News today that the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) has won a legal battle against Buffalo Technology which confirms a patent from 1996 which apparently forms the basis to 802.11a/g wifi technology.

"The patent, granted to CSIRO in 1996, encompasses elements of the 802.11a/g wireless technology that is now an industry standard.

It stems from a system developed by CSIRO in the early '90s, "to exchange large amounts of information wirelessly at high speed, within environments such as offices and homes", said a CSIRO spokeswoman."
CSIRO wins landmark legal battle - Wireless & BroadBand - Connectivity

Following this court case, the CSIRO have to back up and face the same challenges against Intel, Dell, Microsoft, HP and Netgear but could end up scoring a royalty against any wifi device that utilises 802.11a/g.

I guess it will give them more money to develop things like the "Air Guitar Shirt" - yep - it's true... a shirt that reacts to your air strumming to "create" the music associated with your "freakin' flicks"!

Friday night of last week Laurette and myself (well.. Laurette, myself, and babyRynne on the way) joined a couple of friends and went to the first U2 concert in Sydney for something like nine years.

and here's a picture ... U2 - live from Sydney - November 2006

It was my third U2 concert - two in Sydney, one in London - each has been very different, but each has been quite fantastic... In a nutshell - this one rocked - as good as a U2 concert should be - after the massiveness of the PopMart tour it was interesting to see them downsize the use of technology so that it was really all about the music and the message rather than the awesome sight of a 50 foot mirrorball lemon making it's way across the front of the stage with the band inside (which was my highlight from PopMart).... yeah.. this one was less of that, and full of just great music - big screens were utilised to give a better view of the band, and also to show some mini-filmclips during the sets but it was essentially all about the music.

We had some rain at the start of the session, which quickly dissipated once the magic of "Beautiful Day" made it's way around the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. During 2 hours of music the guys played some new stuff, some old stuff, some stuff I'd forgotten about, some stuff which made me leap out of my seat and some stuff that brought back memories of floating through the 90's - all in all it was a great night.

This is my third U2 concert - each has been very different from the last but each was fulfilling - I've enjoyed every one in a different way.

This was a piece of art done recently in Melbourne... situated next to one of the main roads to get the attention of drivers who are busy playing highway tetris - where you attempt to squeeze your "block" (car) into the right space and slowly but surely wind your way to work.



Apart from the uncontrolled twitching that I received after recognising tetris, (for those who played... I'm sure a couple got the same reaction... a flashback to the many hours "invested" in obtaining the unacheivable perfect game of tetris, fingers flicking across the keyboard as the blocks drop faster and faster, attempting to build multiple lines at once without actually completing them so you get maximum points only to be finally foiled at the last hurdle... anyway, I digress), I thought about how cool and functional the milk crate as been over the years. I've personally used them to store books, act as shelves/bookcases, or to stand on in a crowded situation... but funnily enough, not actually to store milk.

The Wooster Collective also have a few photos of some pretty amazing "car dust art" - it certainly beats the classic "wash me". Imagine getting back to your car to see this on the back window (note the combination of both Mona Lisa and Vincent's Starry Night... pretty cool)


from PopGadget and the wooster collective (a potential language warning on some of the wooster stuff)

"the Maroons stood up in the face of the fire and manufactured a sensational win over the Blues at Suncorp Stadium to lock the series at 1-1 last night"

Origin alive, NSW critical - League - Sport - smh.com.au

What a day to be a Queenslander...

For those of you who may not be aware of the history behind the State of Origin series, it's essentially an annual competition between Queensland and New South Wales (the primary league states in Australia). We (Qld) have been thumped for the last few years and were looking down the barrel of another series defeat, but last night restored some pride in the Might Maroon faithful.

Last night, Qld hosted NSW at Suncorp Stadium - a stadium which was previously called Lang Park and commonly known as "The Cauldron" because of the steep seating surrounding the field. You really feel like you're sitting on the edge of your seat, hanging over the action unfolding beneath you - if you've been to Cardiff Arms in Wales then you get what I mean. The capacity is around 52000 and it was packed to the rafters last night with screaming Queenslanders. Unfortunately I was down here in Sydney and couldn't get to the game but managed to watch it from home... I spent 2 hours jumping on the couch like Tom Cruise during Oprah and screaming into the cushions so as to not rub it in too much for the neighbours.

The end result - a victory for Queensland to settle the series at 1-all and send it into a decider at the MCG on the 5th July. Amongst the non-believer cries of "rigged" so as to attempt to get better ratings, attendance etc, I still believe in the Qld v NSW fights of my youth (aka "the good old days"). The sort of battles which would entice young boys such as myself, my brothers and friends to don their imitation jerseys on rainy days and head over to the nearest muddy field to play a game of "touch" football which became progressively more and more physical as the day wore on.

These are the memories that come flooding back for me when State of Origin comes around every year - and I think I can safely suggest that it's the same for my brothers... last night was a flurry of sms messages between us as the Maroons systematically went about destroying NSW against all the odds.

(for a good ol' wikipedia background of the state of origin, go here)

I've got a couple of driving stories from my youth, but I don't think I would have attempted to drive 56 miles in reverse... although, I have to admit that I can kind of see why it might have made sense at the time... kind of...

"Police said the man told them reverse was the only gear in the car that worked and that he was travelling home to the small regional town of Numurkah, another 56 miles away."
Driver charged for backwards driving - Breaking News