Will it come with a complimentary vial of eye drops?

I have no doubt that Apple will soon release a revolutionary new product that will change the way we interact with friends and family online. I believe this device will be the primary way that you interface with social media outlets. It will have a wonderful colour touch screen with a revolutionary new interface that will take your social media to another level – Apple might even throw in an RSS reader that “changes everything”.

However, as much as people night want this to be an eBook reader, indeed need it to be an eBook reader, it’s not going to be one. Why? Because it won’t have electronic ink. Unless Apple pulls off some kind of miracle and comes up with full colour e-Ink device (which I doubt) then it will never be a device conducive for long hours of reading.

I know… Apple will probably have a slew of non-fiction and fiction works available on in iTunes come launch day, but will that make this new device an eBook reader? Yes, you will be able to read books on it, but for how long? It might even have a revolutionary organic LED (OLED) display sourced from one of their suppliers, but will that make it an eBook reader? No, it just won’t last as long on a single battery charge or be as easy on the eyes as the Kindle.

A multimedia device at heart… like it’s brethren before it

Can Apple release a true eBook reader like the kindle with an e-Ink display? Of course they can, but I don’t think the culture in Apple is courageous enough to release a device with a monochrome display, it’s just not part of their DNA, their multimedia roots run too deep. Your movie, TV shows and album art need to be displayed in all their full colour glory. The full cadre of iTunes content need to be viewable on this device.

For the record, will an OLED screen stop me from reading books on my Apple tablet? No way mate, I will be downloading my favourite authors on launch day and reading until the wee hours of the morning, I just need to remember to take my eye drops afterwards…

I’m annoyed right now at the Queensland Governments policy of enforcing speed limits. They are currently trialing digital cameras with no margin of error.

This means that you will no longer be booked at 67Km p/h on Queensland roads in a 60 zone, you will be booked at 61Km p/h.

I’m not looking for an excuse to speed. As a sensible driver over the last 15 years I have had not one speeding ticket. I am, shall we call it, a “sedate” driver. I take driving very calmly and see driving as a journey, not a destination.

I really enjoy it.

I don’t ever have to worry about speed cameras, Police cars and radar traps. Why? Because I stick to the speed limit. The speed limit is a non-negotiable for me. I was recently in Sydney and was about to start the long journey home when my Aunt (who I was staying with) informed me to “watch out for the speed cameras”. I politely informed her that I was not in the least bit concerned about getting a speeding ticket. She was horrified, “how can you be so blase? It could cost you double demerit points?”. I had to gently explain that I wasn’t going to get a ticket because I don’t exceed the speed limit, how could I be concerned about the Police and speed cameras if I don’t speed?

So now we get to the crux of this post.

The Queensland government has announced that it is about to go digital with all it’s speed cameras.

What does this mean to the average motorist? I means that the the actual speed limit will now be enforced rather than the current variation of 10%.

The Western Australian government has got it right, they have reduced the variation to 5%. This will ensure that motorists are not penalised if the accidentally go a smidge over 60km p/h. It also allows for variations in the speed camera calibration and the calibration of motorists speedometers.

Want to set your cruise control to the speed limit? YOU CAN’T

This is because:

1. Next time you have cruise control on - watch carefully, the speedo will routinely go over your speed setting by a K or two on declines and downward slops and then correct itself
2. Your speedometer might be out - there are all sorts of things that can affect your true speed like tyre pressure, it’s your responsibility to ensure that it is correct

Why you can’t use the speed limit as a guide for general driving

You will need to drastically change your driving habits to stop Queensland Government main roads coffers from overflowing! Drive 5% under the posted speed and you will be OK.

Drive on the speed limit, let your mind wander, go over the posted limit by more that 1 K, and they have got you.

Queensland is in for a rude shock when this policy comes into effect.

Let me repeat, I have never had a speeding ticket, I don’t speed. But when digital cameras are rolled out across Queensland, I plan on keeping my untarnished record intact, regardless of my feelings about a policy that is all about increasing government coffers – I will continue to abide by the speed limit.

No longer is there a bit of grace there just in case you go over a little.

You will need to drive at 5% under the posted limit to ensure that you don’t get booked by accident.

Courier Mail article

I just wanted to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This is just a short post, but it’s the small things that really count in this season of joy thanksgiving!

We have a possum infestation here – 4 or 5 possums have made their home on our roof at night… our roof has been dubbed “Possum Highway” so over the last month or so I haven’t had a single decent night of sleep!

They wander around up there at all hours – padding back and forth and indulging in the odd “Possum Fight”.

Until a few days ago I was usually awoken by a heavy “thunk” as a possum throws itself mightily from a nearby tree branch… the entire tree is now gone… I chopped it down in desperation. Actually “Chopped” might not be the correct way of putting it… I lept “mightily” from the roof onto the tree and snapped it in half. Dad was watching me do this and thought it was hilarious.

So I’m about ready to strangle them!

An hour ago I chain sawed another branch down on the other side of the house in an effort to reduce access points onto our roof… I hope tonight will yield some success in this endeavour!

I managed to find this interesting page on the Whirlpool.net.au forum.

Interestingly enough it popped up in a google search!

I would say it’s a page one of the developers stuck up as a helpful way of showing what visitors have searched for on google over the last 2 minutes.

There are literally hundreds of search phrases and the corresponding page link.

I’m not sure if they intended the page to be indexed by google, a simple noindex meta tag would fix that.

Here it is:

http://whirlpool.net.au/stats-google.cfm

And if you want to Digg the link up on digg.com here it is:

http://digg.com/programming/Whirlpool_net_au_Google_Stats_from_the_last_two_minutes

I have recently been building a few websites for clients, some projects have been fairly involved, and others have been pretty simple to get up and running. Here is a list of the latest ones from the last few weeks:

• A site for a client helping people make smart real estate investment decisions: Real Estate Niche Development Blog
• A site for a client selling roof Insulation in Australia: Government Insulation Rebate

They have been fun to setup, the first project took around 12 – 14 hours to complete, the second site (much simpler) took approximately 3.5 hours to build.

I just got an invite “selected” to try out Facebook Lite!

I have know idea what it is, the link redirects me back to the regular version.

I have a few thoughts about it though:

• It’s Facebook’s answer to Twitter
• It integrates into their recent acquisition of Friendfeed
• It makes it easy to “broadcast” parts of your Facebook profile and feed on the public Internet

I don’t know how close I am, I will have to find out more!

I just found a very interesting freelance hourly rate calculator on Freelance Switch.

It got me thinking, how much is someone’s time worth each hour?

This particular hourly rate calculator (yes, it’s free) bases it around living and business expenses, it’s so simple and straight forward that I had a calculation figured out in minutes, and here is the funny thing… It calculated my exact hourly rate for all the web design and development work I bill out to clients!

The more I think about it the more sense it makes; your standard of living dictates your hourly rate. But what other factors have an effect on hourly rate that are not covered in the calculator? Education and experience come to mind, as well as deliverability and time management skills, just because your expectations for a certain standard of living are set, that does not mean you will generate income at that level.

That being said, here are a few words of encouragement:

• If you set good boundaries for yourself in your working day, focus on generating sales and streamline your admin, the sky is the limit.
• If you have a great idea that solves someone’s problem, preferably the “problem of many”, then the sky is the limit!
• If your passionate about your niche and focus on your core, optimising a few key elements that make you stand out from the crowd and show your “point of difference”… then the sky is the limit!

There is no limit to what you can do or achieve!

Oh, and here is the calculator I was telling you about:

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

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This article is an excellent tutorial covering how to style your form submit buttons using a few lines of css.

Go To Article on Sean Sullivans development blog.