shop in Australia and the staff are always helpful even if their stock holding is woeful. You get what you pay for and if all you are after is very cheap prices on name brand stuff then hey - you never get nothing for nothing.

Caption contest: Cricket builds the world's largest cellphone (Engadget)

Mar 10th 2009 7:18PM The four operators can be upgraded to bikini babes for an extra $2.95 per week

Sony's VAIO P spotted for sale in Hong Kong, price tag spotted too (Engadget)

Jan 20th 2009 7:06PM Available for pre-order in Australia

http://www.sony.com.au/vaio/catalog/product.jsp;jsessionid=1S5ECPYTC2TYICWSCFCCFEQK0IIUKIV0?id=VGNP15GR&_requestid=32649

How would you change Popcorn Hour's A-100 HD media streamer? (Engadget)

Jul 13th 2008 12:00AM I agree with much but I think people are being rather critical considering what it has to cope with.

As with many of you I replaced My XBox with this thing and I have to say I am 99% happy with it

One of the things you have to remember is that the media cantre is not a particularly mature technology and I have not seen anything that will play every conceivable format flawlessly. The most compatible I have seen is the XBMC. In addition the PCH firmware is still what one might call beta. They are regularly updating the firmware with improvements and fixes. There is a list of enhancements as well as a raft of possible feature improvements coming.

The first poster said iTiunes support. Already there. This is an example of a number of misconceptions. One person asked for the ability to play all audio files in a directory. Already there - all be it not randomly, only sequentially. Resume is being worked on.

Considering the number of different formats I have tried there is very little it cannot play. There are some notible exceptions but I am sure they will be addressed in time.

All in all there is more that the PCH will play that my XBMC would not than visa versa. For instance it appears to handle DVD iso files far better then the XBMC ever did, even if the XBMC interface is much better.

As for the oft quoted complaint that you cannot turn it off ... well helooooo how many of your appliances do not turn off. It uses less current in standby than any other appliance in my house on standby.

Now for the real subject of this entry - what would I like to see improved.

1. Better audio handling. OOB playlists ability to show selected pictures, album covers and info, better audio information, randomisation within directories and playlists. iTunes integration gives us some of these features and is a very nice compromise but adding pretty screens and audio information would be nice.

2. Ability to display video snapshot and DVD covers with lists, as well as online reviews from imdb etc.