RuthEllison.com

Ok. I admit it. I’m easily amused.

But this should put a smile on every geek’s face: The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)

This memo describes a protocol suite which supports an infinite
number of monkeys that sit at an infinite number of typewriters in
order to determine when they have either produced the entire works of
William Shakespeare or a good television show.

It looks like an ID Card. It smells like an ID Card. Heck, it even spooks you like an ID Card. But, as Australia’s carbon copy Commonwealth Prime Minister says, “it ain’t no ID card”.

Source: The Register - Aussies to get pseudo-ID Card

People are getting jitters over a proposed smart card. The smart card will be used to access welfare and health payments, and the estimated usage is about 11 million Australians.

From a Government point of view, this is definitely more efficient, and will make things easier for the end users - oh sorry, the “citizen”… and when I have my Government hat on, yes I can definitely see the benefits of efficiency, and stopping fraud and dole cheats.

…Australian Council of Civil Liberties president Terry O’Gorman said the breadth of government services that would require people to register for the card meant it would become a de facto national ID.

Source: News.com.au - Jitters over smart card

From a citizen’s point of view, there’s lots to think about.

Can’t say much more due to having my mouth sealed off with gaffa tape. But here’s the mandatory “the above are MY views, and do not necessarily reflect the views of my organisation” blah statements.

The Register writes about how text to speech gets emotional, thanks to Swiss based company, SVOX AG, who have produced a text to speech engine that is the result of 15 years of research and development.

The SVOX TTS engine is scalable between mobile, personal and server solutions so that as these new challenges are solved for the mass market they will become available for the specialised accessibility market.

Source: The Register

So perhaps it’s goodbye to the stereotype-basic-speech-synthesiser of JAWS - hello emotional synthesiser!

Photo credit: © Fraunhofer IITB

Mobile impaired but want the freedom of being able to get around any terrain? Check out the new GPS enabled four-wheel drive wheelchair, from Otto Bock HealthCare and the Fraunhofer Institute for Information and Data Processing IITB. This innovative system can check the user’s pulse rate and blood values and even calls for help in emergencies.

This Superfourin, as it’s known, is basically a modified ATV with a high-performance hybrid engine, roll bar, on-board computer, and embedded sensors to monitor both vital signs and vehicle status.

“Our test driver, a multiple sclerosis patient who has been wheelchair-bound for many years, was enthused. For the first time in a long time, he was able to visit the Thüringer Forest with his family without having to rely on outside help.”

Source: Extreme wheelchairing

We’re on the last couple of days of the honeymoon. Didn’t quite make it as far north as anticipated, thanks to Cyclone Hubert. I was highly anticipating getting to Ningaloo Reef, but we only managed to get as far as Carnarvon. Perhaps next time, we’ll make it all the way there, plus further to Broome!

I have been writing up each day of our journey, but will post these entries once we get back to Perth.

In the meantime, I leave you with a photo from our wedding photo shoot:

Photo credits: © 2006 Samm Blake

The above photo was taken on the grounds of the University of Western Australia. It is part of a series shot at that location for our wedding. Our photographer was Samm Blake. See more of her work at www.sammblake.com.